Chapter 143: Master and Novice

Zhang Can uttered an "oh," then extended his left hand to release the safety. With a sharp click, he managed to fire a shot, the recoil sending a numb sensation straight through his hand.

Su Xue bit her lip in exasperation. With that shot of Zhang Can's, nobody had any idea where the bullet had gone; forget hitting the wooden stakes or stones—it hadn't even flown in that general direction.

After a brief moment of vexation, Su Xue said, "This won't do. Practicing like this gets us nowhere. To practice shooting, you first have to understand the gun. Come over here, let me teach you the basics of the handgun!"

Calling Zhang Can to her side, Su Xue held the pistol flat in her palm and first removed the magazine. Only then did she instruct him, "Follow my lead. Take out the magazine first."

Zhang Can clumsily removed the magazine, but driven by a deep-seated fear of ammunition, he pushed it far away the moment it was out.

Su Xue could not help biting her lip to suppress a laugh. "Coward," she said. "Bullets won't detonate unless the primer at the base is struck by a hard point like the firing pin. Just right here..." She pointed to the tiny red dot at the very center of the brass casing at the bottom of the bullet.

"This handgun is the latest Glock 19, currently used only by domestic SWAT and special forces. Because a large portion of the Glock's components are made of plastic, it's lightweight, highly reliable in its mechanical action, and has a large magazine capacity. That's why various countries have adopted it as police issue. More than forty countries use it for their police forces, though most opt for the standard Glock 17."

Zhang Can knew virtually nothing about firearms. Whatever he had seen was confined to movies and television, yet he was well aware that the guns in films and TV were fake props, whereas the one Su Xue had given him was entirely real.

However, Zhang Can took matters of appraisal very seriously. Even without using his X-ray vision, whenever someone talked about technical details, he paid extreme attention. He could deduce three things from a single hint. Combined with the penetrating sight of his black-and-white eyes, he found such tasks effortless. Right now, though, he had zero interest in Su Xue's gun-handling lessons. No matter how detailed her explanations were, they went in one ear and out the other, leaving no impression in his mind whatsoever.

"First familiarize yourself with the structure of the firearm, then you'll understand its performance, and only then can you use it properly!" Su Xue said. With a few swift, left-and-right motions, she disassembled the pistol into a pile of loose parts in the blink of an eye. This continuous sequence of movements left Zhang Can completely dizzy and practically dumbfounded. The things he had seen on TV were fake, but the actions performed by the pretty girl in front of him were real; she was clearly a true expert!

Even without counting, Zhang Can knew it had taken her less than fifteen seconds. Fixing her gaze on him, Su Xue declared, "Your turn!"

Zhang Can froze. When he tried to replicate Su Xue's actions with the pistol in his hand, he realized he had already forgotten how she had done it. After turning it over and over for a while, he began clumsily taking the gun apart. It took him two or three minutes just to remove the first piece, and disassembling the entire handgun took nearly fifteen minutes, leaving him drenched in sweat.

This time, Su Xue didn't scold him. She merely nodded and said, "Good. Now that you've taken the pistol apart, put it back together. Sometimes, firearms malfunction, and you need to know how to strip and repair them yourself so it can save your life in a critical moment. Watch my movements closely, every step from start to finish."

Su Xue taught with utmost dedication. Zhang Can felt somewhat forced into a corner, but refusing was out of the question, so he had no choice but to watch her work. It took her about as long to reassemble the gun as it had to take it apart. With a few quick motions, Su Xue put the pistol back together, placed it before her, and told Zhang Can, "Your turn!"

Zhang Can rubbed his head in utter distress, muttering under his breath, "Why do I even have to learn this..." But seeing Su Xue glare at him, he shut his mouth. Trying to act tough with her was useless. His X-ray vision and water-repelling pearl granted him extraordinary abilities, much like superpowers, but they were of zero help in a physical fight. If he wanted to match wits or muscle with Su Xue, he simply lacked the capacity. Therefore, his only option was to obey.

Reassembling a gun, however, was far more difficult than taking it apart—at least for an unfamiliar beginner. For an expert like Su Xue, disassembly and assembly were identical, with no difference at all. Beginners were a different story. Since you didn't understand the mechanism, tearing something down was easy, but putting it back together correctly was vastly harder. For instance, if someone who knew nothing about repairing televisions took one apart into a pile of parts, that would be an absolute breeze, but reassembling it to its original state would be harder than climbing to the heavens!

That was precisely the dilemma Zhang Can faced while trying to reassemble the gun. He fiddled with the parts for ages without successfully connecting a single one. Catching sight of Su Xue's cold expression, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep trying.

It took him nearly six or seven minutes just to find the right part and manage to insert it. As he tried repeatedly, his progress improved slightly compared to the beginning. Afterward, every time he successfully installed a component, there was one less piece left on the ground, and his speed increased marginally. When he finally attached the very last piece, Su Xue glanced at her wristwatch and said flatly, "Reassembling the gun took you twenty-heits—twenty-eight minutes. At that speed, an opponent would have killed you a hundred times over. Let's go again!"

In a fit of anger, Zhang Can tossed the pistol aside and sneered, "Kill? Kill my foot! If I kill someone, wouldn't the murderer get the death penalty? Even a fool wouldn't do that. I'm an ordinary citizen; stop treating me like one of your military recruits!"

