Chapter 69 In Hell (5)

  "What's scary is not hell, but knowing you're in hell and being powerless to do anything about it." The Jungle Wolf said: "The only way to leave it is to prove that you are stronger than hell."

  The jungle wolf demonstration was silent, with no one speaking, except for the sound of breathing and the wind. Six hours had passed since morning, but everyone was too afraid to say they were hungry, their eyes fixed on the food, which was only porridge.

  "I reckon you're all thinking the same thing, so let's just eat already! We've been having porridge for days and I'm starting to fade away like a ghost. So today, we'll have..."

  Xiao Lie heard that he didn't have to eat porridge today, and suddenly felt hopeful. It seemed like there was nothing more unbearable in this world than eating porridge, he thought, and everyone else probably thought so too.

  Mantou!

  Everyone was speechless for a moment, what is this? If food can be relatives, then congee and mantou must be husband and wife, otherwise how would there be the phrase "congee and mantou". But thinking about it, mantou seems to be a bit better than congee. Thinking of this, everyone's heart felt a little more at ease.

  When he got the bun, Xiao Ran was a bit stunned. Although this bun looked very white and it could be seen that high-quality flour was used, but this thing was dry and hard. It's worth noting that Xinjiang has very dry weather, anything with moisture will easily become dehydrated when placed outdoors. Who knows how many days this bun had been left out? Its hardness was almost comparable to a stone. Yang Xian beside him also revealed a faint smile, Xiao Lie who knew Yang Xian understood the meaning of that smile - he wanted to hit someone.

  "Everyone must have heard a poem, right? Very simple, everyone will recite it since childhood. Hmm, that 49th one. Hmm, the 49th one?" The Jungle Wolf shouted for the 49th one again, but no one responded.

  "Report," Xiao Lie said.

  "Say."

  "No. 49 has left." Xiao Lie said.

  "Oh, you're leaving? Alright, then recite that poem "Cutting Wheat" for everyone."

  "Yes. Weeding in the morning, sweating by noon, who knows that every grain of rice on our plates is earned through hard work." Xiao Lie said.

  "Good, good, not bad, even memorizing a primary school student's poem."

  Xiao Lie heard these words and didn't know if that guy was praising him or mocking him. Of course, he wouldn't think it was praise.

  "This poem tells us that everything requires a price to pay, just like this steamed bun. It's not easy for it to come into being. First, there are seeds, then sprouting and growth, requiring fertilizers, and when pests appear, pesticides need to be applied. After harvesting and drying, it's still not a steamed bun, but only wheat. Then the wheat is ground into flour, mixed with water, fermented, and finally steamed to become a steamed bun. How much land and people's hard work are involved! Can we just let this steamed bun be wasted? No, that won't happen.

  New recruits, attention!

  "Do push-ups and eat it."

  Even if you want to knock the wolf to the ground, after receiving the order, you still have to do push-ups honestly, and then eat that bun. The bun that was easy to eat at ordinary times seemed particularly difficult at that time. Before the selection, many new recruits in their own troops could not compare with high-end restaurants outside, but they would not be surprised by buns. However, after coming here for less than three days, it's not just buns, as long as it can be confirmed that it can be eaten, I estimate they will eat it without hesitation. For the new recruits, what is lacking most here is food, as if suddenly returning to the era of insufficient grain production in the old society, where people could not eat their fill and had to work hard.

  With a thirty-kilogram bag on his back, doing push-ups was already not an easy task. Now he still had to eat that mantou. Xiao Lie felt dizzy, and although his stomach was growling with hunger, when he saw the mantou, he couldn't swallow it. There was no water, and the mantou, which was already very cold and dry, was extremely difficult to swallow. When his feet were up and his head was down, the mantou in his mouth seemed to be stuck in his throat, and he simply couldn't swallow it.

  "Are you still hungry?" The Jungle Wolf walked up to Tan Hongzhong's face.

  "Hungry." Tan Hongzhong stuffed a bun into his mouth, but there was no saliva in his mouth at all, and the bun felt like sand that couldn't be swallowed, while his stomach growled with hunger.

  "If you're hungry, eat it up properly, no waste allowed. Otherwise, you can be eliminated." said the Jungle Wolf.

  "Yes." Tan Hongzhong replied, wondering why this guy always liked to find fault with himself, of course, there were also Yang Xian, Lei Haolin and Xiao Lie. Was it because the four of them were a gang? Damn, Tan Hongzhong gave him a middle finger in his heart.

