When the temperature dropped to minus forty degrees Celsius again, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to take out a piece of the Heart of Flame from the black sludge in his pocket. He held it in his palm, constantly absorbing the pure energy transformed from the Heart of Flame, and simply converting this energy into soul power and a very small amount of heat energy.
Once a person can radiate heat from within, then no matter how harsh the external environment is, it will feel like a gentle breeze to him.
Therefore, when Zhou Ziwei finally arrived at the special forces search team's encampment after spending most of the day, when the sun had completely set behind the mountains, his body was not frozen. On the contrary, because he was constantly letting heat emanate from his body, fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of his nose.
The special forces soldiers were stunned when they saw Zhou Ziwei's appearance. They were wearing several layers of thick cotton clothing just to barely keep out the cold.
Even so, everyone still has some frostbite on their body.
But when they saw Zhou Ziwei, the "commander" specially sent down from above to assist them, they were truly stunned.
That's unbelievable! This guy was only wearing a single layer of clothing, and in this freezing cold place where the average temperature never rises to minus forty degrees Celsius, he was still sweating profusely.
Today it was Gu Bin and Zhao Yu's turn to be on duty at the tent. Most of the other special forces soldiers split into groups of three and searched towards the mountaintop.
However, because the temperature drops terribly as you go higher, no one can stay outside for more than three or four hours in such weather. So everyone goes back into their tents to warm up after searching a certain area. Only after their hands and feet, which were almost numb from the cold, have recovered a bit will they set off to search again.
When Zhou Ziwei arrived at the tent, Hu Zi and his group of two other soldiers also returned to the tent to warm up. They were fortunate enough to witness Zhou Ziwei's incredibly exaggerated appearance.
He's really sweating? That can't be! Seriously... in this low temperature, let alone whether anyone can even sweat, even if they could... the sweat should freeze instantly as soon as it comes out, but the sweat on this guy's face seems to be slowly evaporating. Is this... fake?
The group was filled with doubt, but they already knew that the person who came to assist them in the search mission was a high-ranking officer. Therefore, after confirming Zhou Ziwei's identity, although they did not believe that Zhou Ziwei would actually sweat, none of them dared to ask.
However, seeing that Zhou Ziwei was only wearing an ordinary T-shirt and a casual jacket, and then casually strolled up the mountain, that alone was enough to make Hu Zi and Gu Bin drop their jaws in astonishment.
Zhou Ziwei ignored the way they looked at him like he was an alien. After learning that most of the search team was searching towards the summit in shifts, he frowned and said, "What's the point of searching like this? Those caves might be buried under layers of snow and ice tens of meters deep. Do you really think you can find them by wading through the snow with your bare hands? Send a signal for everyone to come back! I discovered several cave areas when I went up the mountain, but I don't know which one is the one the higher-ups are looking for. So, you guys need to verify that. As for the search itself, leave it to me!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Bin's eyes clearly revealed a hint of undisguised suspicion. He asked, "Commander Zhou, you're not joking, are you? You said you discovered several caves while climbing the mountain? We've been searching here for days and only found one cave that's only fifteen or sixteen meters deep. And you've found several in such a short time? This..."
"What's with all this 'this' and 'that'?" Zhou Ziwei snorted lightly when he saw Gu Bin's dismissive attitude. "Let your boss come back and decide whether you want to cooperate with me! If you decide to disobey orders and refuse to cooperate, then I'm turning around and leaving... I don't even want to stay in this lousy place..."
Zhou Ziwei didn't know what was wrong with him. Last night, he was probably so engrossed in learning how to convert pure energy into heat within his body that he had just learned that he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings. But today, the higher he went up the mountain, the more he felt a growing sense of palpitations.
This made Zhou Ziwei quite uneasy. He began to doubt whether agreeing to the old commander's request was a wise choice. If that cave was really as strange as the old commander had described, perhaps... even if he insisted on not going in, he might not be able to completely avoid being implicated... Heaven knows what kind of things are in that monstrous cave...
Therefore, if the leader of this special forces search team really is unwilling to cooperate with Zhou Ziwei, then Zhou Ziwei would be happy to immediately drop his responsibilities and go as far away as possible to avoid getting into trouble again.
Gu Bin was quite displeased by Zhou Ziwei's impolite words, but knowing that Zhou Ziwei was of a high rank, he didn't dare to say anything. He could only immediately send a signal to call back Captain Chang Li, who was constantly searching up the mountain.
