Chapter 17: The Return Journey

  Everyone familiar with wolves knows that these animals are extremely vengeful. After a failed attack, there will definitely be a second, third, and each time the number of attacks will increase, endlessly, until they are satisfied.

  Provoked the wolf, everyone lost interest in sleeping, it was still dark, and it was even more unacceptable to set off at this time. They simply lit a few more fires nearby, as wild animals are afraid of fire by nature.

  Everyone chatted casually, dozing off when they felt like sleeping, but ensuring that at least two people kept watch. After chatting for half an hour, they looked up to see that it was still early. If they continued like this, they wouldn't be able to rest well, and in this forest, not getting enough rest would be a fatal weakness. Zhao Wuji slept for a while, feeling extremely refreshed, so he let everyone else sleep too. It just so happened that Zhang Peng's turn had come to keep watch, so the two of them stood guard together, chatting idly.

  Zhang Peng took himself as an example and talked about his life outside for a while before suddenly asking, "Wuji brothers, what are your plans after going out?"

  "For the time being, there isn't." Zhao Wuji said truthfully: "The outside world is even more complicated than this primitive forest. I need time to get familiar with it. Let's talk about it after I'm familiar with it. Moreover, what you've been talking about the most these days is money. Money is a guarantee of life. I think that once I go out, the first problem I need to solve is the issue of money, and another one is identity. Didn't you say that without an identity, it's hard to take a single step?"

  "After all, we are brothers. When the elder brother has food, you can't be left out. But it's clear that you're a self-reliant person who doesn't like to accept others' help. I won't force you. The issue of status will be handled by the eldest brother. As for the money, this time you're helping us is equivalent to helping the country, which means you've made a great contribution. The country will definitely give some rewards, so don't worry about it in the short term," Zhang Peng analyzed.

  Zhao Wuji didn't respond, but was deep in thought. After a while, Zhang Peng said: "Given your situation, standing out is only a matter of time. The top priority now is to get familiar with the environment. Different environments have different rules for living."

  "How can I get familiar with the environment and blend into life more quickly?" Zhao Wuji asked.

  "Find a platform to transition for a while, there are two paths. One is to join us, the troops are a simple collective, at least much simpler than the city, you can see that from us, stay in the troops for a while, get familiar and then leave; the other is to go to school, schools are relatively simple too, and there's enough stuff for you to learn, this way, your time to blend into life will be greatly shortened. Brother Zhang suggests you choose the second path."

  "But with my situation, no identity, no money, and no education as you've mentioned, can the school accept me?" Zhao Wuji had long been ignorant of the outside world, but these days of communication had given him a rough idea of what it was like.

  "Leave the school stuff to me, what major are you planning to study?" Zhang Peng asked.

  "I want to travel the world, what do you think I should learn? From the age of five, I followed my grandfather to learn San Zi Jing, Bai Jia Xing, and later on, I studied Si Shu Wu Jing, Bai Jia Zi Ji and so on. I don't know what else to learn." Zhao Wuji smiled awkwardly, feeling that not knowing what to learn was a very embarrassing thing.

  Zhang Peng didn't expect Zhao Wuji to have been influenced by traditional Chinese culture from a young age, and he was taken aback. In this day and age, there are few people who study traditional Chinese culture, and those who truly understand it are as rare as endangered animals, and they are often supported financially. Zhang Peng thought for a moment and said: "I don't know either, why not learn languages? At least when you go to other countries, you won't struggle with the language barrier. For other majors in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, or engineering, if you don't have a solid foundation, especially in mathematics and science, it's more difficult to learn."

  "Alright, let's learn as we go, and see later," Zhao Wuji could only imagine the outside situation, didn't quite understand it, and couldn't assess decisions.

  After a while, Zhao Wuji said: "Right, how can we make money?"

  "Money, it's a real pain in the butt. You can't do without it, but it's hard to get your hands on it. Our expenses are all arranged by the department, and we have our monthly salary too. Don't laugh at me, I don't know how people outside make money either. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'll ask some other friends later, there must be a way." Zhang Peng said.

  ┅┅。

  Unconsciously, the sky brightened up, and the wolf didn't come to attack again. This made everyone breathe a sigh of relief, but it was only temporary relief. With the wolf's temperament, it definitely wouldn't give up, and coming back next time was just a matter of sooner or later.

  Also had some wild game and wild fruit to eat, not enough water, cut down a few stalks of bamboo, this kind of plant is very special, in the hollow part of the bamboo, there is actually stored quite a bit of water, this water can be used with confidence, no need to worry about bacteria, viruses, everyone eats their fill and drinks their fill, plus after sleeping for a night, spirits are high, start rushing on the road.

  This walk was a whole day, and the pursuing soldiers were gone. Everyone's mood relaxed, chatting and laughing, like touring. Of course, vigilance didn't decrease by one bit, keeping alert before the danger was eliminated had become a habit. Unconsciously, everyone climbed over a mountain peak, and in front of them appeared a mountain stream.

  A clear stream flows over the stones, with dense wildflowers on both sides giving off a sweet fragrance. There are also quite a few bamboo trees, making the scene look so beautiful and serene. On the stream, there are some large rocks, probably fallen from the mountain top, which have been polished smooth by time. A few little monkeys are playing on them, causing a lively commotion.

  It's simply a peach blossom luck, everyone was fascinated by the scenery in front of them and decided to camp here. Anyway, it's already dark, this mountain stream is also very secluded, not big, and the surrounding valleys are all tall and dense forests.

