Chapter 168

After all team members had returned to the ranks, Zhang Fan didn't let anyone stay any longer; he waved his hand and led everyone back to the Tribe Center Square to continue training.

At noon, when it was time to eat, Zhang Fan spoke again, ordering the previously punished team members to stay behind and take charge of tidying the training ground, having them re-maintain all equipment that needed upkeep.

The other team members were taken by Zhang Fan to eat. When everyone had more or less finished, those punished females had just finished their own tasks.

Zhang Fan watched the team members who had finished their tasks, each standing still in place. He silently nodded, thinking, Not bad, this is exactly what I wanted! As he thought that, his voice when he spoke also softened a bit.

"Alright, you guys hurry up and wash your hands and eat! I only give you twenty minutes! After eating, come back and assemble immediately!"

After saying that, Zhang Fan put down the food he hadn't finished eating and joined the elderly females who were responsible for serving meals to the team members.

The females moved quickly; before long, half of them had finished their meals. Many females followed Zhang Fan's lead, voluntarily helping those who hadn't eaten yet to get their food.

Twenty minutes passed quickly, and all the female team members had finished eating. At Zhang Fan's command, all the females returned to their original positions in an orderly manner; in less than a minute, the entire guard team had assembled.

"Excellent! Now everyone can basically follow orders without fail. I believe that after this month of training, each of you has undergone some degree of change, whether physical or mental, and I believe you've all noticed it."

I thought about it and felt it was still necessary to let everyone go home and rest this afternoon, because what we'll face next is unknown; we might be sent straight to the battlefield tomorrow, or we might continue training as usual.

Of course, all of this depends on your choices.

Even without Zhang Fan explaining further, everyone could vaguely sense what he meant. Hearing this, the females below all began to ponder in their hearts.

Zhang Fan looked at the females lost in thought, and he also had some ideas in mind. He spoke again:

"So, I hope you all give this careful thought; now, disperse! Everyone go home and think it over clearly."

As soon as his words fell, Zhang Fan stepped down from the platform, picked up his weapon, and turned toward his home.

Seeing this, the females below also said goodbye to those around them and then walked off together with their close female companions.

Fei Er and Nuoya walked up to each other, exchanged glances, then quickened their pace to follow Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan heard Fei Er's voice behind him, stopped, stood aside waiting for the two. Soon Fei Er and Nuoya caught up, and Zhang Fan smiled at them and said:

"Let's go home! I've been missing my dragon egg baby! Come on, let's go!"

Fei Er and Nuoya also laughed and replied, "Great! We haven't seen the dragon egg baby in ages! Let's go, let's go, head home!"

After saying that, the three exchanged smiles and then set off together toward Zhang Fan's home.

When the three had just arrived at Zhang Fan's house, the courtyard gate opened from inside. Looking closely, the person in the doorway was Ba Ke Er, holding the dragon egg baby.

Seeing Zhang Fan return, Ba Ke Er's eyes lit up. He smiled and said, "Fan Fan, you're back! I was just about to take the baby to Am's place. You guys go inside and rest first; I'll be off."

After saying that, Ba Ke Er prepared to leave with the dragon egg.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan quickly spoke up to stop him.

"Hey! Ba Ke Er, don't! We have no training this afternoon, so let me take care of the dragon egg!"

After Zhang Fan said that, Fei Er and Nuoya beside him quickly nodded, looking at Ba Ke Er with sincere expressions.

Seeing this, Ba Ke Er didn't insist on taking the dragon egg away; instead, he directly compromised with Zhang Fan. He stepped forward, gently rubbed Zhang Fan's hair, and said with a face full of indulgence:

"Alright then! But you must be sure to rest! There are still a few matters with the guard team, so I'll head off first. Have fun!"

After saying that, Ba Ke Er spread his wings in his half-beast form and flew toward the tribe's gate.

Zhang Fan watched Ba Ke Er's figure gradually disappear from his sight; his thoughts drifted away with the gentle breeze that brushed past.

Fei Er and Nuoya saw Zhang Fan staring at the direction Ba Ke Er had gone, became a little curious, and unconsciously followed his gaze to look that way.

But after looking for a while, they saw nothing but white clouds against the blue sky, and nothing else.

Fei Er and Nuoya felt even stranger; they silently exchanged a glance and simultaneously waved their hands at each other, indicating they also didn't know what was going on.

At that moment, Zhang Fan had turned his head back, seeing Fei Er and Nuoya in front of him shaking their heads and waving their hands, and he also found it somewhat amusing.

Chuckling, he reached out and secretly tapped the shoulders of Fei Er and Nuoya; when he saw them lift their heads, Zhang Fan broke into a bright smile and said:

"What are you two whispering about? Hurry up and go inside!"

