The short-haired young man's face twisted with anger, but then he glanced at Xu Feng's hand and remembered the fear that had seized him moments ago.
"Tch. Let's go!"
He spat the words out through his flushed lips and turned to leave in a sorry state.
The other man stumbled after him, clearly frightened by Xu Feng's ruthlessness.
They looked utterly pathetic.
Only after the two had left did Xu Feng pick up his things and stride back.
Once inside, he set the bag down, his hands trembling slightly.
He sat on the edge of the bed and took two minutes to recover. Then Xu Feng nervously rubbed his thighs. "Huff—huff—damn, that scared the hell out of me."
After catching his breath, he finally came back to himself.
He had never fought anyone in his life.
At most, he had argued with people, and usually back when he was still in school.
Once he entered the working world, he learned what it meant to be "mature."
But today...
Something unexpected had surged within him.
A strange anger and a fierce resolve.
Even Xu Feng himself had been surprised when he struck.
What did it feel like?
He thought it over and remembered a saying.
"Once you carry a weapon, the urge to kill arises."
"No, those men wouldn't have stopped me over a few cans. Why were they buying canned food at such high prices?"
Xu Feng quickly thought of the various signs of stockpiling he had seen before. Putting them together with his earlier suspicions, he sensed danger in the air.
"Is war coming? An attack? Or just a conflict?"
Xu Feng murmured as he considered the situation.
This was, after all, the Sky Pit Otherworld.
Although Sky Moon Martial University was powerful, people like them were ultimately cannon fodder and "low-value assets."
If the situation changed, they could be abandoned at any moment.
How would he and his daughter protect themselves then?
The strength Xu Feng had now was nowhere near enough to face those Mutated Creatures.
He needed to focus on improving his Flying Blade skills and knife techniques, but there was no way he could become invincible overnight.
The Nine Star Body Refining Art was even more of a slow process. It required daily practice over a long period.
Those were the only ways he could improve right now.
"No, I've got it wrong. I shouldn't be thinking about how to kill the enemy. For now, hiding and retreating are the most efficient and useful options for me."
Xu Feng paced around the room, then stopped beside the bed.
He suddenly bent down and pushed his bunk against the wall, revealing the wooden floor beneath it.
"A tunnel."
The idea of a tunnel immediately made Xu Feng think of tunnel warfare.
Against an enemy he couldn't face head-on, strategic retreat and guerrilla tactics were the smartest approach.
So, if he could dig a suitable tunnel inside the house and make an underground shelter...
They could use it to hide in an emergency, and it could also serve as a place to store valuables.
"And a crafty hare makes three burrows. I can dig a couple more exits, just in case."
Once his mind got going, Xu Feng's ideas kept coming.
There was no time like the present.
After lunch, Xu Feng got straight to work inside the house.
First, he used his standard-issue Battle Blade to cut a square opening in the wooden floor.
Then he opened the bathroom window opposite the bed to create a passage.
Xu Feng picked up a shovel and started digging with a "swish."
After nearly a month of cultivation and improvement,
his strength and physical fitness had improved considerably.
Digging was hard work, but it was no problem for him.
In just one afternoon, Xu Feng dug a three-meter-deep tunnel and carved steps into it as he went.
The only hassle was carrying the soil and rocks out through the bathroom window and dumping them in the backyard. That took the most time.
When Xiao Dan finished school, Xu Feng quickly took a shower and went to pick her up.
As it happened, Lu Fei had taught her class that afternoon.
"Uh, Teacher Lu, do you have a moment to talk?" With several parents nearby, Xu Feng pulled Lu Fei aside.
Lu Fei frowned at him. "What is it?"
She had changed her opinion of Xu Feng lately, but she still seemed somewhat cold and resentful toward him.
Xu Feng glanced around, then lowered his voice. "Tell me honestly. Has the situation changed lately?"
Lu Fei froze for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that?"
