Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 22

Ling Xiao, with thoughts on his mind, hurried back to the classroom. The instructor in charge of the outdoor practicum was already briefing the students on the things to consider. Upon seeing Ling Xiao at the door, he assumed he had simply overslept and arrived late.

“Why are you only just arriving? Go to your seat.”

Ling Xiao immediately darted to his place and conveniently heard the instructor talking about the groupings.

“To improve everyone’s outdoor survival skills, this practicum will involve camping outdoors for three days and two nights. The tents provided by the school are for two people, so everyone will be paired up. Eight pairs will form one group, and the overall performance of the group will determine your scores. This also serves the second purpose of the practicum—to cultivate your teamwork skills.”

The instructor took out a list. “To ensure fairness, we will group you based on your overall daily performance. The student ranked first will pair with the last-ranked student, and so on. Here’s the list: First pair, Ying Feng and Zhu Yue; second pair, Ling Xiao…”

Down below, Zhu Yue clenched his fist. Being in the same group meant he would be tied to Ying Feng’s actions for the next three days, sharing a tent at night. For some reason, Ying Feng had recently been distant from him but close to Ling Xiao. It reminded him of something Zhen He once mentioned.

Zhu Yue didn’t believe in the idea that people who were bound by blood in their previous lives would be attracted to each other in this one.

However, after observing Ying Feng’s unusual behavior that day, he felt he should be cautious and cut off all possibilities before the two realized the truth. Being grouped with Ying Feng was a golden opportunity. With this in mind, Zhu Yue already had a plan in secret.

After class, back in the dormitory, Zhu Yue eagerly logged onto the Tianyuan Network. He had been saving money for a time like this.

The sign that said “Everything Sold Here” was still there, untouched. Zhu Yue believed that only Zhen He could help, given his knack for acquiring rare items.

“Welcome back,” greeted Zhen He, seeing it was Zhu Yue. “A returning customer! Were you satisfied with the information I provided last time?”

Zhu Yue, without bothering to make small talk, slapped his card onto the counter. “I want to buy something.”

“People who come here always do.” Zhen He, typically nonchalant with familiar customers, joked, “Or did you come to see if I’m available for a date?”

“I’m certain you have what I need. If not, I’ll tear down that sign of yours.”

“Oh, scary,” Zhen He responded with exaggerated fear. “Let’s hear it.”

“Do you know about the suppressant that awakened fledglings need to inject if they want to participate in an outdoor field practice?”

Zhen He laughed. “I’ve been awakened for thirteen years. Do you think I wouldn’t know?”

“Good. I need a drug that can neutralize this suppressant. No, better yet, something that can cause a surge in sex hormones.”

“You’re basically describing a type of aphrodisiac,” Zhen He deduced.

“What’s that?” Zhu Yue had never heard the term.

“It’s a foreign term. Its function is as you described. However, there’s no such thing for the people of Tianxiu, and alien aphrodisiacs don’t work on us.”

Thinking that Zhen He implied they didn’t have it, Zhu Yue’s face darkened.

“However,” Zhen He’s tone changed, “there’s a substance that’s quite similar, an extract.”

“Extract?”

“Once, a genius researcher developed a drug called ‘Embers’ to boost human combat potential. This extract is a byproduct of ‘Embers’.”

“Embers?” This time, Zhu Yue was familiar. “I’ve heard of it.”

“When it was first developed, ‘Embers’ had severe side effects, causing an excess of sex hormones. Researchers found a catalyst in ‘Embers’ that caused this surge and isolated it, leading to a refined version of the drug.”

“And what happened to the extracted substance?” Zhu Yue asked with anticipation.

“It’s worthless for Tianxiu people; it’s typically treated as chemical waste. No one uses it, and there’s no reason to. Even adults wouldn’t resort to such crude methods for arousal. Fledglings have even less use.”

Zhu Yue happily pushed his card forward. “You can charge everything on the card. I need that substance, and I need it by the day after tomorrow.”

