Chapter 50: Pure-blooded Wolf Pup and Gyrfalcon

In the beginning, when the Yellow Sand Town Garrison was newly established, new recruits were occasionally assigned there.

However, as the Yellow Sand Town Garrison eventually transformed into the notorious "Troublemakers' Camp," no new recruits were ever sent there again.

Because any newcomer who arrived at the Troublemakers' Camp would either be assimilated by the inmates into yet another troublemaker, or they would be tormented to the brink of collapse by the veterans there before running back crying to file complaints.

In short, the vast majority of soldiers simply could not survive there.

Initially, many people attempted to properly reform the Troublemakers' Camp, but the problem was that all the troublemakers were exceedingly clever and left no evidence behind when committing mischief.

Even when targeting individuals, they stayed strictly within the rules, never causing fatal injuries or permanent disabilities—just relentless teasing and torment, leaving no justifiable excuse for punishment.

Thus, as time went on, the infamous reputation of the Troublemakers' Camp grew increasingly formidable.

Right now, Qi Sheng's directive to send Li Dao to the Yellow Sand Town Garrison was clearly driven by malicious intent.

The moment he recalled Qi Sheng's reaction upon hearing the name Li Dao earlier, Zhang Ci could roughly guess what was going on.

A wave of displeasure welled up in Zhang Ci's heart.

Yet the problem was that he had no way to vent his frustration, as Qi Sheng had merely offered it as a verbal suggestion.

He could choose to ignore it, but the consequence would be offending Qi Sheng.

On one side was a favored confidant of the Marquis of Northern Suppressing, a peerless young prodigy of exceptional talent.

On the other side was a rookie with no status, no background, and nothing but innate divine strength, yet unable to cultivate Qi.

Anyone with half a brain knew how to choose.

Zhang Ci was no exception. Although he loath to do this, circumstances were as they were, and he had no choice but to go with the flow.

After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Ci nodded. "Very well, I understand. Coincidentally, the Yellow Sand Town garrison is short-handed, and I feel he is quite suited for that place."

Hearing this, Qi Sheng revealed a faint smile. "It seems Commander Zhang shares my view. I will be sure to mention to General Shen about your admirable trait of gladly listening to others' advice."

Zhang Ci could only manage an accompanying smile.

Qi Sheng then turned around and departed directly. Standing outside the military tent, he thought of the new recruit named Li Dao.

He thought to himself: *Who told you to go by this name? Consider it your bad luck.*

......

Two days later.

Li Dao sat in the main hall of his residence, browsing through the *Butcher's Military Strategy* that he had retrieved from the chest.

Although he had already memorized the entire contents of the manual in his mind, he felt that reading from an actual physical book felt more authentic.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Suddenly, a series of knocks rang out from the front door.

Li Dao casually put down the book in his hand.

Before he could even stand up, Jiu'er's voice echoed from the courtyard outside.

"Coming."

Jiu'er opened the door and looked somewhat puzzled at the armored soldier standing outside. "Who are you?"

"Is this the residence of Li Dao?" the soldier inquired.

"Yes. What business do you have with our young master?"

"Li Dao has successfully enlisted. I am here to deliver his assignment orders."

With that, the soldier handed over a yellow envelope.

"Oh, oh."

Jiu'er's expression cleared with sudden understanding, and she quickly accepted the letter.

After the soldier left, she closed the front gate. Just as she turned around, she saw her young master already standing in the courtyard.

"Young master, your assignment notice."

Jiu'er trotted all the way over to Li Dao and handed the envelope to him.

Pats on Jiu'er's head, Li Dao took the letter and opened it.

"Yellow Sand Town Garrison?"

Li Dao pondered briefly in his mind, realizing that among the various military camps he had recently learned about, none bore this name. However, since it was an official dispatch sent by the authorities, there shouldn't be any issues.

He then continued reading the subsequent contents.

The gist of it was that he needed to report to the Yellow Sand Town Garrison within three days without fail, or else he would be treated as a deserter.

Huh?

At this moment, Li Dao suddenly noticed a layer of faint text on the back of the letter.

Turning it over, he discovered a note.

It read: *If unable to adapt, one may apply for a discharge at the North City Military Camp within three days.*

Li Dao frowned slightly. He couldn't recall when the Great Qian military had ever become so accommodating.

In his memory, once one joined the army, leaving was exceedingly difficult.

In ancient times, military establishments certainly did not practice benevolent management.

In the absence of a permanent disability, wanting to leave the army was theoretically possible, but it required having characters tattooed on one's face.

This world was nothing like his previous life, where tattoos had become a trendy fashion statement.

