Xue Xiaolu and Qin Luo were looking on as Fang Xiu picked radishes. 

The strange thing was, wherever this mountain top that could cause any species constipation was located, it actually had a climate of year-round spring. To one side were simple farmers and bronzed guards, to another was the well-informed but pretending not to be Zhong Shiliang, to another were the mountain and the farm lands with spring year-around, to yet another was the little dark room full of all kinds of bizarre high-tech products. 

The ST Training Course amply demonstrated to numerous training participants what it meant to spend money on a knife’s edge. 

Waking after that one night, Fang Xiu’s spirits seemed to have improved considerably. Though he still now and then took a dig at Chang Dou, there was no more malice in his words or intentions. Perhaps time really could draw a life out very, very long. The originally deep marks, when stretched out too far, became shallow. 

In twelve years of a closed loop, he hadn’t gone mad, so he must have been a formidable person—Fang Xiu was, so presumably in some aspect, Chang Dou was also formidable. 

The farmers who were there specifically to help take care of the training course’s private plot watched them flail around with expressions of concern for the fate of the country. Fang Xiu bore it for a while, felt that he was pretty stressed, and finally fumbled his way to a radish so long that it was a little deformed. He quickly pulled it out of the ground, setting Xue Xiaolu twittering, and went to the creek to wash the dirt off the radish. There was sunlight shining on the water, gleaming. The creek was clear enough to see to the bottom. There were tiny fish unhurriedly swimming beneath the surface. 

Fang Xiu rolled up his pant legs and sleeves and stood right in the water, stepping on the pebbles inside it. He narrowed his eyes with a slightly contented expression, looking like a vulgar old man who had been through all the vicissitudes of life. Chang Dou was on the bank helping to wash the vegetables. There was no saying what he was thinking. In that moment, he definitely wasn’t a human; he had certainly been possessed by a bold leopard. Looking at Fang Xiu’s back against the light, he scooped up a small handful of water and splashed him. 

When Fang Xiu turned his head and gave him a sideways look, Chang Dou finally realized what he had done. He looked like a mouse that had just pulled a cat’s whiskers. His face turned white from fear. He even forgot how to speak. After a long moment, with his lips trembling and his tongue short-circuiting, he finally said, “I…I…I did it on purpose.” 

Fang Xiu: “…” 

Chang Dou realized that he had once again said the wrong thing. So he trembled even more. “I…I really did it on purpose!” 

Lu Qingbai laughed so much he couldn’t even keep hold of the firewood. Fang Xiu hurled the disfigured radish he was holding at Lu Qingbai. It brought a string of translucent water droplets with it. Then he bent down, scooped up a big handful of water, and splashed Chang Dou right in the face with it. 

Chang Dou gave an “Oh!” and plopped onto the ground, covering his head as he flailed his legs to scoot backwards. There was a tearing sound, and even Xue Xiaolu and Qin Luo, picking vegetables not far away, both turned their heads. Chang Dou bounced off the ground like a ping-pong ball, his face as red as a monkey’s butt. Covering his pants and bending over, he ducked behind Lu Qingbai, using Dr. Lu’s not remotely stalwart figure to block the girls’ sight lines. 

Lu Qingbai looked at the big hole in his pants and laughed so hard he choked on his own spit and swayed unsteadily, coughing. Chang Dou used his fingers to pinch the very inconveniently placed hole and haltingly said, “S-stop looking.” 

Fang Xiu looked down with his face contorted and his shoulders shaking—he had just seen with his own eyes that on the revealed bit of Chang Dou’s underwear was a bright yellow little duck. 

A…little…duck…

At this time, Su Qing was in the woods, shouldering the most glorious and most arduous task of providing meat for everyone to eat tonight. He had his eye on a fat rabbit with its belly hanging down almost past its legs. The fat rabbit was squatting there eating grass, entirely unstressed. Su Qing hid behind a big tree. 

Suddenly, the rabbit’s ears moved. It sprang up with a speed entirely at odds with its fleshy stature. 

Su Qing quickly leapt out from behind the tree. He had a few little rocks in his hands. Sadly, these things weren’t like knives. They were irregularly shaped. He couldn’t be too sure of his strength and angle. Though his movements were very graceful, very much like someone filming an exterior scene in a wuxia film, the outcome wasn’t ideal. He came up entirely empty, and one rock even hit a tree and bounced back. Since he didn’t have much control over his grip, this thing was simply like a bullet. It whizzed towards his shoulder. 

Su Qing drew back his shoulder, then jumped up, hooking a branch hanging down from a tree. When Hu Bugui came looking for him, he saw him swinging himself forward like Tarzan. When he landed, he had gone a full ten meters forward, landing right in front of the rabbit. The big rabbit didn’t put on the brakes. It ran headfirst into Su Qing’s leg and was stunned. 

Su Qing grabbed the rabbit by the ears and picked it up. He flexed his lower leg a few times—getting bumped by this fat-ass rabbit was pretty painful. It had definitely left a bruise. 

Hu Bugui was watching him from not far away. He smiled slightly, making his whole face seem softer. “Nicely done.” 

For some reason, as soon as Su Qing raised his head and saw him, he suddenly felt a little awkward. He gave a dry laugh, scratched his ear, then swung the rabbit’s heavy body by its ears so he had an excuse to lower his head a little. “So-so.” 

