"Don't pull something like what happened in that canyon in Nepal ever again," Lao Jian said sternly to Han Qingyu from inside the car, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
This was what he had wanted to say the moment they reunited. Originally, he had planned to chew the kid out, lecturing him in the name of the responsibility Han Qingyu's parents had entrusted to him to look after and discipline their boy. But now that felt a bit inappropriate, so he phrased it this way instead.
Things like care and concern sounded mushy and embarrassing when spoken aloud between men. Han Qingyu knew this, and explained with a grin, "It's not like I wanted that to happen either. They were the ones trying to kill me."
"Isn't the fact of the matter that things turned out that way because you went off and robbed someone of their source energy blocks?!"
Lao Jian snapped in exasperation, thinking to himself: *Even though I could tell long ago that you had a bandit streak you didn't even realize yourself, I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined you'd turn out this unruly.*
*You actually dared to go rob someone in a place like that?*
Lao Jian felt a wave of emotion. Looking back on how things used to be, he hadn't anticipated either that this kid, whom he had brought into Azure purely by chance, would grow so strong—to the point where he had completely upended Lao Jian's own Azure career.
*So that's how the incident in Nepal looks right now?* Han Qingyu pondered silently without speaking. *The way the narrative was steered really did wonders. No wonder the Alphonse family felt so at ease afterward.*
The conversation lapsed. After a while, Lao Jian picked up the vehicle's communicator and issued an order: "Up ahead is the last city we'll pass through before reaching the station. Find a spot to park. Everyone gets forty-five minutes. Change into civilian clothes, head down, and buy whatever you'd like."
The vehicles stopped. Everyone dispersed.
Then everyone returned.
Roll call, and the engines started up again.
Just like that, Squad 1777's garrison life began. Nobody even realized that what lay ahead for them was a life of battle hanging by a thread... About three hours later, the convoy veered off the provincial highway onto a somewhat narrow road branching off at an angle, heading deep into the mountains.
Another hour or so of driving followed, until the road ahead no longer extended any further.
"This place looks pretty well built. Where is it? Seems fairly large, too."
"It used to be a regular army post. Back when the country was preparing for war, there were many military stations like this across the nation. Later, when some were decommissioned, they were handed over to us in Azure to use as stations."
"Oh, but there's a village not far below. Look, you can see people right now."
"Yeah, don't worry. They won't come up. They'll just assume we're the regular garrison... They're used to it by now and know these places are restricted zones—no taking photos, no trespassing."
"I see. What about us, then? Can we interact with them?"
"Not frequently, but if you run into them, normal interactions are fine. When we don't have missions, we can treat ourselves like regular troops."
"That's good. In that case, if by some lucky chance... can we date a girl from the village? Haha."
"Don't ask me that first... Ask yourself first: have you truly made up your mind to drag an ordinary mountain village girl into Azure?!"
"...No."
"Then that settles it."
Similar exchanges, with a few more words here or fewer there, took place in almost every compartment.
Han Qingyu had also returned to the truck. Picking up a basketball, he pumped air into it while saying, "Wu Xu, the place where you used to stay wasn't far from this Hengduan Mountains area, right?"
Wu Xu nodded. "Probably. I don't know."
"All right, then..." Han Qingyu hesitated. Because of Wu Xu's status, Lao Jian hadn't been able to give a definitive conclusion yet, so they could only keep dragging it out.
Now that they had reached the station...
"Captain Lao came to talk to me earlier," Wu Xu unexpectedly spoke up first. "He said four or five li up the mountain, there's an outpost. I'll stay there first while waiting for the background check."
Without a trace of resentment or grievance, Wu Xu stated it flatly.
Yet to Han Qingyu and the others, this felt terrible... None of them spoke for a moment.
"It's fine like this. I'm used to it," Wu Xu said. "I know how to cook."
They arrived at the garrison and stepped down from the vehicles.
Han Qingyu and the others didn't bother unpacking or settling their own things. Together with Milla, they immediately helped gather several spare sets of clothes for Wu Xu, along with bedding, pots, pans, bowls, basins, and some rice, flour, and vegetables brought along in the convoy...
When they headed out, Lao Jian was standing nearby, looking as though he wanted to say something but hesitated, appearing awkward and helpless.
The group saw him but said nothing. Reason dictated that none of this was his fault, but they weren't in the mood... Just like that, they walked four or five li up the mountain, turned off to the side of the mountain path, and found a two-story outpost built of earth and stone.
The conditions were decent enough. They tested the lights, and they worked.
Together, they helped unpack and arrange everything.
"Come down and look for us whenever you're free. Captain Lao won't do anything to stop you," He Tangtang said.
