CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47: HOPE

Qu Jianlei was stuck at the third level of Qi Refining, but his understanding of Tai Chi was progressing rapidly.

In his spare time, he’d gradually started trying out Tai Chi Boxing.

When it comes to cultivation, you can’t rush it. He’d once advised Xiaojing and was sure to remind himself as well.

Xiaojing saw the graceful moves of Tai Chi Boxing and wanted to learn too.

Qu Jianlei felt this kid was perceptive and had never mentioned wanting to learn meditation.

Did Xiaojing not understand? Qu Jianlei really didn’t think so.

Anyone with eyes could see that when he meditated, he burned the most calories.

What does it mean when one can burn the most calories just sitting quietly cross-legged?

Anyone with a little sense knows that high investment costs inevitably mean high returns.

Simply put, there’s a high possibility that his skills came largely from meditation.

And those Mutated Beast Crystals, which are far more precious than gold, were also used during meditation.

Is Xiaojing dumb? Definitely not; he didn’t want to learn meditation because he knew full well how deep this water ran.

If you don’t have the ability, don’t think about it. Xiaojing’s history of wandering proves he’s mastered this limit to perfection.

But Qu Jianlei wasn’t in a hurry to teach Xiaojing Tai Chi either.

Firstly, he himself hadn’t figured it all out, so how could he teach others?

Secondly, he felt the need to remind the other person.

"Besides cultivating and tidying up, you also have external patrol duties. Now that it’s cold, won’t UAVs come?"

Even Blue Star’s UAVs are emphasizing all-weather operations.

The Wasteland’s survival conditions are harsh, but before the apocalypse, the technological level absolutely trumped Blue Star.

So he believed that even in minus sixty degrees of cold, UAV patrols wouldn’t stop.

However, human patrols might pause.

Anyway, for the first six winters, he was struggling to survive, and he really didn’t know what the junkyard was like.

Upon hearing this, Xiaojing glanced at him, his eyes exceptionally strange, "Brother Black Heaven, I know it’s your first time at the junkyard..."

"But you shouldn’t be clueless about the junkyard situation, right?"

"Should I be aware?" Qu Jianlei frowned and touched his chin.

Then he replied with great certainty, "I really don’t know... care to enlighten me?"

"No way," Xiaojing looked at him in shock, "You’re also someone from a settlement."

"I’m really not from a settlement," Qu Jianlei answered without hesitation.

"If there’s something I’ve done that makes you think I’m from a settlement, just point it out, and I’ll change it... isn’t that okay?"

"Impossible," Xiaojing stated without hesitation, "The knowledge and skills you possess can’t belong to a wildling."

Whether it’s the Five Animals Qigong or the Eight Pieces of Brocade, or even the Posture Stance, they aren’t things ordinary survivors can master.

You can tell from his living habits too.

What survivor would see bathing as so important? Who would care about the benefits of vegetables to the body? Clearly, he’s from a big family.

Upon hearing this, Qu Jianlei smiled, too lazy to even argue, "Tell me about the junkyard."

After pondering for a moment, Xiaojing replied, "The garbage in the junkyard has been increasing constantly, you know that, right?"

"I know," Qu Jianlei nodded, thinking to himself that naturally, the junkyard’s garbage should increase.

An ever-decreasing one would be a waste treatment plant!

Xiaojing looked at him with interest, "Do you know where that garbage comes from?"

"I don’t know," Qu Jianlei answered bluntly. I was busy fighting for my life and couldn’t bother with these issues.

But Xiaojing didn’t care about his feelings and flaunted his knowledge.

"Do you know why the garbage increases after every winter break?"

"I don’t know," Qu Jianlei was a bit impatient, "I’m just not familiar with the junkyard routine."

"Because people dump garbage in the winter," Xiaojing said mysteriously, with an "I know" look.

"If you have nothing more to say, I’m going to sleep," Qu Jianlei got thoroughly annoyed.

He actually wanted to understand the reason, but the way the other person was acting triggered his rebellious side.

I just chose the "most dangerous place" to spend the winter for safety’s sake.

There will be no more interactions with this place in the future!

Seeing him get a bit angry, Xiaojing took the initiative to reveal the truth, "Because the garbage is transported in from outside."

"Outside?" Upon hearing this, Qu Jianlei was immediately taken aback, "What outside?"

This piece of news had a shocking impact on him, indeed a bit too great.

He indeed hadn’t considered the source of the garbage, only believing that after the apocalypse, the Wasteland’s transport capacity was limited.

Many wastes are hazardous, so they need to be aggregated, but there’s an issue of delayed transportation.

As for the fact that the garbage heap contains many useful items, this wasn’t surprising either.

Even on Blue Star, there were plenty of people making a living by scavenging, and some had even gotten rich doing so.

Qu Jianlei hadn’t considered much else.

