The Blessed Beauty Returns with a Dimension-Chapter 953 - 929: The Provocation Strategy

The black flour was what Jiang Xiaoxiao took out from her own space. In fact, the space was filled with white flour. This black flour was something she encountered in the Otherworld.

There were some plant seeds there that she casually threw into the ground, which grew into this kind of black flour.

Although this flour is rough and a bit harsh on the throat, it is quite filling and has a high yield. Jiang Xiaoxiao studied it and found that the calorie content of this black flour is not inferior to white flour, and it even contains more protein than white flour.

At the time, she just thought of planting some to keep, thinking it wouldn’t hurt, just in case it might be useful one day.

She didn’t imagine that upon arriving in the ancient world, there wouldn’t be any white flour like she had. Here, white flour is called refined rice or refined flour, only available to the wealthy in cities.

The common folks probably couldn’t even eat black flour.

It’s even more impossible for them to have things like sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes since they lived near the border.

The vast desert is barren, and the land is poor. Most of the locals plant drought-resistant crops like beans, which are then ground into powder and mixed together for consumption.

Actually, for them, black flour is considered top-quality stuff.

The meat soup simmering in the big pot was made by Jiang Xiaoxiao and Li Tieniu, who ventured into the surrounding mountains overnight to catch some wild chickens and rabbits.

As long as she wore her mask, finding the nests of those wild chickens and rabbits was quite easy.

Often, she would capture them all in one fell swoop.

Li Tieniu was utterly impressed and in awe.

Li Tieniu never thought it was due to luck; he just felt that the Miss Jiang before him was incredibly skilled, clearly experienced.

Wherever there were wild chickens, she could pinpoint them accurately, and wherever there were wild rabbits, she would nab them all at once.

If they were to hunt in the mountains, he and his brothers often needed four to five days to barely catch a single wild chicken.

Seeing the stone fly from her hand, striking a wild chicken and bringing it down immobile, was an impressive feat not everyone could achieve.

He had heard from the monk on the mountain about a skill called Falling Leaves Flying Stones.

It’s said that only those with top-level inner strength could hurt someone with a flower petal.

The respect he had for the Miss Jiang before him only grew stronger, and he no longer considered her as a mere woman but more like a great master.

This was also why he changed from calling her Miss Jiang to Mr. Jiang, as calling her Miss Jiang seemed to undermine the authority of a master.

A group of fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds ate heartily, and once full and satisfied, they found that returning to training wasn’t as challenging anymore.

No one fainted, but there were still doubts about the training methods.

Anyone who questioned Jiang Xiaoxiao was beaten by Li Tieniu with a stick.

As Li Tieniu put it, "How dare you doubt the master!"

Don’t you know that having someone willing to take you as a disciple in ancient times is like a great blessing to your family? Haven’t you seen those apprentices who can’t eat or clothe themselves properly and still get beaten? Yet here you are, fully fed and watered, daring to question the master’s methods.

Is there any greater ingratitude?

These are skills for survival being taught to you.

Everyone was disgruntled but had no choice; Brother Tieniu in front of them was much stronger.

But the dissatisfaction was real.

Jiang Xiaoxiao had noticed it long ago.

She had been using special forces training methods for them, especially practicing assassination on scarecrows daily.

Obviously, these kids had trouble understanding this training method.

One day, Jiang Xiaoxiao held a meeting.

people sat in a circle.

Pairs engaged in battles.

Each person held a wooden stick, with its tip rounded, equivalent to holding a spear.

The pair battles were indeed exciting; what young man didn’t have a competitive spirit?

As they started battling with sticks, they suddenly realized their moves incorporated those assassination techniques.

Moreover, these moves were quite effective. Whenever a stick hit the opponent, Jiang Xiaoxiao would remind them that hitting a vital point would be a lethal blow.

The young ones who were still giggling earlier suddenly took it seriously, realizing Jiang Xiaoxiao’s hints about vital points meant a sure hit; everyone was eager to single out their opponent with one strike.

So the ensuing matches became tougher, but the moves became more and more skillful.

When the competition among the 18 concluded, they suddenly felt immense gratitude towards the Mr. Jiang before them.

Previously, they thought this training was useless, just running and jumping around. What was the point of that?

They used to think the mountain paths they traversed for firewood or farm work were far more demanding than the training.

But now they found they could walk those mountain paths as if on flat ground.

Jiang Xiaoxiao then had them form a formation and begin fighting.

Scattered individual combat and collective combat were different, requiring command and execution.

As Jiang Xiaoxiao put it, the 18 formed two teams, each with nine people.

They stood back-to-back in pairs to form a circle.

Under unified commands, they acted simultaneously. Due to previous training, everyone was already responsive and disciplined to the command of "1-2-3".

Jiang Xiaoxiao and Li Tieniu wanted everyone to have a deeper understanding of their current state.

Li Tieniu went to the neighboring village.

The nearby villages all engaged in smuggling salt, but in terms of strength, the Li Family Village was currently the weakest since most of their men were dead or injured, especially during the last casualties where the Li Family Village suffered the most deaths.

Seeing Li Tieniu, Village Chief Lin Dawang of Lin Family Village secretly felt smug.

He naturally knew the significant losses the Li Family Village suffered last time, and with taxes coming, they might be doomed unless they quickly earned some Silver. Of course, they also harbored thoughts of simply annexing the Li Family Village into Lin Family Village.

This opportunity could conveniently expand Lin Family Village’s scale, increasing the population, and ensuring more labor strength. The more populated a village is, the more capable it is of resisting disasters.

You notice that bandits treat larger villages a bit more leniently, choosing to rob smaller ones, as larger populated villages rarely face bandit raids due to their organized resistance.

Even wolves choose the weakest prey for a bite.

"Tieniu, what brings you here?"

Lin Dawang’s attitude was somewhat condescending.

Li Tieniu smiled and said, "Brother Lin, I heard you are preparing to take the salt route again. Our village’s men have picked up some skills; we thought of heading on the road together, so it’s good to have mutual support."

Lin Dawang widened his eyes; that’s mutual support?

It seemed more like shamelessly leeching off their protection.

"Tieniu, how many men do you have in your village now? Stop boasting. Just join us, merge with Lin Family Village, and you’ll have our protection. Isn’t that good?"

Straight to the point.

Li Tieniu’s expression shifted; their ancestors were their roots.

Lin Dawang wanted to annex them.

"Brother Lin, the folks in our village have made significant progress under Mr. Jiang’s training. Actually, we might manage on our own, but we thought we could watch each other’s back."

"Ha! Mr. Jiang? What Mr. Jiang? What progress could a city playboy make? Do you really believe such tales? Fine, if you’re not convinced and think you can manage, let’s have a contest.

If you win against our Lin Family Village, we’ll set off together, and this time we’ll ensure your safety. If you can’t, then there’s no need to say more. Either merge into Lin Family Village, and we’ll protect you, or find your own way."

Exactly as Li Tieniu had hoped.

Before coming, he discussed with Jiang Xiaoxiao, who told him to say this, despite feeling it would offend others.

Yet, unexpectedly, Village Chief Lin agreed so readily, precisely as Mr. Jiang had predicted.