EFB Chapter 5: Promotion to Guardian, Selection of Weapons
Chapter 5: Promotion to Guardian, Selection of Weapons
The following day, in the west courtyard.
The first moment of Mao hour.
Chen Yu and Shi Le arrived at the courtyard gate early to wait.
Fifteen minutes later, Zhuang Fangyuan also arrived.
Another quarter of an hour passed before Zhao Dashan finally arrived at a leisurely pace.
"You lot, come in with me."
After Zhao Dashan led them into the courtyard, they turned several corners and arrived at a room.
Pushing open the door, one sees a man in white sitting at a long table, wielding a calligraphy brush and writing.
The man in white was well-off, with full cheeks, clearly the result of years of good food and drink.
In contrast, Chen Yu and his two companions were covered in dust and dirt, each one thinner than the last.
Zhao Dashan said a few words to him and then left.
The man in white put down his pen and said with a smile, "Greetings, brothers. My name is Ding Wuyou, and I'm in charge of receiving people in the West Courtyard."
As he spoke, Ding Wuyou took out three documents from the bookshelf next to him.
"This is a 'bondage contract.' You were born into the Song family as servants. Even if you become guards, you will be slaves for life and cannot be redeemed."
Chen Yu took the document and was about to study it when he embarrassingly discovered that he didn't recognize the characters on it!
Damn it! Ever since I came to this world, I've been working in the servants' quarters and haven't had the chance to come into contact with anything like written letters.
I only realized today that I am illiterate.
Shi Le and Zhuang Fangyuan were also scratching their heads and looking at each other, apparently illiterate as well.
This is normal, though, since he was born into a household slave family and had so many chores to do that he had no time to read or write.
Seemingly noticing their predicament, Ding Wuyou coughed lightly and said, "Let me read the contents aloud, and you can see if it's correct."
"The person who made this contract, Chen Yu, is now a bodyguard for the Song family. He agrees to the following: 1. He must wholeheartedly protect his master and must not disobey any orders from his master, nor retreat in the face of danger; 2. He must behave properly and must not steal property or spy on his master's secrets; 3. He must not associate with outsiders and must not have close ties with people from the martial arts world..."
"This contract is valid indefinitely. The monthly salary is one tael, and bonuses will be calculated separately."
After Ding Wuyou finished reading, he looked at the three people and said, "If there are no problems, please sign your names. If you can't write, you can leave a fingerprint."
Shi Le and Zhuang Fangyuan signed the document one after the other. Chen Yu didn't take it seriously and wasn't worried about any problems with the contract. He pressed his fingerprint on the document.
There's no point in thinking about it any further now.
Weak and powerless, even without a contract, one can only be manipulated by others.
Once you have enough strength, the so-called contract will be nothing more than a piece of paper.
Only strong military force can provide a secure livelihood.
Ding Wuyou carefully put away the contract and led the three to the storeroom.
They distributed clothes, bedding, waist tags, keys, and other items to each person. After that, they led them to a row of tiled houses.
"This is where you'll be staying. Each person has their own dormitory room." As he spoke, Ding Wuyou pointed around with his finger. "The water room is on the east side, the dining hall is on the south side, and the outhouse is in the northwest corner."
"Alright, that's all. It's almost lunchtime, so you can all rest for a bit and then go eat. We'll assign you tasks when the head of the compound arrives this afternoon."
After Ding Wuyou finished speaking, he left, and Zhuang Fangyuan and Shi Le also went to find their respective dormitories.
Chen Yu glanced at the number on his waist tag, which read "C18".
The room in front of me was "C-9". Following the clues, I quickly found my room.
The room wasn't large; it contained a bed made of wooden planks and mud bricks, covered with a worn-out straw mat.
There was a chipped wooden table by the window, with a candle and a flint on it, and two wooden basins underneath.
After quickly tidying up, he couldn't wait to head to the canteen.
The canteen here is indeed much better than the servants' quarters.
The mess hall in the servants' quarters had earthen walls and platforms, and there wasn't even a place to sit down and eat. Everyone squatted by the wall and ate cornbread.
The guards' canteen was spacious and bright, with long tables and chairs neatly arranged, so people could sit or stand to eat as they pleased.
The dishes weren't particularly luxurious, but they included both meat and vegetables, and rice and steamed buns were unlimited.
Chen Yu filled a large bowl with white rice, ordered some stewed meat, radish, and fermented bean curd, and finally poured a large spoonful of meat broth over the rice before returning to his seat to eat.
He picked up a piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
The meat was tender and juicy, with an aroma that filled Chen Yu's brain, moving him to tears.
Finally, we can eat meat! Thinking back to the miserable days we spent in the servants' quarters.
……
In the afternoon, the head of the compound, a state security officer, made arrangements for the three men's whereabouts.
