Courtyard House: Starting with handing over the keys, the state helps me abuse birds.

A month later.

Morning light streamed through the windows of the training base, casting long shadows on the concrete floor.

Xie Weihong sat cross-legged on the rooftop of the dormitory building, closing her eyes and regulating her breathing. A faint mist rose around her, a phenomenon that occurred when her blood and qi circulated to their peak.

After breaking through to the mid-stage of the fourth rank, his perception range expanded again, and every blade of grass and tree in the entire base was covered by his divine sense.

Downstairs on the playground, twelve people are doing their morning exercises.

This is not ordinary physical training, but cultivation.

A month ago, they were twelve elite soldiers who scoffed at the word "cultivation".

Now, all twelve people have completed the Small Heavenly Circuit and have truly stepped into the threshold of cultivation.

Zhao Weize stood at the front of the line, cupped his hands, and slowly pushed out a palm.

The leaves on the trees three meters away trembled slightly as the palm struck.

That was the outward release of Qi; although it was still very weak, it was already a qualitative leap.

Sun Guodong, a veteran with a square face, stood next to him, his legs slightly bent, standing like a pine tree.

After his twenty-year-old wounds had healed, his aura was even stronger than that of a young man. At this moment, with his eyes closed, his body was radiating heat, like a human furnace.

Zhou Bin, a lean and elite runner, was practicing his footwork. Following the "lightness technique" taught by Xie Weihong, he ran in circles on the track, each step landing silently, his speed so fast that he was just a blur.

Wu Zhen, a dark-skinned scout, was practicing concealment. He squatted motionless in the corner, clearly there, yet passersby would subconsciously overlook him—that was the effect of his energy being completely contained.

The twelve people each had their own pace and their own insights.

But they have one thing in common—

They all became stronger.

It's much stronger now.

Xie Weihong opened her eyes and jumped off the roof.

He landed as lightly as a feather from a height of twelve meters, without making a sound.

"Instructor!"

The twelve people stopped what they were doing and stood at attention.

Xie Weihong nodded and was about to speak when she caught a glimpse of someone walking towards the office building.

Duan Chengyi.

He walked slowly, his brow furrowed, a clear look of worry on his face. Reaching him, he forced a smile: "Wei Hong, how's the training going with the trainees?"

Xie Weihong glanced at him: "What's up?"

Duan Chengyi sighed and remained silent.

Xie Weihong waved to the twelve people: "Keep practicing."

Then he and Duan Chengyi walked to the side.

"Speak."

Duan Chengyi rubbed his temples and pulled a document out of his briefcase.

"Do you remember that fugitive we caught during the city lockdown a month ago?"

Xie Weihong took the document and glanced at it.

Name: Ma Kui. Nickname: Wild Wolf. Age: 37. Charges: Intentional homicide, assaulting a police officer, prison break.

Attached to the document was a photograph: a square face, thick eyebrows, a sinister gaze, and a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. That smile was unsettling, like a wolf eyeing its prey.

"Didn't catch them?"

"We can't catch him." Duan Chengyi smiled bitterly. "This guy was a reconnaissance soldier. After he was discharged, he went into crime and has several lives on his hands. He was arrested three months ago, but escaped during transport two weeks ago. He has a very strong counter-surveillance awareness and always chooses to go through deserted mountain gullies. We've managed to get away with him several times during our manhunts."

He pointed to a note on the document: "Yesterday afternoon, someone spotted him in a ravine eighty miles west of Beijing. By the time the armed police arrived, he was long gone. He seems to be able to sense danger in advance, and he always runs faster than a rabbit."

Xie Weihong closed the file and looked at the twelve people on the playground.

"Send my men."

Duan Chengyi was taken aback: "Them?"

"After a month of training, it's time to put our skills to the test in real combat," Xie Weihong said. "It just so happens that we have a target to work with."

Duan Chengyi hesitated: "But this is a murderer, extremely vicious, what if..."

"What if?" Xie Weihong glanced at him. "Do you think they're still ordinary soldiers?"

Duan Chengyi remained silent.

Yes, are those twelve people still ordinary soldiers?

He personally witnessed Zhou Bin go from a standstill to a hundred meters in just over three seconds, personally witnessed Wu Zhen squatting in the corner and no one noticed him, and personally witnessed Sun Guodong smash five red bricks with one palm.

They were definitely not ordinary soldiers anymore.

"Okay." Duan Chengyi nodded. "I'll have someone send over the latest intelligence."

---

Twenty minutes later.

Twelve people stood on the playground, listening to Duan Chengyi explain the situation.

"Ma Kui, nicknamed Wild Wolf, was last seen in Nianpangou, eighty miles west of Beijing. That area is all mountains and the terrain is complicated, so he may still be hiding nearby."

He drew a circle on the map.

