# 151
Chapter 151 – Instructor Gu’s Illness
Free-fire range.
Wearing ballistic glasses and earmuffs, Baili Pangpang raised his pistol, eyes narrowing slightly. The usually cheeky little chubby face was uncharacteristically serious as he squeezed the trigger in quick succession.
Bang-bang-bang!!
Three shots rang out, the bullets punching almost simultaneously into the bull’s-eye two hundred metres away. The corner of Baili Pangpang’s mouth curled up.
“Ten, ten, ten!”
The electronic voice echoed across the range. Baili Pangpang smugly blew across the muzzle, slipped off his earmuffs, and stretched.
“Hah… shooting practice? Nothing to it~”
He strolled to a chair, gulped down several mouthfuls of water, and leisurely crossed his legs.
After two months of adjustment he’d finally grown used to the mental current from the wristband—at least he no longer did involuntary back-flips. Still, those first weeks had tortured him half to death; he’d lost a full circle of weight.
Who could stand flipping backwards in bed the moment they were about to drop off?
Worse, the flip didn’t disturb only him—Lin Qiye, sleeping peacefully beside him, would be jolted awake by the sudden THUD.
That was the second time Lin Qiye contemplated murdering Baili Pangpang…
It was free-fire hour now, with no instructors supervising. The session was purely to let the rookies get comfortable with their weapons; everything teachable had been taught, and what they needed now was volume practice—essentially free time after theory class.
Since shooting was Baili Pangpang’s strong suit, this was the most relaxed training block for him.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t seen Instructor Gu for two months… Where’d he go?” Baili Pangpang wondered aloud.
Cao Yuan in the next lane stared down-range as if he hadn’t heard, firing steadily.
Bang-bang-bang!
“Ten, nine, nine!”
He sighed, set the pistol down, and shook his head.
“No idea.”
Baili Pangpang tilted his head, enlightenment dawning. “Did he go back home to get married?!”
“…I’m pretty sure he’s already married.”
“Second marriage.”
“……”
Cao Yuan couldn’t be bothered with Baili Pangpang’s nonsense and rolled his eyes.
Just then three more shots cracked out.
Bang-bang-bang!
“Miss, miss, miss!”
Lin Qiye: …
He calmly holstered the weapon, walked back to a chair, and stared at the targets with deep resentment.
“Heh-heh, Qiye, you’d better work on that aim. Among two-hundred-odd rookies, not many can miss three in a row.” Baili Pangpang grinned. “Tell you what—kneel and call me Master, I’ll pass on my supreme marksmanship!”
“You?” Lin Qiye glanced at him and said quietly, “When we do hand-to-hand later, be my partner.”
“Brother, I was wrong, I swear!” Baili Pangpang’s burly frame shuddered.
Lin Qiye sipped his water unhurriedly, brow creasing. “Still, Instructor Gu vanishing for two months is weird…”
Ever since Lin Qiye had pitched that brain-twister to Instructor Gu, the man had disappeared within days. Another instructor took over his classes. Lin Qiye had hoped for an answer, but two months had slipped by.
“Lin Qiye!”
A familiar voice called from afar. He turned to see Instructor Hong waving.
After a moment’s hesitation he jogged out.
���Instructor Hong, what’s up?” They stepped outside the range and Lin Qiye asked.
Hong looked him up and down, then said darkly, “You know damn well what you did.”
Lin Qiye blinked. “Me? What did I do?”
Hong exhaled a long sigh. “What kind of devil question did you set for Instructor Gu? You scrambled his brain—he’s in a psychiatric ward now!”
Lin Qiye’s mouth fell open, eyes wide with shock.
What the—?
Instructor Gu… clinically insane?
Because of a question he’d posed?
“What… what are his symptoms?”
“He’s obsessed. Stares at walls, mutters ‘real, fake, world… what are we… can’t prove…’ then suddenly flails around, saying he’s off to find the ‘real world’…” Hong’s face was bitter. “After two months’ treatment he’s improved—can handle basic daily life now.”
Lin Qiye was dumbstruck.
Wasn’t that basically a carbon copy of Merlin?!
Well… on reflection it made sense. Both Instructor Gu and Merlin were pathologically curious, prone to overthinking. Corner someone like that with an unanswerable riddle and cracks appear.
Wait!
Didn’t that mean whatever therapy they were using on Instructor Gu could work on Merlin too?
Lin Qiye’s eyes lit up.
“I’m not here to blame you,” Hong went on. “Ultimately it’s his own obsession… But Night Watch deals in secrets; we can’t leave him in an outside hospital long-term. We’ll arrange home convalescence. In a couple of days he’ll come back to pack. If you run into him—absolutely, absolutely, absolutely—do NOT mention the real world. Hell, just detour and avoid him altogether. Clear?”
Lin Qiye batted his eyes and nodded obediently. “Crystal.”
“Good. Back to training.” Hong, finally relieved, waved and walked off.
Lin Qiye stood there until Hong was gone, then his lips curved uncontrollably…
…
“I need a favour.”
Back on the range, Lin Qiye looked at Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan seriously.
The pair exchanged glances. “What?”
“If you spot Instructor Gu around camp these next two days, tell me immediately.”
“Why?” Cao Yuan couldn’t help asking.
“I’ve got questions for him.”
Baili Pangpang pondered. “Important?”
“Very.”
“Leave it to me.” Baili Pangpang thumped his chest, pulled three Rolexes from a pocket, raised them high, and bellowed to the other rookies:
“Brothers! I need a little help…”