Chapter 116: Training (Part Two)

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While the two of them were still talking, the others had already started running quickly. An Feng heard the ragged rhythm of their footsteps and grew angry. They had trained for days, yet their pace was still not synchronized.

“Everyone, stop right now. You’ve trained this long and your steps still won’t match. How am I supposed to teach you the next exercise like this? Don’t think you’re already excellent.”

An Feng’s voice was commanding, and it carried straight to the police captain’s ears. The captain leaned out in surprise, wondering what had happened and why he had suddenly exploded.

All the officers immediately stopped, each looking at An Feng in bewilderment, wondering if he had found fault where nothing was wrong. At that thought, they shot Little Seven another angry glance.

Little Seven felt truly innocent. She had done nothing at all. What did these men have against her? They kept giving her sideways stares, eyes as if they might devour her.

Mo Lan pulled her thoughts back and looked carefully over their faces. Perhaps they truly believed they had already suffered enough, worked enough. They probably could not imagine how much she and Qianyin had endured as teenagers to become who they were now.

“You can train your ear by listening to the sound. Pay attention to the lift of your feet and the timing; your footfalls must land together. Neither too fast nor too slow. If you truly make the rhythm uniform, you’ll feel a real sense of achievement. If you still can’t do it, you spend the next two days only on unifying your steps.”

Mo Lan was not exaggerating. This was the truth. They did not need to be as outstanding as An Feng, but these officers could not stay complacent and call it enough. If they did, how could they ever set out to rescue Qianyin?

The officers below lowered their heads and stayed silent. Except for Liu Fei and Little Seven, everyone felt the two captains were too strict. How could they possibly be as excellent as those two?

“You start training at the slowest pace. If you can’t reach what I want, then practice on your own.” An Feng, disappointed in them, prepared to turn and head back to rest.

Mo Lan did not speak, and was about to turn when Little Seven and Liu Fei stood up and said gravely, “We start training now. Please give us some time.”

The rest of the officers still stood in neat ranks. Little Seven and Liu Fei moved behind them, carefully following their steps, watching when each foot rose and when it struck.

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An Feng and Mo Lan moved to the side and rested. The men would now have to prove to An Feng, through effort, that they were indeed capable.

Under Little Seven’s and Liu Fei’s watch, it became clear that their left and right feet did not touch down together. It seemed a small thing, yet when moving it became a big flaw.

An Feng and Mo Lan watched for more than an hour, and their stepping still had not improved. A bit of impatience rose in them. It was such a small issue—couldn’t they find the cause and fix it?

“Train by yourselves today. I expect to see a result you can be satisfied with when I come back tomorrow.” An Feng said, then took Mo Lan by the hand and walked out of the police station.

Everyone stopped and looked after the two as they left, each with tangled thoughts. Their feelings differed from those of Little Seven and Liu Fei. Little Seven and Liu Fei were bitterly disappointed, thinking the two leaders were affectionate again, while this bunch had to stay and stand in the sun, sweating through drills.

The other officers wondered if they truly were so bad. If two leaders of the Elite Squad had left, would they ever reach the Elite Squad at all?

Yes, not a single member of the Elite Squad had joined this training. An Feng did not think those men were superior. It was simply that those remaining had too much work to do and could not train here like this. The remaining Elite Squad members were the police station’s last hope. If this trip to Wolf-Bear Mountain failed, at least a core of excellence had to remain for the station.

An Feng exhaled. These last few days had felt stifling. Seeing these good-for-nothing men unwilling to strive and improve had made him furious. And yet he did not know how to manage them; with his standards, strict discipline felt too severe for these men.

Mo Lan, too, felt a headache coming. After all, these subordinates had never been trained by her before; Liu Fei had always managed them. At that time there had been only one captain, and Liu Fei was not even called a deputy captain yet.

The two drove around the city in circles, partly to clear their minds and lift the strain in their chests. The pressure that had built up recently made even the air feel full of gloom.

Then Mo Lan suddenly saw a man who looked like the Flower Thief drive past beside them. She tapped An Feng and pointed at the car. “That man looks like the Flower Thief. Let’s catch up to him. We need to get to the bottom of that incident.”

An Feng frowned. With no better choice, he turned sharply, heedless of possible danger. Once the turn was made, he followed close behind, with no intention of overtaking.

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Mo Lan was increasingly anxious. The days of training, the feeling that these officers were hopeless, and the fear of what might happen to Qianyin weighed on her. So much time had passed with no news of Qianyin at all.

Only after following did they realize the car was taking strange routes, constantly turning and overtaking, always pushing to get ahead. Had it noticed them? An Feng thought so and eased speed, intending to follow cautiously.

But he soon found the car ahead had no intention of stopping. It sped up, and in a blink disappeared around the next corner. They had planned to shake him off. An Feng accelerated to the limit and still could not catch up. At the next forked intersection, they lost the trail.

The car slowed and stopped gradually. An Feng hit the steering wheel in frustration. Lately, everything seemed cursed; every chase failed, and it felt as if the whole world was conspiring against them.

“Fine then. Let’s return to the Mo Estate and check on things at home.” Mo Lan sounded resigned. Even she had begun to lose confidence and doubt herself.

An Feng nodded and immediately drove back. On the way, they passed close to a familiar person and missed each other.

This time Mo Lan kept her head down with other worries and did not notice the man who had brushed past. An Feng was absorbed in the road ahead and did not notice the man in the car that flashed by.

The Mo Family courtyard seemed even quieter than usual. No one was smiling—those who had work were working, those who had weeds to pull were pulling them, those with classes were in class. When Mo Lan arrived, she felt the estate was no longer as empty as when she had first come back, but still not as lively as when Qianyin had been here.

Everyone missed Qianyin and longed for her return, hoping the days ahead would have her beside them again.

At that moment, Qianyin and Mr. Gold were in the Ore Mountain Range. They had withdrawn the staff posted there and hidden themselves aside, waiting to see whether those men would dare to come again.