Chapter 120: The Army of Submission (4)

Gu Yun suddenly stepped into the middle of the formation. Everyone stood ramrod straight, yet she halted only beside one young man and asked,

"What is your name?"

"Liu Xing."

Liu Xing felt his heart clench with dread. Ever since he had once questioned the validity of judo, the captain frequently singled him out for demonstrations. Although the entire team eventually had to perform, being the first was a nerve-racking ordeal.

It's so dark tonight—surely she can't recognize me, can she? Liu Xing tried to comfort himself with the thought. But before he could finish that self-reassurance, Gu Yun's crisp command—"Step forward"—shattered his illusion and plunged him into despair.

With a bitter expression, Liu Xing let out a roar, more like a vent of frustration than obedience,

"Yes!"

Gu Yun chuckled. Did he really think stepping forward was a death sentence?

She then pointed to a burly man in the rear ranks and said,

"You, step out."

"Yes!" the man replied loudly, striding forward without hesitation.

Gu Yun was pleased. She had watched the group all night and noticed that these two had excellent night vision. Despite standing far away, they could still meet her gaze, whereas many others appeared utterly lost when she looked at them.

In this era without infrared night-vision devices, they had to rely solely on their eyes. She needed to test their night vision to determine the formation for a potential night raid. Judging by tonight's observations, she opted for a simple test. After all, not everyone here had been selected under special forces standards.

Pulling the two aside, Gu Yun whispered a few instructions. At first, they looked puzzled, but soon their expressions cleared. They turned and ran about thirty meters away, positioning themselves left and right of each other.

Gu Yun stood before the assembled troops and called out,

"First column, prepare. Watch their hand signals closely."

Hand signals? The soldiers were stunned. Seeing the figures from that distance was hard enough—now they were expected to discern hand gestures? From two people?

There was no time to complain.

"Begin," Gu Yun commanded.

The two soldiers, as if choreographed, raised their hands in unison, made a gesture, and quickly dropped them. This was repeated six times. When they stopped, Gu Yun spoke again, her voice clear and loud:

"They just raised their hands six times, showing six numbers. Five were identical, and one was different. On my count, tell me loudly which number was different. One, two, three—"

"Five!"

Out of the twenty-five in the first column, fewer than ten answered correctly. Most remained silent or appeared confused.

Gu Yun was disappointed. This was merely a static test, and at this rate, she doubted she could find fifty candidates fit to become special forces.

With a sigh, she said coldly,

"Everyone who didn't say 'five' or failed to speak at all, step out and form a line on the right."

"Yes!"

Even though they knew they had failed, the soldiers still straightened their backs and stepped out firmly to the designated spot.

"Second column, prepare..."

Soon the entire troop had been tested. Fortunately, the later groups performed better. In the end, about half passed the static night-vision test.

Leading them around the woods, Gu Yun arrived at a familiar rock wall—the one they had practiced on countless times. The moonlight faintly illuminated the wall, but the details of the stone remained hidden in shadow.

She pointed to the looming cliff, her voice colder than the night air,

"Night climbing begins now. Though it's the same wall, nighttime makes it a hundred times more perilous. Those on the right will remain below to anchor the ropes. The rest, divide into groups of fifty. Three groups will ascend at a time. What I want to see is not who reaches the summit first, but which group completes the climb fastest as a whole. Understood?"

"Understood!"

The resounding response filled the night with unshakable resolve, and Gu Yun nodded in satisfaction.

Far atop the ancient parasol tree on the mountain's rear, the shout startled a figure awake.

A pair of pitch-black eyes snapped open, gleaming with a frigid, indifferent light. The tall, powerful figure leapt gracefully, like a panther, onto a higher branch. Silver hair streamed like liquid starlight through the night.

Leaning against the tree, Ao Tian gazed coldly toward the side peak, where hundreds of soldiers were assembling beneath the cliff. What were they planning?

He identified them as soldiers because this was the general's estate. A group this size couldn't possibly be anyone else.

His dark eyes narrowed with annoyance, and he was just about to leave when a crisp, commanding female voice rang out:

"Begin training!"

A woman—in the military? His rare curiosity was piqued.

He squinted into the darkness and saw the troops instantly move into vertical formations, scaling the cliff swiftly and fluidly, like geckos.

Ao Tian's eyes flickered with astonishment.

To a martial expert, the cliff was nothing. But for ordinary soldiers to climb so efficiently—such training was remarkable. And that woman's voice... who was she?

As a bounty hunter, he knew better than to overlook any useful intel.

With a flicker, his silhouette vanished, dropping into the forest below to observe more closely.

"Find your path! Eyes sharp! Move with precision!"

Arms folded, Gu Yun's frown deepened. She had anticipated the first night climb to be difficult, but she hadn't expected them to fail even at choosing a route. Someone had even fallen!

She shouted furiously,

"Anyone who falls, get to the end of the line! Don't block the path for those still climbing. Move it! Move! What are you, asleep?!"

In the tangled forest below, Ao Tian leaned casually against a tree trunk, silently observing.

His eyes narrowed at the woman barking orders—loud, commanding, yet inexplicably radiant.

Who was she? Since when did the Su Army allow a woman to command its troops?

Though nearby, he remained hidden in the shadows. In such darkness, it was nearly pitch black—no one should have noticed him.

Yet just as he grew absorbed in his watching, the woman suddenly turned her head and looked directly toward him.

Startled, Ao Tian stepped back, vanishing behind the thick tree.

Her eyes swept the forest with hawk-like sharpness. That unmistakable sensation of being watched had struck her—but now, it was gone. Was it her imagination? Or had the intruder already slipped away?

After several checks revealed nothing suspicious, Gu Yun finally averted her gaze.

Ao Tian remained motionless against the trunk. Prey on alert was often more paranoid—there was no need to force an encounter.

Still, he rarely had his presence detected. Was she simply that sharp—or had he slipped up tonight?

The sensation never returned, and Gu Yun refocused on her soldiers.

A short while later, several groups had completed their climbs. Perhaps sensing their poor performance, or perhaps seeing the storm on Gu Yun's face, the young men stood in formation like chastised children, not daring to breathe.

Long silence hung in the air. Just as unease began to spread, Gu Yun spoke coolly,

"The fastest group tonight was the third, led by Leng Xiao. But the best performance came from the team under Ge Jingyun."

She turned to the ever-expressionless Leng Xiao.

"Leng Xiao, step forward."

"Yes."

He stepped out immediately.

Gu Yun's voice was calm but firm:

"Do you know why your group wasn't the best, even though you were the fastest?"

"I do not."

His answer revealed a cold detachment and quiet defiance.

Don't know? Very well. The last thing she needed in her ranks was rebellious pride.

Stepping closer, Gu Yun stood before him and enunciated clearly,

"Every man for himself, rushing ahead without order or coordination—there was no teamwork. You failed to lead effectively. That failure lies with you. Understand now?"

Though shorter than his chest, her presence bore down with formidable pressure. Leng Xiao took a quiet breath before answering,

"Understood."

"Good. Tomorrow, take your team and frog-jump from camp to the woods. Anyone unwilling or late—can crawl back to their mothers for all I care."