You Xue did not go downstairs. She just walked forward along the corridor, step by step.
Rounding the corner of the building, her vision rotated ninety degrees. Looking down, she could see the towering walls of the training base in the distance.
Beneath the walls, on a flat playground, many students were moving about.
You Xue lowered her gaze, searching among the groups of people. Finally, she found Su Li’s class at the northernmost part of the crowd.
Unlike the relaxed, casual atmosphere she saw in the academy, most of the students had chosen their weapons and were ready.
In this world, guns certainly existed, but such weapons were not very popular. Because in this world, where the main theme was fighting the beasts of the wilderness, the bullets from guns did negligible damage to demon beasts.
Of course, ordinary cold weapons were also ineffective against the thick-skinned demon beasts, but they could be upgraded using seals. All weapons could be upgraded in various aspects through seals, and could be enhanced to produce destructive power far beyond physical limits.
As for guns, under this supernatural language technique, the gun body and the bullet were considered separate entities. Therefore, to improve the gun’s capability, one could only engrave corresponding seals on its bullets. However, such bullets were mostly one-time use. They were expensive and could only be used once. That was the reason this world eliminated guns.
As for other large-scale lethal weapons from the real world—those that relied on precision electronic components and stable chemical reactions—they became unstable due to the various magical factors permeating this world. Thus, under the influence of magic and supernatural abilities, the tech tree of this world had deviated in a direction completely different from You Xue’s previous life.
To put it complicatedly, it could actually be summed up in one sentence. That is, the author of this book did not want those cold, clear technological creations to interfere with this already designed script—where a young man sheds blood and swings a sword, trying to fight against fate, but in the end, powerless and in pain, loses everything. But actually, there was nothing to complain about. As an author, they had to set up a worldview that allowed all the stories to happen reasonably. So that those tragic or joyful stories could find a reason to occur.
You Xue could only blame herself, for reading this novel, for watching such a tragic story unfold slowly. You Xue sighed in her heart.
But can past things be changed by regret? Impossible.
She didn’t have any more time to waste on remorse. Coming back to her senses, she continued to watch the students in the distance.
With just one glance, You Xue found Su Li. Because in past memories, it was always like this—she used to wait, in the courtyard, watching the end of the path, waiting for a black-haired boy to slowly come from the end of the road. Always like this. You Xue felt helpless.
The memories of the childhood sweetheart were always like this. They didn’t ask for her consent, nor whether she could bear it, often coming at certain moments without any reason. Those images surged like a tide, drowning her, then receding, leaving behind a wet sense of melancholy.
They really had always been close. They truly relied on each other. That was why You Xue blamed herself so much. Because of her, the childhood sweetheart who had always been waiting for her childhood friend to save her was so easily taken over by herself. Without even a farewell, the childhood sweetheart quietly disappeared.
Alice and Cheng Yehai were also there. You Xue watched from afar as the three members of the group stood together, chatting about something, occasionally laughing. At this distance, of course, You Xue couldn’t hear what they were saying.
It’s impossible not to feel jealous and disappointed. Not because she wanted to be with Su Li like that. But because she also longed for a healthy body, didn’t want pain and bitterness, and wanted to live a normal life.
However… You Xue put away those mixed emotions.
She saw Anbian Du starting to gather the scattered students. He stood in front of the formation, without a cigarette in his hand, for once showing a serious expression. Behind him were iron cages, each imprisoning a demon beast of messy appearance. You Xue examined them carefully. Based only on the descriptions in the book, she couldn’t tell exactly what kind of demon beasts they were, but she was sure they were low-level demon beasts. After all, it was just for students to practice on.
Then, Anbian Du opened one of the iron cages, grabbed the demon beast inside, and began to explain. Having thoroughly read the original story, You Xue knew that these demon beasts had been injected with suppressants, so they were completely harmless. Then the teacher would explain the characteristics and weaknesses of these demon beasts in detail, and then what to do when encountering them in the wilderness. And at the end of the explanation, the teacher would have the students kill these defenseless demon beasts to train their courage and resolve.
You Xue watched as Anbian Du pinned a lizard-like demon beast with red scales to the ground, signaling the first student to step forward. The first one pushed forward was Cheng Yehai. He looked a bit nervous, his hand holding the short knife trembling slightly. The tip of the knife aimed at the demon beast’s abdomen several times, then pulled back. He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and suddenly thrust the knife into the demon beast’s abdomen. Blood gushed out, dark red. A few drops splattered onto Cheng Yehai’s clothes. The demon beast let out a low hiss, struggled a few times, and then stopped moving. His face turned pale. He let go of the knife and staggered back two steps.
Cheng Yehai in the book initially had this somewhat timid personality. At first, he was a bit of a hindrance to the group, but as the story progressed, he would gradually become a reliable partner. After all, possessing a supernatural ability of time, using the rewind property, he could save his teammates in many dangerous moments. Anbian Du glanced at him and didn’t say much, since this situation was common among students. Then he continued introducing the next demon beast.
After a while, it was Su Li’s turn. You Xue’s gaze followed that figure. Su Li faced a demon beast covered in gray-black hard skin, with multiple pairs of jointed legs. It looked like a giant woodlouse, but its mouth was circular, with a ring of fine, inward-curving teeth layered deeper inside. If encountering such a monster in the wild, one would have no doubt that its meat-grinder-like mouth could crush a person’s limbs. She saw Su Li step forward calmly, raise his longsword, and without any hesitation, pierce through the body of the disgusting demon beast. Filthy blood dripped down the blade, slowly falling to the ground. Finally, he stepped back expressionlessly.
You Xue watched his indifferent demeanor, but she knew that Su Li didn’t have that kind of extraordinary firmness in his heart. He was just good at hiding his inner feelings, treating all the unease, fear, and hesitation as if they didn’t exist. Because Su Li knew exactly what kind of existence demon beasts were. All those terrifying memories came from those brutal demon beasts. Thus, hatred and enmity outweighed fear, making him swing that sword so decisively. Su Li was not a perfect person. In some aspects, he was actually a bit clumsy. That was not a bad thing; on the contrary, it made You Xue feel he was real. It made her think that maybe in reality, there were such gentle and brave people who could save others.
Anbian Du continued his introduction. Finally, it was Alice’s turn. There was no trace of fear on her face. Her jade-green eyes were filled with impatience. She didn’t use the weapon she had chosen. With a wave of her hand, a wind blade pierced through the demon beast, killing it in one blow. Alice withdrew her hand, flicked non-existent blood off her fingertips expressionlessly, and turned back to the formation. This was an event that happened in the original story. Alice had always been a teammate who could be relied on and trusted.
You Xue watched everything happen, only feeling that nothing seemed to deviate from the original story’s track. Everything was progressing in a good direction. This reassured her a lot.