Chapter 54#

A Lousy Idea#

“How did you…” Xiao Bai was somewhat incoherent, extremely surprised to see Chu Chenli here.

Beyond surprise came delight, even overshadowing the lingering fear and panic from his narrow escape.

It was as if the mere sight of Chu Chenli standing ahead instinctively put him at ease.

Then he suddenly recalled what Yin Senze had said earlier—so that “friend” was Chu Chenli.

In truth, they hadn’t been apart for very long, but in this era, leaving a permanent base could mean a permanent farewell.

Xiao Bai had an inexplicable faith in Chu Chenli’s strength, but he hadn’t expected them to meet again so soon. For a moment, his heart was filled with joy.

“We heard someone say you were heading this way, so we came on a whim to try our luck,” Chu Chenli said.

It was mostly thanks to Mu Yanshen.

Xiao Bai, new to the place, walked with his head unconsciously lowered, his timid demeanor sticking out here, drawing plenty of attention.

But he was completely unaware of this himself, and Chu Chenli didn’t bother to point it out and discourage him.

The people across the opening, seeing them engrossed in their own conversation, finally snapped out of it. One of them frowned. “Hey! You guys—”

The one who had been on the wall earlier had already climbed down and, with a slap, smacked his companion on the forehead, scolding discontentedly, “What are you doing! You almost caused a disaster, didn’t you know? Can you think before you move your limbs for once?”

The companion was scolded into silence, his head drooping lower and lower.

The young man finished his reprimand, then turned around, apologizing profusely to Xiao Bai and Chu Chenli. “Sorry about that, this guy always acts so recklessly. I’ll make sure to give him a proper lesson—are you alright? Let me take you to the medical room to get checked out. We’ll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong…”

Chu Chenli stepped aside; after all, it wasn’t him who had nearly been hit.

Xiao Bai was a bit dazed, watching the other man bow and scrape. Instead of staying upset, he felt embarrassed, waving his hands repeatedly. “I’m fine, really. Just a scratch.”

He touched his cheek, letting out an involuntary hiss, then added, “But next time, please be more careful.”

If Chu Chenli hadn’t arrived in time, he might not have made it.

Anyone with a shorter temper would probably have started a fight by now, but Xiao Bai was well aware of his own limitations and was soft-hearted. Seeing such sincere apologies, the lingering resentment born from his fear dissipated.

He glanced at Chu Chenli again, and seeing no objection to his response, let out a slight sigh of relief.

“Is this the training ground?” Mu Yanshen’s voice came abruptly from another direction.

Everyone present had somehow overlooked his existence, so the sudden sound of a stranger speaking startled them.

The young man who had stopped his companion looked at Mu Yanshen, then at Chu Chenli. He was the first to react, nodded, and said, “Yes.”

“Are you all new here?” the young man asked.

“Sort of,” Chu Chenli nodded.

“I just arrived today,” Xiao Bai answered softly.

The young man understood immediately—no wonder they didn’t know what this place was and had wandered in.

But he didn’t show any disdain. Instead, he smacked the big guy beside him more firmly to signal him not to talk nonsense, then turned to explain the training ground to Chu Chenli and the others.

The slender young man was named Ning Zheng, and the burly one beside him was Zhou Yufeng. They were cousins and partners. Just a few days ago, they had both awakened their abilities at the same time, so their superiors had packed them off and sent them here together.

Though they hadn’t arrived much earlier than Xiao Bai, they had previously worked in another department at the Central Base, so they had quickly gotten a handle on the situation here.

Out of guilt for nearly hitting Xiao Bai, Ning Zheng was enthusiastic about answering their questions.

After chatting for a bit, they had exchanged contact information and dorm numbers—mostly Ning Zheng and Xiao Bai talking, as it turned out they were staying in the same building.

Chu Chenli, meanwhile, stood by the wall, sizing up the layout of the training ground with Mu Yanshen.

This corner seemed quite secluded, overgrown with weeds as far as the eye could see. But if the forest across the way was the boundary, the open space in between was at least four football fields in size.

Among the thick weeds, faint glimmers could be seen, suggesting others were testing their abilities there.

But the area with the most visible people was another open field separated by a mesh fence, where clusters of people were scattered, looking orderly at first glance.

Further off were indoor facilities, their solid outer walls just barely visible.

According to Ning Zheng, the daily morning training for combat reserve members had already ended, so this was now rest time.

Moreover, since the new district had just been established and the official instructor for training hadn’t been decided yet, things were relatively relaxed lately.

However, these two had previously worked in field operations, so they habitually found their own space to train during free time.

Zhou Yufeng had specifically chosen this usually deserted corner to test the limits of his newly acquired ability.

After listening for a while, Xiao Bai realized the accident was actually his own fault for wandering aimlessly. Feeling embarrassed now, he scratched his head and started apologizing repeatedly in turn.

Ning Zheng quickly waved it off, and the two overly polite people formed a subtle yet amusing standoff.

Zhou Yufeng had grown impatient long ago but didn’t dare disturb his cousin, so he quietly crept over to Chu Chenli’s feet and looked up at him. “Are you going to be our future instructor?”

Chu Chenli didn’t want to jump into the weeds, so he simply crouched down to look at him. Zhou Yufeng was tall, so their eyes met with just a slight tilt.

He shook his head at Zhou Yufeng. “No.”

“But your control over abilities is amazing—is it air? Or wind? Or something else?”

“Wind.”

“I know someone with the same ability. He was among the first to awaken here, but at most, he can flip a shipping container lid when he’s emotional, and he nearly sent his friend flying too. He’s nowhere near as good as you.”

Zhou Yufeng rambled on about abilities, a hint of disdain creeping in when he mentioned a colleague with wind abilities. “And I’ve heard some higher-ups are thinking of making him our instructor to train us in using our abilities.”

