Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Xu Xiaoyan deftly put the tent, sleeping bag, watch, and other items back into her spatial storage, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked back to the small village from the previous night, clutching her somewhat dull watermelon knife.

She only glanced at it last night, but now she's ready to investigate thoroughly.

She took out a flashlight from her spatial storage and carefully stepped over a collapsed wooden door, the rubble under her feet making a soft, crunching sound.

In the kitchen, the scattered rice grains had turned black and moldy. The refrigerator door was wide open, and the rotten food inside was crawling with maggots. She frowned and quickly retreated.

In another room, furniture was overturned and clothes were scattered all over the floor, all covered in dirt and dried blood.

She reached out and flipped through it, then quickly put it down. It was too dirty. She wanted to slap her past self from a minute ago. Her hands were so shameless, daring to touch anything.

Just as she was about to leave, a corner of the backyard caught her attention. Half of the earthen wall had collapsed, crushing the fence and unexpectedly revealing three hanging loofahs.

She strode forward, carefully scanning the area with her flashlight beam.

These loofahs are completely old; their outer skin is dry and yellowish-brown, and feels rough and hard to the touch.

Gently peel back the skin of a loofah with the tip of a knife. Inside, the densely packed seeds are jet black and shiny, gleaming with a healthy sheen under the light.

"Were these originally intended for breeding...?" she murmured to herself.

It's surprising to think that loofah sponges can not only be used to wash dishes, but also to make bath tools and even filter sewage.

Without hesitation, she picked all three loofahs. Before storing them in her spatial storage, she carefully shook out the seeds and put them in a small plastic bag.

After carefully examining the last half of the dilapidated outbuilding, Xu Xiaoyan sighed softly. Apart from those three old loofahs, it seemed that there was nothing else of value in this desolate village.

She no longer lingered, and treading the path she had trodden on, she prepared to leave.

The sky was a little brighter than before, and the outlines of the surrounding scenery became clearer.

Just as she was about to step out of the village, her peripheral vision inadvertently swept over the knee-high weeds on both sides of the path.

His steps suddenly stopped.

I passed through this area last night, but the beam of my flashlight had a limited range, and all I could see was a chaotic mess.

In the hazy morning light, those uniquely shaped leaves growing among ordinary weeds immediately caught her eye—they were taro.

They weren't hidden very deep, scattered in clumps and clusters among the wild grass.

The iconic shield-shaped leaves, with smooth edges and veins radiating outwards from the center, appear quite vibrant thanks to the morning dew.

It stands in stark contrast to the surrounding fuzzy, serrated common wild grasses.

Many of the leaves are as large as palm fans, indicating that they have been growing here for quite some time, but have been temporarily "submerged" by the rampant weeds.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart beat slightly faster; this was a good thing!

Taro can be used as a staple food or a vegetable. It is rich in starch, which is filling and satisfying. Moreover, judging from its appearance, the yield of the tubers underneath is definitely not small.

She cursed herself for being so blind last night, almost missing out on this wonderful thing that was right in front of her.

She immediately squatted down, placed the watermelon knife on a clean stone within easy reach, and reached out to part the tangled grass to reveal the damp soil underneath.

She chose the weakest one, grasped the petiole near the root with both hands, took a deep breath, and carefully pulled it up by the roots with all her might.

As the soil fell in a soft rustling sound, clusters of taro roots of varying sizes, covered in wet mud, were brought out.

The largest female taro is as big as two fists, surrounded by several round little taro, with dense roots, making it look very plump.

"Not bad," she muttered to herself, a slight upward curve to her lips.

Shake off the excess soil, cut off the stems with a knife, and then put the taro clump into the space.

While handling an exceptionally large taro plant, the edge of a broad leaf grazed the back of her hand, immediately causing a slight tingling sensation on her skin.

Xu Xiaoyan paused, glanced at it, and suddenly remembered that the sap from the taro stems and leaves might cause discomfort if it came into direct contact with the skin.

She was glad she was wearing long sleeves, with only her wrists and hands exposed. Thinking of this, she quickly took out gloves from her storage space and put them on, secretly regretting that she hadn't thought of this. It was a real blunder.

As time passed and the sky grew brighter, fresh pits and scattered broken roots and leaves remained on the open ground behind her.

The shield-shaped green leaves on both sides of the path are also decreasing at a visible rate.

After she stored the last clump of taro in her spatial storage, she straightened her slightly sore back and let out a long sigh of relief.

Looking at the "cleaned" land in front of me, a sense of fulfillment dispelled my physical fatigue. I roughly estimated that the harvest of wild taro from this plot of land would probably be no less than two hundred pounds.

She didn't linger there. She quickly wiped the watermelon knife clean, put it back in her backpack, turned around, and started walking. Her figure soon disappeared into the brightening morning light and the winding mountain road.

When Xu Xiaoyan finally walked back to that familiar yet perplexing intersection, dragging her slightly tired steps, she looked up at her watch and saw that the hour hand was pointing to three in the afternoon.

She couldn't help but sigh deeply, a feeling of indescribable powerlessness welling up inside her.

After hiking for so long, expending extra physical strength and time, I ended up back at this crossroads again.

Xu Xiaoyan looked up and looked around, but there was no one on the road as far as she could see.

In stark contrast to this silence are the abandoned vehicles along the way.

Some were overturned on their side by the roadside, with shattered windows revealing the ransacked interiors.

Some tires were deeply embedded in the muddy fields by the roadside, half-hidden by the overgrown weeds.

The image of Commander Chen's paper map involuntarily surfaced in her mind, and a strong sense of regret clung tightly to her heart like vines.

"I'm so stupid..." she muttered to herself, a bitter smile curving her lips.

How big is that map?

How precise can a scale be?

How could a country road be clearly marked and drawn as a solid line on such a rough paper map?

That must be a "main road" that is considered passable!

"Why didn't I think of that back then?" she said, slapping her forehead in frustration.

If I had been calmer and had clearer logic when choosing the fork in the road, and had directly chosen the wider road marked on the map, would things have been different?

"Now it's all over..." Because she chose that "shortcut," the time difference between the round trip and the original plan to take the main road was widened to a full four days!

A four-day time difference might be just a brief delay in peacetime, but in the current state of disorder, it is almost an insurmountable chasm.

There's no hope left; all wishful thinking has been crushed by reality.