Li Shiyu could only continue to remain silent, because his medical skills were indeed still not yet at that level. Typically, military doctors who achieved that stage were those who had been practicing for up to 20 years and more; only accumulated medical experience could allow them to do so.
"If you cannot do that, then how can you argue with me that Luo Lang's injuries are not a relapse of his old injuries?" asked Ling Lan with a raised brow.
Boss, you're so despicable! Little Four and Luo Lang saw Li Shiyu being questioned so harshly by their boss that he was completely flummoxed, and they could only shake their heads mutely and sigh.
So easily and casually shunting responsibility to the other, without having to owe the other anything to boot ... once more, it was proven why only Boss Lan could be their boss. Sure enough, Boss Lan was stronger than them on all fronts. Even in terms of despicableness, this was so.
Li Shiyu's chest heaved up and down, making Ling Lan rather worried about whether he would pass out from anger. She could not help but begin reflecting on whether she had taken things too far ... (And you only know this now?) 1"Fine. Consider this occasion my fault and just let Luo Lang return for treatment." Li Shiyu finally managed to suppress his anger and replied through clenched teeth. He glared fiercely at Luo Lang, causing Luo Lang to feel a chill penetrate straight to his very bones.
Seeing that stormy expression of Li Shiyu's, Luo Lang turned a pitiful look on his boss, pleading — could he not be treated by Li Shiyu again? Ling Lan pretended to see nothing, but she was cheering for Luo Lang inside her heart. In order to become even stronger, oh Luo Lang, why don't you just endure this suffering for a while? Ling Lan believed that leaving Luo Lang at the Military Medical Research Centre would definitely yield excellent results.
After resolving the issue of Luo Lang, Ling Lan cheerfully left the Military Medical Research Centre. Seeing this, Li Lanfeng quickly said goodbye to Li Shiyu and left as well. He had borne witness to all of Ling Lan's cutting questions earlier and knew that Li Shiyu must be in a terrible mood right now. He was not going to stay and chance earning any spillover hate value.
Li Lanfeng had not forgotten that he had entered together with Ling Lan — if Li Shiyu thought he was Ling Lan's companion, then it would be a tragedy 2 . Besides, he had some things he wanted to say to Ling Lan, so leaving now would be killing two birds with one stone.
And so, Ling Lan and Li Lanfeng left the Military Medical Research Centre together. After walking for a distance, Ling Lan halted abruptly. Lifting a brow, she turned to Li Lanfeng who had been trailing behind her all this while and asked, "Can I help you?"
Li Lanfeng smiled and nodded. Taking a step forward, he drew closer to Ling Lan, causing Ling Lan to frown slightly. This was because she did not like strangers to get too close to her, but Li Lanfeng's following words made her forget all of this.
"Luo Lang's injuries ... have something to do with the Tianji incident, right?" Li Lanfeng said under his breath so only the two of them could hear.Ling Lan shot a cool look at Li Lanfeng and asked in return, "The matter of Tianji ... I heard their headquarters collapsed. The academy administration is investigating now; there's no official report yet. Pray tell how Senior Li came to this idea? Could it be that you have some insider information? Can you tell this Junior and clear my confusion?"
"Shi Mingyi has become a vegetable ..." Li Lanfeng commented with a half-smile, "Other people may not know where his predilections lay, but I know very well. It's such a coincidence that Luo Lang's appearance is exactly the type that Shi Mingyi favours. I've also found out that Luo Lang had visited the Military Medical Research Centre once yesterday afternoon. But I asked Young Master Shiyu and he knew nothing of it."
Ling Lan's expression did not change at all at his words. As calm as usual, she replied, "Senior Li, baseless conjecture will only lead people to the wrong conclusion. If you want to know why Luo Lang went to the Military Medical Research Centre yesterday afternoon, I can give you an explanation."
Ling Lan paused for a beat then continued, "In fact, since the beginning of yesterday afternoon, Luo Lang had felt something off about his body. So, after finishing the day's physical training courses, he hurried off to the Military Medical Research Centre, thinking to find Dux Li. However, our New Cadet Regiment suddenly received a mission from the administration of the military academy, and this mission was directly assigned by the upper ranks to Luo Lang by name. That's why we called Luo Lang to return, and this is also why Luo Lang had rushed back without seeing Dux Li."
On this end, Ling Lan was composedly spinning a believable tale for Li Lanfeng, while inside the mindspace, the flustered Little Four was hurriedly modifying information on the mainframe according to Ling Lan's words. Who'd have thought that even after she had wiped the slate so clean, this Li Lanfeng before her now had actually still managed to pick at a corner?
As expected of those within the military academy ... this seemingly harmless, genial, gentleman-like Li Lanfeng actually possessed such formidable deductive abilities ... quite frightening when he began to scheme. It was lucky that the other had not been more patient, coming to her immediately with just this bit of suspicion, thus giving her the chance to fill in all the gaps. Otherwise, if he had continued to investigate stealthily just like this, he might really find something incriminating. At that thought, Ling Lan could not help but feel some delayed fear, becoming rather apprehensive towards Li Lanfeng.
Once Little Four returned to confirm that he had settled everything, Ling Lan continued to say, "All of this should be recorded within the school mainframe. I believe that Senior Li has many talents in your camp, so you should be able to find the relevant records ..."
Ling Lan's words made Li Lanfeng's heart clench — had he truly made a mistake?
Just as Li Lanfeng was wavering in shocked indecision, Ling Lan advised him with a half-smile, "That's why, Senior Li, we need to learn how to fully understand the truth first before coming to conclusions. Otherwise, it's very likely that we will bring unwanted trouble to ourselves and others. I believe Senior Li agrees with me, right?"
