NOVPUBWith Bai Jie and the others joining, the total number of people at the base surpassed the hundred mark.
This winter was long.
And it was cold.
Amongst the vast expanse of snowy white, standing outside always gave one a sense of how minuscule they were.
Duty room.
Li Yu and Third Uncle were on duty.
In fact, for Li Yu, he had always known that Third Uncle had served as a soldier for many years, and in his memory, Third Uncle had always been a man of few words.
That time they went to the Government Building in the neighboring town, when he made a move to resolve Xie Liuhai and those others, and during the several other occasions they went out together, all displayed an astonishing level of strength.
However, he never delved deeper. No matter what Third Uncle had been through in the past, he was still his Third Uncle.
Inside, it was warm.
But somewhat dry.
Third Uncle pulled a persimmon out of his pocket and started nibbling on it.
Li Yu looked at Third Uncle and suddenly said, "Third Uncle, let's practice later, you can give me some pointers."
Third Uncle swallowed the chunk of persimmon in his mouth and said at a leisurely pace, "Although I don't know how you've been training, your spear skills are good, your close combat capability is actually very efficient, simple, brutal, and deadly."
"Okay, after our shift ends, we'll find a place to practice."
Li Yu was excited; he was also curious about how strong Third Uncle really was.
.....
The next day, in the villa's gym.
A space was cleared for Third Uncle and Li Yu, each standing on one side.
Neither man carried anything; Third Uncle was relaxed, his fists lightly in front of his chest.
Li Yu, in loose-fitting home clothes, smiled and said to Third Uncle, "I'm coming over, Third Uncle."
"Come." Third Uncle still looked as casual as a farmer.
Li Yu's gaze turned sharp in an instant, charging forward with a sweeping knee strike.
Third Uncle stepped back slightly, blocking with his right hand, and then his hand chopped towards Li Yu's neck.
Li Yu leaned to the side, reaching out with a sneaky move.
Third Uncle tensed up slightly, rolled backward, quickly ran a few steps, then took off his upper garment and flung it towards Li Yu's head.
Li Yu was a bit stunned; he didn't expect this kind of move.
Using his hands, he flung the clothing away, but in the moment he did, Third Uncle's sweeping leg brought Li Yu down to the ground.
Smack!
The instant Li Yu fell to the ground, he bore the pain, grabbed Third Uncle's right leg with his right hand, and yanked it fiercely downwards.
Smack!
Third Uncle also fell to the ground.
Both were somewhat speechless.
Sitting on the ground, Li Yu called a halt, "Third Uncle, this does not match the image I have of you in my heart. This is too..."
Third Uncle's expression was blank as he indifferently said, "Aren't you the same?"
Li Yu said awkwardly, "But, but you're..."
Third Uncle shook his head and asked, "Do you think techniques are important? The combat art I learned has only one principle: to kill. It does not matter if the means are underhanded.
Besides, if you can use a gun, why not use it? If you can use a knife, why not use it? I can see that the two of us can't really compete, we're both killers; thus, this kind of close combat doesn't mean much.
Neither of us dares to strike to kill, and I dare not either."
Li Yu raised his eyebrows and said, "Then just now, you were trying to chop my neck."
"And you tried to kick my balls."
"...."
The two couldn't establish a winner, both aiming for the fastest way to kill an enemy. In their minds, the so-called techniques of fighting didn't mean much.
Because in different environments and situations, the methods needed varied; in short, use whatever means necessary to kill the enemy.
This made it impossible for the two relatives to let loose in a competition.
They both stood up, essentially giving up. In those few minutes, they clearly understood one thing: they were the same kind of people.
There was simply no comparison.
But Li Yu still asked Third Uncle for advice, "Third Uncle, besides throwing clothing, what other sly tricks do you know? Teach me."
"What do you mean by a crafty move, eh."
"Ah, yes yes yes, that little trick."
"Mmm, aside from the basic moves like the groin slap, eye gouge, soccer kick, and striking the back of the head or spine, there's one technique I've used with the best effect, which is...."
"Holy shit, that's awesome."
In the gym, there were occasional grim chuckles, accompanied by sighs of realization.
.....
The blizzard outside had not ceased at all.
Thousand miles of ice, endless snow under the wide sky.
In the midst of this snowstorm, several hundred kilometers away from Li Yu and his group.
Safe City.
There were no longer any personnel on duty at the entrance; the gate had been locked tight.
The padlock on the gate had also become encased in ice.
The snow on the ground was already more than a meter deep.
In the houses outside Safe City, silence reigned.
Some of the houses, already low and not much elevated, were half buried in snow and ice.
The entire land was a vast expanse of white.
On the ground, not a single trace of a living creature could be seen.
Thud!
A figure leapt down from a house directly opposite Safe City.
The house was quite tall, arguably the tallest one in the vicinity of Safe City, and was formerly a small inn.
Eight stories, twenty-four meters high.
When the figure fell, the snow on the ground was smashed into the outline of a person.
"Damn it."
With a curse, the person was enraged.
He hadn't expected that he would survive such a fall; where he landed, the snow was particularly thick, and the dense snow, over a meter deep, had broken his fall, preventing his death.
He even only sustained minor scrapes.
Struggling out of the deep snow, it took a while for the person to get to his feet.
His figure was emaciated, skin and bones, with hair like wild grass, covered in snowflakes.
If Mr. Wang were here, he would have recognized this man as the one who had escaped from that courtyard.
Unbelievably, the man hadn't frozen to death by now.
However, by the looks of him, he wasn't far from death's doorstep.
"This goddamn apocalypse, having zombies is bad enough, but it's also so damn cold, and being cold would be fine if there was food to be found. Just let me die. Ahhh!!!"
The man roared in anger, but still, no one appeared around him; even during his outburst, not a single zombie showed up.
This winter was indeed a bit too cold.
Snowflakes drifted down as the man lay on his back in the snow, spreadeagled.
It seemed he had given up on everything, but in truth, there wasn't anything left for him to give up; he now had nothing.
The snow kept falling, slowly settling on his body, from his ankles, to his arms, to his chest.
In this extreme freezing cold, he felt numb to his core, having stood up and laid back down after his fall.
He actually felt a hint of bliss.
Two minutes later, he couldn't stand up, nor did he want to stand up anymore; he was exhausted.
Having not eaten for several days, he was so famished he saw stars and felt completely powerless.
As the snowflakes fluttered around him, his body no longer sensed the cold as if he had gone numb.
His heart also felt nothing.
It was as if he had entered a void, everything was white – the snowflakes, the sky, everything in his view was white.
On the brink of losing consciousness, he felt as if he was lying amidst clouds, his body became incredibly light, and he felt lifted.
Looking down at himself on the ground, the snow had nearly covered him, leaving only the tip of his hat poking out.
Soon after, he couldn't see anything anymore.
It seemed, he lost all sensation.
And it seemed, it wasn't so bad after all.
