Chapter 44: Earth-Shattering

He abruptly whirled around, pointed at Wang Ba behind him, and announced in a resounding voice that shook the heavens:

"Starting today, Wang Ba shall serve as the Chief Instructor of the 'Ghost' troops!"

"In charge of all your daily drills, and... discipline!"

"His words are my words!"

"His commands are my commands!"

"Anyone who disobeys his orders shall be executed first and reported later!"

"BOOM—!!!"

These few words struck the martial arts arena like consecutive bolts of divine lightning, crashing straight into the minds of the three thousand soldiers!

Chief Instructor?

Wang Ba?!

That same pig-headed fool who was punished yesterday just for his stupidity to clean out every latrine in the entire camp—today, he had become their Chief Instructor?

That former thug who used to carouse with them, whom they had once looked down upon and yet feared, was now the one who held the power over their life and death?

This... how utterly absurd!

How completely unthinkable!

Every single gaze converged upon Wang Ba.

They wanted to catch a trace of smugness, a hint of arrogance on Wang Ba's face.

However, they were met with disappointment.

There was no expression whatsoever on Wang Ba's face.

That countenance, once filled with ferocity and barbarism, now held nothing but a dead, frozen stillness.

He looked like an emotionless statue forged from cold steel.

This appearance made him far more terrifying than his previous aggressive, claw-baring demeanor!

"What? Do you have objections?" Xiao Zhan's voice broke the dead silence.

"..."

No one dared to speak.

They did not dare to harbor objections against Xiao Zhan.

They simply could not comprehend it!

"Very well." Xiao Zhan nodded. "It seems you all agree."

He glanced at Wang Ba and said indifferently, "Instructor Wang, it appears some people harbor doubts regarding your appointment."

"Do you need me to help you establish your authority?"

Wang Ba stepped forward to the edge of the general's platform, his dead-water gaze slowly sweeping across the familiar yet unfamiliar faces below.

He took a deep breath, and with a voice that was hoarse yet incomparably clear, he said, "There is no need, My Lord."

"This subordinate has his own methods."

Just at that moment, a soldier came running in from outside, panting heavily, and scrambled in panic to join his formation.

He was late.

Every soldier's heart leaped violently into their throat.

Every gaze turned toward Wang Ba.

This was the first of the "three initial fires" of a newly appointed official!

Everyone wanted to see how he would ignite this fire!

The soldier who was late was none other than Zhao Si, formerly one of Wang Ba's closest and most loyal underlings.

Seeing Wang Ba on the platform, a flicker of joy crossed his face, and he hurriedly pleaded in a low voice, "Boss Ba... I... I had diarrhea last night and woke up late..."

He had assumed that, given his relationship with Wang Ba, a couple of curses at most would let him off the hook.

However, Wang Ba's reaction exceeded everyone's expectations.

Instead of looking at Zhao Si, he spoke coldly to the entire assembly.

"The third ironclad rule of the 'Ghost' forces: Military commands are as immovable as mountains; upon the beat of the drum, assemble instantly; upon the sound of the whistle, move at once. A delay of one quarter-hour shall be punished with twenty lashes! A delay of two quarter-hours means death!"

His voice carried not a shred of emotion.

"You were late by one quarter-hour."

Wang Ba pointed at Zhao Si as if pointing at a total stranger.

"Speak for yourself, what is your crime?"

The smile on Zhao Si's face froze.

He looked at Wang Ba in disbelief. "Bo... Boss Ba... You..."

"I asked you, what is your crime!" Wang Ba's voice rose sharply, cracking like thunder!

That cold, unquestionable aura of authority terrified Zhao Si so intensely that his entire body shuddered, his legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

"I... I deserve twenty lashes..." he answered tremulously.

"Very well. It seems you still remember the rules." Wang Ba nodded.

He turned around, picked up an oil-soaked cowhide whip from the rack of instruments of punishment behind him.

"Go, drape yourself properly over the punishment rack," Wang Ba said coldly. "Do not force me to do it myself."

Zhao Si's face instantly turned ashen.

He looked at Wang Ba's unfamiliar face, then glanced up at the smiling god of war standing upon the platform.

He understood.

Everything became crystal clear.

With a final shred of hope, he looked toward his surrounding comrades-in-arms.

Those were his former brothers.

Yet those "brothers" all lowered their heads at that moment, not daring to meet his gaze.

Despair engulfed his entire being.

He knew he could not escape this beating today.

Dragging his heavy steps, he walked over to the wooden punishment rack in the center of the martial arts arena, stripped off his upper garments in humiliation to bare his back, and gripped the rack with both hands.

Wang Ba walked over.

He weighed the whip in his hand and glanced at Zhao Si's back, which was trembling slightly from fear.

He recalled what he had figured out yesterday while sitting in the latrine.

Xiao Zhan was forcing him.

Forcing him to sever his own past with his own hands!

Forcing him to shatter those so-called "brotherly bonds" with his own hands!

Forcing him to become a blade—the sharpest and most merciless blade—belonging to Xiao Zhan alone!

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, nothing remained within them save a cold, pitch-black abyss.

"Whoosh—!"

He swung the whip!

"SMACK—!!!"

A crisp, explosive crack!

That cowhide whip lashed out like a venomous snake, striking fiercely across Zhao Si's bare back!

Flesh split wide open!

A bloody welt instantly materialized!

"Agh—!!!"

Zhao Si let out a shrill, miserable scream.

"One!"

Wang Ba reported the first number without a trace of expression.

"SMACK—!!!"

The second lash!

"Two!"

"SMACK—!!!"

The third lash!

"Three!"

...

The whip fell again and again, propelled by the wind, landing with precision and brute force.

Wang Ba's face remained entirely unmoved.

It was as though he were not whipping a living human being, nor his former underling, but merely a lifeless block of wood.

The entire martial arts arena was plunged into a deathly stillness.

Only the scalp-tingling sound of the whipping and Zhao Si's increasingly faint screams echoed through the air.

Every soldier felt a chilling numbness spread deep into their bones.

They stared at the figure wielding the whip upon the platform.

That was no longer Wang Ba.

That was a new demon!

A demon personally forged by Xiao Zhan, one far more terrifying than Xiao Zhan himself!

Twenty lashes.

Not one more, not one less.

When Wang Ba expressionlessly pronounced the number "twenty," Zhao Si on the punishment rack had been reduced to a bloody pulp.

There was not a single patch of intact skin left on his back; it was mangled flesh and blood, deep enough to expose bone.

His shrieks had long since degraded into feeble groans, his entire body hanging limply from the rack like a pool of mud, breathing out far more than he breathed in.

Wang Ba cast the whip aside.

That cowhide whip, saturated with fresh blood and grease, bounced against the ground with a dull thud.