The next morning, Hawler knocked on Xu An's door. Xu An vaguely responded.
"What's up?"
"Hurry and get ready, we leave in two hours."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu An was completely awake. She got out of bed, put on her clothes, and packed her things.
This trip involved many people and eyes, and it was hard to guarantee that she wouldn't be targeted by those with ill intentions. Therefore, Xu An had already packed some essentials in her backpack.
First, water was definitely essential, but Xu An didn't bring too much. One reason was that it was too heavy, and another was that being discovered might cause resentment. Then came food. Xu An brought five compressed biscuits.
Finally, there were weapons, which were the most important. She took the dagger out of her space, then took out the long saber and hung it at her waist, along with the handgun she had captured earlier.
After equipping herself with all these weapons, she put the laser gun back into her space. This gun far exceeded the current technological understanding of people, and she couldn't explain its origin.
Xu An didn't want to test human nature, so from the very beginning, she wanted to eliminate any opportunity to make choices for herself.
By the time she had packed all her items and opened the door to come out, she found that Hawler was still waiting at the door.
"You've been waiting here for me?"
"No, I just arrived. Ana and the others have already packed and gone to the city gate. I was afraid you wouldn't see anyone when you came out, so I came to meet you." Hawler turned his head, scratching his hair, avoiding Xu An's gaze.
Xu An naturally didn't expose his "clumsy" little lie.
"Then let's go."
Hawler saw the long saber at Xu An's waist, "Don't you have any firearms? The snakes and rats here are very cunning. You can't kill them with a long saber."
"Just a handgun."
Hawler walked behind Xu An and went forward, "Then you'll have to follow behind us. The handgun's lethality is too small. We all use shotguns."
"But shotguns have such a short range. Don't you have to fight up close?"
Hawler opened his mouth and smiled, revealing his gums, looking a bit foolish. "It's okay, I'm very strong, and we coordinate well with each other!"
Xu An: "......" This fool was probably being used as bait and was still happily fooling himself...
Looking at Hawler's open and honest expression, she started to wonder how he survived.
Before long, Xu An and the others caught up with the troops ahead. After leaving the inner city, Xu An saw the group of people in ragged clothes lying on straw mats in all sorts of postures.
Her already limited sympathy became even colder after she learned what kind of people they were.
As they neared the city gate, Xu An noticed that Hawler was carrying nothing but two hunting rifles, so she asked curiously, "How long are we going for? Aren't you bringing any food?"
"The shortest is three days, and it's uncertain for longer."
Hearing this answer, Xu An became more suspicious. "Going for that long? Even if you don't bring food, you don't even bring water?"
Xu An looked towards the city gate not far away, "Did someone in front get it for you?"
Hawler shook his head, "No, everyone is responsible for their own food." He then took out half a piece of hard, dry steamed bun from his clothes. "I'll just eat this. There are cacti and saxaul trees in the desert. At the roots of those plants, you can dig for water. If all else fails, you can smash open a cactus, and the juice inside can also replenish water."
What Hawler said were things that she, a child who grew up in the city, had never experienced. In her previous life, she had been so hungry that she had even gnawed on dirt. It was evident that humans, when pushed to their limits, would always unleash their infinite potential.
Xu An didn't ask any more questions. Obviously, Hawler had already adapted to this kind of life before she arrived, and she had no right to criticize someone else's life.
As they spoke, Xu An and Hawler walked to the city gate. This time, the team was much larger than when Xu An first met Hawler.
Besides Ana, whom Xu An already knew, there was also Avu, a companion who was with Hawler last time, and the man who opened the door for Xu An last time. Hawler said that this man was usually called "Lao Liu" by everyone, and no one knew what his real name was.
Xu An remembered that she had endured it several times before suppressing the urge to complain.
But she really wanted to question Hawler, how could they let such a person of unknown origin in, and entrust them with the important duty of guarding the gate.
Xu An sometimes really couldn't understand if Hawler was wise and played foolish, or if he was genuinely foolish...
Counting Xu An and Hawler, there were a total of five people: three men and two women.
Ana saw Xu An, who was late, and said sarcastically, "Tsk, are you a young lady that we have to wait for you to go hunting?"
"Did I ask you to wait for me?"
"You..."
Seeing that the two were about to clash, or rather, Ana was unilaterally trying to pick a fight with Xu An, but Xu An always managed to calmly infuriate Ana to the point of jumping, which finally ended with Hawler mediating.
"Ana, stop making trouble, we're about to leave." Hawler said to Ana.
Ana glanced at Hawler, then gave Xu An a hateful look, let out a loud "hmph," and followed behind Avu as they walked out.
Hawler looked at Ana, who turned and left, and shook his head helplessly. Then he said to Xu An, "Don't take it to heart with Ana, she's still young and doesn't understand things."
Although his tone was scolding Ana, the pampering was evident.
Xu An smiled at the corner of her mouth, with a hint of teasing, "Do you like her?"
She didn't expect herself to be so gossipy. Well, this must have been inherited from her mother!
"No! I consider Ana my sister! Don't talk nonsense!"
"If you like her, go for it... Although Ana is unreasonable, she is beautiful..."
"Xu An!!!"
Xu An clicked her tongue twice and quickly turned away, leaving Hawler standing there with a flushed face.
She had stayed in Sand City for a few days and had a general understanding of these people. Although Ana sometimes pretended to be pitiful and deceived people in the outer city, she had never done anything wicked. She was just a bit prone to nagging.
She hadn't taken Ana's "nagging" to heart from the beginning. After all, those who made her feel threatened were almost all dead.
After all, no one is perfect. Compared to backstabbing, Xu An felt that this kind of open and honest "badness" was much more likable.