CH 11

In the midday summer, the sun was like a ball of fire, hot and shiny. 5000 soldiers were lining up in front of the campsite. It was so hot out there that even one minute standing under the sunlight could make the soldiers sweat all over their body.

The soldiers were waiting in high spirit, but Su Ren was still a bit anxious. The appointment time almost came, but he hadn’t even seen her shadow. Big Brother really hated unpunctuality. Yesterday, Yu Shi Jun came at Xu hour. Although he had a reason for being late, he was still given 20 flogs as punishment.

While Su Ren was still worried, Gu Yun suddenly appeared in the centre of the camp. Su Ren secretly sighed and smiled, “Big Sister-in-law.”

Su Ling stood proud and lofty in front of the troop. He coldly stared at her. Gu Yun pretended she didn’t see him and greeted Su Ren, “I am not late, am I?”

Seeing the sundial in the camp’s center, the time was just right. Su Ren was relieved and answered, “No, you came just on time.”

Gu Yun saw the back of the slightly angered Su Ling. Although Gu Yun didn’t speak a word, her face clearly showed ‘you need to cope with me’. This made Su Ling’s anger increase. Unfortunately, he couldn’t vent it out.

Gu Yun’s mood was not bad. She kept on grabbing the fabric bag that was hanging on her waist and said, “Let’s set off.”

Su Ren asked, “To where?”

Gu Yun laughed and replied, “To get familiar with the rainforest, of course. We need to enter the rainforest environment. If not, how can the soldiers know what they are going to face?”

Her words were logical. Not waiting for Su Ren to issue the order, she just directly yelled, “Target… 20 miles to the forest’s direction. Run forward!”

“Yes!” They shouted in unison. They even jogged forward in unison. Gu Yun secretly admired, they were worthy of their name, elite forces. They were really different from those bunch of rascals.

While Gu Yun silently criticised, Su Ren had already led a black horse and said, “You just ride this horse, ok?”

Gu Yun turned her head and glanced. Su Ling and Mu Yi, each of them, also led a horse beside them. Her mood slightly changed. Gu Yun shook her head and loudly said, “It is very close, we don’t need to ride a horse. Or… has the great General Su has enjoyed such a high position and lived in comfort that he can no longer run that far?”

From the beginning, she had already planned to jog there. How could she resist not pulling him into the water (means to jog with the rest)? The great general and all the soldiers jogged together. This matter, if it was spread out, would make a good story. She was helping him!

Su Ling tightened his grip on the reins. If he insisted on continuing to ride on horse, wasn’t he admitting out loud that he had enjoyed the comfort so much, hence, he was spoilt?! It was nothing. Anyway, it had been a long time since he ran on a march. Jogging was not really that bad. Su Ling let the reins go and joined the march.

Gu Yun secretly laughed and also ran to catch up to the march. Su Ren was dumbfounded for a while. At last, he also let his reins go and jogged together.

The great general was jogging, how could he still ride a horse?!

Mu Yi widened his eyes and gently stroked the back of the horse. He smiled, “It’s okay, I am more suitable with the pampered lifestyle.” Ling didn’t realise that he was being controlled by that lady. Following Su Ling’s example, Su Ren innocently jogged. Mu Yi shook his head. Indeed, the all-men household wasn’t good (complete?).

To the professional elite forces, the 20-mile distance didn’t really count as anything. However, within the last 5 miles, they had entered the forest. Their feet were covered in mud while their bodies were sticky and moist. Arriving at the place Gu Yun designated as a target, the troop arrangement was messed up. However, the five thousand soldiers quickly returned to the formation while still breathing heavily.

Gu Yun secretly adjusted her breath and then walked to Leng Xiao and Liu Xing’s side, who had been waiting beforehand. She asked, “Have you finished preparing ‘that’ thing?”

Liu Xing looked at two big bags on the ground and gulped. He nodded quickly. Leng Xiao calmly added, “They are ready.”

Gu Yun smiled brightly, “Thanks for the hard work. Both of you, go and join the others.”

“Yes.”

