Doomsday Cognition Guide

As darkness fell, the car finally turned onto the mountain road.

Uncle Si remained silent the entire way, only rubbing his eyes occasionally. Since leaving the county town, he had only stopped once, standing by the roadside to smoke a cigarette before continuing. Li Xuan also remained silent, knowing that what Uncle Si needed now was not comfort, but time. The only sounds in the car were the engine and the whooshing of the wind through the shattered windows. The headlights illuminated the gravel road ahead, and Uncle Si slowed down, trying to use the lights as little as possible—they would attract unnecessary trouble—driving on by the last vestiges of daylight.

By the time I got home, it was completely dark. An old kerosene lamp was lit in the yard, its dim yellow light casting a shadow on the walnut tree and making the shadow flicker on the ground.

Uncle Si parked the car, walked around to the back, and opened the trunk. Inside lay a long, rectangular package wrapped in a bed sheet. Without asking for help, he bent down, lifted the package out, and carried it tightly into the main room. His cousin, Li Ying, ran out of the house, saw what Uncle Si was carrying, slowed her pace, stood at the doorway, tears welling up in her eyes. She covered her mouth, remaining silent.

Mother followed her out, glanced at the scene, said nothing, turned and went back inside to bring out two long benches, then laid a door panel on top. Fourth Uncle placed the bundle on the door panel and untied the bedsheet. Fourth Aunt's face was revealed, ashen, her eyes closed. My cousin finally burst into tears, and Mother put her arm around her shoulder, whispering something.

My father came out of the house and helped set up the mourning hall. He lit three incense sticks and put them in a bowl of rice, then took out a stack of yellow paper from the cupboard and placed it next to him.

Li Xuan didn't go inside. He moved things back and forth on the truck. He placed the clothes and photo frames he had brought back in the corner of the main room, waiting for his cousin to tidy them up herself. His mother came out to greet him, taking the food into the kitchen and putting the clothes and photo frames in the inner room.

My mother cooked dinner, reheating the porridge and steamed buns from breakfast and stir-frying a plate of cured meat. The family sat down around the table, and no one spoke. My cousin's eyes were red, and she held her bowl without looking up. My fourth uncle sat there, picking up his chopsticks and putting them down again.

"Tomorrow morning," Uncle Si began, his voice hoarse, "let's bury her. In this world, there's no need to follow any traditions anymore. Let her rest in peace. There are still many things to do afterward."

Father nodded. Mother placed a piece of food on her cousin's plate. Li Xuan ate her meal quietly, without saying a word.

After dinner, everyone started to rest. Everyone was tired after a long day.

Li Xuan didn't sleep. Today's events made him realize that he needed to intensify his training, focusing on improving his combat skills. In that memory, there were systematic methods for training in traditional Chinese martial arts, from subtle movements to scientific training that ensured invulnerability. He hadn't practiced before for two reasons: First, he was in prison for accidentally killing someone, and practicing martial arts there would make him a prime target. Second, he wasn't sure if the apocalypse would actually come; in peacetime, there was no need to practice such killing techniques, because martial arts were considered dangerous. He had even planned that if the apocalypse didn't happen, he could practice slowly after his release, and after a decade or so, he could impersonate a martial arts master and take on a few disciples to earn some money.

But there was no rush. He wanted to take advantage of these few days of dark energy transforming his body to improve his physical fitness. He went into the yard, took off his coat, and started doing push-ups. Fifty in a set, then squats, then pull-ups. His movements were simple, his rhythm steady, and each descent and pull-up was precise. By the third set, his muscles started to ache, but he didn't stop. He pushed himself to exhaustion, fell off the beam, squatted on the ground catching his breath for a few seconds, then stood up and started the next set.

He was consciously draining himself dry.

In that memory, it wasn't until the fifteenth year after the apocalypse, when his strength broke through to the seventh rank, that he realized he had already awakened his superpower. He had no ability to project, nor any physical enhancement; the only manifestation was that he absorbed energy faster than others, but everyone's energy and food absorption rate is different. Knowing he possessed superpowers in this life, he certainly couldn't let the opportunity to train pass him by.

Later research into superpowers revealed that the method for cultivating them was simple—train according to their manifestation. His method involved pushing himself to exhaustion, then eating, allowing his body to absorb nutrients more quickly under the dual stimulation of hunger and fatigue, while his superpower passively operated. This way, he both cultivated his superpower and enhanced his physical fitness, since physical fitness is the foundation of everything.

Today's workout was different from before. Before, it was just to ensure that his physical fitness didn't decline, but today he pushed himself to the absolute limit before preparing to go back to sleep. When he returned, the kerosene lamp had already gone out, and the main room was dark. His father's soft snoring came from the inner room.

Li Xuan lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. His condition during the day was very strange, or rather, his condition had been strange since the apocalypse, but he hadn't noticed it until now.

