Chapter 34 Chapter 34 "The Guards are getting better every year..."
Li Xiu sneaked back to the dormitory in the late night.
Jiang Qing heard a rustling sound in her sleep. She turned over and her fuzzy brain took a while to react before she suddenly woke up from the bed.
Zhu Tianba raised his head and glanced around, then went back to sleep.
A dark shadow was lurking in the middle of the dormitory.
"Li Xiu?" Jiang Qing called out in a hoarse voice.
"Qingqing? Did I wake you up? Sorry." She turned on the light. Her expression was not very good. There were beads of sweat on her forehead and her clothes were stained with mud.
Li Xiu was holding a white object in her arms. The object was shaking slightly in her arms, as if it was trying hard to suppress something.
"Are you hurt?" Jiang Qing immediately lifted the quilt and walked in front of Li Xiu.
"Oh, forget it. I was so unlucky today." Li Xiu sighed. "On the way back, we encountered a pack of wolf-tail fangs. As we were trying to escape, we fell into a mole hole. My leg hit a rock inside the hole. Luckily, it was an abandoned hole, and there were no other strange beasts in it."
"Tutu and I waited in the cave until late at night, but the wolf-tail teeth refused to leave. Finally, Tutu fought tooth and nail, piercing the wolf-tail teeth with ice crystals. That's how we escaped, but Tutu also suffered multiple bites from the wolf-tail teeth," Li Xiu said. "We got back too late, and the college veterinary station was already closed..."
"I have temporarily injected serum into Tutu, but the wound is still bleeding." As Li Xiu spoke, her voice couldn't help but become tearful.
Finally, she began to cry loudly: "What should I do, Qingqing, will the rabbit die?"
"Don't worry, go find a clean blanket first and put the rabbit on it. I'll take care of it." Jiang Qing said calmly. She looked around the dormitory and walked to the two backpacks she brought with her last trip to the Dark Valley. She remembered that there were some wound dressing supplies in them that could be used.
Li Xiu carefully placed the snow rabbit in her arms on the clean blanket.
Under the light, the snow rabbit's originally fluffy white fur was now covered with mud and dark red blood scabs. Its body was trembling slightly, and its rapid and weak breathing touched Li Xiu's heart.
Several deep lacerations where the bones were visible were particularly eye-catching. One of them was on its soft abdomen. Although Li Xiu had simply bandaged it with a first aid bandage, blood was still slowly oozing out, staining the white bandage red.
Its beautiful red eyes were half-closed, having lost their former lively glow and looking extremely weak.
Jiang Qing quickly dumped the contents of her backpack aside: hemostatic spray, disinfectant, clean gauze rolls, medical tape, a pair of small scissors, and a few herbs she had collected over the past two days that others had rejected because of their poor quality, but which had hemostatic and anti-inflammatory effects.
"Hold it down and don't let it move. It will hurt." Jiang Qing's voice was unusually calm, with an unquestionable composure, which greatly soothed the panicked and crying Li Xiu.
Li Xiu nodded quickly and used her slightly trembling hands to hold the snow rabbit's body as gently as possible, avoiding the wound.
Jiang Qing first put on disposable gloves and carefully cut open the blood-soaked bandage.
The hideous wound was exposed, with the skin and flesh rolled up at the edges, the muscles visible, and even a bit of white bone streak could be seen.
The bite marks from the wolf's tail teeth had a tearing effect, and the wound was far more serious than what appeared on the surface.
"Rabbit..." Li Xiu looked at the shocking wound and tears welled up in her eyes again.
"Don't be afraid, it's holding on." Jiang Qing quickly assessed it and picked up the disinfectant. "Bear with it, little one."
She carefully rinsed the wound with the cold medicine. The snow rabbit's body twitched violently, but under Li Xiu's comfort, it did not struggle violently.
Rabbits are the animals that can tolerate pain the most.
After washing away most of the dirt and blood scabs, Jiang Qing picked up the hemostatic spray and sprayed it continuously on several of the most serious bleeding spots. The light blue spray made a slight "sizzling" sound when it came into contact with the wound, and the blood seepage slowed down visibly.
But this is only a temporary physical closure.
"Is there any water in the backpack? Clean warm water?" Jiang Qing asked without raising his head.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Li Xiu quickly handed over her water bottle.
Jiang Qing took the kettle, quickly crushed a few pieces of dry grass, threw them into a shallow basin found by Li Xiu, and poured in a small amount of warm water to soak them.
