Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Xu Xiaoyan also noticed this.

She straightened up, gazing at the deep mountain shadows. Her tense nerves finally relaxed slightly, and she let out a long sigh of relief. "Phew... I can finally see the mountains."

Her voice still trembled from running, "The whole way was flat plains, there wasn't even a place to hide, I was on tenterhooks for a long time."

As she spoke, she turned to the other two and suggested, "Brother Xie, Wang Xiao, how about... we simply climb up that mountain ahead and find a secluded place to sleep?"

"The view is better on the mountain, and it's easier to hide there. It's safer than staying on the main road. Should we wait until dawn to continue our journey?"

This suggestion was immediately met with strong approval from Wang Xiao.

He nodded eagerly, "Yes, yes, yes! Let's go up the mountain! At least we can get a good night's sleep up there. Who knows what kind of trouble we might get caught up in on the roadside!"

He was truly shocked by the robbery that had just occurred on the road.

Xie Yingtang surveyed the mountain ahead, then looked back at the path they had come from. Confirming that it was safe for the time being, he nodded and said, "Okay, let's go up the mountain and find a sheltered spot where we can observe the road conditions."

Having reached an agreement, the three dared not linger any longer. Despite being extremely exhausted, they mustered their strength and, by the faint moonlight, began their ascent up the hillside.

The gravel and dry grass rustled under their feet, and they thought they had found a relatively secluded spot.

But when they reached a relatively flat, gentle slope halfway up the mountain, the sight before them stunned them.

On the hillside that was originally thought to be empty, there were already at least twenty or thirty people sitting or lying in twos and threes.

In the darkness, their faces were not clearly visible; only huddled shadows could be seen.

Some people seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, emitting soft snores.

Many others, like them, had just arrived and were warily eyeing the new faces.

"Good heavens..." Wang Xiao couldn't help but mutter under his breath, his tone full of helplessness, "So everyone thought of the same thing."

Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Yingtang exchanged a glance, both seeing the same emotion in each other's eyes.

The carefully chosen "safe spot" has become a temporary survivor gathering place, which is indeed somewhat disheartening.

"Never mind," Xie Yingtang said first. "There are advantages to having more people. At least we can give each other courage. Let's just make do here for the night."

At this point, it's no longer realistic to look for a completely deserted and absolutely secluded place.

Their physical strength was almost exhausted, and the need for secrecy had given way to the most basic safety needs and the necessity of rest.

Without further hesitation, the three found a relatively remote spot near several large rocks, where they could observe most of the crowd and the road below.

They put down their heavy backpacks and supplies, not caring whether the ground was clean or uncomfortable, and almost immediately collapsed onto the ground.

Extreme exhaustion overwhelmed them like a tidal wave; being able to sit down at this moment was already a great blessing.

Even in this large and well-organized temporary camp, Xie Yingtang did not let his guard down at all.

He forced his heavy eyelids open and looked at Wang Xiao and Xu Xiaoyan. His voice was hoarse but still clear: "We still have to take turns on guard duty tonight."

He quickly assigned, "Wang Xiaoshou is in the first shift. Pay close attention to the movements at the intersection at the foot of the mountain and in our area."

"I'll be on the second shift, Xiaoyan on the third. If anything seems amiss, wake everyone up immediately."

"Understood." Wang Xiao rubbed his face vigorously, trying to shake off the sleepiness. He took out the short knife from his waist and placed it beside him. He adjusted his posture and began to perform his duties.

Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Yingtang said no more, each finding a relatively comfortable position, wrapping their coats tighter, and almost instantly being dragged into a light sleep by a strong drowsiness.

On the hillside, dozens of unfamiliar survivors each occupied a small area. No one spoke; only the night wind howled through the forest and the suppressed breathing rose and fell.

Exhaustion made her sleep soundly, but an irresistible force was shaking her shoulders.

"Ugh..." she mumbled incoherently, her eyelids feeling as heavy as lead, but her long-standing alertness forced her to open her eyes immediately.

My vision was initially blurred, but then it focused in the faint moonlight, revealing Xie Yingtang's extremely solemn face, which was very close to me.

She was momentarily dazed, still not completely awake, and just stared at him blankly.

"Wake up, something's wrong. There's a loud argument coming from the other side of the road, and it's getting closer."

He paused, then concluded:

"It's highly likely that the group from the cornfield behind us, or the chaotic crowd that got caught up with us, have come up here. We can't stay here any longer; we need to find a more secluded place immediately."

She jolted awake, fully waking up, and could even clearly hear her own heartbeat suddenly accelerating.

Without any hesitation, she nodded vigorously.

Wang Xiao had already been woken up by Xie Yingtang. Although he was still very sleepy, his eyes were full of vigilance.

The three of them moved almost simultaneously, quickly grabbing their packs and climbing without hesitation into the steeper depths of the mountains.

This climb was more difficult than the previous one.

The night was deep, the mountain path was rugged, and underfoot were loose gravel and tangled tree roots.

They ignored their trouser legs, torn by thorns, and only wanted to get as far away as possible from the area below that was about to be swallowed by chaos.

After climbing for about half an hour, the three of them stopped behind a protruding rock platform.

The terrain here is higher and the vegetation is denser, which can barely conceal one's figure.

They looked back down and saw that the gentle slope halfway up the mountain was now surrounded by a dark mass of people.

The flickering torchlight cast distorted shadows onto the hillside in the darkness.

From a distance, one could hear loud arguing and pushing.

A group of people were arguing incessantly, whether over territory, supplies they had previously looted, or simply out of panic and suspicion.

Xu Xiaoyan withdrew her gaze, raised her hand to look at her watch, and the luminous hands indicated that it was almost time for her turn to work.

She turned to the other two. Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao both looked exhausted from overexertion, especially Wang Xiao, whose eyelids were drooping.

"Brother Xie, Wang Xiao," Xu Xiaoyan said, "it's almost my turn for night duty."

"You all take this time to rest. I'll keep an eye on things down there, and I'll wake you up immediately if anything happens."

Xie Yingtang nodded, without saying anything more, and simply whispered, "Be careful." He then lay down with Wang Xiao and fell asleep almost instantly.

After confirming that Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao had fallen into a deep sleep with steady breathing,

Xu Xiaoyan carefully moved her body and chose a spot behind a bush.

Here, one can use the branches and leaves to hide oneself, and also clearly look down through the gaps at the chaotic gentle slope and winding mountain road below.