After experiencing the danger of last night, Chang Li had become a bit paranoid. As soon as he saw the signal coming from the tent, he was so frightened that he scrambled back. He breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that there were no wild animals around the camp.
Liu Xinghan, along with another special forces soldier who had suffered a relatively serious arm injury yesterday and Chang Li's group, saw the captain's reaction and, feeling their whole bodies numb from the cold, quickly took the opportunity to run back to the tent to warm up.
Chang Li had already received a message from the liaison officer yesterday, instructing his entire squad to follow Zhou Ziwei's command and control for the foreseeable future. Therefore, after hearing Zhou Ziwei's order, although Chang Li had some doubts about Zhou Ziwei's abilities, he had no intention of disobeying the order and immediately sent a signal to summon the other three teams back as well.
After the signal was given, they waited for the other three groups to return, and then they could act in unison under Zhou Ziwei's leadership.
It's just that those three teams have already searched quite far, and even if they receive the signal and rush back immediately, it will probably take them more than an hour to get back.
"Director Zhou, why are you wearing so little clothing? You can't possibly survive on the mountain like this... Sigh... Why don't you put on my cotton coat first, and I'll go down the mountain to borrow another one later."
Chang Li had no intention of currying favor with Zhou Ziwei, but after all, Zhou Ziwei was an officer, and it wouldn't be a good thing if he fell ill or got sick while under his watch.
Zhou Ziwei thanked Chang Li for his kindness, but shook his head and refused without hesitation.
Even someone with his physique would have been frozen solid halfway up the hill if he hadn't used the method of converting heat energy within his body.
Chang Li's physical condition was not necessarily better than Zhou Ziwei's, so Zhou Ziwei dared not take his cotton-padded coat. Wouldn't that be tantamount to murder for money?
When another three-person team returned from the mountain, but the remaining two teams were still nowhere to be seen, Zhou Ziwei was too lazy to wait any longer. So he took out his map and told Chang Li the specific coordinates of the caves he had marked earlier.
In the half-day of searching, he actually found more than a dozen caves of various sizes in the area he had searched, two of which were caves of unknown depth that even his soul power could not explore to the bottom of.
Zhou Ziwei had highlighted these two locations with a red pen. He then provided all this information to Chang Li, asking them to dig out the information from these two places.
In fact, with Zhou Ziwei's skills, he could easily have used his burrowing technique to create a path through these not-so-solid ice and snow layers. However, doing so would have been too conspicuous. Besides, who knows what might happen to the cave entrance as soon as he reached it? Therefore, after discovering these two caves, Zhou Ziwei did not take any further action.
In fact, Chang Li and the others had already thoroughly searched the area Zhou Ziwei had just mentioned, but they hadn't found anything wrong with it. However, Zhou Ziwei had only been there for one day, yet he was already insisting that there were seven or eight caves in this area. This made Chang Li feel both embarrassed and annoyed.
"Director Zhou, may I ask how you discovered, or rather confirmed, the existence of caves in these locations?"
Chang Li, constrained by his superior's authority, did not believe Zhou Ziwei's words at all, but sometimes he had to pretend to be confused and could only obediently agree.
However, Liu Xinghan, standing to the side, bluntly voiced her doubts.
When Zhou Ziwei heard Liu Xinghan's question, he turned to look at the girl who was wrapped up in thick cotton clothes, looking like a big rice dumpling. He smiled slightly and said, "You don't need to worry about what method I used. Anyway, I said there are caves in these places. Just dig one open and you'll know."
Liu Xinghan immediately raised her eyebrows, snorted, and said, "But... don't you think that ordering us around like this without any reason, if it's just based on your own subjective and unreasonable guesses, and making us do a lot of useless work, is an insult to us?"
Zhou Ziwei's brows furrowed slightly. He glanced at Liu Xinghan and said indifferently, "You haven't even verified it yet, how do you know I'm making you do useless work? Hmph... Do you think I enjoy coming here to point fingers at you? Here's what we'll do! These seven markers... If you can't dig a cave at even one of them, I'll turn around and leave immediately. I'm planning to take my wife to Switzerland to see the snow; the snow here doesn't seem as romantic as in Switzerland!"
With her good family background and extraordinary beauty, Liu Xinghan was usually pursued and cared for by other men wherever she went. Men her age would speak to her politely, even if they didn't mean to flatter her. But today, this strange Director Zhou came and didn't take her seriously at all.
