Chapter 534
Chapter 534
The probability of being born with a blank bloodline was about one in five hundred. Across the entire capital and its surrounding prefectures and counties, that amounted to roughly six thousand people. However, some had already died, and others were still minors. The number of those with blank bloodlines who had been fortunate enough to survive to adulthood totaled just over two thousand. King Ning Yuanxian had engaged in a month-long charade with the King of Chu, and in that time, Shen Lang had painstakingly located these two thousand-plus individuals. The public recruitment drive on the streets was merely a performance. All the while, Shen Lang had been compiling a register detailing the information of every person with a blank bloodline.
Initially, Shen Lang had sought them out simply to win the battle on the border, but over the month, he had heard and seen too many of their tragic stories. The very lives of these people with blank bloodlines were so pitiful that Shen Lang was determined to save them with all his might. Besides, they were not truly foolish. They merely suffered from depression, had peculiar tempers, and possessed extremely introverted and sensitive personalities. Shen Lang even discovered that they were, in fact, intelligent, but their social skills were practically nonexistent. They lacked even the ability to hold a normal conversation. Shen Lang couldn't understand why they were born this way, but these traits were common to all who possessed a blank bloodline.
Even on modern Earth, people with such social disabilities exist; in some places, they are even classified as mentally ill. Shen Lang was not a man who loved humanity, nor did he love the common people. Human nature is complex; the debate over whether people are inherently good or inherently evil had raged for thousands of years without a conclusion. Shen Lang fundamentally believed that people were generally wicked, which was perhaps why he treated them with such coldness and severity.
Yet, for these two thousand-odd individuals with blank bloodlines, Shen Lang felt boundless affection. His desire to save their destinies was even greater than his desire to win. In fact, in less than ten days, Shen Lang had already gathered two thousand—a sufficient number—but his register still listed several hundred more. So, Shen Lang mobilized more time, manpower, and resources to find and rescue every last one of them.
Those with blank bloodlines seemed to have a mental defect. However, their natures were pure, as if devoid of malice. They possessed a genuine kindness that was harmless to anyone. Take Wang Dai, for example. It took Shen Lang three days to rescue him. When he sent people to Wang Dai's home, the man was already gone. When asked about his whereabouts, his parents lied, insisting he had married into another family as a live-in son-in-law.
The female warrior Shen Lang sent was straightforward and knew nothing of deceit, so she believed them and asked for the address of the family he had supposedly joined. Wang Dai's parents actually wrote down an address for her. The female warrior under Shen Lang's command then traveled two hundred li away to find him. But the family there said they had never taken in a man named Wang Dai as a son-in-law. The two female warriors returned and pressed Wang Dai's parents, demanding to know where they had sent him.
At that, Wang Dai's father refused to speak, and his mother just wept. Wang Yi's wife caused a commotion and tried to drive them away. When the female warrior pressed her again, Wang Yi's wife finally admitted they had abandoned Wang Dai in a barren field and that he was probably dead by now. Enraged, the female warriors broke both of Wang Yi's legs, and only then did they learn the specific location where Wang Dai had been abandoned. They went there and managed to rescue him.
And there were dozens more like Wang Dai. It took Shen Lang over half a month, but he finally managed to gather all two thousand three hundred and eighty-nine of them. However, several dozen had already perished before Shen Lang could reach them. They died in woodsheds or in desolate fields. Their deaths were nothing short of a human tragedy.
* * *
The two thousand three hundred-odd individuals with blank bloodlines were first brought to Marquis Zhangping's estate in Yingcheng. Shen Lang did not impose the strict discipline of soldiers on them. Instead, he first gave each person five new sets of clothes. He then had countless dishes of duck, fish, and various other meats brought in. Every day, they ate their fill of white rice, steamed buns (plain, unfilled buns eaten like rice with various dishes), vegetables, and meat. Compared to their days at home, it was like being in paradise. The reason for this generosity was that they all needed to recover their strength first.
Ordinary people, having gone from hell to heaven, would have fawned over Shen Lang and flattered him to the skies. But these people with blank bloodlines did not. When given the clothes, they were at first reluctant to wear them, finding them too precious. Later, when they did change into the new garments, they moved with great care. If a spot got even slightly dirty, they would meticulously pat it clean.
