Chapter 3: The Art of Horse Riding

  One step, two steps, three steps... My feet repeatedly hit the hard ground, and then explosively bounced back up. With each long inhalation and exhalation, my heart strongly pumped, sending a large amount of fresh blood to every cell in my body, bringing me the necessary oxygen and strength. The sweat all over my body was like crazy, gushing outwards, I kept wiping the sweat from my face with my sleeves, but my eyes were still irritated by the salt in the sweat, even my shoes were like they were filled with water, and every step made a "plop plop" sound.

  I was extremely thirsty, and subconsciously stuck out my tongue to lick a few beads of sweat that had trickled down to the edge of my lips. To my surprise, I found they didn't have the salty taste I expected; instead, they were as mild as a few drops of clear water. I never knew that when someone sweats to this extent, their sweat is actually bland.

  If I were alone, I wouldn't have been able to run so fast and so far while dragging Yang Qing behind me. Later on, Long Sun Ting and I started running and shouting at the top of our lungs, cheering each other on, and our friendship and pride brought out our greatest potential. Although we had reached the limit of our physical strength, we still ran faster with Yang Qing in tow, to the point where this guy was purely hanging onto our two arms, with Long Sun Ting and I each carrying at least 60 kilograms of weight.

  The competitors running in front of us stared at us in amazement as we overtook them, leaving behind only a few wisps of fog brought up by our sweat-drenched bodies. When we reached the ninth lap, Long Sun Ting and I finally took the lead again, thanks to our good grasp of physical energy consumption, with the chubby guy who was already exhausted and had only half his breath left. Seeing the finish line less than 400 meters away, Long Sun Ting and I both let out a long sigh and gave each other a thumbs up.

  At this moment, I felt a sudden weight on my arm, and Yang Qing fell to the ground like a dead pig, bringing me and Chang Sun-ting down with him.

  I lay on the highway, panting heavily. Chang Sun Ting was taller and stronger than me, but after sharing the same load, my physical expenditure was far higher than his. He could still quickly get up to check Yang Qing's condition, and suddenly burst out laughing: "This guy's physical strength has exceeded its limits! I reckon even if you stabbed him in the butt with that small knife seventeen or eighteen times, he wouldn't be able to stand up again. But thinking about his butt being covered in holes wrapped in bandages makes me want to laugh. Maybe adding a few more anuses would improve his bowel function and he wouldn't be so fat, haha..."

  "Please, for the love of God, stop telling that joke! Laughing right now is pure torture for me!" I bent over, clutching my stomach and gasping: "Hey, do you think we can still win?"

  Chang Sun Ting turned his head and looked at the others who had fallen behind us by two or three hundred meters, and kicked Yang Qing with a look of dissatisfaction. "This guy has completely passed out now, what do you say? With our current physical strength, is there any way to carry a dead pig weighing over 200 kilograms up a slope four hundred meters away?"

  "There is indeed one way..."

  "Ah yo!" Zhang Sun Ting glared at me furiously: "Are you crazy? Why did you use that rotten knife to stab my butt?" As he spoke, he seemed to realize something and grabbed my collar, bellowing: "You actually used your horse-riding skills on me?"

  "It seems like you've regained a lot of energy!" I looked at Zhangsun Ting, who was suddenly full of vigor with blood flowing from his buttocks, and shouted: "Less nonsense, everyone has a share, why not pick up that fat pig? My two brothers are either mules or horses, let's see if we can carry this fat pig through the 400-meter pass!"

  Chang Sun Ting punched me in the nose, causing a long flow of blood: "Let me help you bleed some first, and then you'll have more energy later!"

  "Rise!" Long Sun Ting grabbed Yang Qing and let out a beast-like roar, haha, it seems my horse-riding skills are still damn effective, he actually lifted up a 190-pound fatty and carried him on his shoulders, rushing forward with big strides.

  "Damn it, if this fat pig doesn't lose weight, I'll use your horse-riding skills to train him every day from now on. I reckon even if he just drinks cold water and doesn't eat, this guy can still live for a year and a half with his stored fat..."

  "Yes, being fat is not a crime, but being fat and joining the army, and coming to a place like Xinjiang Military Region where fighting can break out at any time, that's his fault. Once I become the deputy squad leader, the first thing I'll do is get rid of his fifty pounds of excess fat within a month!"

  "Even if a month has 31 days, getting rid of 50 kilograms of fat would mean you'd have to get rid of one jin six liang and three fen every day. Are you planning on using a knife to scrape it off?"

  "You're really a goddamn prodigy, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are learned so precisely, no wonder you have the talent to be a fortune teller!"

  Hahaha...

  "Hehehe..."

  I chatted and laughed non-stop with Zhang Sun Ting, only in this way could he ignore the dizziness caused by severe physical exhaustion, carrying 190 pounds of Yang Qing step by step forward.

  We actually ran out a full 200 meters, and Chang Sun Ting's body tilted and stumbled for several steps before barely standing firm. He lifted Yang Qing's body onto his shoulder again and said in a low voice, "Brothers, give me another boost!"

  Seeing my hesitation, he roared: "I'm nearly 15 centimeters taller than you and weigh more than 23 pounds. If I carry him here and put him down, you absolutely can't run the last half of the journey with him on your back. Take advantage of me still being able to control my will, hurry up and stab!"

  The dagger pierced Long Sunting's left arm, and the scorching blood spurted out more than a foot away from the wound. This method of stimulating human potential was effective and overbearing. In just a few breaths, Long Sunting became much more spirited. He carried Yang Qing and roared: "I, Long Sunting, have always been the strongest and best. I will never lose to some trash!"

