Qi Kuo

When the sun was shining at noon, Chen Ke had just arrived at the station.

He looked at the neatly lined up teams on both sides, got off his horse, handed the reins to the guards who came up, and inspected as usual.

Zhao Jun followed Chen Ke, looked at Chen Ke's back intently, and thought: Why can't you see it on weekdays...

I can't see it, it's the same style as I first saw at that time.

Exactly the same.

When Zhao Jun saw Chen Ke that day, he felt that this general looked a lot different from the general he had in mind. Later, he became friends and brothers, and he felt that Chen Ke was also somewhat different from the cold general in his heart. It became what it is now.

Up and down, hot and cold.

Can't figure it out, can't catch it.

Later, he learned to follow their rhythm, no matter what, they can't be separated.

It wasn't until late at night that Chen Ke had a chance to sit down and take a breath. He looked at Zhao Jun who was standing motionless at the side, and said, "But what did you find?"

Zhao Jun looked up at him, nodded insignificantly, and said: "According to the battle report we got earlier, the enemy has 8 people, but after today's inspection, I roughly estimate that there are about 5000 people, excluding the rear. The cooks and handymen are initially estimated to have an effective combat force of about [-] people."

Chen Ke nodded, motioning for him to continue.

Zhao Jun: "It is reasonable to say that the battle report we received should not be wrong, but the general's first inspection tour, the whole army is supposed to be present, and now we only see 8 people, so if our battle report is correct, it is The remaining 2 of them have been secretly transferred before we came, or they are still in the mountains, but they don’t know what they were sent to do.”

Chen Ke murmured softly, and said in a persuasive manner: "Is there any other discovery?"

Zhao Jun thought for a while, and said: "There are ten hidden posts along the way, and they are stationed every other incense stick. There are eight guards in one team."

Chen Ke nodded, propping his head with his right hand, with a slight smile in his eyes, and said: "It's almost the same as I thought, but there is one thing that you haven't noticed."

Zhao Jun raised his eyebrows: "Huh?"

Chen Ke pointed to the southwest, and said, "Do you still remember?"

Zhao Jun frowned slightly, thought for a while, and thought that there was nothing wrong with it, and said, "I don't remember."

Chen Ke beckoned him to come over, and immediately said to him: "Go out and call someone to bring me food."

Zhao Jun understood, turned around, opened the curtain and went out, turned his body slightly, looked at the southwest without any trace, and said to the guards standing aside: "Go and get some food for the general."

The guard clasped his fists to lead the order, and Zhao Jun stood there, seemingly casually waiting for the guard to come back, but actually stared at the southwest.

Seeing that Zhao Jun still didn't leave, the remaining guard first stood up straight to show himself, and then saw Zhao Jun leaning against the tent without sticking to one pattern. He himself has a high position and I don't know how many people feel very kind, so they start talking.

Guard: "The little general is waiting to send it back, and you bring it in yourself?"

Zhao Jun was originally immersed in his own world, but when he interrupted him so abruptly, he came back to his senses and smiled: "Well, thank you for your hard work."

How could the guards have been treated like this on weekdays? A few days ago, when Chen Ke and the man in front of him were about to come up, their brothers were discussing how fierce Chen Ke was, and how superior his personal guards were. Don't get close, but from his current impression, this general Chen is not so fierce, and of course this personal guard is even more kind.

His heart relaxed, and he said again: "General Tiaoai, how can we work as hard as you?"

Zhao Jun looked at him, turned his head slightly, and said: "Brothers are joking, the general once said that we are only sitting in the rear, and the real decision of life and death depends on the soldiers who are fighting in the fire on the front line. In comparison, the soldiers work harder." .”

The guard was surprised. He didn't expect Chen Ke to think this way, and he trusted Chen Ke a little more in his heart, and said: "The general is joking, this is my job, so let's talk about hard work."