"I've been observing. People have started stockpiling canned food in the Trading Zone. There are more soldiers at the base, and the martial artists are fully armed."
Xu Feng spoke seriously.
"Last night, three martial artists from the Security Team came to ask me if I'd heard gunshots.
All these signs point to one thing."
Xu Feng glanced at the parents chatting in the distance. "I know there are things you can't talk about, and I won't press you. I just want to know, if something really happens, will people like us be abandoned?"
Lu Fei glanced at Xiao Dan, then lowered her head without saying anything.
Silence could sometimes say a lot.
Xu Feng sighed. "I understand."
He drew Xiao Dan into his arms. "If we run into danger, can I leave Xiao Dan with you?"
This time, Lu Fei raised her head and answered firmly. "Yes."
Xu Feng breathed a sigh of relief and was about to thank her when Xiao Dan said resolutely, "Even if I die, I want to die with you."
Xu Feng and Lu Fei both looked down. They saw the little girl's eyes glistening with tears as she stared determinedly up at Xu Feng and spoke.
Lu Fei turned her face away, unable to look.
But as Xu Feng looked at his daughter, he suddenly understood everything. "All right. Let's go home."
Xiao Dan tightly grasped Xu Feng's hand and smiled.
Xu Feng bent down, scooped the little girl into his arms, and strode toward the base's exit.
"Um, Mr. Xu, will you be home tonight?"
Just then, Lu Fei called out to him.
The parents nearby looked at the two of them in surprise.
Xu Feng turned around, puzzled. "Is there something you need, Teacher Lu?"
Lu Fei answered calmly, "Yes. I need to discuss some things about Xiao Dan's studies with you. Please wait for me at home tonight."
"Okay. See you tonight." Xu Feng was still confused, but he nodded.
When they got home and Xiao Dan saw the tunnel, she was extremely curious.
"Aren't you scared?" Xu Feng asked as he dug below.
"Nope." Xiao Dan sat on a little stool, holding her bowl as she watched Xu Feng below. "You picked me up from a pile of corpses. I wasn't scared back then, so what the hell would I be scared of now?"
Xu Feng: "..."
He carried a basin of dirt and quickly leaped back up to the floor. "Watch your language from now on. Where did you pick up 'what the hell' from?"
Xiao Dan's thoughts immediately returned to class, and she said with a smile, "Zhou Tianyu! He says stuff like that all the time. It's really funny.
"Oh, we learned the Gene Cultivation Method in class today. The teacher said we can't start cultivating until we're adults."
As he listened to Xiao Dan recount the interesting things that had happened that day, Xu Feng's hands grew quicker and quicker.
Before long, he discovered that digging had a proficiency level too!
[Hollow Digging: Proficient (598/1000)]
"Does this mean that if I keep digging, I can become a Pit Digging Master?"
Xu Feng found the thought amusing.
At half past eight that night,
someone knocked on the alloy door.
Xu Feng looked through the peephole, saw Lu Fei, and opened the door.
"What was so important that you had to come here to talk about it?" Xu Feng asked, surprised.
As soon as Lu Fei entered, she placed a book on the table.
Then she set down two glass test tubes.
This time, Lu Fei didn't take off her coat. She only hugged Xiao Dan, then glanced at the tunnel Xu Feng had dug. "If nothing happens, consider these things a loan from me. You can pay me back later.
"If something does happen, then this is compensation from Sky Moon Martial University. This matter is classified. I don't know the exact date, but it should happen within a week."
Xu Feng nodded and looked at the book on the table.
It had just two words on the cover: Mind Movement. It seemed to be some kind of manual.
He didn't recognize the liquid in the test tubes.
"What's this?" Xu Feng picked up one of the tubes and looked at it. It held about fifty milliliters of pale blue liquid.
"Blood Qi Potion, supplied exclusively to martial artists. It normally costs fifteen thousand per vial," Lu Fei said flatly.
Xu Feng: "(ω)!!?"
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