Time passed slowly.
Before long, a week had gone by.
On this day, Li Dao was squatting in the corner as usual, eating a rehydrated flatbread.
Because of the show of force he made a week ago, no one had dared to bother him during this time.
Likewise, no one had messed with anyone else either.
After all, no one could be sure if the person they were picking a fight with might be someone like Li Dao—someone who hid their true strength well. What if they messed with the wrong person and got killed, just like that burly guy? Then they’d be dead, ear cut off, and their body tossed to feed the beasts outside.
All in all, this week had passed relatively peacefully.
If it were before he had the system, this would’ve been exactly what Li Dao wanted.
But now that he had the system, he found himself regretting having scared the others too much.
No one causing trouble for him also meant he couldn’t use the system to grow stronger.
“Forget it. I’ll wait a little longer,” Li Dao thought to himself.
It’s only been a week. If there’s one thing the death row camp isn’t short on, it’s people who love causing trouble.
“Wake up, all of you, wake up!”
Suddenly, the sound of chaotic footsteps echoed outside the prison door.
Everyone looked up to see a soldier in armor—clearly of higher rank than the ordinary guards—walking over, flanked by several jailers.
One of the jailers stepped forward and asked, “Squad Leader Liu, what brings you here today…?”
Before he could finish, Liu raised a hand to interrupt him. “There’s a mission. We need to pull twenty death row inmates from your camp.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but the inmates in the nearby cells all heard him clearly.
Instantly, panic appeared on nearly every death row inmate’s face.
Because whenever someone said they were pulling inmates, it usually meant the prisoners were being sent out to accompany regular soldiers on military missions.
And on most military missions, the role of death row inmates was essentially cannon fodder—to draw enemy attention and die in the process.
Usually, if one out of ten inmates made it back alive, it was considered a miracle.
Most never came back at all.
That’s why everyone looked terrified when they heard this—they knew being selected was almost a death sentence.
The jailer immediately asked with a flattering smile, “So what kind of inmates are you looking for, Squad Leader Liu?”
“I want a batch that’s not too old. No cripples either. You pick them for me.”
With that, the older inmates let out a sigh of relief, while those who fit the criteria tensed up.
Each of them silently prayed to the gods not to be chosen.
The jailer nodded. “Understood. I’ll start selecting right away.”
Whether it was bad luck or just coincidence, the first cell the jailer picked was the one Li Dao was in.
Two jailers entered and scanned the room with their eyes. The inmates quickly averted their gazes, but it wasn’t long before someone was chosen.
“You, come out.”
One of the jailers pointed at a spot and shouted.
When no one responded, a cold smile crept across his face. “Still trying to hide? You think that’ll work?”
The jailer strode over, grabbed a prisoner by the hair, and dragged him out.
“I don’t want to go! I don’t want to leave!”
The chosen inmate screamed and thrashed, kicking the ground in desperation.
“Don’t want to go? Then you die right now.”
The jailer didn’t hesitate. Seeing the guy still resisting, he drew his blade and pressed it against the prisoner’s neck.
The cold steel shut him up instantly.
But suddenly, the prisoner seemed to think of something—and without hesitation, he stuck his left thumb in his mouth.
Crack!
A painful grunt rang out as the prisoner spat out his own thumb from his mouth, a twisted grin forming on his face. “According to Da Qian law, losing a thumb makes you disabled. Now that I’m crippled, I don’t have to go, right?”
As soon as he said this, the jailers burst into laughter—genuine, hearty laughter.
The jailer who had drawn his blade lowered it and smirked mockingly. “Didn’t think a death row prisoner like you would know the laws of Da Qian.”
The prisoner, remembering who he once was, gave a smug smile and confidently said, “I used to be an eighth-rank official in the court. I’ve been reading the classics since childhood. This is nothing.”
“An eighth-rank official?”
The jailer sneered, clearly unimpressed. “Even if you were a first-rank noble, once you enter the death row camp, you’re no different from the rest.”
With that, he drew his blade again and said coldly, “Now you’ve got two options: either cripple your right thumb too—or get in line.”
Right thumb?
The prisoner looked down at his right hand and froze.
Losing the less-used left thumb wasn’t too bad, but if he lost his right thumb too, he’d be completely useless. He wouldn’t be able to hold anything.
And in a cruel place like this camp, being that helpless was basically a death sentence. He knew plenty of inmates would gladly kick him while he was down.
Realizing this, a conflicted look passed over the man’s face. In the end, he could only sigh and walk out in defeat.
If he went out, there was at least a sliver of a chance to come back. But if he lost his right thumb, there’d be no chance at all.
Seeing this, the jailer gave a cold snort and stopped paying attention to him, turning instead to continue picking others.
Under the scrutiny of the jailers, all the prisoners who matched the criteria tried their best to hide in the corners.
But the cell wasn’t that big. There was only so much space to hide in. In the end, the eligible ones were still dragged out one by one.
Each time someone was picked, their face turned to despair.
“You look like you’ve got all your limbs. Come on out.”
At that moment, Li Dao saw one of the jailers point at him.
Since he was the only one in that corner, it could only be him.
Compared to the others, Li Dao remained calm.
