Dazzling

After the competition began, the men's and women's teams took turns competing, with two participants from each school going at a time. The matches were quite intense, and every contestant gave their all. However, giving their all was one thing, while their postures were another matter entirely. Especially during the crawling segment, Qing Ye watched Pang Hu's chubby body wriggling forward like a large lump of meat squirming on the ground. Eventually, his shirt even rolled up from the motion, exposing his plump belly—a truly eyesore sight. The girls around burst into laughter, abandoning their sandbag throws to collectively shout at him, "Spirited young man!"

Pang Hu's face flushed crimson with nowhere to hide. He hurriedly straightened his clothes, but this delay left him in last place. Fang Lei had long been doubled over with laughter, but as the class monitor, she still organized everyone to target Jin Zhong's team, buying time for Pang Hu.

Just as Qing Ye raised a sandbag to throw, an unexpected sandbag flew from somewhere and struck her squarely on the forehead. Although the sandbag was soft and didn't hurt much, the direct impact still startled her. She brushed it off, glanced around, rubbed her forehead, and continued aiming at Jin Zhong's team.

Despite Pang Hu's slow crawling speed, he suddenly unleashed a Hulk-like burst of energy after clearing that segment. The entire An Zhong team cheered fervently, "Fan Tong, jiayou! Fan Tong, jiayou!"

Upon hearing the name, Jin Zhong's side erupted in laughter and began chanting, "Rice bucket, louyou! Rice bucket, louyou!"

Fan Tong ultimately didn't disgrace his group, securing second place. Next up was the women's team. Fang Lei stretched her wrists and ankles, wearing an expression of absolute determination. Qing Ye reminded her, "Your Wei Dong is watching you—go for it!"

The mention alone seemed to inject Fang Lei with adrenaline. The moment the whistle blew, she shot out first, displaying a level of intensity never seen even in PE classes—as if two million yuan awaited her at the finish line. It was terrifying!

The next group of participants was already poised at the starting line. Xing Wu, clad in black athletic wear, exuded an unstoppable fierceness with his sharply angled sideburns. His gaze swept across the field and landed on Qing Ye at the sidelines. She had removed her jacket, revealing a black fitted knit top that showcased her graceful figure. Raising her hands, she cheered for Fang Lei along with the enthusiastic crowd, radiating vitality and energy.

Noticing Xing Wu's gaze, Qing Ye turned and flashed him a bright smile. But at that moment, everything went dark before her eyes. Before she could dodge, another sandbag struck her face—this time hitting her left eye. She immediately covered her eye, feeling a stinging pain. Damn, how strange—why was she always the target?

When Qing Ye reopened her eyes, she saw Xing Wu's expression had noticeably shifted. His eyes gleamed with a wolf-like sharpness as they scanned the crowd.

That single glance told Qing Ye everything: Could someone be deliberately targeting her? Two direct hits to the face—was this sandbag GPS-guided?

She quickly scanned the crowd herself, but the ongoing match was too chaotic, with sandbags flying everywhere, making it impossible to identify any suspicious individuals.

Rubbing her eye, Qing Ye felt grains of sand from the sandbag had gotten into it, causing discomfort that reddened her eye. Xing Wu watched her from afar, his brow slightly furrowed.Qing Ye shook her head at him, indicating she was fine. Just then, cheers erupted around them—Fang Lei had won first place in this round. She was so thrilled she jumped up and down.

It was then that Qing Ye remembered a crucial point: although Fang Lei wanted to impress Wei Dong, the victory ultimately belonged to their school. On the battlefield, there are no couples—Wei Dong might not necessarily be happy for her.

She glanced at Xing Wu. Thankfully, they were on the same side.

So she quickly forgot the earlier incident, raising her arm and giving Xing Wu a thumbs-up. Even though Xing Wu wasn’t looking at her, a faint smile flickered at the corner of his lips.

This subtle expression caught the attention of the girls from Jin Zhong. To Qing Ye’s surprise, many of them started pulling out their phones to take photos. Damn!

A whistle blew, and Xing Wu’s agile figure swiftly leaped past the starting line. The first challenge was to crawl under an obstacle, with his body completely pressed to the ground. If he lifted even slightly and touched the net above, he’d have to start over from the beginning.

