"Li Zilan is the best sniper we have. Her skills are among the best in Jun Country. Unless she is needed on the battlefield, she is usually practising in a minefield or the forest. I don't know how skilful she has become during these last few years. I haven't seen her shoot for a long time."
Yun Xi understood that Li Zilan had truly been the one who was hiding her skills.
After they got off the ski lift, they walked a few miles in the snow until Jin Lei found a suitable spot.
The surrounding mountains were covered with a breathtaking display of white snow, spreading to the horizon.
The mountain range was vast and magnificent. Compared to the mountains where they lived, these mountains were higher, and there were more of them. The terrain was spread out and not so hard to navigate. It was indeed a good place to practice sniping.
Yun Xi looked at the black leather case that Jin Lei was carrying. She knew that it contained his sniper rifle. The case that she was holding contained a lightweight practice sniper rifle that Jin Lei had selected for her.
"Instructor Jin, why don't you teach me how to shoot?"
Instructor Zilan hadn't taught her because of Mu Feichi's strict instructions. Now the fact that she hadn't been taught to shoot was starting to make her feel small and ridiculous.
Jin Lei squatted down in the snow, put down the case, and looked at her. "It is the responsibility of the Young Commander to teach you to shoot. I will only touch on the basics."
This is the woman that the Young Commander fancied. Teaching her a professional skill such as shooting should be left to him. If Jin Lei sidestepped the Young Commander and taught Yun Xi how to shoot, Mu Feichi would probably come after him.
Yun Xi knew that he was not as gullible as Feng Rui, but his cold attitude hurt her feelings. "Are you trying to make me feel bad?"
"No, but I will not compete with the Young Marshal for credit," Jin Lei casually added as he opened the case. "Besides, it doesn't mean that you will be able to pick it up right away even if I taught you. Every one of us in the Special Combat Unit has a personal rifle. You haven't even found your rifle yet. You will have to go through the process and learn to shoot eventually."
"Is this your rifle?" Yun Xi looked at the dark, disassembled sniper rifle in the case. It emitted a piercingly cold aura.
"Yes, it's called Raging Fire, a manual CheyTac sniper rifle. It can effectively kill all kinds of long-range targets. Some people consider that the Barrett sniper rifle performs better but its precision is not as good as this CheyTac. Mu Feichi has modified its internal mechanics and increased its maximum range to 1,950 m."
"I have only disassembled a Barrett. I have never fired a sniper rifle."
Jin Lei raised his brows and looked at her. "Well, do you want to give it a try?"
Yun Xi nodded immediately. She certainly would like to try such a professional sniper rifle.
"Don't regret it after trying. This rifle has been with me for many years, and its recoil is stronger than the one you have now. Don't blame me if your hands tremble when you hold the needle during Mr Jiang's treatment tomorrow."
"Then I better not try..." This fellow, knowing that the recoil was enormous, was still teasing her. He was mean.
"You should take a good look at the surrounding terrain and figure out the best sniper position. Your gun is loaded with coloured smoke shells. I am not asking you to be able to hit me, but you should at least find out where I'm hiding. Otherwise, we will have to spend the next two days on the mountain."
"Got it!" Yun Xi took out her sniper rifle. This was a lightweight sniper rifle that Jin Lei had prepared especially for her. Its range was not too far, so it was only suitable for a novice like her.
She seemed to recall something, and she lifted her head and asked, "Does the Young Marshal have a personal rifle? I've never seen him use his rifle."
"Didn't you see it that time when he rescued you from being kidnapped by Crocodile?"
Yun Xi shook her head. At that time, she had already escaped, and therefore Mu Feichi didn't need to use his rifle.
"Of course Mu Feichi has his special rifle. He's named it War God. It's an L115A3 sniper rifle with a firing range of 2,500 meters. Currently, it holds the record as the longest-range sniper rifle. It is undeniably the king of sniper rifles. He doesn't use it that often, only for long-range missions. However, to rescue you, he chose to use War God. And then it turned out that there was no need for it."
"Well, I'm not that much of a burden. I can't save others, but saving myself? I do have that capability."
Jin Lei chuckled, then glanced at Yun Xi. "If that's the case, then show me what you've got. You need to show your best performance today. Because if you don't meet my expectations today, we'll have to spend the night on the mountain," Jin Lei said to Yun Xi in a condescending tone.
"No problem!" Yun Xi swiftly accepted his challenge.
Yun Xi knew that she had excellent vision and that she had mastered quite a few fundamentals from Li Zilan, Yun Xi was confident that some of those skills would be of assistance in the mission at hand.