A warm scent of grass and trees filled the air.
She picked up clean gauze, dipped it in warm herbal water, and began to gently wipe the mud and dried blood around the snow rabbit's wound, avoiding directly flushing the wound to cause secondary damage.
The medicinal power of the soothing grass seeped into the skin along with the warm water, and the Edelweiss rabbit's tense and trembling body seemed to relax a little.
Then, Jiang Qing rubbed a few leaves of the hemostatic grass, which has stronger hemostatic and healing effects, in his palms to extract juice, and carefully applied them to several deeper wounds. He then covered them with clean gauze and carefully fixed them with medical tape.
Her movements were quick but not chaotic, her fingers steady, and each step carried a focused power.
"Kang..." Zhu Tianba, who had been lying quietly beside him, walked over without him noticing when.
Its small eyes stared intently at the snow rabbit, as if it could feel its great pain.
An extremely subtle, imperceptible platinum halo emanated from it, rippling gently like water waves and covering the blanket under the snow rabbit.
The ground beneath the blanket seemed to be supported by a steady force, becoming unusually stable.
The snow rabbit's uncontrollable twitching due to pain and weakness surprisingly calmed down a lot under the gentle and steady power of the earth, and its breathing seemed to become a little smoother.
Li Xiu looked at the scene in surprise, then looked at Jiang Qing who was concentrating on treating the wound. The despair and panic in her heart were replaced by an incredible sense of relief.
She had never seen Jiang Qing look so...professional and powerful.
Jiang Qing glanced at Zhu Tianba, but didn't ask any questions. Her entire attention was on the snow rabbit at this moment.
She carefully examined every wound to make sure nothing was missed, and checked the rabbit's eyes, mouth, nose, and ears to confirm there were no obvious signs of internal bleeding.
Finally, she gently covered the snow rabbit with the remaining clean gauze to prevent it from hypothermia.
"This is all we can do for now." Jiang Qing stood up straight, a layer of fine beads of sweat seeping out of his forehead. The fatigue from his intense concentration surged up. "The serum injection was timely, and the external bleeding has basically stopped. The treatment I just did can help stabilize its source of energy and promote wound recovery. As for Zhu Tianba..."
She couldn't understand what Zhu Tianba did, but after Xuerong Rabbit came into contact with Zhu Tianba's white halo, it showed obvious signs of relief.
Jiang Qing's gaze fell on Zhu Tianba, and the suspicion in his eyes had not yet dissipated.
"Qingqing, thank you! Really... thank you so much!" Li Xiu looked at the snow rabbit. Although it was still weak, its breathing was obviously much smoother and no more blood was oozing out. Her tense nerves finally relaxed and tears burst out again, this time with fear and gratitude.
Jiang Qing came back to his senses, the solemn expression on his face still lingering. He rubbed his brows tiredly, "Don't thank me too soon. This is just an emergency. Its injuries are too severe, especially the lacerations to its abdomen, which could damage its internal organs. Furthermore, the wolf's tail teeth may contain special source toxins or bacteria that serum alone may not be able to completely remove. Wait until daybreak and go to the veterinary station immediately. It needs more professional treatment."
"Aren't you professional?" Li Xiu smiled, surprise flashing in her eyes. "You don't know, you were really... amazing just now! Just those two moves you made, it was as if you had done it countless times, like you were familiar with it."
Li Xiu raised an eyebrow at her: "As your good friend and roommate, I didn't even know you had this skill. You're really not nice!"
Jiang Qing had a faint smile on his face, without much expression.
She had indeed performed the same surgical procedure hundreds of times, but performing surgery on animals was one thing, and dealing with supernatural beasts was another.
She had been a little confused until just now.
Jiang Qing looked at Zhu Tianba again, and the little guy went back to his nest to sleep.
Thanks to Zhu Tianba just now.
Jiang Qing also took care of Li Xiu's wound briefly before returning to bed to continue sleeping.
......
"Regarding the recruitment of new members for the school guard team, the academy has officially issued a notice." After a week of normal classes, in the second week, Shen Zhien finally talked about the recruitment of new members for the school guard team.
The class instantly became lively.
"It's finally here!"
"I heard that this year's selection is particularly strict!"
"No matter how strict it is, we have to try! They are the school security team!"
Excitement, nervousness, and eagerness to try are intertwined in the air.