"The local garrison and armed police have been searching for three days without finding anything. You have only one mission—to bring the person back alive."

The twelve people responded in unison, "Yes!"

Duan Chengyi looked at Xie Weihong.

Xie Weihong walked to the front of the line, her gaze sweeping over every face.

"It's been a month," he said. "You've learned how to breathe, opened your meridians, and practiced breathing exercises. Now, let me see how much you've learned."

He paused.

"There's only one goal: bring them back alive. The method and time are not limited. Return on your own after completing the mission."

"yes!"

"Set off."

The twelve men turned and ran. Without vehicles or equipment, they rushed out of the base gate empty-handed.

Eighty li of mountain road, a journey that would take ordinary people two days. But for them—

Two hours later, Nianpangou came into view.

Zhao Weize stopped and looked back. Eleven people followed behind him, their breathing steady, none of them falling behind.

"We're here," he said. "Shall we split up and search?"

Sun Guodong shook his head: "The instructor didn't say how to search, but we have to use our brains. Wild Wolf used to be a scout, so he has strong counter-tracking abilities. Searching separately might alert him."

Wu Zhen squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, smelled it, and then looked at the distant mountains.

"I'll do it," he said. "Tracking is my forte."

He closed his eyes and focused his internal energy. After cultivating, his sense of smell and hearing had improved significantly. He could smell scents that ordinary people couldn't smell, and hear sounds that ordinary people couldn't hear.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and pointed to the northwest.

"Over there. Someone passed by within six hours."

The twelve men immediately moved in that direction.

---

Twenty miles away, in a secluded mountain cave.

Ma Kui leaned against the stone wall, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, a smug smile on his face.

It's been three days.

Those idiots searched for three days and couldn't even find a trace of him.

Who is Ma Kui? He's a top-notch soldier from the reconnaissance company, a master of wilderness survival. Back in the army, he could hide in the mountains for half a month without being discovered. Although he's been retired for many years, his skills are still there.

Moreover, he had a special intuition—he could sense danger approaching in advance. It was with this ability that he evaded capture three times, outsmarting the armed police.

"A bunch of useless trash," he muttered to himself, a disdainful smile playing on his lips.

He heard birds chirping outside. He listened carefully; they were normal tits, nothing unusual.

He stretched, took out half a compressed biscuit from his pocket, and slowly chewed it.

He'll hide for a few more days, wait for things to calm down, then head south. He'll go south, change his identity, and start afresh. With his abilities, he can do well anywhere.

As for those three lives?

He scoffed. Who told them to be so blind as to try and steal his territory?

So what if you kill someone? These days, only the ruthless survive.

He finished chewing the biscuit and stood up to stretch his limbs. The cave wasn't large, but it was well hidden; the entrance was blocked by bushes, and you wouldn't notice it until you got right up to it.

He walked to the cave entrance, parted the bushes, and peeked out.

There was no one there. Only mountains and trees.

He felt relieved and shrank back, leaning against the stone wall, closing his eyes to rest.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide.

wrong.

Something's wrong.

He stood up and listened carefully. The wind, the birdsong, the rustling of leaves... everything was normal.

But his intuition was pounding.

dangerous.

He grabbed the dagger that was lying to the side, crouched down close to the cave entrance, and cautiously peered out.

Still no one.

But the sense of danger grew stronger and stronger, so strong that it made his scalp tingle.

No, I have to go.

He retreated back into the cave and quickly packed his things. Actually, there wasn't much to pack: a dagger, a few compressed biscuits, and a water bottle.

He slung his water bottle over his shoulder, gripped his dagger tightly, and prepared to crawl out of the hole from the other direction.

Then he froze.

A person was standing at the entrance of the cave.

It appeared out of nowhere, just standing there quietly, blocking the exit.

Young, lean, with calf muscles as solid as iron.

Zhou Bin.

Ma Kui's pupils contracted sharply. He hadn't heard any footsteps at all; the man had appeared suddenly like a ghost.

"Who the hell are you?"

Zhou Bin didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Ma Kui gritted his teeth, gripped his dagger tightly, and lunged at Zhou Bin. He was incredibly fast, one of the fastest in the reconnaissance company back in the day. An ordinary person couldn't react in time to his lunge and thrust.

But his dagger missed its mark.

Zhou Bin dodged to the side, lightly avoiding the attack, and casually placed his hand on the wrist.

Ma Kui felt a strong force coming from him, his wrist went numb, and the dagger flew out of his hand, landing on the ground with a "clang".

He staggered a few steps to steady himself, and when he looked at Zhou Bin again, the man was still standing there, as if nothing had happened.

"you……"

Before Ma Kui could finish speaking, footsteps sounded behind him.