That being said, as Jin Lei's figure disappeared into the distance, it did not take long for Yun Xi to realize the challenges awaiting her. Yun Xi acknowledged to herself that this mountain training was going to be extremely difficult.
Yun Xi checked out a few high-ground positions and moved toward them. She patrolled and rotated among these spots for more than two hours, searching for Jin Lei. However, try as she might, there seemed to be no sign of Jin Lei.
Even though she was dressed in the appropriate winter apparel and equipped with the proper equipment, Yun Xi could feel the cold engulfing her as she lay on the high ground in the snow searching for Jin Lei. To make matters worse, her legs were becoming numb, not just from the cold but also from the fact that she was having to maintain a prone position while lying in the snow for a prolonged period trying to get a glimpse of Jin Lei.
Looking through the gun's eyepiece and working on perfecting her precision was an action that Yun Xi was repeating over and over. However, in the vast, shadowy ground covered with snow where everything seemed to have the same white appearance, Yun Xi had trouble deciding on a target.
Although Jin Lei had not said that he was expecting a perfect, precise hit, Yun Xi was pretty sure that a shot too far off the target would not be deemed acceptable.
After enduring the cold for what felt like an eternity, Yun Xi had reached her limit. She flopped over and lay on her back in the snow. She was thinking over every possible suitable spot, and those that weren't suitable, for hiding. She didn't want to neglect any unexpected, but possible, positions.
Just when Yun Xi thought she had gone through all the likely places where Jin Lei could be hiding, she had a light-bulb moment. An unlikely location popped into her mind. Although the odds of finding Jin Lei hiding in that spot were long, Yun Xi held onto that thought with optimism. Without further ado, she flipped over, aligned her sights with the target, and fired.
As the thick red smokescreen created by the smoke grenade dissipated, a familiar figure appeared in the distance. It was Jin Lei. Just like Yun Xi, he had been hiding in the snow for hours. As he shook himself to get his body functions moving, he picked himself up and shot Yun Xi a thumbs-up.
Often, the least likely place will be the one most overlooked. Subconsciously, one would assume that an area that was only 200 meters from a sniper's line of sight would be a difficult place to stay hidden. Jin Lei had taken advantage of this trick of the subconscious and had decided to hide there.
If it had been anyone else, it is unlikely that they would have thought that a place like that could turn out to be a potentially good hiding spot.
Yet, Jin Lei had chosen to hide in a spot like that, and Yun Xi had coincidentally decided to pick the unlikeliest of places to target and had succeeded in hitting her target. This is a prime example of the saying, a blind cat meets a dead mouse, which is a metaphor for having great luck by chance, which is something that Yun Xi seems to have a lot of.
Seeing Jin Lei making his way toward her, Yun Xi gathered up her equipment and went to meet him. Yun Xi was thinking that a location that has been already tested will no longer require the need for another assessment.
"Your performance was very impressive, but I'm pretty certain that luck was on your side." Jin Lei glanced at his watch and continued, "You spent three hours and made a lucky guess. This is unacceptable. To be a professional sniper, you have to make an accurate analysis of the potential high ground and hiding spots from your knowledge of the Earth's topography alone. Your timing was also too long. Three hours is adequate time for your enemies to conceal and position themselves at a distance unfavourable to you. Do you realize that they can kill you within three hours?"
Yun Xi stayed silent as she listened to Jin Lei's assessment of her performance. She knew that he was right. She understood that she was lacking in skills.
"Now, let's switch roles. You hide, and I'll try to find you."
Without waiting for Yun Xi's reply, Jin Lei left for a place that he thinks will make a good spot on the high ground.
Glancing at Jin Lei's back growing smaller and smaller by the minute, Yun Xi dared not waste a minute. Ploughing through the thick snow, step by step, she steadily made her way to a hiding place.
Jin Lei is a professional sniper. So naturally, Yun Xi should not present him with the opportunity for her to be caught within 200 meters of his line of sight. That aside, regardless of the distance of her hiding spot from Jin Lei, the fact that she had to hide from Jin Lei was already no easy task.
As anticipated, it did not take long for Jin Lei to uncover Yun Xi's hiding spot. Yun Xi had just found a suitable spot to hide, but within moments she was hit by three shots from Jin Lei. She hadn't been hidden for more than a few minutes.
BANG! BANG! BANG! Deafening sounds like bolts of thunder filled the tranquil sky as Jin Lei pulled the trigger three times. Upon contact, the smoke grenade exploded into red fumes, creating a smokescreen around Yun Xi. Realizing she had been hit, Yun Xi crawled out of her hiding spot, looking slightly abashed. Dejected, she plopped herself down on the ground and patted herself in an attempt to dust off the residue from the smoke grenades.
