Chapter 186: Stupid Hu Lan

Location: Ralia City- Ralia Mountains.

"We already had permissions to use this place, right?"

"Do we need permission to use a forest?" Rue frowned as she eyed the tall mountains in front of them. She looked at her arms before turning towards Cleo's arms and wondered how are they going to arrive at the top carrying massive bags for camping? Did Lyca actually do this so she could get back to her for that confrontation years ago? Rue looked at Lyca. 

The latter was wearing black tactical pants, paired with a gray tank top, a few daggers hung on the woman's waist as she stared at the mountain in a daze. "Are you finally regretting your decision to come here?" Rue couldn't help but feel a little aggrieved. There was no way that she would climb this mountain along with everyone else! She was certain she would die!

"Why would I regret it?" Lyca turned towards Rue, confusion flashed in her eyes. This was the perfect spot to test everyone's determination. "And we are here for camping. There's no need to ask for some permits for that." She answered before she motioned Hogan to get her a chair so she could sit. 

"You are crazy," Rue said. "Cleo and I can't climb that mountain."

However, before Lyca could answer her, a small commotion interrupted them. The three women and Hogan turned to look at the group of men and women behind them. Lyca almost wanted to laugh out loud when she saw Hu Lan. Wearing a turtle neck and tactical pants, Hu Lang greeted everyone before she walked towards Lyca. Surprisingly, Hu Lan actually smiled at her.

Was this woman dumb? Or was she trying to act cordially in front of everyone?

"Miss Xi, I already asked Boss Q's permission to join the training. He agreed and even sent me a good luck charm for the exercises."

"Oh. He didn't send me one." Lyca said. She met Hu Lan's eyes. "Alright… you can join us."

"Really?" Of course, Hu Lan wasn't expecting Lyca to be so nice today. Hu Lan couldn't help but wonder if Xi hit her head somewhere. 

"Hmm." Lyca turned her attention towards the forest again, she ignored Hu Lan as she comfortably sat in her chair and started eating some nuts. She then eyed her watch, it was still five in the morning. The sun just started peeking on the horizon. 

"Miss Xi, are we going to climb this mountain?"

"Yes, seven-five." 

Her answer made Hu Lan froze. "What… what is seven five?"

"Your name." It was Rue who answered her. "From now on… we will call you as seven five."

Unable to understand what they meant, Hu Lan looked at Hogan, who was also her father's close friend, questions swirled in her orbs. Unfortunately for her, Hogan chose not to explain and just shrugged. His attention was towards the forest. He couldn't stop himself from feeling that Lyca was planning something bad for everyone.

The cold November breeze made them felt its presence, making everyone shiver as they talked amongst themselves. Lyca told them that they are going to train today, and everyone is really excited to learn something.

"Line," Lyca said. She stood from her seat and turned towards everyone. She eyed Hu Lan, who was in the front before turning her gaze to the other people. All in all, forty-five people came here. The others chose to stay back in the building, and some were injured, so they cannot join this type of training. "Current time is five-thirty." She spoke, her voice was not loud but it was clear and more than enough for everyone to hear. 

"Cleo will give you a piece of paper. I want you to write your name. Real ones on the sheet of paper and put it in your pockets."

As she was speaking, Cleo already started giving everyone a small piece of paper and some pens so they could follow Lyca's instructions. 

"At five forty-five. All of you will start trekking the mountain. This mountain is not really tall. You can walk from here to the highest point in five hours and use another five hours back. This was only if you walk. You can save time if you run," she smiled.

"Well, that sounded really simple. Miss Xi, is right. We can actually do it in less than six hours back and forth if we are just fit enough to run." Hu Lan's voice echoed. While this action made a few people frown, Lyca didn't react and just continued talking as if she didn't hear Hu Lan's voice.

"I want you to leave everything here. Your bags. All you can bring is a knife and an empty water bottle. I want you to run, towards the top and come back here in less than six hours."

Hu Lan started beaming, seemingly satisfied that her words were actually right. 

"But that is not the mission," Lyca added. "The mission is to keep the piece of paper dry." 

Her words made Hogan, and a few other people frowned. First and foremost, running would make them sweat which will obviously make the paper wet. Second, the cold would make the paper moist. Leaving it somewhere would surely make the paper wet too, as the forest was naturally damp.

"You can do whatever you can think of to keep it dry as long as you always keep the paper with you. Each of you will have a GPS so we can track you so no funny business. Anyone caught cheating will… " She made a deliberate pause. "Would lose their libido for half a year." Lyca beamed. "Do we have a deal?"

"Miss Xi, question!" Hu Lan raised her hand. "Is the forest safe? What about wild animals?"

"Use your knives. Deal with it." Lyca answered. "Or eat them."

"..."

"Any other questions?" she eyed the other people. After what happened yesterday, many of them knew that she was really capable of making them lose their libido. After all, everyone who experienced that numbing needle exaggerated their stories about Miss Xi and her Needles.

"What if we had an accident?" This time it was Ma Ping who asked.

"You drag your wounded ass down here," Lyca said almost lazily. "If you can't... then you die."