Gu Yun turned her back and saw the red-clothed Mu Yi looking at the bag. He looked really curious. Gu Yun was wondering. The horse couldn’t enter this dense rainforest so far, hence, he would have traveled on foot for quite a long distance. How come his red attire was very clean and neat, free of mud?! And also, Su Ling who had been running along the way didn’t lose his breath nor did he look tired. Is this so-called neigong*self-healing?! This really made one feel stuffy. Her heart was full of doubt.

However, seeing the eyes that showed firm resolution and willingness to learn in front of her, she quickly refocused her mind. She told the soldiers, “The fact that you can appear in here means that you must have understood the responsibilities you bear. Every one of you was chosen from the Su army to form an elite team. I have absolute belief in your fitness and strength. If you have an open battle with the rebels, you absolutely can defeat and subdue them. However, your biggest obstacle this time is the rainforest and then the rebels.

“The circumstances inside the rainforest are different from its outside. The humidity is high and also very stuffy. Don’t you already feel some shortness of breath?” Gu Yun asked. No one answered. All of their faces showed resolve and no emotion.

Her brows raised. Being a so-called elite was not that good. She prefered people with blood and meat (with emotion). She crossed her arms on over her chest and lightly smiled, “There are only five days left. To be honest, the training contents will not be a lot. Today is the first day, so it won’t be really hard.”

After hearing her words, the new recruits who had been training under her before gasped. We’re doomed! Last time she also smiled and said it wouldn’t be too hard, but the result…

Those elite forces who didn’t understand the real meaning of the words kept calm and remained expressionless. In their hearts, they were unhappy. They’d been picked, chosen, and harshly trained fighters. No matter how tough it was, they won’t even crease their eyebrow.

Without analysing their expression, Gu Yun could guess their thoughts from their manner. She kept on smiling and lightly said, “The energy to walk in here for one hour is equivalent to the energy consumed when running for 3 hours under normal circumstances. Furthermore, the bushes and trees grow wildly. The ground is also wet and slippery. In addition, you need to be mindful of poisonous insects, snakes, ants and leeches. If everyday you can walk 100 miles, in this rainforest, you can only walk… 10 miles.”

Ten miles? It was impossible! Here was already forest. They had just spent two hour walking for 5 miles, how could one day’s time only be equivalent to 10 miles!

Most of the people had heard of this madam’s actions; they were really curious. Seeing her today, she was really different from the imagination!

Regardless of whether they were listening or not, Gu Yun still used a ‘do as I say’ style of speaking, “Your objective of entering the rainforest is to look for the rebels’ lair. The rainforest is very big and spacious. Once entered, one must prepare to stay for 8-10 days. If you cannot build a fire, it will be disaster. Without fire, you will be suffering at night. Not being able to eat warm food and cook things are small matters. The most important thing is inside rainforest, your feet will start to fester. You will be really close to dying.”

Su Ling was standing at the back the whole time, watching the skinny and weak woman who seemed almost drowned in the sea of the group. Even though she only said couple of sentences, Su Ling was already convinced. She had broad knowledge about rainforest. Or else, she wouldn’t be this relaxed and confident. However, what kind of circumstances shaped her to become the woman in front of him? This was the first time in his life, he was… interested in a woman.

Gu Yun had noticed the inquiring eyes that kept gazing at her. She wanted to ignore him, but it was not that easy. That man really had a strong presence that could not be disregarded easily.

Gu Yun no longer thought about it and continued, “Therefore, build a fire now for me to see! Who wants to be the first to try?”

Gu Yun had just finished her sentence, and many hands were already raised up. It looked like many of them were confident that they could build a fire. Gu Yun’s brow raised and randomly chose several people. She said, “Let the five of you do it.”

Gu Yun took the bag at her waist and threw it to Leng Xiao, “Leng Xiao, give them the huozhezi ( 火折子, a tool to ignite the fire).”

huozhezi ( 火折子, a tool to ignite the fire).

Leng Xiao opened the bag. The bag was full of huozhezi,which were buried in the plant ashes. He took several of them and gave it to those 5 people.

