I returned to my hometown adorned with military medals, and the whole city erupted in celebration.

Chapter 7: Is this Li Erniu still the same Li Erniu? Could he be possessed?

"Well!"

Gong Jian let out a muffled groan, feeling as if he had been hit by a wild bull. His chest ached terribly, and he almost couldn't catch his breath.

Before he could react, Li Erniu's hands had already gripped his shoulders and belt like iron clamps.

"rise!"

Li Erniu shouted loudly and exerted force with both arms, actually lifting the 140-150 jin Gong Jian directly!

Then, like throwing a sandbag, toss him into the air.

Then catch it steadily.

However, the way he caught him was a bit unusual—he gently nudged Gong Jian's buttocks with his knee to keep him balanced and prevent him from falling, and then pushed him on the back with his palm.

Gong Jian was like a puppet on a string, being pushed around in circles by Li Erniu, unable to stand firm at all.

"Snapped!"

Li Erniu slapped Gong Jian on the buttocks with a crisp, loud sound.

"That's wrong posture! Straighten your back!"

"Snapped!"

Another slap landed on his thigh.

"Tighten your legs! How can you find a wife with such a weak lower body?"

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

The entire room fell silent.

The only sounds were Li Erniu's rhythmic patting and his "corrections" to Gong Jian's movements.

At this moment, Gong Jian was in a state of utter despair, unable to live or die.

He wanted to fight back, but Li Erniu's movements were too fast and his strength too great. Moreover, he could always accurately cut off his point of force, leaving him unable to exert his strength.

He wanted to stop, but every time he opened his mouth, Li Erniu would "just happen" to pat him on the back, making him swallow his words.

What's even more dangerous is that Li Erniu is very particular about the parts of his body he targets.

Buttocks, thick thighs, back muscles...

It really hurt; it was excruciatingly painful!

But it won't cause any serious injury, and it might not even leave a bruise; at most, it will just be red and swollen for a few days.

This is the essence of "God-level Fighting Techniques"—the legendary "hitting the thickest part of the body, hurting you but you can't say it!"

"Instructor... is he being... thoroughly thrashed?"

Wang Yanbing stared wide-eyed, feeling as if his worldview had collapsed.

"That's a special forces soldier from Wolf Fang! How come he's like a child in Erniu's hands?"

He Chenguang was also shocked at this moment.

He stared intently at Li Erniu's movements, his eyes filled with disbelief:

"This...this is the 'Eighteen Falling Techniques with Clothes on' from traditional martial arts? And the 'Locking Techniques' from special forces? I've seen them described in some books! Erniu...who exactly is he?"

"Bang!"

Finally, Li Erniu had his fill of fun.

He grabbed Gong Jian's belt with one hand and flicked it lightly.

Gong Jian drew a graceful arc in the air, then with a "plop," he fell flat on his back on the grass.

Although the grass is soft and won't hurt anyone if they fall, this posture... is really unseemly.

Li Erniu clapped his hands and straightened his perfectly neat collar.

Then he walked over and once again stretched out that wicked hand towards Gong Jian, his face bearing that same ever-present憨厚 (honest and simple) smile:

"Oh dear, Xiao Gong, look at you! How could you be so careless? I told you not to rush, not to rush, and now you've fallen!"

"So? Do you find Uncle San's 'farming tricks' acceptable?"

Gong Jian lay on the ground, looking at the blue sky and white clouds, feeling a poop brush past the corner of his eye.

He was in pain all over his body, especially his buttocks, which were burning hot.

But what hurt him even more was his heart and his pride.

He lost.

We lost completely.

He lost to a cook, and he lost to his... third uncle.

[Ding! Detected that Gong Jian has suffered a devastating blow (physical + mental), Shock value +9999!]

[Detected that the entire company's moral compass has been shattered; Shock level +20000!]

[Congratulations, host! You've earned a huge amount of points!]

Hearing the notification in his mind, Li Erniu was overjoyed.

But he knew he had to play the part completely.

