Chapter 44 Chapter 44 "Help! Pigs are being slaughtered!!"...
Ma Chengying glanced at the group again, his tone less serious than before: "Luck is part of strength, but making it to the end is definitely not based on luck. Congratulations, you've passed the real team entrance examination."
As she finished speaking, it was as if some invisible restraint was released.
Zhao Peng let out a long sigh, his tense shoulders slumped, and he patted the heavy shell of the Iron-Armored Bull beside him.
Huo Qiushan and Meng Yanlang nodded slightly, accepting Ma Chengying's affirmation. They remained silent, but the tense lines of their bodies were obviously softened.
"I thought the new recruits would liven up the team, but it turns out to be two taciturn guys again." Ma Chengying sighed to himself, his eyes flicking to Renata standing nearby. "It's all your fault! If they hadn't all looked up to you as a role model, this wouldn't have happened."
"What does it have to do with me?" Renata didn't think there was anything wrong with the atmosphere.
Ma Chengying remained unmoved and she shifted her gaze to the side.
Jiang Qing was communicating with her spirit pet.
The little thing stared at the ground with sparkling eyes. That was where a shadow wolf had just disappeared. There were a few things like black crystal fragments emitting weak energy fluctuations left around it.
These are chips that have not yet been recycled.
Zhu Tianba sniffed it with his little nose, then licked it tentatively. He seemed to think it tasted good and was about to take a bite.
"Kang!"
Jiang Qing quickly stopped him: "Don't eat everything! Those are command core fragments, not snacks!"
She recognized it as the remains of the energy crystal that powered the phantom beast.
Zhu Tianba was stopped and snorted twice in dissatisfaction.
Jiang Qing quickly took out a sausage from his pocket, tore open the packaging, and stuffed it into Zhu Tianba's mouth. Only then did it raise its little head in satisfaction again.
Ever since she discovered that Zhu Tianba had no side effects from eating human food, she would occasionally feed it some when she ate.
Ma Chengying chuckled.
This junior school girl looks good and is a good prospect!
She stepped forward and put her arm around Jiang Qing's shoulders, her tone familiar: "Your name is Jiang Qing, right? Don't be like Renata. Talk when you should, and ask questions when you should."
"Ah?" Jiang Qing was a little confused by her sudden enthusiasm, and his body was slightly stiff.
"Don't be nervous, junior," Ma Chengying patted her shoulder and finally let go, his smile still bright. "Once you join the Guard, you'll be a family. Renata is our anchor. She's very capable, but a little boring. Don't try to imitate her completely."
"Young people should act like young people!" she said, and nodded in Renata's direction.
It’s impossible for others to change in a short time, I just hope this junior girl won’t be “infected”.
Renata watched the interaction between Jiang Qing and Ma Chengying, and the corners of her cold mouth seemed to move upwards very slightly, so fast that it seemed like an illusion.
She turned and gave a terse order into the communicator, "The exercise is over, the results have been confirmed, everyone must withdraw, and the logistics team must clear the area. Newcomers, follow me back to the training camp."
"Let's go! Pack up!" Ma Chengying called out, put the last few pieces of debris into a special container, and quickly followed Renata.
The Wind-Splitting Eagle let out a clear cry, flapped its wings and flew high, leading the way ahead.
The night was still dark, but the road back to the academy seemed no longer so dark.
The grass rustled under my feet, as if playing a prelude to this team that was a fusion of old and new.
Back at the academy training camp, it was almost midnight.
After handing the recovered command core fragments to the logistics staff, Ma Chengying clapped his hands, a sly smile on his face, as if he had just finished a prank. "Well, the scare party is over. Newcomers, welcome to the Fifth Beastmaster Academy Guard!"
As if by magic, she pulled out several electronic access cards and distributed them to Jiang Qing, Zhao Peng, and Meng Yanlang. "Here, the keys to your new home. The training camp has temporary dormitories on the third floor. If you occasionally train until midnight, you can sleep here directly. The specific room numbers are on the cards."
Jiang Qing took the card and asked curiously, "Senior Ma, where do you live?"
"Most of us veterans live on the fourth floor." Ma Chengying blinked. "Don't worry, the training camp is well soundproofed and won't disturb your rest. Of course, just don't have any late-night parties and disturb us."
Meng Yanlang rolled his eyes and asked the key question: "Senior Ma, what about the formal team joining procedures, team rules, and daily training arrangements..."