Those five took the huozhezi and tried to ignite a fire. While they were trying, Gu Yun suddenly spoke, “Wait a minute. Place the huozhezi somewhere you think it won’t get wet easily. Then from here, run to the biggest tree over there and return here. Go!”

Everyone looked to where there was. Approximately, it was 1 miles distance from their current location to that tree. The team of five didn’t understand Gu Yun’s intention, but they still didn’t dare to disobey  it. They put the huozhezi in between their outerwear and innerwear and ran towards the tree.

Not too far away, their speeds were getting slower. The corner of Gu Yun’s mouth raised. As they neared the tree, the number of branches and vines increased, as did the humidity. The huozhezi would most likely be useless after returning back.

Su Ling’s eyes narrowed. The two miles journey from here to there and back again took more than half an hour. This was only the rainforest periphery, if it were the center…

Back at Gu Yun’s location, those five were full of sweat. They didn’t think the fog and mist would be that thick, that even the tree trunks were dripping water.

Gu Yun smiled, “Now, you can try to ignite the fire.”

The five quickly recovered from their thoughts and took out the houzhezi. They tried to start the fire, but it wasn’t successful. They whispered amongst themselves, “How come the huozhezis are wet?!” They had been really careful to place it on their chests, but it still got wet?!

Gu Yun secretly smiled. It looked like they didn’t understand the power of humidity. At this time, Leng Xiao finally understood the use of plant ashes inside the bag. They took away all the moisture and kept the huozhezi dry.

Those five people revealed a defeated look and went back to join others. Gu Yun smilingly continued, “Are there any of you who want to try it?”

This time, no one dare to raise their hands. Before they were too impulsive, now when they thought it again even if the huozhezi  didn’t get wet, all of other things that they brought would still get wet, which meant there would be nothing to feed the fire and keep it alive. How could they build a fire then?!

After waiting for a while, as no one was speaking, Gu Yun loudly continued, “Building a fire in the rainforest needs a skill. I will teach you this skill.” After looking at the bags on the ground, Gu Yun’s eyes flashed with excitement. She laughed, “However, before this, I think there is something more important thing to learn about.”

Since they were so full of self-confidence, it wasn’t her character to not give them a ‘blow.’

Many of them still had a little hesitation in their hearts. They secretly waited for what was the important thing that Gu Yun talked about.

Gu Yun lips were crooked. With an exceptionally gentle voice, she said, “Without fire you could live for about 7-8 days. Inside the rainforest, you need to consume a lot of energy to travel. Without food, you will probably die within three days. Therefore, I think the most important lesson for today is to teach you what kinds of food you can or cannot eat inside the forest.”

Eat?!! Liu Xing had goosebumps. Boss didn’t really want them to eat the things inside the bag, right?! No way!

Leng Xiao was thinking the same thing at the time. His facial expression was not quite right.

“Leng Xiao.” Gu Yun winked at him. Leng Xiao walked beside the bag and opened it.  All of the things inside the bag were poured out.

At once, there was a stack full of dead snakes and maggots on the ground about as high as half a man’s height. Snakes of all lengths and colours were there. In addition, there were frogs and termites. Some of them were dead, but some were still alive. However, the most disgusting thing were not these things, but the fat blood-sucking worms, which were as big as an index finger. Their plump body squirmed, making people feel itchy and their hairs brittled. Even those elites who had seen many hard things couldn’t help themselves and involuntarily frowned. Meanwhile, the younger new recruits helplessly took a deep breath.

Mu Yi who was standing in front of the troops was even more obvious. He stepped a bit further out. In all of his life, he had been clean and happy. He was unwilling to get too near those disgusting things.

Su Ling and Su Ren looked at each other. Both of them didn’t really understand what she really wanted to accomplish, but they still maintained their composure and coolly observed.

Everyone was surprised and disgusted while Gu Yun looked satisfied. She squatted and took a live frog. She said, “It is really abundant, isn’t it? Inside the rainforest, there are actually many foods. However, the question is… Do you dare or not dare to eat it? Do you know or not know how to eat it?”

Eat? When all soldiers finally heard all of the clues, their faces changed. She wanted them to eat those disgusting things?!