Zhao Jun smiled slightly, like the warm winter sun. After hearing this, he just said: "Since that's the case, let's not talk about hard work. In detail, you have guarded us all night, and your credit is greater."

The guard felt warm in his heart, and was about to say something when the person who went to bring the food came back.

Zhao Jun stood up straight, took it with a slight bow, and said, "It's hard work."

The man was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "No hard work, no hard work!"

Zhao Jun still smiled slightly, lifted the curtain and walked in with his things.

The soldiers who were still there in a daze were pushed back by the guards just now and stood up, saying: "I think he is not bad."

The stunned man came back to his senses, and said: "It's more than good, since I was born, I haven't had that little general treat me like this! He still bent and picked it up with both hands!!"

The guard who stayed behind patted him and said, "Don't get excited, I'll tell you something more exciting when the shift changes!"

Hearing what his brother said, the guard immediately became interested, and immediately stood up straight, guarding this small world solemnly and strictly.

Chen Ke took the food box from Zhao Jun's hand, but didn't eat it, and asked him directly: "How is it?"

Zhao Jun shook his head: "I didn't see it."

Chen Ke said: "It's okay, I don't blame you, I tell you, if you want to see what is different in an army in the future, you can look at their speed of defense change, or the number of people, or the distribution density of soldiers. In other words, if there is an entire army that has not been divided, their rotation and deployment are basically the same, and the number of small teams is also the same, which is easier to manage... so, understand?"

Zhao Jun nodded and said, "I'll go and have a look."

Chen Ke handed him the food box, and Zhao Jun took it, and went out again with the food box that hadn't moved at all.

The guard just now saw Zhao Jun coming out with a food box, and asked, "Why so fast?"

Zhao Jundao: "The general fell asleep and didn't eat. Thank you brother for your concern."

The guard waved his hand and said embarrassedly: "The little general was joking, so shall I bring it back to you?"

Zhao Jun smiled and handed over the food box, saying, "I'm sorry to bother you little brother."

The guard scratched his head and smiled honestly: "It's okay, it's okay."

Zhao Jun still stood there waiting for him to come back, and the rest of the guards asked him again, "Little General, dare to ask, General Chen is not fierce..."

Zhao Jun felt that the guard might be a little careless. Why did he ask this question to a soldier? Could it be because of the proximity to the water? !But he still said: "No, it's pretty good."

The guard breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good, that's good."

Zhao Jun felt that he might be laughed to death if he continued, so he said, "Aren't you going to change shifts?"

The guard said excitedly: "We only watch at night, so we won't change shifts."

Zhao Jun nodded: "That's fine." After speaking, he reached out and patted the guard's shoulder, and said: "Then you must guard well, the general must rely on your guards."

The guard suddenly felt that he had taken the lead, patted his chest, and said, "Don't worry, little general! We will definitely do it!"

Zhao Jun smiled, and seeing the guard who had gone out came back, he raised his hand and lifted the curtain to go in.

Chen Ke put down the water glass in his hand and asked, "How is it?"

Zhao Jun nodded: "Well, on average, they change defenses every cup of tea. There are ten people in each team. Compared with the average, the density is higher."

Chen Ke hummed, and said: "Okay, go back to sleep, if you have time tomorrow, go to the southwest corner and have a look, maybe you can gain something."

Zhao Jun answered yes, then turned and went back.

The next day, Zhao Jun temporarily bypassed everyone's sight by going down the mountain and ran towards the back mountain in the southwest corner.

He hid himself in a bush and calculated the gap for changing defenses, then climbed up a big tree and waited secretly.

After waiting for about half a cup of tea, he found the right time and jumped down from the tree, and landed silently behind the last soldier. He quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hand, and forcefully pushed the man's neck to the ground. Twist hard to the left.

The soldier in front noticed the movement behind him, so he turned his head to look, and saw his brother squatting on the ground, as if arranging the shoes on his feet, but he didn't care, turned and left again.

