Chapter 164: Thorny Incident

Zhang Fan simply stood there while the few females who fell behind during their run, letting them listen to his flute as they did push‑ups. Thus, after all the females had lain down, Zhang Fan finally blew his short flute, and each time he blew it, the females did one push‑up.

He repeated this over and over. However, after only about three sets of eight beats, a female already collapsed and had no strength to get up. Seeing this, Zhang Fan did not force her, but simply continued blowing his flute, urging the other females to keep doing push‑ups.

However, when Zhang Fan had blown the sixth set of eight beats, that female was still lying there motionless, not appearing uncomfortable at all.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan was not angry; he simply spoke in a flat tone.

"Looking at you, you seem to enjoy lying down, huh? But since you're already down, you don't need to get up again. During today's training, just stay lying here—you're not allowed to go anywhere!"

The female named Ge Rui Si, hearing this, felt resentful, lifted her head and angrily asked.

"Why? I've trained so hard—why treat me like this? I'm just out of strength, wanting to rest a bit! Are you going to humiliate me like this? If so, I don't see any point in persisting. I've decided—I'm quitting!"

Upon hearing that, many were startled; originally one or two had praised his courage, but when they heard him say he wanted to quit, they also showed puzzled expressions.

At the same time, after Ge Rui Si's words fell, the surrounding females were stunned! Good heavens! Quitting! Who would even think of quitting? They had barely been selected! Why would anyone voluntarily quit?!

Many could not understand this.

This included Zhang Fan, the instructor in charge of training the entire guard team. Yet, even though he was surprised by the female's casual quitting, Zhang Fan did not reveal his emotions.

At that moment, Zhang Fan merely put on a stern face and spoke in a flat tone:

"What are you saying? You want to quit? So you're that easy to defeat? Look around—there are plenty in the female guard team whose physique is worse than yours, yet what have they said?"

"I'm asking you one last time—are you sure you want to quit?"

When Zhang Fan began speaking in that flat tone, Ge Rui Si's heart already started to beat the retreat drum.

As Zhang Fan said, there truly are many in the guard team weaker than her, yet up to now no one has spoken of quitting.

If she really quit, she feared she'd have a hard time getting by in the tribe later. Seeing that Zhang Fan had given her an out, she also wanted to say she wouldn't quit.

But she also feared that doing so would make everyone look down on her, thinking she was someone who didn't keep her word, and that she would never be able to hold her head up before anyone.

So Ge Rui Si could only feign determination to quit, gritting her teeth and saying resentfully:

"Yes! I am determined to quit!"

Zhang Fan saw that Ge Rui Si's attitude seemed firm on the surface, yet he could still see a hint of reluctance and regret in her eyes.

Thus he guessed that Ge Rui Si's words were merely a flash of anger, not to be taken seriously, and from her current demeanor he could also guess she had already begun to regret it secretly.

Zhang Fan lowered his head to look at the still‑lying Ge Rui Si and the few females still doing push‑ups, thought for a moment, then spoke:

"Since you've decided, get up first, take your bow and arrow, and come with me. The rest can keep counting and doing push‑ups on their own; when they finish, they may disperse."

Having said that, Zhang Fan took up his own bow and arrow first and led the way.

Ge Rui Si saw Zhang Fan pass before her eyes, gritted her teeth and struggled to rise, shouldering her bow and arrow, then chased after him. Zhang Fan brought Ge Rui Si to the archery field east of the square, stopped, turned his head and said to her:

"Let's have an archery contest—if you win, you may leave; if you lose, you must stay!"

Hearing this, Ge Rui Si felt a bit indignant.

"You're so strong! How could I possibly beat you? This is completely unfair!"

Zhang Fan snorted contemptuously and looked down at Ge Rui Si.

"Fair? Where does fairness come from in this world? Look—if everything were fair for everyone, why am I not as tall as you, why isn't my physique as good? If it were truly fair, we'd all have to be the same. But if everyone were the same, what point would this world have?"

Zhang Fan said, pulling a black cloth from his pocket and pointing it at Ge Rui Si:

"Of course, since you want to pursue so‑called fairness, this will be the first and last time I indulge you! I'll blindfold myself and compete with you later! If that's the case and you still lose, don't blame me for not cherishing you in the days to come!"

Ge Rui Si saw Zhang Fan blindfold himself with the cloth and was dumbfounded. Blindfolded archery! If the instructor actually lost, that would be embarrassing; but if he won, her own face would look bad!

While Ge Rui Si was still hesitating whether to shoot, Zhang Fan spoke again.

