"You four, stop right there! Which instructor are you under? Why have they been making you run continuously?"
The young instructor who had been sitting beside the head instructor walked over to the athletic field and called out to stop Ye Qiuli and the other three.
"Report, Instructor! Our instructor is Pang De! One of our roommates couldn't take off his jacket for personal reasons, and when we spoke up for him, we were punished with non-stop running!"
Qin Huai shouted loudly!
He was the only one among the four who still had the breath to speak loudly. The physical stamina of the other three had nearly reached its limit, especially Ye Qiuli, whose face had turned completely pale! Even though he was running very slowly, he was, after all, wearing a face mask.
"Huff... huff..."
Ye Qiuli lowered his head and gasped heavily. Once he stopped, his entire body entered a state where he simply couldn't catch his breath.
"Not good! Quick, take off his mask! He can't breathe!"
The young instructor's gaze swept across Ye Qiuli, and he was startled!
His hands moved faster than his mouth, and almost instantly, he pulled off Ye Qiuli's face mask.
Ye Qiuli tried to block the instructor's hand, but he couldn't muster any strength in his limbs at all! It was as if his hands and his brain had completely disconnected.
Soon, Ye Qiuli's face, covered in dense dark spots, was exposed to the sunlight.
"His face?!"
"Quick! Help him onto my back! I'm taking him to the doctor!"
The young instructor didn't have time to ask about Ye Qiuli's face; he shouted urgently.
All the color had drained from Ye Qiuli's face, and the dense dark spots covering it looked particularly terrifying.
"I... am... fine! There's... no... need... to... worry... about... me..."
Ye Qiuli said intermittently with his remaining consciousness.
Qin Huai and Qing Ke quickly stepped forward to help hoist Ye Qiuli onto the young instructor's back.
Disregarding their own physical exhaustion, the three of them hurried to follow the young instructor as he ran off.
This scene on the athletic field had already attracted the attention of quite a few students. Coupled with the fact that many of their peers had already been keeping an eye on Ye Qiuli's group, the entire student body on the field suddenly grew restless.
"Crap! Did you guys see that guy's face? So terrifying!"
"No wonder he was wearing a mask all this time! So that's what he actually looks like!"
"Could it be some kind of contagious disease? That's so scary!"
"Help, I'm going to have nightmares tonight!"
...
"Attention!"
A sharp shout echoed through the loudspeaker to every corner of the athletic field.
In an instant, a vast expanse of students sitting on the ground stood up! The noisy athletic field fell silent in a flash.
"Instructor Pang De, report to the medical station immediately!"
The angry voice of the head instructor interrupted Pang De through the PA system just as he was scrolling through short videos.
"What's going on?"
Pang De asked the Geography Class 1 formation.
Everyone in the Geography Class 1 formation remained in absolute silence; not a single person answered him! Earlier, this same instructor had given the students of Geography Class 1 a severe tongue-lashing for poor posture during military stance practice, hurling a continuous stream of insulting labels like pampered, only knowing how to do test questions, and only knowing how to study.
"Pang De! I'll give you one minute to get your ass to the medical station right now!"
Hearing the head instructor's furious voice, Pang De didn't dare to dawdle. He scrambled up and sprinted toward the medical station.
Meanwhile, at the medical station, Ye Qiuli was already surrounded by doctors. He was wearing an oxygen mask, and a group of doctors were engaged in a heated discussion about the dense dark spots covering his body!
"What on earth is wrong with your instructor? This is Jing University! Not your military training camp! The students here are all future pillars of the country! Just look at this sun! Do you know the temperature reached over forty degrees today? Running for over an hour under a sun like this—can you bear the consequences if something happens?"
The president of Kyoto University stood beside Ye Qiuli, angrily reprimanding the head instructor of the military training.
He was not opposed to strict and arduous military training! But they could not go destroying the physical health of a normal child!
"How is this student? Is he still in critical danger?"
"Mr. President, don't worry! I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer!"
The head instructor first checked in with the doctors before speaking to the president of Jing University.
