Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Before leaving, they did a final check of their hiding place to make sure the camouflage was intact and no obvious traces were left.

"Let's go," Xie Yingtang took a deep breath and took the first step. The surroundings were silent, with only the soft rustling of their footsteps on the earth and stones.

After walking for about an hour, the initial excitement was gradually replaced by physical fatigue and the tedium of the journey.

Wang Xiao started humming softly, complaining about his sore legs, while also looking forward to what nice things he could exchange at the market.

Xie Yingtang mostly listened in silence, occasionally replying, "Let's get here safely first, then we'll see what to change."

After walking along the main road for another three hours, it was already broad daylight. Just when the three thought they would soon arrive at the market smoothly,

Suddenly, a noisy and chaotic sound came from the bend in the road ahead.

Immediately afterwards, a large group of people rushed toward them in a panic, like a flood breaking through a dam.

The group included men, women, and children, all of them hurrying along, their faces filled with fear.

Some people even looked back as they ran, shouting at the top of their lungs to those behind them and the passersby, "Run! Run! So many bees! Bees everywhere!"

Upon hearing the word "bee," Xu Xiaoyan almost reflexively hissed, "Quick! Cover all exposed parts of your body! Neck, wrists, face!"

Before she could finish speaking, she had already quickly put down her backpack.

Using the backpack as cover, with a thought, he took out a thick gray scarf and three pairs of work gloves that looked somewhat dirty and obviously used from his spatial storage.

To avoid arousing suspicion, she deliberately chose the gloves she had worn before while working, which were covered in mud.

She quickly put on one of the gloves herself.

Then, he stuffed two other pairs of equally dirty gloves into the hands of Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao, who were frantically rummaging through their backpacks for their coats:

"Put it on quickly! Cover your head with your clothes!"

Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao were worried about their hands being unprotected after covering their heads with thin coats when they saw the gloves Xu Xiaoyan handed them, and gratitude immediately flashed in their eyes.

At this moment, she didn't care about appearance or hygiene. Xu Xiaoyan wrapped her head, face, and neck tightly with the thick scarf, leaving only her eyes exposed.

Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao covered their heads with their coats, zipped them up, and turned up their collars, and then used gloves to cover their entire bodies as much as possible.

They dared not run towards the swarm of bees, nor could they be sure whether the wilderness to their side was safe.

Xie Yingtang pointed to a slightly low-lying area by the roadside, with a few clumps of half-withered weeds beside it, and roared, "Let's go there!"

The three quickly huddled together in a shallow depression by the roadside, their bodies pressed tightly together. They then pulled the lotus root and the backpack containing the pumpkin over to shield themselves.

No sooner had all this been done than the chilling buzzing sound, like a deep rumble of thunder, began to grow louder and louder, quickly enveloping the area.

Immediately afterwards, a huge, moving "yellowish-brown cloud" appeared at the end of the road and spread over at an astonishing speed!

That is a swarm of bees consisting of tens of millions, or even more, of bees.

They fluttered wildly, the high-speed vibration of their wings creating a deafening roar, and the light dimmed instantly, as if dusk had arrived prematurely.

The swarm of bees swept past like a hurricane, seemingly without a specific target, flying blindly and wildly forward.

Even so, a few strayed from the flock and crashed into the three people huddled by the roadside like out-of-control bullets.

"Smack!" Many bees bumped into Xu Xiaoyan's arm, making a dull sound.

"Ugh!" Wang Xiao let out a suppressed groan, as if he had also been hit.

Xie Yingtang remained motionless, their heads bowed low, feeling the slight vibrations from the bees hitting their clothes and backpacks.

Hearing that close, teeth-grinding buzzing sound, my heart was in my throat, and time seemed to stretch out infinitely.

Every second felt like torture.

After an unknown amount of time, the terrifying buzzing sound gradually subsided, and the dark clouds overhead slowly moved away.

The light returned to its bright state, and only when the shadow of the last bee disappeared at the other end of the road did the three dare to cautiously raise their heads.

They looked at each other, their faces covered except for their eyes, looking disheveled and exhausted, and both felt a sense of relief, as if they had survived a disaster.

Wang Xiao let out a long sigh of relief, his voice still trembling slightly, "My goodness... this scene was terrifying..."

Once the three confirmed that the swarm of bees had completely disappeared, they reluctantly released their arms from their heads and slowly stood up.

They took off the scarves and coats that were covering their heads and faces and were covered with dust and grass clippings, removed their gloves, carefully patted them clean, and stuffed them back into their backpacks.

Xu Xiaoyan folded the thick scarf and, using her backpack as cover, put it back into her spatial storage. After doing this, they picked up the lotus roots from the ground again and continued walking along the main road.

Not far along, I saw people sitting or lying on both sides of the road, crowding together as they escaped from the swarm of bees.

Unlike the chaos of the previous frantic run, this moment was filled with the pain and despair of surviving a catastrophe.

Suppressed sobs and painful groans filled the air, and many people's exposed skin was covered with red and swollen bee sting marks.

Some people were silently applying saliva to the swollen bumps, trying to relieve the burning pain.

Some of the more severely affected individuals lay on the ground, breathing rapidly, their bodies swollen, emitting intermittent, weak cries for help, clearly experiencing a severe allergic reaction.

Xu Xiaoyan's gaze swept across the crowd and noticed an old woman sitting alone under a tree by the roadside.

She had a dark headscarf wrapped tightly around her head, so luckily there were no marks on her face or neck.

He just stared blankly ahead, his wrinkled hands unconsciously clutching the hem of his clothes.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart stirred. Holding the lotus root, she walked over, squatted down beside the old man, and lowered her voice, trying to make her tone as gentle as possible:

"Grandma, excuse me, just now... why were there so many bees?"

The old woman slowly raised her head, her cloudy eyes scrutinizing Xu Xiaoyan, then glancing at Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao who had followed her.

She didn't answer immediately, but instead raised her withered hand and made a gesture towards Xu Xiaoyan—pinching her index finger and thumb together and rubbing them gently.

Xu Xiaoyan looked at her in confusion, not understanding what was going on, but Xie Yingtang seemed to understand.

He rummaged through his backpack for a while, tore off a small piece of dry bread, and handed it to the old woman.

The old woman's eyes lit up slightly when she saw the pancakes.

He quickly took the small piece of dry food, examined it carefully, and then squeezed it with his fingers to make sure there was nothing wrong with it before carefully putting it into his pocket.