In truth, there were bound to be two or three veterans in a newly formed squad who could contact higher-ups directly and might report it. Han Qingyu knew this, but he couldn't be bothered to care.
"When we're not training, we'll come up, too. Let's see your cooking sometime," Wen Jifei said with a smile.
Wu Xu looked up at everyone and nodded.
As they spoke, Han Qingyu walked over, carrying a black bag. He lifted it and asked, "Want to guess what's inside?"
"A radio." Light flickered in Wu Xu's eyes, and a faint smile seemed to brush across his face, barely perceptible. He lifted his gaze to Han Qingyu.
This was what had been promised back in the canyon in Nepal, when Han Qingyu coaxed him into coming to Azure.
Han Qingyu set the radio down. Inside the bag was also half a bag of batteries, and they showed Wu Xu how to replace them.
The group had no choice but to head back down the mountain. Then came dinner, a meeting, and settling in for the night.
All night long, a sense of unease lingered.
Early the next morning, as dawn was just breaking, Han Qingyu and the others got up to wash their faces and brush their teeth. Suddenly, through the thin mist in the mountains, they saw Wu Xu standing on the slope outside the garrison's perimeter wall, craning his neck and looking toward them.
*Did something happen?* Worried, they hurried over and asked, "What is it, Wu Xu?!"
Wu Xu opened a plastic bag in his hands, took out the radio, held it out toward them from a distance, and said, "Teach me how to turn it on."
*All night...*
"..."
Holding back their laughter and seeing that no one was around, they leaped straight over the wall.
"You came all the way down here this early—don't tell me you spent the whole night trying to figure it out?" Wen Jifei asked as he took the radio.
Wu Xu nodded.
Pointing out where the power switch was, Wen Jifei helped switch it on. The radio let out a burst of static. He extended the antenna, dialed through the frequencies, and said, "It's not that hard. Didn't you even try?"
"I was afraid of breaking it," Wu Xu said earnestly.
Right then, sound emerged from the radio—a morning news program. As Wen Jifei continued to show him how to adjust the antenna and dial the frequencies, he said, "Listening to the news is good. It'll help you learn about the outside world."
Wu Xu nodded, then hesitated before asking, "Is that one on here?"
"Which one?"
"The song from last time. I didn't catch the title."
He was talking about "The Earth."
Back then, however, Wen Jifei had used the alias Wen Ji to request songs on the radio for him for two days straight; the playlist had been extremely long... After guessing several songs in a row with no luck, Wen Jifei had no choice but to say, "Why don't you just hum it?"
Wu Xu—the man who could wield the Binggu spear and trade blows with Great Spikes without making a sound, the fellow who wouldn't utter a peep even while bleeding profusely—at this moment had a look of utter panic in his eyes.
"If you don't hum it, I really won't know."
"I... 'Looking back, there is a group of simple youths'... that one." Wu Xu had a peculiar way of humming: pausing between each word, stressing the character *de* with a heavy *di*, and glancing with slight embarrassment at everyone present.
***
"Master, Young Miss, I... I saw Wu Xu in the city the day before yesterday," a man in his twenties wearing a cheap gray shirt reported respectfully inside an old building, addressing an elderly man and a woman sitting above him.
If Han Qingyu and the others had seen this, they would have recognized the woman as Yu Fengzi, whom they had met not long ago in Nepal... In that canyon in Nepal, for Wu Xu's sake, Han Qingyu had let her go.
And if Wu Xu himself were present, he would have recognized many more people—such as Yu Yindou, patriarch of the Yu clan, standing before them, along with the butler, and more than twenty war slaves of varying ages, just like him.
The Yu family had previously joined forces with others to launch a sneak attack on an Azure supply depot, replenishing their source energy but also exposing their location... They had fled their original dwelling some time ago and begun living in hiding in the outside world.
"Wu Xu, that traitor—where is he?!" Hearing news of Wu Xu, Yu Yindou slammed his hand onto the armrest and shot to his feet, his face twisted in rage.
Yu Fengzi was even more agitated. She stood up and demanded directly, "How many of you were there? Why didn't you kill him?!"
"We... Wu Xu was with people from that Azure Coalition. There were a lot of them," the man in the gray shirt hurriedly explained.
Hearing "Azure Coalition" and thinking of Han Qingyu, a flicker of panic flashed through Yu Fengzi's eyes. "Father?!"
Yu Yindou waved his hand to silence her. His expression shifted, and he turned his head to ponder for a moment. As if hitting upon an idea, his brow smoothed out when he turned back, and he sneered, "That bastard really threw his lot in with Azure's people? Well, that's fine... No rush. We're in no rush. Heh."
Chapter 187