Chapter 30 Arming Up

When I arrived, I didn't feel a thing, but on the way back, Gao Yuan felt like his entire body was aching to death.

What pissed him off the most was that his legs started cramping. He had to stop and rest for a while, stretching his legs, otherwise, Gao Yuan really couldn't walk.

"Your stamina really is lacking..."

Xiang Weiguo looked unimpressed. Though he was tired too, because running through the mountain trails for hours would tire out anyone, he—being in his sixties—hadn't reached the point of getting leg cramps.

Gao Yuan felt helpless and yet defiant, but Xiang Weiguo's example was right there before him. He, a man in his twenties, couldn't keep up with a man in his sixties. What more could he say?

"I'm doing quite well, actually. I even exercise every day. Believe it or not, among those who work in an office like me, some wouldn't even be able to walk this far."

Xiang Weiguo thought for a moment, then nodded, "That's true. People's living conditions are getting better and better, but their physical fitness is getting worse and worse. Back when I collected grain, I carried over a hundred pounds of corn up to the roof without any problem. My father would carry wheat from the field on a carrying pole, picking up three hundred pounds of wheat in several trips. When he went to the market, he carried mountain goods of over two hundred pounds, and coming back, he'd be loaded with things like flour, weighing another two hundred pounds, and he wouldn't need many breaks while walking through the mountainous paths, and that's a round trip of fifty miles."

Gao Yuan had no choice but to sit down on a rock again, strenuously straightening his leg and trying to stretch his toes straight as well, grimacing in pain, "That was then, nowadays who still uses a carrying pole? I've grown up without ever seeing one, help me straighten my foot, it's killing me!"

Gao Yuan was trying hard to straighten his big toe as well, but the movement hurt, and if he didn't move, the cramping in his leg was even more painful.

Luo Xingyu held Gao Yuan's foot while Xiang Weiguo pushed her aside, hoisting Gao Yuan's leg onto his shoulder with force, and stood up.

"It hurts! It hurts!"

"Endure it for a while!"

After saying so sternly, Xiang Weiguo sighed and said, "Given your physical condition, it's not easy to have lasted until now. Just hang in there a little longer, we are almost home."

Gao Yuan grimaced in pain, and Xiang Weiguo continued, "The conditions are a bit better now, so when we get back, I'll add physical training for you too. You really need to train well, if not for anything else, just so you can run longer when you need to escape."

Luo Xingyu whispered, "I want to train too. I need to be able to protect myself."

"Hmm, I've been too lenient with you. Starting from tomorrow, you'll train as well, and you'll train hard."

After letting go of Gao Yuan's leg, Xiang Weiguo said, "All right, if it doesn't hurt that much anymore, get up and keep walking home. When I was as young as you, I could run back and forth on a road like this three times without ending up like you."

What else could be said? Arguing with a special forces instructor was just making things uncomfortable for yourself.

Bearing it all the way home, Gao Yuan flopped straight onto the heated bed. He had no desire to move anymore.

Gao Yuan was not only tired but also hungry.

"Xiaoyu, get out the biscuits quickly, let me eat something, no, grab a can of meat, I can't take it anymore..."

"Wait a minute."

Xiang Weiguo held back Luo Xingyu's gesture, then said solemnly, "Go to the back and get the meat from the storage cellar, don't eat canned food. I'll do the cooking."

Gao Yuan sat up and said, "Uncle Xiang, aren't you tired? Let's not push it now. Let's eat something and rest."

Relaxation and tense vigilance are completely different states of being. Gao Yuan, who had been so ferocious when saving Luo Xingyu, was now twice as weak.

Xiang Weiguo shook his head and said, "You, you really fall short in too many areas. It's not just about physical strength, but also about how you allocate it. Most importantly, your endurance is far too lacking. Is this all it takes to wear you out?"

After giving Gao Yuan a disdainful look, Xiang Weiguo said helplessly, "I was even considering going back to where we dropped our clothes to pick them up, but seeing your condition, let's forget it. I'll cook for you first, and we can retrieve the clothes tomorrow."

Both had gone through a terrifying and exhilarating day and both had run a long way through the mountains. The only difference was Xiang Weiguo hadn't engaged in a fight, but the time and energy Gao Yuan spent on fighting were negligible.

So here was the problem: while Xiang Weiguo was not exactly as fresh as a daisy, he could still cook and even considered walking another few hours to retrieve the clothes.

Such a gap, a vast chasm, shamefully wide.

Seeing Gao Yuan's mortified expression, Xiang Weiguo laughed and said, "Don't take it to heart. I may be older, but you are far behind me in terms of physical foundation. Back in the day, we used to run a full-geared ten-kilometer cross-country as a daily mandatory drill. After completing the ten-kilometer run, we still had to go through live-fire marksmanship tests and immediately engage in combat under real-war conditions. So, don't beat yourself up over it."

It's demoralizing to compare oneself with others. Being a special forces soldier isn't easy, after all,

Gao Yuan let out a sigh. Now, he had nothing left to say; he would content himself with being taken care of and waiting for his meal.

