Chapter 188: Wood Ash and Sawdust

"Miss Xi, I think everyone will fail the mission. Look it's been six hours already not a single one of them returned. Shall we go ahead and call someone to find them?" Cleo said as she glanced at the forest, her eyes full of worry.

"Are they still alive?" Lyca asked without lifting her gaze from her laptop. This was already the part where the wife would found out about her husband's betrayal, alright. She just can't miss this part.

"Yes, Miss. Alive but barely moving."

"Oh. Then let's wait." In the first place, she started the mission early in the morning so, they would have a day to run to and from the forest. There is no need to worry about adults running around. "She should just poison her husband after she divorced him. Let that younger woman take care of an impotent person. See if she sticks." She uttered while watching the show.

Hearing the nonchalance in her voice, Cleo sighed and walked towards Rue, who was the one working with the GPS and body stats. "Hey, did someone die already?"

"Everyone sounded enthusiastic before they started, they failed to think about the altitude. You can't run while you are up there." Rue uttered. She looked at the laptop in front of her before sighing. "This mission is more difficult than you think."

"Really?"

"Hmmm. " Rue raised her legs and rested it on the table. "Lyca deliberately did it so she could have some time to watch movies."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," Rue answered before she grabbed a pillow for the neck and close her eyes. "Wake me up after two hours. Maybe someone will come back by then."

"Rue… what if someone dies?"

"Bury them," Rue said, her eyes were closed. "I bet that's what would she say if you asked her."

Cleo turned silent before she sat next to Rue and started staring at the laptop screen. After two hours of waiting, someone finally arrived. Surprisingly, it wasn't just one person but three of them. Then another five followed. Slowly, everyone started arriving. One by one, they announced their arrival and Lyca only instructed them to sit and rest. They could, of course, find their food if they were hungry, kill a snake or a rat.

After a grueling another two hours, Lyca finally stopped watching her series. She looked at everyone's dejected expression. "Is everyone here?" she asked.

"No… Miss, we lack two people. One is Seven Five and the other is Twelve." Ma Ping or number one answered. Among his peers, he was the only one who still had the energy to answer Lyca. A wry smile appeared on his lips as he thought of Hu Lan and number twelve who liked Hu Lan. That man must have found Hu Lan and helped her.

"Hmmm." Lyca nodded. "It's already. Ten hours. Since they're not here, they are already dead."

"Aren't we going to send someone to retrieve them?" Someone asked.

"Number?"

"Number five ma'am."

"Aish… next time you asked a question you tell me your number," Lyca said. "And no. Why waste some energy to save someone weak?" A long stretch of silence followed as Lyca looked at the dismay on everyone's face. Slowly, a smile blossomed on her face. "Did any of you returned with a dry paper? Raise your hands and tell me your number."

Surprise flashed in Lyca's eyes when she saw Ma Ping, raised his hand. Pride can be seen in his eyes. Another two people followed, and one of them is a woman! Lyca's smile became so big it looked scary to everyone else.

She could divide them into three teams!

She could have three people working under her!

"Good. Show me the paper and tell me what you did to keep it dry."

Ma Ping was the first one who stood up. He showed Lyca the dry small piece of paper and told her that he used some sawdust to keep it dry. First and foremost the paper was only small. It was smaller than his palm. Meaning, he didn't need a lot of sawdust from a tree so he could keep it dry.

"Hmmm. And you?"

"I— " the second person spoke. "I am number fifteen, and I use some wood ash. I know how to create a fire using my knife and rock, and I— I know that wood ash is just like baking soda, and it absorbs moisture."

"Impressive. Wood ash is alkaline. It is indeed just like baking soda. You can also use it to clean and use it to repel some insects like cockroaches. It is useful when you are in the wild. How about you?" Lyca nodded.

"I— " the woman nervously glanced at the man then to Lyca.

"Oh! Lovers." Lyca nodded. "I understand. Tell me your number?"

"Twenty three ma'am."

"The three of you will have immunity in the next training exercise. Meaning, no matter the result, you will still have your meals and tent. As for everyone who wasn't able to return with a dry paper… all of you will sleep outside the tent tonight." She then removed two daggers from her hand and showed them to everyone. "First training involves your brain, being wise and smart enough to make decisions that would affect the mission. I am not only here to train your body. I know you can take care of that. I am here to train your brains, mentality is everything. In a war, the people that will win doesn't have to have the greatest number of warriors but the smartest one. The best team wins a war without even fighting one. So, you have to be alert all the time." She started playing with the dagger, throwing it up and catching it.

"Speaking of being alert. I want you to know that I 'might' want to play a game with you tonight. The person who will have a small wound in their throat tomorrow won't have any breakfast." She said before throwing the knife towards Ma Ping's feet. The latter jumped back, eyes wide as he stared at Lyca. "The hunting includes you. So… don't be too comfortable in your tent number one. You don't want to wake up with my dagger in your throat, right?"

Ma Ping gulped as he wondered if Lyca was deliberately targeting him. "Yes, ma'am," he said.