The school guard is a symbol of the college's elite, representing responsibility, honor, and resources and training opportunities far beyond those of ordinary students.
Even as a freshman, it is hard not to be moved.
Shen Zhien raised his hand to signal for silence, a smile of understanding on his face. "I know everyone is looking forward to it. The academy has decided to dedicate the next week to training new members of the Guard Corps. Rest assured, the training content complements our syllabus and will not interfere with your rest time. It will be conducted within our normal curriculum."
"But let me be frank." She glanced at the students in the audience, all with varying expressions. "This means the upcoming training will be extremely intense, and the assessment standards will be extremely strict. The Guardian's reserve selection is no joke. Physical fitness, source power control, coordinated combat with spirit pets, emergency response... every single one of these will be hellishly difficult."
The classroom was quiet for a moment, and then louder discussions broke out.
Most of the faces showed excitement.
Jiang Qing sat in the audience, and the members of the school security team he saw that day flashed through his mind.
"Jiang Qing, are you interested in signing up?" Zhao Peng, who was sitting next to her, suddenly leaned over and asked.
Jiang Qing shrugged. "You sound like if you sign up, you'll definitely get in."
Putting aside other things, although she also envied the school security team's monthly allowance of 30,000 to 40,000 yuan, she really had no advantage with so many second- and third-year students competing with her.
"Anyway, I think I can get in." Zhao Peng said with his usual confidence.
Shen Zhien's voice rang out again: "Registration will open this afternoon on the college's Lingtong system, and the deadline is 5:00 PM this Friday. After registering, all applicants must gather at 'Rock Square' in the east section of the college at 8:00 AM on Saturday for preliminary screening and grouping for training. Remember, this is not an elective course. Once you've registered, you must participate in the entire process. Dropping out midway or performing poorly will affect your semester evaluation!"
She scanned the room with a sharp gaze. "Think carefully before you sign up. This isn't a place to show off. This is real business, and you have to take responsibility! Okay, let's get on with the class."
In the second half of the class, many people's minds had obviously flown to the "Rock Square".
Zhao Peng sat upright with a burning look in his eyes, obviously determined to win.
As soon as the bell rang for the end of get out of class, the classroom immediately exploded with activity. Groups of people gathered together to discuss recruiting new members for the guard corps.
When she went to the cafeteria for lunch at noon, Meng Yanlang, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, came over and asked her the same question.
Jiang Qing thought for a long time and finally asked another question: "Do I need to pay a registration fee to register?"
Meng Yanlang was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and replied honestly, "No need."
"Then I will definitely participate." Jiang Qing said immediately.
There is a chance of winning the jackpot in the lottery. Since there is no money to register and it does not require taking up other rest time for specific training, Jiang Qing is very happy to participate in this kind of campus activity.
Zhao Peng just came back after getting his meal. When he saw Meng Yanlang, his face froze slightly and then he snorted.
Meng Yanlang will be his biggest rival in joining the school guard team.
However, when thinking about the training in the past two weeks and the improvement of Iron Bull, Zhao Peng felt very confident.
He turned his head away and ignored Meng Yanlang, sitting directly in an empty seat and started eating.
Meng Yanlang had been preparing to join the school guard team three weeks ago. It was after going out that he realized how insignificant he and the Undead Rats were.
He had occasionally seen Jiang Qing a few times in the training room, and Zhu Tianba was right next to her.
He keenly noticed that Zhu Tianba's aura was more condensed and restrained than the last time in the Dark Valley, and he was still growing.
Meng Yanlang later also tried to let the undead rat absorb the beast core power, but Shadow was almost completely repelled by it and was cut all over by the violent power. He sent Shadow to the treatment room for rescue again and again, which made Shadow hate him a little now.
So he came to Jiang Qing to learn from her and ask her how she raised pigs and why she could raise Zhu Tianba so well.
"You mean raising pigs?" When it comes to raising pigs, Jiang Qing is very happy to share her experience. She found a place to sit down and chat with Meng Yanlang while eating.
The noisy voices in the cafeteria became the background noise. Meng Yanlang sat across from Jiang Qing, his eyes filled with sincere inquiry: "Yes, raising pigs."
"Nothing else, just eat and drink." Jiang Qing took two mouthfuls of rice.
