Chapter Fifty-Three: Guidance After the Run

Zhang Xuan, Yang Zaixing, and Yang Hu had woken up early and, seeing Zhao Yun and Yuwen Chengdu still fast asleep, felt a bit reluctant to rouse them from their dreams. In the end, it was Yang Zaixing who took on the role of the villain and woke them up. Zhang Xuan, meanwhile, stood to the side, pointing and muttering under his breath, “What a sin, what a sin, disturbing someone’s peaceful slumber. Big Brother, you’re destined for the eighteenth level of hell. Wait, no, even that’s not enough.” Yang Hu listened to Zhang Xuan’s muttering, grinned, but said nothing. Noticing Yang Hu’s reaction, Zhang Xuan made a “shush” gesture. Yang Hu nodded in understanding. If Yang Zaixing found out he was being cursed like this, the coming days of training would truly become a torment.

Yuwen Chengdu rubbed his bleary eyes and glanced at the sky outside. He couldn’t help but ask, “Do you always go running at this hour? The sun hasn’t even risen yet.”

Before Yang Zaixing or Yuwen Chengdu could explain, Zhao Yun shook his head and said, “Brother Yuwen, this is already later than when we’d set out on the road. I must’ve been sleeping in a real bed for too long; now I can’t get up when I need to. I’ll have to watch out for that, or I won’t be able to keep up with Brother Xuan’s pace.”

Yang Zaixing reached out and gently patted Zhao Yun’s head. “It’s the same for all of us. We’ve only just woken up, and it’s about time. Let’s go for a run first, and wash up after we finish.”

Zhang Xuan watched his big brother organizing everyone for training so efficiently, and couldn’t help but think to himself, “He’s got a real sense of responsibility, but wasn’t it me who suggested we go running? Shouldn’t I be the one giving orders? Forget it, he’s my brother: I can’t provoke him or beat him, so if he wants to arrange things, I’ll just follow along.”

Under Yang Zaixing’s lead, the group jogged around the village. Zhang Xuan and the others purposely slowed their pace—at first to wait for Zhao Yun, and now, with Yuwen Chengdu joining them, Zhang Xuan couldn’t even pick up the tempo if he wanted to.

After two or three laps, Yuwen Chengdu was already out of breath and felt he couldn’t go on. Zhang Xuan thought it best for Yuwen to take a break; after all, running should be done gradually, and you can’t become fit overnight. However, Yang Zaixing and Zhao Yun kept encouraging Yuwen to push on. With their urging, he managed another two laps or so before he truly couldn’t continue. His legs felt like they were filled with lead and refused to move, so he plopped down on the ground.

“Second Brother, don’t sit on the ground. Get up—if you can’t run, just walk a bit, even slowly. Never sit down right after exercising; it’s not good for your body. If you really can’t walk, you can lie down and raise your legs. If you can’t manage that, walk around a bit more, then soak in warm water when you get back, and finish with a cold rinse. That’ll help you recover more quickly,” Zhang Xuan advised.

At his words, Yuwen Chengdu struggled to his feet and began to walk slowly nearby. “Got it. I’ll soak in hot water and then take a cold rinse later. You keep running. I thought running would be easy, but you don’t know until you try. I really can’t get used to this pace right away. I’m slowing you all down.”

“Enough of that, everyone’s like this at the start. After ten days or so, you’ll gradually adjust. We’ve been running for a long time to build up this stamina. You can’t expect to keep up with us on your first day. Otherwise, all our earlier training would have been for nothing. Second Brother, let us have a little sense of achievement! Remember what I told you,” Zhang Xuan said seriously. “Everyone else, let’s continue.” With that, he took off again.

As they ran, Yang Zaixing asked, “Xuan, why didn’t you tell us these things before? I seriously suspect you were holding out on us.”

“Big Brother, you’re overthinking it. We didn’t have the conditions before—how could we take hot baths? We just washed our faces and called it good. And whenever you tried to sit down after a run, didn’t I always pull you back up? Later on, you all got used to running, so it wasn’t necessary anymore. As for Second Brother, this is his first day, and managing three laps is impressive. Sure, today’s run was slower than when it was just the three of us, but it’s his first time. The first time is always tough, Big Brother, you should show some sympathy. Right, Little Zhao Yun? Wait, where’s Little Zhao Yun? He was just behind us!” Zhang Xuan looked back and suddenly realized Zhao Yun was nowhere to be seen and stopped in his tracks.

“Maybe he went back with Yuwen,” Yang Zaixing suggested, also coming to a stop. “But what about Brother Hu? He’s missing too. Did he go back as well? Should we keep running or turn back to check?” He looked at Zhang Xuan for direction.

“Let’s go back. I don’t think we passed any secluded spots. Zhao Yun and Brother Hu can’t have gotten into trouble, right?” Zhang Xuan said, and immediately started running back.

“Bah, Xuan, don’t jinx it. If anything happens, it’ll be to you. Zhao Yun and Brother Hu are both lucky; nothing will go wrong,” Yang Zaixing hurried after him.

The two retraced their steps, rushing back anxiously. If Zhao Yun and Yang Hu were really just back home with Yuwen Chengdu, then there was nothing to worry about. But one can never be too careful—life has a way of catching you off guard, especially when you least expect it; that’s some kind of mysterious law of the universe.

When they arrived back at the Yan residence and still saw no sign of Zhao Yun or Yang Hu, Zhang Xuan frowned, muttering to himself, “Could something have really happened?” The two of them made their way to where Yuwen Chengdu was taking a cold bath.

They found Yuwen Chengdu standing in the bathhouse, washing himself with a wooden basin. Without thinking much of it, Zhang Xuan asked, “Second Brother, how are you feeling now? Is it better than right after the run? From now on, don’t—” Hearing voices, Yuwen Chengdu hurried to cover his private parts with the basin.

Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but tease him, “Second Brother, what are you hiding? There’s nothing you have that we haven’t seen before. As brothers, we should be open with each other, don’t you think, Big Brother?”

“Xuan, stop teasing your second brother and get to the point. Second Brother, have you seen Brother Hu and Zhao Yun?”