After moving to the village several times and getting all the necessary items ready, Gao Yuan and his companions were prepared to set out on their long journey.
Indeed, it was a long trek since the straight-line distance was forty kilometers, but the road was far from smooth; it was almost impossible to stick to the path continuously. If they had to detour around every village they encountered, the actual distance they needed to travel was anyone's guess.
Calculated this way, walking there and back would take at least three days.
For those accustomed to traveling by car, plane, or train, the pain felt when resuming travel on foot was particularly intense. This is what is meant by "it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to return from luxury to frugality."
"Let's do a final check of our equipment: food, water, tools, weapons, and vehicle."