"There. Can you see that? Now that's a terrific spot to hide in." As Jin Lei appeared, he pointed at a small steep slope to his right. "The reason that that would be a great spot is that from where I was positioned, that area, where the slope is situated, falls within my blind spot. Where you hide underestimates a professional's abilities. As you were walking here, you should have noticed from at least 50 meters away that this area where you chose to hide is exposed. Yet, you still chose to hide here. You have failed this round of the assessment. Retest!"
"Understood! Yes, sir!" Yun Xi let out an almost inaudible sigh. She was exhausted. Walking for hours on end at this high altitude had drained every bit of her energy.
After continuous rounds of assessments at different locations, Yun Xi finally grasped how to determine a good hiding spot that would fall in a sniper's blind spots. Seeing that his smoke grenade landed roughly ten meters away from Yun Xi, Jin Lei advanced toward her.
"Your choice was valid. At last, you got this round right, otherwise, you would have been on retest until daybreak."
As the sky darkened and dusk began to settle in, Jin Lei showed no signs of stopping. There was not a single trace of fatigue on Jin Lei's handsome face. "The night and the mountains in the snow... are ideal factors for perfect camouflage. I understand that you have not reached the stage of night shooting, so this time, I shall not hide. Instead, I'll be walking, but you have to be able to hit me."
"You must be kidding me. My shooting skills are terrible."
"I can hit a target within a range of 200 meters with my eyes closed. Don't be so quick to put yourself down, all right? You'll never know if you never try. In any case, if you miss the first shot, the second shot will be done from a distance of 250 meters. I'll increase the distance by an interval of 50 meters with every miss, so do your best. Once we reach 500 meters, and it's still a miss, we'll restart."
"..." Jin Lei left no room for discussion. Without a choice, Yun Xi could do nothing but agree. She picked up her box of equipment and headed to the next vantage point.
As Yun Xi lay in position, the sky darkened and the day got colder. Lying in the snow, Yun Xi's hands had become numb, and she felt as if her body was getting colder and colder by the minute.
Yun Xi tore open a packet of chocolates and started nibbling at it. After a few bites, she positioned her eye against the periscope and looked through it. Along the green horizon, a familiar figure could be seen walking. Yun Xi was focused. She planned on applying every skill and bit of knowledge she had acquired to this.
Wind speed, elevation, humidity levels, etc. Yun Xi was aware that these were all contributing factors that could affect a bullet's trajectory. Performing a quick calculation in her head, she had come up with a figure that she could use to account for the difference altitude had on a firing distance of 200 meters.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan, except that Yun Xi had forgotten to factor in her unfamiliarity with the sniper rifle. This unfamiliarity caused a slight deviation to her shot and Yun Xi missed her target.
The shot landed two meters away from the target. With a calm and unwavering expression, Jin Lei glanced at it and looked toward the origin of the shot. He signalled to Yun Xi to continue and walked a further 50 meters away.
Yun Xi adjusted her rifle scope, made a rough estimation of her firing direction, and pulled the trigger again.
This shot landed closer to the target. But the fact remained that it was a miss. Her feeling of helplessness intensified as Yun Xi peered into the periscope and watched Jin Lei walking farther into the distance.
As the distance she was going to have to fire increased, the challenge got harder. Yun Xi knew that panicking would be of no help. So she decided to divert her anxiety by focusing on improving her precision. Making small adjustments to her calculations bit by bit, she managed to calm herself down.
Firing from a distance of 300 meters, Yun Xi finally made a direct hit. Looking through the eyepiece, Jin Lei could be seen gesturing some sort of a signal. Following that, he made his way toward her.
"Instructor Jin, I think you're almost as strict as Instructor Zilan," proclaimed an exhausted Yun Xi as she lay sprawled out, with Jin Lei's face looking down at hers.
"That's because the Young Commander pampers you too much. I think I've been pretty lenient with you if I do say so myself. I've never been this courteous with a fresh recruit. Come on, let's head down. We'll head up here again tomorrow."
"I'm beaten. I have no energy left. Walking all this way has made me a cripple. It feels as if both of my legs are going to give way."
With utmost difficulty, Yun Xi managed to sit up. As her legs ached from the cold and had become numb, she clenched her fists and pounded at them, trying to make them regain their feeling. Sitting was already not an easy feat for Yun Xi, let alone getting up to walk.
