Xiang Weiguo had been here for over a month now, though Gao Yuan could no longer remember the exact time. He used to check the date every day, but as time went on and his life remained monotonously the same day after day, Gao Yuan gradually stopped paying attention to the date.
"In the mountains, there is no awareness of the lunar calendar," that was the idea.
"Perpetual darkness," meant the same thing.
Why speak of perpetual darkness? Because aside from the monotony and repetition, the most profound part of Gao Yuan's life was its miserableness. Ever since Xiang Weiguo began training him, he felt he was living in a state of perpetual darkness.
Xiang Weiguo said he didn't like to leave things half-done, and he also expressed his hope that Gao Yuan would persevere. In the beginning, Gao Yuan found it easy and enjoyable because the things Xiang Weiguo taught him were simple. However, from the day Xiang Weiguo decided they could spar together, Gao Yuan realized why he needed to persist.
It hurt, it really hurt, being beaten with a stick every day until he was black and blue.
The depths of winter brought truly cold weather, and Gao Yuan's miserable life began each morning.
Gao Yuan, sweating profusely from running, arrived at Xiang Weiguo's doorstep, just as Xiang Weiguo, draped in a military coat, happened to step out from his house.
Gao Yuan consciously took off his coat, wearing only a fleece on top and a pair of windproof softshell pants below. Despite sweating all over, he didn't feel cold.
He only felt fear.
"Uncle Xiang..."
"Come."
After the brief exchange, Xiang Weiguo immediately brought the stick down towards Gao Yuan's head. When Gao Yuan swiftly deflected it and tried to counterattack, Xiang Weiguo's stick followed the movement of Gao Yuan's shorter stick, then solidly struck Gao Yuan's arm.
With a smack, Gao Yuan's short stick fell to the ground.
"Hiss... Ha! Wa, wa..."
Gritting his teeth, Gao Yuan let out a strange noise while Xiang Weiguo stood still, just watching him.
Picking up the short stick from the ground with resignation, Gao Yuan stepped back. He took a deep breath, then let out a weird shout, lifted the stick as if he was going to bring it down on someone's head, but then he drew it back and instead thrust it forward.
Xiang Weiguo held his stick with both hands; he was still very fast. He pressed down with both hands, pushing Gao Yuan's stick downwards. When Gao Yuan pulled the stick back and aimed for another overhead strike, Xiang Weiguo's left hand loosened while his right hand swept across, and the short stick hit Gao Yuan's stomach silently but firmly.
"Oh, damn!"
Gao Yuan backed up a few steps clutching his stomach, then he crouched down, throwing his short stick aside as droplets of sweat continued to fall from his head.
His expression showing extreme pain, Xiang Weiguo frowned and commanded, "Stand up!"
Gao Yuan was in agony. He slumped backward onto the ground, clutching his stomach, and struggled to speak, "Can't do it, hurts like hell... Hope it's not broken..."
Xiang Weiguo's face was confident; he still poised himself defensively, insisting, "I couldn't have broken you! I can make it very painful for you, but I would never break you!"
"But you've never hit the stomach before. Stomachs are so delicate, Uncle Xiang, I'm in so much pain..."
Xiang Weiguo's expression finally changed; he knew it had been a long time since he'd sparred with anyone, so a miscalculation in force was indeed possible.
The stick in his hand fell to the ground, and Xiang Weiguo walked towards Gao Yuan. Just then, Gao Yuan, who was sitting on the ground holding his stomach, suddenly threw something. Xiang Weiguo hastily swung his short stick, but a stone still struck his chest.
"Hahaha! I hit you! I got you!"
Gao Yuan, who had been clutching his stomach as if he were about to die, jumped up. He cheered, swiftly getting out of Xiang Weiguo's attack range, then he ran back to the house he shared with Luo Xingyu, yelling, "Xiaoyu! I hit Uncle Xiang! I got him!"
Overcome with joy, Gao Yuan celebrated while Xiang Weiguo seemed very angry. Luo Xingyu ran out from the house, asking loudly, "Really? Really?"
"Of course it's true! I hit Uncle Xiang!"
Watching the two ecstatic people, Xiang Weiguo suddenly smiled. He bent down to pick up Gao Yuan's short stick and slowly walked over to them.
Luo Xingyu looked at Xiang Weiguo, anticipation written all over her face, "Uncle Xiang, did Brother Yuan really hit you?"
Xiang Weiguo nodded, saying, "Although it was a trick, although it was with a stone, he did indeed hit me."
Luo Xingyu pumped her fist vigorously, then said with great anticipation, "Does that mean we can go on an adventure now?"
Since the aliens arrived, the term 'adventure,' which had seemingly lost its meaning, again took on a real significance.
What is an adventure? It was going to see the nearest village, because where there were villages, there were inhabitants, and where there were inhabitants, there were zombies.
According to Gao Yuan's nature, he would avoid any unnecessary outings, but they really needed to gather some supplies from the outside world now, supplies that weren't possible to produce in the mountains.
Like salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and MSG among other things.
