Chapter 248: Small Worm and Long Worm
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“All! Class monitor, is that necessary?”
In the forest, Peng Yuhang grimaced and muttered in a low voice.
Wang Ye’s expression mirrored his discontent, while the other recruit, Zhang Wen…
His face had already paled from vomiting, and now it seemed even more ghastly.
But why were they in this predicament?
The reason was straightforward.
After Zhou Qi led everyone into the forest, he promptly unsheathed his bayonet and skewered a small piece of deadwood from the side. Almost immediately, a plump, white worm emerged from it.
He plucked the insect and cradled it in his hand, explaining to Wang Ye and the other two that this would be their breakfast for the day.
Under these circumstances, it would be strange if the three privates, who had never encountered such a situation before, looked pleased.
“All! Class monitor, how are we supposed to eat this?”
On the sidelines, recruits from other squads were also voicing their concerns.
The very next moment, Ye Sanshi’s voice bellowed from the opposite end, “What do you mean, how to eat? You’ve got mouths, don’t you? Open up!”
Wang Ye and the other two turned their heads to see Ye Sanshi compelling a recruit to open his mouth.
As soon as the recruit complied, Ye Sanshi thrust a worm into his mouth.
“Wu wu…”
Wang Ye and the others were wide-eyed at the recruit’s momentary struggle.
However, Ye Sanshi seized his neck with one hand and covered his mouth with the other. “Swallow it!”
“Gulp!”
Wang Ye’s throat moved.
Frankly, Wang Ye wasn’t keen on eating this creature.
Though he understood that in the event of an actual war, he might have to consume whatever was available to survive when supplies ran low.
But they weren’t at that stage yet, were they?
“Alright, get moving. Everyone needs to find at least three of these critters this morning. Besides, there are other edible items in the forest.”
After this declaration, Zhou Qi turned to Qiao Xuan and the other three Class Eight officers. “You guys split up and accompany them. It’s your responsibility to teach them what’s safe to eat and what isn’t.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Hehe, Brother Zhou, don’t worry. If we stumble upon Danger Noodles I’ll make sure they get an extra meal!” Li Bing grinned.
In the eyes of Wang Ye and the other two, his grin was nothing short of devilish.
Danger Noodles?
Could Danger Noodles actually create caves?
And it was something from the wilderness.
Wang Ye wasn’t sure if Peng Yuhang and the others had figured it out, but as someone who had been immersed in internet culture in his past life, he knew exactly what Li Bing was talking about the moment he mentioned Danger Noodles.
Snakes.
This guy actually intended to hunt for snakes.
Wang Ye didn’t doubt Li Bing’s ability to catch them.
Although Wang Ye hadn’t encountered any snakes since joining the army, he was familiar with them from his previous life.
After ail, Xi Guang had a subtropical climate. The air here was humid, and the temperatures were conducive to snakes. Even in the winter months, when it got cold at night, and occasional rain made the temperature drop, snakes would hibernate, but they wouldn’t vanish entirely.
“Pay attention to your safety. When digging, don’t touch anything with poison!”
Zhou Qi offered this brief caution and allowed the recruits to proceed.
Peng Yuhang appeared on the verge of tears. “Class monitor, can’t we just stick to insects? Why go for snakes?”
His fear was palpable.
Snakes, whether venomous or not, were naturally fear-inducing creatures for most people.
To be honest, Wang Ye shared the same fear.
However, the system didn’t seem to provide any immunity to poison. Besides, this fear was largely psychological. After all, snakes had the reputation of lurking silently in the underbrush, waiting for an unsuspecting victim to approach before striking suddenly and delivering a potentially lethal bite. It was no wonder people were afraid of them.
Zhou Qi shot a stern look at Peng Yuhang. “You talk too much. Isn’t a snake just a big worm? I’m not asking you to eat it raw.”
“Actually, snakes taste quite good. We often eat them in the wilderness,” Li Bing chimed in.
“Yes, yes, yes. They’re even better when they’re venomous. If you make snake soup… Mmm…”
Li Bing’s anticipation left Wang Ye and the others feeling disgusted.
What kind of taste was this?
“Alright, let’s go, Wang Ye. I’ll take you to find something to eat!” Qiao Xuan stepped forward and patted Wang Ye on the shoulder, signaling for him to follow.
“Yes, sir!”
Without a word, Wang Ye turned and followed Qiao Xuan.
“Damn, eating bugs? Can you actually eat those things?”
Outside the forest, Zhang Ping’an observed the figures within with a mix of sympathy and disgust.
Beside him, an old Class Monitor from the fourth squad chuckled and remarked, “See, our Chef Class has it better. They’re munching on worms while we enjoy meat buns!”
“Absolutely,” Zhang Ping’an nodded emphatically.
