Chapter 157

Seeing the weapons in the bamboo basket being taken away one by one by their owners, Zhang Fan looked on and felt even more pleased with his own little plan! "Ha! This is great! Soon I'll be able to get my own weapon too!"

However, Zhang Fan's good mood didn't last long before he began to worry. Because just as he was feeling relieved, something suddenly happened.

Nuoya, as the squad leader of the tenth row, had originally already found her weapon and returned to her position. But not long after, one of her subordinates, a female named Rik, hesitated and walked up to her, speaking hesitantly:

"Squad… squad leader… that… I… today I might have caught a cold, my nose feels uncomfortable, even smelling is a bit difficult. So… that… I might not be able to find my own weapon."

Nuoya, hearing the female's words, didn't pay much attention, after all this person! They eat mixed grains and sometimes even raw food, so getting sick like this is really not uncommon!

Besides, we've already entered the cold season! Although the daytime weather is still good and the temperature is fairly comfortable, it's inevitable that some headaches, fever, nasal congestion, coughing and such minor ailments will appear due to the sudden drop in temperature at night.

So, upon hearing Rik say she couldn't smell, Nuoya just casually waved her hand, didn't take it to heart, and said with a very friendly smile:

"If that's the case, then you don't need to go pick for now. Wait until everyone else has chosen, then the remaining ones will probably be yours."

Rik, seeing that Nuoya had already said that, didn't dwell on it any further. After thanking Nuoya, she quietly hid at the back of the line.

Nuoya thought this was just a trivial matter, so she didn't specially report it to Zhang Fan, so Zhang Fan at this moment didn't know about this incident.

But what nobody expected was that, out of the eight hundred guards, besides Zhang Fan, an Earthling whose sense of smell was already poor, there were actually several other females like Rik who, due to nasal congestion, couldn't smell anything.

At first, no one knew about this. But when it came to the later stage and almost the entire guard squad had already chosen their weapons, there were still three or five people hiding at the back, hesitating to move forward.

Zhang Fan looked at those remaining three or five people, and for a moment couldn't see anything strange. Seeing them hiding at the back unwilling to come forward to choose weapons, Zhang Fan also put on his stern iron-faced instructor expression.

"You few! What's going on? Why are you still looking so clueless? Hurry up and pick your own weapons!"

Who would have thought, just as Zhang Fan's words fell, those few females over there became nervous again. Rik lowered her head, thought for a while, then put aside her nervous, foolish look and stepped forward to take the lead in front of Zhang Fan.

"Reporting Instructor! Actually, it's like this: because recently the nights have been colder than usual, many of our teammates have shown cold symptoms, and we few unfortunately also caught it, and we all have varying degrees of nasal congestion.

Moreover, we can hardly smell anything anymore, and since these weapons are mixed together, the scents originally left by the male beastmen on them have already been mixed in, and after being left overnight, the scents have also dissipated to varying degrees.

So, we can't be sure we can find our own weapons."

After saying that, Li Ke still felt a bit uneasy and secretly glanced at Zhang Fan a few times; upon seeing Zhang Fan's expression seemingly unchanged, she also secretly let out a sigh of relief.

However, it didn't let Li Ke stay happy for long; Zhang Fan's brows gradually furrowed.

I understand what you mean. Since that's the case, I shouldn't press you further; Ba Ke Er is here at my home, so I'll let him help you with this!

After Zhang Fan finished speaking, Ba Ke Er, who was already standing on the platform, didn't say much and didn't feel troubled. He directly followed Zhang Fan's words, walked to the front of the bamboo basket, and took out the weapons one by one.

Then he lowered his head to sniff the scent on them, and according to the lingering scent of male beastmen on the weapons, he distributed the weapons one by one to the remaining few females.

After those few females received their weapons, they didn't linger; after thanking him, they walked down the platform together, returned to their original rows, and stood in place.

As for Zhang Fan's share of weapons, of course Ba Ke Er deliberately saved it for last!

Seeing Ba Ke Er distribute the weapons from the bamboo basket one by one, yet not receiving his own share, Zhang Fan felt a bit anxious inside, though he kept a serious expression on his face.

Zhang Fan then called out to the females below, telling them to bring their weapons and start running, and only then did he walk toward Ba Ke Er.

After standing firmly in front of Ba Ke Er, Zhang Fan then asked, "Ba Ke Er, what about mine?"

Ba Ke Er looked at Zhang Fan's current expression, gave a light smile, then imitated Zhang Fan's manner and answered seriously, "If you kiss me, I'll give it to you!"

Seeing Ba Ke Er brazenly make such a shameless request in front of everyone, Zhang Fan's originally serious face instantly flushed red.

