Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 151

The scorching sunlight bore down relentlessly.
Yu Xi felt the sting of pain in her body and the sharp glare of the sun. Something small crawled over her fingers, pausing briefly before a sharp prick aimed for the back of her hand.
Unfortunately for the offender, the prick pierced her glove but failed to break her skin.
Half-asleep and semi-conscious, Yu Xi let out a soft chuckle at the futile attempt, only to be startled fully awake by her own laughter.
She opened her eyes and found herself lying on her side in the sand. A black scorpion retracted its stinger, hesitated, and then reluctantly crawled off her hand, disappearing into the grains of sand.
A desert?
Yu Xi’s thoughts froze for a moment before the memories of dawn flooded back in.
Their group had boarded the flight from D country’s B City en route to C Country. However, before their connecting flight, disaster struck.
The mutated individual on the plane had been ejected into the sky. Yu Xi used her ice abilities to seal the shattered cabin window, stabilizing the air pressure and temporarily steadying the aircraft. But with one engine failing, the plane continued to plummet.
Grabbing the intercom, Yu Xi had urgently asked if anyone on board could fly a plane. When no one responded, she knew she had no choice but to act.
Thankfully, one of the pilots was still alive—the same one who had warned her to “be careful.” Though his leg was broken, his head injured, and his ribs likely fractured, he remained semi-conscious.
In moments of extreme crisis, extreme measures are often the only solution. Yu Xi injected the pilot with a shot of adrenaline and hauled him back into the cockpit seat, securing his safety harness.
While Yu Xi had piloted helicopters and small planes before, she had never flown a large commercial jet. The autopilot had failed, leaving her no choice but to switch to manual control and stabilize the aircraft for an emergency landing.
The dashboard was overwhelmingly complex, and manual flying was beyond her solo ability. Deciding on a suitable landing site required an experienced pilot.
Fortunately, as she managed to stabilize the plane after switching to manual, the pilot regained consciousness thanks to the adrenaline.
Despite his critical injuries, he assessed the situation with professional composure. The lives of hundreds of passengers—and those in the city below—rested in his hands. A crash in a populated area would spell catastrophic loss of life.
“We’re over D country airspace. We’ll attempt an emergency landing, but we must avoid the city,” he said, indicating that Yu Xi should contact air traffic control using the headset.
“An ocean landing?” Yu Xi recalled D country being coastal.
“No, water landings are too dangerous at this altitude—like slamming into solid rock. We’ll aim for the desert.” He pointed to a location on the electronic map. “We’ll head for the sand dunes. I’m too weak to make the final adjustments. You’ll need to lift the nose at just the right moment to land safely…”
Reassured by Yu Xi’s fluent command of D country’s language as she communicated with air traffic control, the pilot’s resolve strengthened.
Taking a deep breath, he picked up the intercom, fulfilling his duty as captain:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain of flight D495ND. The aircraft has experienced mechanical failure and can no longer continue normal flight. We are initiating an emergency landing on land. We have coordinated with rescue units. Please remain seated, follow the flight attendants’ instructions, fasten your seatbelts, and adopt the brace position…”
In the violently shaking cabin, passengers’ cries mixed with prayers. The overhead compartments rattled as bags tumbled out, striking some passengers and rendering them unconscious. The chaos left their neighbors helpless.
In their section, the students clung to their seats in fear. The jolting and loss of altitude felt like blows to their hearts with every vibration.
The air inside seemed thinner, and through the left-side windows, black smoke trailed from the damaged wing.
“I don’t want to die… not like this, falling from the sky! I don’t want to be smashed into pieces—it’s too terrifying!” wailed Wu You, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Wu You, you coward! Can’t you shut up for once? Stop saying such ominous things!”
“Exactly! The girls like Min Min haven’t even cried, and you’re bawling like a baby!”
“Talking about death, ugh! Shut it! I’m not going to die!”
“I’m just saying! I’m almost dead anyway—why can’t I say something?!” Wu You retorted, his head jerking up indignantly before quickly lowering again to maintain his brace position.
“You just wait! If I survive this, I’m going to beat you up!”
“Count me in!”
“Enough, everyone, stop arguing…” Their teacher, Mr. Ge, tried to steady his trembling voice.
Yu Xi heard every word, but her focus remained sharp. She adjusted the controls according to the captain’s instructions and braced herself for the critical landing moment.
The desert stretched ahead, vast and barren, but riddled with unpredictable dangers.
The plane tilted sharply again, and the students broke into screams and arguments.
At the same time, tension in the cockpit was palpable.
“We can see the ground!”