Xing Wu kept his body close to the ground, using the alternating pull of his arms and the push of his feet to speed through the obstacle with remarkable quickness.

Qing Ye had learned low crawling during military training—it was an important skill in extended drills. But few could perform it as precisely and swiftly as he did. Most people, like Pang Hu, ended up scrambling and tumbling clumsily.

The afternoon sun blazed fiercely. Under his black athletic wear, Xing Wu moved with nimble grace, the power in his waistline clearly visible. His clean, sharp movements and piercing gaze made him resemble an unstoppable black panther—ferocious and strikingly handsome.

He effortlessly captivated a crowd of girls from the opposing side, who began shouting wildly, “Go, Xing Wu!”

Truly, looks-obsessed fans have no principles or bottom line. The boys from Jin Zhong were so furious they started cursing loudly.

Only then did Qing Ye realize Xing Wu’s reputation was quite impressive—even the girls from Jin Zhong knew him. She had truly underestimated his appeal.

By the time Xing Wu crawled out from under the obstacle, the three competitors behind him were only halfway through. He leaped directly onto the swaying rope ladder, swiftly climbed to the high platform, and began the second challenge: crossing the bridge.

The balance beam was about two meters high, with soft mats laid beneath. The tricky part was that the beam was round and could roll. Most competitors got stuck at this stage, needing multiple attempts to cross. This challenge tested balance, but the difficulty was compounded by opponents hurling sandbags wildly, often causing already unsteady participants to fail instantly.

So, as soon as Xing Wu climbed the rope ladder, the Jin Zhong side was already poised to throw sandbags.

Just as everyone raised their hands to throw—within mere seconds, some even blinked—Xing Wu had already crossed.

Even Qing Ye squeezed her eyes hard, wondering if she was seeing things. He really… crossed just like that, as if he had teleported!

Almost everyone who climbed the rope ladder would pause for half a minute to a minute, finding their balance and observing the beam’s rolling pattern before daring to step forward. No one expected Xing Wu to sprint across at full speed the moment he reached the ladder, swift as the wind.

The students still holding sandbags, ready to throw, were left utterly bewildered. What just happened?While the three opponents behind Xing Wu were still stuck at the crawling obstacle, he had already leaped onto the third challenge—the rock-climbing wall.

After the instructor secured his safety harness, he sprang onto the climbing wall. His speed, agility, and precise judgment instantly electrified the students from both schools.

Teacher Dong rushed excitedly to the base of the wall and shouted up at Xing Wu, "Take your time, focus on stability—you’ve got this!"

Old Zhu stood at the back, beaming proudly as he boasted to Jin Zhong’s Sun Guangquan, "That’s my student."

This was practically the only time in three years of high school that he had ever acknowledged Xing Wu as his student.

Xing Wu’s expression remained as calm and unreadable as ever. Qing Ye had stopped cheering by then, standing at the edge of the crowd with her hands clenched, anxiously watching him.

The safety rope cinched around his waist accentuated his lean frame. His arms were taut and powerful, each foothold chosen with precision. The higher he climbed, the more challenging it became, with the gaps between holds gradually widening. Previous participants had all chosen to traverse horizontally to the rightmost blue foothold before ascending.

But Xing Wu’s body suddenly contorted into an extreme position. With a long stride and the strength of his arms, he swung himself directly onto the nearest yellow foothold, stunning everyone. Hearts lurched and soared with him. Even Instructor Wang below couldn’t help but exclaim, "Incredible!"

By then, all eyes were fixed nervously on Xing Wu, completely ignoring the three teammates who had just emerged from the crawling obstacle.

Beneath the dazzling sun, his formidable physique radiated unstoppable power, mesmerizing the crowd and setting Qing Ye’s heart ablaze.

Just as Xing Wu cleared the wall and began his descent, a sandbag suddenly flew toward Qing Ye. She caught the movement in her peripheral vision and turned sharply—only for the bag to strike her squarely on the bridge of her nose. A sharp sting brought tears springing reflexively to her eyes.