"You—" Su Xue's delicate brows arched, and anger flared instantly. In the past, Zhang Can had been terrified of her. The moment she showed any sign of temper, he would shut his mouth and avoid provoking her. But lately, things seemed different. Zhang Can was no longer particularly afraid of her, and recently he even frequently locked horns with her, making Su Xue extremely uncomfortable. She was someone with an intensely possessive and competitive nature; whatever she fancied, she had to have, and whatever competition she entered, she had to win. Seeing that Zhang Can no longer feared her and constantly crossed swords with her made Su Xue genuinely want to step on him and grind him underfoot.

After taking several deep breaths to finally calm herself down, Su Xue softened her tone and said, "Fine, if you won't assemble it, then don't. You do have a point; after all, you aren't going to join the army or the police, so not knowing doesn't matter. To deal with the danger this time, just learn how to shoot. Once you master that, you'll at least have some form of protection!"

Seeing someone as strong-willed as Su Xue suddenly back down, Zhang Can was surprised, but he also realized she made sense. If he encountered wild beasts alone, having a gun was certainly better than not having one. Even if his marksmanship was terrible, having the weapon offered undeniable advantages. It seemed Su Xue genuinely had his best interests at heart. After pondering this, he nodded and said, "Alright, I'll just practice shooting!"

When it came to firearms, Zhang Can truly had no natural feel for them. After practicing for a long time, Su Xue even repeatedly moved the target closer until it was only three or four meters away—almost right in front of him. Zhang Can expended all fifty rounds of ammunition, yet not a single bullet even grazed the stone, nor did they touch a single shred of bark on the upright wooden stake.

Su Xue was genuinely helpless. With marksmanship like that, even if a beast ran right up to him, he would have no way of hitting it. Oh well, he just wasn't cut out for this. Keeping the gun on him would at least serve as a deterrent against wild beasts—much like a country possessing nuclear weapons; perhaps they wouldn't be used for ten years, a hundred years, or even forever, but the deterrent effect remained. If they ran into a wild animal, as long as Zhang Can pulled out the gun and fired a random shot, it might just serve to frighten the creature away.

"Forget it, let's stop here for today!" Su Xue waved her hand, feeling somewhat helpless as she told Zhang Can to halt.

Zhang Can finally stopped, engaged the gun's safety, and stuffed the pistol into a pocket at his waist. Even the placement and the motion of stowing the weapon were executed with utter awkwardness.

Su Xue shook her head continuously. If someone like Zhang Can entered her unit, how could he possibly survive? He would either be chewed out or beaten to death. Yet perhaps Zhang Can was right; people came in all varieties, and each had their own strengths. For instance, his appraisal skills, his tolerance for the cold and rain, and his vigilance in detecting danger were qualities she could never hope to match!

Every trade has its master, and Zhang Can simply wasn't the type to shine in this particular arena; forcing him was pointless. Once Su Xue reasoned this through, she felt a sense of relief. Among the people heading up the mountain this time, aside from her uncle and Zhang Can, everyone else was clearly someone who didn't need special care. As for her uncle, needless to say, the subordinates accompanying him were elite operatives pulled straight from the military. If her uncle were in danger, those men would willingly sacrifice their lives to save him. Therefore, she didn't need to waste energy worrying about her uncle; she just needed to keep a closer eye on Zhang Can. As long as she stuck near him, nothing major should go wrong, and once they went up the mountain, they wouldn't be splitting up anyway.

The sky had fully brightened, and the barbecue was nearly done. Zhu森林 already shouted at the top of his lungs, "Bro, bro, come over and eat some roast meat!"

The roasted meat was identical to last night's, except this time Zheng Dabao did not have his men bring out any alcohol. Since they were about to set off, drinking meant getting drunk, and how could anyone walk if they were drunk?

Knowing they were about to embark on a long trek, no one needed urging; they simply dug in with gusto. The nutritional value of the roast meat went without saying—it was exceptionally effective at replenishing the human body's thermal energy.

After finishing the meal, Zheng Dabao and his subordinates used sacks to pack a large quantity of edible meat—some dried, some freshly roasted the night before—along with necessary seasonings like salt. Calculating for the head count, they prepared about fifteen days' worth of rations, which were distributed among his men to pack into their rucksack bags. The others loaded up the camping tents and their respective sleeping bags, alongside all the necessary mountaineering equipment.

The soldiers Wang Qian selected all had mountaineering experience, and Zheng Dabao and his men were seasoned experts. The only ones lacking experience were Wang Qian, Zhang Can, and Zhu Sulin.

Looking at Zhu Sulin's plump figure, Zhang Can suddenly remarked, "Old Zhu, I think you might as well wait for us down here. No need to go up the mountain; climbing is bound to be exhausting and extremely difficult!"

What Zhang Can called "bound to be exhausting" was actually a massive understatement. It wasn't just exhausting; it was intensely grueling. Moreover, massive snowy ranges like the Tianshan Mountains posed extreme threats to human life. Tianshan wasn't just some ordinary little hill; its average elevation reached five thousand meters, with its highest peak, Mount Tomur, standing at 7,435 meters above sea level. Covered in year-round snow and glaciers, it was extraordinarily perilous, and on Mount Bogda lay a world-renowned wonder—the Heavenly Lake of the Snow Sea!