Chapter 68: Assistant Squad Leader, don't scare us—we're faint‑hearted!

Regarding Lu Yang's cleverness, Zhou Kaidong sometimes gets a headache.

For example, training in some special subjects doesn't work for him.

Fortunately, the vast majority of rookie soldiers aren't very shrewd and are still tucked under blankets, so the problem isn't big.

After the lights‑out signal blew, there was a moment, yet those who had already burrowed into their blankets felt no sleepiness, as if their circadian rhythms had been violently disrupted.

"Tsk, can't fall asleep?"

Kong Long lifted the blanket covering his head and breathed a sigh.

The others followed suit, indicating they were the same.

Zhou Kaidong actually hadn't fallen asleep either, so he made a suggestion.

"Shall we tell a story?"

"Who will tell?"

"I can't."

"Let the Assistant Squad Leader tell; he likes reading and knows a lot."

"Lu Yang, tell us a story, something more fun?"

Lu Yang had actually taken a brief nap, but these guys forcibly woke him up.

Because he knew something big would happen tonight, he seized the time to catch up on sleep.

The system's boost to his concentration allowed him to enter a state more quickly, whether studying or sleeping.

Lu Yang yawned and asked, "What kind of story should we tell?"

Zhou Kaidong: "Anything, you decide."

Lu Yang: "Hypnotic, comedic, or... horror?"

Zhou Kaidong's eyelids twitched; just as he was about to reject the last option, the others already began to heckle.

"Horror, horror, the scarier the better!"

Even though most of them wouldn't dare watch horror movies when alone.

But the dorm is crowded, and the masculine energy is intense.

In this atmosphere, telling horror stories is only fun.

If a female ghost were to pop up now, that would be a real nightmare.

Everyone's gaze in the darkness focused on Lu Yang's bunk, awaiting the "storyteller's" tale.

Lu Yang thought briefly and dug up a relatively classic story from his mind to tell.

The story tells of a six‑person climbing team, led by a local guide, venturing up the mountain.

For safety, they left one person to guard the supplies at the foot of the mountain, while the other five followed the guide upward, only to encounter misfortune.

Lu Yang spoke slowly, tapping the bedboard with his fingers to mimic marching footsteps.

The overall atmosphere was crafted perfectly; even Zhou Kaidong listened with particular rapt attention.

"Suddenly!"

Lu Yang read it again with emphasis, the sudden twist making everyone's hearts tighten.

In the middle of the night, the guide came down the mountain, rolling and crawling, his face and body still bearing wounds.

He cried to the person guarding the camp at the foot, saying that shortly after ascending, a landslide occurred and the five had all died!

Because there was no signal in the mountain, the guide told him to stay at the camp and not wander, while he went outside to seek help; but just a moment after the guide left, the five, their faces covered in dust and ash, came down from the mountain.

"Weren't those five all dead?" Ding Tengfei asked, clutching his blanket, peeking at the lower bunk where Lu Yang lay, his voice slightly nervous.

"Listen to me finish, don't interrupt," Lu Yang continued, "When the five teammates returned, the guard was so frightened his soul left his body, thinking he'd encountered a ghost."

Later they learned that after the ascent the party indeed faced a landslide, but only the guide was tragically killed by a rolling boulder; the others were merely temporarily trapped.

"The guard, looking at his former companions, felt a chill; if the guide was already dead, then who was the one who ran down the mountain to tell him?"

Lu Yang's voice became ethereal, his nails scraping the bedboard, producing a creepy sound effect that made the atmosphere even more eerie.

The rookies, faces pale, curled up in their blankets, feeling a cold breeze on the back of their necks.

This damn late night listening to horror stories, it's way too scary!

"So, who exactly is lying, and who is the real one?" Kong Long asked fearfully.

At that moment, the guard noticed that they had lowered a corpse using a sleeping bag.

Lu Yang continued, and everyone's hearts rose to their throats: "He, frightened, walked up, slowly unzipped the sleeping bag, and indeed the guide's corpse, face covered in blood, lay inside!"

Zhou Kaidong: "The guide died and became a ghost?"

Lu Yang flicked his fingers: "The next second, the guide suddenly opened his eyes, leapt out of the sleeping bag, startling the guard so much he fell backward onto the ground."

The five companions, seeing this, burst into laughter, each pulling out fireworks from their pockets, shouting loudly: "Sparua!"

Actually, this was just a meticulously planned prank, intended to give the guard a special and unusual birthday, so they collaborated to stage a performance.

"WTF, it's fake?"

"This damn thing is sick, right?"

"People scare people, aren't they afraid of scaring someone to death?"

"Huh, this isn't scary either? No fun, no fun..."

Just as everyone was greatly disappointed, Lu Yang curled his mouth into a smile.