He turned around abruptly and found several more people at the cave entrance. There were old and young, tall and short, but they had one thing in common—their eyes were as calm as if they were looking at dead people.

"A former scout?" one of the dark-skinned men asked. "Coincidentally, so was I."

Ma Kui's throat was dry.

He had been a reconnaissance soldier and knew how formidable they were. But these people seemed even more terrifying to him than his former drill instructors.

That calm gaze was like looking at a wild beast in a cage.

"Who...who are you?"

No one answered him.

Twelve people blocked all the way out.

Ma Kui gritted his teeth and suddenly charged towards the one who looked the thinnest. The man looked young, with a somewhat childish face, and should be the easiest to deal with.

He rushed up to the man and punched him.

The man neither dodged nor blocked him; he just stared at him.

When his fist was still a foot away from his opponent's face, Ma Kui felt like he had run into a wall.

It wasn't a real wall, but an invisible force that blocked his fist.

He stared wide-eyed at the young man in front of him.

Zhao Weize.

Zhao Weize reached out and gently grasped his fist.

Ma Kui felt as if his fist was being clamped by iron clamps, his bones cracking and popping, causing him to scream in pain.

"You...you..."

Zhao Weize didn't say anything, he just gave it a gentle push.

Ma Kui was sent flying, his back slamming against the cave wall before crashing to the ground. He struggled to get up, but his whole body ached as if it were falling apart.

He lay on the ground, raised his head, and watched the people slowly walk over.

They walked slowly and steadily, like taking a stroll.

But every step felt like stepping on his heart.

fear.

An unprecedented fear welled up from the depths of my heart.

He suddenly remembered something his instructor had said back in the reconnaissance company: "This is the look a true hunter has in his eyes when he looks at his prey."

Now, he is the prey.

"No...don't kill me..." his voice trembled. "I surrender, I'll go with you..."

Zhao Weize walked up to him and looked down at him.

"Kill you?" he said. "The instructor said, alive."

He reached out and lifted Ma Kui up like a chick.

Ma Kui was completely limp, without even the thought of resisting.

He was dragged out of the cave and saw several people still standing outside. Among them was a middle-aged man with a square face, who was looking at him.

"Is it him?" Sun Guodong asked.

"Yes." Zhou Bin nodded. "They hid it quite well, but unfortunately, they weren't lucky."

As Ma Kui listened to their conversation, a sense of absurdity welled up inside him.

He hid for half a month, outwitting countless police officers and armed police, only to be caught by these few people who appeared out of nowhere in the end?

They caught it as easily as catching a chicken.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

Sun Guodong glanced at him and said to Zhao Weize, "Let's go back and report."

The twelve men escorted Ma Kui and disappeared into the mountains.

---

Beijing, training base.

Duan Chengyi stood on the playground, looking at Ma Kui kneeling on the ground in front of him, speechless for a long time.

Three hours ago, he received a call saying that the person had been caught.

He still didn't believe it. Three hours, from the base to Nianpangou, an 80-mile mountain road, a round trip of 160 miles, plus the search and arrest operation, how could it be so fast?

The lovely person was right in front of him.

He was disheveled and covered in injuries, but it was indeed Ma Kui, the murderer he had been chasing for half a month.

"How did you catch him?" he couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Weize thought for a moment and said, "So... we found him and arrested him."

"this one?"

"That's it."

Duan Chengyi looked at the others. Zhou Bin nodded, Sun Guodong nodded, and everyone else nodded.

He took a deep breath, unsure of what to say.

Xie Weihong walked over from the office building and glanced at Ma Kui.

"Take him away. He needs to be interrogated and sentenced."

Duan Chengyi nodded and ordered his men to take Ma Kui away.

As Ma Kui was being lifted up, he suddenly turned around and glanced at Xie Weihong. His eyes held fear, confusion, and a hint of awe he himself didn't realize.

He was taken away.

Duan Chengyi walked up to Xie Weihong and said with a wry smile, "Weihong, what kind of monsters are these students of yours now?"

Xie Weihong glanced at him.

"Not a monster," he said. "He's a cultivator."

Duan Chengyi remained silent.

A glint of light flashed in Xie Weihong's eyes.

Merit Points System.

This means that in the future, not only will animal cruelty become a crime, but doing good deeds will also make you stronger.

He looked at the twelve people on the playground.

They were exchanging their experiences in the capture, their faces beaming with excitement and smiles that seemed to indicate they hadn't had enough.

"Instructor!" Zhou Bin ran over. "That wolf was too weak. He fell down before I even put up a fight."

Xie Weihong glanced at him.

"That's because you're too strong," he said. "It's not that he's weak."

Zhou Bin paused for a moment, then grinned.

Xie Weihong turned around and walked towards the office building.

Laughter and chatter came from behind me. It was laughter from the students who had truly stepped into another world.