The 20-mile cross-country race was arranged to be held on the outskirts of Xiangcheng. According to the rules of long-distance running competitions in the future, Liu Chong specially arranged for the people in the prince's residence to set up a pennant every half a mile to point out the direction of advancement for the recruits participating in the selection. In order to prevent the participants from crowding and trampling, they only pointed out the direction of advancement. As for the horizontal area of advancement, it was only roughly defined.
Skinny Monkey looked excitedly at the dense crowd. He saw that every participant had a rectangular white cloth sewn on their clothes. There were many strange symbols drawn on the white cloth with a black charcoal pen. This was the symbol that Liu Chong had prepared for the recruits. Each person had one. After passing the first test, they were distributed. The person's number was written on it with Arabic numbers. In addition, the name and birthplace were written in the corner. This way, it was very convenient to carry out statistics and calculations.
Skinny Monkey didn't even know a single word, let alone Arabic numbers. Of course, he could only treat those as scribbles.
Perhaps it was because enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road, but just as he was excitedly passing through the crowd, a familiar cold light suddenly locked onto his figure. Feeling a strong chill, he turned around and was instantly scared out of his wits. It turned out that the black tower-like burly man had also come here. It was still the same outfit, with two halberds on his back. However, there was also a white cloth tag on his chest like the other recruits. If the skinny monkey recognized it, he would be able to recognize the words on it. It was number 0520.
In fact, according to the rules set by Liu Chong, this burly man had already met the recruitment requirements. This was because he was one of the few people who could lift the stone lock with both hands in the first round of the strength test. However, he did not want to be nominated directly and insisted on participating in the second test like the others. The guard in charge of recruitment had no choice but to give him a number plate.
"Dong dong dong! Thump! Dong!" The vigorous war drums sounded, and everyone, whether they were participants or spectators, felt their blood boil.
Hearing the drumbeat, the burly man retracted his gaze and ran past the skinny monkey to the starting point, not looking at him again. Because according to the rules, they could set off after three drums.
"Dong dong dong! Thump! Dong!" When the last drumbeat fell, the recruits rushed out like wild horses.
Thousands of people followed the direction of the flag and advanced. Their goal was the Crouching Dragon Mountain, which was twenty miles away.
At the beginning, most people could still keep pace with each other. However, after about five miles, those who were the fastest at the beginning began to slow down, except for a few. Those who were not fierce at the beginning began to catch up.
The black tower-like man belonged to the former. Perhaps it was because of his natural strength, but his endurance was also surprisingly good. From the beginning until now, he had been running in front. Generally speaking, the heavier a person was, the worse their endurance would be. The closer they were to the end, the harder it would be for them to run. However, he did not seem to be such a person. He had always been in the lead.
However, the first ten miles were actually very easy to run because it was an endless field. However, the last ten miles were not so easy to pass. Five miles of it was a mudflat swamp that was extremely muddy and difficult to traverse. In between, they had to cross a small river. After crossing the river, it was not an easy place to walk. Instead, it was a mountain ridge that was hundreds of meters high. The first 900 people to pass would be the final winner.
Liu Chong stood calmly on the mountain ridge. He was dressed in a military uniform, wearing bright silver chainmail, a scarlet brocade cloak on his shoulders, and a saber hanging from his waist. He looked imposing. Behind him, Zhang Ping and the guards of the manor were also neatly dressed, holding their swords and spears. On the high platform erected on the mountain ridge, Xiang City Magistrate Wang Fang and a group of Xiang City squires and officials were also invited to watch. A few guards who had been hired in advance had also entered the state. Although they were still far from the requirements of an official guard, they still tried their best to stand up straight and form a wall of flesh.
The weather today was very good. The wind was gentle and the sun was beautiful. There were no clouds in the sky. A breeze blew and blew Liu Chong's cloak. The wind brought the smell of the river with a warm fishy smell. It was stirred up by too many people stepping on the river.
"Too slow!" Liu Chong calculated the time in his heart. It had been more than an hour since they had set off, but no one had reached him yet. Using his previous standards, the time required for the special forces to travel 20 miles, which was 10 kilometers, was 50 minutes. This was even when they were carrying all their equipment (about 30 pounds). Liu Chong's record was 43 points. The world record for the 10,000-meter run was only 20 minutes. Of course, it was impossible for ordinary people to reach this level.
As time passed, the sand in the hourglass that was used to keep time decreased bit by bit. There was only about a quarter of the hourglass left, but no one came.
"Damn it, so slow. I have to teach these kids a lesson in the future.”Liu Chong's face was livid, and he was a little annoyed. In fact, it was not the fault of those recruits. They were unfamiliar with the route. They had to go into the water, touch the river, and climb the mountain. If not for the high bounty, there would be even fewer people who could persevere. Although it was a good thing to have more money, they also needed to spend their lives.
Finally, the figure of a flowery robed youth appeared on the hillside. Although his speed was not very fast, he still stubbornly advanced forward. Immediately after, a tower-like figure followed.
Liu Chong's eyes lit up and he praised in his heart."What a warrior!" He saw the pair of halberds on the man's back. He knew the weight of a short halberd. It was usually about ten pounds. The weight of the man's two halberds was not light either. To be able to move so quickly was considered to be an amazing quality.
When the two of them were almost in front of Liu Chong, a large group of people finally appeared on the hillside. It seemed that these people had a high chance of completing it on time. There were still about 30 minutes left.
Liu Chong felt relieved. He was in a good mood. He brought Zhang Ping and the others to meet the two warriors at the front. He wanted to see what kind of characters these two warriors were.
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