Xiao Jing washed her face at the stream, and let out a deep, long sigh as she looked at the setting sun.
"Why did I have to put myself through all this torment by joining Steel Eagle, when I could have been having it easy and living the high life?" she thought bitterly to herself.
If she were back at Regiment 525, she would have been having a shower right about now. She would have had a sumptuous dinner at the canteen before going to bed and falling asleep on a pillow with a lotus motif that had been sewn on by her personally.
But look where she was now, and what she was doing.
Xiao Jing sat down on the ground and rested her chin on her hands unhappily while she stared at leaves dancing in the light breeze. Her surroundings were extraordinarily quiet.
"Coo, coo, coo." The nightingales had started singing.
"Rumble, rumble."
Xiao Jing stopped picking up twigs and looked questioningly at the stream behind her. Why did she keep getting the feeling that something was approaching her?
The sun was setting, and twilight made it even creepier in the depths of the woods.
Xiao Jing carefully made a pile with the twigs and branches that she had picked up and started a fire. After she managed to get the fire going, she looked intently at the ground in front of her.
"Shh..shh…" The dried leaves were rustling quietly as if something was moving slowly towards her.
Xiao Jing focused all her attention on the rustling leaves and held tightly onto her gun.
A python hissed and slowly made its way around the stream, seemingly oblivious to the person who had her eyes trained on it.
After ascertaining that the python posed no threat to her, Xiao Jing let out a breath of relief and took two bites out of her bread.
"Gurgle, gurgle." The water in the stream started bubbling.
Xiao Jing's face blanched as she turned on the torchlight. In her panic, she stumbled backward.
There was a pair of red eyes gleaming at her in the darkness, and she could smell the stench of blood coming from the unknown creature.
"What's that?" Xiao Jing asked out loud as she swallowed nervously. The light emitted by the torchlight was minimal, so she could not see clearly what had just attacked her. However, it was apparent from its size that it was a living thing that was much bigger than her.
It was the jungle, so the creature she had in mind probably lived downstream. She had not thought it was possible to find something like that so far inland.
But it was evident that she had been too naïve!
"Grr….grr…" An angry growl was heard coming from the stream. After going past the fire, Xiao Jing finally got a good look at the massive creature.
"Oh my god," exclaimed Xiao Jing. She turned around and ran right into the woods.
The crocodile scurried forward and almost tripped Xiao Jing with a sweep of its tail.
Stunned, Xiao Jing shot two consecutive shots at the crocodile. Unfortunately for her, the bullets barely made a dent in its thick skin.
Instead, she succeeded in pissing off the crocodile, which was now crawling over towards her angrily.
Xiao Jing grabbed hold of a tree branch and climbed up as best as she could. She tried to reassure herself as she stared at the gigantic creature that was waiting for her at the base of the tree.
She barely had time to catch her breath before she felt something cold and slimy brush past her ankle.
Xiao Jing shot blindly at whatever was next to her leg.
The sound of the gunshot woke up all the birds that were resting on the trees.
One by one, the frightened birds took flight into the night.
Xiao Jing covered her head as they flew past her, afraid that she would get clawed by the birds.
"Bam, bam." Starting to get impatient, the crocodile had started slamming the tree with its vast body.
As the tree leaves rustled, Xiao Jing lost her balance and almost slipped from the tree.
"You can't do that!" Xiao Jing was at a loss as to what her next step was supposed to be and could only tighten her grip on the branch.
"As expected, I had overestimated your abilities." The overbearing voice of a man came to her from another tree and echoed within the woods.
Xiao Jing looked over in mild disbelief. She could barely make out his silhouette in the darkness.
Shen Chengfeng leaped down from the tree, and with a flash of his blade, the crocodile immediately backed off, cutting a sorry figure as it slipped back into the stream.
Xiao Jing was still in a daze as she climbed down from the tree. Blinking her eyes, and pointing towards the creature which had slunk away somewhat defeatedly, she said wryly, "Why do I have a feeling that you were the one who raised the crocodile? It ran away as soon as it saw you."
Shen Chengfeng placed the dagger back into its sheath and looked at the gleeful face out of the corner of his eye. "I need its help every time we train the recruits," he answered flatly.
Xiao Jing finally understood why the big man had acted so aggressively towards her, yet had run away as soon as it caught sight of the rice dumpling. It was probably afraid of getting beaten up by him.
Recalling her Commander's unique ability, she figured that it was probable that he had inflicted the uneven wounds on the crocodile's tail.
"You could have gone further and deeper, but you were too lazy and complacent, and wanted to settle near a water source. Otherwise, you could have avoided the dangers lurking around here."
Xiao Jing squatted in front of him and hugged her knees. "Have you been here all along?" she asked in a small voice.
Shen Chengfeng glanced at the smiley Xiao Jing and threw a stick into the fire.
"Every officer who is responsible for training his soldiers has to look out for their safety as well. If I had left, that fellow would have gotten a sumptuous meal today."
Xiao Jing looked in the direction he was pointing. Under the illumination of the moonlight, there was a pair of eyes staring at them in the stream.
Shen Chengfeng then picked up the black snake that Xiao Jing had shot and peeled off its skin with a slice of his blade. He picked up the body of the snake with a stick and placed it on the fire.
The mouth-watering aroma of meat attracted the attention of the big fellow inside the water.
Xiao Jing covered her mouth and frantically shook her head as she stared at the mound of snake meat that had been offered to her.
Despite Xiao Jing's refusal, Shen Chengfeng still insisted on placing it in front of her. "This meat has been thoroughly cooked. Next time you go on a mission, you might have to eat raw meat or even rats."
Xiao Jing's face blanched as she picked up the snake meat. She then shut her eyes and swallowed the tasteless piece of flesh on her tongue.
"Alright, you should get some rest now. I will bring you out of here tomorrow," said Shen Chengfeng, as he made himself comfortable on the dried leaves.
Xiao Jing moved her body slightly to get closer to him.
Shen Chengfeng opened his eyes and glared at Xiao Jing, who was on the verge of hugging him. "What do you want to say?" he asked.
"May I sleep next to you?"
Eyeing the big fellow in the distance, Shen Chengfeng moved a little and made some space for her.
Xiao Jing quickly lay down beside him, wrapped herself in his cape, and tried to make herself as small as possible.
Shen Chengfeng cleared his throat and said to her, "You're too close." "It's safer this way," answered Xiao Jing as she huddled next to him comfortably.