The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 131: Class

Li Cu struggled to turn his head. The room was very ordinary and had few decorations. The scenery outside the curtain wasn't very clear, but the sunlight streaming in was mottled, making one feel a little relaxed.

He tried hard to take a breath and continue confronting the black-clad person, but his body was too tired to keep up with his defiant and rebellious character, which made him feel annoyed. It was useless to say more, so what else could he do?

Li Cu was silent for a moment as he watched the curtain settle. The black-clad person also didn't speak, and just sat beside him as if he had nothing to say. The two men were silent for at least two hours, before Li Cu realized that the black-clad person was still there.

"Don't you need to rest?" He asked. The effort it took to speak this time wasn't as difficult as before.

"I can rest anytime, anywhere. Our sleep is fragmented." The man said: "The most rigorous training undertaken after the age of seven is sleep. It's the first day of hell."

Then you must have never been in your third year of high school, Li Cu said to himself.

The black-clad person looked into his eyes, came up and touched his forehead, opened his eyelids, looked at his pupils, and then said, "You're recovering very quickly." He stood up and pulled the nearby curtain aside, letting the warm dazzling orange sunlight spill all over the hospital bed.

The way the angle of the sun caused the window's shadow to be slanted made Li Cu think the sun was just beginning to set.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that he was on the first floor, and there was a sports field outside, behind which was a row of pine trees. Someone was playing soccer on the field.

He could also hear the sound of someone playing on the basketball court in the distance. It seemed to be a school.

Li Cu wanted to ask again, but stopped abruptly when he thought of the black-clad man's answer. The man looked out of the window with a sigh, and picked up the clipboard with Li Cu's medical chart from where it was hanging in front of the bed.

"Since your spirits seem to have recovered, first, let's talk about your condition. After that, you can figure things out." The black-clad person pointed to Li Cu's broken leg: "The most serious thing is your knee. It's a comminuted fracture [1], but it's been cut open and corrected. The situation is better than expected, but your knee will still be very different from before. When it comes to strengthening your leg, and undergoing any future physical training, I'll be the one to design your training regimen."

Li Cu nodded, grateful that he would still be able to walk.

"Concussion, accumulation of blood in the brain, and inflammation of the meninges were all prevented. You should still feel dizzy now, but it will slowly disappear. A piece of your skull is missing, but our people don't know if they can find it. If they can, they'll directly replant the bone after the possibility of infection is eliminated. If they can't, then we can only use a titanium plate. You're still young, and we don't know whether your skull will continue to grow or not. If it does, you may need to replace the plate in a few years, or your brain will deform."

Li Cu touched his head, and found that it was covered in a net-like bandage. He couldn't touch the wound, but when he imagined that there was a hole in his skull where he could reach in and touch his brain, he couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable.

"The size of the wound is only four and a half centimeters. It was just past the standard surgical line, so you don't need to feel worried. It's just a small hole. In light of what you'll have to do next, however, I'll ask them to be meticulous when they prepare for surgery." The black-clad person continued: "You also have eighty-six skin ulcers, that are as severe as third-degree burns. They aren't fatal, but they will affect your appearance. We'll focus on dealing with the scars on your exposed skin using dermabrasion [2]. The skin trauma is concentrated on the left side of your back, and your waist. After the dermabrasion, you'll be tattooed according to these scars."

Shit! Li Cu was unable to make sense of what he was hearing, and wondered what kind of drama he was in.

"I won't get a tattoo even if I die [3]." Li Cu said. The black-clad man just smiled, and didn't bring it up again.

"The next bit may be somewhat stressful. I didn't want to tell you, but our schedule has fallen behind, and I have to take some risks. You've been in a coma for twelve days." When the man said this, he looked at his watch and then continued: "It should take three days for you to fully recover mentally, so our data training will start then. In the first week, our main courses will be data and history, the second week will be logic, and the third week will be basic knowledge. Basic knowledge is the main course, which will last for six weeks. In other words, your first exam will be held in nine weeks."

Li Cu was getting more and more confused. Wait, what exam?

The man continued, "You'll undergo surgery to repair your skull after the exam, and then you'll have to rest for three weeks. But during this period, we'll do stress tests on you to determine your psychological maturity and logical thinking under various forms of pressure. From all our previous indications, your ability to perform under pressure is very weak. After you've recovered during those three weeks, we'll start physical training, which will continue every day. There will also be a subconscious assessment every month. If you score above ninety, and all your other grades are up to standard, you can leave here. Otherwise you won't be able to step foot outside this place. So be ready to study hard."

"Why should I learn all this?" Li Cu asked. "What's the point?"

The black-clad person flipped over a nearby white board, and it was only now that Li Cu noticed it was there, since it blended in with the wall.

"What we want isn't piled up in a warehouse, but waiting on you to appear."

A thickly dotted map of China was taped to the whiteboard, with at least forty places that had been circled by markers. All kinds of notes were written on the side, but the characters were too small for Li Cu to see clearly. There were so many annotations that he couldn't even make out most of the map.

"I need you to lead a team to these places and bring out the contents."

"What are these places?"

The black-clad person waved his hand, "If you do well in class, you'll naturally know."

Li Cu thought it was bullshit. He really had no idea that things would be so absurd right now.

After all the pain and trouble he had gone through, he was brought in just to attend class?

He was kidnapped twice, rushed into the desert, drenched in acid rain, chased by snakes, kissed by a woman, blown up by an explosive, shot in the head, and finally escaped only to hear the words "study hard and make progress everyday"?

This must be a joke, or there's something wrong with my ability to understand. My concussion is quite serious, after all.

He glanced at the map of China and heaved a heavy sigh. The conflicting irritability and doubt in his heart was difficult to express.

The black-clad person put the board away, told him to get some rest, and then walked out of the room. Li Cu turned his head and saw him pass by the window, nodding to another person who was also passing by. Then, Li Cu saw a girl appear in the window. She looked at the window very quickly as if she were curious, and then quickly ran away.

The girl was very beautiful, and Li Cu froze. The black-clad person turned back to the window and said, "By the way, you still have to give up smoking. I helped you go through the formalities at your school. They'll think you're an exchange student in Zambia."

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Notes:

[1] Break or splinter of the bone into more than two fragments.

[2] An exfoliating technique that uses a rotating instrument to remove the outer layers of skin.

[3] If you all weren't aware, tattoos are practically taboo in China (and other Asian countries like Japan and Korea). People associate them with gangs and stuff (triads, yakuza, you name it).