CHAPTER 23 ♦ OUTWARD BOUND TRAINING

last edited: 09.07.17

A heavy atmosphere pervaded the meeting room. The highest person-in-charge of the military base sat at the front, his facial muscles taut. A hand slammed down on the desk, followed by a raged berate: “Such a major event occurred and the bunch of you idiots are only reporting it to me now?!”

The two officers sitting at his side looked at each other, and both urged: “Company Commander, take care of your anger for your health.”

“Why don’t you look at the current situation?! How can I not get angry?! Address clearly exactly what happened!”

Xiao Jiang and Xiao Song were the only two people standing in the meeting room. Xiao Jiang stepped forward, saying: “Reporting company commander, the both of us were in charge of monitoring the warehouse. When they realised someone had intruded the guns and ammunition room, we went to take her down, but that person’s very trained, we did not manage to catch her, and she escaped.”

“This is absolutely disgraceful! Why didn’t you report it immediately? How did I usually teach you people?! If that person had used the guns in the storeroom, you’ll have lost your little life!” One of the soldiers nearest to them stood up to reproach them.

Xiao Song also stepped forward, saying: “We were worried that we would inadvertently alert the enemy firstly, and secondly, we believed it was urgent, so by the time we reported it, the thief would have long escaped. Also, most importantly of all, we found out that the person did not know how to use the gun, so we were not worried about having our lives threatened.”

“Hold on, you said that the person did not know how to use the gun?”

“Yes, we brought the video clip, everything that had happened is recorded.”

The company commander said lowly: “Then quickly now, play it for us.”

After they switched on the projection, the clip started playing. The surveillance cameras were placed in two locations, so the clip that was playing from both angles very ingeniously captured the entire storeroom in its lens. Because the clip was recorded with a high-end infrared camera, it was able to clearly record the situation in the dark storeroom even during night-time.

The beginning was fast-forwarded until the storeroom windows were pulled open by someone before the clip was slowed down to its normal speed. They saw a dark-clothed and masked person jumping into the storeroom, walking towards where the guns were placed and grabbed one to fondle it. Then the person opened the box that was used to place bullets, took a few and placed it in the person’s clothes, after which the gun was raised in search for an opening. In the end, the person actually pushed the bullet in through the muzzle. Everyone seated in the room looked at the person speechlessly as the masked person tried to “insert the bullet” successfully without even opening the safety.

After the masked person replaced the gun back, Xiao Jiang and Xiao Song appeared. What followed was a fighting scene between them. One of them was toppled over, the other was knocked out, and with that, they watched the masked person escape.

The clip ended, and the meeting room lapsed into silence. The company commander said: “Our garrison is too poorly guarded, to only discover an intrusion after the person had slipped into the storeroom. If it were not for the hidden surveillance cameras, that person could probably have strolled an entire round and we would still not know anything!”

No one talked. Everyone was reflecting.

“Company Commander, what person did you think that was?” After a while, an officer voiced his suspicion.

“What person did everyone think that was?” The company commander asked in return instead of replying.

Xiao Jiang said: “Reporting, according to our analysis, that person completely lacked knowledge of guns, and was more of curious about it. It is very probable for that person to be a student that is here for the military training this time. According to the length of the hair and the physique, our first determination is that that person is a 1.6-metre tall female.”

The company commander muttered to himself irresolutely: “A student huh?” And asked instead: “Then did you find her fingerprints?”

“No, she was wearing a glove, so everything she touched did not leave any fingerprint.”

Another officer voiced another question, “But would you believe that a high school student would be this capable? To enter the storeroom completely undiscovered, and even knock down two soldiers, oh, and another guard on the post, and to enter and leave so unrestrainedly on our grounds? I, on the other hand, suspect that it was one of the specially trained secret agents from outside.”

Everyone was consumed by their thoughts. He was right, the probability of that person being a student, and one from B city’s best school at that, was low.

The company commander asked again: “Did the surveillance camera at the student dormitories capture anyone running out in the middle of the night?”

“No, other than the cameras at the guns and ammunition room capturing someone appearing, none of the cameras in the other locations captured anyone. Everything else was very normal.” Xiao Song reported.

“It does not seem to be a secret agent though, would there even be such rookie agents? Even if it were them, and it would be close to impossible to locate them again since they had escaped. To say that that was a student, even though the possibility was not high, they are indeed inside this military base. Watch out for those characteristics and keep a look out first. As for the two of you acting on your own initiatives, even though it had not created any damage, punishments would still be dealt.”

.

Their squad leader took Xiao Jiang and Xiao Song away. On the way, their squad leader told them earnestly: “Remember not to be so rashly next time, careful your life will be lost.”

“Squad leader?”

“If it had not been that person letting it go leniently, the two of you would have been wiped out right there and then!” The squad leader knocked their heads fiercely, “Use your heads next time when you do things!”

“You said that person had been lenient?” They did not dare dodge, so after being reprimanded by their squad leader, they asked obediently.

“Xiao Jiang, do you think that you’ll still be alive if that person had tightened the two legs clipping your neck? Don’t think you’ll be able to dodge that, did you not realise at that time that that person had especially landed her leg on your chest? Did you think that that person’s calf hooking onto Xiao Song’s was a pure coincidence? If she kicked you with force, breaking your breastbone is not a problem. As for Xiao Song you, if she had pinched your throat and strangled you after she knocked you out, would you still be able to stand here and talk to me? The two of you should rejoice that she had no intention of killing you!”

