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"If big brother is going to hit, just hit the face, oh, and don’t ruin the hands and arms. We’re still counting on him to cut through the brambles!" Jing Haoran clapped his hands in excitement, clearly not thinking the situation was serious enough and took delight in others’ misfortune.

...

Ji Xinyu woke up to excruciating, heart-wrenching pain.

Instinctively, he reached out to touch the most painful spot and found that his entire face was swollen to numbness.

"Who, who dares to hit me!" he yelled, standing up from the ground, but his voice abruptly stopped because he saw a circle of people still surrounding him.

Great Devil King Gu Xiaoxi stood right in front of him, arms crossed, chin raised, a proud look tinged with a trace of coldness on her face.

"Ji Xinyu, you’re now a captive. If you don’t want to get hit again, from now on, you need to clear the way for us." Jing Haoran waved his fist and said this very seriously.

"In your dreams! Why should I be your captive? That’s not part of the rules. You can’t capture me," Ji Xinyu shouted angrily. He quickly got up from the ground, feeling his entire face swell like a pig’s head; his eyes squinted until he could barely see the road ahead.

At this time, the two people lying next to him gradually woke up.

"Boss, what happened to us?"

Fu Xi and Jing Haoran exchanged glances, seeing that Ji Xinyu was still uncooperative, they silently raised their fists again and aimed several more punches at the faces of the trio.

Yun Xiao watched, feeling as if his own cheeks were in pain. Ji Xinyu’s originally decent-looking face was now swollen and bruised, which, paired with his military uniform, looked both ridiculous and funny.

After receiving another beating, Ji Xinyu became furious. He had been brought here for no reason and now was being hit—did they think he was a sick cat and not a tiger?

Without a second thought, he gathered the murderous Spiritual Power in the palm of his hand and swung out a punch. Jing Haoran got scared and immediately dodged, hiding behind Gu Xiaoxi in fear, "His punches are fierce, Fairy Sister, take him down."

As Ji Xinyu’s second punch came flying, Gu Xiaoxi caught his fist with a slap, squeezed it hard, and Ji Xinyu immediately let out a pained cry. It felt like his entire hand’s bones were about to shatter.

On Gu Xiaoxi’s delicate face, there was nothing but a mischievous grin, "Little guy! Now you’re a captive.

Submit or not, if you refuse, then we’ll keep on beating.

We have more people; each of us gives you one punch, making your face even prettier.

Don’t worry, we won’t beat you to a pulp.

But we will beat your face until it’s disfigured. "

"No, no, no! I’ll be obedient, you can make me do whatever you want," Ji Xinyu was no fool, and he truly felt bullied by their overwhelming numbers now. But what he couldn’t understand was why, just by looking at Jing Haoran, did he suddenly pass out?

...

After dealing with Ji Xinyu and his two companions, the team continued on its way.

The original seven members had increased to ten.

In the command center’s monitoring room, via video, one could see the formation of the team had become as follows.

Ji Xinyu and his two companions, with swollen pig-like faces, led the military dogs at the front, slashing through the thorny underbrush, sweating profusely.

While Gu Xiaoxi and her seven team members, leading military dogs, ate beef jerky and strolled casually behind, occasionally urging them on if they felt their pace was too slow, having quite a comfortable time overall.

"Sir General, how can Gu Xiaoxi bully her comrades like this? They are participating in the competition together; she’s treating her comrades like beasts of burden. And hitting them in the face!" The division leader from the V Department couldn’t bear it anymore and stood up with a cold tone.

Especially when he looked at Quan Shaoqing, his gaze was full of annoyance. Gu Xiaoxi was his person; he should manage his people better.

"L Department’s, when your people bullied mine just now, what did you say?

This is competition, this is war, as long as lives aren’t in danger, let them be.

It’s a form of training, remember, this is training.

.. They can’t even beat a girl, they should be ashamed to whine about it here," the division leader from the L Department retorted without hesitation, and his words were full of aggression.

Especially when Ji Xinyu bullied Ning Hai just now, it made him really want to confront them in person. The most hateful thing was that they had bullied an injured person.

Zhao Guoqiang shook his head in disapproval; if one was to talk about being bad, Gu Xiaoxi and Ji Xinyu were on par, but one was endearingly bad while the other was contemptible.

Thus, he said in a stern tone, "As we’ve already said, so long as their lives aren’t endangered, let them be.

But we still need to remind them, to be safe. "

Quan Shaoqing had been playing games on his phone all while, as if he hadn’t heard a word, and after a long time, when he won a round, he finally looked at the big screen and nodded, "V Department, you should be grateful. My wife is helping you discipline your subordinates. They don’t know what’s good for them, being unlawful, and they’re bound to face retribution.

We soldiers cherish justice, bravery, and mutual aid.

Those three subordinates of yours, I don’t know where you found such rats.

Without proper training, they won’t achieve greatness in the future. "

"Hahaha!" The division leader from the L Department laughed out loud three times upon hearing this. Quan Shaoqing was right; if one couldn’t manage their soldiers, others would need to discipline them. Wasn’t it just like that?

Even Zhao Guoqiang had to admit, Quan Shaoqing had made an incredibly sharp point!

The division leader from the V Department was left speechless.

