Chapter 56: CH 56

Gu Ning was unaware of certain strange changes that had taken place at home because of her psychic power. She took her luggage and headed straight to the army by taxi. In the car, she sent her bank account number to Fang Fa.

When she arrived at the army at nine o’clock on the spot, the person who picked up Gu Ning at the gate, turned out to be Zhang XiaoBai and Zhong Xu.

The two of them ran to the side of the taxi and helped Gu Ning to unload her luggage from the back compartment. Zhang XiaoBai grabbed the large backpack which she was carrying and hang it over his shoulder, then updated Gu Ning as they headed in: “The Battalion Commander is here today and is having a meeting with the three Company Commanders. Our Company Commander had informed us and told us to bring you to the family building.”

The family building was still a long way from the main entrance, but the area was very well maintained and full of greenery while the white concrete path led the way. Zhang XiaoBai and Zhong Xu were laughing and joking as they led Gu Ning forward, and when they passed the training ground of the Second Company, Zhang XiaoBai and Zhong Xu both straightened their backs inadvertently. Finally, they followed a nice path lined with trees on both sides, which the family building was located at the end of the pathway.

Several small white buildings were quietly bathed in the morning sun, surrounded by greenery and in a very peaceful and comfortable environment.

The second building from the left was the family building for the Third Company.

Zhang XiaoBai smiled and explained: “Its’ not the time of the year when the army opened up for family visits yet, so this whole building is now under your care.”

Then they took Gu Ning to room 202 on the second floor.

Pushing open the door, a room of perhaps thirty square feet, with a light-coloured tiled floor, white walls, a double bed, a wardrobe, a desk with a reclining chair, a few single wooden stools against the wall, and a small balcony came along with it.

Zhong Xu placed Gu Ning’s luggage on the floor and informed her: “There is hot water in the washroom, just turn it on an hour in advance will do. We’ve got all those toiletries and stuff for you, they’re all on the sink. If you don’t like them you can buy them from the convenience store near here. We don’t know what else do you girls need, but if you need anything, just let us know.”

Gu Ning was touched and replied: “Thank you.”

Zhang XiaoBai chuckled: “Hey, come on Gu Ning, we’re all on the same team, so don’t be so polite. If you can make it into the Five Stars Brigade, then our Third Company will also be honoured.”

Zhong Xu asked: “So, do you want to take a rest first or would you want to come down with us for training now? The Company Commander said that we will be training in the field today, so it might be rather tough.”

“Let’s go then.” Gu Ning replied.

Just as the three of them were about to leave when Zhao Jie and Zou Ming came running in a blaze of glory, holding a brand new set of camouflage uniforms in their hands.

Zhao Jie asked; “Gu Ning, this is the smallest size of clothes we’ve found, go try it on and see if it fit you.”

Gu Ning then took the clothes to the washroom and changed. Although it was the smallest size, it was still a bit too big for her and Gu Ning had to fold the sleeves and trouser legs for it to become more wearable.

“It’s still too big.” Zhong Xu glanced at Gu Ning who had walked out of the washroom after changing the uniforms and stated: “But there’s nothing we can do about it now, let’s just bear with it for now.”

Zhang XiaoBai laughed and chimed in: “Haha, Gu Ning, you look quite good in this uniform, just like a child in adult clothes.” It was unclear whether he was complimenting or belittling her.

Afterward, the five of them went down together and Zhong Xu passed the room key to Gu Ning.

Zhang XiaoBai smilingly asked Gu Ning if she would be afraid at night and if she wanted them to keep a watch for her.

The few of them joked and chatted while headed to the training field.

By this time, Brother San had already finished his meeting, and when Gu Ning and the others arrived, Brother San and the others were already waiting. In addition to the three Company Commanders, there were several soldiers that Gu Ning had not seen before were standing next to them. Also, several soldiers from the first and second companies who specialized in marksmanship were gathered too.

A few sharp gazes fell on Gu Ning, and after checking her out, one of the middle-aged soldiers around forty years old, with amiable gaze asked Gu Ning: “You are Gu Ning, right?”

Gu Ning first subconsciously glanced at Brother San, who hurriedly introduced them: “Gu Ning, this is our Battalion Commander.”

Gu Ning greeted back: “Nice to meet you Battalion Commander, Yes I’m Gu Ning.”

The Battalion Commander replied with a smile: “Nice to meet you too, I heard a lot from Xiao Xie, you are very skilful for such a young age, where are you from?”

Gu Ning replied: “I’m a local of Jinyong.”

The Battalion Commander smiled and asked: “Not bad, not bad, what made you think of joining the Five Stars Brigade?”

Gu Ning thought for a moment, but still answered honestly: “To learn close-quarters combat.”

Everyone was stunned, not expecting Gu Ning to give such an answer, even Brother San looked at Gu Ning with some surprises.