The temperature in the mountains now dropped to around negative twenty degrees at night. During the day it was warmer, but still only negative seven or eight degrees. Thus, the outdoors served as a natural refrigerator, and any unfinished raw meat was stored in a dugout hole outside, covered with a stone slab, as an ice chest for food storage.

Because the raw meat that couldn't be finished was all placed in the storage cellar, Li Bo and his group didn't notice it when they came by; otherwise, they would certainly have taken all the edible things with them when they left.

The meat had already been prepared, and Luo Xingyu had brought back two pieces. Xiang Weiguo took the meat and immediately began to busy himself outside.

"Xiaoyu, take a rest for a while, you don't need to help out."

Xiang Weiguo's voice drifted in from outside as Luo Xingyu sat down on the edge of the kang bed, looked at the bloodstains on Gao Yuan's face, and then at his extremely dirty clothes, slashed with cuts. She couldn't help but grab Gao Yuan's hand, whispering softly, "I..., does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt, this is nothing."

Gao Yuan withdrew his hand, and then he laughed, "Luckily I'm wearing clothes taken from the village. If I had been wearing my own jacket, I would've been upset, haha...uh, the jacket probably wouldn't have gotten torn up like this anyway."

Watching Gao Yuan desperately trying to make conversation, Luo Xingyu managed a faint smile.

It seemed as if this was the moment to say something, but hearing Xiang Weiguo staying busy outside, Luo Xingyu didn't know what to say.

"Change your clothes. I'll go outside and start the fire. It's cold inside the house, so cover yourself with a quilt for now."

"Hey, you guys don't need to treat me like an invalid or a casualty, Uncle Xiang, let me help you."

Xiang Weiguo shouted, "Don't come and add to the chaos."

Luo Xingyu sighed gently, and after a moment of thought, Gao Yuan said, "Stop thinking about what happened today. It's all in the past, and such things will absolutely not happen again. I swear, it's impossible for it to happen again!"

After speaking, Gao Yuan hugged Luo Xingyu, gently patting her back, "Don't be afraid, don't be scared, it will never happen again."

Xiang Weiguo coughed softly, then he said directly from the other room, "Hmm, speaking of which, it's also my negligence. Although I don't have any particularly reliable means, setting up some simple traps and alarm devices is quite straightforward. Even if we just need to hide when we hear some noise, that's fine too."

Gao Yuan raised his voice a bit, "Who could have expected someone to come from behind the mountain?"

"A road is made to be walked on, and the presence of a road means that people might come. You also discovered this place when you were out playing, right? I used to think the only threat was zombies, but I should have realized that no matter the time, humans are the most dangerous animals. Anyway, let's set up the traps and alarm devices tomorrow."

"Alright, we'll start with the alarm devices tomorrow."

Xiang Weiguo fell silent. Gao Yuan looked at Luo Xingyu again and asked, "Are you tired now? Why don't you lie down for a while?"

Luo Xingyu shook her head and said in a low voice, "Right now... my heart is in turmoil; I'll go start the fire."

Luo Xingyu went out, and Xiang Weiguo continued to be busy.

Why is caution the most fundamental element of survival in an apocalyptic world? Because Gao Yuan wasn't the type to be at ease only after he had hidden everything away every day; that's why their rice and flour were certainly taken away by Li Bo and his group.

Xiang Weiguo took out the hidden flour and made a pot of the simplest meat dumpling soup. This wasn't the main meal, but having a bowl of hot dumpling soup warmed the body and prevented limbs from going weak.

After finishing the dumpling soup, while the meat stewed in the pot, Xiang Weiguo said in a calm tone, "Today's incident has been a wake-up call for me."

Luo Xingyu hadn't finished her bowl yet, but she set it down to listen attentively to what Xiang Weiguo had to say.

After looking at Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu, Xiang Weiguo sighed and said, "I always thought that if we don't intend to harm others, it wouldn't be easy for them to harm us. But today those people had guns. I think that if they can have guns, there must be others who can get them too."

"That's for sure. Even if not many, there definitely are people who can get their hands on guns."

Xiang Weiguo pondered for a moment, then said, "If they all had guns today, you would have been dead for sure. Xiaoyu's fate doesn't need to be mentioned. I might have been able to take them down, but they might have also taken me down. It's hard to say. But we can't leave our lives to luck, so we must also have guns. We won't harm others, but we must not let others harm us either!"

Gao Yuan was taken aback, then asked, "Get guns?"

Xiang Weiguo nodded, "Yes, we need to get guns."

Gao Yuan was excited, hurriedly asking, "Where do we find guns? Do you know?"

Xiang Weiguo replied without hesitation, "I don't want any police guns. Like that gun you seized today, I don't care for it. I want military firearms, standard issue rifles. So, we're going to get military guns."

Gao Yuan became so excited he could hardly speak clearly, saying, "Really? Do you think that's feasible? Where are we going to find them? You must know, right? When are we going?"

"Don't rush. Wait until we're all ready; we can't rush into this sort of thing."

Gao Yuan hurriedly said, "I'm not in a rush to go, but you definitely know where to get guns, right?"

Xiang Weiguo smiled slightly, "As I've said, we're after military firearms, so naturally, we're going to the military base to get guns."