Chapter 354: 363 Arrival

Qin Yongcheng turned his head, his eyebrows slightly raised, and said nonchalantly, "Hair? What about my hair?"

He forcibly suppressed the urge to touch his hair with his hand, pretending as if nothing of the sort had happened.

Qu Huan also just felt it was strange, though he couldn't say where, and looking at him more closely, he realized: "Your hair is blacker than before! I remember you having a bit of premature graying, but now it's completely black. Could it be that your grades are up now, so you have no worries?"

Qin Yongcheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking: I thought the Teaching Assistant's hair dye wasn't working well, but it turns out I just used too much.

He immediately kept a straight face and said, "You remembered wrong; I've always had a head of lush, dark hair."

Qu Huan tutted: "Disgusting, you, and 'lush hair'? By the way, was that person you?"

Qin Yongcheng didn't even need to ask what he was referring to, and instead asked, "Why do you think it was me?"

Qu Huan said, "It really was you. I recognize your handwriting."

What they were talking about, naturally, was the previous incident of intercepting the Jing'an Division to reclaim the horses.

Qu Huan naturally wouldn't tell Qin Yongcheng that the reason he recognized Qin Yongcheng's handwriting was because when Qin Yongcheng was at the top of the class two years ago, he had truly regarded this person as a rival. Especially since this person was actually proficient in Arithmetic, which was truly inconceivable. So he had gone to the trouble of finding Qin Yongcheng's exam papers and studying them over and over, to the point where he became familiar with the handwriting.

This was also why Qu Huan was most displeased when Qin Yongcheng later started slacking off.

Fortunately, Qin Yongcheng seemed to have woken up and started working hard again. Although two months of day-and-night tutoring probably couldn't return him to how he was before, the road ahead was still long; this assessment was just a small milestone, and there would be plenty of chances to compete again after entering the service.

Now, in this exam, seeing that the external pressure was even greater, they could instead become allies.

Qu Huan said, "Did you notice? It's turned into a faction war now. There are four forces in total, and the situation is complex. The Prison Suppression Division and us are mortal enemies. The Central Army has many people and great power, and their pressure is intense. That Jing'an Division... anyway, they aren't good things either. If we don't unite now, won't we be surrounded and wiped out?"

Qin Yongcheng nodded and said, "That is indeed the case. But whether there will be an opportunity for team battles depends on how the exam questions are set."

Qu Huan said, "I bet there will be. Look at the Array they've been practicing; it was made for team coordination, which is their biggest advantage over us. Since they set the questions themselves, how could they not favor their own side? Let's go, I see Wen Caifei and the others have arrived; let's get everyone together and discuss a strategy. I remember your Art of War class was good, and you're proficient in calculations, so you'll have to offer plenty of ideas."

Qin Yongcheng said, "Sure. Let's go together."

Qu Huan glanced at him. He remembered that for the past year, Qin Yongcheng had always taken the initiative to sit in the corner, and he wouldn't go even if others invited him to gatherings. Yet now, he had agreed so readily.

It was as if he had regained some kind of Pillar.

The three of them passed by the Instructors, and Qin Yongcheng looked back for a moment.

Tang Zhao happened to see it, and their eyes met; Tang Zhao shook his head, and Qin Yongcheng did not look back again.

Now was not the time, nor was there any need for that.

"Yo, that's the fifteenth one." Over there, Lan Xiuzhu was counting heads.

Tang Zhao and Instructor An hadn't said it explicitly, but there was no doubt they had made a bet to see who would come out on top. This was also the main theme of the two divisions.

It was just that the two of them weren't so petty as to count heads one by one. Instructor An prided himself on being a generation older than Tang Zhao and refused to lose his dignity, and Tang Zhao wouldn't be so bored either. Lan Xiuzhu, however, loved to watch the chaos, reporting every person as they arrived.

In fact, these young people were all in plain clothes, so at first glance, it was hard to tell which faction they belonged to. But now that the situation on the field had changed, as more and more people arrived, everyone naturally sought out familiar classmates, gradually dividing into four large groups, with the numbers clear at a glance.

"The Land Inspection Division has arrived with fifteen. The Prison Suppression Division only has twelve... oh, a few more have come, ah, it's the Land Inspection Division again, the Land Inspection Division has seventeen people now..."

Instructor An couldn't stand her incessant chatter and said, "Do you want to count your Jing'an Division? You only have nine people."

Lan Xiuzhu smiled and said, "I know, so I'm too embarrassed to count them, and can only count the others to satisfy my eyes. Besides, there's still plenty of time; I imagine my students will probably arrive last."

Instructor An sneered inwardly, thinking: I'm afraid her students are still outside faking it, waiting to make it look seamless before rushing back to pose as candidates.

Although he was grumbling to himself, Instructor An was still anxious: judging by the trend, our Prison Suppression Division is actually going to lose; this is unreasonable!

This wasn't because he looked down on the Land Inspection Division; on the contrary, the Prison Suppression Division had always regarded the Land Inspection Division as a formidable rival of equal standing. Otherwise, they wouldn't have specifically arranged for students to target them after the falling out.

However, they had made their arrangements with intent. The so-called "prepared against the unprepared"—in a situation where forces are evenly matched, the side that is unprepared is bound to suffer heavy losses.

But the situation now was not like that; it looked like the Land Inspection Division was not only not losing, but even gaining the upper hand.

This could only mean... what "evenly matched," it's all bullshit!