In Great Qian, unless one was tattooed with uplifting phrases like "Serving the Country with Absolute Loyalty,"

tattoos generally signified that a person was either a scoundrel or a criminal.

Similar to some people tattooing fierce tigers on their bodies, it was mostly because the mandatory official brandings looked unsightly, so they covered the previous markings with new tattoos to make them more aesthetically pleasing. Otherwise, no one in their right mind would do such a thing.

Therefore, Li Dao found the note at the back quite bizarre.

"Never mind. Perhaps it's a new policy implemented by the Marquis of Northern Suppressing."

Li Dao didn't dwell too much on such minor details.

He had even survived the Death Row Camp; there was no reason he couldn't adapt to a regular military camp.

If he truly couldn't adapt, then it would be the military camp that failed to adapt to him, not the other way around.

"Three days, huh..."

Li Dao glanced at Jiu'er standing beside him, suddenly remembering something. He gave Jiu'er a brief word and quickly headed out.

Not long after, he met up with someone.

"Sir, we meet again."

The person meeting Li Dao was none other than the pawnshop clerk who had shown him properties back then.

Li Dao casually tossed over a piece of broken silver and asked directly, "Have you found the things I asked you to look for?"

The clerk caught the silver fragment, his smile growing even wider. "This little one has kept your request in mind, sir. I've already found them for you, and we can go inspect the goods right now."

Li Dao was rather surprised. The clerk was quite capable; what he had mentioned just yesterday was already resolved today.

"Alright, let's go take a look."

Led by the clerk, Li Dao followed him all the way into a secluded alleyway.

There was no one around, and it was dead quiet—an ideal spot for murder and robbery.

Seeming to worry about alarming his customer, the clerk hurriedly explained, "Please don't take offense, sir. This is all legitimate business; the only reason we're meeting here is because rent in this area is cheap."

Li Dao nodded without speaking.

Or rather, whether the other party harbored good or ill intentions, it could only benefit him and cause no harm.

If the person truly harbored malicious intent, he would simply have no choice but to accept this delivered attribute.

Before long, the clerk arrived in front of a small house.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

After a series of knocks, a voice soon came from inside.

"Who is it!"

"It's me."

Recognizing the clerk's voice, the door swung open from within, revealing a fierce-looking, one-eyed man with a heavily scarred face who hardly looked like a decent person.

Catching sight of the clerk and casting a sidelong glance at Li Dao, the one-eyed man asked, "Is this the customer?"

"Obviously. Hurry up and step aside; don't delay the customer from inspecting the goods."

"Fine."

The one-eyed man stepped aside. "Please come this way, sir."

Soon, the three of them made their way all the way to a door in the back courtyard.

The one-eyed man warned, "If you please, sir, kindly step back a little."

Just as Li Dao was feeling bewildered, the courtyard door was flung open.

The next second, a massive mass of dark shadows lunged toward the one-eyed man.

Looking closer, Li Dao was slightly startled to discover that these dark shadows were actually various kinds of animals.

There were cats and dogs, birds and horses—a jumble of all sorts of creatures.

The key point was that all these animals shared one common trait: each and every one of them suffered from some degree of physical defect.

Faced with the one-eyed man, the animals eagerly swarmed around him.

In contrast, the fierce, scarred face of the one-eyed man softened into a look of genuine tenderness. "Alright, alright, step aside everyone. Don't block the customer's path."

He turned back, scratching his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that, sir. They mean no harm."

Li Dao nodded. "I can tell."

Beside them, the clerk explained, "Don't let his fierce and terrifying appearance fool you, sir. This fellow is notoriously soft-hearted and loves raising these little creatures most of all. The reason he lost an eye in the first place was because he was accidentally scratched while trying to rescue a stray dog."

Subsequently, guided further by the one-eyed man, the three entered a room.

Inside the room sat two cages. The moment he stepped inside, Li Dao was instantly captivated by the occupants within the two cages.

One cage held two wolf cubs.

One was pitch black from head to toe, while the other was pure white.

The snow-white cub lay across the back of the black cub. The black cub's gaze turned instantly alert upon seeing strangers enter, yet it did not bare its teeth or snarl, resembling a calm and composed observer.

Meanwhile, in the other cage were two fledglings with white plumage and feathers tipped with dark patches. Although they were still chicks, their eyes were exceptionally fierce and sharp.

"These are... Gyrfalcons?"

Li Dao said with a hint of surprise.

"You have quite an eye, sir!"