The squad leader’s words had drenched Xiao Jiang and Xiao Song in cold sweat. They did not think they actually had meandered so closely along the death god’s door.

Hence, the activity to ferret out the black-clothed masked person unfolded quietly in the military base.

“How hateful, there was a military instructor that came to watch our class during training. His drawn-out staring at me made me slip up so many times, and I got scolded by the sergeant.”

“Don’t you guys think there’s always military instructors coming to inspect the training these days? And I ended up beyond tense, it’s dead tiring!”

“Why are they suddenly so uptight and strict about this? Aye, can’t we just skimp through this and we’re through? We’re not even here to train as soldiers.”

“Exactly, exactly.”

The students were all complaining about this these few days. Qin Ke Xuan, of course, also heard it, and delved into contemplation for a brief moment. They seemed to have guessed that she was the person that night and wanted to capture her. She had to properly conceal her abilities in the future.

At that moment, the sergeant called for a break at where they are, and everyone started swinging their arms and relaxing their numb legs. There was a military officer standing right in front of her, his pair of eyes sweeping her up and down brightly. Qin Ke Xuan frowned mentally. If her memory served her right, that guy was the guy she had knocked out that night.

Her head lowered and she contemplated briefly before a plan flashed in her head. Both her hands flew up to cover her face, and she twisted at her waist, saying shyly with embarrassment as she cupped her face: “I’ll be shy if you keep staring at me with such an overwhelmingly tender gaze.”

“……” Everyone in her class, as well as the sergeant and Xiao Song, was as though they were struck crispy by thunder. In fact, anyone who saw an expressionless person purposefully twisting their body, saying such coy and mincing words in such a chilly tone would be struck speechless.

Xiao Song’s lips spasmed, and turned to leave, facepalming. That was not the who knocked him out, definitely not!

Qin Ke Xuan turned, saying blandly to the blanked out sergeant: “Break’s over, start the training.”

“Aye?” The students, still inadequately slacked, pronounced their dissatisfaction.

Qin Ke Xuan’s gaze swept across them, and said coldly to the students that were donning weirded-out expressions: “Why, is there a problem?”

“Who gave you the authority to boss people around?!”

“Perhaps you think things are too dull with the cancelled ten rounds?”

Ever since running ten rounds on the first day, the students from class 15 all became obedient and proceeded with training properly. The sergeant’s anger also dissipated, but he could not go against what he had said, so he brought up that if there was someone who could run the ten rounds every day, the punishment would be cancelled for rest of the people. And hence, Qin Ke Xuan was the only one from class 15 that ran the ten rounds, and regarding this, she had no objections, for whether others running or not was not of her concern. If she were to not run, then they would have to run that ten rounds, so everyone shook their heads unanimously.

“Then stuff a sock in it, stand at attention!”

A certain sergeant stood at the side weakly, and had a really strong urge to ask: “I’m the sergeant, right?”

Before the morning training ended, the sergeant announced to them: “We will be doing an Outward Bound Training this evening, everyone, prepare your things when you go back. Actually, it’s not much either, we’re just going to climb a mountain.”

“Aye? How come we didn’t hear about such an activity?” The students in class 15 asked.

The sergeant exhaled, his arm on his waist as he started to herd the bunch of the class 15 students, saying: “Freaking hell, you bunch of brats. I realise that you guys will always find something to rebut about no matter what it is I say, regardless y’all are still attending it. Are you rebutting because you have an objection or what?!”

Everyone looked at each other, they did not actually have any objections. Hence, in the end, caved in under the mighty power and returned to their dormitories obediently.

When they gathered again in the evening, all fifteen classes, each brought by their sergeant leaders, went into the mountains behind the military base. In the beginning, everyone was still pretty excited, after all, climbing a mountain was more comfortable and fun than standing still unable to move for several dozens of minutes.

However, when they arrived before the metal-linked bridge, they were struck dumb. Freaking hell, that was way too terrifying!

The head military officer comforted the students paling with fright: “Everyone, don’t worry. Even though this bridge looks weak, it is actually very strong. We have tested it and repaired it, so the possibility of the bridge breaking is close to impossible.”

Other then some of the students who had a phobia of heights being left behind, everyone else had to go. After the troop of them crossed the mountaintop, what appeared before them were a dozen or so ropes tied to the cliffs. This time was rock climbing, and quite the lot of people were left behind. The students who had scaled the cliff were only less than half the size of the original troop, and the remaining girls were even less.

The Qin Ke Xuan who was scaling the cliff looked at the students scaling the cliff around her. Those whose physical strength was slightly weaker were eliminated. She then understood why the students did not know of such an Outward Bound activity; it looked like they had squeezed their brains dry trying to come up with a way to pluck her out. She had wanted to act as a sick person, but her rosy cheeks and intrepid lustre would instead attract attention if she were to spontaneously pull out of the activity and stay behind in the dorms, hence she had to continue.

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Translator’s Note: 

Okay people, see you in December ~~

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