# 156
**Chapter 156: The Test**
Early morning.
A ray of dawn light filtered through the window, gently falling onto the boy’s face. Lin Qiye’s eyelids fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes...
Seeing the sliver of sunlight outside the window, he was momentarily stunned. Then he sat up in bed, glanced at Baili Pangpang—still sprawled out like a dead pig—and a trace of confusion flickered in his eyes.
"Five-thirty..." Lin Qiye glanced at the time, his confusion deepening.
Where’s the whistle?
Usually, around five in the morning, the instructors would blow the whistle outside, and they’d all scramble to the training ground for morning drills. Only after that would they return to wash up...
If the instructors were feeling particularly sadistic, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to blow the whistle at two or three in the morning.
But today... it was already five-thirty, and there was still no sound. Could it be that the instructors were in a good mood and letting them sleep in?
One question after another surfaced in Lin Qiye’s mind.
Go back to sleep? No way he could fall asleep again.
Since he couldn’t sleep, Lin Qiye simply got out of bed, grabbed his toiletries and washbasin, and quietly pushed open the door.
The corridor outside was eerily silent.
It wasn’t until he reached the communal wash area that he saw a few other figures.
Special forces soldier Zheng Zhong, Cao Yuan, and two heirs from ancient martial arts families—Lin Qiye remembered one was called Mo Lan, the other Li Shaoguang.
"Qiye, you’re up too?" Cao Yuan greeted as Lin Qiye approached.
Lin Qiye hummed in response, glancing toward the training ground with a puzzled look. "I just don’t get why the instructors haven’t blown the whistle yet..."
"A rare lazy morning isn’t so bad," Li Shaoguang said with a smile, wiping his face with a towel.
"I’m used to waking up early. Suddenly having nothing to do feels weird," Cao Yuan shrugged.
Zheng Zhong nodded in agreement, walking to the railing with his washbasin and gazing out at the silent training camp, his brow slightly furrowed. "But something feels... off."
"Nothing’s off," Mo Lan said calmly, shaking water from his hands and heading back to his room. "If the instructors don’t blow the whistle, I’ll train with my spear on my own. If you need someone watching over you for everything, you’ll never become strong."
Watching Mo Lan’s retreating figure, Lin Qiye shook his head, clearing the clutter from his mind, and began washing up.
He returned to his room shortly after. After a moment of hesitation, he sat cross-legged on his bed and began meditating.
Time ticked by.
The sunlight outside grew harsher, and voices in the corridor seemed to increase. Lin Qiye opened his eyes and checked the time.
Seven-thirty in the morning.
Still no whistle at seven-thirty?
Lin Qiye’s brow furrowed. If the whistle hadn’t blown at five-thirty, maybe the instructors had grown a conscience. But now... something had definitely changed in the camp.
Across from him, Baili Pangpang was still lying in bed, limbs sprawled out, sleeping like the dead...
Lin Qiye’s mouth twitched. He picked up his slipper and slapped it across Baili Pangpang’s face.
*Smack—!*
The slipper made clean contact with Baili Pangpang’s cheek, then slid off, leaving a red mark behind. Baili Pangpang groaned softly, his snoring continuing unbothered...
Lin Qiye: ...
He walked over to Baili Pangpang’s bed, shaking him vigorously while saying in a low voice:
"Wake up! Time to eat!"
Baili Pangpang rolled over, completely unresponsive, and kept sleeping.
Lin Qiye’s brow furrowed deeper. A bad feeling crept into his heart...
After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Baili Pangpang’s wrist—where his ACE watch was—and forcefully injected a large amount of mental energy into it. Baili Pangpang’s body jolted, flipping like a carp out of water, tumbling twice in the air...
Then crashed back onto the bed, still asleep.
By now, Lin Qiye’s expression had completely changed.
No matter how deep a sleeper someone was, there was no way they could do two backflips while unconscious.
He scanned Baili Pangpang’s body with his mental power but found nothing unusual. His breathing was steady, as if he were truly just asleep.
"...A mental trap?" he muttered.
Lin Qiye stood up and strode out the door. By now, over a dozen people had gathered in the corridor, heatedly discussing something.
"Lin Qiye!"
Seeing him appear, Shen Qingzhu—who had been frowning in the crowd—brightened and quickly walked over.
"What’s going on?" Lin Qiye asked.
"Something’s very wrong," Shen Qingzhu said, his brows tightly knit, his tone unusually serious. "Deng Wei and the others are still asleep. No matter what we do, we can’t wake them. It’s like they’ve fallen into some kind of mental trap..."
"Him too?" Lin Qiye’s heart sank.
"Not just him. About seventy percent of the people in this dorm building are in the same state."
"What about the instructors?"
Shen Qingzhu shook his head. "Some people went to look for them. But here’s the creepiest part—the entire training camp is empty."
"Empty?!" Lin Qiye’s eyes widened.
"Instructors, logistics staff, even the old man who serves food in the cafeteria—they’re all gone." Shen Qingzhu’s gaze was grave. "Right now, the only ones left in the camp are us recruits."
"Any signs of a fight?"
Shen Qingzhu was stunned. "No."
Lin Qiye lowered his head in thought.
"So that’s it..."
"You figured something out?"
"If I’m not mistaken, this is probably a drill—or a test." Lin Qiye’s earlier anxiety had settled, his voice calm. "The instructors and everyone else disappearing without a trace, and no signs of combat, means they left voluntarily—and very discreetly."
"You mean..." Shen Qingzhu seemed to catch on.
"Who are the instructors? All of them are at least River Realm. Chief Yuan Gang is Sea Realm. A force like that couldn’t be wiped out silently.
Their disappearance is intentional—they’re creating an environment where only us recruits remain, isolated and unsupported.
I bet they’re watching us right now, using some method to observe everything we do."
"Damn it, they’re messing with us again?" Shen Qingzhu’s face twisted in anger. "Then what about Deng Wei and the others? What’s wrong with them?"
"Still unclear. But they’re not in immediate danger. Maybe..." Lin Qiye’s eyes narrowed. "This is the test the instructors left for us?"
"Screw this test!" Shen Qingzhu cursed. Then, as if remembering something, he spun around and flipped off the security camera at the end of the corridor—
Hard.