The one-eyed man looked at the little ones inside the two cages and explained, "Not long ago, while traveling for trade, I happened to encounter two wild wolves locked in a fierce battle with two gyrfalcons."

"In the end, both sides perished."

"And right near their battlefield, I stumbled upon these four little guys, so I brought them back."

At this point, a trace of reluctance flashed across the one-eyed man's face, but he nonetheless said, "Have a look, sir. If you want them, you can take them right away."

Li Dao glanced at the one-eyed man. "It seems you actually don't want to sell them. Why not keep raising them yourself?"

The one-eyed man gave a bitter smile. "I'd love to, but my trading venture left me completely cleaned out. As much as I'm fond of them, a man has to survive first, right?"

Li Dao nodded, assessed the physiognomy of the four little creatures, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Since you can bear to part with them, then I'll take these four."

Initially, Li Dao had only intended to buy a pair of guard dogs to look after the house while running a few small experiments.

He also planned to purchase a couple of ordinary birds of prey to see if he could train them into messenger hawks capable of communication.

He never expected to encounter two pure-blood wolf cubs and two gyrfalcons.

Judging purely by their physiological features, none of these four little creatures were ordinary.

Especially the gyrfalcons—these were legendary creatures known as the Kings of All Hawks.

With everything in place, the only question now was whether his precious blood would have any effect on these four little guys.

If not, he would have to slowly train them the conventional way.

He just hoped the effects of his precious blood would exceed his expectations.

Only by succeeding in his experiment on these four little creatures could he consider his next steps.

Cash was handed over, and the goods were delivered.

Once the transaction was finalized, Li Dao covered the two cages with a black cloth and left amidst the one-eyed man's deeply reluctant gaze.

Watching Li Dao's departing back, the pawnshop clerk patted his good friend on the shoulder. "I know what you're thinking. You're afraid this gentleman won't treat them well, right?"

The one-eyed man remained silent, seemingly conceding the point.

The clerk chuckled. "Do you trust my judgment?"

"What on earth are you trying to say?"

The clerk gazed at the vanishing figure at the other end of the alley and sighed, "By my estimation, this gentleman is destined to soar to the skies in the future. Those four little guys following a person like this won't lose out; it's definitely better than staying with someone like you who runs around all day long."

The one-eyed man gave a soft snort. "Your tongue is as slick as ever."

"Believe it or not. Anyway, I'm going to find a way to latch onto this gentleman's coattails."

Leaving behind those words, the clerk turned and walked away.

"Latch onto his coattails?"

The one-eyed man looked down at his own thick legs, frowning as he muttered to himself, "His legs aren't even as thick as mine."

......

Not long after, Li Dao returned home.

"Young master, what on earth is this?"

As soon as he stepped inside, Jiu'er came running out carrying Yuanbao.

"You'll see in a moment."

With that, Li Dao carried the two cages into his room.

Removing the black cloth from the cages, he drew his profound iron saber from the table.

The moment the profound iron saber was unsheathed, the two wolf cubs and two gyrfalcons in the cages immediately tensed up.

The wolf cubs crouched low, and the gyrfalcons spread their wings, their four pairs of eyes locked unwaveringly onto the profound iron saber.

"Quite spirited, aren't they?"

Li Dao shook his head, and then, right under the stunned gazes of the four little creatures, he slashed a cut across his own arm with the blade.

The next second, a bloody gash appeared.

He promptly picked up a teacup from the table and held it beneath the wound.

Drops of precious blood began to drip from the injury.

After a dozen breaths.

Just as the precious blood in the teacup reached the halfway mark, the wound healed itself completely.

"That should be about enough."

Li Dao thought to himself as he looked at the precious blood in the teacup.

Back then, Yuanbao could only consume five drops of precious blood before reaching its limit.

The four little guys before him were still in their infancy, not much larger than Yuanbao had been back then, so their demand shouldn't be very high either.

When Li Dao approached the four little creatures with the cup of precious blood, the two wolf cubs with the sharpest sense of smell detected it first, a flicker of instant craving appearing in their eyes.

To Li Dao's surprise, although the pitch-black cub grew excited for a moment, it didn't lunge forward recklessly like Yuanbao had previously; instead, it quickly calmed down, its gaze remaining watchful and alert.

The pure white wolf cub, however, was entirely different—it cried out and lunged forward eagerly.

Yet it was immediately pinned down by the black wolf cub.

"Quite vigilant, little one."

From this reaction alone, the pitch-black wolf cub seemed even more extraordinary.

On the other side, the two gyrfalcons also caught the scent of the precious blood a moment later.

They remained resolute, their unwavering eyes fixed intently on the teacup.