The day for the field practice trip arrived quickly. The academy arranged a bus for unified transportation. While lining up and checking attendance, Shen Huaiyun and Shen Tangmo were still inspecting each other’s backpacks to ensure nothing was missing.
Meanwhile, Zhu Ji, clutching his half-zipped backpack with a slice of grape toast in his mouth, rushed to the end of the line. He glanced at his watch, adjusted his backpack, swallowed the toast in one gulp, and hastily smoothed down his messy hair before finally finding a moment to greet the others.
Shen Tangmo casually waved to acknowledge him and whispered, “It’s almost 7:30 now. Guess what time he woke up today?”
“All the ingredients are accounted for… Huh?” Shen Huaiyun, whose backpack was being held by a bluish-purple psychic tentacle, was checking items off a list and didn’t immediately catch the question. “What time?”
Another psychic tentacle handed over a phone, its screen filled with Zhu Ji’s messages in the [Wenzhou Mental Hospital Branch] group chat.
[7:19 AM]
【It’s Me: OMG I overslept and didn’t hear the alarm ahhhhhhhhhhhh】
【It’s Me: Emergency situation omg I k】
[7:21 AM]
【It’s Me: Woc I almost forgot my backpack】
【It’s Me: Woc lucky there were two slices of grape toast left from yesterday’s breakfast】
[7:23 AM]
【It’s Me: Guys, is the bus gathering at 7:30?】
【It’s Me: I’m so fast hahaha】
【It’s Me: I still have time to buy breakfast at the cafeteria】
【It’s Me: Oh no, I forgot my keys and didn’t lock the dorm door ahhhhhhhhh】
[7:27 AM]
【It’s Me: Last minute!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha】
【It’s Me: I’m here, hahahahahahahahahahahaha】
Shen Huaiyun poked the tentacle and took his backpack back. “Despite all that chaos, he still found time to type. He’s pretty quick.”
The psychic tentacle returned the phone to its owner. Shen Tangmo also slung on his backpack. “Some of those were probably voice-to-text, like the first two messages.”
They were near the front of the line and easily secured seats with the best window view in the first row. Since the first row had a 3+2 seating arrangement, they could also save a spot for Zhu Ji, who was last in line.
As soon as Zhu Ji sat down and fastened his seatbelt, he exclaimed loudly, “Rare! To! Have! A! Few! True! Bros!”
A guy from the back row chimed in, “Friendship! That! Never! Fades!”
Teacher Liu interjected, “Hey, hey, hold on. Let me go over the rules first. Don’t wander off alone, follow my instructions.”
They were all familiar, oft-repeated rules. After finishing, he found a seat. Excited about the rare academy-organized outing, all fewer than twenty students gathered in the front half of the bus, starting a song chain. Teacher Liu even improvised a couple of lines.
“The great Northeast! Is my hometown! The suona horn plays a beautiful melody”
“Bravo!” The other students cheered, filling the bus with a joyful atmosphere.
Amid such high spirits, the nearly two-hour journey didn’t feel too tedious. The bus gradually slowed down and finally came to a stop near the student campsite. Teacher Liu got off first to inspect the area before calling out to the already restless students to disembark.
The left half of the campsite was a large open area, with tents and sleeping bags neatly laid out, waiting for the students to set them up. On the other side, beneath a camouflage-colored canopy, stood four rows of cooking stoves and stone tables the designated area for students to prepare their own meals.
Shen Huaiyun gazed into the distance, noticing that beyond the human-made structures lay vast stretches of lush, verdant forest, likely intended for training exercises.
For a fleeting moment, his spiritual energy stirred with excitement something seemed to be moving deep within the woods.
After taking a headcount, Teacher Liu raised a megaphone: “Stop chatting and look over here!”
“The left side is your resting area. You’ll be setting up your own tents later. Since we have a small group, you’ll share a tent with one other person. You’ll be sleeping in these tents tonight, so do a good job don’t let your tent collapse in the middle of the night!”
He gestured toward the other side: “That’s where you’ll be cooking. For today’s lunch, you were asked to bring your own ingredients. Did everyone bring them?”
Some students eagerly held up their ingredients, while others patted their backpacks with excitement.
Teacher Liu nodded in satisfaction: “Good. First, we’ll split into groups to set up the tents and organize your things, then start cooking. Don’t rush to eat save some for me. I’ll be grading your efforts.”
A student shouted from the crowd: “Teacher, if you’re hungry, just say so! We’d be happy to share!”
“Haha, yeah, Teacher!”
“Teacher, how many people per cooking group?”
“Hey, quiet down!” Teacher Liu glared at them and turned up the megaphone volume. “There are eighteen of you in total. Cooking groups will be three people each, and tent groups will be two people each! Now, form your own groups! If anyone is left out, I’ll assign them later.”
