Pursuing Immortality

The shooting club was set up by Lei Ziming and some friends. It just so happened that a buddy of his had a military background. The club might seem to be a private business, but it was actually state-owned. With a series of lobbying, they successfully opened a shooting club with real ammunition.

The so-called event was in fact a get-together of a group of friends who were gathering there to try out firearms.

Gu Yu agreed to attend right away, for he was curious about the power of bullets and the potential injury they could inflict upon him. Ever since the snake-catching incident and his long talk with Xiaozhai, he had been eager to develop new means of attack as well as broaden his knowledge on various subjects.

It was through sheer luck that he was able to make a move before the great tide struck down. However, for a world as wide as the one he was in, countless talented people had to be out there. He was not that arrogant to assume that he had become an unparalleled being. Instead, he had always been vigilant and remained diligent.

The next day, he set out for the shooting club without telling Xiaozhai about it.

Shengtian, the long-distance bus station.

As soon as Gu Yu walked out of the exit, he noticed an incredibly conspicuous SUV parked across the road with Lei Ziming who was smoking with a bored look behind the wheel. Seeing Gu Yu, he called out immediately, “Bro!”

“Sorry for the inconvenience. You didn’t have to come all this way,” he walked to the car, greeting Lei Ziming.

“No problem at all! Get in!”

Forthright as always, Lei Ziming invited him into the SUV and asked as he started the vehicle, “So, how’s everything? What have you been up to lately?”

“Nothing really. Make incense, sleep, just pissing my time away.”

“Ha! The way you put it! I envy that lifestyle of yours; not bound by any fixed occupation and with a good attitude towards everything—unlike us. We are hustling and bustling all the time. As impressive as we might look, one slip of the foot and we are in the ditches.”

“Well, the life of others always seems better. At a closer look, you’ll still find yours is the best.”

“Not exactly. If he is given the chance to exchange his for mine, I guarantee you he won’t hesitate for a single second.”

Lei Ziming lifted his chin, pointing at a “master magician” who was playing the role of a beggar with broken legs.

“You’ve got a point,” Gu Yu broke out in laughter.

The two chatted away as the vehicle drove to the west. The club was a long way out. They were almost out of the city’s boundary when the SUV turned into a side road, approaching a stretch of buildings ahead.

They first passed a big front gate, hanging on which was a plate that read “XX Weapons Research Institute”. One kilometer in and the building of the club was finally in front of them, named “Shengtian Shooting Range”. [ED/N: XX was in the raws.]

Other people would have to register before entering, but not them. The staff hurried near to greet them and made a 90-degree bow. “Good morning, Mr. Lei!”

“En. This is a friend of mine, Mr. Gu. Take good care of him!”

“Absolutely! Come in, please!”

The two entered the building and approached an exhibition first. It was a dim room with all sorts of firearms displayed; they were roughly divided into two types: sport weapons and military weapons. The military ones required a letter of introduction from one’s workplace to handle. However, it was only a matter of formality. A letter from any workplace with an official seal would do.

Gu Yu was not a military enthusiast. His university was rather stingy in setting up the military training as well. The students were not even sent to a military camp but were running laps in the sports ground on campus. He had little knowledge on the subject and was listening to the introduction of a female staff member.

“We are equipped with most of the classic models here. The most populars ones are the QSZ-92 and the QBZ-95. If you are a first-time user, I would recommend M16 or FNC, which would provide you with a stronger impact when shooting…”

As the girl talked on, Gu Yu glanced at the price list on the wall. They offered three packages here: Package A cost 999 yuan with 20 bullets for AK47, 10 bullets for QBZ-95 and 16 bullets for Type 54 pistol, and so on, and so forth. Packages B and C were pricier, but had more bullets allocated to them.

Roughly, the bullets were at 15 yuan each. It might not seem much, but we were talking about handling a gun here. One jerk and billions of one’s offspring were down the drainage. [1]

The girl finished her introduction and asked, “Which weapon would you like, sir?”

Gu Yu gave it a thought. The chance of ever being confronted with a rifle was slim, therefore he said, “I’ll take a QSZ-92.”

“Ok, please follow me to the shooting range.”

Lei Ziming had his own gun reserved for him and was off to have fun after giving Gu Yu a shout. Led by the girl, Gu Yu entered the shooting range, where each person was allocated with their individual target. In front of him was a glass window, by which a 9mm QSZ-92 was placed and chained to the spot.

One could only shoot the weapon by sticking one’s arm into the opening in the window and holding the gun—very reassuring as far as safety was concerned. Behind the window were targets set ten meters away and the range was surrounded by barren hills on all sides.

