A faint sigh of relief escaped Qin Bing's lips. Her gamble—a cocktail of threats and promises—had paid off. With Xiao Ke taking the lead, the rest of the ragged deserters had fallen in line. They were hers to command, all the way to Ginkgo Town.
Right then and there, she made it official, appointing Xiao Ke and four other grizzled veterans as Decurions. The remaining forty-five soldiers were split into five squads under their new commanders.
A thrill shot through Xiao Ke. In reality, he was just another refugee scraping by in the ruins of the world. It was a cosmic joke: survive a massacre, steal a dead man's uniform, and somehow stumble into becoming a real Imperial Decurion.
In this broken age, the social ladder was steep and unforgiving.
At the very top were the Great Families who commanded the Imperial legions, followed by a sprawling web of aristocratic clans. Beneath them were the so-called "cold gates"—the common gentry, a lower class of nobility in everything but name.
Further down were the citizens, the masses with enough wealth to live inside the five super-cities: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and Qilin.
And at the bottom, the great unwashed: the untouchables, scavengers, drifters, and refugees. They were the most numerous by far, barred from the great cities and left to claw out a life in the barren, radioactive wastes. In this world, a poor man's life was worth about as much as an ant's.
There was only one way to climb: the military. The Empire was built on martial strength, on the need for brave soldiers to hold the line against the endless tide of the dead.
Because of this, Imperial soldiers held a special place. Officers, in particular, were revered, treated like living legends, and considered the Empire's most precious assets.
And somehow, Xiao Ke was now one of them. A Decurion.
He stole a glance at the formidable Qin Bing, her posture ramrod straight even in the saddle. A man born in chaos, he thought, a fire igniting in his gut, should seize his destiny. One day, I, Xiao Ke, will carve a path out of the boneyards with nothing but my sword. This is just the beginning. From Decurion, I'll climb, step by step, until I'm the one on top. The Grand Marshal.
His ambition was a towering inferno, but reality was a bucket of cold water.
Xiao Ke immediately hit his first wall as a commander: his nine men couldn't have cared less about him. Not a single one would listen to a word he said.
It made sense, in a way. The other four Decurions were hard-bitten veterans who commanded respect with a glare. Their men knew better than to cross them.
But Xiao Ke? He was young, and it was painfully obvious he didn't have the iron-forged presence or the cold aura of a killer that marked a true soldier. They saw him for what he was—a fluke, an opportunist who'd lucked into his rank. In the army, where strength was the only currency that mattered, he was bankrupt.
As Qin Bing led them toward Ginkgo Town, the other squads marched in tight formation. Xiao Ke's squad, however, was a chaotic mess. They slouched, wandered out of line, and openly joked around, their laughter a constant, mocking echo.
It was a profound humiliation, made worse by the fact that Qin Bing, high on her warhorse, kept glancing back at him, her expression unreadable. She didn't say a word, but he could feel her judgment. This one can't control his men.
Just then, he saw one of them, a mountain of a man named Duan Canglong, stop dead by the side of the path. Qin Bing's orders had been crystal clear: every Decurion was responsible for his men. If one deserted, it was the Decurion's head on the chopping block.
Alarmed, Xiao Ke strode over. "Duan Canglong! Why'd you stop? What are you trying to pull?"
Duan Canglong, who stood a full head taller than him, grinned down at him with a slow, insolent smile. "Easy there, Captain. Just gotta take a leak. What's the rush? You scared I'm gonna bolt, or you wanna come hold it for me?"
The rest of the squad erupted in crude laughter.
Rage flashed in Xiao Ke's eyes, but he took in Duan Canglong's powerful build. This man was a real Imperial soldier, a trained killer. Xiao Ke was a pretender. If it came to blows, he knew he didn't stand a chance; he'd be lucky if Duan Canglong didn't just snap his neck.
He shot a desperate, pleading look toward Qin Bing. She had just called a ten-minute halt and clearly saw his predicament. But she simply stared back, her face a mask of indifference. Whether it was a test or she just didn't care, she wasn't going to help.
