The early autumn military training had one advantage: since it was still hot, we only needed to wear one training uniform, so we quickly got dressed.
When we all rushed to the parade ground and lined up, a stocky man strode over.
He was Li Yang, our instructor.
After Li Yang straightened out the formation, he suddenly changed his usually serious expression and smiled at us, "Do you know what ti it is?"
In the past ten or so days, although Li Yang hadn’t resorted to fisticuffs or kicks, he often barked orders, demanding strict discipline and precision in our movents, so we didn’t have a good impression of him.
In contrast, the girls’ side was daily filled with laughter and sounded like a scene straight out of a chirping, fragrant idyll.
It’s the age-old story: comparing ourselves to others can be frustrating as hell.
Seeing that no one answered, Li Yang didn’t get angry but still smiled as he said, "It’s eleven-forty now. Next, you will experience the most prestigious and interesting training exercise of the New Recruit Training Camp, a test of courage!"
Hearing this, you, at the front of the line, couldn’t help but frown slightly.
In fact, on the way to the camp, you noticed that the roads were flanked by desolate hills dotted with graves, and few people lived there.
Once we entered the camp, you spotted a problem: the training camp seed long-abandoned. Not only were the outer walls mottled and damaged, but even the corridors of our dormitory building were showing their age. The only things that were new were the beds we slept in and so training equipnt. At the ti, you hadn’t thought much about it, assuming the training camp had been reopened just for the college freshn’s military training.
Since the training was taxing, most of us would fall asleep as soon as it got dark, rarely coming out at such a late hour. Now, standing in front of the empty dormitory building, you suddenly noticed a chill in the wind blowing from the mountains.
"Instructor, a courage test? How do we do that?" Yang Kai asked, yawning.
If it were any other ti, Li Yang would have scolded him first, but tonight his smile had beco sowhat eerie.
"I can’t tell you now. You’ll find out soon enough," Li Yang said as he straightened his body and commanded, "All units, attention! Left turn! March at a run!"
We were a single company, four platoons tall, twelve squads in all—exactly one hundred and twenty people. Li Yang soon led us with great fanfare towards another small gate in the camp.
"Hey, strange. We’ve been here for more than ten days. How co we’ve never noticed there was another gate here?"
Liao Yong whispered just behind you.
You didn’t say anything, but your frown grew even deeper.
In Liao Yong’s eyes, it was a small gate, but to you, it was an Array!
The gate seed open, but there were Talisman Papers stuck all around it, and the Rune Seals on them were like none you had ever seen.
Could it be that they couldn’t see them?
You glanced at Yang Kai and saw that he was jogging while yawning. Noticing you looking at him, Yang Kai shot back a helpless look.
Given Yang Kai’s personality, if he had seen talismans on the gate, he would have kicked up a fuss right away. But now he was nonchalant, which ant aside from you, no one else could see them.
Thinking it over, you decided it was best not to alarm everyone else. After all, it was a group action. Aside from Li Yang, there were four other instructors nearby, so things should be okay.
Once we all passed through the small gate and the searchlight from the tall tower shone down, we discovered we were in a barren field, overgrown with weeds, with a densely vegetated desolate hill not far off.
Li Yang stood in front of us, his face now serious and somber.
"Before we start the exercise, there’s one thing I need to confirm. Among you, anyone with heart disease, or with a family history of heart disease, please raise your hand."
As expected, a few hands went up.
"Good, you guys step out."
After several people stepped forward, Li Yang continued, "Coming up, you will embark on a path only ant for n. It will be tough to walk, and there will be absolutely no light the entire way, just a sliver of moonlight overhead. Along the way, you will pass a Burial Mound, several pits used for burying the living, and things you have never encountered before. So, if anyone is scared, step out now. Once inside, if you fall behind, well, we’re not responsible. If any of you get lost, then you’ll have to spend the night in the mountains."
With that said, so of the more faint-hearted started having second thoughts.
"What’s there to be scared of? There’s so many of us. Even if a ghost shows up, we could blow it away with a puff of breath," Yang Kai shrugged nonchalantly.
With Yang Kai’s encouragent, everyone gained a bit of courage and echoed in agreent.
Li Yang nodded with a smile, "Very well, then Yang Kai will lead the way."
Yang Kai was taken aback, his expression as comical as if he had swallowed a fly.
