5 Chapter 5: The Past of the Exiles

The conversation outside the hunter's cabin between Shen Congfei and another ended.

Feeling that enough time had passed, Xia Wei pushed him to return to the cabin first to sleep and replenish his energy. She would take over the next shift of guard duty.

Unable to resist Xia Wei, Shen Congfei reluctantly went back into the cabin.

As soon as he entered, he saw the other three people lying on the floor, but they were not asleep, their eyes still open.

Shen Congfei thought for a moment, then asked them, "Don't you all feel cold like this?"

"Of course it's cold."

"Yeah, cold."

The two boys replied in unison. The hunter's cabin was bearable, but honestly, it was quite drafty.

The only warm fur coat in the cabin and a blanket had been politely given to the two women in the group.

Perhaps they had not expected the night in the deep mountains and old forests to be so cold.

Hearing the conversation, the nurse Chen Yuanjia picked up the blanket she was wearing.

"Here, this is for you."

"No need, we were just joking. Chen, you keep it."

"Brother Flat Head" Xue Yangping quickly shook his head with a shy smile, while Tang Ke, who looked like a "gorilla," just shook his head in silence.

Seeing the two men's obsequious expresssion, Shen Congfei shook his head.

"Then let's start a fire in the stove."

"What do you know? We are afraid to attract the imperial soldiers."

Xue Yangping shot him a look of ignorance.

Shen Congfei retored, "In the middle of the night, don't those imperial soldiers rest? There's hardly any light, it wouldn't be easy to see the smoke."

"However, if you said this to me in the daytime, I would have to praise you for being smart."

"..."

"Brother Flat Head" was left speechless. He felt that the skinny guy in front of him spoke up with a little more firmness.

But Xue Yangping, who would know that this was the confidence brought by the golden finger?

Now, none of the four slept first. Instead, they ran outside to find some flammable things and managed to ignite the stove.

With some heat, the hunter's cabin wasn't as cold as it was earlier.

Only then did they lie back down on the floor.

Shen Congfei sat against the cabin wall, watching the automatic rifle in his hand. His mind was full of the conversation he had with Xia Wei outside earlier.

As for what they talked about, it was nothing more than the memories he had "lost".

Through Xia Wei's recounting, he finally understood his relationship with her.

Both were orphans of war.

They came from the nation shown on the profile panel, a nation that has now been destroyed.

Morimia.

A small country, with a population and territory size that was perhaps only a fifth of the Neutral United Front.

Destroyed due to the turbulent world situation at the time, its land was occupied by the Empire after its defeat.

Consequently, countless Morimian people were expelled from their homeland and became displaced.

Two young children, who had lost their homes due to the war, then lost their parents one after another during their exile, and could only rely on each other for survival.

Fortunately, they met their current family and were both adopted.

From then on, they lived in the Neutral United Front, gaining a new nationality.

Xia Wei's skills and knowledge of the imperial language were shaped by her hatred towards the Empire over the years.

She always thought about avenging her parents, every moment of every day.

However, knowing that her power was still weak, she continued to accumulate strength, waiting for the day to come.

Shen Congfei finally understood why he had such contradictory impressions of Xia Wei.

She was soft because she was always so in front of him, whom she pitied for having the same afflictions as she did.

She was strong because she was burdened with the deep hatred of her country and parents' violent deaths.

However, the sudden invasion by the Empire disrupted all her plans.

"Sigh."

Shen Congfei couldn't help but sigh. Given his original personality, he wasn't the sort who sighed often.

But thinking about Xia Wei's life history, he couldn't help but feel a pang of compassion for her.

As a mature LSP, how could he ignore such a pitiful girl?

Just when Shen Congfei had resolved to help her, another voice came from the cabin:

"Sigh, I don't know how my mom and dad are doing. Do you think we have a chance of going home?"

Such a talkative person could only be "Brother Flat Head" Xue Yangping.

But no one in the house could answer his question. Whether it was the nurse Chen Yuanjia or the "gorilla" Tang Ke, both of them remained silent.

Looking at their expressions, it was clear they were also thinking about their homes.

Under these circumstances, Shen Congfei had no choice but to speak up:

"What's there to be afraid of? As long as we're not caught yet, and still have guns in our hands, there is still hope. Why would you follow me to escape if not for it?"