When the person had gone so far, Zhao Jun got out from the haystack on the side, dragged the person in, and took off the armor on the person, comparing the size, and felt that he should put it on. When there was a problem, he took off his coat, put on his battle armor, put on his helmet, and bought his own clothes with haystacks. By the way, he pushed the body of the guard down the hill until he couldn't see it.

When Zhao Jun caught up with the team, the person standing in front of him turned around and asked him, "Where have you been and why did you come back?"

Zhao Jun pointed to his throat, indicating that his voice was hoarse, and then coughed in a pretentious manner.

The man understood what he meant, and didn't ask him any more. Instead, he took a water bottle from his waist, handed it to him, and said, "Drink some, it will feel better."

Zhao Jun didn't understand their dialect at first, but he could still understand the basic things.So he took the kettle and lowered his head to unscrew it.

Although the guard felt that his brother was a little different from usual, he thought it might be because he was too tired and caught the cold, so it was right not to talk, so he turned around and went his own way.

Seeing him turn around, Zhao Jun closed the lid of the kettle. Seeing that the station was close in front of him, he adjusted his voice a little, and said hoarsely: "It's convenient for me to go."

The guard felt that his accent was a bit strange, but thinking that his throat was uncomfortable, he felt that it was nothing, so he said, "Go and come back quickly."

Zhao Jun nodded and ran towards the camp.

After he successfully entered the camp, he ran into a problem again, and it was difficult to find someone to ask, so he turned around in the camp by himself.

Just when Zhao Jun wanted to pass through a tent, he heard conversations coming from inside.

A somewhat old voice said: "Chen Ke probably didn't expect it now."

Another voice said: "You can't tell. It's not that you and I haven't seen Chen Ke's methods. It's better to be careful."

The old voice said again: "You said we made the flaw so obvious this time, will he come?"

"I don't know, but he should have inquired about the situation here before he came, and I'm not sure if it will make him suspicious."

"Ignore these things for now, but you must do enough superficial skills, otherwise it will be troublesome for Chen Ke to notice that."

"I know."

"Okay, be careful yourself, don't let people find out, or it will be very troublesome."

"Ah."

Zhao Jun could tell that the younger voice was Jiang Buqing, but the old voice didn't sound like a local from Shuzhou, nor from the Central Plains, so he couldn't tell, but Zhao Jun somehow felt familiar.

He wanted to continue listening, but unexpectedly someone passed by, so he quickly turned around, as if he was busy with something.

After the person passed by, he quickly went back in the direction he had come from.

Chen Ke sat there, listening casually to the reports of the subordinates under his control. He seemed to be serious, but he knew that he was thinking about Zhao Jun.

Someone opened the curtain and came in. Chen Ke raised his head when he heard the sound, and saw that Zhao Jun came in wearing a battle armor. Then he saw a large number of people sitting on the ground, his face froze, and he quickly turned and went out.

Those people turned their heads, looked at the still shaking curtains, and looked at each other.

Chen Ke thought for a while, coughed, and made everyone turn their heads to look at him, then said softly: "Okay, let's go back... Yes, I'll go see your training situation tomorrow."

Although his voice was calm, it was powerful.

All the officers and men got up to say goodbye, as if their hearts were bright, and everyone knew that they should go back and hug the Buddha's feet.

Seeing people leaving one after another, Chen Ke raised his voice and said, "Zhao Jun."

After a while, Zhao Jun opened the curtain again and stepped in.

Chen Ke didn't ask him what he found, or anything else, but just looked at the armor on his body and said, "Not bad."

Zhao Jun was stunned for a moment, looked up at him, and asked doubtfully, "Huh?"

The ending sound rises gently, just like a pot of spring water.

Chen Ke cleared his cough again, hesitantly said: "I mean this armor is pretty good."

Zhao Jun said flatly, "Oh."