"Are you still hesitating? You aren't really trying to quit, are you? If so, then show your strength—let everyone see! See if you can actually quit without trouble!"

As soon as Zhang Fan's words fell, Ge Rui Si struggled to raise her bow and arrow, her voice trembling, she said:

"I don't have it! I'm just thinking about how to beat you! Let's start now!"

Having said that, Ge Rui Si promptly nocked her bow, aimed at the target and drew it full. Although Zhang Fan's eyes were blindfolded, his hearing was still sharp; hearing the sound beside him, he twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and, without a sound, drew his own bow to full in the direction he sensed.

"All right, now—release!"

At Zhang Fan's command, only two 'whoosh' sounds were heard as the arrows left the bows and flew toward the opposite target.

After a few seconds, two 'thuds' were heard; both arrows had struck the target accurately. Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Fan removed the black cloth from his eyes.

Smiling, he said to Ge Rui Si, "Congratulations, you hit it!"

This was Ge Rui Si's first time hitting the target, leaving her so excited she didn't know what to say, and when Nuoya, who was in charge of reporting the scores, came over with their tallies.

Ge Rui Si became even more excited!

"Ge Rui Si: 3.5 rings, Zhang Fan: 10 rings!"

Although he lost, he accepted it wholeheartedly! Because Zhang Fan had blindfolded himself, while he himself shot under normal conditions.

But Ge Rui Si thought that, although she lost to Zhang Fan, she had won against herself! She still remembered her first archery attempt, when she couldn't even hit the target; comparing then and now, she could see the importance of Zhang Fan's methods that seemed useless but were actually practical.

Thinking this, after her joy and excitement, Ge Rui Si was left only with disappointment and regret.

Zhang Fan saw Ge Rui Si's mood suddenly drop, furrowed his brow, lowered his bow, stepped forward, patted her shoulder gently, and asked softly:

"Ge Rui Si, are you still willing to remain in the female guard team—for yourself and for the tribe's people?"

Ge Rui Si felt Zhang Fan's light pat on her shoulder, heard his gentle whisper beside her ear, and turned her head to look at Zhang Fan, who was a head shorter than her.

At that moment Ge Rui Si realized that courage and resilience are not merely outward appearances; they lie primarily in one's inner self. If a person's heart is strong, even if he is skin and bone, plagued by illness, one can still sense his tenacious will!

Having figured it out, Ge Rui Si suddenly seemed like a different person—instantly she cast off her negativity, straightened her body, turned toward Zhang Fan, bowed deeply from the waist, and upon rising again, with a solemn face she spoke in a ringing, powerful voice:

"Report, Instructor! Guard Team Member 0602 of the thirtieth row reporting for duty! Please give orders!"

Ge Rui Si's sudden move really startled Zhang Fan; he swallowed secretly, coughed lightly, composed himself, put on a stern face, and replied in an equally ringing, powerful voice:

"Guard Team Member 0602, hear my orders! Take up your bow and arrow and disperse where you stand!"

"Yes!"

After Ge Rui Si answered, Zhang Fan smiled slightly, then took up his bow and arrow and turned to leave.

When it was time for lunch, Zhang Fan finally blew his short flute on the platform, summoning everyone to gather.

When the team members had all gathered, Zhang Fan began to speak.

「Lunchtime is about to start; I'll briefly say a couple of things. This morning's training has now ended. I'm glad everyone could cooperate actively! Please remember, we are the Female Guard Team, the role model for all the females of the Heaven Lion Tribe! At the same time, we exist to protect the tribe!

Please everyone, always keep this in mind! Alright, my words end here. Next, please disperse and eat! 」

After speaking, Zhang Fan had already put down his bow and arrow and stepped down from the high platform.

After finishing the meal, the afternoon training also began. Because of today's incident involving Ge Rui Si, the guard team members each exerted themselves, wanting to see who is better.

The whole afternoon, the females were in high spirits, making Zhang Fan overjoyed.

In the afternoon, as the sun was about to set, Zhang Fan, as usual, blew the short flute and announced to everyone that today's training was over. What he saw was no longer that group of females jumping for joy because they could go home, but a neat and orderly troop.

Only to see, the Female Guard Team that should have dispersed on the spot, after hearing Zhang Fan say to disperse, although temporarily dispersed, but after Zhang Fan stepped down from the high platform, they regrouped spontaneously, forming forty small square formations, each formation leaving in neat order.

After seeing off the guard team members, Zhang Fan also smiled and walked toward Ba Ke Er, who had been waiting a long time.