The Land Inspection Division is much stronger than the Prison Suppression Division!

No... I can't think like that.

How can I boost others' morale and dampen my own?

It must be...

It must be that the despicable Land Inspection Division also ordered their Disciples to target the Prison Suppression Division, and the schemes of both sides canceled each other out.

In this situation, the Land Inspection Division was still a bit more despicable, so they achieved a temporary victory.

Thinking of this, Instructor An glared fiercely at Tang Zhao.

Tang Zhao was baffled; why was Instructor An glaring at him for no reason? If he was upset about losing, he should glare at his own incompetent students.

Just like that, time passed bit by bit, and students from the four factions arrived one after another.

The Instructors counted heads silently; in fact, not many people arrived later on. Time was very generous; those with the ability had arrived long ago, and those who hadn't were losing hope as the deadline approached.

Those who hadn't arrived might not just be unable to make it in time; it was more likely they had fallen halfway.

The kind of plot where someone arrives right at the deadline and then shines in the subsequent exam is actually very rare.

However, only the students of the Jing'an Division arrived one after another before the finish line, all leading tall horses, as if they were queuing up.

Instructor An sneered incessantly, while Lan Xiuzhu smiled brightly, as if nothing were the matter. Li Yijian glanced at Lan Xiuzhu and then walked over.

He wanted to see just how much skill in deception the students had learned.

Don't say, Tang Zhao watched from afar, and after some inspections, quite a few students were indeed allowed to enter. Others were arrested for cheating.

If one fails the exam normally, at most they cannot enter important government offices and can continue to hold public office, but cheating will not only lead to expulsion from the Training Camp and a criminal record, but will also result in legal accountability. The so-called high return, high risk.

I hope those students at least prepared themselves mentally to bear the consequences beforehand.

By dusk, the Central Army officer struck the bronze gong to end the assessment, and the first stage was settled.

Then came the headcount and verification of identities. Tang Zhao counted, and his side had twenty-two people, with one-fourth eliminated.

This number was considered normal in previous years, a middle-to-low result. But Tang Zhao had done so much, and the results hadn't improved, so he was truly a bit unhappy. Even seeing that the Prison Suppression Division next door had only fifteen people in total didn't make him very happy.

It shows that involution is harmful.

The Jing'an Division had twenty-six people arrive, but only twenty counted, with six going straight from the exam site to the Prison.

And the Central Army...

Fifty people from the Central Army participated, and forty-nine arrived.

"Why is one person missing?"

Li Yijian shouted: "Wang Chong, why is your squad missing one person?"

That Wang Chong stood straight and said loudly: "Reporting to the Instructor, Liu Sheng of this squad lost his horse's footing while passing a cliff; he is fine, but the horse broke its leg and cannot keep up, therefore the headcount is reduced by one. Report finished."

Li Yijian said: "Change into a four-person formation."

Wang Chong said: "Understood." He retreated into the squad, and the squad changed naturally, still forming a subtle Momentum.

Tang Zhao watched with great envy; he did not understand these squad commands, but he could see that this kind of coordination provided a great boost to strength, especially when everyone's strength was low, as keeping watch and helping each other allowed the weak to overcome the strong.

Lan Xiuzhu suddenly said from the side: "Instructor Tang hasn't been to the Qianxian yet, have you?"

Tang Zhao felt wary of this woman in his heart and replied: "I haven't."

Lan Xiuzhu said: "That explains it. If you go to the Qianxian, you will have a squad from the beginning, spending days and nights with your teammates and fighting side by side, and you will gradually learn. Like us Sword Guests, we are still restricted at the Qianxian and must travel in groups."

Tang Zhao nodded to show he had learned, and at this time, the Teaching Assistants from each house arrived one after another to report the whereabouts of the students they were tracking, with clerks recording them one by one on file and cross-checking them against the list of examinees.

Lan Xiuzhu said again: "Speaking of which, I was once in the same squad as your teacher Xing Ji; we were once teammates with tacit understanding."

Tang Zhao was startled and said: "You know Mr. Xing?"

And you know he is my teacher?

Lan Xiuzhu said: "People from the Jing'an Division always have more intelligence. Xing Ji is a very interesting person who always leaves a deep impression."

Tang Zhao nodded, thinking: I remember Black Widow was also his teammate. Just how many beauties has he teamed up with?

Lan Xiuzhu said softly: "You must not tell the Prison Suppression Division about your connection to Xing Ji. Xing Ji is the root cause of the feud with the Prison Suppression Division of the Land Inspection Division; if they find out, I fear it will be disadvantageous to you."

Tang Zhao nodded and said: "Thank you for the reminder."

He felt slightly strange; according to Lan Xiuzhu's style, shouldn't she directly reveal his relationship with Xing Ji to the one surnamed An, intensifying the conflict to watch us fight each other?

But immediately after, he understood.

The Jing'an Division is skilled at gathering intelligence, and also skilled at utilizing it.

Some intelligence might as well be released to cause Chaos, while other intelligence is kept in hand to exchange for the greatest benefit.

Tang Zhao had not done anything, yet he already owed Lan Xiuzhu a favor.

Tang Zhao shook his head; even if she had said it, so what? As long as he didn't actively provoke trouble, would he be afraid if the other party came looking for him?

In any case, he already found that Instructor An quite unpleasant.

Just as he thought this, that Instructor An had already come over furiously, shouting: "You surnamed Tang, your Land Inspection Division is actually cheating!"