Every time I open my eyes, all I can think about is where to find something to eat.

Under immense survival pressure, how could he possibly have the leisure to ponder over trivial matters?

Xiao Jing shook his head upon hearing this and regretfully replied, "I don’t know, I only heard the adults casually mention it."

Qu Jianlei pondered for a moment and asked again, "Do you have any personal guesses about this news?"

Xiao Jing thought for a while and shook his head blankly, "I really don’t have any, I’m still a kid."

I’m a kid too! Qu Jianlei felt somewhat speechless. Without considering his experience on Blue Star, this body is only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Then he asked again, "Do you have any more news about the junkyard?"

Xiao Jing thought carefully and answered, "It’s said that there isn’t much useful trash in this junkyard..."

"Valuable trash seems to have been shipped to other places."

This answer caught Qu Jianlei’s attention, "Is it true that the trash is pre-screened?"

Xiao Jing continued shaking his head blankly; he was indeed too young.

Qu Jianlei thought of another question that had puzzled him for a long time, "Settlement... why is it titled ’Hong Character’?"

"Are there settlements with other titles?"

Xiao Jing continued to shake his head, "I don’t know about that either, but... the Hong Character Settlement is already quite large, right?"

Qu Jianlei looked at him speechlessly, "You really don’t know what ’large’ means."

The conversation came to an end, and Qu Jianlei picked up a book to read.

The books sold by the settlement are mainly stories and novels, with few educational materials.

The most you can find is information on identifying plants and animals, as well as knowledge on gun use and maintenance, and even travelogues are hard to come by.

However, there are some books on psychological research, along with some inspirational books.

Even in inspirational books, many people have hidden their real names.

According to the compiler, it’s to respect personal privacy, considering the Wasteland is far from peaceful.

But in Qu Jianlei’s view, this proves his suspicion, "There is indeed an information monopoly."

He simply couldn’t believe it; the skills to repair many machines are not documented—how can this be normal?

The Wasteland is desperately in need of revitalization; if knowledge could spread, the efficiency of trash recycling and reuse would drastically improve.

Therefore, an information monopoly obviously exists, and survivors in the wild are at the bottom of the Wasteland.

This is unfair! Qu Jianlei felt quite indignant about it.

Coming from Blue Star, he values fairness highly, almost to an extreme degree.

However, he soon thought again: But does this really matter to me?

I am meant to be cultivating, and once I succeed, I can break through any ceiling!

So... unfairness is one thing, but for now, it’s unnecessary to dwell on it.

Officially, he has the experience of crossing worlds; to the local natives, it’s even more unfair!

Understanding this, he felt much better and began working on improving the air heat exchange system...

This winter is the most comfortable one since he arrived in the Wasteland, although there is still plenty of work to be done, making his days fulfilling.

Six more days passed, and the faintest crystal was fully absorbed, and Qu Jianlei organized the Tai Chi information.

The consumption this time was considerable, but the gains were substantial; other than Tai Chi Boxing, he gained Tai Chi Sword and Tai Chi Thirteen Sabers.

Tai Chi Boxing inherently includes the operation of inner strength, but he tried it and found it not as effective as the Nameless Qi Refining Technique.

As for Tai Chi Sword, he has no intention to practice it for now, as there are no swords in the Wasteland.

In fact, he is more fond of saber techniques, not only because he has several long blades at hand.

Saber techniques, unlike swordsmanship, do not focus on agility and grace but emphasize boldness and wildness.

This matches his personality more; a sword, frankly, is a bit too gentlemanly.

Then he practiced Tai Chi Boxing and Tai Chi Saber.

The indoor space was quite narrow, impossible to practice with a real blade, but even using a short stick was difficult.

Qu Jianlei had to propose a new suggestion: the room should be expanded a bit more and move some trash outside.

It’s been more than a month since winter started; outside, it’s really cold now.

However, they have been indoors for so long, feeling somewhat stifled; Xiao Jing even suggested, "We should replenish some water."

Initially, the water reserves were ample, but they both enjoy cleanliness, and with daily exercise, not bathing was uncomfortable.

Especially Qu Jianlei, when practicing, the impurities discharged from his body were abundant, almost seeming endless.

He highly suspected that this body had accumulated too many impurities after living in the Wasteland for years.

The more baths they took, the more water evaporated; now, the reserved water is reduced by about one-fifth.

Xiao Jing felt their current lifestyle was comfortable, and maintaining water freedom was necessary.

Qu Jianlei supported this initiative and even handed him an Overclocked Oscillation Blade to cut ice blocks.

In such cold weather, the ice layer should freeze thick, yet the water was far too murky, making ice extraction easy.

Xiao Jing chose to fetch water at night, not expecting that on the third day, he would drag a person back.

"Brother Black Heaven, this person is on the verge of death, should we save him?"