Initially, he had felt a bit down about being assigned to the kitchen while others joined the combat company. However, in recent days, especially after seeing the strenuous routines these soldiers endured, he had grown increasingly grateful for his culinary skills.
He couldn’t help but think that with his physical condition, he might not have survived in this combat unit. He had even witnessed the painful blisters on Wang Ye’s hands.
The soldiers in this unit could probably outperform him easily.
Now, he was being asked to eat raw worms. The mere thought of it made his stomach churn.
“Actually, it’s not bad to be a soldier in Xi Guang,” Qiao Xuan led Wang Ye into the forest. As they walked, he smiled and said to Wang Ye, “This place has actually been specially cleaned up. It’s specially used for the recruits to practice this project every year, so there aren’t many fruit trees here.”
“But if you were outside, you could eat a lot of fruits now!”
“Yes, I know!” Wang Ye nodded. In fact, he had eaten some of them before.
During the previous confrontation, they had searched all over the mountains and plains for people. After Zhou Qi was finished, Qiao Xuan took over from him and waited at the periphery, so he didn’t leave with Wang Ye.
However, Wang Ye had followed Wu Jianfeng and the others to many places.
In the process, not to mention the various fruit trees planted in front of their homes.
There were all kinds of wild mountain grapes, orange trees, and even some lychee trees, green jujube trees, and so on.
When they were passing by, although they didn’t have time, they could still pick a few mouths to comfort themselves.
However, there was obviously no such thing here today.
Just as Qiao Xuan had said, today was a place for everyone to train.
Therefore, other than the insects in the branches, the only thing that could be found on the surface of the tree was the insects in the branches.
There were only some mushrooms and wood ears.
“Come here, there’s a snake cave here!”
In a bush, Wang Ye was picking up edible mushrooms from Qiao Xuan. Suddenly, Qiao Xuan, who was seven or eight meters away, turned his head and shouted at Wang Ye in a low voice.
“Good! He’s here.”
Wang Ye replied and ignored the mushrooms on the ground. He even threw the mushrooms that he had packed with the hem of his clothes on the spot. He stood up and ran over even though he was also afraid of snakes.
However, they didn’t lose the formation.
Moreover, who was he? He was Wang Ye, the new godfather of four consecutive recruits. He had been called the most awesome recruit, so how could he be afraid of snakes?
Even if he was afraid, he had to go.
“Deputy, can you confirm that there are snakes inside?”
Wang Ye came to Qiao Xuan’s side and asked in a low voice.
“There should be!” Qiao Xuan stared at the hole and whispered,” Normally, when snakes are active, snake holes should be smooth. It’s different from the rough appearance of rat holes.”
However, in this season, the snakes should still be hibernating. Most of the caves were covered in grass, and it was normal for them to not be smooth.”
After a pause, he looked at Wang Ye and continued,”However, we must be extremely careful when digging out snakes at this time.
Xiguang didn’t want to go inland.
At this time of the year, snakes in many places had to hibernate for at least a month.
However, in Xi Guang, the snakes were now in the cycle of ending their hibernation and coming out to hunt for food.
Therefore, at this time, even if they were really hibernating, they would wake up if we dug. Then, because the hibernation period was over, the snake would be very aggressive at this time.
Therefore, if it was a poisonous snake, we had to be extremely careful!”
Qiao Xuan made an effort to impart his knowledge to Wang Ye. Afterward, he turned to Wang Ye and said, “Let’s go and get two wooden sticks!”
Today, he hadn’t brought any shovels or backpacks with him. His equipment consisted only of guns and a bayonet. Consequently, they had to make do with sticks for dealing with the snakes, which were readily available in the forest.
With a swift motion, Qiao Xuan, a seasoned veteran of the 4th Company, used his bayonet to fashion two sharp sticks from nearby branches and stones.
Having prepared the sticks, Qiao Xuan returned to the entrance of the snake hole and instructed Wang Ye, “Step back a bit. I’ll start digging. If 1 spot a snake, I’ll show you how to handle it, whether it’s venomous or not.”
Without hesitation, Qiao Xuan began digging. Though he wielded a mere sharpened stick, his expertise made it almost as effective as an engineer’s shovel.
Dirt scattered in all directions, and before long, he had excavated a hole from the snake’s burrow.
“Vice Class monitor, I see it!” Wang Ye, who had been watching intently, exclaimed. His heart raced as he observed the portion of the snake’s grayish-brown body wriggling inside the hole.
Although Wang Ye couldn’t identify the exact species of the snake, it was evident that it had awakened.
“Give me the stick you’re holding. Also, stay back. It appears to be a Cobra,” Qiao Xuan, spotting the snake as well, immediately instructed Wang Ye.
“Vice Class Monitor, let me handle it!” Wang Ye volunteered.