He had always believed that the rational analysis stemming from his 17-year-old apocalyptic memory was a set of survival rules. But the events of the day overturned this idea. During the battle with the zombies, everything seemed to be within his calculations; that feeling was definitely not just a fighting instinct brought about by memory. He had also calculated that he couldn't stray too far from his fourth uncle, and that his uncle had a shield that could protect him in case of danger. The key point was that he himself wasn't even aware that he had this thought; it was a subconscious judgment. What terrified him was that, in the instant danger approached, his subconscious had even planned how to deal with infection with the virus.

"To become a ghoul and retain memories before completely turning into a zombified being." He opened his eyes, staring at the roof beams in the darkness. He knew he had never had such a thought before. Neither now nor in that memory, because ghouls were meant to eat people.

He realized something: that state wasn't the rationality he thought he possessed, because rationality requires emotion, and that was a non-human rationality that calculated everything, including emotions—like the feeling of a god looking down on everything from a higher dimension. But this state was quite advantageous in combat. Today he thought he had found the feeling of fighting from his memories, but in retrospect, it probably wasn't. It was because his subconscious had already calculated the positions of all the zombies; if his body hadn't been unable to keep up, he could have wiped them all out by himself.

Suppress your fear. Some things will become clear later; thinking too much now won't help. Time to sleep; there's a lot to do tomorrow.

The next day, Li Xuan got up at the crack of dawn. He drove his electric tricycle down the mountain road to the village at the foot of the mountain to find coffins. The village was deserted; most of the dozen or so households were elderly, and almost all of them had perished this time. The rest had gone to the county town the day before. He knew there was a carpenter's family at the west end of the village, whose yard was always piled with finished coffins. When he arrived, the gate was unlocked, and three coffins were neatly stacked under the awning, not yet painted. Li Xuan picked out a sturdy one and loaded it onto the tricycle. He also rummaged through the prefabricated house and found a few shovels, a bundle of hemp rope, and a toolbox, which he loaded onto the tricycle and took back with him. He had sent the villagers to the county town; the remaining items were their payment.

In the courtyard, Uncle Si had already dug a pit next to the old cemetery, leaning against a cypress tree, offering a view of the sunrise over the opposite mountain. Li Xuan helped lower the coffin into the pit, and Uncle Si personally placed Aunt Si inside, closing the lid and filling it with soil shovel by shovel. Cousin knelt beside them, not crying out loud, tears streaming down her face. Mother supported her, while Father stood behind, holding a shovel, motionless.

The soil was filled in. Uncle Si planted a shovel in the grave, lit three incense sticks, and burned a stack of yellow paper.

"Let's go," he said.

During breakfast, Fourth Uncle spoke first. "We need to discuss the rest of the matter properly."

The family sat around the table. The mother brought out two more dishes than yesterday, but no one ate much.

Li Xuan put down his chopsticks: "The things we brought back yesterday are enough to last for a while. But we haven't finished cleaning up the cave yet, so we'll continue moving things today. Mom and Yingying are at home, so we'll move the rest of the things into the cave. We'll talk about it when it's habitable." His mother nodded.

"My dad, my fourth uncle, and I went down to the village at the foot of the mountain to see if there was anything we could use."

Uncle Si took a sip of porridge and looked up: "There's a construction site to the east of the fork in the road not far away, left over from tourism development a couple of years ago. There are some building materials there, and a small excavator. I used to drive one at construction sites, so I can drive it back. With the excavator, digging foundations and blocking culverts will be much easier."

"Then let's go take a look," Li Xuan said.

The father put down his bowl: "Okay then. I'll go to the village first and search every house again. You two go to the construction site."

Li Xuan nodded, then added, "Pay attention to your bodies these next few days. See if there are any changes, like increased strength or faster wound healing. I've noticed it myself these past couple of days; my strength and speed have increased somewhat, probably due to the blood mist." He spoke casually, as if chatting. His father nodded without saying anything. His fourth uncle also nodded. His mother responded with a sound of agreement, and his cousin hummed in agreement, but neither seemed to pay much attention.

Li Xuan didn't mention it again. In that memory, only one-tenth of the survivors were able to awaken their superpowers. The rest either didn't meet the physical requirements or lacked the necessary understanding—just like him in the dream memory, who clearly had the prerequisite for awakening his superpower, but because he didn't realize it, he remained stuck and never officially awakened it.

In that memory, when he returned, his mother had already passed away, his father was seriously injured and did not survive, and he never saw his fourth uncle's family again, so he didn't know whether they had awakened supernatural abilities. But those who survived the blood moon without turning into zombies actually all had seeds within them, just to varying degrees.

The father stood up and walked out. "Alright, get back to work."

Mother and cousin stayed home to continue moving things into the cave. Father drove his pickup truck to search for supplies in the village. Li Xuan and his fourth uncle drove to the construction site.

Heading east from the fork in the road, the path narrowed, and the overgrown weeds on both sides almost reached the middle of the road. The construction site wasn't large; several prefabricated houses were already leaning precariously, and a small tracked excavator was parked next to the workers' shed, covered in a layer of dust. Several zombies lay motionless on the open ground; Li Xuan glanced at them and then ignored them.