"What's the rush?" Ma Chengying interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Tomorrow, tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, gather here again. Captain Renata will personally give you a private lesson, explain all the details, and arrange the training plan. As for tonight..."
She yawned and said, "Everyone go home, have a good sleep, and digest tonight's surprise. Dismissed!"
After she finished speaking, she waved her hand gracefully, hummed a tune, and walked briskly towards her dormitory on the fourth floor.
The student dormitories had curfews, and it was past that time. If you disturbed the dorm manager again, she would generally be unhappy. Jiang Qing sent a message to Li Xiu and went up to the third-floor dormitory.
Zhao Peng and the other two did not live in the college's student dormitory, so they naturally did not have to worry about the access control. After saying goodbye to Jiang Qing, the three of them returned home.
The guard dormitory building is obviously more spacious and comfortable than ordinary student dormitories.
The room on the third floor was a standard double room. As a freshman and the only girl, Jiang Qing was assigned to a separate dormitory.
The room is simple and clean, fully equipped with basic furniture, a separate bathroom and a small pet activity area.
Jiang Qing put Zhu Tianba on the soft carpet. It immediately sniffed around the new territory curiously, rubbing here and there with its little hooves.
I had just finished making the bed I was going to sleep in tonight when I received a message from Principal Ji Changsu on Lingtong.
The principal informed her not to forget the special training tomorrow.
After reading the message, Jiang Qing asked for leave from Ma Chengying and Zuo Ye, the monitor of Class A7.
She sniffed her clothes and found a strong stench of sweat. She decided to take a good shower tonight so that she could meet the principal clean tomorrow.
After taking off his training suit stained with sweat and grass debris, Jiang Qing breathed a sigh of relief. His nerves, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed completely.
She stepped barefoot on the cool floor and headed to the bathroom, ready for a soothing hot bath.
As she passed the door, Jiang Qing paused when her eyes swept over Zhu Tianba who was rolling leisurely on the carpet.
Although the clothes it was wearing, which cost five or six thousand yuan, were clean, Jiang Qing could clearly see through the gaps in the clothes and the exposed skin that there were many black mud spots on its pink and white fur, and a few stubborn grass debris stuck in the soft fur on its belly.
Not to mention that it had rolled in the mud with slimes and bathed in the slime of the giant vine king seal.
Fortunately, Zhu Tianba was a little piglet, and the baby-like milk fragrance on his body covered up the stench.
If it were daytime, she could take it to the pet beauty salon to have it washed, but it was late at night and the shop was closed.
Jiang Qing sighed resignedly, bent down slightly, exerted force with his arms, and easily picked up Zhu Tianba.
Zhu Tianba, who was being held by the back of the neck, had no idea what was going to happen next. He asked Jiang Qing in confusion, "Kang?"
The bathroom here is much larger than the one in her dormitory. It is divided into dry and wet areas. There is a toilet on the left, a bathtub and shower area on the right, and a basin in the middle.
Jiang Qing placed Zhu Tianba on a shelf, and went to the side to turn on the shower and adjust the water temperature.
Normally, if Jiang Qing saw such a big bathtub, he would definitely lie down in it and take a bath, but today he will leave it to Zhu Tianba.
Zhu Tianba watched Jiang Qing busying around from the side. In the past, Jiang Qing was not allowed to watch when taking a bath, so he was blocked outside the door.
About ten minutes later, the bathtub was filled with water, and Jiang Qing finally turned around.
"Kang?" Zhu Tianba seemed to be aware of his master's gaze. He looked at Jiang Qing innocently with his bright amber eyes and wagged his little tail.
The next second, Jiang Qing quickly took off its clothes, picked it up and put it into the water.
As soon as the warm water touched the hooves, Zhu Tianba shrank suddenly as if his tail was stepped on. His whole body tensed up instantly, and a sharp protest came from his throat. He kicked his four hooves, tilted his little head back hard, and his eyes were full of fear and resistance, as if the warm water was boiling magma.
Zhu Tianba: "Kang! Kang!!"
Help! Pigs are being slaughtered!
Jiang Qing was embarrassed: "......"
It roared louder than ever before. Fortunately, the sound insulation here is good, otherwise it would have sounded like someone slaughtering a pig in the middle of the night.
Jiang Qing was caught off guard and was drenched all over, with warm water dripping down the ends of her hair.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. It's just water, it's not hot." Jiang Qingzao had anticipated this and quickly carried it away from the water. He gently stroked its slightly trembling back, trying to calm it down.
