My Classmate Is 200 Million Years Old - CHAPTER 134 ♦ GUNSHOT SOUND

Meanwhile, each company had to create their own poster. Because of this, some of the girls took the chance to loaf on their training. Though one was required to have a certain standard of artistic sense, be able to draw, write calligraphy or paint for example, the instructors were the one who had the final say as to who could get the job. After all, there were a lot of students who could draw a little or write nicely, they couldn’t possibly send all twenty out of the forty students who claimed they were skilled and experienced away to do the poster — half their company would be gone at this rate.

Instructor Zhang interviewed a few of them in detail. Based on his impression of their regular performance during training, he approved three people. The remaining two slots however had him in a dilemma. The three girls said that the three of them were enough to complete the poster, so the remaining two slots could be given to anyone. And so, having suddenly granted this negligible authority, Instructor Zhang’s mind immediately started spinning.

During their break time, he located Xuan Mo and asked her: “Xuan Mo, do you know calligraphy? Or how to copy write or draw.”

Xuan Mo knew that the drawing she knew and the drawing that the blue planets being recognised were different. As for calligraphy and the likes… she shook her head in honesty.

Instructor was a little anxious: “Aye, it’s fine even if you only know a little. The three other girls that’s just left said they could handle it, you can go and just help them out.”

Xuan Mo’s forehead twitched. She shook her head immediately, she wasn’t interested in assisting the other girls.

“Aye this girl…” Instructor Zhang looked around and scratched his head, “even though I was instructed previously, the training I gave previously was still a little too much, this is a great opportunity to take a break, take it as my apology, how about that?”

“That’s not your fault.” Xuan Mo made known her understanding in a grave manner. “The instructions were issued from above, you were simply obeying their orders, and so was I to yours, that is the nature of this role, I have no opinions.”

If this was something said during the revolution times, Instructor Zhang would probably have believed her. However, he himself was born in the late eighties. As such when he gave this delicate girl a once-over, he couldn’t help but mentally remark to himself how difficult it was to persuade her. At Xuan Mo’s serious expression, he couldn’t help but feel an oncoming headache.

After a few more futile attempts at convincing her, the instructor minced his lips and decided just to leave the additional two spots empty.

The students however were unhappy with this outcome. They didn’t understand why the other companies had filled the five spots but theirs had to leave two empty.

However, none of the students spoke out; they were all waiting for the first brave soul to start the topic with the instructor. In the end however, no such soul emerged even when the three girls had already completed the outline of the poster. And so, this issue was swept under the rug. One thing that attracted the attention of the other girls however was the fact that the instructor had went to speak with Xuan Mo. There were some girls who felt that Xuan Mo was too naive and guileless to reject the position, others however felt that she was just faking it. In fact, there were even some students who had completely forgotten about her additional training previously and went on spreading their opinions about how Xuan Mo was receiving special treatment.

Naturally Xuan Mo heard all of the gossip going around, but she was too lazy to wonder how things ended up this way. If standing out was a crime… then she really had nothing to say.

The parade was not held immediately after the practice sessions. Instead, there was a three-day outfield exercise. The exercise was held at Qingyun Mountain in the suburbs. They had one day to prep, one day for outfield training and one more day of break after returning. After that was the parade, followed by some performances before their military training drew to a close.

Though the freshmen listened carefully to the briefing, their lack of experience limited their understanding. Having taken this into account, the instructors too were prepared to teach as they went. With that in mind, they decided to wrap up, and sent the students off to prepare their things.

The instructors had mentioned that toiletries and a change of clothes would be sufficient. There were mats there so there wasn’t much of a need to bring any further bedding; if they were really scared of the cold, they could bring their blankets. However, the female students weren’t so easily convinced, after all, packing light was sometimes quite a challenge for girls. The three other girls in Xuan Mo’s dorm had never packed their own items before, so they went on and on discussing what to bring. When they saw that Xuan Mo was already done packing her things, they thought that she had a lot of experience with things like these, and so they gathered over to check out what she’d packed.

Xuan Mo pointed at the small backpack by her feet. It was a really, really small bag. Small enough that you’d bring it out when you head out for shopping. They didn’t even need to open the bag to know how little things there were inside.

“Xuan Mo! Is that all you’re gonna bring, what about shampoo, sunscreen, body wash, did you pack those?”

Xuan Mo was already putting enough effort to even bother packing a bag. If it weren’t for the situation, she’d have only brought herself.

When they saw Xuan Mo’s indifferent attitude, the girls immediately decided that continuing with this dialogue wasn’t going to get them anywhere. And so, they returned to stressing about what to pack on their own.

After arriving at Qingyun Mountain, they spent the afternoon unpacking in their allocated rooms. On the afternoon of the second day, the students were lined up in their formation, and were being briefed on the route and things to take note of. The students were separated into a group of around ten or more students each. They were required to go over the hill in their groups. There were three different routes in total, and they had to take whichever route they drew. The groups would leave in ten-second intervals. En route, it didn’t matter if one group took over another group, the clock would start ticking when the first group made their leave, all the way till the last group of students from that company made it back. The total duration would be the score they as a company would receive. This exercise was competitive, and apparently the company who took the shortest time would be rewarded.