Looking at Yun Xi's lamentable physical state, Jin Lei understood her current energy level and knew that she would not be able to make it down the mountain. Putting on a cold expression, he crouched down and said, "Get up, I'll piggyback you to the ski lift. Thereafter, you shall walk the rest of the journey."
Yun Xi had a hard time remembering how she'd managed to drag her legs, which had felt almost paralyzed, back to the hotel, but she eventually made it back in one piece. Seeing Yun Xi slump down against the cushions of the sofa the moment she returned, seemingly unable to get up, Mu Feichi felt heartbroken. As he noticed that her legs were still shivering from the cold, it broke his heart into a million pieces.
Jin Lei had left as soon as he had made sure Yun Xi had arrived at the hotel safely. So there was no one Mu Feichi could vent his anger on.
"Qi Yuan," Mu Feichi called out, "please fetch a big bowl of hot water suitable for a foot bath." Thereafter, Mu Feichi stayed silent. He sat on the edge of the sofa, frowning.
"I shouldn't have allowed Jin Lei to take you up the mountain."
Mu Feichi was aware of the difficulty of Jin Lei's training routine. If it had not been for his constant exhortations, it was most probable that Yun Xi would have been crawling, instead of walking, back to the hotel tonight.
"Young Marshal, remember what you promised? Didn't you agree not to be too lenient or too indulgent? What happened to not shielding my faults and covering up my mistakes? Instructor Jin may be strict, but he's not a bad person. He did cut me some slack. Although today was just a practice session, I must say it was instructive. I've learned quite a bit from today's session."
KNOCK! KNOCK! Qi Yuan entered the room with what seemed to be several bottles of varying heights and sizes. Mu Feichi leaned over and sat beside Yun Xi. Without saying a word, he lifted his hand and pressed it against a spot right below Yun Xi's shoulder, but just above her chest. "Does that hurt?"
With her eyes concentrated on the direction of his hand and what it was moving toward, Yun Xi was taken aback by Mu Feichi's sudden motion. Any farther and he would have touched her chest.
Her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment, Yun Xi speedily slapped Mu Feichi's hand away. "Hey! What are you up to? Are you trying to take advantage of me? You hooligan!"
"For god's sake, you're already in a terrible state, how could I take advantage of you?"
Watching Yun Xi's reaction, Mu Feichi couldn't help but burst into laughter. She had crossed her forearms in front of her chest and was shooting him a wary look. Mu Feichi pointed to the area above her chest and questioned her again, "The sniper rifle you had, although it has one of the weakest recoils, there had to be some form of impact. Did that hurt?"
"Of course it hurts. But I can deal with it. Just hand me the medicine."
There was no way Yun Xi was going to remove her clothes in front of Mu Feichi. Besides, her bruise was located at a place visible to her, and applying the medicine to it should, therefore, be something she could do on her own.
"I'm at your service, free of charge too. Are you sure you're going to give this opportunity a miss?" Mu Feichi teased her.
"I'll pass. A treat or a trap, I can still distinguish between them clearly. But in any case, I shall not trouble you to personally treat my bruise. Besides, I did not injure my hands so I can do this."
"All right then, if you say so. I'll leave you to it."
With that, Mu Feichi placed the bottle of medicine next to Yun Xi. He then let out a small sigh and asked her, "How did you perform today? Share it with me; I want to hear all about it."
Yun Xi gave him a detailed recount of the missions she had been tasked to complete and the lessons that she'd learned from Jin Lei. As Mu Feichi listened to Yun Xi's narration, he did not look in the least surprised at the results or the flow of events. It seemed as if the majority of events that happened were things he could have predicted. However, there was one thing that caught him by surprise: Yun Xi had obtained a result much better than he had expected.
"Well, well. it seems as if you have some talent in this field. If you hadn't, the two of you would have had to spend the night in the mountains. Then I would have had to cover 1,000 miles in search of my wife."
"Could you please calm down?" Yun Xi snapped as she shot Mu Feichi a glare. Reflecting on the day, Yun Xi understood the challenges of being a sniper and thought that it was remarkable and impressive that Instructor Zilan, despite her young age, had already achieved the title of First-Class Military Sniper.
"Young Commander, could I try out your War God when we get back?"
"What is there to try? It gives off a murderous vibe. It doesn't suit you."
"In that case...can I just have a look?"
"Are you implying that a rifle is more handsome than me? Don't I have a face much better looking than a rifle?"
"..."
...
The next morning, after breakfast and subsequently completing Jiang Qilin's course of acupuncture, Yun Xi went to find Jin Lei of her own accord and said she was ready to head up the mountain.