This time, no matter what Jiang Qing said, Zhu Tianba refused to go into the water.
Countless genetic images flooded into his mind, and the fear of hot water that was engraved in his bones, and even the shame of exposing private parts was temporarily put aside.
It asked why Jiang Qing looked so strange today, and asked it to think carefully. After boiling the water, the next step should be to scald the pig hair, right?
Zhu Tianba recalled Jiang Qing's half-joking words about making it into a roast suckling pig.
It! Is! Not! Good! To! Eat! Ah!!!
The two blows from Zhu Tianba mixed with warm water droplets slid down Jiang Qing's wet forehead in a messy manner, flowed into the corners of his eyes, and brought a sharp pain.
She wiped her face in embarrassment. Her wet clothes clung to her body, feeling cold and heavy. An inexplicable anger rushed to her head.
"Stop howling!" Jiang Qing wiped his face, trying to raise his voice to drown out its screams, "I didn't mean to burn you!"
No! I don’t believe it!
Zhu Tianba's body was twisted into a pretzel on the shelf, with his round buttocks pressed against the cold tile wall, as if it was his last straw.
The air was filled with steam and a tense, almost absurd confrontation.
Jiang Qing had no choice. She wiped the water off her face, took a deep breath, looked at her wet clothes, grabbed the hem of her wet training suit with both hands, and lifted it up suddenly.
The clothes, which smelled of sweat and grass, were stripped off neatly and thrown onto the wet floor tiles, making a dull "pa" sound.
Then she tore off the vest inside with a bit of annoyance.
Zhu Tianba's shrill scream, as if he was about to be ripped open in the next second, suddenly stopped.
"Kang…?"
A short hum, almost inaudible, filled with great confusion and shock.
Its large amber eyes were wide open, and its pupils shrank sharply under the bright bathroom light, staring intently at Jiang Qing. All its fear and struggle seemed to be paused.
What caught its eye was a large area of skin suddenly exposed in the mist.
Fair, smooth, and with a healthy reddish tint from exercise.
The slender yet powerful shoulder and neck lines go all the way down, forming an elegant depression at the delicate collarbone.
And just below the left collarbone, close to the heart, an extremely tiny, pale pink mark shaped like a solidified teardrop was quietly imprinted there.
Water droplets were sliding down her smooth shoulders, and a few drops just rolled over the mark, reflecting a subtle, moist luster under the light.
Zhu Tianba's brain completely crashed.
Its limited cognition, which belonged to its pig life and inherited memories, was shattered by the scene before it that was completely beyond its comprehension.
Jiang Qing...what is she doing? Why did she suddenly...take off all her clothes?
Jiang Qing didn't care at all about Zhu Tianba's dazed look as if he had been struck by lightning, or rather, she didn't have the time to care at the moment.
Once the restraints on my body were removed, the discomfort caused by the dampness and coldness was immediately alleviated, and my movements became smoother instantly.
She stepped into the bathtub filled with warm water next to her. The warm water instantly wrapped around her calves, and she breathed a sigh of relief in such comfort.
"What are you looking at?" Jiang Qing glanced unhappily at Zhu Tianba, who was still sitting on the shelf like a petrified chicken, and reached out to grab him. "You're not afraid now, are you? I'm just taking a bath, and it's going to kill you?"
After leaving the cold storage rack and being surrounded by warm water again, Zhu Tianba shuddered all over and subconsciously tried to struggle and kick his legs again.
But this time, the expected horrible pain of being "burned by pig hair" did not come.
The water temperature... was actually just warm, even... a little comfortable?
"Kang..." Its struggle obviously weakened, and a hesitant gurgle came from its throat. The tense body lines relaxed a little, but its eyes, still filled with great confusion and a hint of imperceptible shyness, stubbornly glanced at the mark under Jiang Qing's collarbone, and then quickly moved away.
His little head shook left and right, but he didn't dare to look at her smooth body directly.
Jiang Qing didn't care about its little thoughts.
With one hand, she held Zhu Tianba's round, wet little body steadily, and with the other hand, she took the pet shower gel from the shelf next to her and squeezed out a large ball of white foam that exuded a sweet milky scent.
"Be good and I'll wash you nicely."
The foamy finger landed on Zhu Tianba's pink and white back without any warning.