Chen Ke felt that Zhao Jun's reaction made him a little uneasy, so he added: "Well, you look good in your clothes."

Once again, Zhao Jun said indifferently: "Oh."

Chen Ke felt that his behavior today was a trap, so he obeyed his heart and said, "Actually, I mean, I think this armor looks good because you wear it." After speaking, he nodded slightly with self-affirmation.

Zhao Jun wanted to laugh a little, but he stayed very steady and said again indifferently: "Oh."

Chen Ke felt that his fame might be ruined here, so he changed the subject stiffly: "Have you found anything?"

Zhao Jun hummed, and then said: "It's nothing, they are strong outside, but they should have some kind of premeditation. I heard two people say that they used the southwest corner as a distraction."

Chen Ke nodded: "Okay, I see. By the way, you will go to the barracks with me tomorrow to get familiar with it. By the way, let me check your current sword skills."

Zhao Jun was startled, and immediately said: "Okay."

The second day was a sunny day, the sun was shining brightly, burning hotly in the sky, it was so bright that it was dazzling when one looked up.

Zhao Jun silently followed Chen Ke and walked slowly, while listening to Chen Ke's instructions.

Occasionally I heard Chen Ke say with a smirk: "This army can run like a tortoise." Sometimes I heard him say slowly: "Well, not bad, but the strength needs to be strengthened, you can..." Or his mood Okay, said: "The whole is good, continue."

Sometimes when he heard the soldiers greet him, he would hear him say with a serious but no sense of responsibility: "Yeah."

It counts as an affirmation and a response.

Chen Ke looked at it symbolically, and then noticed that Zhao Jun was following him, the sun was basking in the sun, and it was hot to look at.

He slowed down a little, waiting for Zhao Jun to come over, and now his right hand blocked most of the sunlight for him without a trace.

The sun was scorching hot, and I was sweating hotly, but I felt warm, and it wasn't hard to endure.

Zhao Jun walked for a while before he noticed Chen Ke's move, his heart trembled slightly, but he didn't say anything, but his mind was pulled back.

Chen Ke looked at the soldiers who were training against the straw man in the school yard in the distance, remembered something, and said to Zhao Jun, "Go up and try?"

Zhao Jun squinted his eyes and looked over there, then nodded.

Zhao Jun borrowed a sword from a soldier on the side, tried it a little, and then looked at Chen Ke, indicating that he was ready.

Chen Ke took the sword from the hand of the person standing beside him. The blade of the sword was shining brightly, reflecting the dazzling sun in the sky, dazzling and dazzling, brilliant and dazzling.

Zhao Jun exerted force on his wrist, his fingers tightly gripping the sword in his hand.

Chen Ke smiled slightly, turned his wrist slightly, and his figure passed towards Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun dodged sideways, then turned a slight angle, and the sword in his hand slightly twisted into a sword flower, and attacked Chen Ke's back.

Chen Ke made a backhand move, swung Zhao Jun's sword away, and then forced Zhao Jun back with force.

The soldiers standing at the bottom looked at the two people in the center with bated breath, their figures were extremely fast, only the light of the sword remained in their hands, leaving behind phantoms.

Someone shook his head: "No, this little general's swordsmanship is yet to be considered."

A person next to him glanced at him and said: "Look at the palm of that little general, it doesn't look like you and I have been using swords all year round, and there are not many calluses in the palm of the hand."

The man squinted his eyes and looked at Zhao Jun's hand. After carefully distinguishing it for a long time, he waited until he saw it clearly before saying, "I have to think about it."

No one paid attention to him, just looked at the two people in the middle.

When Chen Ke slashed with his horizontal sword, Zhao Jun bent back and touched his elbows to the ground. Chen Ke's sword narrowly missed him.

Immediately, Zhao Jun put his backhand firmly on the ground, borrowed his strength, turned around very quickly, and stabbed the sword at Chen Ke from his side.

Chen Ke dodged it and turned his elbow towards Zhao Jun's back.

