Su Jiu was slightly stunned by what she heard. She clearly hadn’t expected her former homeroom teacher’s senses to still be so sharp. But then she thought about it, the other party could be considered a reliable person. She then looked around, and after confirming that no suspicious individuals noticed them, she slowly said, “There are indeed some matters, very likely related to the Ancient God Sect…”
“Ancient God Sect?!”
Upon hearing the words “Ancient God Sect,” Lu Nan’s expression shifted slightly, and his eyes darkened. He tightly clenched his fists under his military coat, his body trembling slightly. After a moment, he suddenly raised his head and said in a deep voice, “You’re not saying that the kidnapping of the Master’s daughter this time was caused by the Ancient God Sect, are you?”
Looking at Lu Nan’s actions, Su Jiu didn’t find it strange. After all, some of the students killed by the Ancient God Sect back then were from Lu Nan’s class. She nodded and then replied, “Old Lu, you just arrived, you probably don’t know that my younger brother, Su Xiao Yu, is also being wanted by the Southwest Military Region officials for this reason… You know his personality, don’t you? He wouldn’t do such a foolish thing.”
“Su Xiao Yu? So it really was him on the wanted poster?”
Lu Nan showed another surprised expression. Beneath his gold-rimmed glasses, there was disbelief. After adjusting his glasses, he sighed, “How could I not know about something this big? It’s just that the wanted poster stated he had the strength of a half-Battle King. I never even thought it was that brat, I thought it was someone with the same name.”
“Half-King Level strength?!”
Hearing this point, Su Jiu was also stunned. That stupid donkey brother actually had such talent? Could the old man be training him as an heir?
If she calculated her actual cultivation level, she was at the High-Rank Battle General stage, between Battle General and Half-King. Had the boy who could only barely survive under her protection finally stood up?
Lu Nan saw Su Jiu’s astonished look and felt a bit more balanced, then he smiled and said, “Moreover, I heard he’s also been getting into romantic rivalries here in the military region, getting into disputes with the children of high-ranking officials over a woman, and not even showing respect to the Master’s daughter… It’s hard to believe this is the same Su Xiao Yu who used to be so shy when smiling.”
“Everyone has changed quite a bit.”
Su Jiu revealed a faint smile and sighed slightly. Changing the subject, her eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at the other person, saying in a deep voice, “Old Lu, you are an instructor here, right? Do you know who initiated this training?”
“You mean the training is related to the Ancient God Sect…”
Lu Nan, being a staff officer, naturally had a sharp mind and immediately understood Su Jiu’s meaning. After a moment of thought, he slowly said, “It was the Master himself. It’s said that this training was a project that had been discussed for a long time, but due to Su Xiao Yu’s messing around, the plan was delayed by almost half a month. Those big shots who wanted their children to experience some ‘blood’ early on couldn’t wait that long. They were still counting on their children to perform ‘exceptionally’ in the Gaokao.”
“It was the Master himself? This seems a bit different from what I expected.”
Hearing Lu Nan’s explanation, Su Jiu’s brows furrowed slightly, and then she asked, “Then… what about that training instructor surnamed Luo? Is he a man or a woman?”
“Commander Luo Dong? Oh, you mean the chief instructor for this training? He’s around here.” Lu Nan thought for a moment, then took out his phone and handed it to Su Jiu, smiling. “But of course, he’s a man, a kind and fat man. Here’s his photo.”
“Luo Dong… seems quite normal.”
Taking the phone, Su Jiu saw a picture of a military officer with a kind smile. His eyes were not small like those of ordinary fat people, but rather large and slightly coffee-colored. However, there was nothing unreasonable about it. Below the photo were his various resumes and achievements.
“Haha, Little Lu, are you guys talking about me?”
Suddenly, at this moment, a figure as tall as a small rockery approached the two, followed by a rumbling laugh.
“Commander Luo!”
Seeing him, Lu Nan gave him a military salute. He didn’t continue the conversation with Su Jiu and instead showed an embarrassed expression, scratching his head and saying, “My friend is also here to send someone for practical training, so I wanted to inquire about you and get some assistance.”
Su Jiu heard the voice and turned to look. She saw a body that was even fatter than in the photo. His face was also pudgy, as if dusted with talcum powder. He wore a pair of black leather gloves on his large hands, and his belt cinched his stomach from two layers to three, making him look even more greasy.
“So strange…”
After squinting at Luo Dong for a while, Su Jiu, whether due to his appearance or other reasons, felt a sense of disharmony from her Blood Clan sensitivity to the human body.
The instructor Luo Dong was indeed very enthusiastic. His gaze swept over Su Jiu and the others, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Finally, he landed on Bai Zhi and said with a smile, “Is this little girl the one participating in the training? High-Rank Battle Warrior level. To reach High-Rank Battle Warrior level at this age is indeed remarkable.”
“Heh heh…”
Bai Zhi stared at Luo Dong with dead fish eyes, looking very much like Su Jiu did in high school.
