Chapter 234: Teaching Her to Use a Gun
This comparison only confirmed it for He Hanshi: he really was a boring person.
A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes, and his gaze on Shi Lan dimmed. He scooped her up from the sofa, where she was toying with the pistol, and settled her onto his lap. His eyes filled with anxiety as he asked with the utmost gravity, "Lanlan, am I a really boring person? Do you find it dull when you’re with me?"
"Why would you think that?"
Shi Lan set the gun aside and wrapped her arms around his neck, her expression full of confusion.
He Hanshi looked at her bracelet. Her skin was fair and delicate, and the jewelry suited her perfectly. It was normal for a young woman to like such things, yet all he had thought to give her was a gun.
His hand unconsciously fell upon it. The Energy Stone on the bracelet cast a colorful glow between their skin.
"I was just thinking, they all knew to get you pretty gifts, but I gave you two guns. Isn’t that too unromantic?"
Shi Lan snorted with laughter. "He Hanshi, you’re really overthinking this."
She gently ruffled his short, silver hair, which was soft with a slight coarseness. "The value of a gift isn’t what matters. It’s the thought behind it, and the person who gives it."
"I love the guns you gave me. Besides, Mu Tangfeng told me you modified them yourself, which makes them priceless."
"Of course, the fact that they came from you is what makes them even more precious to me."
Shi Lan’s words easily soothed He Hanshi’s mood. A low, gentle laugh rumbled in his throat. "We haven’t seen each other for a while, and you’ve gotten even smoother with your words, Lanlan."
Shi Lan grinned, her lips curling. "No, I’m not just being smooth. I mean it."
At her words, he couldn’t help but laugh again.
After he finished laughing, he picked up the two pistols from the sofa. "I’ll take you to practice shooting."
"I hope you’ll never have to use them, but if you’re ever in real danger and we can’t get to you in time, this will give you a better way to protect yourself."
"Mm, I know."
Shi Lan nodded. She had never used a gun before.
She recalled finding one on Garbage Star, but it was an old, obsolete model. And last time, with Xiao Du there, she hadn’t had a chance to use it anyway.
Shi Lan truly didn’t know how to use a gun. Back then, she’d held on to that one ’just in case’. ’The Insect Clan are so huge,’ she’d thought, ’I should be able to hit them even if I just fire randomly.’
He Hanshi’s villa had dedicated training rooms on the third floor. The bedrooms were on the second floor, so she hadn’t seen them before.
Shi Lan followed him to the third floor. He pushed open the door to a very ordinary-looking gym. Inside, one of the walls was a secret door-like mechanism. He guided Shi Lan’s hand over the wall, his deep voice close to her ear. "Did you memorize the spot? You can come here whenever you want to train."
Shi Lan nodded. A transparent fingerprint scanner appeared. He Hanshi had already given her full access to his house, so she could open this door too.
She pressed her finger to it, and the large door slowly swung inward. As she looked up, she saw a wall across from her covered with all sorts of firearms and weapons.
"Whoa."
Shi Lan gasped. He Hanshi gently explained, "The guns on this wall have heavy recoil and are very heavy. They’re not suitable for females. Once you’re familiar with this pistol, maybe you can try a few of them."
"Okay."
She was clearly eager to try, her eyes filled with anticipation.
To the left of the weapon display were the practice targets. He Hanshi led her inside, and the door closed automatically behind them.
He held the pistol, twirling the small weapon deftly in his palm a few times. Then, he fired ten quick shots at the distant target. Every single bullet hit the exact same spot in the bullseye, so precisely that at first glance, it looked like he had only fired once.
"That’s amazing!"
Shi Lan clapped her hands, full of praise.
He Hanshi’s lips curved into a smile, a glint of light flashing in his azure eyes. "Come here, Lanlan."
He had Shi Lan stand where he had just been. Seemingly afraid she might accidentally hurt herself, he carefully explained the different parts of the gun to her.
"This gun is very small and has relatively low recoil, but there’s still some. Since you’re a beginner, remember to hold the grip tightly when you fire."
"But don’t be afraid. The recoil won’t hurt you at all. It might just startle you a bit, like the sound of the bullet hitting the target."
As he spoke, he took the pistol from her hand. "This part is the energy indicator. It’s fully charged right now. A full charge is good for about 100 shots, so each bar is about 20 shots."
He then detached a compartment under the grip. "You can load an Energy Stone here as a backup. There’s already a backup Energy Stone in the gun now. When the charge runs out, the Energy Stone will take over. The energy indicator changes color depending on the power source—red for an Energy Stone and green for light-based energy. The gun prioritizes the light-based energy and will only switch to the Energy Stone automatically after the charge is depleted."
"The second layer of the box I had my fourth brother send you has 10 replacement Energy Stones. From now on, remember to always keep a spare in the gun..."
He Hanshi had considered nearly every detail, even more thoroughly than Mu Tangfeng had explained before. Touched by his thoughtfulness, Shi Lan couldn’t help but give him a hug. "Thank you. This gun is really amazing."
"Mm, as long as you like it, Lanlan."
The curve of He Hanshi’s lips deepened. He ruffled Shi Lan’s long hair, reattached the grip, and handed one of the pistols to her. After setting up a new target, he said, "Go on, give it a try now. Get a feel for it."
"Don’t be too anxious at first. Even just grazing the target is very impressive for a start."
"Okay."
Shi Lan excitedly took the gun. As if tapping into some ancestral instinct for self-defense, her heart began to beat inexplicably faster as she aimed at the bullseye. Her gaze grew focused, locked onto the target.
BANG! The first shot rang out. Shi Lan felt the gun tremble slightly in her palm. It was a little off target, but just as He Hanshi had said, she hit the edge of the target, scoring in the lowest-value fifth ring.
"Not bad."
He Hanshi’s eyes held a note of appreciation. "You did great, Lanlan. You didn’t miss the target on your very first shot."
Shi Lan was fairly satisfied with her performance as a beginner. She nodded, finding it somewhat fun, and fired another nine shots.
Her best score was a lucky shot in the eighth ring, but most of her shots landed in the sixth ring or further out. Perhaps because the pistol’s recoil was so low, every one of her shots hit the target.
"That’s very good."
He Hanshi walked over to her and clapped encouragingly. "My Lanlan is amazing. Such good results for your first time using a gun."
Shi Lan blushed slightly. "It’s mainly because you modified the gun so well."
Except for the beginning when she wasn’t sure of herself and her grip wasn’t firm enough, causing her hand to slip a little, she was slowly starting to get the hang of it. Her aim, however, was still off.
"No matter how good the gun is, the wielder still has to be skilled."
He Hanshi gently kissed her between the eyebrows. "This is your reward."
Shi Lan’s eyelids lifted, her lashes trembling slightly. She looked at the handsome, flawless face so close to hers, her gaze falling on his gentle eyes, which were like a vast and magnificent ocean. Her traitorous heart began to beat even faster.
The thought that this was her boyfriend—and her future husband—sent an indescribable wave of happiness washing through her.