Hearing this, Xue Yangping seemed to snap back into reality:

"Right, the Imperial soldier was killed by you, why do we have to run?"

Seeing his straightforward and ultradirect demeanor, Shen Congfei truly felt it would be no exaggeration to call him "big brother".

At this moment, Tang Ke, who generally didn't talk much, interrupted:

"If we didn't leave then, would we have ended up like Mr. Xu..."

This one sentence from the "gorilla" immediately plunged the cabin back into silence.

Truly a conversation killer.

He looked at Tang Ke, his heart full of doubts: would these few people he brought with him really survive till the end?

Lost in thought, Shen Congfei could feel eyelids getting heavier and heavier...

There was no conversation throughout the night.

When he woke up at dawn, he saw that Xia Wei was leaning against him, the fur coat she was wearing was partially draped over him.

Shen Congfei sat up, planning to get up quietly on his own, but he didn't expect this slight movement to wake up the person beside him. Her eyes snapped open:

"You're awake?"

"Uh, yeah, did I wake you up?"

"No."

While they were talking, the other two people in the room began to wake up as well.

Outside the hut, the person standing the last watch was their medical teacher, Chen Yuanjia.

The five people gathered outside the house, considering what to do next.

"First, we only have three guns, and not enough bullets, which means that we lack necessary weapons now."

Shen Congfei pointed this concern out and immediately expressed his thoughts:

"But it's not a big issue, we have readily available options."

In the midst of the two boys' confused faces, the two girls in the group were the first ones to figure it out:

" Congfei, are you talking about those Imperial soldiers who went into the mountains?"

Just as Xia Wei articulated her thoughts, the medical teacher immediately rejected his plan:

"No, it's too dangerous."

Shen Congfei looked at her: "Don't worry, only I am going, you guys stay here."

Chen Yuanjia looked at the young boy in front of her who still seemed a bit immature, and shook her head:

"That's even more dangerous. As a teacher, I just can't watch you put yourself in danger."

Shen Congfei knew she meant well, but it was clear that she didn't know about the system panel he had been demonstrating.

His gaze seemed to be fixated on the people opposite him, yet what he was actually staring at was a floating skill panel.

...

Professional Skills:

Basic Proficiency (Proficiency Level 0/100): I can do anything because I have a bit of knowledge about everything. Don't give me anything too difficult, I'm just a student.

Hunting (Proficiency Level 0/100): A hunter remains silent when making an attack, accuracy increases by 20%.

Trap (Proficiency Level 0/100): Set hidden traps in the wilderness, which can capture/kill some enemies or wild beasts. This is ineffective against large wild beasts and high-intelligence creatures, and the trap may be destroyed or removed. The higher the proficiency level of this skill, the more concealed the trap setup, the trap setup quantity doubles. The initial number of traps that can be set is: 3/3.

Hunter (Primary Proficiency Level 0/100): Within a certain range in the wilderness, you can search and track the real-time status of enemies, their size, and the distance of their trace.

....

The reason Shen Congfei had confidence to go to snatch the guns all by himself was precisely due to the "Hunter" skill that he had just activated.

After using this skill, the world in front of his eyes lost its colour.

Only the outlines of objects in black and white remained, as well as glowing silhouettes in front of him.

Not far away, there was a wild rabbit, almost 100 meters away, which was close to the search limit of the "Hunter" skill.

After coming to this conclusion, Shen Congfei looked at the four people in front of him, his smile widening as if he was making a bet:

"How about this, Teacher Chen, if I can demonstrate my abilities, would you trust me to go alone?"

Chen Yuanjia was very conflicted at this time. As a rational adult, she knew the plan proposed by her student was the only possible way out of their predicament.

In their current situation, owning a gun represented a chance of survival.

But as teachers, protecting their students was their responsibility. How could they support such a dangerous plan?

"How do you want to prove yourself?"

"Well, if I can hunt something and bring it back, let me try it, self-protection won't be a problem. And everyone's both tired and hungry."

Seeing the hesitant expression on the medical teacher's face, Xia Wei pulled her aside:

" Teacher Chen, why don't you agree? I believe Congfei has his own plan. If it doesn't work out, we'll think of something else."

After some persuasion, Chen Yuanjia was reluctantly convinced:

"Alright, you have ten minutes."

As he walked towards the forest, everyone watched the back of Shen Congfei, their expressions complicated.