Liu Xinghan sulked for a while, then remembered that this unknown section chief probably didn't know her background and hadn't seen her face. So, she angrily ripped off the thick cotton hat and mask from her head, revealing a delicate, breathtakingly beautiful face. She made a face at Zhou Ziwei and said, "I still think your actions are a bit irresponsible. If you want us to believe you, you should at least explain to us why you think there must be caves in these places."
As Liu Xinghan spoke, she deliberately tossed her long, black hair. Although the air inside the tent still made her face feel numb and uncomfortable from the cold after removing her mask, she stubbornly exposed her beauty and stared at Zhou Ziwei with her big, dark eyes, waiting for him to change his mind or explain his so-called reason for discovering the cave.
Actually, Liu Xinghan didn't intend to use her beauty to seduce Zhou Ziwei. She just really didn't want her comrades to be misled by some random department head and end up making a mess of things like headless flies.
That's why she planned to use her stunning beauty to win over Zhou Ziwei. As someone who had only recently joined the army, she wasn't quite used to the military style of obeying orders and hadn't even given up on the idea of having the right to know everything. That's why she did something that would never happen to an ordinary soldier.
Unfortunately, Liu Xinghan's efforts were in vain. Her exposed face was flushed from the cold, but Zhou Ziwei seemed not to have glanced at her once, ignoring her stubborn words. He simply turned to Chang Li and said, "That's it! After the other two groups return, immediately split into two groups to excavate these two main targets. Try to dig through these two caves before tonight and confirm whether they are our objectives... Remember... I don't have time to discuss anything with you. This is an order!"
Volume Two: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 360: Taking an Inch and Wanting a Mile
Feeling ignored by Zhou Ziwei, Liu Xinghan's anger flared up instantly. Seeing Chang Li respond and about to assign people to excavate the two marked key areas, she couldn't help but jump out and stop him, saying urgently, "Brother Chang, this man is completely unreliable. How can you listen to him..."
Chang Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he said in a deep voice, "Liu Xinghan, since Director Zhou is the superior officer authorized to guide us, then his words are orders that we must obey. Don't forget that you are also a soldier now. The consequences of disobeying orders are very serious. Do I need to emphasize this to you again?"
Although Chang Li spoke sternly, he was actually worried that Zhou Ziwei would really punish Liu Xinghan. After scolding Liu Xinghan a couple of times, he hurriedly turned to Zhou Ziwei and explained, "Director Zhou, please don't be angry. Little Liu... she was originally a performing arts soldier who came to our special forces to experience life. Later, she heard about a special operation we were having and insisted on coming along. I originally wouldn't have taken her with me, but... Captain Xiao, for some reason, made a special exception for her. I had no choice but to let her come along. You should know that soldiers from performing arts troupes... in terms of obeying orders, they certainly can't compare to real soldiers, so... please don't take what she said too seriously."
"So he was a military arts performer!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei nodded in sudden realization. He had been wondering why there would be such a self-important little woman among the special forces, but it turned out she was an arts and culture soldier who had come to the special forces company to experience life. It seemed that this girl's family must have a very powerful background, otherwise... why would the special forces captain send this woman to participate in this mission?
Even if she has connections, that brigade leader should still act recklessly like that... How could a performing arts soldier who only knows how to sing and dance possibly adapt to such harsh conditions? Wouldn't she just be a burden to everyone else here?
Moreover, this mission carries immense risks. Not to mention the natural disasters and the threat of snow wolves, if they actually find the cave that might be fraught with danger, wouldn't they have to rely on these special forces soldiers to scout ahead? And the outcome of that scouting would most likely be a near-death experience.
Zhou Ziwei shook his head inwardly, wondering if the captain who transferred Liu Xinghan had a grudge against the girl's family. Otherwise, why would he do such a thing?
Although he had some doubts, Zhou Ziwei didn't bother to pay attention to these things since they didn't really concern him.
Although Liu Xinghan still seemed unconvinced, Zhou Ziwei had no interest in arguing with her. He didn't even glance at Liu Xinghan and urged Chang Li to mark all the cave locations he had found below the East Slope. Zhou Ziwei, on the other hand, planned to search a little further up the mountain before it got too dark.