He pulled Gong Jian, who was still in a daze, to his feet, and even kindly patted the dirt off his bottom:

"Alright, alright, don't be discouraged. Although you're still a bit green, you have a good foundation. Come to the mess hall to see your third uncle more often, and he'll give you special lessons and teach you properly!"

"Oh, by the way, those few touches just now were like an elder's 'caress' to a younger person, you're welcome."

Gong Jian stared at Li Erniu's face, his lips trembling for a long time before he finally managed to utter a harsh sentence choked with tears:

"Li Erniu...you...you just wait..."

Although it's a tough statement, why does it sound so weak?

Li Erniu laughed heartily and waved to the entire company:

"Did everyone see that clearly? This is real combat! This is hand-to-hand combat! Anyone who wants to learn can come find me anytime! I guarantee I'll train you all to be as resilient as our instructor!"

The entire company looked at the cook standing in the sunlight, as if possessed by a god of war.

Then look at that instructor who looks utterly hopeless.

A tremendous shock ran through my heart.

Is this still the same Li Erniu? Could he be possessed?

Gong Jian got up from the ground.

Although his buttocks were still burning with pain, and although he had lost face completely, as a former special forces instructor, the word "admit defeat" did not exist in his dictionary!

Since fighting is an "unorthodox skill" that can't be defeated, let's compete in physical fitness! Physical fitness is a hard indicator, and there's no room for faking it!

An hour and a half later.

"Everyone assemble!"

Gong Jian dusted himself off, straightened his slightly crooked belt, and his eyes sharpened again.

"Combat training is over! Next, physical training!"

"Cooks! You all run too!"

Squad Leader Ma, along with Li Erniu and the others, stepped forward with long faces.

"Instructor, um... it's already past three o'clock, we still need to go back and prepare dinner..."

Sergeant Ma said cautiously.

Normally at this time, the cooks would have already gone back to the kitchen to get busy.

After all, the stomachs of nearly a hundred people in the entire company are a big deal.

"dinner?"

Gong Jian sneered, his gaze sweeping over Li Erniu:

"A cook is a soldier too! Soldiers must train! On the battlefield, do you think the enemy will stop attacking you just because you have to cook?"

"This afternoon, the mess hall staff participated in physical training throughout! As for dinner..."

Gong Jian glanced at the watch and waved his hand dismissively:

"If there's no time to cook a proper dish, we'll eat noodles! If there's not even time to cook noodles, we'll just eat compressed biscuits!"

"ah?!"

The cooks were wailing in despair.

Eating noodles? Biting into cookies? For them, who consider cooking an art, this is an absolute insult!

Besides, everyone knows the instructor was settling a personal score! He just wanted to get back at Li Erniu, but ended up implicating the entire class!

Li Erniu, however, smiled carefree and winked at Sergeant Ma:

"Squad leader, it's alright. Noodles are good for the stomach. Besides, the instructor is trying to help us get stronger; he's doing this out of good intentions, and we can't let him down."

Sergeant Ma rolled his eyes: "You're pretty easygoing, kid! You'll see how tough it is once you start running!"

Seeing Li Erniu's nonchalant expression, Gong Jian's anger flared up.

"Good! Very conscientious!"

Gong Jian walked to the front of the line and pointed to the pile of logs next to him that were used for physical training.

These logs are not ordinary wood.

To increase the difficulty of the training, Gong Jian had someone soak the arrows in water. Each one was soaked in water and became extremely heavy, weighing at least forty kilograms!

Today's physical training exercise is a 5-kilometer cross-country run with full gear!

"But! To test everyone's physical limits, let's add a little something extra! Lift some logs!"

Gong Jian walked up to a log, lifted it with one hand, and seemingly easily hoisted it onto his shoulder.

Then, he looked intently at Li Erniu:

"Comrade Li Erniu's fighting skills were quite impressive just now, so his physical abilities must be outstanding as well. As an elder, shouldn't you set a good example for the younger generation?"

"Come on! You carry one too! Let's have a contest and see who can last the longest!"