Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

A collective gasp erupted from the crowd.

A middle-aged man stared wide-eyed, muttering, "Over 800 points... how much stuff can that get you..."

A young man nearby, no longer able to express his feelings, turned and ran outside, his shoes scraping against the ground with a screeching sound.

Once someone takes the lead, the rest can no longer stand firm.

"Let's go! Up the mountain!"

"What are you waiting for? Go find it!"

"It's not completely dark yet, there's still time!"

In an instant, exclamations, shouts, and footsteps filled the air. Seven or eight people rushed out of the trading point, some without even taking their tools, running up the mountain empty-handed, shouting back to their companions to hurry up.

Several individual customers who were originally in line couldn't sit still any longer. They exchanged glances, grabbed their belongings, and followed them out.

In less than half a minute, the once bustling hall was almost empty, with only a few staff members and an old man still hesitating in the corner remaining.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue exchanged a glance, tacitly understanding the mix of relief and urgency in each other's eyes.

Money really can corrupt people's hearts. Today's incident is like throwing a bundle of firewood into a fire in front of everyone. Tomorrow, not even a single pine tree on this mountain will be spared.

Their most important task now is not to watch the spectacle, but to quickly find a way to leave before everyone has recovered from the shock.

Xu Xiaoyan quickly stuffed ten compressed biscuits into the bottom compartment of her backpack and zipped it up tightly.

Lan Yue did the same, and even folded up the makeshift cloth bag made from the sleeve and stuffed it into her pocket.

The two carefully put away the receipts, lowered their heads, covered their faces with their backpacks, and quietly slipped out through the side door.

Once outside, the two didn't take the main road, but instead turned around and crouched down to slip into a small path next to the trading point.

The path led to another hilltop, narrower and more secluded than the one we had taken, with bushes almost knee-high, and clearly rarely used.

The two walked quickly along the barely discernible path, one in front of the other.

Blue Moon walked ahead, pushing aside a tree branch lying across their path, and said breathlessly in a low voice, "We need to hurry, and we mustn't let anyone see which direction we're going."

Xu Xiaoyan followed behind, taking large, hurried steps. The compressed biscuits in her backpack swayed gently with each step, making a dull clattering sound.

She glanced back; the lights at the trading post were mostly obscured by bushes, turning into a blurry halo.

In the distance, the sounds of clamor and shouts drifted on the evening breeze, carrying a restlessness that followed the fervor of the moment.

She withdrew her gaze, turned her head, and quickened her pace to catch up with Lan Yue.

As dusk deepened, the two figures quickly disappeared into the woods on another hilltop.

The news spread like wildfire from the trading point to various outposts, and then from the outposts to the ears of the team members who were still logging in the mountains.

In less than an hour, everyone knew the same number: one pound of pine resin could be exchanged for one pound of compressed biscuits.

Those two women, who appeared out of nowhere, carried nearly 200 pounds up the mountain and exchanged them for nearly 1,600 points.

What is the concept of these points? A lumberjack can work himself to the bone all day and at most earn four work points.

One day of work by someone else is equivalent to more than a year's work for you. Nobody can lie down comfortably anymore.

A new long queue formed at the entrance of the trading point, even more impressive than the one during the day.

This time, instead of logging tools, we're replacing them with flashlights, preferably headband-style, but handheld ones will do if necessary.

Batteries were in high demand, and the stock at the counter was completely sold out. Later customers even snatched the last pack of batteries, leaving the staff to shrug and say, "We'll restock tomorrow, we'll restock tomorrow."

The darkness couldn't stop the people, their eyes burning with the desire for points, and the entire camp sprang into action.

Some people went into the woods wearing slippers, while others simply rolled up a blanket and went up the mountain, not coming back that night, intending to spend the night searching for someone on the mountain.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue took a long detour, turning around from the back of another mountain, and saw a spectacular sight in the distance: all six mountains were illuminated by flashlights.

Various artificial lights are scattered across every corner of the mountainside, ridge, and valley, with beams of light constantly sweeping through the forest.

Occasionally, shouts could be heard from afar: "There are pine trees over there!" "It's hanging on that one, I can't reach it!" "Does anyone have a knife? Can I borrow it?"

The sounds of breaking branches, cursing after people fall, and excited screams that were hard to make out echoed through the night-shrouded mountains and forests.

Xu Xiaoyan stood on a large rock halfway up the mountain, gazing at the "light show" that covered the entire mountainside, and couldn't help but sigh.

Her tone was so complex that even she couldn't tell whether it was helplessness or amusement: "We two are really in a mess."

Lan Yue stood next to her, bending over and massaging her sore legs.

Hearing this, she chuckled, her eyes crinkling, looking much more relaxed than during the day. "Of course!"

She straightened up, glanced at the brightly lit hills in the distance, then turned back and asked in a low voice, "By the way, should we go straight back, or look for other hills?"

Xu Xiaoyan had actually been pondering this question in her mind all the way.

She didn't rush to answer; her gaze passed over the frenzied lights and landed on several unlit hilltops in the distance.

After a brief silence, Xu Xiaoyan looked away and uttered two words crisply, "Let's go, let's continue."

Lan Yue's eyes lit up, waiting for her to continue.

"Let's go check out the nearby mountains again, but we can't let anyone recognize us," Xu Xiaoyan said in a low voice. "We were too conspicuous just now. Should we wear masks and change our clothes?"

Lan Yue understood immediately and nodded.

The two exchanged a glance and tacitly slipped behind a denser patch of bushes by the roadside.

The area is low-lying and surrounded by tall trees, making it almost impossible to see anything inside from the outside.

The beams of light that occasionally swept over from afar only passed overhead and did not reach this corner.

Xu Xiaoyan first took off her coat, which was covered in rosin and mud stains, and turned it inside out. The coat was reversible, with the inner layer being dark gray, which was much more understated than the outer light blue side.

As she dressed, she listened intently to the sounds around her, her eyes occasionally glancing through the gaps in the bushes.

Blue Moon squatted on the other side, facing the opposite direction, keeping an eye on the other side of the path for her.

The two took turns standing guard and keeping watch.

After changing, Lan Yue crumpled up her clothes and stuffed them into the bottom of her backpack. She then took out a dark-colored square scarf from the bag, folded it into a triangle, and covered her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.

Xu Xiaoyan wasn't idle either. She took out a dark-colored baseball cap from the side pocket of her backpack, put it on her head, and pulled the brim down low.

The two exchanged a glance, and even if someone walked by, they would never recognize them as the same two people from that afternoon unless they got closer to examine them closely.

"Let's go!" Xu Xiaoyan lowered the brim of her hat and emerged from behind the bushes first. She walked quickly along the pathless slope at the foot of the mountain towards the distant forest.

Blue Moon followed closely behind.