Zhao Jun didn't guard against it, and he suffered the blow. When he was about to turn around, Chen Ke turned the sword and pressed it against his neck. As long as he dared to move, the blade would cut his skin.

Victory and defeat.

Chen Ke let go of the sword, threw it to its original owner, then lowered his head and whispered in Zhao Jun's ear with a slight smile: "From now on, I will supervise you every day and practice with you."

Zhao Jun was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, and said softly, "Okay."

Chen Ke hummed, and was just about to leave, when he heard Zhao Jun asking himself, "Why don't you wear armor?"

Chen Ke's footsteps stagnated slightly, but Zhao Jun didn't see it. His words were purely his own questions, and he never thought about asking Chen Ke the reason. After all, Chen Ke didn't seem to want to say the reason.And he thought he didn't say it, so he didn't care.

For a moment, Chen Ke seemed to see a piece of blood red, staining his eyes red and blurring his vision.

His thumb unconsciously pinched into his palm, a habitual action as if seeking protection.

Zhao Jun lowered his head and thought about his own affairs, but still didn't notice Chen Ke's movements.

At night, everyone ate and drank with Chen Ke and then dispersed. Zhao Jun also left with the flow of people. Chen Ke saw him and said, "Zhao Jun, stay here for a while."

Zhao Jun paused, then walked back.

It wasn't until everyone had left that Chen Ke called him over, and just looked at Zhao Jun so carefully without saying a word.

Zhao Jun was able to bear it at first, but then felt a little guilty for no reason, he thought, I don't seem to have done anything to betray the country and seek glory recently...

When he couldn't hold back and wanted to ask, he opened his mouth, and heard Chen Ke's voice rang in his ears: "Do you want to know why I don't wear armor?"

Zhao Jun was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Chen Ke to be thinking about it. Before he could answer, Chen Ke went on to say: "You know what happened back then, right? Later... you didn't wear it anymore."

Zhao Jun didn't understand, so he hummed in doubt.

Chen Ke seemed to be struggling, and Zhao Jun didn't urge him, but just waited there quietly, just like his usual style of doing things, if you don't want to say something, even if I am confused, I won't ask more.

Zhao Jun was silent, and Chen Ke didn't know whether he should say it or not.

Having said that, it may solve Zhao Jun's doubts, but it may add unnecessary troubles, but let's not say...

He shook his head, and suddenly realized that the night was getting dark.

He stood up, walked over, patted Zhao Jun on the shoulder, and then said: "At that time..." His voice paused, and then he continued, "When he came over, I only knew that there was a battle behind his armor. It was damaged in the battle, so he died... And that day, he came in a hurry and didn't put on his helmet, so... Later, when I touched my armor, I felt... Pain... That's it, I dare not wear it anymore."

Zhao Jun was silent for a long time, and after thinking about it, he opened his mouth and said, "What about now?"

Chen Ke shook his head: "It's the same." He suddenly smiled and said, "Even if one day I really... don't want to wear it anymore."

"Ok?"

"I'm used to it, I don't want to change it anymore, I'm afraid."

Zhao Jun was silent, and then said: "Then have you ever thought that if you wear armor, some injuries can be avoided."

Chen Ke was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood Zhao Junyu's remaining words - if you were not injured, then others would not be so worried.

He sighed softly, unable to tell whether it was helplessness or compromise, and said: "Some things, you know it will happen, but you can't do anything about it, as far as I am concerned, the one just now is something I can't do, maybe It is very easy for you, but for me, it is better than mountains of swords and seas of fire."

Zhao Jun made it clear that he didn't expect him to say this, and he didn't expect him to say it, but he quickly reacted and said, "If you don't wear it, don't wear it. I can't do many things that others can do but I dare not do."

Chen Ke: "Huh?"

Zhao Jun: "Yes."

The author has something to say:

Well, I'm really insane, smile.