"We almost had a fatality on our hands! This student still needs to stay here for oxygen and observation. As for these dark spots on his body, we can't make sense of them either, but there is a hospital certificate inside his jacket confirming that his skin condition is not contagious."
An older, veteran middle-aged doctor among the group replied.
"Head Instructor, did you ask for me?"
Only then did Pang De arrive fashionably late.
"Pang De! Tell me what's going on here! Do you know this student almost lost his life?"
"Report to the head instructor! These four students refused to obey orders and talked back to the instructor, so I merely gave them a minor punishment!"
"And what about you hurling abuse at the other students? Does that also count as them failing to follow your instructions?"
The head instructor's face was dark.
Just moments ago, his superior had called him, stating that the instructor leading Geography Class 1 had subjected the students to all sorts of verbal abuse and even sent him a recording. The contents of that recording were precisely the insulting and vulgar curses Pang De had blurted out while leading the training just now!
"Head Instructor, I was only being slightly strict because they couldn't perform properly!"
"I don't call that being strict; I call that throwing your weight around! Do you have any idea that behavior like yours makes you unfit to be a soldier?"
"I don't think I said anything wrong!"
"Get back and await disciplinary action from above! Ye Long, you will take over the military training for Geography Class 1! The class is handed over to you now! Remember, training must be done properly, but there must be no further corporal punishment that harms the students' health! They are the future of our motherland! They are talents who use their brains and pens, not brute warriors who wield swords and guns!"
The head instructor glared fiercely at Pang De, then pointed at the young instructor standing nearby!
"Yes, Sir!"
"You three, come with me and lead me to your class. Your roommate can rest here for now!"
Ye Long beckoned to Qing Ke and the other two.
To be honest, after listening to the three students' explanation, he actually felt they were good kids—at least the three of them had a sense of loyalty and dared to stand up against unfairness. Having been in the military for a long time, this was exactly the kind of person he liked most.
"Don't worry, Sir. I'll have Ye Long personally take charge of your granddaughter, so please calm your anger, old friend!"
After everyone else had left, the head instructor finally made a phone call to ingratiate himself.
"Alright, have the organization thoroughly investigate that fellow named Pang De! I won't disturb your work any longer."
"Yes, yes, sir, don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter for you impeccably!"
...
At this moment, the students of Geography Class 1, upon learning that their instructor had been replaced, instantly swept away their unhappiness. They knew their shortcomings could be corrected, but they would never accept being verbally abused just for poor posture! They were students, and more importantly, living human beings.
Someone had managed to take a photo of Ye Qiuli's face and posted it on the campus confession wall. In almost a split second, the entire Kyoto University forum was flooded with expressions of concern, insults, and negative comments urging everyone to stay away from him.
After resting for about half an hour, Ye Qiuli slowly regained consciousness.
"Student, you're awake? Is there any discomfort left?"
"I'm fine... I'm fine now! Thank you!"
Ye Qiuli hurriedly sat up to thank the doctor in front of him.
"You rest for a bit longer. The morning training session will be over soon, and then you can head back to your dorm to rest properly."
The doctor checked Ye Qiuli's pulse and instructed him.
"No need, Doctor, I feel like I'm already recovered! Thank you! I'm going to find my roommates now!"
Ye Qiuli put on his jacket, put his face mask back on, bowed in gratitude to the doctor, and then walked toward his class's location.
Along the way, the freshmen watched him from a distance. Ye Qiuli could feel countless gazes fixed upon him—some fearful, some curious, and a few even carrying looks of disgust! He knew the meaning behind those looks; when he first contracted this strange illness and went to school years ago, everyone had looked at him with those exact eyes.
He only remembered that before he passed out, his mask had been ripped off. Presumably, the students must have seen what was growing on his face.
Ye Qiuli kept his head down as he quickly wove through the crowd. He tried his hardest to minimize his presence, but most people had already scrolled past his maskless face on the confession wall, and seeing him approach, they fled as if avoiding a plague.