Doomsday: Gain experience by hunting

The sky was completely dark, and the shacks and makeshift houses along the roadside lit up with scattered sparks of fire.

The flames flickered in the wind, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.

"Why hasn't my brother returned yet?"

Tang Tang clung to the crude wooden door, looking towards the entrance of the camp.

Time ticked by, and the fire in the house behind her died out. She squatted on the ground, her eyes unblinking.

It was common for people to leave the camp during the day and not return at night, never to be seen again.

While fetching water or doing laundry, she would often hear the women say, 'So-and-so's family member hasn't returned for a day,' and the next day, 'They haven't returned for two days...' Three days, five days... After that, no one would mention it anymore.

Tang Tang hugged her arms tightly, the cold night wind making her tremble from the inside.

"Sis, why are you at the door?" Seeing the dark figure on the ground, Tang Wen breathed a sigh of relief. The house was dark, and he thought something had happened.

"Brother? Why are you coming back from that direction?"

Tang Tang stood up, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's go inside!"

"Okay, okay!"

The siblings entered the shack and used a flint to relight the earthen stove.

The firelight cast a red glow on their cheeks.

Before his sister could ask, Tang Wen raised his index finger to his lips and reached into his coat, pulling out a bag of millet.

"This is...?" Her voice was suppressed with surprise.

After Tang Tang finished speaking, she quickly looked towards the door, and only after seeing that there was no movement did she take the millet bag with both hands.

"Four and a half pounds of millet, we can eat our fill today!"

"Where did you get it? Are you hurt?" As she spoke, Tang Tang grabbed his arm, ready to give her brother a full-body check.

Tang Wen quickly waved his hand, "I'm fine! I'm just a little tired, nothing else. Oh, and there's this."

He took out the last red-billed bird he had hunted today.

"You hunted..." She only said half a sentence before Tang Tang looked at the door again, paused for a few seconds, and then said in a very low voice, "You used a stone to hit it?"

"Yeah, don't tell anyone."

"Yeah, yeah!"

Tang Tang nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice, "This little bird should also be exchanged for rice."

Tang Wen looked down at their skinny arms, "We need to eat meat, winter is coming, we won't make it through if we don't eat more. We'll eat half each!"

Tang Tang's small face was full of reluctance, "But didn't you say one little bird can be exchanged for one and a half pounds of millet?"

"Don't worry, I can still hunt birds tomorrow."

"Okay, then we'll eat it tomorrow, let's eat more millet today."

With that, she turned to fetch the rice jar.

Tang Wen: ...

His sister, it seems, well, she's a little smart.

Glug, glug, the water in the pottery pot boiled.

Tang Tang put in two small handfuls of millet.

"Put in a little more, you'll definitely be able to hunt birds tomorrow."

The taste of hunger was too unbearable.

After two days, Tang Wen understood why so many people have difficulty losing weight.

Because being hungry and constantly exercising is simply not a life for humans.

At his brother's persuasion, Tang Tang added another small handful to the pottery pot.

Gurgle, gurgle.

The two siblings' stomachs began to rumble one after the other.

Neither sibling made a sound.

People who are hungry don't want to talk at all.

When the thick millet porridge was served in bowls, the two couldn't wait to pick them up.

They blew on it as they drank, and in less than three minutes, the two bowls were empty.

Tang Tang added cold water and cooked two bowls of rice soup, taking small sips from each bowl.

With two bowls of soup down, they were seventy percent full.

The sister cleaned up the cooking utensils, and Tang Wen lay down on the hay to rest.

It should be about seven o'clock in the evening now.

In a world without any entertainment, it's good to go to bed early and get up early...

That's not right.

It's far from a time for ease!

Tang Wen opened his eyes, remembering the few people he had met on the way back to the camp today who were squatting by the roadside trying to rob him.

Fortunately, he had managed to fool them.

But what about next time?

Well, I can't take the main road when I come back in the future.

I can climb a tree or stand on a high place first to observe the situation.

And the most important thing, he looked down at his thin, firewood-like arms.

I have to exercise!

Thinking of this, while his stomach wasn't empty, he stood up and walked to the door to start moving his body.

Under his sister's puzzled gaze, Tang Wen stared ahead, his legs striding, his palms flat, raised to the position of his navel, his arms outstretched, the backs of his hands touching together above his head, and then, with a whoosh, thrust straight into the air.

