Beast Taming Patrol

In Lin Su's memory, this instructor, who had a very bad temper, was smiling brightly in the photograph, like a sunny big boy.

Is this Instructor Li Hong…

Amidst his sorrowful remembrance, Lin Su couldn't help but be curious.

"Instructor, this photo…"

"Oh, you mean this," Xing Yun looked at Li Hong's black and white photo as if he were looking at an old friend, a touch of remembrance in his one eye, "You know, many of the instructors in the preparatory camp are old comrades who have known each other for many years, initially, many of them fought together in the same team."

"Although I only became an instructor in the preparatory camp with Li Hong for four or five years, I have known him for ten years." Xing Yun smiled faintly, "When I first met him, it was his first day of enlistment, just twenty years old, an elite Beast Tamer, and I had enlisted a year before him, so he called me senior."

"Back then, he was the most cheerful in the entire combat camp, every time a comrade sacrificed, he would secretly wipe away tears while deliberately telling us jokes to slightly ease the atmosphere," Xing Yun cursed with a laugh, "His mother's, who could laugh when a comrade is sacrificed?"

"Later, as the number of battles increased…" Xing Yun shook his head slightly, "More and more comrades were sacrificed, and the members of the combat camp changed batch after batch, those who could stay were all battle-hardened warriors."

"Can you imagine the pain of constantly sending teammates away?" Xing Yun sighed softly.

"We could still fight, but we had had enough of goodbyes."

"That's why Li Hong and I chose to become instructors at the preparatory camp one after the other, and a few other old comrades did the same, though they aren't in the 19th combat team, so you probably don't know them."

"After entering the preparatory camp, Li Hong suddenly changed, becoming extremely harsh with every batch of preparatory members, often saying all sorts of unpleasant things." Xing Yun's gaze returned to Li Hong's smiling black and white photo, his eyes filled with a hint of loss, "This guy is a smart man."

Xing Yun did not explain the meaning of his last sentence but fell silent once more, picking up the wine in his hand and gulping it down fiercely.

Instructor Li Hong, secretly wiping away tears for the sacrifice of comrades, telling jokes to his teammates…

Lin Su remained silent.

Xing Yun's narration painted a completely different picture of Li Hong.

"Instructor, how is Li Hong's squad doing?" He suddenly spoke, "Instructor Li Hong sacrificed, their mission…"

"Li Hong's squad, the mission has already been completed." Xing Yun's face showed a bit of self-mockery, "When I crushed the rescue signal stone, Li Hong's squad had just returned to the rest camp, preparing to head back."

"So…" Lin Su's heart felt as though it was being tightly clutched, "If I hadn't encountered danger, could Instructor Li Hong have safely returned to the rear, and not have been sacrificed?"

Xing Yun suddenly looked up, glanced at Lin Su, then silently put down the wine jug and stood up from the ground.

His gaze was calm as he walked over to Lin Su, slightly shorter in stature, but with a compelling presence.

"Are you blaming yourself?" Xing Yun spoke calmly, "Do you think if you hadn't encountered danger, he could have lived, so you believe it's your fault he died?"

"Is it not?" Lin Su's eyes reddened slightly, filled with guilt.

"No, you're insulting him," Xing Yun spoke deeply.

"I…" Lin Su widened his eyes, staring at Xing Yun, quite perplexed by his words.

"Do you know? Li Hong wasn't very educated." Xing Yun's eyes carried a hint of pity, "He didn't like studying much, so in his youth, he took many detours. Because of his poor academic performance and his family's financial situation, he gave up on entering Beast Tamer University and signed the frontline pet beast cultivation agreement, thereby obtaining his first pet beast."

Frontline pet beast cultivation agreement…

Lin Su fell silent.

Once this agreement is signed, a first pet beast provided by the Yan Huang Alliance can be obtained for free, always a lower-tier leader species initial pet beast, and a valuable pet beast cultivation gift pack is also included.

The price, however, is that once reaching the elite level, one must serve at the frontier for a year.

He too once had the opportunity to make this choice, but worried about the merciless battlefield where one might never return, he preferred to contract with an elite species and never considered signing such an agreement.

"So, what he admired most were the alliance's researchers." Xing Yun sighed softly, "He always felt that the researchers who developed various evolutionary paths and various teaching skills did more to help the alliance than he ever could, merely knowing how to fight and kill."

"We are combat personnel, fighting bloodily, dying on the battlefield, it is our honor!" Xing Yun paused slightly, his voice rising a bit, "We are instructors at the preparatory camp, protecting every preparatory member with our lives, it is our honor!"

"From the moment we headed to the frontline, we had already disregarded life and death." Xing Yun looked quietly at Lin Su and spoke softly, "What do you think, at the last moment when Li Hong killed an enemy of the monarch level, Emperor species, and chose to help you buy time, was he regretting coming to the rescue, or was he feeling immensely proud?"

Lin Su remained silent.

But in his heart, he already had the answer.

He did not want to speak it aloud.