Everyone watched in shock as Xing Wu, still two-thirds of the way down, abruptly leaped from the height. He unclipped his safety harness, strode toward the edge of the field, grabbed a Jin Zhong boy by the collar, hoisted him over the barrier rope, and flung him into the arena.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The crowd only registered Xing Wu’s menacing snarl: "Do you want to keep those hands?"

Before anyone could process what was happening, Xing Wu landed a punch squarely on the boy’s face.

Instantly, teachers and students from both schools erupted into chaos. Instructor Wang rushed over, shouting, "What’s going on here?"

Xing Wu stood his ground, radiating intensity. Teachers from both Jin Zhong and An Zhong hurried over as well. The buzz-cut victim immediately cried out, "You all saw it! He attacked me for no reason!"

Just as bewildered eyes turned toward Xing Wu, Qing Ye rushed forward, covering her face, and positioned herself in front of him. Pointing at the accused student, she confronted the teachers and instructors: "He threw a sandbag at my face—my eyes and nose! This is the third time!"

Qing Ye’s nose still throbbed from the impact, her eyes red and watery. In an instant, the suspicious gazes shifted from Xing Wu to the Jin Zhong boy with the buzz cut.

"I didn’t throw anything!" the boy retorted, glancing back at a girl behind him. Qing Ye’s eyes immediately landed on the short-haired girl who had mocked her at noon for wearing a "one or two hundred yuan parka."She wondered why this girl had a grudge against her—they didn't even know each other.

She simply averted her gaze and then squeezed out two tears for Instructor Wang. The tears had already been welling up in her eyes; she had been about to wipe them away earlier, but seeing the situation turning against them, she decided to let them fall instead.

Qing Ye, with her fair and delicate features, looked pitiful with her reddened nose. Adding a few tears to the mix, even the male instructor softened. He asked the boy with the crew cut why he had thrown something at a girl who wasn't even competing. The crew-cut boy, fuming, remained silent.

Someone from the back shouted, "Do you have a crush on her or something?"

The crew-cut boy flared up instantly. The short-haired girl stepped forward and said, "You're saying Wang Yang threw something? Who saw it? He was standing right next to me the whole time, and I didn't see anything."

"Then was it you who threw it?" Xing Wu cut her off sharply.

Faced with Xing Wu's cold, stern expression, the short-haired girl immediately fell silent.

Pang Hu and the others gathered around as well. Teachers from both schools didn't want the situation to escalate. After all, the Winter Camp was supposed to be a joyful event, held only once a year, and with the competitive format, friction was inevitable. As long as nothing serious happened, resolving it quickly was the priority.

So Sun Guangquan interjected, "Let's not argue. Regardless of who threw something at this female student, since it's unclear, we won't discuss it further. Such behavior is not allowed from now on, or the school will deal with it severely."

"As for this male student standing up for a girl from his school, that's understandable, but the method was wrong. After all, you threw the first punch. How about this: you apologize to our school's Wang Yang, and we'll consider the matter closed."

Students from An Middle School immediately erupted in protest: "Why should he? They should apologize to Qing Ye first!"

"Yeah, apologize to Qing Ye first!"

Voices rose one after another. Combined with the frustration from losing the noon match under questionable circumstances, the pent-up resentment among the An Middle School students burst forth.

Seeing the students' tempers flaring, Teacher Dong feared a conflict between the two schools that would be hard to control. He quickly raised his voice: "Enough! You're all high school seniors. Let me remind you again—many of you are adults now and must take responsibility for your actions."

He then walked over to Xing Wu and said in a low voice, "Just apologize. Both sides need a way to save face."

Xing Wu curled his lips disdainfully. "Fine, I'll apologize. But he has to kneel while listening."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pang Hu, standing behind the crew-cut boy, kicked the back of his knees. The boy immediately crumpled to the ground. Xing Wu stood over him, casually bent down, patted his head, and said condescendingly, "My apologies."

Then he straightened up, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked straight off the field. The crew-cut boy scrambled to his feet, glaring furiously at the short-haired girl.

The other teachers quickly stepped in to calm things down and organized the continuation of the competition.

Qing Ye glanced at Xing Wu's retreating figure, exchanged a few words with Shi Min, and then hurried after him.