But if one’s abilities are so indiscriminate, it’s hard to inspire confidence.

In contrast, Ning Zheng was more rational and tolerant. He finally finished his round of polite exchanges with Xiao Bai and chimed in when he heard his younger cousin’s words. “That can’t be helped. This kind of ability clearly operates on a different system from earlier awakened ones. The earliest ones showed up less than two months ago. How could they possibly master it instantly? They really can be considered our seniors.”

Zhou Yufeng pointed at Chu Chenli. “There’s one right here.”

Then he turned to Chu Chenli again. “Since you’re so skilled, why don’t you come teach us? If it were you, most of us would be fully convinced.”

Ning Zheng smacked his hand down. “Maybe he has more important tasks.”

Zhou Yufeng couldn’t help saying, “But—”

Ning Zheng quickly covered his mouth, signaling with his eyes for him to stop.

His cousin wasn’t a bad person, just utterly lacking in tact.

To put it bluntly, physically strong but simple-minded, and terrible at reading the room.

Thankfully, he still trusted his cousin, who had been with him through thick and thin, so he shut up.

Ning Zheng could tell that Xiao Bai and Chu Chenli had just reunited by chance and probably had things to discuss privately, so he didn’t drag them into a long conversation.

After checking the time, he pointed Xiao Bai back to the dorms and made plans to grab a drink together during break.

But when he turned to Chu Chenli, he unconsciously became more reserved.

He didn’t dare extend any invitations, simply saying sorry for the trouble and seeing them off with polite formalities, as if facing an overly authoritative superior.

On the way back, Chu Chenli touched his face thoughtfully. “Do I look that scary?”

Mu Yanshen, overhearing this, deliberately leaned in close, almost pressing his face against Chu Chenli’s. He stared for a while before a startled Chu Chenli pushed him away.

He stroked his chin, looking contemplative, but said, “How could that be? Brother Li is so cute—handsome, I mean. In my heart, you’ll always be the most handsome.”

Xiao Bai, who had been about to chime in, faltered, suddenly feeling absurdly superfluous.

He sneaked a glance at Mu Yanshen’s face.

He had actually seen him once back at the Nanzhou Base, but at the time, he didn’t know Mu Yanshen’s identity—though he wasn’t entirely clear on it now either.

Up close, it was hard to reconcile his appearance with the aura of someone formidable, but for some reason, Xiao Bai instinctively felt intimidated and didn’t dare get too close.

To him, Mu Yanshen was far scarier than Chu Chenli.

Even though it had been proven that Chu Chenli could easily snap his head off with one hand.

“It might be the principle of like repels like,” Mu Yanshen casually read Xiao Bai’s thoughts. “Humans always instinctively reject things with similar attributes.”

Xiao Bai’s face reddened slightly, and he lowered his head, trying to hide the thoughts that had accidentally leaked out, while mumbling defensively, “I don’t…”

“No need to explain—I understand.” Mu Yanshen patted him on the shoulder, speaking in a comforting tone. “Honestly, I don’t really like you either.”

Chu Chenli glanced at him. “Xiao Mu.”

Don’t tease the kid too much; he’s about to cry.

Mu Yanshen smiled at him, unable to resist licking his back teeth. What had started as a joke now genuinely stung a little—Chu Chenli’s blatant favoritism was rare.

But on the other hand, Mu Yanshen felt it was beneath him to argue with a kid he’d just met.

In terms of actual age, they were both more than half a dozen years older than Xiao Bai.

“—But that was in the past.” Mu Yanshen eventually smoothed things over. “Now all I feel for you is deep sympathy.”

It sounded more like a threat.

Xiao Bai was stunned, stammering after a long pause, “Wh-why?”

Mu Yanshen: “Didn’t you pick up on what Ning Zheng said earlier?”

Xiao Bai: “Wh-what?”

Mu Yanshen put a hand on his shoulder and let out a long, sympathetic sigh. “In the future, a bunch of troublemakers—or maybe self-righteous brats—will be stirring up fights left and right, and then they’ll get hauled off to your psychological mediation room to sort out disputes…”

“It’s the psychological counseling room,” Xiao Bai corrected involuntarily.

“What’s the difference?” Mu Yanshen asked. “In the end, it’ll just become a mediation room for problem children, problem teenagers, problem adults, and problem seniors.”

Xiao Bai followed his train of thought and shuddered.

The awakening of these abilities was currently completely unpredictable. It would be great if kind, well-mannered people awakened them, but if it were rebellious youths or even extreme antisocial elements… Xiao Bai felt his future wasn’t as bright as he had imagined.

“And you’re new here, without a single familiar face, right? What if something unexpected happens—”

Mu Yanshen drew out his words meaningfully, leaning in to whisper something to Xiao Bai as the latter’s expression shifted.

He might have even used his ability; Chu Chenli couldn’t hear what they were saying.

In the past, Mu Yanshen had a habit of rambling and setting traps for his teammates, but he always kept his sense of proportion.

Chu Chenli, who had never actually suffered from it, was quite tolerant. Besides, seeing Mu Yanshen so animated was oddly reassuring.

But that reassurance lasted only a moment.

After walking and murmuring for a while, Mu Yanshen smiled and patted Xiao Bai on the shoulder. “Now do you know what to do?”

Xiao Bai’s face cycled through several shades, more colorful than a neon sign, until finally, under Mu Yanshen’s encouragement, it settled into an expression of enlightenment.

At a sparsely populated fork in the road shaded by dense foliage, Xiao Bai stopped, turned to look at Chu Chenli, and took a deep breath.

Then the next second, he bowed deeply at Chu Chenli and shouted with impressive vigor, “Hello, Big Brother!”

Chu Chenli: “…”