Chapter 249: 249, Stand up for Chen Wudi

At noon, they found a sheltered slope to rest briefly. The buns everyone carried had frozen hard and cold, but there was no choice—the wilderness offered no better conditions.

According to the soldiers of the private army, having buns to eat was already a blessing.

As they ate their rations, someone suddenly complained, “With this damn weather, they still expect us to keep moving? How inhumane!”

“What can you do?” a soldier bit into a frozen bun. “If we hadn’t grabbed some buns last night, we’d starve on the road today. You can’t walk in this weather without food.”

“Hey, you’re not wrong,” another said. “Seeing Liu Taiyu in this state actually makes me feel better. The rations they’ve been skimming must’ve all gone into that brat’s pockets.”

“I’m not satisfied enough,” a soldier muttered bitterly. “Why didn’t the officers from Shenji Camp kick him to death earlier?”

“This place is still dozens of kilometers from the nearest Tanshui Mountain. Northward lie Fengyi and Shuanglong Mountains. With snow this heavy, how long do we have to walk before it ends?” someone despaired. “Besides, the first company’s bastards have started monitoring us. There’s nowhere to run.”

“Forget it,” someone said. “Run? In this weather, venturing into the mountains alone, even dying cleanly takes courage. Staying with the main force gives you a chance. Desertion means certain death.”

“I’ve got a plan,” someone whispered with a grin. “When we set off again, pretend to faint. The moment you do, that idiot Chen Wudi will come carry you, saving you a lot of walking!”

But the moment he finished speaking, a chill ran down his spine. He was already cold, but now he shivered uncontrollably!

Yet when he turned around, there was nothing there.

Strange and bizarre—what’s going on?

Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu was quietly slicing cured meat for Chen Wudi and the students when he noticed Chen’s expression growing gloomy. “What’s wrong, Wudi?”

Chen Wudi spoke softly, “Master, my wind-sensitive ears have recovered.”

Ren Xiaosu paused. “Wudi, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, doesn’t have wind-sensitive ears…”

“This version does,” Chen explained.

“…” Ren nodded. Fine, your version, your rules. Honestly, to this day, Ren still didn’t know which version Chen was.

Patching yourself up is no small feat…

“Master,” Chen said despondently, “I don’t want to help them anymore.”

“What happened?” Ren asked curiously. “What did you hear?”

“They said that when we set off again, they’ll pretend to faint. That way, the idiot called Chen Wudi will carry them,” Chen replied.

After that, Ren’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Who said that?”

Chen didn’t name the speaker. “If you knew, you’d kill them.”

“Killing a few isn’t a problem,” Ren sneered.

“Master,” Chen said, “I just don’t understand—how can some people be so evil?”

“Evil has its own grinders,” Ren said, his gaze darkening as he looked at the private army soldiers. For the first time in days, he truly wanted to kill.

When they set off again in the afternoon, Ren walked in silence among the group. Suddenly, five people collapsed at once. Ren approached them slowly, stepping on one’s hand. The man flinched in pain but kept pretending to be unconscious.

Ren smiled at Li Qingzheng. “Get me some rope. We had some in our marching packs.”

“Yes,” Li replied, though he didn’t know why Ren needed it, but fetched it without hesitation.

Ren tied the five men’s calves to the rope and dragged them mercilessly across the snow!

Someone on the ground tried to scramble up, shouting he was awake, but Ren kicked him in the chest, sending blood spurting from his mouth!

Standing in the snow, Ren’s back faced the crowd, snowflakes swirling around him like a storm of malice.

“I gave you permission to rise?” he said calmly.

At that, someone stood and roared, “He’ll drag us to death in the snow—we’ll fight him!”

But as they rose, Ren kicked them back down. Their chests felt as if struck by iron, and the onlookers barely saw his movements, thinking perhaps the snow had blurred their vision.

Ren turned, grinning at the others. “You’re adults. Your path, your choices. Understand?”

Chen Wudi stared blankly at Ren in the snow. “Master…”

The young figure in the wilderness faced the wind and snow, smiling. “Master’s helping you vent.”

Yet Ren dragged the five behind him with the rope, while Li Qingzheng stepped forward. “I’ll help you drag.”

Jiang Wu’s eight students followed. “Leader, we’ll help you.”

In that moment, no one dared plead for the five. Those who knew understood—this was likely what happened when Ren discovered their plot to exploit Chen Wudi.

Sometimes, certain people stand out even in a crowd of thousands. Before, Ren had shown nothing, so everyone assumed he was just an ordinary youth.

But now, the ruthlessness in his bones made them tremble.

They knew—Ren was going to drag those five to death in the snow!

The Shenji Camp officer at the front stared blankly. “They say the Special Tactics Division breeds monsters. I didn’t believe it—now I do…”

Another Shenji officer whispered, “After the battle, we must warn our comrades—never provoke the Special Tactics Division. Their methods are brutally cruel…”

In truth, Ren had never acknowledged the master-disciple bond aloud. After all, he’d never taught Chen anything, and their apprenticeship had been absurdly sudden.

But Ren secretly cherished Chen’s calling him master. Chen was like a pure crystal, untainted and flawless—who wouldn’t enjoy such company?

Thus, Ren had long accepted their bond in his heart.

Yet today, he wasn’t just defending Chen’s honor.

He merely wanted to guard that last flicker of light within him.