Gradually, the redness on his face spread bit by bit to his neck and behind his ears. Soon, Zhang Fan was as red as a cooked shrimp, inside and out.

Zhang Fan froze for a moment, covered his face with one hand, calmed down a bit, then pulled his hand back to the side of his trousers, feigning composure as he gave Ba Ke Er a look of disdain, saying:

"Ba Ke Er, do you still have any shame? If you're going to give it, give it; if not, forget it! I'll go find it myself!"

After saying that, Zhang Fan turned away, but as he walked to the edge of the bamboo basket, he secretly began to regret.

It wasn't for any other reason; it was just that there were still many weapons left in the bamboo basket. Now Zhang Fan had no choice, and he didn't know whether to say that all these weapons were his, or that a teammate had missed taking his weapon.

Ba Ke Er stood behind Zhang Fan, naturally seeing every small movement of his clearly and plainly! Looking at Zhang Fan's current state, Ba Ke Er couldn't help laughing wildly in his heart, but on the surface he kept himself especially tense.

This made it impossible for anyone to see his true expression, of course, provided that no one noticed the laughter he couldn't hide in his eyes.

Ba Ke Er had laughed enough; the amusement in his eyes gradually faded. He stepped forward, walked behind Zhang Fan, and taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he secretly reached out to touch Zhang Fan's head, chuckling as he said:

"Fan Fan, have you found your weapon? Do you want me to help? Of course, you know the terms of the exchange."

Although Zhang Fan had already calmed his heart, hearing Ba Ke Er's magnetic voice from behind him, speaking unhurriedly about having him exchange something, his heart suddenly felt lifted again.

After a moment's contemplation, Zhang Fan at noon forcibly suppressed the fluttering in his heart. After all, having to actively kiss Ba Ke Er in front of everyone was indeed difficult; Zhang Fan felt he absolutely could not do it.

"Ba Ke Er, look at how many people are here—how could I possibly kiss you? You… are really becoming bolder and bolder, and more and more shameless!"

Having said that, Zhang Fan seemed to feel that many people were staring at him. He lifted his head to look around, but saw no one looking his way, shook his head, and dismissed the feeling as an illusion.

"Back then, you were a fresh-faced youth who would blush all over from just a sentence or a kiss on the cheek; yet now, a few months later today, you propose letting me kiss you in exchange for your weapon."

"Oh my goodness! Is it that you've improved too quickly, or have I deteriorated?"

Zhang Fan said this with a hint of melancholy to Ba Ke Er.

Regarding Zhang Fan's words, Ba Ke Er neither affirmed nor denied, merely gave a light chuckle twice, and then, when Zhang Fan wasn't paying attention, suddenly lowered his head and planted a light kiss on Zhang Fan's ear.

Seeing Zhang Fan somewhat dazed by the sudden kiss, Ba Ke Er smiled indulgently, stepped forward, took out the weapons he had prepared for Zhang Fan from the bamboo basket, and handed them to him.

"Fan Fan, take them well; these are the weapons I prepared for you. I know your sense of smell isn't great, so I specially made some special marks on these weapons. You must remember them well—don't mix them up, or I'll feel heartbroken~"

After saying that, Ba Ke Er didn't wait for Zhang Fan to speak; he lifted Zhang Fan's hand and stuffed all the weapons into his arms.

Seeing Zhang Fan dumbfounded while clutching a pile of weapons, Ba Ke Er felt great! He smiled, rubbed Zhang Fan's hair, and said, "Fan Fan, I should be going; these baskets still need to be returned to the tribe. You go ahead and attend to your training first. When I'm done, I'll bring the child over to see you."

After Ba Ke Er left, Zhang Fan lowered his head to look at the weapons he held in his arms. As expected, just as Ba Ke Er had said, each weapon bore a crooked little mark, and that mark was very familiar to Zhang Fan, because it was actually the character "fan" from his name.

Even each bamboo sword bore this character, showing how much Ba Ke Er cared about this. Looking at these, Zhang Fan's heart swelled with emotion, and even the solemn expression he had deliberately put on his face gradually faded.

In its place came a complex smile woven from happiness and emotion, filled with affection.

On the other side, after leaving the square, Ba Ke Er first sent all the bamboo baskets used to hold weapons to the elder in charge of internal affairs at the tribal office.

After finishing everything, Ba Ke Er hurried back to Lei Ya's place to retrieve the dragon egg, then brought the dragon egg together to the tribe's central square.

At this moment, Zhang Fan had already retracted the smile on his face, once again assuming the stern instructor mode, wearing a grim expression, carrying a bow and arrow as he ran at the front of the troop.

When Zhang Fan lifted his head, his gaze met Ba Ke Er's eyes; the two shared a knowing smile, after which Zhang Fan pretended nothing had happened and led his squad away.