At 2 PM, a notification was sent in the class group chat to attend a general meeting in Lecture Hall 1.
Attendance would be taken, and almost everyone showed up.
The archaeology freshmen, who had not yet faced any real hardships, were full of energy and youthful enthusiasm.
The classroom was noisy like a marketplace until the counselor had to bang on the desk twice to get everyone to quiet down.
The counselor was a senior student from the university’s graduate program—still young, but with a weathered face.
After taking attendance from the roster, he began explaining the military training schedule and safety precautions.
Especially since Qian Sheng had just arrived at the school and already ended up in the hospital after being hit by an electric fan—likely unable to attend the training—the counselor repeatedly emphasized the importance of safety.
Zheng Pang glanced subconsciously at Zhang Xianyu, who was sitting upright, and gave him a flattering smile.
That guy is a pro.
The day after the meeting, military training officially began.
Military training started at 7:30 AM.
The three of them got up early, had breakfast in the cafeteria, and gathered at the sports field.
The entire field was already a sea of army green.
At that point, no one had yet felt the cruelty of training—everyone was still full of laughter and cheer.
Zheng Pang found his class and began chatting warmly with others, slinging arms over shoulders.
Luo Danqing lazily basked in the sun on the side, while Zhang Xianyu lowered his head, replying to Wu Shui’s messages.
After returning their apartment in Zijing Garden, Lin Wushui had gone back to his family home.
However, he and Zhang Xianyu had added each other on WeChat and kept in touch.
Back at his company, Lin Wushui had been catching up on a month’s worth of backlog—working overtime for two days straight.
His assistant even gossiped, asking if he had a sister.
It annoyed Lin Wushui so much that he vented to Zhang Xianyu on WeChat: Wu Shui: I work overtime and don’t even get paid.
Wu Shui: My assistant does nothing but gossip about the boss.
Wu Shui: I can’t even eat a hot meal.
Wu Shui: Feeling blue and mushroom-like…
QAQ (crying emoji)
Zhang Xianyu looked at the string of memes he sent, imagined Wu Shui’s cold, elegant face making those expressions—and couldn’t help but laugh.
Salty Fish Turnover: Once training’s over, I’ll treat you to a meal.
Lin Wushui was instantly cheered up and began making shameless demands: Wu Shui: I want your sweet-and-sour fish, spicy beef stew, caramelized bananas, stir-fried shredded potatoes, and braised ribs with carrots……
Salty Fish Turnover: ……………..
Wu Shui: (T_T)
“Here comes the drill instructor,”
Luo Danqing elbowed Zhang Xianyu, reminding him to put away his phone.
Zhang Xianyu quickly replied with a “Got it” and stuffed his phone into his pocket.
The instructor was a burly man in his thirties, wearing camouflage, muscular and dark-skinned, with a naturally fierce expression—even when smiling.
Zheng Pang wailed,
“We’re doomed.”
The instructor, surnamed Zhao, gave a brief self-introduction and began roll call: “First row, starting from the left—count off!”
The newly enlisted trainees responded weakly and in disorder.
Instructor Zhao frowned deeply,
“Again! Louder!”
They repeated it louder this time—but still messy and out of sync.
Old Zhao’s scowl could probably crush a mosquito.
He scolded them, spitting with rage: “You’re the worst batch I’ve ever trained! Can’t even count off properly?!”
So Zhang Xianyu’s group spent the entire morning practicing their count-off.
Their hoarse voices echoed across the field, as if they were about to shred their vocal cords.
At lunch, Zheng Pang slumped over the cafeteria table and dramatically gave his final words: “I won’t survive this training. If I don’t make it, burn some paper money for me, bros. I wanna eat well in the afterlife…wuwuwu…”
Luo Danqing teased him deliberately,
“Then I’ll inherit your figure collection on your desk.”
“No way!”
Zheng Pang, weak as he was, shot up in rage.
“Those are my wives! Bros don’t steal each other’s wives, got it?!”
Zhang Xianyu: “……You have a lot of wives, huh?”
To protect his “wives,” Zheng Pang didn’t dare to fool around anymore.
He quietly scooped food into his mouth.
After a couple of bites, he suddenly remembered something and tugged at Zhang Xianyu mysteriously.
“Yu’er…”
Zhang Xianyu got goosebumps from the sycophantic tone and glanced sideways at him.
“What?”
Zheng Pang rubbed his hands and giggled.
“Uh, when we get back to the dorm later, could you…pray for rain?”
“……”
Zhang Xianyu looked at him like he was an idiot.
Zheng Pang got anxious and pulled Luo Danqing into the conversation.
“Danqing, you saw it too. Our Yu’er has a blessed mouth! If he prays, it might actually rain!”
Luo Danqing patted his head lovingly and said with sympathy,
“So young, and your brain’s already broken.”
Zheng Pang: …………………
Don’t mess with me!
Zhang Xianyu glanced at his phone and said comfortingly,
“It’ll rain the day after tomorrow.”
Zheng Pang lit up, even his eyebrows perked up.
“You calculated it?”
Expressionless, Zhang Xianyu placed his phone on the table.
“Weather forecast.”
Zheng Pang: ………oh.
But he was still happy.
That afternoon, thankfully, they weren’t made to practice counting again.