It happened to be time for Zhu Tianba's meal. Seeing that Meng Yanlang seemed to really want to learn, Jiang Qing took out a rice bowl from her backpack and demonstrated step by step how she fed the pigs.
She took out the nutritional powder, colostrum powder and some common feed for spiritual beasts, tore open the bags and poured them into the basin, stirred them casually with hot water, and then she released Zhu Tianba.
The bowl of mixed food that looked completely unappetizing was placed in front of it.
Zhu Tianba sniffed twice and smelled the familiar recipe. He paused for a moment, but still started to eat very reluctantly.
If it doesn't eat, Jiang Qing will take it away and it will starve.
"Look, how deliciously Zhu Tianba is eating." Jiang Qing showed it to Meng Yanlang.
Zhu Tianba: “…”
Meng Yanlang looked like he had learned something.
Although the food Jiang Qing made looked unappetizing, the nutrients and vitamins she added to it were all beneficial to spiritual beasts.
Go back and make a nutritious meal for the undead rats!
......
After returning to the dormitory, Jiang Qing successfully registered according to the steps sent in the class group.
Li Xiu also signed up.
The school guard team not only recruits students from the combat department, but also from the auxiliary department and the healing department, and the assessment standards for each college are different.
Saturday arrived in the blink of an eye.
As the sky brightened, Panshi Square was no longer as empty as before.
The huge square paved with gray-white rocks was crowded with people, and the atmosphere was solemn but with an irrepressible excitement.
The air was filled with subtle ripples of source power and the low or sharp hisses of various spirit pets.
This is the core of the East District of the Beastmaster Academy and the starting point for the annual selection of the school guards.
Jiang Qing stood in the crowd, not conspicuous.
She was wearing the most ordinary academy training uniform, and Zhu Tianba lay quietly at her feet, his eyes half-closed, as if he had not yet fully woken up. Compared with the surrounding spiritual pets, which were either majestic, powerful, or strange, he seemed particularly "plain and unpretentious".
She could feel many eyes sweeping over her and Zhu Tianba, filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and even a hint of subtle contempt, just like the first day at the Spirit Beast Arena.
"quiet!"
A loud shout exploded like thunder, instantly suppressing all the noise.
Three figures appeared on the high platform in front of the square at some point.
The man in the middle was tall and strong, with a cold and resolute face and eyes as sharp as an eagle. She was none other than Renata, the current captain of the school guard.
On her left and right were a man and a woman, both with serious auras, and they were obviously the backbone of the team.
"I'm Renata, captain of the school guard. I welcome all aspiring individuals to register!" Renata's voice, rich with texture, echoed clearly throughout every corner of the square. "The guard protects the peace of the academy and carries out the most dangerous missions. We don't need hothouse flowers here, nor do we need useless people with only passion. We will use the most rigorous methods to select those truly qualified to wear the badge!"
Before he finished speaking, the crowd suddenly became agitated.
It seems that everyone is discussing what the criteria for the initial screening are.
The training hasn't even started yet, so there shouldn't be any practical assessments...
Before Jiang Qing finished the second half of his sentence, Renata suddenly looked around the entire audience with a sharp gaze.
She raised her hand and waved it, and the stone wall on the side of the platform slowly slid open, revealing twenty laser turrets flashing with a faint blue light. In front of every two instruments, there were guards responsible for recording and operating them.
"Now... the selection officially begins!" Renata's cold order came before the crowd in the square had recovered from the shock of the appearance of the laser turret.
Twenty dark blue laser beams suddenly shot out from the cannon, accompanied by a sharp sound of breaking through the air.
"Fuck!" "Fuck."
The people below burst into swear words.
"The Guards are getting worse every year!"
"It's starting now?" "What are the selection criteria?" "Nothing is clearly stated."
"What a bunch of perverts!"
Many people were shot by the blue bullet before they could react and fell to the ground unconscious. The spirit pets next to them wanted to go up to rescue them, but were also shot and fainted.
"This is a special anesthetic bullet. The moment it hits your body, it will release a special anesthetic powder. It will not cause any harm to your body, but it will make your body temporarily stiff." Renata's voice sounded high in the sky.
"The guard selection does not require so many people to participate. The shooting time is ten minutes. After ten minutes, the shooting will stop, and only those who are still standing in the square at that time will be eligible to participate in the next selection." Renata's voice was so cold and inhuman, as if she was a mechanical monster.
As soon as she finished speaking, more laser beams shot out like a rainstorm, with tricky angles and extremely fast speeds, covering most of the square.
