The next day, in the camp tent.
Su Jiu sat like a doll in front of Bai Qianyu, still wearing her medium-short skirt JK uniform. Even her leg stockings were tough enough for carrying daggers and fighting demons without tearing.
Holding her locked phone, she puffed her cheeks looking at Bai Qianyu styling her long hair behind her, muttering quietly: "Just tie a simple ponytail. Why make it so complicated?"
"If I don't tie it up, grass will stick to it later and be hard to wash." Bai Qianyu smiled, took the black rose hair tie from her wrist, and carefully gathered Su Jiu's black hair bit by bit.
The gentle movements made Su Jiu feel very comfortable, more comfortable than getting a haircut and wash...
"Mm."
Hearing this, Su Jiu lowered her head slightly, looking at her black leather shoes, her two plump little legs swaying, thinking: "Such a considerate Little Bai... seems like the novel never said who she married. How about..."
"Done! Use your phone to see for yourself." Bai Qianyu gently patted Su Jiu's head and smiled with satisfaction.
"Hm?"
Coming back to her senses, Su Jiu looked at her phone and was slightly stunned seeing the elf-like girl in the video. She really didn't know how to dress up... didn't expect such a big difference?
The girl in the phone had a palm-sized delicate flawless face, three thousand strands of black hair gently gathered at her shoulders, leaving only a shorter strand draped over her back shoulder.
A pair of willow-like eyebrows curved like crescents, but tinged with faint coldness at the tips. The black butterfly bow at her chest complemented the hair ornaments—how could "cute" even describe this?
"Little Bai, just follow me directly during this training..." Su Jiu admired herself a few more times, then turned around with a serious expression. Before Bai Qianyu could object, she slowly rose and walked toward the tent entrance, blocking the light, pausing before saying softly:
"Large demon traces appeared nearby. It's very likely... artificial, since this has been a safe zone all these years, right? With military sweeps, the probability of large demons appearing is very low."
"Okay."
Bai Qianyu nodded slightly. She generally chose to trust Su Jiu's words now, then asked, "What about your brother? He's in Liu Lin's team."
"I texted him. Cowards like him generally don't get into trouble." Su Jiu smiled and walked out of the tent. "Let's go. Sister Liu and the others will start nagging. Contact by phone if anything happens."
Su Jiu walked through the gazes of girls wanting to embrace her. Why only girls?
Because beneath Su Jiu's silly inner self was an extremely aloof expression, and those boys feared that one glance would make them like yesterday's Carrion Crow...
"Quiet!"
Soon, Su Jiu appeared alone on the small hill, scanning the six columns ready for action below. She slowly spoke: "The demon extermination team discovered traces of large demons in the area. If you're afraid, you can follow the demon extermination team now."
"Large demons? Can we really handle those things?"
"I'm out. Life is more important."
As soon as she spoke, discussion erupted below. In less than half a minute, people successively withdrew. The faces of those people's class monitors showed more or less ugly expressions as they enviously looked at Su Jiu's team at the very edge.
The team with the most people remaining was actually Su Jiu's "Pretty Girl Squad."
The reason was simple—Su Jiu was strong!
Su Jiu waited another minute, confirming no one else stepped out below, and specifically glanced at her silly bird brother.
Surprisingly, he was still in Liu Lin's team, standing right behind her with his body almost pressed against hers, and Liu Lin only gave him a light push.
No wonder the little bastard replied "Don't worry, sis. I can take care of myself." With a beauty's company, who wouldn't be confused?
Then with eyes opening and closing, Su Jiu coldly shouted: "Training begins! Go find demons and defeat them using techniques learned in class!"
Bai Qianyu was also decisive, shouting to her team below: "We'll follow Su Jiu's team. You all listen to her arrangements."
At first, some boys' faces lit up—being with a bunch of girls sounded great! But when they met Su Jiu's cold gaze, their faces immediately paled.
Better forget about hitting on girls...
"We'll go west along the river. This way we can encounter more demons, convenient for scoring points." Su Jiu shouted loudly, then had Bai Qianyu's team merge with hers. "Boys are responsible for carrying things and conserving energy for combat. Girls use blades and flames to clear the path! Students with transformation skills stand on the outside to protect those inside."
Su Jiu hadn't spent this past year reading so many wilderness combat books for nothing. While Lin Liu'er's four groups were still frantically busy, she had already organized the forty-plus person team in perfect order.
Seeing this scene, Liu Hong didn't say much, instead suggesting the remaining four groups also merge. Unfortunately, many of these people were young and proud. People like Lin Liu'er lacked Su Jiu's presence and couldn't control them.
"Instructor, don't worry. These are just no-grade demons—we can kill them casually."
"Bai Qianyu is so cowardly, actually hugging Su Jiu's thigh. All the demon kills will probably be taken by Su Jiu."
The four teams set off like on a spring outing, actually chatting and laughing, with some even bragging about how they showed their skills under wolf pack siege last time.
Liu Hong could only helplessly have her squad members secretly follow behind them. When large demons appeared this time, she had reported to the education bureau early, but still hadn't received a reply.
...
Next, Bai Qianyu led a group of pretty girls through the tall grass, with fire-attribute students directly clearing the path ahead.
Su Jiu stayed at the rear of the formation to prevent demons from snatching away these little piggies.
After some time, the team had walked for over an hour. Bai Qianyu had led the killing of some no-grade demons, and everyone stopped near a river to rest.
"The demons watching around have increased. This is already the center of the safe zone." Su Jiu opened her vertical pupils and looked around from the rear, her gaze piercing through the tall grass to meet pairs of red pupils. "We haven't seen shadows of other teams yet, but quite a few demons have appeared."
Vague black shadows flashed by at lightning speed like streaks in the night sky, scaring some students into jumping up.
Without Su Jiu saying anything, Bai Qianyu extended her finger, suddenly growing five black claws from her hand, leaped up, and shattered the black shadow.
Then she frowned and picked it up with her dragon claws, saying to Su Jiu: "It's a Carrion Crow. Why are there so many Carrion Crows? We've killed no less than five or six along the way."
"More than that... has a crow flock taken a liking to us?"
Su Jiu shook her head, her pupils looking toward distant withered trees. From afar, the trees looked very full and lush, but when Su Jiu looked with vertical pupils, she easily discovered those weren't leaves at all, but densely packed Carrion Crows hanging upside down.
"Crow flock? How is that possible? I remember class saying they don't dare rashly attack human groups—they only eat carrion and such."
A glasses-wearing girl heard their conversation and hurriedly checked her phone to refute.
"There's no large animal droppings nearby, so it shouldn't be very high-level demons."
Su Jiu glanced at her without speaking, slowly crouched down to draw the dagger from her leg, and expressionlessly scanned the surroundings.
Bai Qianyu seemed to think of something, her face suddenly changing dramatically as she shouted loudly: "Demons are attacking! Everyone prepare for battle!"
Eating carrion—if they died, wouldn't that be... carrion?