Seeing Yun Xi standing at his door, one could almost see the surprise on Jin Lei's expressionless handsome face. Jin Lei had thought that after the previous mountain training session, Yun Xi would most probably be convinced by the Young Commander to stay in and rest at the hotel.
"Precisely because I have a poor physique and physical strength, I should be training a lot. Once we return, I'm afraid there will not be a training ground as good as this. So I should be treasuring this opportunity. Slacking off? No can do."
"All right then, wait for me downstairs. I'll be down once I've changed."
With Yun Xi's heart set on continuing training, Mu Feichi knew that no amount of persuasion from him was going to convince her otherwise. Even though it worried him a lot, Mu Feichi ultimately did not attempt to stop her.
In the future, if there ever was a need to go to war, whatever skills Yun Xi had to learn and whatever scenarios she had to face, Mu Feichi couldn't protect her in every situation.
Mu Feichi and Yun Xi both understood that only a formidable opponent has nothing to fear.
On the last day of training on the mountain, Mu Feichi went to the chair lift terminal to pick up Yun Xi. His expression changed when he saw, from a distance, that she was riding piggyback on Jin Lei.
Qi Yuan, who was standing beside him, felt a murderous rage in the air all around them. Without much thought, he walked over to Jin Lei and helped Yun Xi down from his back.
Qi Yuan glanced at Jin Lei, and he immediately understood. He stepped back to keep a distance.
His cool handsome face returned to its usual cold and serious expression, open yet estranged as if he were not the one who had carried her on his back.
Jin Lei lifted his eyes and looked at the figure standing at the door. Mu Feichi had braved the snow to come up the mountain to meet Yun Xi even though he was injured. The girl's importance to him was perhaps far beyond Jin Lei's expectations.
Fortunately, he hadn't acted out of line, otherwise, what he would have had to face would not be the Young Commander's anger but his gun.
Yun Xi saw Qi Yuan and, at the same time, noticed Jin Lei drawing away. She looked up, seeing the figure coming toward her, and she realized what had happened.
She gave Jin Lei an awkward smile and walked indignantly toward Mu Feichi.
The countenance of the man, who was filled with jealousy, was as black as the night sky above.
"You have not recovered from your injury. Why do you come here instead of resting properly?"
Stepping forward, she put out her hand to help him, but he clasped her wrist, turned and walked toward the chair lift.
At that moment, she knew that she could not oppose him, but instead could only soothe him.
Qi Yuan and Jin Lei looked at each other and held their peace. They slowed down and got into another chair lift behind them.
On the chair lift, Yun Xi purposely leaned over several times and looked at him. Her movements finally caused the stern-faced man to turn around.
"What are you staring at?"
"Well, it's rare to see you look so jealous. I thought it was quite original, so I took a few more looks."
"..." Mu Feichi snorted. He looked through the glass window at the few empty chair lifts ahead, as if he could stare through them and kill Jin Lei with his eyes.
"Did Jin Lei give you a piggyback yesterday as well?"
When a hoity-toity man became jealous, he could get very petty and fuss over even the littlest thing. Otherwise, he would feel uncomfortably upset as if his possession had been coveted by others.
"Young Marshal, what are you fussing about? In the eyes of Instructor Jin, I'm only a student, perhaps not even a real student. He's just teaching me some techniques at your request. He would do the same for anyone."
"Even I have never given you a piggyback ride. He seems to have taken advantage of you."
"But you took a bullet for me. My heart is very clear on who is more important."
"......" Perhaps these words comforted Mu Feichi for he said nothing more. When they got back to the hotel, he had Jin Lei return to the country straight away.
Jin Lei had been having trouble finding excuses to leave. Therefore, when Mu Feichi asked him to go back, he simply did. After all, they had to return home in batches on different flights anyway to reduce risk.
School started on the 14th of the first month. By the time Yun Xi got home, she had already missed the inauguration ceremony. She took a day off to rest at home, to recover from her jet lag and returned to school the next day.
As soon as she got home, Yun Yuanfeng held her award and looked at it with a joyful sigh, for a long while. On hearing that the president would present her with another award, he was so excited that he almost jumped over the sofa.
"Yun Xi, is that true?"
Yun Xi nodded. "I was informed of this by my teacher. I'm not sure if I will meet the president or not. If the president presents me with the award personally, that would be my greatest honour."
Even Yun Yuanfeng had never met the president.
This highest honour that had fallen on Yun Xi made Yun Yuanfeng feel very proud.