  "Don't think that this is the worst, but being alive is better than anything. Being able to survive means you can kill the enemy and eat your next meal. In war, you will encounter even more terrible environments and eat things that are harder to swallow. Today they're just eating steamed buns, but if war comes tomorrow, you may end up eating the flesh and blood of your own family." The Wolfpack yelled out in the team.

  "If you can't even eat this mantou, how will you get through what's ahead?"

  The six assistant instructors present stared at the new recruits, for whom even dropping a single crumb on the ground was not allowed. If they did drop something, it was simple to deal with - just pick it up and lick it clean.

  "Do you know what this is?" said Jungle Wolf, holding a gas mask in his hand.

  "Gas masks." Everyone shouted loudly and couldn't help but curse in their hearts, thinking we were idiots.

  "It's okay if you know, but I heard that wearing this toy can prevent fear of some toxic gases, but I don't know if it's true. Wear it." The Jungle Wolf shouted.

  Upon hearing the command, the new recruits immediately found their gas masks and put them on.

  "One kilometer ahead, there's a toxic gas area with thick rubber smoke and gas. You need to get through it in the shortest time possible. Remember, if your gas masks aren't tight enough, congratulations, you might just fall down along the way."

  No one thought the Jungle Wolves were bluffing and instinctively checked their own defenses.

  As soon as Xiao Lie received the order, he rushed forward. The first place he had to enter was a well with a diameter of only 50 kilograms. If it were usual, it would be fine, but now he still had a backpack on his body. He felt that he couldn't jump into the well with the backpack on his back, so he quickly untied the backpack and threw it into the well. The backpack splashed water in the well, and a new recruit who was troubled by the same problem as him also untied his backpack and threw it into the water.

  After jumping into the water, there was about 20 cm deep muddy water in the sewer, and an unknown gas was flowing in the sewer. Xiao Lie didn't have time to think what this smoke was, then he pushed his backpack with his hand. The 15-meter-long sewer wasn't long, but when moving forward, he had to push a 30-kilogram backpack, which was also a burden. When reaching the exit, he threw the backpack out and climbed up. After climbing up, he immediately shouldered the backpack and continued to move forward.

  At this time, he came to a long house inside, the long house was about 70 meters long, with windows on both sides, but there were only two doors in the house, front and back. As soon as the door opened, it was all thick smoke inside, and nothing could be seen three meters away. The light that came in through the window couldn't help people see anything under the thick smoke. He had to go through this room, so Xiao Lie ran towards the opposite side. However, unexpectedly, a tight rope on the ground suddenly tripped him up. At this time, he saw clearly that the house was not empty, there were some sofas and tables in the middle of the road, and some ropes tied to the wall on both sides. Because smoke itself is lighter than air, it's easier to see what's ahead when it's close to the ground. When you can see the road ahead, it's much easier.

  Seeing the door in front of him, Xiao Lie didn't think twice and rushed out at once. Splash, he fell into the water immediately. After swimming forward a bit, he heard another splash sound beside him, it seemed that people who were as careless as himself weren't rare after all.

  When Xiao Lie finished running the smoggy kilometer, he hadn't even had time to curse whoever came up with this stupid idea. This kilometer was more exhausting than running five kilometers on his own, and he looked even more disheveled. At this point, an assistant instructor came over and immediately ordered Xiao Lie to remove his helmet and mask. Then, with both hands, the instructor opened Xiao Lie's eyes for a look, making sure there were no bloodshot eyes before letting him go.

  Then all this is not over yet, because what comes next is playing with logs. Like logs, it's one of the most classic subjects in special forces units around the world. A log can weigh anywhere from 50 to 300 kilograms, and the bigger the log, the more people are needed to lift it. For example, a 300-kilogram log requires seven people to lift it, which works out to about 43 kilograms per person on average. But in reality, it's impossible to achieve this average, because everyone is different in terms of height and strength. This means that some people will inevitably bear more weight than others. This is also a team-oriented subject, where if one person slacks off, they'll drag the whole team down. A multi-person log isn't just placed on your shoulders all at once - it's divided into four movements to get it up there, and each movement needs to be clearly defined in order to ensure consistency.

  Xiao Lie saw a thick, round log in front of him. He looked ahead and thought about carrying this log for five kilometers. Normally, it would be difficult to even push it forward, let alone carry it. The log had been soaked in water for who knows how long, its bark was gone, and when he touched it, his hand felt a slippery sensation. A water-soaked log is not only heavier than usual but also harder to grasp.

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