Chapter 116: The Devil Drillmaster (3)

An hour later, under the blazing noonday sun, several kitchen servants arrived in the woods bearing lunch.

"Stop!" Gu Yun barked in a low voice. "Half an hour for lunch. Dismissed!"

With a long exhale, many of the young soldiers collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Though worn out and famished, none of them wished to move an inch more.

Sweeping a glance over the motionless figures sprawled across the earth, Gu Yun said evenly, "Go line up for your meals. If you don't eat now, you won't be allowed to eat later."

The half-dead soldiers on the ground immediately sprang up, dragging their weary limbs to obediently queue for food. Eating or not was a small matter—if this demoness lost her temper, who knew how she'd train them next?

Watching their reluctant figures shuffle away, Gu Yun shook her head and chuckled.

Han Shu narrowed his tiger-like eyes, a quiet smile forming in his heart. Impressive. In merely two days, she had already instilled fear and awe in this group of greenhorns. That was no small feat.

Just as Gu Yun was about to join the line, a servant approached her with a bamboo basket. "This is your lunch."

Opening it, she saw her usual fare: beef, rice, eggs, cucumber—nothing missing. Glancing sideways at the large baskets nearby overflowing with steamed buns and chunks of braised meat, Gu Yun noted each soldier received two buns and one piece of meat. Her brows furrowed slightly. She returned the bamboo basket to the servant and said, "There's no need to prepare a separate meal for me. From now on, I'll eat what they eat."

If they weren't dining together, it wouldn't matter. But since they were, making such a distinction felt inappropriate. This was a modern mindset Gu Yun carried, yet for these men raised in a strict hierarchy, her action appeared strange.

Amid a chorus of astonished gazes, Gu Yun took her share—two buns and one piece of meat—and was about to find a spot to rest when she spotted Han Shu already seated on the grass across from her.

After a moment's thought, she grabbed another portion and walked toward him. She handed him the food and casually sat beside him on the ground, saying nothing. She bit heartily into her meal without the slightest trace of ladylike decorum.

Han Shu had originally despised her. But after observing her all morning, he had to admit—she had some skill. No wonder she dared to train troops alongside Su Yu.

Still, he couldn't help but advise, "With your method of training, perhaps they'll all become excellent fighters. But the battlefield isn't a martial arena. No matter how capable these men become, can they truly stand against an army?"

Gu Yun swallowed the last mouthful of bun and replied indifferently, "The Su family army has never lacked warriors who can kill on the battlefield. What I'm training is a highly mobile, elite strike force."

Different goals required different methods.

"Special forces?" Han Shu frowned. What kind of unit was that?

The soldiers, having eaten their fill, lay scattered across the grass, utterly spent from the morning's drills. Gu Yun silently observed—only a handful remained upright, and even fewer still looked energized. Among them were Ge Jingyun and Leng Xiao.

She smiled faintly. These two had potential—they were worth honing.

When Gu Yun didn't answer for a while, Han Shu asked again, more impatiently, "Just what are special forces?"

Gu Yun stretched, leaning back against a tree, her voice tinged with pride. "They're units tasked with special missions. Sometimes, war calls for overwhelming numbers. Other times, you need precision strikes. For sabotage, reconnaissance, espionage, even assassination and abduction—you'll understand their value then. Out of these men, fewer than fifty might meet my standards. But I'll make sure each one is a warrior who can stand against a thousand."

Han Shu finally understood the concept, but at her bold claim, he sneered, "Impossible!"

He could believe one could match a hundred—but a thousand? Ridiculous.

Seeing the break was nearly over, Gu Yun didn't bother to argue. With a faint, dismissive smile, she said, "Just because you can't, doesn't mean I can't. Watch and see."

What an arrogant woman! Han Shu stared, wide-eyed, but Gu Yun rose briskly and strode toward the resting soldiers.

"Form ranks!" she shouted.

Those who heard scrambled to their feet. Some, too exhausted to wake, continued snoring on the ground—until Gu Yun delivered a hard kick to their stomachs, drawing groans of pain.

When the formation was finally assembled, Gu Yun snapped, "From now on, if you take more than ten seconds to form ranks, you'll be kicking tree trunks a hundred times!"

How long was ten seconds? The men exchanged glances but dared not provoke the tigress. Best to stay far, far away from her.

Pointing toward a distant mountain, she declared, "There's a cliff three li ahead. Ge Jingyun, take fifty men to carry the ropes. The rest—move out at a run!"

"Yes!"

This time, no one hesitated. No one dared to question what she was planning.

Han Shu hesitated, then followed. He too wanted to know what she planned to do with so many ropes.

Soon, they arrived at the cliff she had mentioned—a side peak of the rear mountain. Not very tall, about six or seven zhang, but steep and sheer, like a wall. The rocky face was so smooth and barren that even trees couldn't take root.

Standing at the base of the cliff, the soldiers grew uneasy. What new madness was she about to inflict on them?

She didn't keep them guessing for long. Pointing at the cliff face, she commanded, "Those who can climb it bare-handed—step forward."

Bare-handed? A collective gasp rose from the troops. They stared at the bare cliff, stunned—was she serious? Unless one was a martial arts master, that was suicide!

Even Han Shu looked at her in disbelief. Was she trying to get them killed? It wasn't high, but a fall from that height could be fatal.

Silence fell.

Then, a few actually stepped forward.

Naturally, Ge Jingyun and Leng Xiao were among them, followed by a dozen more strapping young men. Their builds showed their strength and confidence.

Twenty in total.

Gu Yun silently counted, betraying no emotion.

"To each of you, one hemp rope," she instructed.

Twenty men, twenty ropes in hand.

Gu Yun pointed to two massive, ancient trees at the mountain's summit, their thick branches jutting beyond the cliff. "Figure out how to loop your ropes over those branches and return the other end to me."

Loop it over? The ropes were only thumb-thick—strong but soft. How were they supposed to reach trees six or seven zhang high?

Gu Yun said nothing more, simply stood to the side and waited.

Ge Jingyun studied the height carefully, then approached the cliff and began swinging his rope in wide circles.

Gu Yun admired his thinking—he intended to use momentum to sling the rope over. With a rope this light, he needed considerable arm strength.

Sure enough, after dozens of swings, he let go. The rope soared like a silver snake, wrapped around a branch, and fluttered back down.

Success.

But that didn't mean the others could replicate it.

Leng Xiao pondered for a moment, then rummaged through the rocks at the cliff's base. He found a fist-sized stone, tied it to one end of his rope, and hurled it upward. The stone carried the rope easily over the branch and fell back down.

Gu Yun's lips curved into a faint smile. Well done. She…