Uncle Si climbed onto the excavator, checked the fuel system and battery, then siphoned some gasoline from the pickup truck's fuel tank and added it in. He pulled the rope a few times, and the engine roared to life, emitting a plume of black smoke from the exhaust pipe before slowly stabilizing. "It can run, but it's slow," he said, sticking his head out of the cab.

Li Xuan began to inventory the supplies. Dozens of bags of cement were piled in the corner of the shed, covered with tarpaulins. Some were damp, but at least 70-80% were still usable. Steel bars of various lengths were piled up, more than enough to build a wall. There were also several rolls of thick iron wire, a sack of nails, a bundle of plastic water pipes, several pulleys, and a dozen cans of paint. The most valuable item was the small generator behind the prefabricated house, covered with a tarpaulin. His fourth uncle checked the spark plugs, tested it with a few ropes, and said it wasn't broken; he could modify it and it would work.

The two men made several trips back and forth, hauling all the cement, steel bars, and generator back. Uncle Si stayed at the construction site, tinkering with the excavator, changing the battery, and using a crowbar to place gravel under the tracks, his face smeared with oil. As dusk approached, the excavator finally slowly drove back along the mountain road, its tracks leaving two deep grooves on the gravel.

"With these and the materials we prepared earlier, we can start construction tomorrow." Uncle Si turned off the engine, jumped out of the cockpit, and patted the dirt off his clothes.

My father returned from the village, his pickup truck bed filled with grain, cured meat, quilts, several farm tools, a bag of charcoal, and two jugs of rapeseed oil. The bag of charcoal was found in the kitchen of a family at the east end of the village; my father said he knew the man, and they used to go up the mountain together to make charcoal in the winter. This year, they hadn't had a chance to use the bag. He carried the things into the cave, adding, "We've moved everything we could from the village. A few houses were locked from the outside; we knocked, but no one answered, so we didn't go in."

Li Xuan was silent for a few seconds. "If no one responds, just ignore it. We don't lack those supplies." His father nodded.

The family sat together for dinner. My cousin's eyes were still red, but much better than in the morning. My mother put a piece of cured meat on her plate. "The cave is almost ready today. We'll move the bed in tomorrow, and then we can live there."

"The generator is working now," Uncle Si said. "Tomorrow I'll check the wiring and connect a light at the cave entrance."

The father picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, chewed it slowly, and didn't say anything.

After dinner, Li Xuan continued his cultivation. His father and fourth uncle came over to watch for a while and joined in the training. However, being older and having worked all day, they only trained for half an hour. After finishing his training, his fourth uncle washed up and went back to rest.

His father didn't leave; he sat beside him without saying a word. He understood his father's meaning. Although he had appeared calm these past two days, his father had sensed something was amiss. So he sat up and asked, "Dad, imagine a soldier and his comrades defending a base together. His comrades entrusted him with their hope of survival and all their weapons, but in the end, he couldn't hold it. Do you think he let his comrades down?"

The father was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is the enemy very powerful?"

"Completely powerless to fight back."

"The base is lost?" the father asked again.

"No," Li Xuan shook his head. "He blew up the base."

"Since the enemy is so powerful, his comrades must have known that they couldn't hold out in the end, so they won't blame him. Besides, the fact that he blew up the base in the end wasn't the worst outcome," the father analyzed, emphasizing each word.

After his father's passing, he continued his training. In the quiet of the night, only his own breathing could be heard. He trained while recalling the events of his memory. On the day of the final battle, he fought as a healer, using reverse assimilation to heal others—he saved those he could, and for those he couldn't, he assimilated their flesh and blood and their remaining will. He assimilated everyone, inherited their will, and stood before the Lord of the Void Realm.

But the immense gap in power rendered him incapable of even making a move. It wasn't a difference in raw strength, but a difference in dimensionality. He was like a quantum supercomputer running an operating system from the last century. In the eyes of that being, he was perhaps just a large ant. In the end, he chose to detonate Earth's core consciousness alongside the Prophet, taking everyone with him in their demise. It wasn't anger, but a resolute decision, because if the Lord of the Void succeeded, even death would be a luxury for humanity.

These memories piled up in his mind, the despair and repression constantly swirling within him, reminding him of one thing: simply assimilating others and accumulating power had no effect on that being. To prevent the tragedy from repeating itself, he had to deeply develop his superpower. Rule-based superpowers were closest to the rules of the universe themselves, and his potential was far greater than that.

He quickly finished all the training, his body reaching its limit. He stood there catching his breath, his heart pounding, his thigh and arm muscles twitching involuntarily—a natural reaction to reaching his limit. After replenishing his food, he carefully assessed his body's condition; the rate of consumption and recovery was faster than yesterday. Passing through the main room, he glanced at the plastic bag on the table—there was still a considerable amount of chocolate and energy drinks left; at the current rate of consumption, it should last for about ten days.

Tomorrow we need to build a wall and install lights. Oh, and we also need to go to town; we haven't collected all the necessities yet. My fourth uncle cut his hand today, and my mother and cousin searched the whole house but couldn't find a single band-aid.