Chapter 80: Woods Around Field Training
What hit her face was the long-missed scent of green grass. This was Xiang Chuan’s first sensation upon stepping into the forest area.
She was being led by Chou Manman, following the group into the woods around the training base. When her feet were no longer on hard ground, she was momentarily dazed. There was also artificially planted grassland around her home, and she had walked on it after lunch during the daytime, but it was just a small lawn with no sense of reality. But now it was different; all around her was the familiar scent of green grass and soil, making her feel like every pore in her body had opened up.
“Man Man, have we entered the woods?” Xiang Chuan asked.
“Not yet, just the edge. We’re heading further in.”
“How’s the light now?” Xiang Chuan slightly opened her eyes in some fear, but ahead she only saw blurry light and shadows.
“Hmm… it’s still pretty bright, after all, it’s afternoon now.” Chou Manman looked around, “There’s nothing blocking the light nearby.”
Nothing blocking the light? What about the trees? As she was thinking, Xiang Chuan suddenly remembered it was only spring now; the grass and trees had just sprouted new buds, bare and leafless, so of course there were no leaves… So she temporarily gave up on the idea of opening her eyes.
“Whoa!” While she was feeling depressed, Xiang Chuan almost tripped, but fortunately Chou Manman quickly steadied her.
“Xiang Chuan, are you okay?” Chou Manman looked at her worriedly, then glanced at her feet, “This is… what? Sticking into the ground along the tree trunk?”
Xiang Chuan kicked the thing that tripped her; it was hard, but not the feel of steel… “Tree roots?”
“This is right in the middle of the path; how could tree roots pop up here?” Chou Manman decisively refuted.
“If the tree is hundreds or thousands of years old, the roots might become abnormally thick, tangled with roots from other trees, and eventually break through the soil.” Xiang Chuan squinted and looked left and right, “Isn’t there a huge tree nearby?”
“There is one on the left, but…” Chou Manman looked at her in disbelief, “That tree is at least five or six meters away from here; can roots grow that long?”
“Don’t underestimate the growth instinct of plants; some plants in the desert have roots that can grow five or six times or even ten times longer than the plant itself to draw water.”
“Plants can grow in the desert? Xiang Chuan, don’t just make things up.”
“I’m not lying to you,” Xiang Chuan frowned, “Could it be that cactus doesn’t grow in the desert?”
“How could cactus grow in the desert? Isn’t cactus a subtropical plant used as a field edge protective fence?”
“…” Xiang Chuan: Modern people really know how to play.
After walking for about six or seven minutes, Instructor Ai Yalin saw the curiosity on everyone’s faces gradually fade, so she knew it was time to rest. With a grand wave of her hand: “Let’s rest here!”
As soon as she spoke, Class Eight erupted in cheers, then everyone surged toward the nearby grassland or under tree trunks, some sitting on the ground, some opening the camera function on their terminal light screens to take nonstop photos, and some even pulling out external cameras to record holographic projections.
But all this noise had nothing to do with Xiang Chuan, who was currently in a blind state.
“If I’d known it was like this, I would’ve brought my meal box.” Xiang Chuan muttered.
In this situation, it was more like a spring outing than visiting the venue; they just needed to set up a barbecue oven and gather around for BBQ. But that was just a thought; ovens weren’t hard to make, but the mainstream barbecue ingredients like pork, lamb, and beef all needed scallion ginger and soy sauce to marinate. Where could she get those now?
“A meal box would be too exaggerated, but a water bottle is pretty necessary.” Chou Manman stretched lazily, “From the map, we’ve probably reached about one-third of the northern part of the surrounding forest. The northern region is smaller, so we’ll probably reach the end soon. Then the class competition will probably be in the more spacious southern region?”
“Not at all.” Instructor Ai Yalin walked over and was startled to see Xiang Chuan sitting nearby, but seeing her eyes tightly closed, she remembered the gossip she’d heard at lunch, and the horror in her heart subsided a bit: after all, she was just a little girl; no need to be so jumpy. She continued explaining: “The venue for the class competition includes all areas except the southwest boundary line. The area we’re visiting now will also be included as an optional venue.”
“Then wouldn’t the classes in the north have a big advantage?” Xiang Chuan frowned, recalling the surrounding forest map she’d seen today: “From the overlook map, the northern region is narrow but easy to defend and hard to attack. If the classes here all hide in their respective assembly points and don’t come out, wouldn’t that waste a lot of time?”
“Classmate, you sure know a lot of obscure words.” This was Instructor Ai Yalin’s sincere thought; what was “easy to defend and hard to attack”? It sounded so impressive. “From the overlook map, that’s true, but there are relatively more animals in the north, so classes stationed here will see very few animals. Second, the backup stationing points here are farther from the regular supply points than in the south. When students from these classes go out to get supplies, other classes have plenty of chances to attack them.”
“Supplies?” Xiang Chuan immediately seized the key point and asked: “Didn’t they say no supplies would be provided?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Instructor Ai Yalin quickly denied it, “The rules state that instructors and teachers can’t directly give supplies to students. The supplies we release can be used during the competition, but the quantity is limited, so you all need to compete with other classes to get the daily supplies.”
Xiang Chuan: Why did the art style turn into a battle royale game?
But this was good news for her; with supplies, fewer classmates would eye her meal box… probably? Xiang Chuan thought hopefully.
“Instructor, what do the supplies usually include?” Chou Manman asked curiously, and nearby Class Eight students gathered to listen.
“They’re all good stuff.” Instructor Ai Yalin said proudly, “There are liquid food and solid food from Yue Xiang Group, plus drinkable clean water. The liquid food is even fish and beef.”
But contrary to her expectation, the Class Eight students nearby weren’t as excited as imagined; instead, they were whispering discussions, and some were staring straight at Xiang Chuan. Even if Xiang Chuan was numb to it, she felt these lines of sight. She snorted with her nose in the air: “Don’t count on me; I don’t have enough of my stuff to feed you all.”
The Class Eight classmates whose little schemes were exposed laughed dryly twice, then scattered with various excuses. Worst case, they’d time their returns tomorrow to find Xiang Chuan. Many classmates thought this simultaneously.
This directly caused Xiang Chuan, who had just started trying to open her eyes, to let out a heavy sneeze.