  This time, he only ran out more than 50 meters before Long Sun Ting's knees went soft and he fell heavily to the hard ground. He threw Yang Qing aside, lowered his head and panted: "Fu Yuxue, I now have just enough strength left to run back by myself, the rest of the way is up to you, remember, don't lose!"

  I nodded, and with a dagger I slashed my own arm fiercely, feeling only a chill in the area, a spray of blood mist spewing from my wound. I could clearly feel my life force, along with the fresh blood, spraying onto this world's highest highway. But at the same time, the pressure inside me due to the high temperature eased, and although still panting heavily, my strength miraculously returned to my body.

  I couldn't lift Yang Qing like Zhang Sun Ting did, so I squatted down and grabbed his belly, roaring: "You damn fat pig, let's go!"

  As I let out a near-mad roar, Yang Qing's body was finally hefted up by me. He... damn it, he's heavy! Even in my physical prime, I'd be crushed under his weight, seeing stars. Long Sun Ting slapped the ground behind me and shouted: "Fu Yuxue, if you want to become a brother I can trust with all my heart, carry him to the finish line for me!"

  "Alright, I've made up my mind about you, brother!" I burst out laughing loudly. "We're both equally stupid, unwilling to admit defeat and unwilling to be second-best. I want to see the look of regret on Jin's face, I want him to know that even if we join a crappy team, we'll still be the best, we're the strongest soldiers!"

  Chang Sun Ting's hands and feet were all over me as he rolled around behind my back, shouting: "Alright, I believe you! If you dare to fall down, I'll despise you for the rest of your life! Did you hear that? Despise you for the rest of your life!!!"

  "Kao, if I hadn't fallen down, you'd better be prepared for a big loss, and treat me to a good meal!"

  "Haha, you silly fool, we're just two small soldiers now. If you want to eat, you can only go to the cafeteria. Eat as much as you want, don't be polite, it's on me, haha..."

  In the midst of loud and long laughter, we spilled two lines of blood on the road, rushing bit by bit towards the final destination.

  Including Jin Zefeng, all the instructors were finally moved at the same time. When they saw me laughing wildly and pulling out a dagger to stab myself in the body, Zhao Guoxiong suddenly clapped his hands and shouted: "I want these two people! After their training is over, Old Jin, you immediately transfer them to our reconnaissance company!"

  "What makes you think you can take them all away?" Bu Shanna gazed at Zhao Guoxiong with dissatisfaction, saying: "Such super elites would be wasted if they just entered the reconnaissance company. They are more suitable for entering the special anti-terrorism squad led by me. I think they no longer need to receive this new recruit training. Colonel Jin, I hope we can transfer them now and have them enter our squad to receive training that is more in line with their current status."

  Zhang Xiangshang sighed and said, "It's really a pity. Such excellent talent is too impulsive and overbearing. If I could train them for a period of time to overcome this shortcoming, with their potential, they would certainly become the best snipers."

  The six of them were arguing while slowly walking forward, until they suddenly realized their actions and discovered that as the six judges, they had been completely drawn in by us and lost the principle of fairness and justice, unconsciously walking twenty meters forward.

  "Hold on, just twenty meters left! Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen..."

  Chang Sun Ting's voice kept echoing in my ears, and my shoulders felt like they had a huge mountain on them, pressing down on me until everything before my eyes turned gray and black. The road beneath my feet was like it had melted into softness, every step I took feeling like I was walking on clouds. Every time I lifted my foot, I felt like there were dozens of little demons tugging at my feet. If you want to know what this feels like, try spending a night with your girlfriend and then carrying three bags of rice while running a thousand meters - you'll experience the thrill of being on cloud nine!

  The fat pig on my shoulder suddenly convulsed like a sheep's epilepsy, and I only had time to scream "no" in my heart before he brought me down with a thud, knocking my knees soft and sending me crashing to the ground.

  "Damn it, get up quickly, there are only five meters left, the last five steps, you crawl up for me! Do you believe I'll beat you into a pig head right now?!" Zhang Sun Ting lifted my collar and scolded loudly.

  I forced open my eyes and replied, "Forget it, if you still have the strength to beat me into a pig's head, you'd better just carry him up and run the last five steps instead."

  "Haha," Zhangsun Ting plopped down beside me, leaning against Yang Qing with a bitter smile. "I'm afraid if I put him on my shoulders now, he'll crush me to death. Alas, just five meters short, and we still have to lose to a bunch of trash. It's really infuriating."

  I gazed at the other competitors who were less than a hundred meters away from the finish line, and smiled as I asked: "Brother, have you ever seen how pigs dig into the ground to find food?"

  "Huh?"

  "I once stayed in the countryside with a reconnaissance company for several weeks, and I saw with my own eyes a very thin pig that, in order to eat a carrot, actually flipped over a stone weighing one or two hundred catties that was pressing down on it. You and I, two brothers together, aren't even as capable as this pig, are we?"

  "Damn it! You actually made me learn the action of a pig butting the ground!" Chang Sun Ting cursed in his mouth, but he still imitated my appearance, lying on the ground and using his head to hold down Yang Qing's body.

  I shouted loudly: "Follow my slogan, one, two, three, top!"

  Two proud heads were pressed against Yang Qing's body, and we slowly pushed him forward. At this moment, Yang Qing's severely overweight body finally had some use, and he was pushed by us to roll like a log. I finally understood the meaning of the word "roll away", when we finally crawled to the instructor's feet, Long Sun Ting and I stretched out our right palms in the air and hit them hard, and then fainted.