Passing over the earmuffs, the girl gave him some further instructions, such as leveling his arms with the ground, keeping the three points aligned, watching out for the recoil, etc. Gu Yu followed her words and looked out into the range at the target… well, the target seemed way too clear in his eyes so there was no challenge in it at all.

He didn’t even have to think before pulling the trigger. Sparks spurted out of the barrel with a loud bang. In a split second, a bullet hole appeared at the center of the target.

“Excellent! That’s a 10!”

The girl’s eyes were wide open. What the hell was going on? His hand was as steady as a rock, not flinching at all.

“Bang!”

“Ten!”

“Ten!”

After firing three shots in succession, Gu Yu paused and asked, “What’s the range of this pistol?”

“For precise strikes, ten meters. Its effective range is fifty meters and if you need to shoot something 100 meters away with it, well, may the force be with you,” replied the girl with a flash of humor.

“In that case, could you change the target to a 50-meter one?”

“Well, sure!”

She nodded after a brief pause. After all, this guy was a friend of Lei Ziming. She pressed a button and the target moved further out along the sliding rail.

Fifty meters might not sound like much, but it was actually pretty far. Gu Yu gave it a quick look. That was more like it; at least it promised some challenge.

“Bang!”

“Nine! The aim was slightly skewed upwards.”

“Eight! A bit too low.”

“Ten! Perfect aim, keep at it!”

“Ten!”

“Ten!”

He wasn’t even listening to her comments, adjusting his aim with his mental power instead. He soon got into the groove and was hitting the bull’s eye with every single shot.

The girl was almost freaking out by the time Gu Yu finished his first magazine. ‘Didn’t you say this was the first time you ever handled a gun? Are you kidding me?’ Having been working here all this time, she was pretty accurate in these things. The guy was shooting at the 50-meter target with a handgun! Only those expert shooters were comparable to him.

Checking the target that had been pulled near, Gu Yu saw that the ring in the center was pitted with bullet holes and only a handful of shots were not perfectly aimed. He was secretly satisfied with the result.

If he were the one holding the weapon, within a 50-meter range, he could pretty much hit any target he wanted to. If the weapon was in someone else’s hand, as long as his opponent was not a SWAT team member or another specialist of that sort, middle- to long-distance shooting would not pose much danger to him.

“Do, do you want another round?” The girl came to herself and stammered out a question.

“No, thanks. I’m going to look around, please don’t let me keep you.”

Smiling at the girl, Gu Yu walked out of the shooting range. Lei Ziming was still busying himself among some crackling sounds. Gu Yu could not tell what weapon he was trying out over there.

After some wandering around, he walked into a hall. Seeing a sofa set at the corner of the wall, he went over to take a seat. However, barely had his bottom touched the sofa when a frown appeared on his face. His Qi was activated by a chilliness creeping up his back…

On the other side, a group of people walked this way from the flying saucer ranger, each holding a red dot shotgun. They were led by a man slightly older than Lei Ziming, who was not very tall, but had a stately gait that suggested someone with military training.

Passing the hall, that man swept the room with his eyes and asked randomly, “Who’s that? Never saw him around here before.”

“A friend of Ah Ming, I think? He was saying he’d introduce some guy to us,” replied a buddy of his. [1]

“Ah Ming takes the guy quite seriously, I suppose. He’s never brought anyone here before,” added another.

“Seriously or not, he’s not the one calling shots. These days, every Tom, Dick and Harry are trying to squeeze through these doors!”

Glancing at Gu Yu with undisguised contempt, the man raised his gun barrel half-intentionally and pointed forward. “Let’s sound out this guy and see if he’s as capable as they said… ”

“Gak!”

He stopped talking abruptly, for that guy had turned around and darted a look at them.

With that look came an intangible stir of the air, which reached him instantaneously and exploded with a loud bang. He was enveloped by an immense pressure right away.

“Clatter!”

He felt suffocated and lost all his strength. The gun was dropped to the ground, and slipped a few inches away.

“…”

The man was dumbstruck, unable to utter a single word. He was trained in the art of attack and defense, as well as shooting. Having seen his fair share of big shots from the army, he was able to recognize a genuine powerhouse by their aura alone.

It was a mysterious concept. If he had to describe it, he would compare himself to a wolf and a military elite to a tiger. This guy over here, however, was a dragon!

[1] TL/N: Yep, the author is using an “inappropriate” pun here, again.

[2] ED/N: About that Ah, firstly, it’s actually just A but most EN speakers may have problems pronouncing it right and thus most translations add -h, and secondly, it’s an endearment of sort. Kinda like Little, or Small, or like the Japanese -chan added to a Japanese nickname, only in front of the name.