93: Chapter 93: The Flag in the Snake's Nest?

"Run!" Su Qingcheng shouted, jumping directly from the tree, rolling to break her fall, and pulling Lin Yu along as she ran.

The female soldiers screamed and scattered in all directions, with the swarm of hornets in hot pursuit.

"Ahhh! I got stung!" Li Xue screamed, clutching her neck.

"Don't stop! Jump into the water!" Su Qingcheng pulled them toward a nearby stream.

Several people plunged into the water with a splash, holding their breath as they submerged.

The hornets circled over the water for a while before finally leaving resentfully.

"Phew—" The female soldiers surfaced, gasping for air.

Li Xue touched her swollen neck, her eyes welling with tears: "Am I... am I going to die?"

Su Qingcheng checked it: "It's fine, just swollen. Just apply some medicine when we get back."

"What about the flag..." Lin Yu looked toward the pine tree unwillingly.

"Let's find the others first," Su Qingcheng decided decisively. "We'll figure something out later."

————

On the other side, Zhang Meng was leading several female soldiers through the dense forest.

"The map shows there should be a flag around here," she frowned, studying the map, "but I can't find any landmarks at all."

"Rustle—"

A sudden noise came from the nearby bushes, and the female soldiers immediately became alert.

"Is it a snake again?" one female soldier asked nervously.

Zhang Meng shook her head: "Doesn't seem like it... wait!"

She suddenly crouched down and pushed aside the grass in front of her—a pitch-black cave entrance appeared before her eyes.

"A cave!" Zhang Meng said excitedly. "The flag is likely inside!"

The female soldiers looked at each other, no one daring to enter first.

"What's there to be afraid of," Zhang Meng said, emboldening herself. "I'll lead the way!"

She pulled out a small flashlight she was carrying (although it was against the rules, she had sneaked one in) and cautiously entered the cave.

The cave was damp and cold, with unknown vines crawling all over the walls.

After walking about ten meters, a fork in the road suddenly appeared ahead.

"Which way?" the female soldier behind her asked.

Zhang Meng hesitated for a moment: "Left, I guess. Intuition."

Several people advanced along the left passage. Not far in, Zhang Meng suddenly stopped: "Wait... did you hear something?"

The female soldiers held their breath and listened—a faint "hissing" sound came from deep within the cave.

"Is it... is it snakes?" a female soldier's voice trembled.

Zhang Meng swallowed hard and shone the flashlight beam forward—

"Ahhh!!!"

The female soldiers screamed in unison.

Dozens of snakes were densely coiled on the ground ahead, some even as thick as a forearm!

And on a stone platform in the center of the snake swarm, a small red flag was clearly planted.

"Oh my god..." Even the tough Zhang Meng's legs went weak. "How... how do we get that?"

Zhang Meng gritted her teeth and looked around, suddenly noticing the vines hanging from the cave walls: "I've got it! We can use the vines to make a lasso and hook the flag over!"

The female soldiers immediately took action, cutting the vines with their pocket knives and quickly weaving them into a simple rope.

Zhang Meng cautiously approached the snake swarm, stopping about two meters away, and threw the vine lasso toward the flagpole.

The first time, she missed.

The second time, she caught it but didn't have a firm grip.

The third time...

"Got it!" Zhang Meng cheered softly, gently pulling the vine. The flag was slowly dragged out from the stone platform.

The snakes seemed to sense the movement; a few raised their heads, flicking their tongues.

The female soldiers held their breath, not daring to move.

Finally, the flag was dragged to a safe distance.

Zhang Meng grabbed the flag and whispered, "Retreat!"

Several people turned and ran, with the sound of the agitated snake swarm behind them.

"Run, run!" The female soldiers screamed as they rushed out of the cave, not daring to stop and catch their breath until they were a hundred meters away.

"We... we got it!" Zhang Meng held the flag high, saying excitedly.

The female soldiers looked at each other and smiled. Although they were in a mess, a sense of accomplishment welled up.

————

Meanwhile, inside the monitoring tent at the edge of the training ground.

"Tsk tsk, these female soldiers are pretty good," Monkey stared at the monitor screen. "They even dared to take the flag from a snake den."

Big Bear shook his head: "Su Han, isn't your training a bit too harsh? What if someone actually gets bitten by a snake..."