Defeated, Xiao Ke lowered his voice. "Just don't try anything stupid. Or you'll regret it."
The threat was laughable. Duan Canglong's grin widened. "Well? You holding it or not? 'Cause I'm going with or without you."
The other eight soldiers howled with laughter. Men from the other squads were watching now, smirking. They all saw it: Xiao Ke, the paper-tiger Decurion. Even Qin Bing seemed to shake her head, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes.
A minute later, Duan Canglong sauntered back from the bushes, zipping up his trousers. As he passed Xiao Ke, he clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a real character, kid. Follow me around like I'm your old man. Hah!"
"Rest is over!" Qin Bing's sharp voice cut through the air. "Move out!"
The soldiers shuffled back into a loose formation and started marching. Qin Bing deliberately held her horse back, letting it fall into step beside Xiao Ke.
She looked down at him, her voice flat and devoid of emotion. "Harder than it looks, isn't it? If you can't handle them, I can make you Vice-Decurion. I'll promote someone else to lead this squad."
Xiao Ke looked up, his jaw tight. "No, Commander. That won't be necessary. I'll handle it."
A flicker of surprise crossed her face. He had some spine after all. She raised an eyebrow. "Fine. We'll see."
As the sun bled below the horizon, they reached the shell of an old mountain temple. Qin Bing gave the order to make camp for the night. They were half a day from Ginkgo Town.
After a meager dinner, sentries were posted, and the rest of the men piled into the temple's main hall, claiming spots on the dusty stone floor. Qin Bing, however, remained outside. She clearly had no intention of sleeping in a cramped hall with a bunch of soldiers. It served a dual purpose: she could stand watch for zombies and keep an eye on her new, untrustworthy recruits.
Later that night, curled up on the cold floor, Xiao Ke was just drifting into a shallow sleep when he heard a rustle. His eyes snapped open. In the pale moonlight streaming through a collapsed section of the roof, he saw a large figure looming over him. It was Duan Canglong.
He kicked Xiao Ke's leg. "Hey, Captain Junior," he sneered. "Daddy's gotta go drop a deuce. You comin' along to wipe for me?"
Many of the soldiers were still awake. They started snickering, eager to see their pathetic captain get humiliated again.
But this time, something different happened.
Slowly, Xiao Ke got to his feet. He stood tall, meeting Duan Canglong's taunting gaze. For a moment, the air between them crackled.
"You think this is a game?" Xiao Ke's voice was ice. "Fine. Let's go."
He turned, kicked the rotting temple door open, and stalked out into the night.
Duan Canglong just shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips, and followed him out, utterly fearless.
They walked into the clearing in front of the temple, a flat patch of ground that ended abruptly at a steep, dark cliff. The moon was high and bright, washing the scene in silver light.
Dozens of soldiers, curious now, crept out of the temple to see what was happening. From the deep shadows near the treeline, Qin Bing watched, her eyes narrowed, missing nothing.
Xiao Ke turned to face his tormentor. "You've had a problem with me from the start."
Duan Canglong spat on the ground near Xiao Ke's feet. "Problem? You're a fucking joke. A worthless piece of trash. You think you deserve to lead me?"
Xiao Ke's eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm giving you one chance."
"A chance for what?"
"You and me," Xiao Ke said, his voice ringing with newfound authority. "We fight. We see who's left standing and who's on the ground. We see who the real trash is. If I win, you shut your mouth, you look at the ground when you talk to me, and you follow my every goddamn order. No questions."
Duan Canglong let out a booming laugh. "And if I win?"
"If you win," Xiao Ke said, his voice dangerously calm, "I'll go to the Commander myself and tell her to give you my rank."
The big man's laughter died, replaced by a greedy smile. "Well, what do you know. Not only are you begging for an ass-kicking, but you're offering me a prize for it. Looks like tonight, I'm putting you in the dirt and taking your job."