Doomsday Cognition Guide

After the wall was built, the renovation of the cave began. Uncle Si used the remaining cement and steel bars to reorganize the upper living area, replacing all the wooden partitions with cement brick and concrete structures. The most labor-intensive part was the cave entrance. Uncle Si welded a frame with steel bars, and the door panel was made of steel mesh, with such fine mesh that even an arm couldn't fit through. Mother hung a cloth curtain on the inside of the door, saying that the iron door alone was too cold, and hanging it would make it warmer.

Li Xuan couldn't get involved in these tasks, nor did he need so many people. He spent more than half the time each day training. Previous training focused on building a foundation—physical fitness, power generation, and using a mid-frequency therapy device to perceive the power transmission path. Now, with a solid foundation in integrated strength, the focus shifted from physical fitness to technique.

He began practicing the Siu Nim Tao style of Wing Chun, with extremely slow movements and minimal range of motion. To an outsider, a complete set of movements appeared as if he were standing still, but the true skill lay in the unseen areas—the rotation of the waist and hips, the rise and fall of the spine, and the opening and closing of the shoulder blades. With each punch, the power had to be transmitted from the soles of the feet to the fist, without any interruption in the middle.

On the first day of practice, there was always a slight disconnect between the rotation of the waist and hips and the push of the shoulders: the waist would rotate first, but the shoulders would lag behind by half a beat, and the force would dissipate by the time it reached the shoulders. By the tenth day, this disconnect had disappeared. With a rotation of the waist and hips, the force would travel down the spine to the shoulders, and the shoulders would spring out smoothly.

The power of the inch punch is derived from the Little Idea stance. Starting from the Two-Character Peg Goat Stance, the power begins with the rear foot pushing off the ground, passing through the calf to the waist and hips. With a twist of the waist and hips, the spine swings out, the shoulder joints relax, and the arm springs out smoothly. The moment the fist strikes the target, the wrist tightens sharply, locking all the momentum onto the fist.

He hung a sandbag—made of old canvas and stuffed with rags and sand—on the platform beam. He stood in front of the sandbag, his fist pressed against its surface, and suddenly twisted his hips. The sandbag bounced back half a meter, and the rope swung twice before stabilizing.

That's not enough. His current range for generating inch-force is only two inches. His goal isn't to shorten that distance, but to train his integrated force to the point of effortless execution. Once he has fully mastered integrated force and there are no more leaks in the transmission chain, he can begin experimenting with internal force.

In the morning, Uncle Si came to see Li Xuan with two homemade knives. He had modified them the night before, using wood-chopping knives and adding steel bars to the handles for added weight. Now, the metal felt like putty in Uncle Si's hands. He handed one to Li Xuan: "Try it!" Li Xuan swung it a few times and said, "The center of gravity is a bit forward; it's only suitable for chopping." Uncle Si said impatiently, "Use it for now. I know a hardware store in town that secretly sells alloy weapons. I went there with a friend when I used to work on construction sites. It's a gray market business; they don't display them in the store, they keep them in a warehouse, and only acquaintances can buy them. I reckon he should still have some in his warehouse."

This morning, Li Xuan and his fourth uncle prepared to go into town to collect supplies. This was Li Xuan's suggestion, since some supplies were only available in the county town. Since the training intensity had doubled, chocolate and energy drinks would only last for another week at most. More importantly, according to his memory, basic communication across the country had gradually been restored by this time. He wanted to report some information to the government.

The two drove along the highway towards the county town. Upon reaching the vicinity of the quarantine zone, the zombie density was noticeably higher than before, with groups of twenty or thirty roaming the perimeter. The quarantine line had been moved fifty meters inward, and two sandbag bunkers had been added at the entrance, each topped with a light machine gun. The police officer in charge of registration had changed, but he recognized Li Xuan and his fourth uncle.

"Are you here to register this time?" the police officer asked.

"My parents are still in the mountains. It's safe there, and I need to stay and take care of them," Li Xuan said. "I came here for two reasons—to collect supplies, and also to report some issues to the government."

"What's going on?"

"About zombies and superpowers."

"Superpowers?" The police officer stopped writing, looked up, and asked, "Are you sure you mean superpowers?"

Uncle Si picked up a discarded iron pipe from the car, held it in his hand, and slowly tightened his grip. A clear fingerprint was dented into the pipe, its edges smooth, as if it had been clamped by pliers. He handed the pipe to the policeman. The policeman took it, examined it several times, asked no further questions, and turned to go into the tent. After a while, he returned with a middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing old-fashioned glasses, with a fountain pen tucked into his shirt pocket.

"This is Deputy Secretary Zhang of the County Party Committee."

In front of him, his fourth uncle folded the iron pipe in half again, bent it, and pressed the cut surfaces together. He then released his grip—the pipe remained bent, the joint smooth and shiny. Deputy Secretary Zhang's eyes lit up. "Your skill is incredibly useful. Infrastructure construction, toolmaking—which of these doesn't require metal?"

He put down the iron pipe and turned to Li Xuan: "Young comrade, what skills do you have?"

"I'm just a little stronger."

"That's great too. Joining a search and rescue team or a construction team would be very useful."