Zhao Guoqiang looked at the division leader from the V Department with a serious tone, "Your three soldiers have character issues. Test them further, and if they truly prove incorrigible, even if they are strong, our troops cannot keep them. We can’t let a few rotten apples spoil the barrel."

The leader of Division V’s lips twitched, as just now Quan Shaoqing had called his three strongest soldiers rats, and now even Sir General was calling them rat droppings. He struggled to maintain his dignity, his face a fluctuating mix of green and white shades.

Just now, knowing full well they had done wrong, he had still made excuses for them, and now, what goes around comes around. Those three guys really did deserve a beating; it would be good for them to learn their lesson and understand that not everyone can be provoked.

The boss of Division V looked at Quan Shaoqing, who had already calmed himself and started playing a game on his phone again.

At this moment, a smile still played on his lips, clearly indulging the woman on the monitor one hundred percent.

Quan Shaoqing kept his attention on the video at all times, as long as he saw Gu Xiaoxi safe and sound, he felt relieved. Most of the time, he played games to distract himself.

He couldn’t afford to think about her too much now, otherwise, his chest would ache. So, he just hoped the competition would end quickly.

He wanted to hold his wife and only then would he sleep soundly at night.

Without her, he felt significantly more haggard.

With others clearing the way for her, Gu Xiaoxi relaxed a bit.

Everyone in the subsequent tasks also seemed less tired.

For them, walking the mountain paths was the easiest part.

About a kilometer into the journey, sure enough, they ran into Ning Hai who had been previously beaten by Ji Xinyu.

He was injured and sitting by the side of the road resting; on seeing Ji Xinyu, he didn’t recognize her at first. After all, that bruised and swollen face was not so easy to identify.

"Ning Hai, you’re actually here! It’s all your fault. If it wasn’t for running into you and wasting my time, would I have encountered these Demon Kings? You motherf**ker, come here and take a punch," Ji Xinyu advanced with large strides, fists clenched and ready to hit someone.

Gu Xiaoxi immediately picked up a rock and threw it, hitting him right in the bend of the knee. By accident, Ji Xinyu felt a sharp pain in his leg, stumbled, and face-planted into the ground. Next to him, the military dog growled menacingly at Gu Xiaoxi.

Gu Xiaoxi stood tall and proud, looking up at the sky, indifferent to what she had done. Xiao Xiao sat beside her, and Ji Xinyu’s military dog dared not move an inch.

Ji Xinyu howled for a while, but Gu Xiaoxi simply smiled at him and said cheerfully, "Go ahead and clear the way. Fu Xi and Xiao Haozi, go ahead and keep an eye on him, don’t let him escape."

"Yes!" Jing Haoran loved being a guard, especially when he got to bully people alongside Fairy Sister; he found it especially amusing.

Ji Xinyu immediately wanted to cry but had no tears; his two sidekicks couldn’t even cry.

After they left, Gu Xiaoxi stepped forward, looked at the injured soldier, and said, "You’re so badly hurt; I think it’s better to give up."

"Ttaotao is a good dog and shouldn’t miss this opportunity because of me.

Its life is limited; it might not make it till the next chance.

So no matter what, I’ll try my best to strive for it.

" Ning Hai looked down, his gaze filled with sadness. Regrettably, he had accidentally gotten injured while fighting with a tiger. He didn’t know if he could make it to the finish line.

"Is your injury severe? Could it affect running or walking in the future? If your injury is serious, you won’t have another chance to be a soldier; you need to think it over," Gu Xiaoxi kindly reminded him.

"No matter what, I will persist," Ning Hai responded with determination. He had already applied some herbs for stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation, planning to go as far as he could; he was determined to keep going.

"Then I invite you to come with us; at the very least, we can ensure your safety," Gu Xiaoxi sighed, feeling that everyone should give him a hand.

Ning Hai looked at Gu Xiaoxi in shock, "You really wouldn’t mind me joining, even though I’m injured?"

"Yes, even though I don’t know you. But we are comrades in arms. When we come across someone injured, we must take care of each other," Gu Xiaoxi stated with a casual tone, standing in front of him.

Ning Hai felt a rush of tears in his eyes in an instant. Sitting on the ground, he watched Gu Xiaoxi; in the same military uniform, not only was she beautiful in appearance, but her heart was also gorgeous.

Especially at this moment, her indifferent expression as she helped others seemed casual, yet it offered immense assistance and warmth to others. Perhaps, this was what they called sending charcoal in snowy weather!

Ning Hai thought that as a grown man, crying would be embarrassing. He gripped the branch in his hand, laughed awkwardly, and said with an especially clumsy air, "Then I’ll go with you! If I can’t keep up, you can leave me and go ahead."

Ning Hai set off with Gu Xiaoxi, and later, they simply had Ji Xinyu come back and carry him.

Along the way, she also helped him gather a lot of herbs, which she stabilized with Spiritual Power. Everybody helped apply the herbs on his foot, and by the evening, he was surprised to find his foot much less painful.

Ning Hai couldn’t understand why the herbs gathered by Gu Xiaoxi, identical to the ones he had collected, were tenfold more effective. The bleeding stopped quickly, recovery was rapid, and even the pain was greatly alleviated.