Before they left, the instructors and teachers reminded them again and again to be careful. There were always hiccups when it came to the outfield exercise. The Qingyun Mountain was pretty vast too. Further, due to the conservation efforts, the trees were lush and verdant. As for the three different routes, none of them were paved. The majority of the students had never scaled a mountain in as primal a manner as this, so they were curious and nervous.

Xuan Mo was grouped with eleven other girls. They were people she’d never interacted with before, if she did, it was probably as shallow as finding their faces familiar. After grouping together, they nodded at each other. They selected the girl who normally appeared the most cheerful and energetic out of everyone to be the group leader. Xuan Mo volunteered to stay at the very end of the line. The route they drew was a C-shaped route. Though it was the shortest in distance, this route had many bends and turns along the way, so this was the most difficult route to take.

With thousands over people hiking the place, even a mountain as vast as this would somehow liven up. Very soon, the three routes were split between the students. From afar, Qingyun Mountain may appear calm and quiet, but who would have known the havoc that was happening within the green hills.

Xuan Mo slowly ran behind the few girls. The girls in her group seemed to treat this trip as an excursion as they chatted away. The only thing that’s stopping them from picnicking right now was probably the lack of snacks and a mat really. At the rate they were moving, they wouldn’t be able to reach the end before nightfall. Xuan Mo noticed that there was no one ahead of them, nor anyone behind them. Didn’t they say the groups of students would be released in short intervals? Was everyone walking as slowly as they were?

She’d long since swept through the entire Qingyun mountain with her mental energy. To her, this was but a small hill, but if she had to walk the route in her current form, it’d be evening by the time she reached even if she were to run all the way to the end. Seemed like the group of students currently laughing their way up the mountain would be crawling by the time they reach the top, and probably rolling themselves down the hill by the time they make the return trip.

While Xuan Mo was submerged in her speechlessness, something sounded behind them. Before long, a group of people ran past them in a flurry of footsteps. They were a group of guys, and one of them was shouting.

“We caught up with another group!”

“Girls again! What’s their there to be smug about…”

The guys ran over. Some of them ran ahead without speaking, some of them smiled and spoke: “Beautiful girls hello!”

Some of the girls greeted them back with smiles. Xuan Mo continued running forward behind them.

When the guys saw her, they elbowed each other. Xuan Mo heard a comment floating by: “Hohh! There really is a pretty girl here!”

“Haha, go help her carry her gun!”

“If you find your bag too light, why don’t you do it instead!”

The girls and guys had the same route. To increase the difficulty, the guys had to carry a military backpack weighing about 2.5kg heavy, as well as a gun. The girls on the other hand only had to carry a gun. Of course, the guns they were given had no bullets.

After being surpassed by two group of guys, they realised that the next group of girls were closing in too. The girl in front of Xuan Mo finally felt a little embarrassed at how slow they were: “Hey group leader, let’s hurry up.”

“Alright!” The group leader Li Chan exclaimed, “sisters, we can do it!”

“Let’s go!”

Xuan Mo shook her head. She’d lost all hopes for them.

As expected, all the girls had wilted within a minute.

“How is it that they are still running, but we can’t run anymore…”

“Because you didn’t maintain an even speed from the beginning.” Xuan Mo remarked in a chilly tone, “you drained your energy by sprinting for twenty yards, and you’re still hoping you can rewind time and find the energy to continue for the remaining forty? Even if they ran out of energy, those that maintained an even pace would be able to continue on due to inertia, so it’d be more tiring to slow down.”

“Aye, why didn’t you say earlier then!”

“Even if I did say, would you have believed me, or did what I suggested?” Xuan Mo looked down and muttered. They should have seen how happily they were chatting away earlier. If she were to drop something like this on them, they’d have simply dismissed it.

The girls weren’t all that dense. At her words, they too agreed with what she said. At least they’d finished enjoying what they could earlier, and so, their lack of speed was biting them from the back. At that, they sped up. The girls still chatted when they had the energy to, after all, there was no instructor around so they had all the liberty to chat.

They had still not reached the top by the time it was noon. Some of the girls were tired and frustrated, and wanted to sit down to take a break. They’d have long collapsed in exhaustion if they weren’t for the task at hand.

Li Chan had no option either but to agree to their request. And so, the girls sat in a circle. Another group ran past them. It was another group of guys. Everyone greeted each other when they passed by.

“I don’t think we’re really that behind…” Just as Li Chan was about to get everyone to stand up, she suddenly paused, asking: “What’s that sound?”

“I don’t know… is it a canon?” Someone replied in confusion.

“Why would there be canons here?”

“Was it just our imagination then?”

Xuan Mo got up slowly. She patted her back and looked into the dense forest behind her: “It’s not your imagination, you just heard wrongly.”

She squinted her eyes: “That’s a gunshot sound.”