Chapter 0148: He’s So Naughty – Xie Chengze, Match Day

As soon as Xie Chengze obtained the sheep, he immediately took them to the ice rink for a stroll.

He even deliberately slaughtered one on the spot, simmering it into a rich and aromatic mutton soup, specifically to tease them.

Hehe, he’s so naughty~

Whether bandits or soldiers, their eyes turned red and fixed greedily upon seeing those plump, meaty grassland sheep. They couldn’t wait to fast-forward to match day, defeat their opponents, and feast on the mutton to their heart’s content.

But since time travel wasn’t an option, they could only practice ice skating on the rink to avoid face-planting on the ice right when the match began—let alone winning.

The soldiers quickly selected twenty men. Ice skating was strenuous work, and with a best-of-three format where each game lasted half an hour, substitutes were essential to complete the entire match. This was within the rules and didn’t count as a foul.

For them, individual goals mattered less than ensuring the whole army could enjoy the mutton.

In contrast, the Standing Army wanted it all. Not being bandits from the same faction, their true nature emerged when interests were at stake—everyone wanted to play and claim the rewards.

They fought tooth and nail for spots on the roster. While the soldiers had been practicing for two days, the Standing Army was still pushing and shoving, hurling insults, criticizing others’ skills, and demanding to play themselves.

This continued until match day.

The ice rink was surrounded by bandits and soldiers, granted half a day off to watch the competition. Even the prefect and county magistrate were summoned, joining Xie Chengze, Shen Yuan, Xie Shoujun, and others in the spectator stands to witness the clash between the two forces.

In the biting cold wind, both sides stood fully equipped on the ice, their shiny armor backs marked with numbers in sheep’s blood.

The Blue Team, composed of bandits, had strips of cloth fluttering wildly in the wind tied around their heads. Wielding hockey sticks, they whistled arrogantly at their opponents in provocation. Opposite them, the Red Team soldiers stood in a disciplined line, gripping their hockey sticks ready for battle, their gazes fixed firmly on the center of the rink.

At the center, one player from each team faced off, with a small black wooden puck placed on the ice between them, painted for visibility during the game.

Both teams poised like pent-up torrents. At Zhu Xiaobiao’s command, they coiled like black panthers. The Blue Team captain struck the puck first, sending it like an arrow toward the Red Team’s goal.

The Red Team soldiers immediately moved to intercept, but the Blue Team wasn’t to be underestimated, surging forward to block. However, their coordination paled compared to the Red Team’s, and they were quickly left behind.

Surrounded by three Red Team soldiers, the Blue Team captain had to change the puck’s direction to find an opening. Seizing the opportunity, the Red Team captain swung his stick and stole the puck. The Blue Team captain shouted frantically for his teammates to block the Red captain and reclaim the puck similarly. But the Red captain abruptly halted, deftly sliding the puck through a Blue player’s legs to a teammate speeding in from the wing.

The teammate caught the puck and, seeing all the Blue Team players charging toward him, immediately passed it to another teammate farther away. The third teammate received the puck and, with lightning speed, shot it to a fourth teammate who had already taken position even further down the ice. That teammate then struck the puck into the completely undefended goal.

The watching soldiers erupted in cheers, shouting encouragement for the Red Team, while the bandit troops groaned and cursed, disparaging the Blue Team’s clumsy play.

Zhu Xiaobiao promptly struck the bronze gong and shouted, “One point for Red Team number 8!”

“Dammit!”

In their eagerness to score individual points, no one on the Blue Team was willing to play goalkeeper. The Blue Team captain cursed under his breath and yelled, “Liu Quan! You go defend the goal!”

“Why should I be goalkeeper?” the man called Liu Quan protested. “We agreed we’d all take turns guarding the goal!”

“Do you still want to eat mutton or not!” the Blue Team captain snapped. “I’ll give you half of my Gold Cake later, alright?”

Only then did Liu Quan grumble and skate toward the goal. The match continued, with the Red Team gaining possession this time. They began maneuvering the puck toward the Blue Team’s goal. Learning from their previous mistake, the Blue Team captain had his teammates spread out, planning to use the same strategy the Red Team had employed to steal the puck.

Unexpectedly, he found himself surrounded by Red Team players. He tried to pass the puck out, but two opposing sticks kept jostling and interfering with him. Enraged, the hot-tempered captain lost his cool and shoved one of the Red Team players down, then passed the puck away. “Stop pushing, damn you! You’re really getting in the way!”

As the soldier fell on the ice, Zhu Xiaobiao immediately struck the bronze gong repeatedly and shouted, “Blue Team number 1 foul! Off the field! Substitution time!”

“What?” The captain was stunned. He yelled that he hadn’t committed a foul, but rules were rules. Two officials rushed onto the ice from outside and dragged the Blue Team captain off.

Without their captain, Blue Team’s first squad suddenly seemed to lose their backbone. During training, they had always practiced as individual squads, competing mostly against one other squad at most, and had never coordinated with other small teams.

The other squads were also reluctant to provide substitutes, fearing that helping would drain their energy and negatively impact their own squad’s performance.

In the end, Blue Team’s first squad had to play with only five members. Short one player, they unsurprisingly lost the match.

Learning from the previous game, Blue Team’s second squad was much more restrained this round. Er Dangjia from Qianjin Zhai also participated. His height and build were comparable to that of the Xiongnu, making the soldiers instinctively wary. Moreover, Xie Chengze had secretly given him extra training, enabling him to dominate the Red Team and secure victory in the second match.

Seeing this, many bandits excitedly cheered for number 2—Er Dangjia’s player number. On the ice, there were no names, only player numbers, which represented one’s honor in the world of ice hockey.

The tied score of one-to-one instantly heightened the tension, pushing the atmosphere to its peak. Everyone watched the rink intently, silently speculating about who would ultimately win.

Bolstered by their second-match victory, the bandits’ morale soared as if they could see hope. The reward for the highest individual score was undoubtedly going to Er Dangjia and one player from the second squad. If they wanted more rewards now, their only option was to win the match and enjoy unlimited mutton.

The Blue Three Squad finally reached a consensus, no longer coveting individual points but choosing to win the match instead.

Though they were mere bandits, the rebel army still valued tactics—especially with a “mastermind” secretly guiding them from behind the scenes. Apart from Second Leader, the other members of the first two squads were rather unskilled in Puck techniques. The first squad in particular suffered from both poor skills and internal strife, which was precisely why they were sent out for the opening match.

The third squad, however, was the elite unit within the rebel army.