Zhen He readily took the card. “One day. Come back at this time tomorrow to get it.”

“You’re not going to ask what I need it for?” Zhu Yue was cautious.

“I do business, and I only take money. I don’t ask reasons. As long as you can pay, I’ll sell. What you do with it is none of my concern, and I won’t disclose any information. However, you can’t ask how I acquired it, and you can’t tell anyone you got it from me. Do you accept these terms?”

“Deal!”

Meanwhile, Ling Xiao was closely examining a small glass vial in his hand, containing a bright orange liquid. He found it while packing.

‘Just as a precaution…’ Ling Xiao thought, fetching a compact syringe from his drawer.

……

The annual field practice had finally arrived. The four classes of tenth grade split into two groups: two classes headed to the coast, while the class Ling Xiao belonged to went inland.

Every young student was extremely excited. On the way there, riding on their flying vehicles, they chattered non-stop. Their excitement didn’t subside even when they reached the destination, causing the instructor to expend a lot of energy to maintain order.

“Quiet! Quiet! This is a militarized field practice, not a casual picnic. What do you think you’re doing, making such a racket?”

He repeated this several times before the group finally quieted down.

“Now, roll call. Students of Team A…”

After roll-calling all four teams, Ying Feng and Ling Xiao were assigned to Teams A and B respectively. Although the members of Team A were encouraged by having the powerful Ying Feng on their side, they also expressed dissatisfaction with the presence of Zhu Yue.

“Though the second weakest in terms of combat ability, at least he’s a positive number. Unlike someone, who’s basically a negative,” said a student from Team A without naming anyone, but everyone knew who he meant.

“If he had self-awareness, he wouldn’t get involved and would just wait on the side. Otherwise, Ying Feng will have to take care of him. He’s just a burden,” said another more bluntly.

Zhu Yue heard all of this and held his tongue. It wasn’t the time to argue with anyone. He had risked not taking the suppressant to participate in this field trip, not to pick fights here. He secretly reached into his pocket, tightly gripping the bottle inside, thinking, ‘Once I achieve my goal, I won’t care what any of you say.’

The instructor led everyone to the designated camping site, and the students chose their spots, setting up tents in pairs.

The tent for Ying Feng’s group was mostly set up by him alone. In order not to seem useless, Zhu Yue volunteered to decorate the inside.

Zhu Yue accidentally spotted something familiar in Ying Feng’s open bag. Seeing Ying Feng wasn’t around, he secretly examined the spray bottle, comparing it with his own, and confirmed that even the labels were identical.

However, he quickly remembered that Zhen He had disguised the medicine he gave him, saying this way it wouldn’t be easily discovered. This meant Ying Feng’s was the real thing, while his was just a different substance in the same bottle.

“What are you doing?”

Ying Feng’s voice came from behind, startling Zhu Yue, causing both bottles to fall. He quickly picked up one and threw it back into Ying Feng’s bag, hiding the other behind him, turning around nervously. “No-nothing…”

Ying Feng, finding this suspicious, asked, “Why touch my stuff?”

“I… I just accidentally saw something in your bag that looked like mine, so I got curious… I didn’t mean to pry,” Zhu Yue quickly added.

Ying Feng skeptically took out the suppressant spray from his bag. “You mean this?”

Zhu Yue, not knowing what the real content of the bottle was, just nodded.

After some thought and observing Zhu Yue’s guilty demeanor, Ying Feng seemed to understand a lot.

“You’ve officially entered the awakening phase, haven’t you?”

“Ah? Yes…” Knowing he couldn’t hide the truth, Zhu Yue confessed.

“You didn’t inject the suppressant, yet you dared to join this field trip?” Ying Feng pinpointed the issue. “This spray is for emergencies. So you brought it just in case?”

“I did take it!” Zhu Yue lied reflexively.