Although Zhou Ziwei was no longer afraid of the frigid climate here after mastering the technique of converting pure energy into heat energy, as long as he stayed on this mountain, he had to constantly absorb the pure energy in his body to convert it into heat energy, which was quite a wasteful use of the Heart of Flame.
Now there are only a few Heart of Flame left, and Zhou Ziwei doesn't want to waste all of these good things here.
Therefore, he decided to act quickly and find the mysterious cave that the old commander had mentioned within the next day or two, so that he could get away immediately.
As for what the mysterious cave was like inside, and what strange things were inside... Zhou Ziwei was also very curious about these things. However, despite his curiosity, Zhou Ziwei knew how dangerous it was, so he had no intention of getting involved.
After Chang Li finally marked the locations of all the caves of varying depths that Zhou Ziwei had discovered over the course of the day on his own map, Zhou Ziwei took back his map, bid farewell to the others, and then prepared to set off alone to explore the mountain further.
As for Changli, he has to stay here for the time being because he is waiting for the other two teams that went out to return so that he can be assigned tasks.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was about to step out of the tent, the girl named Liu Xinghan suddenly jumped out and blocked his way. Pointing at Zhou Ziwei with a disdainful look, she said, "I remember you. Your name is Zhou Ziwei, isn't it? Hmph... You're the famous playboy from the Zhou family in Dangyang, aren't you?"
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, not expecting that this girl actually knew him... Oh, to be precise, she knew his ex. However, since Zhou Ziwei had taken over this body, he could only continue everything his ex had done, even if his ex was a scoundrel. He could only take on all the bastard things that guy had done.
Therefore, although Zhou Ziwei noticed that the girl seemed to be treating him rather unfriendly, and he didn't know if it was because his ex had once molested her, he still admitted his identity without hesitation, nodding and saying, "That's right... I am Zhou Ziwei, Zhou Ziwei from the Zhou family of Dangyang. What's wrong? Who are you? Have we met before?"
"You...you still dare to pretend you don't remember me."
Liu Xinghan's face was already red from being exposed to the cold air for a long time, and now that she was angry, her little face became even more amusing.
Zhou Ziwei scratched his head helplessly and said, "Sorry, I really can't remember which one you are. If you have something to say to me, please be clear about it. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
Zhou Ziwei guessed that his ex and this young lady must not have had anything pleasant happen between them, so he gave a few perfunctory replies and tried to slip away.
After all, he has no right to deny what his ex-sex did, but he also has no interest in being mocked. If he knew he would be taking the blame for his ex, wouldn't he be crazy to do that?
Unfortunately, Liu Xinghan clearly wasn't going to let him off so easily. She shifted her delicate body slightly, blocking the tent's exit, pointed at Zhou Ziwei's nose, and snorted coldly, saying, "Fine... you don't remember, do you? Then let me remind you that you stayed at my house for one night when you and Uncle Zhou came to Beijing last time. What did you do then? Have you forgotten everything?"
"Uh... what have I done?" Zhou Ziwei asked subconsciously, but then he began to regret it.
Is there even a need to ask this? With the physique of his ex-girlfriend, what glorious deeds could she possibly have accomplished? Asking this is tantamount to letting Liu Xinghan publicly humiliate him, isn't it?
Sure enough, as soon as Zhou Ziwei said this, Liu Xinghan pointed at him, somewhat agitated and angry, and cursed, "You still have the nerve to ask? Fine... you think I, a girl, can't say it? Then I'll just say it and let everyone hear it. I want to see if you lose face more or I lose face more."
After saying that, Liu Xinghan turned to the special forces soldiers in the tent, all of whom were stunned, and said loudly, "It's this Director Zhou. Three years ago, when he came to my house as a guest, he sneaked into my room in the middle of the night to peep at me while I was taking a shower. When I found out, he still denied it to the death. In the end, when we fought, this coward couldn't even beat me, a girl. I beat him so badly that he was crawling all over the floor, and his forehead even hit the glass coffee table, leaving a big gash... Hmph, you deliberately keep your hair so long now, is it because you're afraid that others will see the scar on your forehead? I really regret that I was too soft-hearted back then and didn't take your life on the spot. A pervert like you should have your manhood chopped off so that you wouldn't go around harming girls."
Zhou Ziwei shook his head helplessly upon hearing this and said, "I have indeed done many foolish things in the past, or perhaps the one you mentioned is one of them! Anyway, I don't remember. But if I have really hurt you in the past, then I can apologize to you again and ask for your forgiveness."