A few third-year students took a couple of steps toward Shen Huaiyun, but no one could beat Shen Tangmo, who was already standing beside him. The guy simply grabbed Shen Huaiyun’s backpack: “Huaiyun, go pick out a tent and sleeping bag.”
Zhu Ji also pulled his classmate along, turning back to shout at Shen Tangmo: “Let’s cook together later!”
Shen Tangmo’s spiritual tendrils formed an “OK” gesture.
While setting up the tent frame, Shen Huaiyun drove a steel rod deep into the ground and casually asked, “Why didn’t your classmates plan to share a tent with you?”
Shen Tangmo, fiddling with the tent fabric, glanced at him with a smile: “Because I already told them I’d be sharing with you.”
The young man fell silent, focusing on securing the four corners of the tent, but Shen Tangmo could tell he was secretly pleased.
He added, “They’re really jealous of me. They say you’re like a treasure top grades, good looks, and easy to get along with. Their relatives’ kids are all little troublemakers. Zhu Ji’s figurines were smashed by his cousin two of them.”
Shen Huaiyun’s ears had turned slightly red from the teasing, but he looked up abruptly at this: “His figurines got smashed? What happened after that?”
“He spent the whole afternoon beating up his cousin and made him do math worksheets all night.”
“Sounds like him.”
After laying out the mats and sleeping bags inside the tent, Shen Tangmo crawled out and saw a familiar mop of messy hair Zhu Ji pulling Shen Huaiyun aside, enthusiastically discussing the plot of a game.
Whenever Zhu Ji got excited, his voice would rise: “I’m telling you, that writer is just too much! He clearly said this was supposed to be a lighthearted, happy, and cheerful game!”
Shen Huaiyun carried two bags of groceries in one hand while using his thumb to swipe away the friend request interface on his phone with the other, closing the game with a resigned smile curling at the corner of his lips. “Scorching sunlight still counts as sunlight, doesn’t it?”
Shen Tangmo’s psychic tendrils darted ahead of him, eagerly taking the heavier grocery bags and affectionately brushing against his fingers, only to be pinched in warning by their owner.
“Go start the fire,” he said to Zhu Ji, nodding toward an empty stove.
“Got it, boss! Cooking’s all yours, boss!”
Shen Tangmo skillfully stir-fried the cabbage in the wok, timing it perfectly before scooping it onto a plate and handing the spatula over to Shen Huaiyun.
After placing the plate on the stone table, he turned back to see Shen Huaiyun moving with the same practiced ease and focused expression. A flicker of pride crossed Shen Tangmo’s face, though it was accompanied by an almost imperceptible sigh.
Huaiyun was precocious. If only his body weren’t so unusual…
During the New Year visits, relatives would make dismissive remarks like, “Tangmo is really promising. Huaiyun is smart too, but he’s just an ordinary person after all.” Huaiyun never showed it on his face, but Shen Tangmo could tell he was irritated by the way he nervously bit his nails in private. It made Shen Tangmo want to dump the dishes right onto those ignorant faces across the table.
But he couldn’t. He was just an adopted child. Acting out would only give them more ammunition to attack their parents and Huaiyun.
Fortunately, Yuan Qing’an quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. On the way home, Shen Yue’an grumbled impatiently, “What a bunch of fools! Their own kids aren’t half as good as our Huaiyun! And Huaiyun’s only thirteen!”
“Let’s not come again. It’s just bad luck,” Yuan Qing’an, usually so tolerant, said with a rare dark expression.
Shen Tangmo wholeheartedly agreed with that decision.
“Brother? Could you pass me that big bowl?”
Hearing the boy’s call, Shen Tangmo snapped out of his vengeful thoughts about those *relatives and picked up the empty bowl beside him, placing it on the stove.
The stewed ingredients were poured in, followed by a thick, savory broth. With that, Shen Huaiyun’s special tomato beef and potato stew fragrant and mouthwatering was complete.
Shen Tangmo helped him carry it to the stone table, then took over Zhu Ji’s fire-tending duties.
Zhu Ji had cooked a pot of vegetable noodles to accompany the dishes prepared by the group’s two chefs. They set aside a small bowl, adding a few pieces of potato and beef for Teacher Liu, before digging in heartily.
The aroma of the tomato beef and potato stew attracted students from other groups, but unfortunately, the three teenagers had healthy appetites and couldn’t spare any more to share.
Well, mostly, they were just protective of their food.
Teacher Liu rated their group’s dishes as excellent, muttering as he left, “These brats (munch munch) couldn’t spare a couple more pieces of meat (munch munch).”
The three of them pretended not to hear, too busy fighting over the last few pieces of beef themselves.
