The flags fluttered gently in the wind through the dark woods, as if beckoning to them.
"It...it really is!" Chen Xiaocao covered her mouth, almost exclaiming in surprise. She simply couldn't believe her eyes. While those people on the mountain were fighting tooth and nail for a single flag, they had found one so easily!
This feels so unreal!
Su Tang wasn't as excited as her. She stepped forward, pulled up the flag, and felt the rough texture of the canvas. A perfect score.
She handed the flag to Chen Xiaocao: "You found it, you take it."
Chen Xiaocao was flattered and overwhelmed. Her hands trembled slightly as she accepted the flag, clutching it tightly to her chest as if it were a priceless treasure. Her head was bowed, her eyes slightly red, and her voice thick with emotion, "Su An... thank you..."
She wasn't thanking the flag itself, but rather the trust placed in her. It was Su An who made her realize for the first time that she wasn't just a useless burden.
"You deserve this." Su Tang patted her shoulder. "We're teammates. Your contribution is my contribution. Okay, put the flag away. Our work has just begun."
"Hmm!" Chen Xiaocao wiped her face hard, her eyes becoming incredibly determined.
With her first success, Chen Xiaocao's confidence grew stronger and stronger, like a flame ignited. She completely immersed herself in the familiar mountain forest.
"Su An, this way!" She stopped again after walking a short distance, closed her eyes, and twitched her nostrils like a small police dog searching for scents. "I smell Paris polyphylla. The roots and stems of this plant have medicinal value, but it only grows in cool, damp places with a thick layer of humus. Follow this scent, and there must be a water source nearby!"
Su Tang immediately understood her meaning. The instructor who placed the flag would likely pass by in the vicinity because he needed to replenish his water supply, and would most likely leave the flag there.
Following the faint scent of herbs, they found a babbling brook about a hundred meters away.
"Look!" Chen Xiaocao pointed to a large rock covered in moss by the stream. There were several very fresh scratches on the bottom of the rock, as if something had been stuffed into it.
Su Tang walked over, reached into the crevice in the stone, and her fingertips touched a piece of cold canvas.
Another green flag!
"Little Grass, you're our lucky star!" Su Tang said with a smile, handing her the second flag as well.
A blush of excitement spread across Chen Xiaocao's cheeks; she felt as if she had opened the door to a new world. All her previous fascination with flowers and plants had, at this moment, transformed into her most powerful weapon!
She no longer needed Su Tang to remind her and took the initiative to lead the way.
"Su An, the soil over there has been disturbed; it's a darker color than the surrounding soil. Someone must have dug a pit there!"
"Su An, there are holes in the leaves of this 'black nightshade' plant. They're not from insect bites, they're from bullet holes! There are also traces of paintballs. There was just a fight here!"
Along the way, Chen Xiaocao was like a tireless treasure detector, constantly discovering all sorts of clues. Su Tang followed behind her, responsible for vigilance and judgment. The two worked together seamlessly.
In less than an hour, Chen Xiaocao had already gathered four green flags in her arms.
Forty points! This score is probably in the upper-middle range.
Su Tang found a secluded grove of trees to sit down and rest, replenishing her energy.
In the distance, from the mountaintop, the gunfire, which had been intense and chaotic at the start of the assessment, gradually became sparse and sporadic, occasionally interspersed with angry and unwilling roars.
"Did you hear that?" Su Tang handed her a compressed biscuit. "The first wave of the fiercest fighting is over. Now, it's time for the exhausted victors to clean up the battlefield and for the lucky survivors to lick their wounds."
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