Li Xuan recounted the situation: while killing zombies in town that day, he discovered one zombie whose speed and agility surpassed the others. After killing it, he found a rice-grain-sized crystal core in its brain, suggesting that zombies might evolve, and animals might also mutate. Deputy Secretary Zhang listened attentively, taking notes as he finished, then capped his pen. "Your intelligence is very timely. The information from above the day before yesterday stated that the red mist could promote human evolution, but you were the first to confirm the supernatural ability. I will report this truthfully. Regarding the issues of zombie and animal evolution, I expect the higher-ups will verify them. If they are true, they will adjust their strategic deployment. The current directives from above are clear—prioritize saving lives; the use of heavy equipment requires multi-level approval and is not yet permitted."

Deputy Secretary Zhang closed his notebook and said to the policeman next to him, "Take them to register, and while you're at it, see if anyone else has awakened supernatural abilities."

The policeman coughed. "Deputy Secretary Zhang, they're not here to report for duty."

Li Xuan continued, "Our elderly relatives are still on the mountain; we need to go back."

Deputy Secretary Zhang glanced at him, then at his fourth uncle, and nodded: "Alright. You should bring your families down the mountain as soon as possible. You just said it yourself, animals probably evolve too, and it won't be safe in the mountains anymore."

"Okay, thank you for your concern. We'll be coming to the county town every now and then. If you need any help, please feel free to contact us."

Deputy Secretary Zhang took a hand-cranked walkie-talkie from a cabinet under the table and placed it on the table. "This is for the surrounding settlements; you should take one back too. The channel is tuned; you can contact us directly through this if anything happens. Do you have electricity over there?"

"We built our own generator. There's a spring on the mountain, and we used a turbine to power it."

Deputy Secretary Zhang nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The two drove west of the city. They passed a commercial street where several zombies roamed at the end. Uncle Si parked the car on the side of the road. The zombies, five in total, were already heading this way. The leader was wearing a work vest; his gait was no longer shaky, his steps were steady as if he were walking on mud, and the muscles in his arms hadn't completely atrophied.

"That one isn't right," Uncle Si said.

"An evolving individual. Its speed and strength differ from ordinary zombies, and its skull may be harder."

Uncle Si opened the car door and grabbed his machete. Five zombies approached, and the leader, initially staggering, suddenly accelerated, turning a jog into a run. Uncle Si charged forward, and before it could reach him, he swung his machete upwards. The leader dodged—ordinary zombies wouldn't dodge, but this one did. The blade struck its shoulder, and the zombie swayed. Its right hand swept across, but Uncle Si stepped back half a step, flicked his wrist, and the blade slid down its arm, plunging into its eye socket.

Li Xuan had already taken care of the second one. The two of them, one in front and one behind, finished off all five zombies in less than a minute.

Fourth Uncle flicked the blood off his knife. "You mean there's something in its brain?"

Li Xuan crouched down and used the tip of his axe to pry open the back of the leader zombie's head. The bones were harder than those of ordinary zombies; it took two prying attempts to open it. Embedded above the brainstem was a small, translucent particle, barely larger than a grain of rice, which crumbled easily when squeezed. "It hasn't fully developed yet. In a month, this thing will become a real crystal core."

The two got into the car and continued driving westward. The shop Uncle Si had mentioned was in an alley, with a small storefront and a closed roller shutter. Uncle Si pried open the door, passed through the hardware storefront, and pushed open a back iron door. The storeroom was piled with more than a dozen wooden crates. Uncle Si pried open the innermost long wooden crate, which contained six Tang swords, neatly wrapped in oiled paper. The two crates next to it contained three three-section spears, several short knives, and two swords. The spear shafts were made of alloy tubing with threaded joints at both ends, which tightened perfectly after being screwed on.

Li Xuan tore open a package of Tang swords and weighed them in his hand. "This one's handy."

The two took all the Tang swords, and also picked out two short swords, a sword, and a three-section spear. Li Xuan took two more Tang swords.

After leaving the warehouse, the two wandered around the county town again, replenishing their supplies at a traditional Chinese medicine shop, and finding some high-calorie foods in some less damaged stores. They also picked up some easily preserved high-protein foods like milk powder and protein powder. At the building materials market, they selected some aluminum alloy and stainless steel materials, which Uncle Si said they would take back for processing. Finally, they went to a seed shop to find some seeds and loaded them into the car, as their mother had instructed.

Returning home in the evening, Li Xuan sorted and put away the supplies. His fourth uncle re-sharpened the Tang sword and short sword he had brought back; the blades, enhanced by his supernatural abilities, gleamed with a chilling light. The spear was assembled and leaned against the crossbeam of the training platform.

With a suitable weapon in hand, the next stage of training focused on honing his skills. Every afternoon, he dedicated an hour to spear practice. The three-section spear, once assembled, was just over two meters long, with its center of gravity slightly forward of the middle section of the shaft, ideal for thrusting. He began practicing with the four-section spear, holding the shaft horizontally with the tip pointing towards a fist-sized circle in front. Power was transmitted from the soles of his feet, through his waist and hips, to his arms, and then through his wrists to control the direction of the spear tip. The spear tip must not tremble; any tremor indicated unnecessary movement in the arm during power generation.

