Chapter 68

"I'm telling you..." Ji Xun lowered his eyes to tug at his hem, his gaze darting away for a moment before he suddenly looked up at Fu Shuxing and said, "I'm hungry!"

Fu Shuxing gave him a flat look.

Ji Xun started talking as if it were a serious matter, "I got seasick on the way here and threw up. I didn't eat anything before we set off, and then after what just happened, I feel like I have no strength left in my body..."

Fu Shuxing said, "You sound like you have plenty of strength when you talk."

Ji Xun stuck his tongue out at him.

Knowing full well that Ji Xun was likely trying to change the subject, Fu Shuxing withdrew his gaze, yet his footsteps noticeably changed direction.

Ji Xun trotted closely behind him, "Where are we going now?"

"To stuff you."

Having achieved his goal, Ji Xun flashed a victory sign with his hand hidden behind his back.

There were hardly any people in the cafeteria of the sixth campus.

Ji Xun followed closely on Fu Shuxing's heels, looking around with curious eyes.

The cafeteria was enormous, easily three or four times larger than the one at their sanctuary, but for some reason, it was nearly deserted. At a glance, ninety percent of the seats were empty, and the visual vastness created a slight sense of awe.

"Brother Xing, why is there practically nobody in your campus?"

"Today is the routine monthly leave," Fu Shuxing explained as he walked up to the serving counter.

Monthly leave?

Ji Xun thought to himself: Isn't it usually weekly leave?

Do military academies actually get an extra monthly leave?

The plump cafeteria lady picked up a clean tray in one hand and a spoon in the other, asking Fu Shuxing with a beaming smile, "What would you like for lunch today, classmate?"

Fu Shuxing was scanning the menu for things little guides liked to eat.

Ji Xun was already making a fuss on the side, "Wow, your military academy has such great food!!" He hurriedly tugged on Fu Shuxing's arm, "Brother Xing, I want sweet and sour pork with pineapple!"

Fu Shuxing said to the lady, "Sweet and sour pork with pineapple."

Ji Xun was genuinely hungry, swallowing his saliva in temptation, "And braised pig trotters! Braised pork ribs! Pan-fried yellow croaker!"

"Pan-fried yellow croaker," Fu Shuxing continued, followed by, "Stir-fried bitter melon with eggs."

Ji Xun: "No bitter melon, no bitter melon!"

"And a portion of boiled green vegetables," Fu Shuxing said to himself, "That should do it."

Ji Xun frowned!!

The lady asked, "How much rice? Is this just for this little kid?"

"Yes," Fu Shuxing said, "Half a bowl will do."

Triggered by the bitter melon with eggs, Ji Xun's rebellious streak flared up, "Auntie, I want a full bowl!"

The lady smiled and piled a generous spoonful of white rice onto his plate, "Alright, alright, Auntie will give you a full bowl."

Proud of himself, Ji Xun raised an eyebrow at Fu Shuxing.

Fu Shuxing's tone remained even, "Military academy rule number six: no wasting food. Don't even think about leaving if you can't finish it."

Ji Xun was startled, "Then why did you order bitter melon for me?!"

Fu Shuxing placed the tray on the table.

Once Ji Xun sat down, he noticed the compartments on the military academy's cafeteria trays were quite deep, and the lady's servings were exceptionally generous. Although the food looked colorful, fragrant, and appetizing enough to make one's mouth water, ...

Ji Xun glanced at the equally full portion of stir-fried bitter melon with eggs, decided to deal with it later, and immediately picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork to pop into his mouth.

Wow!

Super delicious!!

Ji Xun took off his backpack, placed it to the side, and dug right in!

The little guide focused entirely on devouring his meal.

***

The white tiger strolled over to the backpack Ji Xun had casually dropped on the table, lowered its head to sniff it, and let out a low growl at Fu Shuxing.

Seeing this, Fu Shuxing picked up the backpack directly and pulled open the zipper.

Ji Xun was in the middle of gnawing on a fish when he saw this. Before a single word of protest could escape his lips, it was already too late to stop him—Fu Shuxing had completely unzipped it.

Fu Shuxing took the items out of the backpack one by one:

A tightly rolled-up set of pajamas, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a compass, a map, a notebook filled with dense notes, a translator, a fire starter, a box of flare signals, and a multi-purpose folding pocket knife.

