Contacted after long time

"Hello!" When he picked up the phone, he could already see the contact information was new. But he still decided to see who was contacting him.

"Hello! Cheng Shan, you have become so silent over the years. How are you doing?" A male voice seemed to come from the other end of the call. 

Cheng Shan seemed to recognize this man, it was someone from campus, very famous individual and also the class representative. He did not seem to understand why the man talked as though they where friends. More importantly, he was already sure that the man might say something that would not benefit his current goals. His previous university mates where not offer any help. He thus did not have any fluctuations in the heart, it was the case even when the man mentioned a gathering. 

Perhaps those that had made it where already in some administration positions, but the kind of place the workplace was already an advanced version of modern society exploitation. Those in charge seemed to not say anything about such behavior to increase competition. It is indeed difficult to maintain one's original nature. 

Those that manage to accomplish this and still succeed are a small in number. 

"The entire group from the campus are meeting up. This is a good chance to catch up, how about it, are you available ?" Listening to the words from the man on the other side of the phone, he already guessed right. It seemed that once people entered society, they would also find means to show off, so that they rank themselves on who has made it. It seemed that human nature at the core, and he was not interested, he had better spend the time doing something worthwhile. 

"I'm afraid I cant make it! Thanks for the invitation though!" Without even explaining much he turned down the guy. In the same time, he looked into the distance with some haze in his eyes. 

"Back then, it was indeed pursuit for vanity. Regardless of how good one thinks they made it, they will always be under other's control. Even those that are being paid in millions viewed as the elites, at the end of the day are shackled in a lot of ways. What is good about showing off, it is best for me to work hard and see if I can manage to improve myself even if by one step." Knowing what to prioritize was his biggest advantage in the moment.

He also had another reason for not going out when asked. To avoid making some stupid mistakes, as he was sure that his state of mind was not there at all, it failed to match the level of strength he had. It is also the same reason that he wanted to start meditating on some of the training hours. 

He would do it at night when he gets the hang of it, and instead of sleeping he meditates, but at the moment it was not possible. 

Without having a perfect state of mind, he might end up even showing off his current abilities once someone embarrasses him. He might be mocking others silently, but deep down he was just like them, and might take the opportunity to show off. In that case, it would be best for him to avoid going in places that would force himself to show off. 

Even though he might gain some momentary glory, his life would end up becoming a huge problem at the end of the day. In that case, it was better to keep a distance, and it should not be forgotten that he was just some office worker that was suppressed in the past. Before his near death experience, he would probably still pursuing the same goals. 

Even now, he was probably very proud and arrogant deep down, but he suppressed this due to fear of being captured and turning into some lab rat. 

This alone was clear to show that his state of mind was lacking, and he seemed to have no means of training the state of mind. It would mostly develop with age, but for someone like him, it was still too weak, and thus correct for him to be worried. 

He has also not seen much of the world, not aware of whether there exist people like him, and the dangers of encountering them. Just in general, he was a rookie with some power. When he managed to improve his state of mind, perhaps the benefits would be immense. 

When he did what those in his generation do when need information, he discovered that the best way to accomplish his goal was reading. Even his meditation goal was put aside, and the way he knew this was obviously just like how he got the martial arts techniques, the internet. 

Just coming to this point, he was going to try, after all he did not seem to be loosing anything. 

The situation of the class reunion seemed to have been thrown to the back of his mind just like that. He also trained during the day and when tired he would lay on the gazebo and read through the books, from philosophy to all the other knowledge present on the internet. 

Without even realizing, time flashed by and close to four days had gone by just like that. On other aspects, such as the proficiency of techniques, he did not seem to improve, but not in a hurry. The snake meat he had brought from the forest had been completely consumed. 

*******

On this morning, near Wuhuan City, a  massive mountain was surrounded by fog, it was becoming thicker compared to five days ago. 

A man dressed in some protective hazmat clothing, and gas tank on the back, seemed to be moving around checking through the supplies of the group he was heading. 

"Boss Wang! Everything seems to be in order. Should we head in, about three teams have already stepped ahead of us." the man that was checking through the supplies suddenly approached another man and said. 

The man he called boss Wang seemed to be holding some object that resembled a phone, turning his head he looked into the distant fog instead of looking at the captain talking to him. 

In the same moment he seemed to hear more sounds of helicopters, obviously another group seemed to be coming in. It was not an uncommon thing, as most of this people that have been arriving for the past two days are foreigners. 

He did not seem to be in any hurry, and this made even the captain more puzzled as he assumed that Boss Wang would be in a rush, as the issue was about collecting resources. 

"You have armed your men fully right? The bullets are enough?" Listening to the question that he was asking in the moment instead of whether, they had the right protective clothing, the captain was stunned. 

"Why are you looking at me like that, I do not decide human nature. Just make sure that we have enough ammunition to level down an entire army and carry it discretely." The captain was almost having a headache but could only nod his head. 

Actually he also seemed to be aware that they needed some necessities, in case they stayed longer. The only problem was the fact that the situation in the fog was unpredictable. To make matters worse, he could see that the way that Boss Wang was looking at the foreigners was more or less with some inexplicable murderous nature. 

The captain was right in that analysis, and this was because, between nations competition on research was an issue. But this is not enough to cause him an issue rather the more advanced the other countries research becomes, the more risky their state becomes. It would not be a major issue if it was in the country, after all the research would be shared with the other labs in the country. 

Even though the credit is only given to the lab that produces the new information, no kind of consequences would be given to others. If the foreigners discovered something and they had yet to accomplish much, the consequences would become even bigger. 

This was just like a fierce competition between different companies, the only difference is that in the case of those that failed to accomplish good results even life might be lost. 

In the moment it can be said that he had some chance to finally get rid of some competition, but he did not seem to be in a hurry. More importantly he had some feeling that the danger level in this place was already high. As for the thoughts of the captain, he was not bothered about them, and did not have any thoughts of having them go ahead and kill the other party. 

He was not from the strongest clans, he just worked for someone and thus he would not take risks without being completely confident of hiding his actions. Going even further, it would be stupid to get oneself as a target of the strong families. 

Overlooking this issue, he was not sure that the team that he was going with in the depths of the fog would even reach far. What he had to collect would occasionally even if the group succeeded in getting good things, they could not approach them for many reasons and the main reason is probably lacking ability. 

"We can go in now!" When the captain was just about to say something Boss Wang gave him the okay to start their journey.