Ling Lan's words were vaguely threatening, but Li Lanfeng did not mind at all, instead smiling to say, "I was just afraid that this matter really had something to do with Junior Ling Lan and your friends. You all have just offended Leiting, and now if you all offend Tianji as well, life will really become very difficult for you all in the military academy. But since this matter has nothing to do with you juniors, then I can stop worrying."
Li Lanfeng's words made Ling Lan's brow furrow lightly — what was the intention of Li Lanfeng telling her all this? Was he really just being nice?
Li Lanfeng did not care what Ling Lan thought, directly bidding farewell to her. Before he departed, he left one last statement behind which could be taken as an expression of concern, or which may perhaps have some deeper meaning. He said, "Junior, your spiritual mutation is very powerful, but try to use as little of it as you can. You cannot be certain that there is no one else at this military academy with a spiritual mutation similar to yours ... be careful in all things!"
That subtle smile Li Lanfeng directed at her before he left raised warning flags in Ling Lan's mind. What in the world had Li Lanfeng discovered? In her bewilderment, Ling Lan turned to Little Four to ask what he thought, but Little Four's answer only made Ling Lan even more confused.
Little Four said that this Li Lanfeng overall gave him a sense of familiarity, but Li Lanfeng was keeping everything under a tight lid. The slight trace of aura he exuded seemed like someone they knew, but it was also somewhat foreign as well ... Little Four just could not tell who he was like right then; perhaps if they interacted with him a few more times, Little Four would be able to find something more useful ...
Alright, since Little Four also had no good answers, Ling Lan could only push Li Lanfeng to the back of her mind for the moment. Besides, Li Lanfeng did not seem to have any bad intentions right now anyway, so Ling Lan decided not to waste too much effort thinking about him, because she now needed to begin working on the mission the New Cadet Regiment had accepted.
Although Luo Lang had returned to the Military Medical Research Centre to continue treatment, the selection of the honour guard to welcome the examiners still had to proceed. Ling Lan brought Wu Jiong and Xie Yi along, and they began selection activities among the New Cadet Regiment. Over the course of a few days, they finally rounded up a full team of members who fit the criteria the school administration wanted.
Subsequently, Ling Lan's team took charge of the training of this reception team. Those ceremonial tasks, such as lining up and welcoming procedures, were all handled by Wu Jiong, who was from a military elite family. Meanwhile, Ling Lan hung back till the end, where she then unleashed her horrifying force of presence upon them, letting these members accustom themselves to the feeling. Ling Lan believed that these examiners would certainly consist of battle-hardened soldier kings, so they would definitely carry a thick air of killing intent about them. If the members of the reception team could not get used to this type of oppressive killing intent, then no matter how perfect their preparations in lining up and welcoming the others were, the moment the members met the examiners, they would still be scared spineless by them and become unable to move. That would be too disgraceful for their New Cadet Regiment.
Ling Lan's words received everyone's agreement. In particular, Wu Jiong was deeply moved ... No wonder every time he saw his father or his grandfather, he would be so afraid that he found himself stilling in fright. One look was enough to almost send him slumping to the ground in fear. This was probably the endless killing intent they had cultivated from their experiences on the battlefield affecting his mind and spirit.
On Ling Lan's end, training for the reception was going on like a raging fire, while Luo Lang continued to endure the unbearably torturous treatment procedure under Li Shiyu. With regards to Luo Lang's return, Qi Long and Li Yingjie were filled with extreme schadenfreude.
Frankly, when Luo Lang had left this abyss of misery so early, getting away from the research centre, the two of them had been rather disgruntled. Think about it — they had all been injured within the same trench 3 , so what right did Luo Lang have to escape so quickly while they had to continue staying here and suffer? Of course their feelings would be imbalanced! Thus, when they found out that Luo Lang had returned, all their discontentment was cleared away.
It could only be said that these two were the absolute worst of good friends!
Another ten days went by, and Luo Lang finally recovered fully. Once again, he was discharged by Li Shiyu. Of course, before he was discharged this time, Li Shiyu ran countless examinations on him, even asking his instructor for a second opinion, because he was now extremely afraid that Ling Lan would continue extorting him.
However, in the eyes of Li Shiyu's instructor, this action was so commendable that he was touched. Look at this beloved disciple of his. How cautious and meticulous he was! As a military doctor, this was the correct attitude to have, being responsible for one's own patient till the very end ... and so the instructors' satisfaction levels towards Li Shiyu once again reached an all-time high, which was an unexpected boon for Li Shiyu. Who knows how Li Shiyu would feel about this when he finds out? Should he hate Ling Lan or be grateful to her for creating such a beautiful misunderstanding?
Being discharged along with Luo Lang were Qi Long and Li Yingjie. Qi Long, in particular, had recovered astoundingly quickly. Although his injuries had been the worst among the three of them, his physical constitution was the best and his body's ability to absorb the medical agents was also very strong. Thus, the three of them coincidentally ended up recovering altogether to be discharged at the same time.
When the three of them stepped out of the Military Medical Research Centre, they were so moved that they instantly hid their faces and cried. D*mmit, they were finally free of that hell!
Even the typically upbeat and fearless Qi Long had been thoroughly traumatised by Li Shiyu's fearsome treatment methods, while Li Yingjie found fear growing within his heart. From this point on, he had an unshakeable psychological apprehension towards his cousin brother. In future, this would cause him to not dare to disobey Li Shiyu's orders at a critical moment ... 4
It had to be said that Li Shiyu had indeed achieved his objectives through this move. He had established a 'brotherly bond' with Li Yingjie, making them able to watch out for one another in the end. And though this bond was somewhat counter to his original imaginings, at the bottom of it, Li Yingjie would still listen to him now 5 .