"At that moment, someone smelled a foul rotten odor, like a mix of stinky salted fish and rotten eggs."

"Suddenly, someone noticed the frightened companion had vanished, and a picture frame appeared on the ground; picking it up, it turned out to be a black‑and‑white portrait."

"While everyone was shivering, a strange laugh of 'jiejieje' came slowly from behind, and a figure with a sunken skull, rotting all over, wearing the same climbing suit as them, stood there."

"It turned out the guard had been dead for a long time; he had been blending into the team from the start, just to keep his companions forever, to accompany him..."

The final twist made everyone's hair stand on end, their backs chilled.

Just as everyone thought the story ended here, Lu Yang lowered his head and gave a cold, sullen laugh.

"How can you be sure that the me who came back with you from the Tuan Bu half a month ago is really me?"

"Perhaps the real Lu Yang has already been transferred to a regular hospital, continuing treatment."

".......!!!"

Thinking of the huge physical change Lu Yang underwent after returning from the Tuan Bu.

Everyone's face turned dumbfounded, and their hearts instantly rose to their throats.

Listening to the story, hearing the people around you—who can stand such immersion?

"Assistant Squad Leader, you, do you still remember what snack you took out on the train to share with us?"

"Orange?"

"Apple?"

"Hehe, it can't be that, it's probably an ingot-shaped candle."

Damn, bro!

Kong Long almost peed himself from fright!

He even couldn't quite tell whether they were still telling a story now.

Ding Tengfei also trembled, the iron bunk shaking: "So, do you still remember where your high school was? You told me before, you shouldn't have forgotten, right?"

Lu Yang looked up, a mischievous smile flickering at the corner of his eye: "I died of illness when I was ten, never attended high..."

Before he could finish scaring Ding Tengfei, a pillow suddenly struck him straight in the face!

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and turned his head to dodge, but he couldn't evade Zhou Kaidong's thunderous flying kick.

"Damn it, that's enough, this acting never ends?"

"You all too, after hearing a horror story you get this scared—do you still have any soldier's grit?"

"What kind of ghoul can stand a 40-caliber blast? I have a whole set of rocket launchers, howitzers, mortars, then a steel tank charging sideways— even the Heavenly King would get two slaps and be forced to march in step!"

Zhou Kaidong's words instantly dispersed much of the earlier fear.

Even more, they began to imagine the apocalypse arriving, with ghosts and demons running rampant.

The army flies with aircraft cannons, exorcising demons, defending the world, protecting the masses.

Zhou Kaidong wielded a Gatling gun spitting blue fire, Lu Yang carried a rocket, and they cleared monsters together to level up—thinking about it still gave a little thrill!

The night deepened, and drowsiness gradually crept in.

In the Third Squad dormitory, snoring rose and fell in waves.

Just as this peace and tranquility prevailed, a sudden sharp whistle tore the night's silence.

It ripped a huge opening through the white fog covering the camp.

Beep, beep-beep-beep-beep—

"Emergency assembly!"

Zhou Kaidong opened his eyes the instant he heard the whistle and shouted.

But as he just sat up, he saw that Lu Yang had already jumped off the bed and started dressing.

Damn it, this kid really knows everything perfectly!

"Quickly get up, dress, Packing the Backpack, and assemble downstairs!"

"What are you doing, just fell asleep?"

"So annoying!"

The fresh recruits, still sleepy-eyed, climbed out of bed, clearly with a bit of morning grump.

At this age, they'd never before been forcibly dragged out of bed in the middle of the night.

Now they finally understood why tonight was so abnormal—they'd been waiting for this.

At this moment, the dorm was pitch black; relying only on the weak outside streetlights made it impossible to see, how could they Packing the Backpack?

Ding Tengfei, while pulling up his pants and trying to go turn on the light, hadn't even touched the switch panel when Zhou Kaidong smacked him on the head.

"You pig-brain, we just said no lights during the emergency assembly tonight, and you forgot?"

"Get back and Packing the Backpack, quick!"

Zhou Kaidong didn't stop, quickly stuffing things into the bedding.

But he saw that Lu Yang's backpack had already taken shape and was already attaching a small yellow bucket on top.

That move, that speed, even this ten-year veteran was amazed.

It was only taught that night, and even under a blackout, Lu Yang's Packing the Backpack was actually more proficient than his own!

"Lu Yang, you go help..."

"Got it!"

Before Zhou Kaidong could finish speaking, Lu Yang was already helping Ding Tengfei Packing the Backpack.

"Go put on your shoes, don't just stand there, I'll sort your backpack for you!"

"Ooo!"

Ding Tengfei hurriedly squatted down to look for his shoes, but after searching for ages, one was still missing.

Where did the other one go, mysteriously vanished?