Chapter 12: Code Names and Precautions

In the depths of the forest behind the school, Shen Congfei and his team buried the dead soldiers and, laden with the spoils of war, regrouped at the lakeside hunter's cabin.

This battle brought about a significant change in them.

...

By the time they returned, it was already dark.

In the living room of the hunter's cabin, the fireplace was ablaze, filling the room with warmth and everyone huddled around it.

"Flathead, I heard you threw up?" Shen Congfei teased Xue Yangping.

"Who's Flathead? I didn't throw up, stop accusing me, I was just... just a little queasy, like I was going to retch."

At his defensive response, the school nurse Chen Yuanjia and 'Black Gorilla' Tang Ke, who were both present at the time, could barely hold back their laughter.

It was they who had 'accidentally' let slip that Xue Yangping had thrown up on a tree.

"You don't know who Flathead is?"

Realizing it wasn't exactly polite to continually tease someone, Shen Congfei decided to shift subjects.

Xue Yangping gave a perplexed shake of his head, indicating that he truly had no idea.

Giving the perplexed look on his face, Shen Congfei could only explain:

"Flathead is a formidable animal who lives in the grasslands and tropical rainforests. Despite its small size, it's badass and fears neither lions nor tigers."

Xue Yangping's eyes lit up at this, "There's such an animal? It's not afraid of lions and tigers? Wait, so why do you call me Flathead? Do you think... do you think I resemble it?"

Shen Congfei could barely suppress his laughter, barely managing to pull a straight face, he nodded solemnly:

"Yep, you really do resemble it, but this is just one aspect. I hope we can all refer to each other by code names."

Listening to their conversation, the other three couldn't help but ponder, while Xue Yangping pointed to himself and laughed:

"So, Flathead is my code name from now on? It's really that tough, able to fight against lions and tigers?"

"Pfft... Yep!"

Shen Congfei almost burst out laughing, his face twitching; a modern man who consumes information daily, he was well aware of Flathead's true combat power.

Unaware of the suppressed laughter around him, Xue Yangping happily accepted the nickname, blissfully unaware that it was bestowed upon him due to the buzz cut he sported.

At this point, the other people began to voice out, with the school nurse enquiring of Shen Congfei:

"What do you think would make for good code names for us?"

Instantly, Shen Congfei responded: "Doctor?"

Chen Yuanjia, the school nurse, nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this nickname.

Next was Tang Ke, who sat by the side. Despite not speaking out, there was a hint of anticipation on his dark face.

"Um, for Tang Ke, how about Gorilla?" Before Shen Congfei could finish, Xue Yangping - feeling rather pleased with himself - chimed in recklessly.

"Haha, Black Gorilla, that's an apt nickname."

He pointed at Tang Ke and cut in, completing the name Shen Congfei hadn't finished.

Tang Ke didn't mind, "Black Gorilla, huh? That's not bad. It's certainly better than a certain honey badger."

Arrested by Tang Ke's utterance, Shen Congfei couldn't help but marvel at his audacity in times of peril.

Against all odds, it appeared someone else had come to the same conclusion he had.

"What? Honey badger? What's that?"

Xia Wei, who was sitting nearby, couldn't help but explain while laughing:

"A honey badger is an animal, our local zoo has one. Now that he has mentioned it, it does seem to resemble you."

Though she didn't understand the joke behind Flathead, she quickly grasped the meaning of 'honey badger' after a little thought.

"The zoo? I think I'll go see what this honey badger looks like when I have the time."

As Xue Yangping conversated with himself, the others held back their laughter, excitedly anticipating his reaction when he finally sees a honey badger.

In an unexpected turn of events, Tang Ke even found himself inviting Xue Yangping:

"I'd be happy to take you to see it, my family owns the zoo in the eastern part of the city."

The others were surprised, they hadn't expected Tang Ke to have such a background.

As the others discussed the zoo in whispers, Xia Wei turned her attention to the person sitting next to her and quietly asked:

"What will my code name be?"

'My wife' Shen Congfei thought to himself, but said aloud after pretending to ponder: "Uh...Valkyrie?"

"Valkyrie?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Wei was pleased, although she didn't show it, she simply accepted the code name calmly.

...

As the night deepened and silence enveloped the room, the crackling of burning logs in the fireplace was the only sound to be heard.

Xia Wei and the school nurse retired to their rooms upstairs to rest.

Due to the lack of bedrooms, the three boys surrendered the upper floor and settled down to sleep on the couches in the living room.

Seeing the other two begin snoring, with drool streaming down the corners of their mouth, Shen Congfei shook his head, turned his gaze away, and began prodding the burning wood in the fireplace with the poker, pondering his next move.

The small squad of imperial soldiers in pursuit of them has been annihilated, and the enemy's main forces were not yet aware of this.

However, as time passed they would undoubtedly start having suspicions.

It was only a matter of time before they would dispatch more troops to conduct a massive search in the mountain area.

At that point, even if all five of them were armed, they probably wouldn't survive such a large-scale sweep.

After all, the gap in military strength between the two sides was too great, it was no longer something that could be compensated by having the advantage of terrain.

So, what's the next move?

As Shen Congfei mused, he noticed that the flames in the fireplace were starting to die down, so he quickly tossed in another log.

Watching as the flames engulfed the log, he seemed to have an idea, setting down the poker and started to stroke his chin in thought.

"If defending passively won't work, then we'll have to take the initiative."

"We must divert their attention by stirring trouble in the city and do our best to prevent them from sweeping the mountains."

"Looks like we will have to pay another visit to the city."

As the log burnt to ashes, Shen Congfei made up his mind.

The next day, when the others woke up, Shen Congfei was already dressed in a casual outfit found in the wardrobe of the cabin.

"Are you going out?"

Seeing the others asking, Shen Congfei took the opportunity to explain his plan.

The others had varied reactions upon hearing this.

However, it seemed like they all wanted to accompany him on this trip.

Shen Congfei felt helpless and dissuaded them, "I'm just going to survey on the outskirts of the city. If too many people go, there's a high risk of being exposed, putting everyone in danger."

Hearing this, the others somewhat reluctantly gave up on the idea.

Despite this, one person went upstairs, changed into casual clothes and came back saying:

"I'll go with you."

When Shen Congfei saw it was Xia Wei, he was about to refuse when she interrupted:

"You've lost your memories, right? I'm much more familiar with the layout of the city than you."

Helpless, Shen Congfei had no choice but to comply and bring her along.