  Hunting, making a fire, cooking, and bathing, everything was so orderly. This time they were eating fish, and in the mountain stream there were even golden mahseer, which is a rare treasure. In this primitive forest, it's not worth eating if you don't eat well. Using their helmets as pots, Zhao Wuji somehow found some herbs and stewed them with the fish together.

  Everyone ate together, and it was so delicious that they almost swallowed their tongues. They didn't feel full enough, so they stewed two more heads of abalone.

  Zhang Peng curiously looked at the herbs inside the helmet and asked: "What are these?"

  "A kind of herb, I see that your bodies are somewhat fatigued and seem to be on the verge of illness. It's probably mountain sickness. After taking this medicine, you'll be fine." Zhao Wuji said: "I don't know what it's called either, but our ancestors in Qingniu Village have always done it this way."

  "No wonder I felt warm all over after eating it, and my body function recovered a lot. So that's how it is." Binzi said while drinking the soup: "Then let's eat more of it, just like we're eating vegetables."

  "Why did you put a stone inside? What is this stone for?" asked Gongzi.

  "We call it flavor stone. When you put it in and cook, the food comes out with flavor," Zhao Wuji said. "Our Qingniuzhai produces this kind of stone, that's how we do it."

  "What's this stone?" Gangzi picked up a stone that hadn't been put down, licked it and quickly spat it out, saying: "This is a salt stone. Oh, outsiders call it a salt stone, it's a mineral that can be made into coarse salt."

  "What is mineral water?" Zhao Wuji asked curiously.

  "What's that?" Gangzi was unclear for half a day and gave up, embarrassed to say: "I also can't explain it clearly, go out and understand it yourself, or brother will buy you a bunch of books on this aspect, you look at it yourself, okay?"

  Haha! Seeing Gangzi's embarrassed look, everyone else couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  The bright laughter echoed around the mountain stream, startling a monkey that scurried up a tree. It turned its head to curiously gaze at these strange creatures, chattering loudly as it expressed its opinions to its companions.

  With a full stomach and nothing to do, Zhao Wuji asked Gangzi for guidance on martial arts. In Zhao Wuji's opinion, the two moves that Gangzi used to counter the wolf's sneak attack were not simple at all. Zhao Wuji had no famous teacher to guide him, and all his martial arts skills were based on the "Natural Classic" as his inner skill mantra, created by himself according to the movements of wild beasts fighting, without any set routines.

  As soon as he heard this, a small smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. Finally, there was something that made this little brother look good, right? He then swung open his sleeves and performed a set of military-style boxing and close-range combat combination punches. Not a drop of sweat, not a gasp for breath, like a dragon rising to the sky, like a swallow flying into the forest, like an iron mountain standing tall, like a leopard dancing, like a dragon fighting in all directions, like a wildfire raging, tiger-like winds blowing, simple and direct, without any fancy moves, emphasizing one hit must kill, really formidable.

  Seeing Zhao Wuji's deep thinking expression, Gangzi felt relieved and said kindly: "Want to learn? Brother will teach you."

  Zhao Wuji would not refuse, although Gengzi's attack seemed to Zhao Wuji to still have many flaws and he was confident that he could knock down his opponent in three moves. However, Zhao Wuji was very clear about his own situation, which was purely blind exploration, and also very clear that Gengzi's martial arts had been summarized by several generations and tested through battle.

  Then, Zhao Wuji took the attitude of returning to zero and studied seriously. Zhang San also explained his combat theory in detail, how to find the enemy's weaknesses and vulnerabilities? How to save energy while maximizing the attack on the enemy? The structure and weaknesses of the human body, etc., while explaining and demonstrating, unknowingly passed two hours, completely unaware of fatigue.

  These two hours were undoubtedly precious for Zhao Wuji, who had been exploring on his own. He gained a more comprehensive understanding of martial arts and a brand new door opened silently before him.

  For Zhao Wuji, techniques and skills are important, but theory is even more crucial. Gangzi seems to have also discovered Zhao Wuji's shortcomings and selflessly contributed his knowledge of combat theory. As for combat skills, they can be discussed later. For those who have cultivated their martial arts to a certain level, the greatest skill lies not in technique, but in the ability to adapt and respond freely. Of course, when facing an opponent of equal strength, techniques become important once again.

  Unconsciously, the sky had completely darkened. Zhao Wuji, who was wide awake, let everyone rest and continued to ponder the theories and techniques that Gang Zai had just mentioned under the moonlight. He would occasionally make a few moves, then ponder again, and after making a few more moves, he seemed to have entered the world of martial arts.

  Zhang Peng looked at Zhao Wuji, who was in a trance-like state, and said to Gangzi: "Gangzi, if Brother Wuji goes crazy, I'll skin you alive. Besides, he's not suitable for sentry duty in his current state. The first watch is yours."

  Gangzi chuckled and said indifferently, "Old Big Brother, don't worry about it. He's a good seedling. As his older brother, I don't have much to give him, so just consider this a little guidance as a meeting gift. Don't blame me, Binzi taught him how to play with explosives, Fengzi taught him how to shoot, and I'm just teaching him some combat skills - it's not like I'm doing anything special. It's you, the big brother, who shouldn't be too stingy."

  Zhang Peng glared at Gangzi with one eye, and smiled lightly as he fell asleep on a huge stone. The stone was covered with a thick layer of dry grass, so there was no need to worry about the cold. Seeing that the other brothers were also sleeping, Gangzi went to pick up some firewood and added it to the fire, making it burn brighter, so that everyone wouldn't catch a cold.

  The night grew darker, but Zhao Wuji kept looking at the moonlight one moment and then around him the next, tilting his head as if thinking about something.

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