Beast Taming Patrol

Due to routine questioning, Lin Su was temporarily restricted to the range of the second operation sequence.

But this did not prevent him from meeting Xing Yun.

Soon, Lin Su took the familiar route back to the courtyard where Xing Yun's squad was located.

"Instructor Xing?" Standing in the courtyard, Lin Su shouted, but no one responded.

It seemed that the instructor was not here.

Lin Su sighed softly and walked towards the dormitory building.

The other nine squad members had already left and returned to Mountain City University early; their rooms were emptied, waiting for the next batch of reserve camp members to enter.

Lin Su's room remained because he had not yet left.

Entering the room and looking at the familiar furnishings, Lin Su's face broke into a smile.

Standing here, he remembered the half-month of intense training with everyone.

Now, the other nine team members had gone back to school.

By tomorrow, he should be returning too.

Thinking of this, Lin Su walked out of the room, planning to search for Instructor Xing at the training ground.

A moment later, he walked out of the training ground feeling disappointed.

Instructor Xing was not there either.

He regretted leaving so hastily; he should have asked around where Instructor Xing might be.

After only a few steps, a short-haired girl walked towards him from the opposite direction.

Seeing the girl's familiar face, Lin Su's eyes brightened slightly.

"Ji Yun!"

Ji Yun paused, then quickly wiped her slightly reddened eyes and walked towards Lin Su with a forced smile, "Big bro, have you completed your evaluation tasks?"

"They're already completed, and the others left early. I stayed due to some other issues," Lin Su said, glancing at Ji Yun's obviously tear-streaked face. "What happened to you?"

"Our task is completed." Ji Yun's eyes reddened again, "But our team's instructor sacrificed himself to protect us. We just held a memorial for him at the combatant's cemetery, so…"

She wiped her tears, "Our mission was to eliminate a small-scale hive, but an unexpected situation occurred—this hive merged with another nearby, and by the time we realized it, it was too late. If not for the instructor, we might have all died during the mission."

Lin Su was momentarily silent, "I'm sorry."

"I remember your squad's instructor is Instructor Xing, right? I think I saw him by the cemetery just now…" Ji Yun shook her head, sadness in her eyes, "I don't want to talk more, I need to go pack my things, I and a few teammates are catching a transport back to school today."

"Alright, go pack then," Lin Su nodded slightly, watching as Ji Yun left before turning towards the cemetery.

Speaking with Ji Yun had inadvertently led him to know Instructor Xing's whereabouts.

The cemetery, then...

The image of Li Hong flashed through Lin Su's mind.

Lin Su became silent.

He had guessed the reason why Instructor Xing was at the cemetery.

...

The Combatant's Cemetery.

Quietly moving among the numerous tombstones, Lin Su soon spotted Xing Yun.

He sat casually on the ground, holding a palm-sized portable water bottle, silently gazing at the tombstones before him.

Lin Su was speechless and silently walked forward.

As he approached Xing Yun, a scent of alcohol hit him.

Xing Yun turned his head to look at Lin Su and coughed lightly, "Combatants aren't allowed to drink alcohol; this is a flavored drink."

Lin Su: "…"

If you say so.

He stood silently next to Xing Yun, looking at the tombstones, his eyes suddenly reddening.

It wasn't just Li Hong.

Of the training team of Squad 19, three familiar faces of the instructors appeared on the tombstones in the form of black and white photographs.

"Instructors Zhao and Zhou too…" Lin Su spoke softly, worried that speaking too loudly might disturb the departed.

"Yes," Xing Yun's eyes flashed a pained expression, "An accident happened during Zhao Yue's squad's mission, and the same with Zhou Ran, in the end, neither of them made it back."

Lin Su fell silent again.

He still remembered the instructor called Zhao Yue, a spirited female instructor whose demeanor was somewhat similar to Sister Nan's. She taught military combat formations and companion beast coordination, stern during lessons but she quickly mingled with the squad members during break times.

Although he only attended Zhao Yue's class for a day, the impression she left on him was profound.

As for Instructor Zhou Ran...

This was the instructor who took over Tang Long's squad duties after Tang Long was injured.

Lin Su wasn't too familiar with him, yet the tragedy of a master combatant contracted with a monarch-class companion beast who took over the reserve camp squad and then sacrificed himself not long after during the final evaluation was deeply regrettable.

Lin Su's gaze finally rested on the black and white photograph of Li Hong.

He was slightly stunned.

The black and white photo differed greatly from his memory of Li Hong.

He remembered the first time he met Li Hong; Li Hong openly criticized all new recruits of the reserve camp as 'useless' and even made him stand punishment, often raising his voice to intimidate everyone.

During the combat team's intense training, this instructor rapidly became the least liked among Squad 19, even earning the nickname "Li the Devil" secretly among the members.

During the last three days of elective training content, Lin Su chose to attend Li Hong's class for a day. He remembered clearly that there were noticeably fewer attendees for Li Hong's class compared to others, even Xing Yun's stick technique class being more popular.