84: Chapter 84: The Thorny Path, the Blood and Tears of the Female Soldiers

Inside the dormitory, the female soldiers were scrambling to organize their equipment, while the air was still filled with the pungent smell of gas.

"Cough, cough... Why won't this smell go away!" Lin Yu coughed while splashing water on her face, her eyes red and swollen like peaches.

Li Xue covered her mouth and nose with a wet towel, her voice muffled: "Tear gas clings to clothing and skin; it takes at least two or three days to dissipate completely."

"Two or three days?!" Zhang Meng yanked off her training uniform and sniffed it, then immediately started dry heaving, "Ugh... damn it, this uniform of mine is ruined!"

Su Qingcheng silently distributed the golden sore medicine to the comrades around her, saying in a low voice: "Apply it around your eyes; it can alleviate the burning sensation."

"Chengzi, your Great-grandfather is too ruthless!" A female soldier took the ointment, her eyes welling with tears, "This isn't training, it's practically murder!"

Su Qingcheng shook her head with a bitter smile: "This is only the first day..."

"What do you mean?" Lin Yu keenly caught the implication in her words, "Is there something even more ruthless coming up?"

Su Qingcheng nodded and lowered her voice: "According to the Su Family's training methods, the first day is usually the most 'gentle'..."

The female soldiers looked at each other, all shivering in unison.

————

On the training ground, the female soldiers had finished lining up in full gear. Although their posture was straight, their red, swollen eyes and intermittent coughing betrayed their condition.

Su Han paced back and forth in front of the formation with his hands behind his back, a harmless smile on his face: "Comrades, you've worked hard!"

The female soldiers: "..."

"Seeing that everyone isn't in the best state, how about we start the afternoon by..."

"Report!" Zhang Meng shouted suddenly, her voice hoarse but firm, "We are not quitting!"

The other female soldiers also straightened their backs, their gazes stubborn.

Su Han raised his eyebrows in "surprise": "Who said anything about letting you quit? I was going to say, how about we start the afternoon with a lighter training session?"

The female soldiers looked at him suspiciously, and no one dared to respond.

"How about this," Su Han pointed to the thorny thicket at the end of the training ground, "Let's do a simple low-crawl. From here to that forest, the straight-line distance is about 3 kilometers."

The female soldiers looked in the direction he was pointing. Between the training ground and the forest lay an open area covered with gravel, barbed wire, and mud pits, while the dense thorns at the edge of the forest shimmered dangerously in the sunlight.

"Chief Instructor," Li Xue pushed up her glasses, her voice trembling slightly, "By 'low-crawl', do you mean you want us to... crawl across that?"

"That's right!" Su Han smiled brightly, "Just like a caterpillar, crawling while pressed against the ground."

"This... how is that possible!" Lin Yu exclaimed, "That thorny forest will poke people into sieves!"

The smile on Su Han's face gradually faded, and his tone became serious: "Comrades, what is the mission that a Special Forces Soldier executes most often? Behind-enemy-lines operations! Behind enemy lines, infiltration and concealment are your lifelines!"

He pointed toward the forest: "Imagine that is the enemy's defense line, and you are scouts deep behind enemy lines. To be discovered is to die. Would you choose to stand up and walk across openly?"

The female soldiers fell silent.

"The low-crawl is the most basic skill for a Special Forces Soldier," Su Han continued, "On a real battlefield, you might have to crawl like this for hours, or even days. In comparison, what is 3 kilometers?"

His gaze swept across every face: "Now, does anyone still think this training is unreasonable?"

The female soldiers bit their lips, unable to retort.

"Very good!" Su Han nodded, "Since everyone understands the importance of this training, let's begin!"

He turned to Zhou Mo: "Instructor Zhou, prepare to time them."

Then he flashed a "gentle" smile at the female soldiers: "Remember, no matter what is in front of you—gravel, mud pits, or even thorns—you must advance in a straight line! Anyone who takes a detour will be eliminated!"

————

At the sound of the whistle, the female soldiers all dropped to the ground in unison and began to crawl forward.

The initial grassy area was friendly enough, but soon, they reached the gravel zone. Sharp little stones immediately tore through their training uniforms, leaving bloody scratches on their knees and elbows.

"Ah!" One female soldier accidentally pressed down on a sharp stone, and her palm was instantly covered in blood.

"Hang in there!" Lin Yu, who was in front, turned back to encourage them, "Don't stop!"

Su Qingcheng was crawling in the middle of the formation. She could feel sweat mixed with blood dripping from her wounds, but what concerned her more was the thorny forest ahead, getting closer and closer.

"Chengzi," Li Xue next to her said with a trembling voice, "Those thorns... do we really have to crawl underneath them?"

Su Qingcheng did not answer, because she saw Su Han standing at the edge of the thorny forest, holding a long stick, wearing an inscrutable expression on his face.

"Come on, comrades!" Su Han used the stick to poke at the dense thorny thicket, "I've checked; there are no venomous snakes inside. At most, there are just some spiders, centipedes, and the like. It won't kill you!"

The female soldiers: "..."

Zhang Meng was crawling at the very front and had already approached the edge of the thorny forest. She gritted her teeth and dove headfirst into the thicket.

"Hiss—"

Sharp thorns immediately scratched bloody marks onto her face and arms, but she only let out a muffled grunt and continued to wriggle forward.

Seeing this, the other female soldiers also bit the bullet and followed her in.

Soon, gasps and suppressed cries of pain could be heard rising and falling from within the thorny thicket.

Su Han squatted at the edge of the forest, watching the female soldiers struggling to crawl through the thorns. Blood stained their training uniforms, but his expression remained completely unmoved.

"Chief Instructor..." Zhou Mo felt a bit of pity, "Isn't this a bit too..."

"Cruel?" Su Han finished his thought, shaking his head, "A real battlefield is a hundred times more cruel than this. If they can't even endure this little bit of hardship, how can they qualify to go to the battlefield?"

He stood up and shouted toward the thorny thicket: "Anyone who can't hold on can call out to quit! No one will laugh at you!"

The response was silence, save for the rustling sound of the thorns being pushed aside.

The corners of Su Han's mouth lifted slightly: "Very good, it seems our female soldier comrades are tougher than I imagined."

Inside the thorny thicket, Su Qingcheng felt as if every inch of her skin was burning.

Sharp thorns sliced her cheeks, pierced through her training uniform, and left trails of blood on her back. Li Xue, who was in front, was in an even worse state; her glasses had long since been lost somewhere, and her face was covered in tiny cuts.

"Chengzi..." Li Xue's voice was choked with sobs, "I... I can't hold on much longer..."

Su Qingcheng struggled to crawl to Li Xue's side: "Think about what the Chief Instructor said! He's trying to provoke us on purpose!"

"I know..." Li Xue sobbed, "But it really hurts so much..."

"It's supposed to hurt!" Lin Yu said through gritted teeth from behind, "The more it hurts, the more it shows we are breaking our limits!"

Zhang Meng's voice came from the front: "Sisters! I see the end! Let's push a little harder!"

The female soldiers encouraged each other and continued to wriggle forward.