Instead, they moved on to standing at attention and marching.
At 2–3 PM, the sun was blazing.
The students standing stiffly like soldiers looked like wilted cabbages under the scorching sun, exuding an aura of pure misery.
After barely surviving the day’s training, the newbies decided to “take revenge” that evening.
Though there was no training at night, the students were made to sit in their assigned squads to build team spirit—by holding a sing-off competition.
Instructor Zhao, who had been fierce all day, wasn’t strict at night.
The students, all eager for payback, began chanting for him to sing.
The squad next to them joined the teasing, and before long, both groups were yelling,
“Sing! Sing!”
In the darkness, Instructor Zhao’s already dark face somehow looked even darker.
But instead of dodging, he cleared his throat and sang
“The Green Flower in the Army”.
Instructor Zhao sang with earnest effort.
Though he lacked technique, his strong and powerful voice stirred everyone’s emotions.
Gradually, they all joined in.
Not to be outdone, the squad next door sang along under their own instructor’s lead.
Both groups were locked in a noisy back-and-forth—each trying to out-sing the other.
Their off-key voices could be heard across half the field.
They messed around like this until 9 PM, when the squads were dismissed and everyone went back to rest.
As the three of them walked back to their dorms from the field—which was a bit of a hike—Zheng Pang suggested,
“Wanna take a shortcut?”
Luo Danqing looked doubtful.
“You’re sure you know the way?”
Not that he could be blamed— Jiangcheng University was massive, and they’d only been there for two days.
They had just figured out the paths to the dorms, cafeteria, and sports field.
Anywhere else still required a map.
Zheng Pang chuckled.
“What, you think I’ll lead you into a ditch?”
Normally it took about 20 minutes to walk from the field to the dorms.
Since there was a shortcut, the other two followed him.
As they walked, Zheng Pang explained,
“A sophomore told me there’s an air-raid shelter that cuts through.”
The main road to the dorm looped around, but if they went through the shelter, it was a diagonal shortcut—significantly quicker.
“But…”
Zheng Pang’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“They say it’s haunted.”
Luo Danqing asked,
“Haunted how? Ghosts?”
Zheng Pang nodded and lowered his voice dramatically.
“People walking through at night…said they heard a voice from behind the door whispering, ‘open the door…’”
During the war against Japan, Jiangcheng was once occupied.
The university had served as a command post for the Japanese army.
Rumor has it that they dumped corpses into the abandoned air-raid shelter.
Even now, stray cats sometimes sneak in and drag out fragments of bones.
Luo Danqing snorted.
“Ghosts need you to open doors now? Can’t they walk through walls?”
Zheng Pang froze, smacked his lips, and admitted,
“Hey, that’s a good point. That ghost story really lacked effort!”
The three of them reached the air-raid shelter while chatting and laughing.
Honestly, it wasn’t surprising that students liked to make up ghost stories—this place looked creepy enough.
The walls were old and worn, with a few dying ivy vines barely clinging on.
A long tunnel stretched inside, and the dim, pale lights didn’t offer any sense of safety.
If anything, the low brightness made the place seem eerily ghostly.
The temperature inside was also noticeably lower.
Just standing at the entrance, they could feel the chill coming out from within.
Though Zheng Pang had been all brave telling ghost stories earlier, he chickened out at the door.
He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and quietly hid behind Zhang Xianyu.
“Yu’er, let’s just go, okay?”
Zhang Xianyu gave him a glance and calmly walked inside.
Inside the air-raid shelter, it was just the three of them.
Even their slightly raised voices echoed off the walls.
Zheng Pang shrank behind Zhang Xianyu like a timid little wife.
Luo Danqing deliberately tried to scare him: “Fatty, what’s that behind you?”
Zheng Pang screamed and jumped onto Zhang Xianyu like an octopus.
“Quit scaring him,”
Zhang Xianyu said as he struggled to peel him off.
“Your ideological foundation is too weak. Go back and read more on Marxist philosophy and Mao Zedong Thought. Let the light of socialism wash away the poison of your feudal superstitions.”
Zheng Pang looked like he was about to cry.
The shelter was long, with iron doors scattered along the side walls.
Through the peepholes, the rooms inside looked pitch black—definitely spooky.
Thinking about the story again, Zheng Pang shivered and tried to curl into a ball.
Zhang Xianyu and Luo Danqing led the scaredy-cat forward.
They had only walked a short distance when Luo Danqing suddenly raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with surprise.
“That door’s open.”
Just ahead of them, one of the iron doors stood ajar.
Who knew which student with no conscience had opened it?
The air-raid shelter was part of a complex underground system.
During the war, the base of Luocheng Mountain had been hollowed out.
No one knew just how big the shelter was or where it led.
Before the entrance was sealed, brave students used to sneak in to explore.
But after one student reportedly never came back, the school welded the doors shut with heavy locks to prevent accidents.
Zheng Pang poked his head out from behind Zhang Xianyu, took one look, and screeched,
“Oh my god!”
He panicked and urged them to run.
His voice even cracked.
“Go! Go! Let’s get out of here!”
Why did I have to jinx us earlier?!
Zhang Xianyu took a glance at the dark room inside the open door, furrowed his brow slightly—
But then Zheng Pang, nearly terrified out of his mind, grabbed him and ran for dear life.