Chapter Thirty-Six: Duty Lies in Obedience to Orders

“Hm, a strange ceiling.” Awakening from a hazy darkness, the first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a familiar ceiling. There was no doubt—this was her own single dormitory room. Feeling the emptiness within her, Zhuang Xiaoyuan cheerfully voiced a line from some meme she couldn’t quite recall the origins of.

“Strange? Nonsense, this is your own dorm room, you know.” A world-weary voice sounded by her ear; though the words were laden with exasperation, there was genuine concern beneath the tone. This was Feng Guoqing’s voice.

“Ah, Uncle Feng, long time no see.” She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious, but judging from the emptiness she felt now, it probably hadn’t been a short while this time either. Somewhat sheepishly, she turned to look at Feng Guoqing, deliberately putting on a casual face as she raised her hand in greeting.

“It’s only been half a day—hardly a ‘long time.’ But I really didn’t expect that after just half a day, I’d find you lying down again. You really do live up to that saying: ‘You go in upright and come out horizontal.’” Arms folded, Feng Guoqing stood at the foot of her bed, looking down at her with an expression of exasperated disappointment.

“Hehe, thank you for your concern, Uncle Feng. You’ve looked after me so many times already. Sorry to trouble you again.” Seeing that he wasn’t genuinely angry, Zhuang Xiaoyuan put on a fawning smile, expressing her thanks and apologies at once.

“If you know your Uncle Feng cares about you, then don’t act so rashly next time.” Seeing her attempt to please him, yet still wary of his anger, a trace of amusement flickered across Feng Guoqing’s face. He dropped his arms and let go of the stern pose he’d assumed.

“Alright, I know. It won’t happen again.” Noticing his softened stance, Zhuang Xiaoyuan grew a bit overconfident and replied nonchalantly.

“You’re all talk. When the time comes, you’ll be the first to rush in again.” Seeing straight through her perfunctory reply, Feng Guoqing knew better than to take it to heart. He was rather at a loss with her attitude.

“Uncle Feng, you know me too well.” Having been exposed so easily, Zhuang Xiaoyuan showed not a trace of remorse, only a look of self-assuredness. After all, they’d known each other for years—each knew the other all too well, and she hadn’t meant to hide her true nature.

“Know you? You’re grown now and still don’t know how to look after yourself. Think of those who worry about you.” Unable to stomach her attitude, Feng Guoqing reached out and rapped her gently on the head.

“Ouch, that hurts.” Clutching her head in both hands, Zhuang Xiaoyuan put on a pitiful face, looking up at him plaintively. This trick had always worked on him before, but this time it seemed to have failed.

“Like that classmate of yours—she started crying her eyes out the moment you collapsed. At first, seeing her cry so bitterly, I thought you’d died. My heart nearly stopped; it really gave me a fright.” Completely ignoring Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s pitiful look, Feng Guoqing steeled himself and pressed on. If he didn’t take this chance to properly lecture her, she’d likely do something dangerous again in the future.

“Hehe.” Rubbing the bump on her head, Zhuang Xiaoyuan could only muster a forced laugh, hoping to muddle through.

“As for your classmate, you weren’t even seriously injured—just some scrapes, and you fainted from using up your divine power. I told her to stop crying, but she just kept wiping away tears, insisting she wasn’t crying, as if the tears on her face weren’t real. She’s quite an amusing child.” At this, recalling the scene, even the stern Feng Guoqing couldn’t help but show a trace of amusement.

“Yes, that’s just her tsundere nature.” It was easy to imagine how things had played out, and Zhuang Xiaoyuan nodded in full agreement.

“Tsundere? That’s a good word. Sometimes you’re pretty tsundere yourself.” At this, Feng Guoqing pondered a moment, then looked down at her and continued.

“No way, I’m not tsundere. That’s Wen Hui’s unique trait.” To be called tsundere was intolerable—tsundere was a girl’s prerogative, and she was a man, after all. At this moment, Zhuang Xiaoyuan completely forgot that she too was now a girl.

“You say one thing to Uncle Feng but think the opposite—if that’s not tsundere, what is?” Feng Guoqing’s face clearly said, “Don’t try to fool me. You’re tsundere, just admit it.”

“I’m not. At most, I just say things I don’t mean. Tsundere is much more than that—not everyone can pull it off.” Zhuang Xiaoyuan, a pretend tough guy but true girl at heart, was determined not to be saddled with the tsundere label.

“So you admit you say things you don’t mean. Sigh, Uncle Feng knows your character. Sometimes I support your decisions, but the most important thing is to protect yourself. If it comes down to it, the people of Maple City put together aren’t as important as a few of you divine-armored warriors. Understand?”

With a sigh, a resolute gleam flashed in Feng Guoqing’s eyes. He felt there were some things he had to make clear to her: what it meant to be a soldier, what choices must be made at critical moments, and what could be sacrificed for the future of humanity.

“Though it may not be fitting for my role to say this, I have to: If necessary, you must abandon every human in this city to protect yourselves. You are humanity’s last hope.” As he spoke, his expression remained steadfast, his words spoken with the determination of one who would sacrifice himself to protect Zhuang Xiaoyuan. All the people of this city included Feng Guoqing himself.

“Uncle Feng, I can’t agree with that. You can’t assign value to human lives—everyone is equal. The people of this city have fought hard to resist the army of the evil gods; how can we abandon them for a few individuals? As soldiers, our foremost duty is to protect the people.” At Feng Guoqing’s words, Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s brow furrowed tightly. His values and her own were in complete conflict—she could never accept such a choice, nor would she ever make it.

“You don’t understand yet. If the time comes, you’ll know what the army chooses. A soldier’s duty is to protect the people, yes, but above all, to obey orders. That’s enough for now—I have things to do, so I’ll leave you to your thoughts.” With that, Feng Guoqing gave her no chance to argue further, turning and walking away. In truth, Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s wounds were not serious; her divine power would recover with rest, and she’d be fine in a few days.