Zhou Ziwei had no choice; after all, he inherited the identity of Zhou Ziwei and could not deny everything his predecessor had done.
He believed that Liu Xinghan wouldn't speak carelessly, and given Zhou Ziwei's character, it wouldn't be surprising if he did something like this.
I never realized Liu Xinghan was so ruthless; she actually wanted to cut off Zhou Ziwei's manhood... Sigh, his ex was really something else...
Upon hearing that Zhou Ziwei did not deny the matter and even solemnly apologized to Liu Xinghan, the expressions of the special forces soldiers immediately became extremely strange.
And when they looked at Zhou Ziwei again, their eyes involuntarily carried a hint of contempt.
Actually, they didn't really care whether Zhou Ziwei had actually spied on Liu Xinghan while she was taking a bath. It has to be admitted that Liu Xinghan is indeed a very attractive woman who can catch a man's eye. What man wouldn't be tempted by such a beautiful woman?
Peeping at beautiful women taking a bath... How many men haven't thought about something so despicable?
The only difference is that some people can put their thoughts into action, while others have the desire but not the courage.
So when everyone heard that Zhou Ziwei had spied on Liu Xinghan while she was taking a bath, they didn't look down on him much. But when they heard that Zhou Ziwei had actually been dealt with by such a delicate girl, they couldn't help but despise his incompetence.
Who knew that Zhou Ziwei sincerely apologized to Liu Xinghan on behalf of his ex, but Liu Xinghan showed no sign of letting it go. Instead, she stepped forward, reached out and grabbed Zhou Ziwei's hair, and sneered, "Hmph... How could a good-for-nothing like you join the army and even become some kind of section chief? Really, what right does a piece of trash like you have to command us? If we all listened to you, wouldn't we be killed by you? Why... Why are you looking at me like that? You're not convinced? Come on... everyone take a look at this lecherous bastard's forehead. Doesn't he have a very noticeable scar? So you won't think I'm framing him."
Zhou Ziwei originally didn't want to argue with this girl, and since it was the former Zhou Ziwei who had wronged her, he didn't care if he, as her stand-in, suffered a few insults as well.
Zhou Ziwei had no idea that Liu Xinghan would go too far and incite the crowd to disobey his orders. If that happened, it wouldn't matter if he lost face in front of these people, but if they really didn't cooperate with him, when would he be able to complete the task he promised the old chief?
Seeing that Liu Xinghan actually reached out and grabbed his hair in front of so many people, Zhou Ziwei became even more furious.
However, Zhou Ziwei did not dodge, and with a cold face, he let Liu Xinghan lift the hair on his forehead.
Liu Xinghan smugly lifted Zhou Ziwei's hair from his forehead, about to further humiliate him, when she saw that Zhou Ziwei's forehead was completely bald, without a single scar or pimple. She was stunned.
In fact, Zhou Ziwei originally had a long, ugly scar on his forehead, resembling a centipede. However, after Zhou Ziwei continuously strengthened and cleansed his body with his soul power, all the old and new scars on his body had long since faded and disappeared. At this point, Liu Xinghan could not possibly find a single scar on Zhou Ziwei's forehead.
"Huh... How is that possible? Where's the scar? How come the scar on your forehead is gone?" Liu Xinghan looked at Zhou Ziwei's forehead in astonishment for a long time, even stroking it with her slender fingers, but she couldn't find anything unusual about it. She said in great surprise, "Impossible... Such a deep wound, you had five or six stitches at the hospital, how could there be no scar at all... Ah... I know, you must have gone to South Korea for plastic surgery, right? No wonder you look different from before, I almost didn't recognize you just now... That's really weird... A grown man, actually going to get plastic surgery... Humph, I'm embarrassed for you."
Liu Xinghan didn't stop there. The hand that had been lifting Zhou Ziwei's hair instead grabbed it and pulled it forcefully towards herself, as if she wanted to make Zhou Ziwei bow to her.
"Get out—" Zhou Ziwei was finally provoked by this woman. Unable to bear it any longer, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Liu Xinghan's hand and gave it a light squeeze.
Even with Zhou Ziwei's current physical strength, a grip that wasn't very strong was still too much for a girl like Liu Xinghan to handle. She immediately cried out in pain and was then pushed back five or six steps by Zhou Ziwei's hand until she bumped into Chang Li and barely stopped.