Rebirth: General, Don't Mess Around!

Venturing up the mountain in heavy rain and darkness with each step as a test, especially having to pick two pounds of old tea leaves to bring back, was simply a torment and interrogation of the body and mind.

Ye Jian, who had slept less than an hour, looked at her waterproof watch as the first batch of trainees stepped out of the classroom, and she had already started timing.

With two hours allocated, the trainees were to complete patrolling, searching, and picking tea leaves as part of their courage training.

Vice-Captain Song Zhiqiu hadn’t slept either, following Ye Jian back from the mountain. Something unidentified emerging from the graves they passed had startled him. Returning to the classroom, his soul still shaken, he felt no inclination to sleep.

Now, as the first batch of trainees departed, his worry grew, and sleep was even further from his mind.

”These are just the most basic courage training exercises. The seniors who came before us were a bit luckier, they didn’t encounter rainy days, but they camped overnight around the graveyard. Although we have rain, at least we can stay in the classroom.”

”Once you overcome the psychological barrier, there’s really nothing to it.”

Ye Jian saw Song Zhiqiu occasionally glance at his watch and look outside, appearing much like a worried father watching his child venture out.

Having undergone intense psychological challenges, Ye Jian didn’t find tonight’s courage training difficult. The main challenge was to overcome her fear of the dark and graveyards, defeat the psychological suggestions born from terror, and treat the night as if it were day—which then made it all seem unimportant.

Song Zhiqiu, recalling how she had confidently walked the mountain path as if it were a broad avenue, each step steady and her breath unchanged, couldn’t help but ask, ”I can’t understand how you aren’t afraid. Humans have an innate fear of darkness, yet it seems ineffective against you. Why?”

After thinking for a moment, Ye Jian replied, ”It’s because I’m not influenced by you all. Carl Jung’s concept of the ’collective subconscious’ explains well why fear arises. When one or several people in a group become frightened by the dark, imagining a wind-swept graveyard filled with ominous shadows...these perceptions breed fear and can influence others around them to feel afraid as well.”

”I specifically assigned Xu Wen to this group because there are three trainees who slept soundly through last night without fear of the dark. I wanted their courage to help Xu Wen overcome her fear.”

”Of course, it’s also possible that Xu Wen could end up scaring them instead—for example, if a little creature suddenly rushes out, Xu Wen gets a fright, and her comrades, already tense, might also get startled.”

”As for me, by stepping outside the framework of the ’collective subconscious’ and focusing on my own tasks, and by thinking about things scarier than walking at night, I hardly feel any fear.”

”Simply put, it comes down to a lack of courage training. When I return, I plan to suggest to the academy the establishment of a psychological education training group linked with combat research. Regular training sessions could include courage and behavioral psychology training, which I think would be greatly beneficial for the trainees.”

As captain, Ye Jian was not only responsible for arranging the trainees’ activities, but she also had to note down every performance during their wilderness survival training—individual strengths and weaknesses, team challenges that needed to be overcome, areas for improvement—all of which she needed to remember, understand, and detail in reports to submit to the academy.