Fu Shuxing looked up at the little guide, "Are you going on an expedition?"

Knowing that Fu Shuxing was making fun of him, Ji Xun curled his lips, thinking to himself: *What do you know? This is just being prepared for any emergency!*

Since he couldn't stop him, Ji Xun simply lowered his head again to gnaw on his yellow croaker.

At the very bottom of the backpack, Fu Shuxing pulled out the Big Boss Egg.

The Big Boss Egg looked flat, wrinkled, and dehydrated, lying motionless inside its shell.

Holding the egg, Fu Shuxing asked, "What's wrong with it?"

Lifting his eyes and seeing that the Big Boss Egg was in an abnormal state, Ji Xun hurriedly reached out to grab it, but with food still in his mouth, a fish bone accidentally got stuck in his throat!

Frightened, Ji Xun didn't dare speak and quickly spat out what was in his mouth.

Fu Shuxing immediately stood up, pinched Ji Xun's cheeks, and commanded, "Open your mouth."

With a bitter expression, Ji Xun opened his mouth wide.

Fu Shuxing spotted the very thin fish bone lodged at the back of Ji Xun's throat and directly dissolved it using his mental power.

Ji Xun carefully swallowed a mouthful of rice, and realizing he was fine, immediately shifted his attention back to his Big Boss Egg.

The Big Boss Egg was all wrinkled up.

The last time he saw it looking this shriveled was after the end-of-term night-wandering episode.

Just as Ji Xun was feeling anxious and worried, a slight movement came from beneath his fingertips.

The Big Boss Egg gently nudged him, as if to say it was fine.

Ji Xun felt instantly much more at ease and said, "It must have been frightened by you guys fighting earlier. Let it get some proper rest."

Ji Xun already knew that the Big Boss Egg was a bit timid; not to mention the white tiger, it was even scared of the golden eagle. Coming into the military academy and facing so many adult carnivorous spiritual bodies right off the bat, the Big Boss Egg must have been scared out of its wits long ago! Besides, the spiritual bodies had later clashed in a massive brawl with mental energy flying everywhere—even he had been scared, let alone the Big Boss Egg, which was just a tiny, inexperienced egg that had never seen the world?

Ji Xun carefully tucked the Big Boss Egg back into his pocket.

Then he looked at the remaining food on the table.

Ji Xun rubbed his neck; it didn't hurt anymore, but lingering fears remained. He looked up at Fu Shuxing with pleading eyes.

Fu Shuxing: "Don't look at me, I'm not eating it for you."

Ji Xun asked him, "What happens if I can't finish and leave leftovers?"

Fu Shuxing: "Wasting food means no meals for the next three days."

"Hah!" Ji Xun thought that wasn't any severe punishment at all. "Anyway, I won't even be here for the next three days! I'm full, I'm not eating anymore!"

Fu Shuxing said coldly: "I used my card to pay for it."

The implication was: don't even think about leaving.

"..." Ji Xun glanced at Fu Shuxing and understood. He stood up, fetched a new bowl and chopsticks, and transferred the untouched stir-fried bitter melon with eggs, most of the boiled green vegetables, and the remaining half of the yellow croaker from the tray into the bowl. Placing it in front of Fu Shuxing, he said righteously, "We simply cannot let our Brother Xing go three days without food. Keep it up! I'll try my best to help you eat a bit more too!"

Fu Shuxing: ".".

Ji Xun lowered his head again and forced down a few more mouthfuls.

Eating was the kind of thing where you didn't notice being full as long as you kept going, but once you stopped halfway, resuming felt overwhelmingly stuffed.

Depressed, Ji Xun poked at the sweet and sour pineapple pork with his chopsticks, "So sour, so sour, it doesn't taste as good as my mom's cooking. Eating this makes my teeth feel weak."

Noticing his bad habit, Fu Shuxing picked up the piece of pineapple that had been poked full of holes and said, "Eat those two pieces of meat."

Ji Xun's face instantly brightened, "You got it!!"

Lunch was finally settled.

***

Walking along, Ji Xun asked Fu Shuxing, "Can you guys go out and play during monthly leave? Why didn't you go out? How many campuses does your military academy have, and how did you know I came?"

"I was training," Fu Shuxing said. "You're the only one who thinks about playing all day long."

