This Wasn't the End

The two of them had practiced for a long time. Lu Xi'an didn't feel particularly tired, but his stomach was empty and he was getting hungry.

So he stopped and asked Yao Wei, "Do you want to keep going? I'm hungry. How about I make us something to eat?"

Yao Wei paused to think, then asked, "Could you go make the food? I want to practice a little longer. In a couple of days, I won't be able to."

Lu Xi'an didn't think much of it. He assumed Yao Wei meant they'd be leaving the shelter and continuing their journey in a couple of days.

This woman really is hardworking, he thought. But that's a good thing. The stronger Yao Wei gets, the safer we'll both be.

—At least until they went their separate ways.

His current strength and shooting skills were no match for Yao Wei's, so taking care of the logistics for her wasn't a bad arrangement.

He'd let Yao Wei get stronger first, then slowly improve himself under her protection.

"Okay. You keep going."

Lu Xi'an headed to the kitchen alone. Thinking about how they'd be leaving in a couple of days and continuing their journey, he found himself reluctant to go.

To be honest, the place was well stocked, and with the dog's help, water and electricity weren't a problem. If he settled down here, he could probably live in safety for who knew how many years.

For a moment, Lu Xi'an really wanted to stay and never leave. Let the world outside freeze, rain, and rage as it pleased—he could hide in the shelter and live out his days in peace. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

But on second thought, no matter how many years passed, the supplies would eventually run out.

If he stayed here, he'd just be using up supplies day after day, barely getting by.

And if he stopped here, the resolve he'd had to find a place where he could survive for the long term, for the rest of his life, would surely be worn away.

When the shelter ran out of supplies, would he still have the courage to walk back out and set off again?

This was only a temporary haven, not the end.

Lu Xi'an took a deep breath and reminded himself to stay resolute. He absolutely couldn't waver.

In two days, when it was time to leave, they had to go. They couldn't linger.

For breakfast, he cooked rice as usual and made soup with rehydrated vegetables.

This time, though, Lu Xi'an had a new idea. He cooked extra rice and soaked more vegetables, then drained them and set them aside.

After he finished making breakfast, he called Yao Wei over. When she saw the extra food, she felt a pang at the thought of letting it go to waste, so she planned to eat it all in one sitting and skip the next meal.

Lu Xi'an quickly stopped her. "Don't rush. This is for the next meal. I made extra on purpose so we can stir-fry it tonight and have something different."

Yao Wei finally relaxed.

At the word "stir-fry," she remembered the small shrimp stir-fry Lu Xi'an had made when they were outside. She swallowed involuntarily.

Stir-fried food should taste even better than this...

She couldn't help looking forward to their next meal.

Neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei knew whether the next meal would actually be in the evening.

They'd gone back to sleep that day, and now they couldn't even tell what time it was.

Between eating, showering, and other household uses, they'd gone through five buckets of water. So, some time after their meal, they went outside to the reservoir to refill them.

With three buckets of water left, they could still last a while.

But Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both knew they had to refill often to make sure they had enough water.

The weather outside was unpredictable. Who knew when a cold snap might freeze the water over?

If the ice was thin, they could just break through it. But if it froze too thick, they'd have to chop up the ice and bring it back to melt, which would be more trouble.

In that case, all they could do was hope for snow, which they could bring back and melt.

Collecting snow was much easier than chopping ice out of the river.

There had originally been ten buckets, but Lu Xi'an had turned one into a showerhead for bathing. So they had three buckets each and only needed to carry six back.

When they went to refill the water, they called the dog over and had it send the drone out to scout. It did a much better job than they could operating the machine themselves.

Once the drone confirmed there was no danger outside, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei went out with their buckets.

The sun was in the western sky, so it was probably afternoon.

The problem was, they'd eaten not long ago, and even when it was roughly time for evening, they still wouldn't be very hungry. They wouldn't be able to have dinner before nightfall as they usually did.

They might not feel like eating until the next day.

In a windowless shelter with no reliable way to keep track of time, it was impossible to plan around an ordinary daily schedule.

Lu Xi'an even went to check the computer in the side room office. It turned out the computer didn't have a clock function. He wondered who'd designed it that way.

That was further proof that the shelter wasn't suitable for long-term living.

This wasn't the end of the journey, just a place to rest along the way.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei tried to keep their time in the shelter fulfilling. They made sure to get enough rest, set aside time to exercise, and treated their workouts as a form of entertainment.

When they'd exercised until they were hungry, Lu Xi'an went to make the next meal.

He stir-fried the leftover rice from the previous meal with the rehydrated vegetables. With oil and salt, and a flat-bottomed pan to cook it in, the dish was indeed tastier than boiled vegetables and plain rice.

Yao Wei ate with gusto, but Lu Xi'an still felt that something was missing.

"Too bad... we don't have any eggs. Then we wouldn't need these vegetables."

What could be tastier than egg fried rice made with leftover rice?

Too bad there were no eggs.

For the next meal, Lu Xi'an used the sausage, serving it cold.

The meal after that was boiled vegetables with rice again.

The one after that was the extra boiled vegetables from the previous meal, stir-fried and eaten with plain rice.

The next meal after that was sliced sausage, stir-fried.

The meal after that was plain fried rice.

Before they knew it, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had been staying there for quite a while. They figured at least three days must have passed outside. The locals who'd been watching the road entrance without finding anyone ought to have left by now.

So Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei began planning to pack up and continue their journey.

But while they were discussing their plans, Lu Xi'an suddenly noticed Yao Wei frown as if she were uncomfortable. He asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Yao Wei said. "I get pain for a few days every month. I just have to tough it out. Let's pack up and get ready to leave."

Only then did Lu Xi'an realize what she'd meant. He asked, "When you said you wouldn't be able to practice in a couple of days, was this why?"

Yao Wei nodded. "Yeah."

So that was it...