Every meal featured dishes with fish, pork, chicken, duck, beef, and lamb. Yet, they all ate mostly vegetables, leaving the meat dishes for others. No matter how much their mouths watered, they held back and refrained from eating the meat. After two meals, large quantities of duck, chicken, beef, lamb, and pork were left untouched.
At first, Shen Lang and his companions were surprised, wondering if they simply disliked meat. But they soon realized it wasn't that they didn't want to eat it; they felt it was too precious to eat. Consequently, Shen Lang ordered a change from communal-style dining to individually portioned meals. He specified the amount of rice, vegetables, and meat each person should have per meal, adding that they could have more if they were still hungry. As a result, everyone finished their portions, but still, no one asked for more.
Three days later, Shen Lang paid them their first month's salary: thirty silver taels per person. This was an enormous sum for them, and a considerable amount even for an ordinary person. But when the salaries were distributed, they all refused to accept the money, forcing Shen Lang to press it upon them. The next morning, however, he discovered a small mountain of silver coins piled up inside the building. All two thousand of them had returned their money. Wu Lie, a man with a heart of stone, could no longer hold back his tears upon seeing this, and many of the female warriors wept as well. They had never imagined such simple, good-hearted people existed in the world. They were like the most obedient and well-behaved children.
Ku Touhuan was an incredibly harsh man; the ten brothers of the Lan clan were beaten half to death by him daily, making them question the meaning of life. Ku Touhuan's method of training soldiers was to beat them to within an inch of their lives. But when he heard that Shen Lang had found the most obedient soldiers he had ever seen, he went to observe them himself. Afterward, he concluded that they needed no instruction or discipline whatsoever.
After being brought together, these two thousand-plus individuals acted as one, always staying together. They obeyed any and every command. They didn't even need to be ordered; they always did their best. Dressing, washing clothes, folding blankets—if you showed them how to do something once, they would immediately imitate it perfectly. Despite being a group of over two thousand, they remained silent and spoke little, never engaging in idle chatter. And yet, the atmosphere was incredibly harmonious.
These were extremely sensitive people who valued emotions above all else. Without exchanging words, they developed a fondness for one another, soon beginning to silently care for and help each other. Because they were the simplest of people, capable of cherishing even an animal like a dog as if it were their own life, how could they not do the same when they met their own kind?
The supreme commander, Ku Touhuan, stopped treating them with his usual ferocity and harshness. His gaze grew gentle, and he began to treat them with kindness and patience. For the first ten days, he didn't modify their bloodlines. Instead, they practiced forming ranks, distinguishing left from right, and holding formations. Shen Lang knew how difficult it was for a new army to form orderly ranks, march, and execute commands like "left face," "right face," and "about-face." It wasn't hard for one person, but for over two thousand to perform these movements in unison and with perfect order was exceptionally difficult. Moreover, these were people who had never received any form of education in their lives.
But the results they achieved left Shen Lang and Ku Touhuan utterly astonished. They learned at an incredible speed, truly astonishingly fast. In just three days, they had mastered all the formations. Commands like "forward march," "left face," "right face," and "about-face" were executed in perfect order, without a single person making a mistake. Furthermore, during training, they were all extremely focused and serious. It seemed they poured one hundred and twenty percent of their energy into even the smallest task. Ku Touhuan praised them endlessly.
“Young Master, I have never in my life met such fine soldiers. They are all serious, focused in training, and impeccably disciplined and obedient. It's almost unbelievable how outstanding every single one of them is. If you give them strength, they will undoubtedly become the greatest soldiers in the world. They are true, invincible elite troops. Do you know what is most important in an army? Courage, focus, discipline, unity, and finally, strength. But our soldiers have mastered the first few qualities to perfection.”
Shen Lang knew their intelligence was decent, but not to the point of being brilliant. The reason they learned so quickly was their intense focus and sincerity. From a young age, they had been mistreated and even abandoned by their parents and families. Therefore, whatever they did, they gave it their all to achieve the best possible result. They believed that this was the only way their families might come to like them, even a little. However, they appeared abnormal on the outside and couldn't hold a proper conversation. On top of that, their bodies were too weak to perform any task.
“Young Master, they are like people sent to us from heaven. If we can successfully modify their bloodlines, I am certain they will become the finest, strongest army within a few months. If their bloodlines are successfully modified, they won't even need supreme strength. Even if they are just fifty percent stronger than an ordinary person, they will be able to defeat five thousand elite soldiers from the State of Chu.”