The sound of the running faucet echoed around him. When one basin in the kitchen was filled, he quickly replaced it with another. Meanwhile, Li Ming ran the first filled basin back to his apartment. He waited in the bathroom until the water bucket was also filled. Then he closed the faucet and rearranged the loaded water bucket storage.
Moving these basins and buckets with a sore right arm, the result of his recent sword practice, was extremely painful, akin to being pricked by a needle. Li Ming simply gritted his teeth and bore with the pain. He filled the second basin in the kitchen and replaced it with the last empty one.
He moved back and forth till three water basins and a water bucket were filled and stored under the water heater. The concerns in his heart were not decreased.
Cries of agony and monstrous roars could be heard outside from time to time. Li Ming could even discern a mention of "eat people" from those sounds, sending shivers down his spine.
"I can't ignore the pain in my right arm. I need to massage it and give it a rest."
Thus thought Li Ming as he glanced at the dimming sky outside and felt his stomach growl. He decided to prepare dinner.
After eating, he was going to rest, but his eyes were drawn to the red-tasseled spear standing nearby. Resisting the urge to rest, he held the spear in his left hand and strolled from his bedroom into the living room.
The living room was sizeable, allowing him to barely manoeuvre the 2.2-meter-long spear.
He needed to familiarize himself with these two weapons as soon as possible!
Li Ming glanced at Peng Zhi's room. He could see Peng Zhi gesticulating excitedly on his phone while sitting anxiously on his bed from the living room. Seeing Zhang Yuan next to him looking clueless, Li Ming shook his head and gripped the long spear in a practising stance.
"Swoosh..."
The spear shot forward. Due to his experience with the sword, his initial attempt at thrusting the spear wasn't too bad. However, the numbness in his arm and biting pain in his right leg and waist, as he had exerted a lot of force while practising the sword, made Li Ming wince.
The basics of spear techniques involved blocking, taking, and thrusting. Li Ming's spear thrust belonged to the latter. He didn't understand the exact nuances as he had just learnt them by watching some videos.
His interest in sword skills had overshadowed spear skills. Hence, once he downloaded some instructional videos on spear skills, he had let them collect dust in a corner, just like the sword skills videos.
However, there was a difference between swords and spears. Carrying a spear outside would undoubtedly draw a lot of attention, and Li Ming, being somewhat bashful, hadn't practised it many times.
Therefore, it wasn't surprising that he received no feedback from the panel. He collected the spear, made a circle to his left, throw his body back, and used the block skill. He then moved his body forward and struck the right circle to take it. Finally, he tilted his body forward to thrust.
Though Li Ming considered thrusting to be a major attack style, since blocking, taking, and thrusting are all categorized as basics, they are all equally important. Li Ming wouldn't compromise one for the other so he decided to practise them.
After practising the thrust drill once more, his right arm felt even more numb and weak. But this second attempt was far better than the first one and at least he managed to maintain the right posture this time.
He continued with blocking, taking, and then the third spear thrust.
Thrust!
"Swoosh..."
Finally, his movements connected smoothly.
[Spear thrust proficiency +1]
[Skill: Spear thrust (Novice 1%)]
As the transparent screen disappeared from his line of sight, Li Ming felt a surge of confidence. He drew up his strength and again gathered his spear.
Block, seize, thrust.
"Swoosh..."
No reaction.
"Phew, just one proficiency point is too few for any noticeable changes."
Li Ming sighed. In his thrust, he failed to exert the complete force of his waist, arms, and legs together.
It was a failure.
It was justified that his proficiency didn't increase.
However, after another set of exercises, Li Ming felt his body trembling.
He didn't dare to persist and continue practising, already anticipating the muscle aches he would experience the next morning.
As he got up from his stance, he could already feel the aches in his body. As Li Ming returned to his room with shaky steps, he put away his red-tasseled spear, grabbed the towel and entered his bathroom.
After a rigorous workout, not only were his muscles fatigued, but he was also covered in sweat. While there was still water available, he decided to bathe.
In his weakened condition, bathing was a chore. He freshened up and changed into new clothes, drying his hair when suddenly he heard a knock on the door.
"Li Ming, may I come in?"
Recognising Zhang Yuan's voice, Li Ming rubbed his hair, braced himself against the pain and went to open the door.
As the bedroom door opened, Zhang Yuan stood before him, dressed as she was when he saw her last. Her soft and translucent clothing, partially bitten lips and a worried look on her face stirred Li Ming's protective instincts.
"I saw you practising the spear in the living room. Do you know what's happening outside? Why are the phones not working, and why is the internet down? Also, there are...monsters...they're biting people!"
Opening up to Li Ming, Zhang Yuan mentioned the incident she had witnessed right outside her room. Her complexion was pale as she spoke.
She knew being bitten was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Whatever is the real reason behind the disconnected phones, lack of internet and presence of these biting monsters, one thing is clear - It's extremely dangerous outside."
Seeing the worry in Zhang Yuan's pale face, Li Ming spoke in an even tone to calm her down.
"For now, we could only remain inside our homes and strive to improve our fitness hoping it might help us survive. Then we just wait for help to arrive."
Li Ming looked at Zhang Yuan and said earnestly, seeing that her worried expression was a little less intense, but her expression was still somewhat lost. He continued, "You should inventory the supplies at home, calculate how long your reserves can last. Tell your husband to train hard during these times. We may have to leave searching for supplies soon."
"Although these creatures look dangerous, they possess a strength comparable to an average person. We males should be able to handle them if we master the usage of weapons and exercise properly."
Li Ming spoke sincerely to Zhang Yuan. Acknowledging his advice, Zhang Yuan seemed to snap out of her stupor. She promptly considered the provisions at home and looked rather upset, "We have very little food left. I was considering restocking in my next time off. What should we do?"
"How long can you last?"
Li Ming raised an eyebrow and asked in a serious tone.
"Around five days."
Zhang Yuan tightened her lips and replied hastily.
Five days?
If he trained diligently, he wondered how much he would improve...
Moreover, if they could possibly go out together to explore, it might be safer...
"Don't worry too much for now. Go back to your apartment and tell your husband to train during these times. Use the clothes rack for practice. Eat well in these few days. Once we're done practising, we can go out together in search of food. There's plenty of food in the community supermarket."
As Li Ming spoke, he was processing the situation in his mind. His suggestions gave Zhang Yuan confidence. She nodded repeatedly in response, "I'm going to Peng Zhi right away. It's great that you have a weapon."
Once she finished, Zhang Yuan immediately turned around and hurried back to her apartment in her slippers. She relayed what Li Ming said to Peng Zhi, who anxiously fumbled around with his phone.
Upon hearing this, Peng Zhi's brows furrowed.
"What is he thinking? It's dangerous outside, yet he wants to go out. I won't! Let him go if he wants. I'm going to stay at home, waiting to be rescued."