“It’s also due to her own efforts and some resources.”
Su Jiu smiled and nodded, discreetly reaching into her pocket and taking out her phone. She asked him in a slightly admiring tone, “Commander Luo, I saw your resume and heard you also participated in the Southwest Monster Invasion Defense War. I’d like to take a photo with you for my classmates.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhi looked at Su Jiu as if she were an idiot but didn’t say anything more.
“A photo… alright.”
Commander Luo Dong’s eyes flickered with a hint of confusion, but he quickly concealed it. He opened and closed his mouth, as if wanting to refuse, but also feeling there was no need to. He nodded his chin.
“Okay then… Say cheese.”
After getting permission, Su Jiu chuckled softly. About two meters away from Commander Luo Dong, she raised her phone, angling the camera lens mostly towards Commander Luo Dong. She felt there was an indescribable difference between his physical presence and the original photo.
“You all chat, I still need to discuss some training matters with the Master.”
After Su Jiu took the photo, Commander Luo Dong glanced at Su Jiu a few times, his gaze lingering on Su Jiu’s ring for a few seconds. Seeing that she was indeed gleefully holding her phone, he swayed his belly and waddled away.
Watching his retreating back, Su Jiu turned to Lu Nan and asked softly, “Old Lu, do you feel anything strange about him?”
“Strange? Commander Luo Dong is always smiling at people. No matter how new recruits tease him about his weight, he just laughs it off. He’s a good person.” Lu Nan’s impression of him seemed quite good, he added a few more sentences.
“Hey! Staff Officer Lu, it seems the students are almost all here. They’re waiting for you to tell them the rules for this trip!”
Just as he was about to say something more, a voice rang out from the martial arts stage not far away, seemingly calling Lu Nan to handle something.
“We’ll talk when there’s time. I’m quite busy today, I need to arrange the training location for them and the various rules for the training.”
Hearing this, Lu Nan waved goodbye to Su Jiu and then slowly walked towards them, leaving Su Jiu and the others standing in place.
“What exactly went wrong?”
Looking at Lu Nan’s retreating back, Su Jiu picked up her phone again, staring intently at the photo. Why did this fat chief instructor named “Luo Dong” give her a sense of disharmony?
She had a feeling that this person might be problematic—but everything was still just speculation.
“What’s wrong?”
Bai Zhi’s voice sounded from behind Su Jiu. The two troublemakers finally stopped their bickering, and she draped her arms over Su Jiu’s shoulders. Her eyes, sparkling like flowers, fell on Su Jiu’s phone as she blinked and said, “You’re not really admiring this kind of person, are you? You keep looking at his photo.”
“It seems… something’s not right, how strange?”
As she finished speaking, she leaned closer and gave a slight sound of surprise. She then looked at Su Jiu again, uncertainly saying, “This person’s body looks a bit uncoordinated. The empty pant legs and the fabric of the pants stretched over his thighs create a sense of mismatched contrast.”
“Mismatched contrast?”
Su Jiu repeated the phrase. She could feel the strange sensation but couldn’t pinpoint the source of the strangeness. Bai Zhi’s words gave her some inspiration—”Is it the incoordination of the limbs?”
“You two, stop guessing. That person is indeed problematic, his hands are very strange.”
Lin Mei, holding a folded paper fan, came towards them. She smiled and lightly tapped their heads with the fan.
E Huo, as usual, took out a bag of potato chips and kept stuffing them into her mouth. She was just E Huo, please don’t ask too much of her…
“His hands are strange?”
Su Jiu and Bai Zhi both froze, looking at the hands. They couldn’t see clearly because of the gloves, but the gloves were slightly pointed at the tips, as if pushed by fingernails. The fingernails were too long, which seemed to violate military regulations. Soon, Su Jiu’s eyes widened, and she suddenly looked at Lin Mei…
“I’ve been in the alchemy accessories industry for so long, I naturally understand people’s height and weight. Those gloves aren’t supported by hands, but by fingernails, which proves his hands are not as large as we thought…”
Meeting Su Jiu’s gaze, Lin Mei smiled, with a somewhat self-congratulatory tone.
“Moreover, his shoe size, I estimate it to be only size 38, or even smaller. This is completely inconsistent with his physique. Disguise can change things, but this kind of physical attribute, he—”
“Can’t change.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhi pouted and praised nonchalantly, “You’ve got some skills, Spider Grandma…”
“Professional!”
Somewhat shocked after hearing her analysis, Su Jiu gave her a thumbs-up and understood where the uncoordinated feeling she sensed was coming from. But if his physique was wrong, why deliberately disguise himself as such a large, fat person?
And size 38 shoes—men don’t usually have such small feet, do they? Could it be…
“You four, why did you come in first? I’ve been looking for you for a long time…”
While Su Jiu was contemplating, a somewhat helpless voice rang out from the entrance not far away.
