"I can still hear you," Tang Li Yue said.
Both men straightened.
The briefing continued after that, but the atmosphere had changed. A little of last night's horror had shifted into purpose. Not relief, at least not yet. But the farmhouse was learning how to carry the weight of the end of the world without standing frozen beneath it.
That was good.
Frozen people died easily.
By midday, training began.
Tang Li Yue did not start Shen Mingxia with knives. That would come later.
Perhaps much, much later.
For now, she started her with falling. Specifically, how not to break her own foolish bones while doing it.
Shen Mingxia stood in the cleared yard wearing spare training clothes, looking both nervous and determined. Chen Qiao, Zhou Han, and even Gao Jun lingered nearby under the pretense of equipment checks.
Tang Li Yue looked at them.
"Are you all here to admire the pain of a young lady? How impolite."
Chen Qiao coughed. "We are checking weapons."
"You are holding a broom."
