Chapter 1914 — University Military Training

"Sorry about the other day—I got your girlfriend the wrong idea." Seeing Wei Zhao sit down beside her, Wang Xinyan felt her heart inexplicably loosen, as though she had been hoping he would.

That said, she did not think she had fallen for Wei Zhao. She and Wei Zhao were of the same mind: there seemed to be a strong affinity between them, but it amounted to nothing more than a mild fondness. Nor had Wang Xinyan forgotten the engagement she carried. With an engagement binding her, whether she liked someone or not had long since ceased to mean anything.

"Oh, they're not my girlfriends," Wei Zhao said.

"They're not?" Wang Xinyan was taken slightly aback, and a small flutter stirred in her heart. Not his girlfriends… well, that was good. Though she herself could not have said what she was fluttering about. Even if they were not, Wei Zhao still had a girlfriend. Perhaps she was happy because Wei Zhao had treated her as a friend and kept nothing from her?

"An elder just asked me to look after them, that's all." Wei Zhao had not lied to Wang Xinyan. When he first came to Songshan City, it really had been Old Man Wei who sent him.

"So that's how it is… You live together?" The moment the question left her mouth, Wang Xinyan rather regretted it. She had never been one to pry into other people's business—why had she suddenly asked Wei Zhao that? It seemed a little impolite.

"Yes. I bought a villa near here. The three of us and a housekeeper live there together," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

Wang Xinyan nodded. So that was it, she thought—then it did not really count as living together, at most sharing a house. A villa that size was no different from living in a school dormitory, really…

At that thought, Wang Xinyan shook her head again. Her mind seemed a little muddled today. Why did she keep dwelling on such pointless, nonsensical things?

Just then, Instructor Bai walked into the classroom, and the room fell silent at once. Wang Xinyan hurriedly collected herself and looked up at the lectern.

"Good. You're all here. I thought someone might use some excuse to ask for leave and dodge the military training," Instructor Bai said flatly. "If you're genuinely ill, I won't force you. But in one of the previous cohorts, a student faked illness, and I had his end-of-term exam eligibility revoked on the spot and made him repeat the year with the next class!"

A chill ran through the room at Instructor Bai's words. The old man was ruthless—repeating with the next cohort meant five years of university! Then again, Instructor Bai was surely an excellent physician, and faking illness in front of him would never work. Two students in the class who had actually been about to produce medical certificates and ask for leave immediately abandoned the idea.

"Now I'll reassign the class officers. Bai Weituo, you're class monitor. Wang Xinyan, you're vice monitor and academic representative!" Before anyone could question it, Instructor Bai had moved on to the next matter. "In a little while, buses will take you to the military training. But Donghai Engineering University's military training has always been known as the strictest anywhere, and this time you're going to a border defense unit nearby. Be prepared!"

Wang Xinyan was somewhat taken aback. She glanced at Wei Zhao, unable to understand how she had suddenly become vice monitor and academic representative. Bai Weituo, by contrast, had known this outcome all along and showed no surprise now; he merely thought to himself that only Brother Lin could make his stubborn grandfather change his mind.

"Whoa—" The news sent a stir through the class. Nearly everyone had heard something of how strict Donghai Engineering University's military training was. The two students who had wanted to fake illness had been deterred precisely by such talk. Word had it that this was real military training, nothing like the token drills of high school—two entirely different things. Still, those who endured it did come out genuinely stronger.

Only You Panhu looked at his nervous, frightened classmates with a trace of contempt. Though alchemy was his specialty, he was himself a Yellow Rank cultivator, his physique far superior to the average student's. However mad the training might be, he felt no pressure at all.

"All right, I've said what needed saying. In a moment, gather in front of the Biology Department building. Military training is organized by department, and the unit's transport trucks will take you to the training site!" With that, Instructor Bai made to leave.

"You're kidding? We're going somewhere else?" The students grew anxious at the news that training would take them off campus. Some had classmates who had entered other universities and already finished their training—but those had all been held on campus. Being sent straight to a military unit was rare.

"Yeah, we'd better hurry and buy some good food. Once we're there, we probably won't be able to buy anything!" another student said anxiously.

"Oh, right—one more thing!" Instructor Bai, already at the door, turned back to warn them. "During training, snacks, extra clothing, and personal items are not permitted. Food and lodging will be provided, and anything you bring yourselves must be handed in. It will be returned when training ends!"

"What? No way…" That last remark deflated the students who had been about to go on a shopping spree.

Around ten in the morning, a row of military buses pulled up in front of the Biology Department building. The pharmacy program was small—fewer than thirty students in all—but it got a bus to itself. Once everyone was aboard, the bus started slowly and headed for the training site.

Military training was organized by class, so each bus carried the students of a single class. Some of the larger programs had to squeeze three students into a single seat, while the pharmacy program filled one bus with room to spare.

Wei Zhao boarded and was just wondering whether he would again sit with Wang Xinyan when he saw that Bai Weituo, Song Xiaodao, and Zhao Shengji had already taken the back row. Other students were settling into the seats around them one after another—clearly no one intended to leave Wei Zhao a place.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly to himself and sat down beside Wang Xinyan.

"Sitting together again. What a coincidence…" Wei Zhao said, a little awkwardly. After all, it was rather too obvious.

"Yes…" Wang Xinyan blushed. What kind of coincidence was this? It was plainly deliberate… But she said nothing.

You Panhu, along with Yellow Hair and Purple Hair, sat far from Wei Zhao. You Panhu both hated and feared Wei Zhao: he wanted to make trouble for him, but lacked the strength, and so could only bide his time.

In truth, for the Hidden You family, sending out another expert at the peak of the late Earth Rank would not have been difficult. The key question was this: even if such an expert were sent, could he do anything about Wei Zhao?