Su Han smiled slightly: "Don't worry, the Venom Fangs of those snakes have been removed."

Zhou Mo raised an eyebrow: "What about that hornet's nest?"

"That..." Su Han rubbed his nose. "I can only wish them luck."

The members of the War Eagle Squad: "..."

"However," Su Han looked at his watch, "half the time has passed, and they've only found four flags."

He picked up the walkie-talkie: "All units, attention. Initiate Plan B."

Monkey immediately became excited: "Understood! I'll go give them a little 'surprise' right now!"

————

In the mountain forest, Su Qingcheng was leading the female soldiers to find the next flag.

"Wait," she suddenly stopped. "Don't you think... it's too quiet?"

Lin Yu nodded: "Indeed, even the sound of insects is gone."

"Something's wrong," Su Qingcheng looked around alertly. "There might be an ambu—"

Before she could finish, a large net suddenly sprang up from the ground, covering several female soldiers!

"Ah!" The female soldiers screamed as they were hoisted into mid-air.

"Enemy attack!" Su Qingcheng dodged the trap with a side roll, but several dark figures immediately rushed out from behind the trees and lunged at her.

"Catch them!" It was Monkey's voice.

Su Qingcheng reacted extremely quickly, taking down the first "enemy" with a leg sweep, then jumping up to dodge the second person's tackle.

"Nice moves!" Monkey praised. "But..."

He suddenly pulled something from his waist and threw it at Su Qingcheng.

"Bang!"

With a muffled sound, pungent smoke instantly filled the air.

"Cough, cough... Tear Gas!" Su Qingcheng's eyes watered, and her vision blurred.

Monkey took the opportunity to step forward and grab her wrist: "Caught you!"

The other female soldiers were also subdued one after another by the members of the War Eagle Squad.

"What... what are you doing?" Lin Yu asked, struggling in the net.

Monkey grinned: "Prisoner training! Now you're our 'prisoners of war'!"

The female soldiers: "..."

Su Qingcheng suddenly laughed: "Is that so?"

She suddenly broke free from Monkey's control with a backhand maneuver and snatched a Smoke Grenade from his waist at the same time: "Then you'd better be careful!"

"Bang!"

The smoke exploded again, and Su Qingcheng took the chance to pull Lin Yu and run.

"Chase them!" Monkey shouted, exasperated.

The female soldiers sprinted through the forest, with the pursuers getting closer and closer.

"Split up!" Su Qingcheng made a split-second decision. "Meet at the assembly point!"

The female soldiers immediately dispersed, disappearing into the dark woods.

Monkey stopped and shook his head helplessly: "This girl... she's really hard to catch."

Zhou Mo walked up from behind and smiled: "She is a member of the Su Family, after all."

"But..." He looked at his watch. "They don't have much time left."

————

Dragging their exhausted bodies, the female soldiers finally found all ten flags within two hours and stumbled back to the base.

Lin Yu clutched the last flag in her hand, her face covered in mud, and several bloody scratches from branches on her arms.

Gasping for air, she looked at her equally disheveled teammates and managed a faint smile: "We... we did it..."

Su Qingcheng leaned against a tree, her face pale and her lips parched.

She had just escaped from the hornets' pursuit, and her neck was still swollen and stinging.

Zhang Meng was in relatively good spirits, though her clothes were covered in mud. She held the flag she had snatched from the snake den and waved it triumphantly: "How about that? I told you we could do it!"

Supporting each other, the female soldiers walked to the center of the training ground and placed the ten flags one by one in front of Su Han.

"Reporting to the Chief Instructor!" Su Qingcheng forced herself to stand tall, her voice hoarse. "All ten flags have been found!"

Su Han stood before them with his hands behind his back. His gaze swept over every exhausted face, and he nodded with a slight upward curve of his lips: "Not bad. Faster than I expected."

The female soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. Some even slumped directly onto the ground, looking as if they would fall asleep the next second.

However, Su Han's next words instantly made them feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar—

"Next, everyone, pack your gear and prepare to head to the Swamp to spend the night."

"What?!" the female soldiers cried out in unison, their relaxed nerves tightening once again.

Lin Yu's eyes widened, her voice trembling: "Chief Instructor, didn't... didn't we complete the mission? Why are we still being punished?"

Su Han didn't answer directly. Instead, he walked slowly to Zhang Meng and held out his hand: "Hand it over."