Gu Ning continued: “The Third Company Commander has already investigated my background and should know that I have been missing for the past three months. Something had happened to me in those three months and after a difficult return, I felt that the world was actually very dangerous, so I wanted to train myself to become stronger.” This was the truth, so Gu Ning said frankly. She had prepared this speech for a long time, thinking that Brother San would ask about them, yet she never expected that Brother San didn’t ask her.

It was a simple and good reason.

However, everyone else had a strange look on their face.

Zhang XiaoBai even stared at Gu Ning with a shocked expression.

It was obvious that Gu Ning’s simple answer had shocked them.

Even the Battalion Commander was speechless before the atmosphere became too awkward, Brother San coughed lightly and then interjected: “Well, Battalion Commander, you’ve seen our men, we have to continue our training, so I won’t be sending you off ah.”

After sending the Battalion Commander and the followers away, the other still stared at Gu Ning with this strange expression, while Gu Ning was completely oblivious that she had said something wrong.

Seeing that Gu Ning was in this state, Brother San coughed before asking Zhong Xu: “Zhong Xu, tell Gu Ning why do you want to get into the Five Stars Brigade?”

Zhong Xu gave Gu Ning a complicated look before replying solemnly: “That’s because being in the Five Stars Brigade represents the honor of a soldier and it is the greatest recognition for me!”

Brother Sand nudged Zhang XiaoBai with his chin: “What about you, Zhang XiaoBai?”

Zhang XiaoBai replied: “That’s because being in the Five Stars Brigade means I’m a very, very, very awesome soldier. Today, I’m proud of Third Company, tomorrow the Third Company will be proud of me!” His voice was loud and his aura was compelling.

Afterward, everyone shifted their gazes back at Gu Ning.

Gu Ning was speechless.

Then the fifteen of them, including Gu Ning, were taken to the bottom of the mountain by the three Company Commanders.

“All of you will enter the mountain terrain from here, and when you see the nets that will be the edge, you shall not climb over it. There are no friends, only enemies! The Five Stars Brigade has only given us four slots this time, so today, on this mountain, the fifteen of you will fight for the spots!” These words from First Company Commander Zhou ZiLai, immediately made the fifteen people tense up.

Jiang Jun of the first company asked in surprise: “Company Commander, weren’t there twenty slots last year? How come this year it’s just four all of a sudden?”

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Gu Ning glanced at the frowning Brother San and knew that they were playing for real this time, and if she wasn’t careful, she would most likely be brushed off from the first stage.

Zhou ZiLai pursed his lips then continued: “The Battalion Commander came here just now specifically to talk about this matter. The people at the Five Stars Brigade have said that based on the performance of our three companies last year, it is only worthy of four slots.”

The soldiers immediately kept quiet, they had been through it last year and they knew how badly they were being abused.

Second Company Commander Zhang YueGuo said after glancing at Gu Ning: “Don’t think that just because you know how to shoot targets and that’s all you need! Today we are having a real combat drill! That’s the real battlefield! There’s only a single chance on the battlefield, and I hope all of you can seize this opportunity!”

“Yes Sir!” All the soldiers responded in unison.

Zhang YueGuo glanced at Brother San, indicating him to give a small speech too.

Brother San cleared his throat, then swept his gaze across Gu Ning, Zhang XiaoBai, Zhong Xu, Zou Ming, Zhao Jie’s faces and said with a smile: “I have nothing to say, I just hope those four slots are all from our Third Company.”

All five of them, including Gu Ning, smiled before saluting at Brother San and shouted in unison: “Determined to complete the mission!”

This led to strong discontent from the other companies.

Zhang YueGuo said half-jokingly: “Old Xie, you’re forcing our First and Second Companies to join forces to finish off your Third Company first.”

Brother San replied confidently and proudly: “Then you all can give it a try, if they can get killed so easily, then how can they expect to enter the Five Stars Brigade?”

Zhang YueGuo just choked upon hearing it, and his expression was grim.

When changing equipment, Zhao Jie said while checking his special gun: “I know it myself, that I’m the weakest among the five of us. Let’s kill the others first, then I’ll kill myself. The sad heroic route suits me better.” He said this with a smile on his face, and there were no traces of sadness when he said that. Everyone else was also in a relaxed mood.

Gu Ning, however, couldn’t help but recall Zhao Jie, who had died a tragic death in the post-apocalyptic world and felt some mixed emotions.

Seeing Gu Ning’s gloomy expression, Zhang XiaoBai and the rest thought that she was just too nervous. After all, although Gu Ning was a good marksman, yet just like the Second Company’s Commander had stated, being good at target shooting, didn’t mean she would be good at actual combat drills. Especially for someone like Gu Ning who hadn’t done any actual combat exercises.

Zhang XiaoBai reassured: “Gu Ning, don’t be afraid, although you haven’t tried out actual combat exercise, your marksmanship is still the best among the five of us. So we will cover you, and you just have to show off your marksmanship, a shot for one will do.”

