novelraw Chapter 583 506: Creation of the Floating World [Double-Length]
Chapter 583 506: Creation of the Floating World [Double-Length]
Xiaoliu closed his eyes tightly in fear. At this moment, a pair of large hands covered his head, and the mixed scents of tobacco and ebony, mingled with the spicy aroma of pepper, wafted over. A man's hoarse voice echoed in his ear:
"Alright, kid, it's time to go where you're supposed to be."
He looked up blankly to find the two had already walked away. Mountain Crow had a leather trench coat draped over his shoulder, scratched his head, and glanced at him.
"Really, sending a little brat who hasn't even grown all his hair to a place like this."
"When you grow up to be a man, then fasten your collar and go to the battlefield."
...
The night was drawing near, and the scorching setting sun baked the desert, sinking in the rippling air. The shadows of the hard-growing desert plants gradually elongated before disappearing into the darkness. A thick chill swept in as weary traders and camels fell asleep by the campfire. In the desert, the scarce rainfall led to few clouds, making the bright round moon the most prominent feature in the sky.
Sparks snapped out of the bonfire as a jeep parked in front of a small sand dune. A woman in a sleeveless vest tilted her head back to drink from a flask at her lips. The water tracing down outlined her graceful neck and figure. Mountain Crow, on the other hand, drank the strong liquor unabashedly, admiring the rare scenery of the desert. Sensing his gaze, Thistle Xuedong put down her flask and casually tossed it in his direction.
Mountain Crow caught the flask with a flip of his palm. "How's it going with her?"
"I don't know what Qiu was thinking. Doesn't he know his sister's character yet?" Thistle Xuedong's face expressed trouble as she thought about the red-haired girl.
"She's too noisy. Kui is definitely better at dealing with someone like her. Kui just needs to keep a cold face to handle her needs. I can't deal with such a problematic child. Do you know what she said to me that night, blushing, when she came to Nightmare City military district on the second day?"
Thistle Xuedong recalled the girl's embarrassed posture and couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
"She shyly asked me if I had a second set of clothes to change into."
"For heaven's sake, that was in the military district, and it was during an urgent front-line situation. Many soldiers were practically growing into their stinky uniforms."
"How did you respond to that Young Master?" Yun Que looked over.
"I didn't answer her. Everyone was laughing at her, and she ran off on her own," Thistle Xuedong said.
"At that time, Qiu gave her two options: either attend the military command academy for a year of training or learn on the battlefield with veteran officers at the command post. She chose neither, saying she wanted to start from a base soldier. And Qiu actually agreed, so she was assigned to my command."
"Devil-like female instructor, huh." Mountain Crow chuckled, his eyes reflecting his thoughts.
He recalled the time decades back when he was at the military command academy with her. It was during the second year when senior students trained the newcomers, and he was placed under her command. Since previous students were often bullied by seniors, they harbored a grudge. Consequently, his cohort suffered a lot.
Yet, she was an outstanding one among them. While others in the same cohort complained incessantly during training, he, being a rogue, refused to submit to her. He liked her fiery spirit, so he often led his peers in challenging her. To seek her attention, he'd even volunteer for punishment, and gradually they got to know each other.
Through interactions with Thistle Xuedong, he realized she wasn't warm inside despite being cold outside. No, she was just a hopeless madwoman. It wasn't until once, when she drunkenly stripped and approached him, blabbering about the awkward stories between them, that he knew.
He found out that at the time, she imposed hellish training tasks on them not due to a stubborn personality, nor for the glory of humanity, but simply because she enjoyed watching others suffer and wail.
Suddenly, he began to worry about the Young Master's situation. Chichu Chun was different from him; he had a rugged, hardy physique, but she had been pampered from a young age. Could she really withstand the woman's torment?
From what Thistle Xuedong said, her impression of the Young Master wasn't very good. There must have been quite a few conflicts, right?
"What did you do to her?" Mountain Crow couldn't help but ask.
"Not much, just made her do double the training tasks of an ordinary soldier. Like a 200-kilometer load-bearing cross-country, fifty back-and-forths through the swamp in the rain, pulling her out alone in the middle of the night to spar with me, arranging her to the dormitory with the most troublemakers..."
"That's clearly abuse." Cold sweat broke out on Mountain Crow's forehead.
"I'm doing this to make her back out in the face of difficulties. In fertile soil, a resilient flower can't grow," Thistle Xuedong said nonchalantly. "If she can't take it, she can leave anytime. If she can't overcome this much hardship, I don't think she can change anything once she's truly on the battlefield."
"But I do like one thing about that little girl," Thistle Xuedong said. "Though she often gets emotional and likes to complain and be cunning, no matter how unrealistic the tasks I assign her, she's always able to complete them in the end."
Thistle Xuedong remembered the time she casually tasked Chichu Chun with a 200-kilometer load-bearing cross-country. Chichu Chun was so angry she wanted to fight her. Thistle Xuedong didn't expect her to complete it, thinking she'd definitely find a place to slack off and bluff her way through the next day. So she just went to sleep on her own.
Who would have thought, come daybreak's roll call, the girl rushed back at the last moment, triumphantly handing her the flag she tightly held in her hand. Her eyes were red; anyone could see she'd cried countless times during the trek. Yet, her gaze was as fierce as that of a little wolf cub.