Chapter 162 Hidden
Tong Aiguo looked at the towering trees around him and carefully observed them. Before long, he found one of them and knocked on its trunk.
It was indeed hollow.
He carefully climbed up the tree trunk, and sure enough, there was a hole at the top.
However, there were quite a few insects and ants.
He chuckled, chewed up some herbs he had just picked, and tossed them away.
Before long, all the insects and ants fled as if they were fleeing.
He then slid down the tree trunk.
The thick tree trunk was already hollow.
With a little tidying up, it becomes an excellent shelter.
With the wild vegetables he gathered and the dried fruit he robbed from the squirrels, he wouldn't have to worry about having enough to eat for the time being.
As for keeping warm, the temperature inside the tree trunk, plus the dry grass, is not a concern.
Now, I can finally get some rest.
Meanwhile, the other twenty members of the reserve team had also arrived at the halfway point of the mountain.
Having already reached a tacit understanding, they dispersed, each taking charge of a portion of the area, and began searching for Tong Aiguo's whereabouts.
However, to their surprise, no matter how hard they searched...
Tong Aiguo acted as if he had never set foot on this mountain before.
Not only is his whereabouts unknown, but there's not even a trace of where he once was.
If one of the team members hadn't discovered the wild vegetables that Tong Aiguo had picked, they probably would have all become suspicious.
Did Tong Aiguo actually come to this mountain?
Shao Zijie, driven by curiosity, insisted on bringing Gu Yanxiao along.
Listening to the reports through their earpieces, the reserve team members, like headless flies, were frantically searching for Tong Aiguo's figure.
He finally understood why Gu Yanxiao had said those things.
Sure enough, this mountain area is indeed Tong Aiguo's comfort zone.
Whether it's climbing skills or methods for finding food in the mountains, Tong Aiguo has a significant advantage over the other team members.
Upon hearing that a team member had accidentally stepped into a trap set by Tong Aiguo and was trapped, Shao Zijie couldn't help but laugh gleefully.
"It seems that finding Tong Aiguo will not be an easy task for them in the short term."
Gu Yanxiao looked calmly at the lush mountains and said, "Although their physical training has caught up, their practical experience is lacking, especially in terms of wilderness survival. This time, we can take advantage of Tong Aiguo's appearance to teach them a lesson."
Upon hearing Gu Yanxiao's words, an unbelievable thought flashed through Shao Zijie's mind. He pointed at Gu Yanxiao incredulously and asked, "Don't tell me that you already had this plan in mind when Tong Aiguo called you and told you that you wanted to join the army?"
Gu Yanxiao glanced indifferently at Shao Zijie, who was making a fuss, and didn't even bother to answer his obvious question.
"It really is like that? I guessed right?"
Shao Zijie looked at Gu Yanxiao as if he were not human and said, "Gu Yanxiao, what's wrong with your brain? No wonder, no wonder you, who are usually the most law-abiding, would do something so out of character to force Tong Aiguo, who has never had any military training, into the reserve team. You really are... really cunning!"
Gu Yanxiao finally looked Shao Zijie in the eye: "You really need to take some time to improve your academic skills! Otherwise, people will say you're all brawn and no brains!"
What does it mean to be cunning and shrewd? He's only twenty-four years old this year, so the word "old" doesn't even come close to describing him!
“How am I simple-minded? Commander Gu, you can question my physical abilities, but you can’t question my intelligence,” Shao Zijie said, immediately expressing his dissatisfaction.
"So..." Gu Yanxiao looked up at him, "Whether it's physical ability or intelligence, in which aspect do you think you are better than me?"
"..." Shao Zijie was speechless.
Compared to Gu Yanxiao, who is not human?
Shao Zijie isn't the kind of person who would deliberately seek out self-torture, okay?
As the two were chatting and joking, another person was eliminated because they fell into a trap set by Tong Aiguo.
Now, there are still eighteen reserve team members left on the mountain, searching for Tong Aiguo's whereabouts.
After searching for several hours across the mountains and fields, everyone felt parched, exhausted, and hungry.
It was only then that they belatedly realized this.
If we don't find food soon to replenish our strength...
I'm afraid that before they can find Tong Aiguo, their mission will fail due to exhaustion.
Of course, the reason they hadn't considered this before was that.
It was because they were so confident that with twenty of them, it wouldn't take them three days to snatch a token from an untrained recruit.
It should take at most three hours, that should be about right.
Unfortunately, reality has now taught them a harsh lesson.
After wandering around aimlessly for half a day, a dozen or so people picked some plants that they thought were harmless, to replenish their energy.
However, just like that, three more people vomited and had diarrhea, lit their distress flares, and were eliminated.
Immediately afterwards, another team member was bitten by a venomous snake.
After it got dark, another team member fell and injured his leg.
Before they could even survive one night, nearly half of the reserve team members had already been "killed in action".
The remaining eleven people huddled together, shivering, and spent the night together.
Each of them was pale and listless.
"Damn it, where did that kid go?"
"We've all gotten ourselves into such a mess, how come this greenhorn who hasn't had any training is hiding so calmly?"
Everyone was both angry and ashamed, feeling that their confidence had been completely crushed.
Their reserve team of twenty men couldn't even take down a single greenhorn. If word got out, how would they ever face anyone in the army again?
Thinking of this, one of the team members, named Wang Jian, changed his expression and said somewhat unwillingly, "Do you think it was Commander Gu who gave that kid..."
Before he could finish speaking, the other team members coldly retorted, "Wang Jian, some things are not to be said as you please. You are all adults and should be responsible for your words and actions."
"Don't we know what kind of person Commander Gu is?"
Wang Jian was startled by the crowd's anger and said somewhat guiltily, "I... I was just guessing, wasn't I? Who would have thought that with so many of us, we wouldn't be able to find even a greenhorn like him?"
"Have you ever considered that the reason why Commander Gu dared to go against the majority and put Tong Aiguo into our special operations reserve team is precisely because Tong Aiguo himself is very outstanding?"
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