The guardhouse had four rooms in total: a gatehouse for checking people and communicating between inside and outside; a warehouse for guarding grain, silver and weapons; a patrol room for patrolling and preventing thieves; and a training room for training the servants in martial arts.
The training room mainly hired martial arts instructors and rarely selected people from among the household servants, while the other three rooms were mostly staffed by people who came from household servant backgrounds.
Zhuang Fangyuan, who was relatively strong and could serve as a figurehead, was assigned to the gatehouse.
Chen Yu and Shi Le went to the night patrol room and worked under two different squad leaders.
After the division of labor was clearly defined, Ding Wuyou led them to the warehouse to collect their weapons.
The warehouse contained everything imaginable: swords, spears, halberds, and all sorts of weapons.
As Chen Yu went back and forth selecting weapons, he brought up the [Weapon Slot] and tried equipping them one by one.
[Weapon]: Damaged Longsword
[Description]: An ordinary, standard iron sword, rusted from years of poor maintenance.
[Quality]: Unacceptable
[Equipment Requirements]: Strength greater than or equal to 2.5 jin (approximately 1.25 kg).
[Equipment Effect]: Toughness +6%, Sharpness +11%, 0.82% chance to inflict Tetanus with each attack.
Upon seeing the equipment's effects, Chen Yu couldn't help but shake his head.
This thing seems to have pretty good special effects and can inflict abnormal statuses, but it's essentially a godsend for lucky players. If you're unlucky, you'll have to hit it countless times to trigger the effect.
If I had the ability to launch multiple attacks in an instant, then I might still be able to use it, but I clearly don't have that ability right now.
He put down the iron sword and continued to examine the other weapons.
[Weapon]: Blood Droplet
[Description]: The edges are as thin as willow leaves, and the inner side is covered with sharp teeth. It can fly three zhang (approximately 10 meters) and take a person's head.
[Quality]: Low-grade Tier 2
[Equipment Requirements]: Strength greater than or equal to one jin (approximately 500 grams), eyesight greater than or equal to three zhang (approximately 10 meters).
[Equipment Effect]: Flight speed +26%, Sharpness +17%, Accuracy +23%, Can be poisoned.
Chen Yu looked at it and wasn't entirely satisfied.
The Blood Droplet is good for sneak attacks, but not very useful in direct combat. It's also quite difficult to use, so it's not really suitable for me.
[Weapon]: Eyebrow-high staff
[Description]: The weapon used by temple warrior monks in formation; the staff is level with their eyebrows, and their hearts are aligned with the Buddha.
[Quality]: Low Grade 3
[Equipment Requirements]: Strength greater than or equal to four jin, basic staff techniques
[Equipment Effect]: Attack range +15%. Within a four-zhang radius, for each user of the eyebrow-level staff, attack speed +5%, up to a maximum of +45%.
The staff that reaches the eyebrows requires multiple people to work together to be effective, and it's not really suitable for me now.
Besides, I haven't even mastered the basics of stick fighting, so I can't use it.
I looked at more than a dozen weapons, but none of them seemed very useful.
Zhuang Fangyuan and Shi Le had already picked out their weapons and left.
Chen Yu is still trying them out one by one.
Walking all the way to the deepest part of the warehouse, they suddenly found a dusty dagger in a corner.
[Weapon]: Pig-slaughtering knife
[Description]: This knife has killed thousands of pigs and people. Every notch on the blade represents a blood sacrifice.
[Quality]: Mid-grade, Tier 2
[Equipment Requirements]: Strength greater than or equal to three jin, basic swordsmanship.
[Equipment Effect]: Increases damage against beast targets by 30%, ignores 15% of the defense of obese targets, and inflicts "Bleeding" on the first hit, reducing the target's Strength by 10%, Mobility by 18%, and HP loss by 1.2% per minute.
Chen Yu raised the knife and examined it carefully.
Although it's not some kind of divine weapon, it's still better than the previous ones. I've tried all the weapons in this warehouse, and it seems like none of them are as useful as this.
The warehouse manager was getting impatient and started urging them on.
Chen Yu didn't dawdle any longer, selected the butcher knife, and walked out of the room.
Outside the door, Ding Wuyou was still there. He needed to confirm the weapons each person had chosen so that he could register them in the roster.
He was astonished when he saw the weapon Chen Yu had chosen.
"You spent ages picking this thing?"
Chen Yu nodded.
"Are you sure you want to use this? It's basically a butcher's knife. You're going to use something like this to protect your house?"
Chen Yu, of course, wouldn't tell him about the hidden secrets, but simply replied firmly, "I'm sure, I'll use this one."
"All right."
Seeing this, Ding Wuyou said no more.
Although he didn't understand, he still chose to respect other people's ideas.
After all, everyone is suited to different weapons, and perhaps someone can actually carve a bloody path with a butcher's knife.