Of course, there were also clothes and quilts because the weather was getting colder, and Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu felt chilly when they slept at night and even colder when they ventured out during the day.
Also, there was the need for agricultural tools like shovels and hoes. If they wanted to plant something after the spring, then these tools were obviously necessary.
So, as long as one could go out to gather supplies, basically, anything found was useful.
The only problem was zombies, because encountering them could mean death.
Xiang Weiguo thought carefully for a moment, then he nodded and said, "Let's go today."
With Xiang Weiguo's absolute strength and experience, he was naturally the leader among the three of them. Now that Xiang Weiguo had relented, Gao Yuan didn't have much time to be happy before he heard some bad news.
"Hmm, since you really hit me, it means we can upgrade the training, Xiao Gao, let's add something to tomorrow's training."
Gao Yuan was dumbstruck, he exclaimed loudly, "That's not right, you only said that if I hit you I could go out to find supplies, you didn't say anything about upgrading training after hitting you!"
"Hmm, that's true, I didn't say it, but I had already decided that if you could hit me it meant your strength had improved, and of course, with improvement, training should be intensified."
"Is this your way of seeking revenge?"
"It's not."
"It obviously is!"
Xiang Weiguo smiled without a word, and the indignant Gao Yuan, looking at Xiang Weiguo's expression, finally calmed down gradually. People still had to accept reality.
No matter what Xiang Weiguo said or did, since there was only acceptance, why bother with useless talk.
Seeing Gao Yuan's dejected look, Xiang Weiguo said with satisfaction, "You were quick to assess the situation, not bad. I thought you were going to struggle a bit more."
Gao Yuan waved his hand weakly and said, "Say whatever you want, I give in, I give in to everything."
Xiang Weiguo laughed, then he said to Luo Xingyu, "We'll prepare today by making a good plan of action, and move out tomorrow morning."
Luo Xingyu asked excitedly, "Uncle Xiang, why can't we go today?"
Xiang Weiguo replied gently, "Because it's already late today. By the time we pack our stuff and have dinner and set out, it'll be past ten when we reach the nearest village. I think the low temperature might affect the zombies' movements, so we should set out at dawn, when there is enough light and the temperature hasn't risen yet. That's the best time to act."
It sounded quite reasonable, and Gao Yuan nodded, "Okay, we'll act tomorrow. Everything as usual today?"
Xiang Weiguo shook his head, "Who said it's as usual today? Today we're going to scout, first to observe the terrain well, understand the situation in the village, so we can act directly tomorrow. If we just go tomorrow morning without scouting, are we seeking death?"
Xiang Weiguo liked to use military terms when he spoke, but it indeed was necessary and also the safest approach to scout first.
"So, what preparations do we need to make?"
Luo Xingyu asked curiously, but Xiang Weiguo was looking at Gao Yuan and said, "We'll check the traps, and you can go hunt a few rabbits and wild chickens."
Luo Xingyu asked, "For lunch?"
Xiang Weiguo shook his head, "No, I plan to take the wild chickens and rabbits with us. If we encounter zombies or are discovered and chased by them, throwing this flesh and blood could distract the zombies. Fix these things in the morning, have lunch and rest a bit, and then scout in the afternoon."
Now, for Gao Yuan, hunting a wild chicken or rabbit was no longer a matter of luck.
Gao Yuan had become quick and accurate with throwing stones. As long as he could spot prey within his range, no small animal could escape from Gao Yuan's grasp.
With Xiang Weiguo's plan set, all that was left was to follow it.
Breakfast consisted of wild boar meat plus the wild chicken from yesterday.
Gao Yuan wasn't opposed to some variety, but the problem was, after Xiang Weiguo's improvements to his traps, they indeed worked too well. However, hunting was still very much a matter of luck, and this month alone they caught both larger and smaller wild boars — the larger one weighing over 200 pounds and the smaller around 100 pounds — so there was no shortage of wild boar meat.
By now, Luo Xingyu had also lost interest in wild boar meat. No matter how good or bad it tasted, eating the same thing for over a month without change was too much for anyone to stand.
But the roe deer they were all looking forward to never appeared, which was no surprise. Roe deer were much fewer than wild boars in the mountains, so the chances of trapping one were too small.
Checking the traps daily and changing their locations was something the three had become adept at.
But today, it seemed like many things were making a breakthrough.
Gao Yuan used a clever trick to hit Xiang Weiguo, who agreed to go to a nearby village to collect supplies, and for the first time, a roe deer appeared in their snare.
Gao Yuan, who was at the front, spotted it first, followed by Luo Xingyu's excited shouts.
"Uncle Xiang! A roe deer! We've got a roe deer!"
A beautiful male roe deer, roughly forty or fifty pounds, had already been strangled by the snare and lay motionless on the ground.
Everyone was happy with the catch; even Xiang Weiguo couldn't help but laugh, then he said with delight, "Good, we'll have roe deer meat for lunch; I'll tell you, roe deer meat is delicious, wild boar can't compare!"
Luo Xingyu swallowed and said in a low voice, "How about we scout tomorrow instead? Let's just focus on eating meat today, okay?"