“Hmm—”
Zhu Tianba's whole body trembled violently, as if he was hit by a tiny electric current.
It felt warm and smooth, with the soft, wrapping feeling unique to foam, slowly spreading down along its spine.
An unprecedented sense of shame, so strong that it made its soul scream, exploded, instantly drowning out all other emotions!
Zhu Tianba was small and twisted his body slightly.
The next second, an impatient "tsk" was heard.
"Don't move!" Jiang Qing frowned, but his hands were extremely firm, firmly pressing down its twisting body.
Her fingers flexibly shuttled and rubbed the soft hair on its back, feeling the warm and elastic touch under her fingertips.
This little thing looks round, but its skeleton is surprisingly strong.
"The fur is all tangled and covered in mud and grass. If you don't wash it clean, do you want to stink to death yourself or me?" She complained softly with a hint of helplessness in her voice.
Zhu Tianba was completely frozen, and his small body turned into a hard stone in Jiang Qing's hands.
That little bit of shame seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the other party's firm attitude of purely "cleaning up".
It closed its eyes resignedly, its long eyelashes trembling wetly, and it didn't even have the strength to hum.
Never mind... just treat it as... just treat it as...
It took it a long time to figure out what was going on.
Fortunately, it had hair on its face, so Jiang Qing didn't notice anything abnormal on its face.
"That's good." Jiang Qing's tense mouth corners finally relaxed, and even slightly curved upwards. He was very satisfied with Zhu Tianba's attitude at this time.
The bath lasted for more than an hour. Under Jiang Qing's various kneading and kneading techniques, Zhu Tianba still closed his eyes, but his small body was completely relaxed, lying limply in her palms and arms, like a ball of cotton soaked in water.
Jiang Qing lowered his head and looked at the little thing in his arms, which had completely let down its guard.
The water flowed over its clean blue-black fur, its round nose twitched slightly, and its long eyelashes drooped quietly, casting a small shadow under its eyes.
That look of complete trust, even a bit of enjoyment, made her heart soften inexplicably.
This little thing is clean...it looks pretty good.
When Jiang Qing was in charge of postpartum care for sows, she also delivered piglets. The newborn piglets were milky white, clean all over, and had a unique sweet fragrance. However, none of them could compare to the fragrance of Zhu Tianba.
Jiang Qing put the washed Zhu Tianba aside and let it spin dry. She then walked under the shower and washed herself thoroughly.
After washing and drying myself, I came out and changed into spare clothes for training.
Zhu Tianba looked at her and subconsciously lowered his head, not daring to look.
Jiang Qing was a little amused. She walked up to Zhu Tianba and held him under the hair dryer. "Come on, you're just a pig, how come you have such a strong sense of shame?"
A faint blush appeared under Zhu Tianba's hair, and he made two proud "Kang Kang" sounds.
It was actually Jiang Qing's first time taking a bath with other creatures, but because the species were different, Jiang Qing let down his guard due to his sense of shame.
If Zhu Tianba could really talk, she would not dare to take a bath with it.
After all, taking a shower with a creature that speaks the same language as you will cause the uncanny valley effect to reach its maximum!
Jiang Qing dried Zhu Tianba's hair, dressed him again, threw his own clothes into the washing machine, washed them, and threw them into the dryer before finally climbing onto the bed.
Training camp clothes are not suitable for outdoor wear.
After getting rid of all the fatigue, Jiang Qing's consciousness gradually became blurred and he fell into a deep sleep.
I don’t know how long it took.
In the darkness, Zhu Tianba, who was curled up on the carpet, suddenly moved his ears slightly. His little eyes opened in the darkness, and he stood up silently and jumped easily to Jiang Qing's side. He looked at the human in front of him for a long time.
Zhu Tianba chose a position and lay down next to Jiang Qing and continued to sleep.
The next morning, Jiang Qing was woken up by his biological clock on time.
It was just getting light outside the window. Jiang Qing stretched and felt much more refreshed.
Looking down, she saw Zhu Tianba still sleeping soundly curled up beside her legs, his little belly rising and falling with his breathing.
She got out of bed quietly, washed up, and changed into clean training clothes.
By the time she had tidied herself up, Zhu Tianba was also awakened by the noise. He groaned in a daze and rubbed his eyes with his little hooves.
Zhu Tianba seemed to have completely forgotten the "painful experience" of taking a bath last night. He stretched his hooves cooperatively and looked in good spirits.