On the first day of practice, the spear tip trembled violently. He slowed down and adjusted it little by little, starting from his waist and hips—if his waist turned too fast, the spear tip veered to the right; if his shoulders retracted too slowly, it veered to the left; and if he used too much force with his wrist, it wobbled up and down. After more than a hundred thrusts, the spear tip could finally stop for half a second within the circle. After practicing for more than ten days, the spear tip barely trembled when thrusting out, like a silver thread, with no extra wobbling from the starting position to hitting the target.

During breaks from shooting practice, he used the intermediate-frequency therapy device, this time with electrode pads attached to his arms and wrists. Shooting demands much higher wrist control than punching; the wrist bears the final link in the entire force transmission chain, requiring stability, accuracy, and the ability to fine-tune the direction of the spear tip at any time. He repeatedly stimulated the wrist flexor and extensor muscles with the lowest current setting, allowing the wrist muscles to find the most precise control point between relaxation and contraction.

After he started practicing with the spear, the distance from which he could generate power in his inch punch decreased from two inches to one and a half inches. The spear technique forced him to transmit power more cleanly, eliminating every unnecessary sway. Ultimately, Chinese martial arts evolved from the battlefield; the methods of fist and foot training are derived from weapons. Only by practicing with weapons can one truly grasp the root of power generation. Besides practicing with the spear on the platform, every few days he would take his already sharpened Tang sword to find lone zombies to practice on, putting the transmission chain of integrated power into real combat.

The father came to practice as usual. A few days later, one evening, standing by the platform, he suddenly said, "That machine doesn't seem to work well for me anymore. Before, level three was enough, but now even level five doesn't feel like anything."

Li Xuan attached the electrode pads to his father's calf and adjusted it to level six, but the contraction was still minimal; only when he adjusted it to level eight did his father's leg tremble noticeably. He turned the machine off, turned it back on, adjusted it to a low setting, and had his father directly pinch the two electrodes at the output end.

The father pinched the electrode, and the current surged into his fingertips. Unlike before—before, when the current entered, the muscle twitched a few times and then dissipated. This time, the current didn't dissipate; it stayed in the muscles of his forearm.

"How does it feel?"

"Numbness. Not a stinging pain, but heat." The father, with his eyes closed, said, "The heat hasn't dissipated; it's still inside." Nearly a minute later, he opened his eyes. "Still inside. It hasn't escaped."

"Try to see if you can control it. Imagine it moving up your arm." Li Xuan tried to guide his father to feel it.

The father tried several times, but the current remained stuck. He shook his hand, gripped the electrodes again, and stopped trying to focus on it, concentrating instead on feeling the location of the heat flow. After a while, the heat flow suddenly surged forward a little, and the muscles in his forearm twitched slightly.

"It moved. I stared at it for a while, and it moved on its own."

"That's because you're in control. It's like that at the beginning; the harder you try to control it, the less effective it becomes. Relax, first feel where it is, then try to push it a little." The father also sighed, "After repairing electrical appliances for more than ten years, I've become an appliance myself."

For the next few days, his father came every evening and sat for almost half an hour, holding the electrodes. By the fifth day, he had guided the current to the desired location; although intermittent, the direction was correct. A few more days passed, and the control became noticeably more stable. Around the tenth day, he tried to direct the current from his shoulder to his arm and threw a punch, which was faster than usual.

"I can hit it. It's just too fast and my muscles are sore."

"That's normal. The intensity of muscle contraction due to electrical stimulation is greater than that of active force, so be careful not to overdo it during training."

After some time, the output of the intermediate frequency therapy device couldn't keep up, so he moved the machine aside and started directly touching the generator's output terminal. Li Xuan led wires from the terminal block and added a voltage regulator and a current-limiting resistor. Every evening, his father would squat beside the generator, one hand on the wire, his eyes closed, feeling the current flowing in. The input was several times greater, and his punching speed increased by half a beat.

His mother and cousin still showed no signs of awakening their abilities. He'd just let things take their course; his goal in increasing his strength was to protect his family, and he didn't need his mother and cousin to awaken their powers.

His initial internal strength has been formed, but it still needs consolidation. Once there are no more leaks in the transmission chain, he can begin to experiment with internal strength—compressing contact time and unleashing penetrating power at point-blank range. That day is not far off.

Fourth Uncle started later than him, but he had a lot of brute force. He tried out a spear, assembled it, swung it a couple of times, and said, "This thing is too floaty, not as useful as a sword," before putting it back. He picked out a Tang sword and used his supernatural ability to modify the blade—widening it by two fingers and nearly doubling the thickness of the back. He said, "This sword is mine from now on."

"Yours is too light. I still prefer this kind, a clean, decisive cut."

Li Xuan thought for a moment, then decided that a sword might be more suitable for his fourth uncle, and said, "You can practice with a sword. If you master swordsmanship, you can kill just as well."

That evening, my fourth uncle practiced for an hour, slashing, sheathing his knife, and slashing again. His movements were not fancy, but every slash was filled with a fierce force.