The crowd exploded instantly, with screams, exclamations and the roars of spirit pets mixed together.
Some people immediately summoned their spirit pets to resist, some dodged with their agile bodies, and some reacted a little slowly and were hit by the laser beam. The anesthetic powder instantly stained their training suits with a blue hole, emitting a pungent smell.
As these people fall to the ground, a small protective shield will bloom from under their bodies, temporarily protecting both humans and animals to prevent others from accidentally stepping on them while escaping and causing secondary damage.
Jiang Qing paid no attention to the sweeping effect of the tranquilizer bullets.
She had her own natural beast-taming talent, a golden shield, so those bullets couldn't get close to her at all.
Zhu Tianba was held in its arms and did not have to worry about being shot by tranquilizer bullets.
Jiang Qing observed for a while.
The anesthetic powder takes effect almost the moment it is released, and the person will fall to the ground immediately.
Everyone has a different way of dodging bullets.
For example, Meng Yanlang was simply competing with bullets to see who was faster. Meanwhile, Zhao Peng's training had shown some results. He sat on the armor, and the armor's dodge ability had reached almost 100%. As for Li Xiu, her rabbit had a unique map domain, allowing her to plan a perfect route to avoid those bullets.
Rather than the various bizarre ways of dodging, Jiang Qing was more curious about where those protective shields came from?
How can we locate the injured people so accurately?
When Jiang Qing was wondering, Zhu Tianba suddenly nudged her arm and asked her to look at her feet.
In the cracks of the hard granite floor, countless white "snakes" as thin as hair and almost transparent were swimming silently and quickly.
They are not real spirit beasts, but extremely slender guiding shadows made of pure energy.
These "spiritual snakes" nimbly shuttled through the cracks in the floor, precisely connecting to the miniature protective shields that appeared under each student who fell to the ground after being hit by the tranquilizer bullet.
Looking closely, Jiang Qing discovered that Renata was using the power of taming beasts.
These snakes may be her work.
Jiang Qing was secretly in awe.
Through the crowd, her eyes met Renata's, and soon, Renata took the initiative to end the eye contact.
In the square, the battle has reached a fever pitch.
Under the protection of the golden light shield, Jiang Qing is basically invincible.
On the other side, Zhao Peng and his armored bull formed a small defensive circle.
The armored bull growled, and the source power flowed on the thick metal armor, forming a semi-arc shield, which blocked several waves of tranquilizer bullets, making crisp "ding-dang-dang" sounds and the hissing sound of energy annihilation.
But the light of the shield was dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye. Zhao Peng's forehead was covered with sweat, and it was obvious that he had consumed a lot of energy.
Meng Yanlang was like a ghost, leading the undead rats through the dense rain of bullets.
His figure was sometimes clear and sometimes blurry, and the undead rat was completely integrated into the shadows, appearing suddenly only when needed, using its sharp claws or shadow energy to interfere with the trajectory of the tranquilizer bullet shot at Meng Yanlang, causing it to deviate from the target.
The man and the mouse cooperated perfectly and seemed to be at ease in the hail of bullets, but every dodge was extremely risky.
Other areas were much more tragic.
People were constantly being hit and falling, and blue protective shields lit up all over the square like mushrooms after rain.
The wailing sounds, the cries of spirit pets, and the sounds of tranquilizer bullets breaking through the air were intertwined together.
Time passes by every second.
The ten-minute test was long and agonizing.
When the countdown of the last few seconds reached zero, it was like the whisper of death, and it came to an abrupt end.
The dark blue light of the twenty laser turrets went out instantly.
The square was in a mess.
The blue anesthetic powder filled the air like a thin mist, and the ground was covered with blue marks from being hit by anesthetic bullets and glowing protective shields, inside which lay unconscious students and their contracted beasts.
Less than one-third of the original number of people were still standing.
Most of them had torn clothes and unstable breathing. Some relied on their spirit pets, while others supported each other. Their faces showed the fatigue and solemnity of surviving a disaster.
Only Jiang Qing always maintains his original appearance.
Silence enveloped the entire Rock Square.
On the podium, Captain Renata's cold voice rang out again, breaking the silence: "The game is over. Congratulations to everyone still standing."
She turned around gracefully and left the scene.
Only the students who were still standing and the "corpses" on the ground were left looking at each other in bewilderment.
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