Jiang Qing took Zhu Tianba out of the dormitory and happened to run into Meng Yanlang when passing downstairs. She greeted him and hurriedly left the training ground and walked towards the towering administrative building in the central area of the college.
Standing at the door of the administrative building was a middle-aged secretary wearing a neat uniform and with a gentle face.
"Student Jiang Qing?" the secretary confirmed with a smile.
Jiang Qing nodded: "Yes, hello. I received a notice from Principal Ji."
"Please come in, the principal is waiting for you." The secretary stepped aside and opened the heavy door for her.
The office is spacious and bright. An entire wall is covered with floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a panoramic view of most of the college. The interior decoration is simple and stylish. Principal Ji Changsu is sitting behind a huge desk. Today, she is wearing a pair of exquisite gold-rimmed glasses on her nose and looking down at a document.
The white ball that followed her around today was not there.
Hearing the noise, Ji Changsu raised her head, and her eyes behind the lenses were gentle but sharp, falling on Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba in her arms.
"Hello, Principal." Jiang Qing bowed slightly.
"You're here?" She nodded to herself, "You look energetic."
"Please sit down for a while. I will hand over the work at hand to my secretary, and then we will set off." Ji Changsu said.
The principal had a lot of documents, and Jiang Qing waited for almost half an hour before Ji Changsu had time to work.
Ji Changsu took her out of the administrative building. On the way, she suddenly asked, "Have you had breakfast?"
Jiang Qing nodded.
To be honest, the Guard Corps had better resources. There was also free food supply in the training camp, with a wide variety of types and tasting better than the school cafeteria. She silently decided to go to the training camp to eat for free in the future.
Ji Changsu said "Oh" in a calm tone, but his eyes seemed to pause on her face for a moment: "I didn't eat it."
Jiang Qing: "..." She didn't know how to respond for a moment.
The principal's actions always seem a bit unpredictable.
Jiang Qing even caught a hint of resentment unique to working people in Ji Changsu's words.
It's an illusion!
How could Principal Ji be such a person?
Fortunately, Ji Changsu did not dwell on this topic. She did not stop, but walked towards any common training ground in the academy. Instead, she walked towards the foothills behind the academy, which was designated as a restricted area and covered with primeval forest.
The further you go in, the fewer traces of human activity there are. The towering ancient trees block out most of the sunlight, and the air becomes exceptionally fresh and moist, carrying the fragrance of soil and grass.
After walking for about another quarter of an hour, the road ahead suddenly opened up.
A huge open space appeared in the depths of the dense forest, as if it had been leveled by an invisible force.
In the center of the open space stands a huge stone building with an extremely ancient style, even with a bit of wild atmosphere.
It looks like an arena eroded by time, or a high platform used for sacrifice. It is built of huge, uncarved black rocks, and the surface is covered with traces of moss and vines, exuding a vast, heavy and extremely oppressive atmosphere.
On the edge of the stone platform, one can even see some blurred and long-unrecognizable ancient rune carvings.
The most shocking thing is that this ancient stone platform is not located on the ground, but is suspended in the air!
The stone platform is about three or four meters above the ground, without any support. It just floats quietly, as if it has existed in this space since time immemorial.
Below the stone platform, there was an endless surging, substantial white mist, flowing slowly like a sea of clouds.
A few faint rays of golden sunlight penetrated the treetops high above and slanted down onto the edge of the stone platform, adding a sense of mystery and sacredness.
"Is this the Broken Star Valley?" Jiang Qing was so shocked by the scene before him that he was speechless.
Broken Star Valley is not open to students, so no pictures of it can be found online.
This is Jiang Qing's first time here.
Hearing the name, I thought it was the kind of valley where you can watch the stars.
The suspended building in front of her, which exuded an ancient atmosphere, was completely beyond her understanding of the internal facilities of the Fifth Beastmaster Academy.
This is more like a relic that can only be seen deep in some secret place.
Ji Changsu stood below the edge of the stone platform, looking up at the suspended ancient platform, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses deep and unfathomable.
"A boundary point," she explained simply. "It's been here since the academy was founded. It's connected to the energy node of deep space. It's relatively stable and strong enough for some... more dynamic training."
Before she finished her words, and without any movement, a gentle but irresistible force lifted Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba in her arms, and lightly sent them to the floating stone platform.
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The author has something to say: Zhu Tianba, who secretly observed Jiang Qing in the middle of the night: Man! I recognize you!
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