Upon seeing Zhang Fan's smiling face, Fei Er and Nuoya instinctively shrank their necks; after a few seconds' pause, they realized it was break time.

There was no need to worry about being punished, so after realizing that, they relaxed. Moreover, Fei Er answered Zhang Fan's question with a giggly laugh.

Hehe, we weren't just noticing you always looking at the sky, so we got a bit curious. But, speaking of which, Fan Fan, what exactly were you just looking at?

Zhang Fan heard Fei Er's question, froze for a moment, and his handsome, pale face gradually showed a suspicious blush.

Fei Er and Nuoya, having been companions for several years already—old hands, so to speak—saw Zhang Fan's bashful, timid little face, and there was nothing more they didn't understand.

Seeing that, the two again covered their mouths and snickered. Zhang Fan saw that Fei Er and Nuoya weren't openly mocking him, just giving a restrained snicker, so he turned a blind eye, pretending not to notice.

Ahem, let's go inside—you two are still standing there; do you want to be door gods? Or are you not planning to come in? In that case, fine, I'll just close the door now.

Zhang Fan deliberately coughed lightly twice, successfully drawing Fei Er and Nuoya's attention away from his face.

As soon as his words fell, Zhang Fan had already entered the house, then made a move to keep Fei Er and Nuoya outside.

Seeing this, Fei Er and Nuoya panicked and rushed forward, making it into the courtyard before Zhang Fan could close the door. Once inside, they both breathed a sigh of relief, patting their chests.

Hehe, Fan Fan, how could you keep us outside? Good thing I and Nuoya acted fast! Otherwise, who knows—we might have gotten pinched by your gate into a dried-up person!

After catching their breath, Fei Er triumphantly said to Zhang Fan, their tone clearly showing off.

Hearing that, Zhang Fan couldn't help but roll his eyes several times, saying helplessly:

"Forget it, I'm not going to argue with you, you idiot. Otherwise, wouldn't that make me seem overly petty?"

As soon as Zhang Fan's words fell, Fei Er over there refused to accept it; the smile still on their face suddenly froze, and they turned away with a pout.

"Hmph! I don't even want to argue with you!"

Nuoya and Zhang Fan exchanged a silent glance, smiled without a word, then they followed Fei Er into the main hall.

After handing the Dragon Egg to Nuoya and Fei Er, Zhang Fan began busily preparing tea and snacks for everyone. Once seated, the three started snacking and chatting.

Just for some unknown reason, as soon as Zhang Fan picked up a piece of dried fish and smelled its fishy odor, he began to feel nauseous.

He threw the dried fish away, bolted for the toilet, and as soon as he arrived he began dry heaving, though he didn't know why; no matter how nauseous he felt, he couldn't bring anything up, just retching.

Fei Er and Nuoya had just been talking to the Dragon Egg when they looked up and saw Zhang Fan running straight to the toilet.

Still not knowing what was happening, when they heard Zhang Fan's retching from the toilet, the two suddenly seemed to understand something.

Fei Er thought for a moment, lowered their voice and said to Nuoya: 'Nuoya, do you think Fan Fan has it?'

When Fei Er mentioned that he had (it), he also deliberately made a semi-circle gesture with his hand on his own belly, fearing that Nuoya wouldn't understand his meaning.

Nuoya already had this guess; hearing Fei Er say that, she also thought it possible, her eyes suddenly lit up, she grabbed the Dragon Egg and stood up, pulling Fei Er as they ran toward the toilet.

But before the two could reach the toilet door, Zhang Fan, whose face was somewhat pale, had already pushed the door open and come out from inside.

As soon as Zhang Fan saw Fei Er and Nuoya standing at the door, he thought they were going to use the toilet, so he deliberately stepped aside, then took his own Dragon Egg from Nuoya's hands and held it to his chest.

Seeing the two still standing there blankly, he felt puzzled.

"You two standing here, aren't you going to the toilet? I've already let you go, you can discuss the order yourself! Or maybe you know if you ate something bad and feel uncomfortable, I'll go lie down in the room, you go relieve yourselves first!"

After saying that, Zhang Fan prepared to turn and go back to his room.

Seeing this, Fei Er and Nuoya hurriedly followed, each supporting one of Zhang Fan's arms as his pale face swayed on the verge of collapsing; then together they escorted him back to his room.

During this, neither of them voiced their guess.

After all, Zhang Fan had said it might be a stomach upset. If they, without confirming, told Zhang Fan their guess, and later it turned out not to be the case, wouldn't Zhang Fan be heartbroken?

But at this moment, Zhang Fan didn't realize that, while his two close friends were supporting him at his side, they were actually hiding something from him.