Gu Ning’s retracted her thoughts and was amused at Zhang XiaoBai’s reassurance, actual combat drills? Zhang XiaoBai and the others might not have even seen actual blood spill yet, whereas she was the one who walked out from a horde of zombies. Of course, it was impossible to say that she wasn’t nervous at all, because she had done all preparation and if she was to be brushed off right now, Gu Ning would be very disappointed. Therefore, she had to treat this as if it was in the post-apocalyptic world, and out of those four slots, she surely had to take up a spot!

Then the five of them looked at each other, saw the solemnity and determination in each other’s eyes, and the group of fifteen men set off into the mountain.

The time limit was three hours.

The battle began ten minutes after entering the mountain.

As soon as they’ve entered the mountain, the three companies quickly and tacitly separated into three groups and began to run wildly through the mountain.

Gu Ning didn’t know why but reflexively followed Zhang XiaoBai, Zhong Xu, and the rest, dashing forward while carrying a special gun that was quite heavy. It was clear that running in such conditions did not affect the soldiers particularly much, but then they suddenly realized that Gu Ning wasn’t trained in such area normally and might have been left behind by them. They quickly sprung around to check and saw the Gu Ning was carrying her gun with unparalleled ease and following closely behind them.

It took around ten minutes of running at a certain pace through the mountain before their group slowly came to a halt.

Zhang XiaoBai and the others gasped slightly and subconsciously glanced at Gu Ning, but when they saw that Gu Ning was standing straight with her gun and her chest was not even heaving much while surveying the surroundings vigilantly, they looked at each other and was puzzled and shocked at the same time. Perhaps seeing their shock, Gu Ning flatly stated: “I used to be a marathon champion, I’ve always had good stamina.” This was naturally a lie, running three thousand metres at school would have killed her. Gu Ning had now completely mastered the skill of lying and was calm enough to tell lies without being flushed.

Zhang XiaoBai leaned his body against the tree and stared at Gu Ning and said sincerely: “Gu Ning, you’re such a pervert.”

Gu Ning shrugged her shoulders and then glanced at Zhong Xu and asked: “What do we do next?”

Zhong Xu stood up and glanced at the surrounding before replying: “This place is quite well concealed, they won’t be able to find us for a while.”

Gu Ning noticed that where they were right now was a small concave, behind them was a small slope like an upside-down pot-like shape, shielding them well, while their front was a high slope with rocks and trees below it. The only path leading to this side was two paths that could only be crossed by a single file. The terrain was not only concealing but also could be used for surveying as well as attacking. Even if they were attacked from both sides, they would still have an absolute advantage.

However, Gu Ning still was unsatisfied with the answer: “So?”

Zhang XiaoBai sat down on the floor and pulled down the zip of his jacket to cool himself down and replied: “So we’ll wait here, and when they’re almost done sniping at each other like the clam and the crane, we will be the fishermen and wipe them all out.”

The others didn’t make a sound and obviously, such a plan had been decided before they entered here.

The plan was reasonable but Gu Ning still had doubts.

“What if they want to be the fishermen too?”

She asked again: “And haven’t you guys thought about another possibility of them joining forces together and taking us out first?”

Zhang XiaoBai paused in his fanning motions and subconsciously looked at Zhong Xu, who had always been the one to lead them.

The others were also caught off guard by Gu Ning’s question and all subconsciously stared at Zhong Xu.

Zhong Xu exploded: “Why are you all looking at me? This idea was scrapped together by all of you, so why are you all staring at me now?”

Then he calmed down instantly and looked over at Gu Ning: “So what should we do now?”

Everyone followed Zhong Xu’s gaze and stared at Gu Ning.

Gu Ning was stunned at first, then sighed helplessly in her heart and thought carefully before squatting down and analysing the situation with them after beckoning them together: “As you should have seen when we entered the mountain, we all ran in different directions, so the two teams are not together for now. Even if they had the thoughts of joining forces, they should still be at the stage of mutual suspicion between them, and will not join forces so soon.”

Zhang XiaoBai chimed in: “That’s right, the men of the second company are too arrogant and the team from the first company have never liked them.”

Gu Ning continued: “However if we keep hiding here, once the two teams meet each other, it is difficult to tell if they will fight among themselves or join forces. I don’t know if any of you noticed, but before we started this combat drill, the second company commander said something along the line that why weren’t we afraid that they would join forces to finish us off first? I guess that he was probably signalling to the second company soldiers at that time. Of course, the odds are 50/50, but we can’t afford to take such chances now. One must always prepare for the worst. We’re not afraid to fight them alone, but if they’re really determined to team up and squeeze us out first, then we’re in danger.”

The soldiers nodded their heads like chickens pecking at the rice as they listened to Gu Ning’s well-organized analysis.

Gu Ning continued: “So my suggestion is that we should now find one of them as soon as possible, no matter if it’s the first or second company, and root them out first!”

Gu Ning’s last sentence carried a chill, but inexplicably made the four young soldiers’ blood boil in excitement all of a sudden.

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