Chapter 11 - Striking First

Cassius walked briskly down a cobblestone path, the sound of rain echoing in his ear. He pushed open the dormitory door.

"Brother Li Wei, you're back."

"We saved some food for you."

"Sit here."

The five boys in the dormitory greeted him enthusiastically. Ever since Li Wei had regaled them with a thrilling tale about a beauty and a vampire the night before, the friendship between the six of them had developed rapidly.

Cassius’s roommates used to go straight to bed as soon as they returned to the dormitory since there was nothing else to do, but now all five of them would wait up for Li Wei so he could tell a scary story before they went to sleep. They were even willing to eat less to scrimp together a portion of dinner for Li Wei. It was their way of paying Li Wei for telling them two stories each day.

"Come eat! Brother Li Wei, why don't you change your clothes first? Aaron and I will help you take them to be washed." A boy with a slightly large head came over, holding a metal box.

"Sure, thanks." Without thinking too much of it, Li Wei changed his clothes in front of everyone. After all, they were all boys so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. His shower could wait until after the story.

The large-headed boy opened the metal box, revealing some bread, vegetables, and meat. It was unclear where the box had come from.

"Brother Li Wei, you should eat. Aaron and I will be back soon." Arms full with the clothes, he and a skinny boy had barely taken a few steps forward before suddenly turning back to warn the others, "You guys better not get Brother Li Wei to tell the story first while we’re gone!"

"Don't worry, I'll eat slowly," Li Wei assured them. They nodded and rushed off.

Entertainment in this era was scarce, and the youth training camp was also under strict management. Day after day, if they weren't training, they were sleeping. And so, in the minds of the five boys, Cassius's scary stories were like rare and addictive treats.

Cassius had no idea that the story he casually cooked up would bring him a steady dinner every day.

Cassius lifted the metal lid to attend to his growling stomach. After fifteen minutes, under everyone’s eager gazes, he picked up his story of the hunter Van Helsing from the night before.

An hour later, the room was filled with snores. Cassius glanced at the dreary sky outside; it was still drizzling. Eyes narrowed, he crossed his arms over his chest, lost in thought. Then he got out of bed, grabbed a towel, and walked out of the room.

In dormitory room 7 of the boys' dormitory area, a faint wail echoed.

Finn was lying in bed. A boy beside him was applying the contents from a brownish-yellow bottle onto Finn's body, a little at a time.

"Hey, gentle! Fuck! Get someone else! Someone with a gentler touch!" Finn furrowed his brows, his eyelids twitching. The soreness in his body combined with the burning sensation of the medicine was too much to bear. The double training could kill a grown man.

He felt miserable when he realized that he still had nine days of this. And when Li Wei and Instructor Danton's faces flashed through his mind, his mood worsened. The cherry on top was when he recalled the pointed looks and hushed laughs from the Group Three and Four trainees. Finn wanted nothing more than to beat them all into the ground.

"Wasn't this all just a little drunken mistake? It’s not even a big deal, so why do I have to suffer like this?" Finn snorted angrily.

Despite the fact that genuinely drunk people wouldn’t have the energy to commit such dirty acts, Finn still felt wronged. What happened that night revealed that Finn usually had sordid thoughts and that he intentionally took advantage of being drunk to do the things he normally couldn't do.

"Apply more under my shoulders, and open the door a bit," Finn instructed the two boys beside him. "I'm feeling a little hot."

He endured the stinging pain all over his body, and gradually, the cooling sensation of the medicine soothed his aches.

"I definitely won’t let this go..." Finn muttered, clenching the towel in his hand. "He beat me until I was black and blue; I was in the hospital for over ten days! Just seeing his stupid face pisses me off!"

The two or three boys next to him exchanged glances while Finn ranted in a frustrated voice. With Finn being a close relative of Instructor Marn, one of the instructors in the youth training camp, he naturally had the highest social status in the dormitories.

"We need an opportunity. Best-case scenario is if we can lure him outside the camp, then we can beat him up. Or else, I can never let this go," Finn said.

"We'll follow whatever you decide," the others exchanged glances and agreed without hesitation. As expected of his lackeys.

Finn thought for a moment and then began to explain his plan. He thought it was flawless even though, in actuality, it was full of holes. As flawed as it was though, the plan had all of the vicious and malicious intention of an adult.

"That's all. When you think about it, we have nothing to be scared of. We were simply caught off guard last time. Plus, our minds were all muddled because we were kind of drunk. It was only normal that we were tricked by that scum. But this time, we'll strike first. It’ll be a piece of cake to deal with him..." Finn lay on the bed, arms spread wide. A boy beside him was gently massaging his muscles.

"When tomorrow comes, I'll—"

Creak

.

The door, left slightly ajar, slammed all the way open from outside. Someone burst in.

"Fuck! Li Wei?!" Finn whipped around, eyes bulging. He tried to prop himself up with his hands but Li Wei shot straight toward him like an arrow and mercilessly sat on him, firmly pinning him to the bed. A barrage of punches rained down.

"Trying to mess with me?!"

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"

Ah!

"

"Haven’t had enough yet, huh?!"

"Ah!

"

"Still want to mess with my sister?!"

"

Ah!

"

With each punch, Finn let out a wail.

"Christ’s sake, help me!!!" Finn struggled to prop himself up several times, but his sore and weak arms wouldn't allow him.

The other boys finally shook themselves out of their temporary shock and began punching and kicking Li Wei, who wasn’t the least bit deterred as he relentlessly pounded on Finn. They managed to yank him off several seconds later.

By then, Finn was already beaten senseless. He couldn’t speak; all he could do was blink. Meanwhile, two or three boys surrounded Li Wei, a flurry of punches and kicks raining down on him.

Cuts and bruises quickly appeared on Li Wei’s body. He glared viciously at the surrounding boys and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. Then, in his loudest voice, he hollered, "They're hitting me!! Help, they're hitting me! Instructors! Someone is fighting in dormitory room 7!"

His voice was both loud and shrill. The commotion woke up many of the trainees who sprinted over to see what was happening.

What they saw was a group of boys surrounding and attacking a bloodied Li Wei, who was retreating backward on unsteady legs.

Some trainees with a strong sense of justice rushed in to help. Soon, a chaotic fight broke out. It wasn't until the instructor on night duty arrived a few minutes later that it stopped.