Ying Feng didn’t want to argue further. “Whether you take it or not, keep your distance from me. I don’t want to lose this opportunity because of you. If you can’t, I’ll request a medical check on you now. They’ll know if you’re telling the truth or lying.”

Zhu Yue stepped back, his head lowered, eyes darting, implicitly acknowledging Ying Feng’s suspicions.

Ying Feng pocketed the spray and left.

From Ling Xiao’s tent, he could see everything happening at Ying Feng’s site. He saw Zhu Yue enter, then Ying Feng. He didn’t know what they were doing inside but was relieved when Ying Feng came out.

When he realized he was behaving like a voyeur, Ying Feng had already noticed him. Ling Xiao tried to look nonchalant, pretending to admire the scenery.

“What are you looking at?” A slap landed on Ling Xiao’s shoulder, startling him.

Ling Xiao turned his head to see that it was Ting Lei who had slapped him. “You scared me to death.”

“The instructor has called for assembly. What are you dazing about?”

Lost in his thoughts, Ling Xiao hadn’t heard the whistle. Now, he followed Ting Lei to the assembly point. Members from all four teams had arrived, and the instructor began to introduce the training content for the first day.

“Today is the first day of the field practice. Our focus will be on warming up and adapting to the outdoor terrain. We have marked the boundaries, and within these markers, everyone is free to move.”

Walking among the crowd, the instructor continued, “As we all know, every creature has a weakness. Different creatures have different vulnerabilities, but there’s one common weakness: the heart.”

“For the people of Tianxiu, compared to other races, our recovery ability is faster. If necessary, we can even abandon some body parts to protect ourselves. Even if we lose an arm, advanced medical equipment can help us regenerate. But the heart is different. Our heart is as vulnerable as other races. Once attacked, it can result in temporary combat incapacity or even be fatal.”

“Therefore, the heart is a critical area everyone needs to protect. It’s also the main target when attacking the enemy. Learning to protect oneself, while spending the least effort and killing the enemy at the fastest speed, is what we will train for today.”

The instructor pointed to a pile of devices on the ground. “These are scoring devices. Everyone will wear one on their chest. The red button on it is the stop key.”

“Everyone starts with a score of 1 point. When you press the stop key on someone else’s chest, you’ll get all their points. The person whose stop key is pressed will be out. Anyone crossing the marked boundaries will also be out, and their points will be evenly distributed to the remaining three teams.”

“We have sixty-four participants. The battle time is three hours, or until there’s only one person left on the field. Whether you choose to beat everyone and gain all the points or hide and save your points for the team is up to you.”

“Any questions?”

“No!” Everyone responded in unison.

“Now, each team occupies a direction. When the light on the scoring device lights up, the battle can begin. Everyone, take your positions!”

At the command, members from all four teams swiftly moved in different directions. Ying Feng led Team A and only stopped when he found a relatively safe area. One by one, his teammates arrived.

“Do we have any tactics?” A classmate instinctively regarded Ying Feng as the team leader.

But as a lone ranger, Ying Feng had only one strategy.

“Protect yourself, take down the enemy.”

The light on everyone’s chest lit up, and the number on the LCD screen jumped from 0 to 1.

“Let’s go.” Ying Feng took a step, and Zhu Yue arrived hurriedly.

Without commenting on Zhu Yue’s speed, Ying Feng never expected to retain his point from the beginning. He just wondered which team would get him first.

As Ying Feng was about to bypass him, Zhu Yue spoke.

“I’ll try my best to protect myself and not be a burden.”

Ying Feng, who had walked a few steps away, came back upon hearing this.

“Do you really not want to be a drag?”

Thinking he had gained Ying Feng’s attention, Zhu Yue bravely puffed out his chest.

“Yes!”

“Do you want to contribute to the team?”

“Yes!”

Without hesitation, Ying Feng raised his hand and pressed the stop key on Zhu Yue’s chest. Zhu Yue’s score immediately changed to 0, while Ying Feng’s became 2.

“Out.”

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