After lunch, Teacher Liu called everyone together, distributed equipment a short dagger for each student and announced he would take them into the woods to observe Aberrants up close.
“Teacher, haven’t we seen Aberrants plenty of times in the training rooms and during upgrade assessments?” a student asked, puzzled.
“That’s different. The ones in the academy are either simulated or processed Aberrants. Today, you’ll be facing the real monsters that roam the wild.”
Noticing some students looking hesitant, he raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you all top students in your grade? Don’t worry, I’m here, and the fifth-year seniors are helping too.”
Shen Huaiyun stood at the back of the group, gazing toward the forest. His mental energy felt more active than usual. It had been a while since he had truly taken down an Aberrant after the grade-skipping exam, and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
As he was rubbing the hilt of the dagger in his hand, his cheeks were suddenly touched by something cool and soft. Puzzled, Shen Huaiyun turned his head to the side. Shen Tangmo cleared his throat. “I sensed some fluctuations in your energy, so I thought, well, to soothe you a bit.”
Did that sound strange? He pursed his lips.
Zhu Ji tried to poke the few translucent bluish-purple tentacles, but they nimbly dodged and retreated back into their owner’s body.
“Bro, how come you can manifest them so often?” Zhu Ji scratched his head. “I feel like my success rate is pretty low. Usually, I only succeed once out of five attempts.”
Shen Huaiyun turned slightly. “My brother’s are almost always active. Maybe if you practice more and improve your control over your mental energy, your success rate will go up.”
He skipped the topic of the mental energy fluctuations. Shen Tangmo felt a bit disappointed, but the group had already set off, leaving no time for him to ask further.
The forest was dense with shrubs, requiring them to cut through some branches to advance. Many trees thick enough for two people to embrace were entwined with thick vines. Teacher Liu, while cutting branches to determine the direction, reminded the students to watch their step and be careful not to trip over vines or roots.
After some effort, they found a deep green barrier flowing with fragmented squares. Following the barrier, they walked for an unknown length of time when Teacher Liu suddenly crouched down and gestured for them to be quiet. Everyone mimicked his posture, cautiously moving forward and pushing aside the shrub branches until they finally saw their target.
An Aberrant resembling a giant maggot, but with vine-like tentacles wrapped around its body.
It crawled slowly inside the barrier, and as it turned, everyone caught a clear view of the terrifying area that could perhaps be called its face.
Countless eyes, encircled by tiny vines, with a crack in the middle from which an unknown number of earthworm-like things protruded, writhing wildly. At their tips, there were even eye-like structures constantly rotating.
The vine-like appendages also pulsed as if breathing.
It had already noticed the uninvited guests, but the mental energy from the Sentinel held it at bay, making it hesitant to act rashly.
Teacher Liu turned and whispered to the students, “Did you all see it clearly? Who dares to step forward?”
The third-year students were intimidated by the bizarre creature and were still hesitating. Shen Huaiyun tugged at Shen Tangmo’s wrist and stepped forward directly. “Teacher, I’ll go.”
“Good lad, anyone else?”
Zhu Ji and Shen Tangmo followed him, but Teacher Liu shook his head. “This one’s pretty weak. Let the third-year kids practice their courage first.”
Hearing him call the Aberrant “weak,” two more third-year students shuffled forward. The rest began to stir as well, only to be told by the teacher, “Afraid to be the first to try the crab.”
“Just the three of you, then. Come, I’ll open the barrier. You can enter from here.”
The squares on the deep green barrier stopped flowing. At the spot Teacher Liu selected, a vertical line appeared, then split open to both sides, creating a small opening just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Shen Huaiyun drew his dagger and slipped inside. The other two, knowing his outstanding performance in practical combat, followed closely behind.
He condensed a strand of mental energy finer than a hair, wrapping it around the dagger. Seizing the moment while the aberrant creature was still observing, he pushed off with his legs and charged forward, slicing through the earthworm-like appendages in one swift motion. He then twisted the blade and drove it into the largest eye.
Though slightly slower, the two students reacted quickly. One slid forward, carving a deep gash along the edge of the creature’s fissure, nearly piercing its mental core, while the other severed several tentacles that were attacking Shen Huaiyun.
“Here!”
Shen Huaiyun’s mental energy strand pierced through from where the dagger had entered, impaling and pinning its mental core. Following his instructions, the other two stabbed into the opened fissure, shattering the mental core completely.
The aberrant creature convulsed violently, its vine-like tentacles flailing wildly but hitting no one. A sharp, insect-like shriek erupted from within its body.
Shen Huaiyun swiftly withdrew his dagger and kicked the creature away. “Go!”
The three of them sprinted toward the door in the barrier. Behind them, the aberrant creature’s body rapidly swelled before exploding with a sickening pop, splattering green ichor across the ground amidst its dying wail.