Slaying God: I, the insane and witty god

Chapter 732: Finding the Way Forward Between Questions and Answers, and Giving Opportunities Beyond

At five o'clock, the playground was covered with a thin layer of mist, and the dew made the track damp.

Lu Baoyou squatted under the horizontal bar, the toes of his shoes grinding on the grass.

The sweat on the back of his neck trickled down his collar—he had arrived at 4:30, ran five laps, and was now staring at the iron gate in a daze.

The iron door opened with a creak.

Lin Qiye came in waving his key chain, followed by Wu Hen who was holding a piece of grass in his mouth.

Both of their trouser legs were covered in mud, as if they had just crawled out from somewhere in the dark.

"Quite on time."

Lin Qiye put the key in his pocket and put his hands on the horizontal bar. "How many kilometers did you run?"

Lu Baoyou stood up, his Adam's apple moving: "Seven laps."

"The body is good, but what about the brain?"

Wu Hen moved the grass from the left corner of his mouth to the right, "Is the candy I gave you yesterday sweet?"

"sweet."

Lu Baoyou clenched his fists, "But that's not what I came here to talk about today."

He stared into Lin Qiye's eyes and asked, "I want to ask, can my new recruit qualification be restored?"

Lin Qiye didn't respond, but lowered his head and tugged at his shoelaces.

Wu Hen actually laughed out loud: "Little comrade, do you think the Demon Suppression Division is a vegetable market? You can retreat when you say so, and advance when you say so?"

"I know I violated the rules." Lu Baoyou's voice was tense.

"But that day at the trial grounds, I didn't mean to contradict the instructor. I just... I just couldn't get over it."

His knuckles turned white.

"I started training in physical skills at the age of twelve, and joined the Night's Watch Preparatory Camp at the age of sixteen, all for the purpose of wearing this Demon Suppression Division uniform."

"If you want to punish me by making me do more training, by making me run ten or twenty kilometers, I'll accept it."

"But you can't just brush me off like that."

Lin Qiye straightened up and patted his shoulder: "Do you think it's my pleasure to brush off people?"

"The Demon Suppression Division accepts 3,000 new recruits every year, but fewer than 300 can survive the three-month training."

"It's not that we are cruel, it's that the monsters outside don't show you any mercy."

He tilted his head and looked at Wu Hen, "Old Wu, how many of those recruits who were bitten by the Green Flame Python last time were because they didn't take their training seriously?"

Wu Hen stopped smiling, took out a cigarette and put it back: "Three. The remaining seven are all due to hesitation at the last minute."

He raised his chin towards Lu Baoyou, "Xiao Lu, do you know why the swords of the Demon Suppression Division are poisoned?"

"It's not to kill you, it's to make you understand - some mistakes, once made, there's no chance to correct them."

Lu Baoyou's eyes were red: "Then can't I change it now?"

"Okay."

Lin Qiye suddenly laughed, "But the recruit qualification cannot be restored."

He raised his hand to stop Lu Baoyou's rebuttal.

"However, I can allow you to attend the training camp as an auditor."

"We endure the same hardships and run the same laps, but we are not qualified to receive uniforms or take practical classes."

"Why?"

Lu Baoyou clenched his fists and took a step forward. "How am I worse than them?"

"Just because you touched the candy wrapper at the cafeteria entrance yesterday and then went running."

Lin Qiye reached out and poked him in the chest.

"You're angry, unwilling, and resentful. These things can save lives on the battlefield, but they can also kill you."

"I let you sit in on the class to give you time to smooth out this energy."

He turned and walked towards the middle of the playground. "If you've thought it through, stay. If you haven't thought it through—"

"I stayed."

Lu Baoyou interrupted him, "But I need to know why."

Lin Qiye stopped and turned his back to him: "Because stance is not a black and white wall, it is a river."

He turned his head and asked, "Do you think it's right for the Night's Watch to go against the Demon Suppression Department?"

"But do you know? Three years ago, the monster tide broke through the southern border defense line. It was the Night's Watch who risked their lives to give us three days of delay."

He pointed to the gradually brightening morning light and said, "We are all swimming in the river, in different directions, but we all have to go to the shore."

Wu Hen squatted down and pulled out a piece of grass, turning it in his hands: "Xiao Lu, have you seen the baby beasts in the demon nest?"

"It's the size of a palm, and its eyes are like glass beads. But when it grows fangs, it can gnaw an entire village to the bone."

"When it comes to stance, in the short term it's about grudges, but in the long term it's about survival."

Lu Baoyou opened her mouth but no words came out.

He remembered that when he was running in the playground last night, he heard a few veterans chatting - saying that last winter,

The Demon Suppression Division and the Night Watch jointly cleared the Blood Bat Cave. The two teams stood back to back in the cave for half a night.

When they came out, their uniforms were soaked in blood.

"Figured out?"

Lin Qiye handed him a bottle of water.

"It doesn't matter if you haven't figured it out, just follow along and practice." He suddenly tilted his head and smiled.

"By the way, I'll give you another chance."

"Chance?"

"Three chances to kill me." Lin Qiye patted the demon-slaying sword on his waist.

"You can take action at any time during the training camp."

"Use physical skills, magical weapons, or even poison—as long as you can make me lose my fighting ability, you win."

"I tried it three times but it still didn't work..."

He dragged out his voice, "I will personally throw you out of the Demon Suppression Department."

Lu Baoyou was stunned: "Why?"

"Because I want to see whether your stubbornness can be sharpened into a knife, or whether it will only prick yourself."

Lin Qiye turned and walked towards the equipment area. "First class, ten kilometers with a weight. Old Wu, get him the equipment."

Wu Hen threw over a canvas bag, which made clanging sounds - it was full of cast iron blocks.

Lu Baoyou caught it and when he looked up he saw Lin Qiye’s back.

The morning mist had dissipated a little, and one could see a crescent-shaped scar on the back of his neck, like an old wound.

"Still standing there?"

Wu Hen kicked the backpack at his feet and said, "There will be breakfast after five kilometers. If you are later, there will be no meat buns."

Lu Baoyou squatted down to tie her shoelaces, and her fingers touched the scratches on the canvas bag - as if they were caused by a knife.

He stood up and looked at Lin Qiye's back. Suddenly, he felt that the scar was not like a wound, but more like a medal.

"Run!" Wu Hen shouted from behind.

Lu Baoyou rushed forward, the wind blew into his collar, cooling the sweat on his forehead.

He heard his own heartbeat, louder and deeper than yesterday.

The sycamore tree beside the playground rustled, and a few leaves fell and floated towards the equipment area.

There, Lin Qiye was inserting the demon-slaying sword into the sand. The blade reflected the morning light, so bright that it was blinding.