Xinglan thought she must have heard wrong.
Song Lili picked up the pear that had dropped to the ground from Xinglan’s hands and, shockingly, started dragging her away from the woods. Watching Xinglan’s retreating figure reluctantly looking back every three steps, Song Lili moved forward with even more resolve.
In the command center, a few proctoring instructors shook their heads, feeling that Tang Xiaohua lacked boldness.
"Why just turn around and leave? Does she really not want her baggage anymore?"
The junior commander murmured, feeling the plot development was dull.
However, sighs and headshakes only came from some naive soldiers. Duan Chen walked over and sat beside Lu Ziqing,
"This Tang Xiaohua is quite crafty."
"Does Company Commander Duan want to admit defeat early?"
"It’s just cleverness. Commander Lu, don’t be too confident."
Duan Chen said indifferently.
On the screen, Song Lili and Lin Xinglan continued to navigate forward with the map through a vast forest full of trees, a place that could easily disorient anyone; fortunately, Song Lili kept a compass hanging around her neck at all times.
Descending the western face of Luoshu Mountain and reaching the base before the sun set, Song Lili and Lin Xinglan felt light on their feet without the heavy burden of their luggage. All the way, Xinglan murmured about taking back their belongings—she couldn’t stand the thought of someone else benefiting at her expense...
But Song Lili seemed perfectly calm.
"It was you who said we should fight for our pride, and also you who said we don’t need the luggage. Tang Xiaohua, how come you change your mind so often?"
Xinglan couldn’t help but grumble.
Looking up, she saw Song Lili tugging at the vines on the cliffside, "Stop dilly-dallying and come help."
"What are you doing?"
"Don’t you want to get back at them?"
Song Lili tore off a piece of vine and sat down to start working, twisting three vines together to form a rope.
"The toughness of tiger vines makes them ideal for rope-making. This route is the essential path to Luoheng Mountain. If you’ve studied the terrain map carefully and are familiar with Luoheng Mountain, you’d definitely stop here to replenish your water and food."
"Are we going through Luoheng Mountain next?"
Xinglan was shocked; the girl who was already exerting all her strength just to keep up with Song Lili had not paid any attention to the terrain—following Song Lili was the only thing that mattered.
Now, hearing Song Lili mention it, she furrowed her brows, "That’s a wild mountain..."
"Yes, which makes it perfect for live combat drills."
Song Lili continued with her work, only sharing half the information; besides being suitable for wilderness combat training, Luoheng Mountain was also a secret military base for the Xilin Military Region.
Song Lili remembered her favorite Luoheng-style rifle originated from there.
She had only seen it in the news in the past; now, truly being on Luoheng Mountain, Song Lili couldn’t help feeling excited.
"Wild mountains... can be very dangerous."
"That’s why before we head to the wild mountains, we need to get our luggage back."
Song Lili was fast; the tiger vine was quickly twisted into a tough, resilient rope. She wrapped the rope around her hand, glanced at the sky to gauge the time, found a suitable spot, and tied a slipknot at the end of the rope, then wound it around a tree.
Xinglan had some suspicions at first, but it wasn’t until she saw Song Lili using soil, leaves, and twigs to camouflage the rope that she realized and said,
"Are you... making a trap?"
"Yep." Song Lili answered succinctly.