The smile on Hu Bugui’s face became a little wider. He beckoned to him. “We have enough stuff. I think they managed to get a few fish over there. You should come back.” 

Su Qing agreed and took a step, then hissed, frowning. 

Hu Bugui immediately asked, “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, the rabbit bumped…” 

Before Su Qing could finish speaking, Hu Bugui had walked over and squatted down. He lightly rolled up his pang leg. Su Qing turned to stone. Even his words froze on his lips. He watched blankly as Hu Bugui extended his somewhat rough fingers to rub a spot slightly above his ankle. He raised his head and said, “There’s a bit of a bruise. Move it a little so I can have a look. Don’t twist it.” 

Maybe it was because he was raising his head, but when Su Qing met Hu Bugui’s particularly gentle-looking eyes, there was a lingering quiver in his heart, like someone had dropped a cotton ball on it from a height. It was extremely soft, neither stinging nor itching, but the ripples from it spread in circle after circle. 

His mind in confusion, Su Qing quickly shook his head, subconsciously taking a step back. Quietly, he said, “It doesn’t hurt.” 

Hu Bugui thought that this was because he didn’t like being touched by others, so he slowly lowered his eyes and stood up. The two of them were silent for a while. The atmosphere became a little awkward. After a good while, Hu Bugui finally said, “What I said over the precipice last night, if you don’t want to hear it, then you can take it that you didn’t hear it. You don’t need to feel any responsibility.” 

Su Qing felt even more apologetic, so he acted on impulse, rambling out, “I heard.” 

Hu Bugui raised his eyes to look at him. His eyes were pitch-black. The fingers hanging at his sides curled slightly, seeming very nervous, as though automatically forming into a fist. 

Su Qing opened his mouth. He knew he ought to say something, but this imperial diplomat dropped the ball at the critical moment. Inexplicably, he became speechless. 

Just then, there was a heaviness in his hand. Su Qing gave a start and found that the fat rabbit had woken up and was flopping around in midair, struggling for its life. He automatically formed a blade with his hand and struck. The rabbit didn’t move anymore. This time he didn’t know whether it had fainted or had simply been struck dead. 

“I heard. Well…thank you.” 

Then Hu Bugui fell silent along with him, because he absolutely didn’t know what Su Qing meant, and he couldn’t think of how he should respond to these words. Su Qing looked at him furtively and found that Hu Bugui’s expression was a little confused in its blankness. After a long time, he said a muffled “You’re welcome.” 

A chilly breeze blew by. Presumably if the fat rabbit had been aware in the underworld, it would have twitched. 

The evening’s campfire party was actually very delicious. While the ST Training Course didn’t provide meals, it still wasn’t completely stingy—at least it supplied them with seasonings. Of course, in reciprocation, they had also sent Zhong Shiliang to scrounge a meal. 

Barbecue was patience-trying work, especially when it was half-cooked. When the fragrance began to spread to all sides, Hu Bugui squatted single-heartedly in front of the open fire, entirely concentrated on roasting the rabbit that was slowly beginning to emit grease. The others, whether man or woman, all looking like hungry ghosts, squatted in a circle around him, ready to pounce at any moment to begin the struggle. 

Just as Captain Hu said “it’s done,” the group threw themselves forward at once, their snatching hands tangling together. Hu Bugui quickly withdrew from the ring of encirclement. Holding up two rabbit legs, he naturally gave the best roasted one to Su Qing at his left hand. “Try it.” 

Xue Xiaolu had gotten the tip of her nose blackened in the struggle. She didn’t forget to widen her eyes, which were always ready to see things others didn’t see. She loudly heckled, “Captain Hu, why don’t I get any?!” 

Lu Qingbai said, “Hmph, Comrade Xue Xiaolu, let’s talk again when the vegetables you dig up aren’t all so malnourished—Captain Hu, why don’t I get any?” 

Hu Bugui glanced at him, then frankly and honestly said, “I don’t want to give you any.” 

Lu Qingbai clutched his chest and fell to the ground. 

Suddenly, a hand holding a little brush reached over, quickly brushing a few times over the rabbit meat in Hu Bugui’s hand. The golden flesh took on a thin layer of honey. Hu Bugui turned his head to look at Su Qing and saw him stealthily holding out a little jar, saying like a thief, “Honey. I tricked it out of the dining hall worker.” 

This person really would pull tricks wherever he went. He would even wipe oil from a tiger’s butt. 

Hu Bugui began to eat, his emotions complex. He ate a sweet, fragrant, scalding mouthful, silently helping him dispose of the stolen goods. 

They ate a noisy meal full of snatching and play. Zhong Shiliang watched in satisfaction as the crowd of people who had showed up silent as anything finally broke the ice. 

So while everyone was sitting by the campfire and digesting, Zhong Shiliang, like a conjurer, took a metal instrument out of a big sack. Under Chang Dou’s gaze, as passionate as though looking at his first love, he set it up on the ground, then connected it to a laptop, which he put on his knees. He turned the screen towards the RZ Unit group and said in self-satisfaction: “Barbecue is a little greasy. We’ll have a bit of an activity to help everyone digest.”