Gu Yun took out a dagger from her waist, gently slid the dagger from the frog’s mandible. She poked a gap and neatly skinned the frog. Her hand movements were fast and the skinned frog was still moving. Gu Yun looked up and walked to the first row of the troops. She showed the just-skinned frog in front of a soldier and smiled, “This frog’s skin isn’t edible, but the meat is really a good food.”

Luo Yan didn’t take the frog. His eyes met Gu Yun’s. Gu Yun smiled, “You don’t like frog? Snakes and termites are also not bad. You can choose whichever.”

Gu Yun’s slightly ridiculing tone made Luo Yan increasingly unhappy. He icily looked at Gu Yun. The words were already at the tip of his tongue. However, the strict military discipline during his service prevented from him talking carelessly. Therefore, he didn’t speak a word.

Gu Yun had always been good at observing people’s expression. Although he didn’t speak, she knew what was on his mind. However, she needed him to speak it out loud. Gu Yun inquired, “What are you thinking? Speak!”

Getting Gu Yun’s approval, Luo Yan straightforwardly said, “We can bring dry food to rainforest. Even if we’ve finished the dry food, this forest must have many fruits. Why should we eat those horrible things? The military order cannot be violated, so even if Madam asked this subject to drink poison, this subject will not hesitate. You do not need to test us like this, humiliating us.”

Gu Yun’s smile slowly disappeared. Her gaze held a bit of resentment, helplessness, and disappointment. She slightly raised her voice, “Do you think I asked you to eat these things to humiliate you? In order to establish my superiority?”

No one dared to reply, but Gu Yun was not irritated. She calmly explained, “Bringing dry food into the forest will not last long as it will become moldy soon. Regardless of how many you bring in, there, you will run out of food within three days. This is a fact. For the fruits that you mentioned, I advise you not to eat them. You don’t have any idea which fruits are edible, which ones aren’t. The fruits in the rainforest more or less are mildly toxic and not very suitable for eating. Most importantly, solely relying on fruits will slowly make you weaker and you’ll lose your strength for fighting. For this matter, eating one frog will give you more energy than eating 10 fruits.”

Liu Xing secretly frowned. Boss couldn’t just reply like that. Those who were questioning her would say  even if there is no good fruit to eat, they could still eat any fruit and just endure the bitterness. They would rather be dead than be in pain.

With the already-dead frog in her palm, she asked, “Do you really think that this kind of thing is not edible?”

Rubbish. Who would want to eat those things? Don’t just speak without action! If you had the capabilities, you would eat it yourself…

Luo Yan was still complaining in his heart. The next moment his calm appearance disappeared. He was so surprised that he couldn’t help himself and widened his eyes.

She… She, she… She really…

Not only Luo Yan, everyone else was also shocked when they looked at Gu Yun. This included Su Ling and Mu Yi. Both of them were blankly staring for a moment.

In front of the troops, Gu Yun calmly stood. She took the frog in her hand to her mouth and calmly bit it. Her face showed no expression when she chewed it.

Just when everybody’s surprised face showed either panic, curiosity or admiration, Gu Yun swallowed the frog. Then she opened her mouth once again, “I relied on these things that you call not edible and survived living in the rainforest for a month before finally coming out alive. I’ve never forgotten the humidity, nor the terror of the rainforest since then. You and I only have 5 days time. I have not and will not talk about the war strategy. I will only tell you how to survive at any time in the rainforest. If you think that I am humiliating you, I won’t hold you and please leave this instance.”

The clear sarcastic voice was not that exciting, but it echoed around with the silence of the forest.

Everyone’s heart in the troop faltered. However, no one dared to expressed it out loud.  In the silence, Leng Xiao just stepped forward when the man, who complained to Gu Yun previously, stepped out faster than him. He strode to the terrorising pile, took out a fat worm and didn’t hesitate to put it into his mouth…

The yellowish green coloured innards bursted out of his mouth. Although Luo Yan tried to control it, his body still slightly shook.

He actually chose the worm, which most of people wouldn’t dare choose. Gu Yun secretly smiled and admired. This man was really impulsive.

