As anticipated, it did not take long for Jin Lei to uncover Yun Xi’s hiding spot. Yun Xi had just found a suitable spot to hide, but within moments she was hit by three shots from Jin Lei. She hadn’t been hidden for more than a few minutes.
BANG! BANG! BANG! Deafening sounds like bolts of thunder filled the tranquil sky as Jin Lei pulled the trigger three times. Upon contact, the smoke grenade exploded into red fumes, creating a smokescreen around Yun Xi. Realizing she had been hit, Yun Xi crawled out of her hiding spot, looking slightly abashed. Dejected, she plopped herself down on the ground and patted herself in an attempt to dust off the residue from the smoke grenades.
“There. Can you see that? Now that’s a terrific spot to hide in.” As Jin Lei appeared, he pointed at a small steep slope to his right. “The reason that that would be a great spot is that from where I was positioned, that area, where the slope is situated, falls within my blind spot. Where you actually hid underestimates a professional’s abilities. As you were walking here, you should have noticed from at least 50 meters away that this area where you chose to hide is exposed. Yet, you still chose to hide here. You have failed this round of the assessment. Retest!”
“Understood! Yes, sir!” Yun Xi let out an almost inaudible sigh. She was exhausted. Walking for hours on end at this high altitude had drained every bit of her energy.
After continuous rounds of assessments at different locations, Yun Xi finally grasped how to determine a good hiding spot that would fall in a sniper’s blind spots. Seeing that his smoke grenade landed roughly ten meters away from Yun Xi, Jin Lei advanced toward her.
“Your choice was valid. At last you got this round right, otherwise, you would have been on retest until daybreak.”
As the sky darkened and dusk began to settle in, Jin Lei showed no signs of stopping. There was not a single trace of fatigue on Jin Lei’s handsome face. “The night and the mountains in the snow…these are ideal factors for a perfect camouflage. I understand that you have not reached the stage of night shooting, so this time, I shall not hide. Instead, I’ll be walking, but you have to be able to hit me.”
“You must be kidding me. My shooting skills are terrible.”
“I can hit a target within a range of 200 meters with my eyes closed. Don’t be so quick to put yourself down, all right? You’ll never know if you never try. In any case, if you miss the first shot, the second shot will be done from a distance of 250 meters. I’ll increase the distance by an interval of 50 meters with every miss, so do your best. Once we reach 500 meters, and it’s still a miss, we’ll restart.”
“…” Jin Lei left no room for discussion. Without a choice, Yun Xi could do nothing but agree. She picked up her box of equipment and headed to the next vantage point.
As Yun Xi lay in position, the sky darkened and the day got colder. Lying in the snow, Yun Xi’s hands had become numb, and she felt as if her body was getting colder and colder by the minute.
Yun Xi tore open a packet of chocolates and started nibbling at it. After a few bites, she positioned her eye against the periscope and looked through it. Along the green horizon, a familiar figure could be seen walking. Yun Xi was focused. She planned on applying every skill and bit of knowledge she had acquired to this.
Wind speed, elevation, humidity levels, etc. Yun Xi was aware that these were all contributing factors that could affect a bullet’s trajectory. Performing a quick calculation in her head, she had come up with a figure that she could use to account for the difference altitude had on a firing distance of 200 meters.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan, except that Yun Xi had forgotten to factor in her unfamiliarity with the sniper rifle. This unfamiliarity caused a slight deviation to her shot and Yun Xi missed her target.
The shot landed two meters away from the target. With a calm and unwavering expression, Jin Lei glanced at it and looked toward the origin of the shot. He signaled to Yun Xi to continue and walked a further 50 meters away.
Yun Xi adjusted her rifle scope, made a rough estimation of her firing direction, and pulled the trigger again.
This shot landed closer to the target. But the fact remained that it was a miss. Her feeling of helplessness intensified as Yun Xi peered into the periscope and watched Jin Lei walking farther into the distance.
As the distance she was going to have to fire increased, the challenge got harder. Yun Xi knew that panicking would be of no help. So she decided to divert her anxiety by focusing on improving her precision. Making small adjustments to her calculations bit by bit, she managed to calm herself down.
Firing from a distance of 300 meters, Yun Xi finally made a direct hit. Looking through the eyepiece, Jin Lei could be seen gesturing some sort of a signal. Following that, he made his way toward her.
“Instructor Jin, I think you’re almost as strict as Instructor Zilan,” proclaimed an exhausted Yun Xi as she lay sprawled out, with Jin Lei’s face looking down at hers.
“That’s because the Young Commander pampers you too much. I think I’ve been pretty lenient with you if I do say so myself. I’ve never been this courteous with a fresh recruit. Come on, let’s head down. We’ll head up here again tomorrow.”
“I’m beat. I have no energy left. Walking all this way has made me a cripple. It feels as if both of my legs are going to give way.”
With utmost difficulty, Yun Xi managed to sit up. As her legs ached from the cold and had become numb, she clenched her fists and pounded at them, trying to make them regain their feeling. Sitting was already not an easy feat for Yun Xi, let alone getting up to walk.
Looking at Yun Xi’s lamentable physical state, Jin Lei understood her current energy level and knew that she would not be able to make it down the mountain. Putting on a cold expression, he crouched down and said, “Get up, I’ll piggyback you to the ski lift. Thereafter, you shall walk the rest of the journey.”