Sitting in the house, Tang Tang tilted her little head back sharply.

The first form of the Eight Section Brocade.

For the past three years, Tang Wen had been confined at home for several months.

The last time, and also the longest time, the lockdown lasted more than 80 days, and there were confirmed cases in the building where he rented.

In order to strengthen his resistance, he followed the health experts on Douyin and learned this set of Eight Section Brocade.

However, he had only practiced this exercise for a few months, and the time was too short to experience any benefits.

Now, Tang Wen desperately hoped that it would be as magical as the comments section said.

"Sis, you have to remember the movements. You have to practice with me."

Tang Tang didn't want to remember, let alone practice, because moving around too much would make her hungry.

But looking at Tang Wen's serious appearance, she nodded slightly and casually added a handful of dead leaves to the earthen stove to make the fire brighter.

After completing one round of the Eight Section Brocade, his body was slightly warm.

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After resting for a while, he started the second round.

Then the third round...

The worry on Tang Tang's small face grew stronger and stronger, would her brother be hungry? Wouldn't he have to eat another meal?

After finishing the third round of the Eight Section Brocade, the light in front of Tang Wen's eyes was distorted:

[Name: Tang Wen]

[Age: 14 years and 9 months]

[Body: 0.3]

[Spirit: 0.7]

[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]

[Skill: Stone Throwing, Mastery (67/1000)]

[Skill: Eight Section Brocade, Beginner (0/500)]

It really became a skill.

This proves that my movements are standard and not too deformed.

Tang Wen's hanging heart was put down. Before, he had been following the video voice prompts, step by step, and he really didn't have much confidence when he deviated from the video guidance for the first time.

Fortunately, it worked!

It's just that the Eight Section Brocade is much more complicated than throwing stones. After becoming a skill, the displayed level is not "Entry", but "Beginner".

But Tang Wen was very satisfied, no matter what, it's good to have an experience bar.

"Sis, did you remember it? Next time, you have to practice with me."

There's a next time? That must make me hungry, right?

"Xiao Wen, what are you practicing?"

Tang Wen said casually: "A few days ago, I met an old man with a white beard, and he taught it to me. Practicing it can make me more powerful."

Tang Tang suddenly understood: "No wonder you've been hungrier these past two days than before, have you been practicing during the day too?"

"Yeah, well, we won't lack millet to eat in the future, you have to practice too."

After a moment of silence, Tang Tang said: "Tomorrow, I'll practice tomorrow."

Tang Wen didn't force it, took a sip of water, and went to practice the fourth round at the door.

Tang Tang sat on the hay, hugged her knees with her arms, and murmured something in a voice that only she could hear.

After finishing the fourth round, he gained 5 experience points.

[Skill: Eight Section Brocade, Beginner (0→5/500)]

"Phew!"

His weak body had practiced the Eight Section Brocade four times in a row, and he was already slightly sweaty.

He didn't continue. Tang Wen returned to the house, lay down on the hay, chatted casually with Tang Tang for a few words, and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, he heard Tang Wen, who hadn't woken up yet, already rumbling in his stomach.

Tang Tang hardened her heart and put a full three handfuls of millet into the pot, cooking two bowls of fragrant and thick porridge.

After eating, under his sister's instructions.

Tang Wen left the camp and walked into the barren forest.

Everyone was clear that the coming winter would not be easy.

So even the edible tree bark had been stripped clean.

People were not doing well, and neither were the birds.

After searching for a while, he saw a few red-billed birds perched in the trees.

Summarizing yesterday's experience, Tang Wen's shots were more steady.

The four red-billed birds were startled by the death of their kind several times, but they all landed on nearby trees, where Tang Wen spotted them, and three of the four died.

But these three red-billed birds were all that Tang Wen had harvested in the morning.

At noon, he returned to the camp.

"You hunted three more? Xiao Wen is amazing!"

Tang Tang was invigorated.

Then she seemed to think of something, quickly closed the door, and gave a series of instructions:

"To exchange for millet, don't go to the rice store from yesterday! And there's a store on the east side of the camp that is said to be a black shop, don't go there, and don't exchange too much rice at once..."

Tang Wen listened patiently and said something that made her very conflicted: "I definitely won't be able to exchange for too much rice, we have to eat meat."

"Uh", the young lady's eyebrows were all twisted together: "Okay then."