"No way, I train too, okay!" Refusing to lose, Ji Xun immediately rolled up his sleeves and raised his arm to show Fu Shuxing the "muscles" he had built up over the past two months.

Fu Shuxing was only met with the blinding glare of fair, slender arms. He reached out, pulled Ji Xun's sleeve back down, and said, "I'll take you back."

"Back already?" Ji Xun stopped in his tracks, looking at Fu Shuxing in utter shock, "I only ate one meal, and you're sending me back already?"

Fu Shuxing stopped and looked at him, "What else do you want to do?"

Ji Xun immediately lit up, a pair of bright dark eyes gazing at Fu Shuxing, "No matter what, you have to take me to see where you guys train!"

Training grounds were everywhere inside the military academy.

Fu Shuxing led Ji Xun to see the nearest outdoor training ground.

Ji Xun went along exclaiming in awe the whole way, his expressions of amazement never stopping. But as soon as he finished his latest gasp of wonder, he suddenly said, "Brother Xing, demonstrate one for me!"

Fu Shuxing looked at Ji Xun, his calm gaze carrying a warning: *Don't push your luck.*

"If you don't demonstrate, how am I supposed to know how you guys usually train?" Seeing that Fu Shuxing hadn't relented, Ji Xun immediately put on an aggrieved act, "I ran all the way alone to the East District Military Academy from thousands of miles away, and I almost got bullied..."

Fu Shuxing interrupted him, "Which one do you want to see?"

"This one, this one," Ji Xun pointed nearby, "Just this iron ring!"

Fu Shuxing walked over, jumped up, grabbed a two-and-a-half-meter-high iron ring with one hand, and immediately switched hands to grab the next one. In less than half a minute, he cleared forty or fifty rings in one breath. When he landed on the ground, the very first iron ring was still swaying.

Ji Xun watched with his jaw dropping in astonishment, feeling a sudden urge to try it himself. He walked over and bounced up and down with all his might, but couldn't even reach the ring.

——"Brother Xing!!"

Fu Shuxing walked back to Ji Xun's side, watched him hopping up and down in place, and feigned ignorance, "Demonstration over. On to the next one."

Ji Xun said, "I want to try too!"

"No." Fu Shuxing refused without a second thought.

Let alone the fact that the distance between the two rings was quite far and difficult for Ji Xun to reach, just hanging from one for half a minute would be a struggle, as it required immense upper-body strength.

Ji Xun persisted: "I want to try! Just once! Just a tiny little once!"

Fu Shuxing walked over, wrapped both hands around Ji Xun's waist, and lifted him up, "Grab it. Don't expect me to catch you if you fall."

Carrying the backpack on the side, the white tiger let out a disgruntled roar at Fu Shuxing upon hearing this!

Fu Shuxing ignored it.

Ji Xun grabbed the iron ring, "I am not going to fall!"

Fu Shuxing: "I'm letting go."

"Let go!"

Fu Shuxing released his hold, only to see Ji Xun transition to holding the iron ring with a single hand. Fu Shuxing's eyes darkened slightly, and the next moment, he saw Ji Xun swing his body and hook the next iron ring with his free hand. Ji Xun let go of the first iron ring, apparently trying to use the momentum to swing and grab the third, but he failed to get a secure grip and, lacking the strength, plummeted straight down.

Ji Xun gasped: "Ah-oh—"

His scream cut off abruptly.

Fu Shuxing caught Ji Xun just in time and set him back down on the ground.

Frightened out of his wits, Ji Xun peeked at Fu Shuxing, only to find that Fu Shuxing didn't look angry at all—perhaps because getting angry at everything all the time was just too exhausting...

Fu Shuxing certainly hadn't expected Ji Xun to actually reach the second iron ring.

It must have been pure luck, like a blind cat hitting a dead mouse.

After steadying Ji Xun, Fu Shuxing shoved both hands into his pockets, "Ready to look at the next one?"

There were plenty of training events.

When Ji Xun watched Fu Shuxing take three or four running strides to scale a smooth, five-to-six-meter-high wall with no handholds, flip over to the other side, and land steadily on his feet, he was left completely dumbfounded and filled with awe! The entire process took only four or five seconds, smooth and fluid like flowing water, leaving behind nothing more than a gust of passing wind.