You let out a soft sigh and said to Li Yang, "Instructor, let take the lead instead."
Li Yang turned to look at you, a hint of smugness flashing in his eyes as if he had anticipated your offer.
With you at the head, over a hundred of us lined up and began walking towards the wasteland ahead.
You were walking slowly because, when you set off, the moon was completely covered by clouds, leaving your field of vision shrouded in darkness, and you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
What was even more frustrating was that after you’d walked about fifty ters, Li Yang’s voice ca through: "This is my last friendly reminder, the road ahead is going to be tough, and who knows what inexplicable things might happen along the way. If you turn back now, it’s still not too late."
As Li Yang said this, those who were already thinking about beating a retreat imdiately turned and sprinted towards where Li Yang was standing.
That’s just how people are, once one person turns deserter, the rest with wavering wills naturally follow along.
You didn’t make any attempt to stop them, thinking to yourself that turning back now was the right move, at least it ant you wouldn’t end up wetting your pants later on.
Standing in this wasteland, you could already see the ghost fires floating among the trees up ahead.
But when you turned around to check the line of your team, you found that the once long procession had dwindled to less than half its size.
You led the team, continuing forward.
The beginnings of the wasteland rely presented difficult terrain and nothing out of the ordinary, but as you crossed the wasteland, climbed the hill, and entered the woods, the scene before you clearly underwent a significant change.
The underbrush was very dense, with so areas so overgrown there was no path to follow, leaving you no choice but to snap a branch and push through the bushes as you moved ahead with difficulty.
Li Yang had ntioned beforehand that every two hundred ters, he would set up a flashpoint to keep you from getting lost.
However, when you reached the fifth flashpoint, the dense forest seed to suddenly vanish, replaced by a large open area in front of you. But this was not just any open field - it was a vast graveyard!
Any gar could tell you were standing in a Burial Mound.
But a ga is a ga, and moving that scene into real life is an entirely different matter.
You could clearly hear so people’s teeth chattering behind you. If the previous forest was rely difficult to pass through, with everyone holding hands and cooperating, it was easy enough to get by.
But now it was different. Death is taboo for everyone; anyone who is human frightens at the thought of death, and at things already dead, including humans themselves.
"Everyone, keep holding hands. Don’t get lost," you say.
You were at the front of the pack, and you should’ve been the most frightened, but to you, this was child’s play. You wouldn’t even be scared if sothing jumped out of the graves.
"No offense, no offense, we’re just passing through," you muttered.
The extent of the Burial Mound was so vast it seed strange.
Since your dorm is on the third floor, you’d often stand on the rooftop during your rest ti to look at the scenery. Based on your mory, there shouldn’t be such a large graveyard in the area.
With that thought, you suddenly stopped walking and slipped your hand into your pocket.
Just as you were about to pull out a piece of Talisman Paper from your pocket, soone in the crowd let out a shrill scream!
"There’s sothing there! Sothing is moving!"
"Over there too!"
"Ah! Sothing’s grabbing my foot!"
"It’s coming this way!"
The crowd was instantly thrown into chaos!
Turning your head, you noticed that the previously calm Burial Mound had suddenly beco bustling with activity, with nurous entities crawling out from the graves.
"Run for it!"
A portion of the people started sprinting back the way you ca, while only a small group remained, forming a circle.
Arts students are usually more emotional, and the richer and finer one’s feelings are, the more fearful they beco of these entities, so their behavior isn’t surprising. However, out of about a hundred people, there are always a few who are braver or think faster.
The fewer than twenty who remained knew that Li Yang had made it clear that the na of the exercise was "Courage training", so the things they were seeing were either illusions or people in disguise.
If they were illusions, they would be easy to deal with; but if people were pretending, that could be a headache.
"Old Shu, think of sothing. We can’t let them surround us like this," soone said.
After the last ordeal at the Seventh Central Primary School, Yang Kai’s courage had grown considerably. He wasn’t scared, just annoyed. Anyone would be annoyed seeing all these things scattering around.
"They’re just illusions," you say with a smile, pulling out a Talisman Paper from your pocket. "Everyone, close your eyes, I’ll count to seven, then we’ll all open our eyes together."
Your training performance has always been outstanding, so when you spoke, everyone obediently closed their eyes.
"One, two, three..."
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