"You weren't lying. The county magistrate used you as a scapegoat to close old cases. All the unsolved murders from before were pinned on you."
Old Liu didn't believe you at all when he heard this. He casually rummaged through your luggage and found the sentencing document inside.
After reading it, he snorted with a derisive laugh, stood up, and neatly arranged your bedding. He even moved the quilt from the guy next to you onto your bed.
"Boss Chen, you don't know. The south gets cold in winter too. Those bastards in charge of military supplies skim off the top at every level. The cotton quilts they issue us barely have any cotton in them. You should cover yourself with an extra one to avoid the cold."
The guy whose quilt was forcibly taken had a bitter look on his face.
"Boss Old Liu, I..."
"What boss! I'm the second-in-command now! You share a quilt with Er Niu tonight. Sleeping together will keep you both warm."
Er Niu looked shy and nodded. "I'm okay with it..."
Seeing this, you felt you needed to be careful with your back when sleeping at night. You weren't afraid of a comrade stabbing you in the back with a knife; you were afraid it wouldn't be a knife.
Fourth year, age twenty-one.
(For unused traits, Liu Zi won't write them. You all know the protagonist drew one~)
Thanks to the official endorsement in the county yamen's sentencing document stating you had "killed over a hundred people," all the soldiers in the Labor Battalion knew you were a ruthless man.
Coupled with your "unintentional" display of a trace of martial artist cultivation, your intimidation factor was even higher.
Not only did they not dare to provoke you, they sometimes even tried to curry favor with you.
You almost never ran out of things like food, drink, and daily necessities.
Originally, the lives of soldiers who had been conscripted as convicts were quite harsh, but you felt it was still bearable.
If you could just lay low in the military camp, slowly train to improve your cultivation, live a few more years to draw traits, then this simulation could be considered a completed mission.
You weren't really considering earning merits for now.
This was a cold-weapon army. What kind of merit could you earn without risking your life?
However, this was a border army. Facing the harassment from the various kingdoms of the Southern Borderlands, going into battle was unavoidable.
Fortunately, your Labor Battalion didn't need to go directly to the front lines; you basically did miscellaneous chores within the camp.
Sometimes during marches, you would encounter enemy troops, and there were times when the camp itself was attacked by the enemy.
Whenever that happened, veterans like Old Liu would teach you how to survive by shirking.
Eating rotten food to get diarrhea and avoid battle early.
Playing dead during the fight, even cutting yourself a few times to make it look real.
Cross-dressing. Sometimes the enemy would keep women alive to vent their desires.
You learned a lot from following people like Old Liu, making it much easier to lay low in the camp.
Fifth year, age twenty-two.
You had gradually adapted to military camp life.
Whenever you had free time, you would silently practice your martial arts.
One day, while passing by the new recruits' camp, you saw a man with a pockmarked face.
Your Photographic Memory allowed you to remember the faces of everyone you had ever seen.
So you recognized him.
You distinctly remembered that about a year ago, during a march when you were ambushed by the Southern Borderlands army, this pockmarked-faced man was a mounted archer among the enemy troops.
"A spy?"
You couldn't be sure.
The camp was iron, the soldiers were water. In feudal society, it was normal for soldiers to flow to the enemy country.
Because many people became soldiers just for a mouthful of food.
If this side couldn't provide it, they'd go to the other side.
Those with a sense of patriotism were not many.
You didn't immediately go to expose him. Instead, you kept swapping tasks with brothers in the Labor Battalion to keep an eye on this pockmarked-faced man.
It wasn't to earn merit, but because you were afraid he might cause trouble that would get you killed.
If the enemy attacked from outside, you could more or less be prepared. Having a spy by your side ready to stab you in the back was truly unexpected.
You might just go to sleep, or have a meal, and then be gone. That would make life far too nerve-wracking.
After the pockmarked-faced man finished training in the new recruits' camp, he was assigned to the Firearms Battalion.
You noticed he actively applied to be a gunpowder keeper.
The Firearms Battalion commander agreed.
You instantly understood what he wanted to do.
It was a dark and windy night.
There had been no military engagements for the past few months, so the soldiers' vigilance had dropped considerably.
In the gunpowder storehouse where open flames were strictly forbidden, the pockmarked-faced man, holding a torch, slipped inside, taking advantage of his duty.
"Hehehe... This explosion will be enough to throw the Great Qian army into disarray. Without gunpowder, their firearms will be useless. The elephant corps of my Great Shi Kingdom will face no more resistance!"
The pockmarked-faced man manually twisted a fuse and threw the torch onto it.
After lighting it, he quickly ran far away, crouched in the distance, and waited for the explosion.
"Huh?"
"Are you wondering why it hasn't exploded yet?"
Hearing your voice ring out behind him, the pockmarked-faced man was startled!
He scrambled up to run, only to find himself surrounded by you and a group of Labor Battalion soldiers.
"Seize this spy for me!"
At your command, Old Liu and the others rushed forward and, in a few quick moves, tied the guy up securely.
Your group brought the spy to the commander's tent.
"Salutations, General!"
The commanding general of this border army was named Sun Cheng'en. He wore black iron armor, his imposing presence commanding respect even without anger, and he exuded a powerful martial artist aura that inspired fear.
"I never expected a few conscripted convict soldiers from the Labor Battalion to actually catch a spy."
After you realized the spy's intention, you had reported it to Sun Cheng'en.
Although the process was rather troublesome, because a mere Labor Battalion soldier wasn't allowed to meet the general face-to-face.
Fortunately, Sun Cheng'en was sharp-minded and didn't stand on ceremony. Hearing you making a commotion outside his tent, he summoned you.
He didn't believe you on the spot. He just secretly moved the gunpowder elsewhere, left the gunpowder storehouse as it was, to see if the spy would expose himself, and also to see if you were lying.
Luckily, this spy made his move. Otherwise, if you had falsely reported military intelligence, you would definitely have been punished under military law.
"Although you have rendered service, I cannot record it as official merit for you. Because you are all lawbreakers sent here as punishment. In essence, you are convicts. The laws of our Great Qian Dynasty state that convicts cannot be credited with merit."
Old Liu immediately knelt down.
"General! Actually, many of us brothers were wronged back in our hometowns! These local officials plunder and extort, pass arbitrary judgments, and bully us common folk who have no power or influence..."
"Enough! I am not your County Magistrate. I have no obligation to redress your grievances!"
As he raised his tone, the air pressure inside the tent seemed to drop along with it. No one inside dared to breathe loudly.
"However, don't think you're being wronged either. While I won't record merit, I can still give you rewards."
Sun Cheng'en waved his hand. His deputy general brought over some silver ingots and gave one to each of you.
Do you want this reward?
Yes! Only a fool turns down money! No! Serving the country faithfully is the duty of every subject of Great Qian! No, but I want something else...
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