Behind Luo Yan, there was Leng Xiao. He took a small snake, skinned it and also bit it.

Someone took the lead. Regardless of if they really admired Gu Yun or got forced, everyone ate more or less a mouthful. After this, Gu Yun finally said loudly, “Enough! These things are best when roasted. When possible, you don’t need to eat it raw. Now, I will teach you how to ignite fire.”

“Yes.” Everyone was relieved. Fortunately, she did not use any more bizarre training methods.

Gu Yun’s words almost made Mu Yi laugh out loud. Actually, it was better not to eat raw. Yet, she forced all the soldiers to eat it?! This type of blow was really cruel. This woman… really was…

The first day training experience had been unforgettable for a lifetime. Even in the next 10 years from now, they would still complain over and over again when they talked about what they’d been through today.

At night.

The sky was clear. The bright crescent moon shone through the spacious camp. Under the gentle moonlight, one desolate shadow was standing there. The petite and weak figure was stretched long by the moonlight, giving a feeling of frail desolation.

At a distance, Su Ling kept looking at this woman ever since returning from the forest. Su Ling strode to Gu Yun’s side. A deep baritone voice asked, “Was that one thing you said this afternoon true?”

Gu Yun didn’t turn her back and weakly asked, “Which sentence?” She had spoke a lot this afternoon, how could she know which one he was referring to?

“Why did you need to survive in the forest for a month?” Gu Yun didn’t reply to him. He unexpectedly believed her words. Although she had been suppressing her feelings when she spoke about her experience locked in the forest for a month, he still could see through her.

Gu Yun’s back stiffened. After a long time, she replied, “I don’t have the mood to talk about it today.” Being in the rainforest this afternoon had brought back many of her memories. She seemed further and further away from the modern era. She missed the city that she’d been living in for 29 years, her parents, her teammates… She… really wanted to go back.

Su Ling was there beside her; she should be asking about that golden bagua. However, she felt really tired and didn’t want to fight with him.

Gu Yun silently turned her back, leaving. Su Ling wasn’t used to this side of her. He felt her shadow showed inexplicable of sadness.

“Qing Mo.” Su Ling didn’t really understand what he wanted to say, but he had opened his mouth.

Gu Yun’s step stopped. Opposite against the moonlight, she was unable to clearly see the man’s expression. He rarely took initiative to call her. How come he did so tonight?

Greeting Gu Yun’s puzzled eyes, Su Ling didn’t know what to say to her. It was fortunate that the night was hazy. His crumpled and awkward face could not be seen. After a while, Gu Yun started to get impatient. Su Ling then finally spoke up, “Tomorrow, you just train the soldiers here. You don’t need to go to the Crow’s Valley.”

She almost forgot the ‘rescuing Han Shu’ mission for tomorrow. Gu Yun replied, “When will it start?”

Su Ling frowned and coldly replied, “You don’t need to know.”

Gu Yun pressed, “When will it start?”

Su Ling didn’t even answer her question, only giving her that cold arrogant look.

This man’s arrogance was truly annoying! If he didn’t reply, she could always ask someone else! Gu Yun’s eyes lighted up and smilingly she said, “I only want to see the capability of the rebels. Don’t worry! My hand is still injured, I won’t take the spotlight from you.”

This woman couldn’t really tell good from bad! Su Ling coldly replied, “You are an absolutely annoying woman.”

Gu Yun lightly raised her brow and smiled, “How many women have you met?” She remembered in the manor, there was not even a single female mosquito, let alone a woman. In addition, looking at his attitude towards women, she really doubted many women would dare to appear beside him.

Su Ling didn’t think that Gu Yun would ask this question. His face showed a surprised look, and he glared at Gu Yun.

Gu Yun shrugged and sympathetically gazed, “Well, don’t think so hard. I understand.” After speaking, Gu Yun turned her back. She sighed heavily and then went into the tent.

“Qing Mo!”

Hearing the roar behind her, Gu Yun mouth unconsciously twitched. The colour of the moon tonight was really beautiful and her mood was not that bad anymore.