He stood up quietly and walked over to join the chosen group.
His composed demeanor caught the attention of the jailers, who gave him a few extra glances.
But upon seeing that he was just a soft-looking pretty boy, they lost interest. Guys like him always looked calm at first—until the battlefield scared the piss out of them.
At that moment, though Li Dao appeared calm on the outside, inside he was a mix of excitement and nervousness.
Excited because after more than a month, he was finally leaving the death row camp and would get a glimpse of the outside world.
Nervous because this was a real death row mission.
His cheat system only activated when he killed enemies, but the last time he killed someone—like that burly guy—it had been a well-planned ambush.
Now, he’d have to face real enemies in open combat. Of course he was tense.
But he also understood one thing clearly: if he could survive this first mission, everything afterward would only get easier.
They hadn’t yet filled the quota from this one cell, so the jailers picked a few more.
Finally, the group of twenty death row inmates was complete.
Squad Leader Liu looked over the group and nodded to the jailers. “Alright, I’ll take them from here.”
With that, he motioned for his men to lead the prisoners away.
The jailers behind them shouted in unison, “Take care, Squad Leader Liu!”
…
Li Dao and the others, under Liu’s command, soon arrived at the foot of a staircase.
Looking up the steps, a faint light could be seen shining from above.
Seeing the staircase, many of the prisoners started breathing heavily.
Because once they climbed those stairs, they’d reach the outside world—the one they had dreamed about for so long.
“Let’s go.”
Liu glanced back to make sure everyone was following, then led them up the steps.
Creaaak!
The wooden door embedded in the ground was pushed open from both sides, and Liu along with his men walked out.
The death row inmates filed out behind them.
In that moment, the scorching sun poured down over all of them.
The moment they saw the sun in the sky, all the death row prisoners instinctively took a deep breath, as if they could smell the scent of freedom.
However, when they looked down and saw the shackles on their hands and feet, their excitement quickly faded into despair—they were harshly reminded of reality.
Among them, Li Dao took a deep breath under the blazing sun. As he inhaled the scent of sand and wind in the air, his eyes scanned the surroundings.
All around were rows of tents, with soldiers walking back and forth along the paths.
“Stay in line. If you wander off and get mistaken for an escaping prisoner and end up dead, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Liu Fuzhang barked.
Under Liu’s leadership, Li Dao and the others were quickly brought into one of the tents.
Inside, there were piles of soldier uniforms, although they looked rather old and worn.
“All of you, get dressed. Once you’re changed, I’ll brief you on tonight’s mission,” Liu said, pointing to the clothes.
The prisoners could only nod dully and pick out uniforms to wear.
Li Dao picked one that looked relatively clean and changed out of his prisoner garb.
A few minutes later, everyone was dressed.
Seeing the prisoners now somewhat resembling soldiers, Liu nodded. “Now I’ll explain the mission. Listen carefully.”
“Tonight, you’re going to follow us on a surprise attack against a small Northern Barbarian camp.”
“If the mission is a success, while your death row status won’t be removed, you’ll earn a military merit. That means you’ll be treated a little better in the death row camp.”
“At the same time, I’ll personally promise you this—complete the mission, and you’ll get a big feast with meat and wine.”
Some prisoners, easily tempted, got visibly excited at the mention of meat and wine. A few even drooled—who knew how long it had been since they’d had any of that?
Even Li Dao’s stomach betrayed him with a growl.
There was no helping it—one piece of flatbread a day was far from enough.
Seeing their reactions, Liu nodded and quietly said to a soldier beside him, “You stay here and watch them. When it’s almost dark, take them outside the city and give them their weapons.”
“Understood.”
“And bring them some flatbread and water.”
“Sir, isn’t that a bit of a waste?”
“Are you stupid? If they’re not full, how are they supposed to have the strength to take hits for you?”
“Sir, you’re brilliant.”
“Of course I am. Otherwise, why would I be the officer and you the grunt?”
…
Night fell quickly.
Li Dao and the others were soon brought by several soldiers to an open grassland outside the military camp.
There, they once again saw Liu Fuzhang.
“Hand out the weapons,” he ordered.
A few soldiers brought over a large basket filled with all sorts of mismatched weapons.
They were distributed one by one to the prisoners.
Soon, everyone had a weapon—though none of them were in good shape.
Some held long spears, others a broken staff, and one poor soul received a sword that was practically snapped in half.
Li Dao glanced at his own and felt it was at least passable.
A rusty blade.
Nicknamed: The Blade of Tetanus.
Unfortunately, it was so dull it looked more like a rounded stick than a weapon. There wasn’t a single sharp edge in sight.
But he understood why.
With a group of prisoners who had zero loyalty, no one in their right mind would give them quality weapons.
If they turned traitor, those weapons would only be used against their own side.
Besides, they were cannon fodder—giving them good weapons would just be a waste.
The other prisoners seemed to understand this as well. Aside from some quiet grumbling, no one dared complain too loudly.
Not that it would’ve mattered if they had.
With clothes on their backs and weapons in hand, under Liu Fuzhang’s lead, the group of death row prisoners—mixed in with over a hundred soldiers—set off into the darkness of the night, heading for the open grasslands.
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