“Good, keep steady—don’t rush…”
Yu Xi noticed the layer of ice on the cockpit window starting to thin. While monitoring their altitude, she kept channeling her abilities to reinforce the ice.
…
“Deploy the landing gear!”
“…No response!”
“Pull the lever! Quickly, hurry!”
“It’s done!”
“Lift the nose! Be careful!”
“The right landing gear is broken!”
“Hold it steady—”
…
The final minute of the emergency landing was a chaotic blur. The sound of the plane’s belly scraping against the sand grew deafening. The wings broke apart, the cabin cracked open, and the violent impact knocked most passengers unconscious.
In the cockpit, Yu Xi, who had unbuckled her seatbelt earlier to help deploy the landing gear, didn’t have time to reattach it. The combined force of inertia and the turbulence slammed her head against the fractured cockpit window.
In the critical moment, she barely managed to shield her head and face before being violently flung out.
…
Her memories ended there. She must have passed out after being thrown from the plane. A regular person would have been gravely injured or killed, but Yu Xi quickly assessed her body. Thankfully, she could move her limbs without signs of broken bones.
The sound of wind and sand filled the air. She lay on her side, gathering her strength. Just as she tried to rise, she sensed a shadow creeping over her from behind.
The air carried a faint metallic tang of blood. Raising her eyes, she saw a long shadow stretching across the sand, indicating someone approaching from behind. Judging by the movement of the shadow, the figure appeared to be raising something.
Feeling a sharp sense of danger, Yu Xi braced her hands against the sand and flipped upright. A bottle of [High-Temperature Perfume] materialized in her hand, but she hesitated just before pressing it.
“Are you okay?”
The voice belonged to Kong Lin. He stood frozen mid-motion, holding a metal rod, his expression startled as he watched her leap up so suddenly.
Realizing it was him, Yu Xi exhaled lightly and lowered her hand holding the [High-Temperature Perfume]. “I’m fine. What about the others?”
Kong Lin helped her to her feet and gestured toward the direction of the wreckage. The enormous broken fuselage lay in two pieces, partially buried in the sand. Survivors were climbing out of the shattered plane. Among them, Yu Xi spotted passengers and her classmates.
Judging by the position of the sun, dawn had just broken. She estimated she had been unconscious for no more than twenty minutes.
All around was endless desert, the temperature already climbing. Yu Xi remembered that this area wasn’t too far from a city. Yet, for some reason, no rescue teams had arrived.
She frowned. The air traffic control tower had acknowledged her distress call, and they were aware of their approximate landing site. Preparations should have been underway.
As they approached the fuselage, several injured classmates leaned on one another, searching the surrounding area. Suppressed sobs occasionally broke the silence.
A quick glance at their surroundings told Yu Xi what was wrong—three classmates were missing, along with their teacher.
Kong Lin explained that during the crash, the fuselage had cracked open, and some seats had detached, flinging their occupants outside. Those individuals were nowhere to be found.
They were also completely isolated—no phone signal, no way to contact the outside world.
Wu You, cradling his injured arm, collapsed onto the sand after an unsuccessful search. “Didn’t you say you’d punch me once we landed safely? Come on! I’m right here! Punch me, you bastard—” His voice cracked, and he broke into sobs. “Waaaa…”
He cried and cursed simultaneously, while the other classmates, unable to hold back any longer, also started to weep. A few girls huddled together, silently shedding tears.
Yu Xi understood their despair. Surviving such a life-or-death ordeal was too overwhelming to process immediately. But now wasn’t the time for endless crying.
Yu Xi turned to Kong Lin. “Are you hurt?”
“Just a few scrapes. I got lucky.” He rolled up his sleeve to show her a minor wound.
“Good. Listen carefully. We’ve crash-landed in the desert of D country. For some unknown reason, the rescue team that should have been here hasn’t shown up. Many people are injured, and there could still be severely injured passengers in the plane. We can’t stay in the desert forever, but we’re unfamiliar with the area, and we have no way to contact the outside world. In other words, we’re trapped.
So, we need to prepare for two outcomes. I’ll head to the cockpit to see if the communication system is still functional and try to call the control tower again. You need to gather a few uninjured or lightly injured classmates, search the plane for medical kits, and check if any crew members survived and are conscious. Start treating our classmates’ wounds. Afterward, collect food, water, and clothes from the plane. If no rescue comes, we’ll have to figure out how to walk out of this desert ourselves.”
“Got it.” Kong Lin nodded, though his expression was still mixed. “What about you? Are you hurt? And what exactly happened in the cockpit? Why did the plane malfunction so suddenly?”
“I’ve got some bruises and scrapes, nothing serious. One of the flight attendants mutated and attacked the pilots in the cockpit. Fortunately, the mutator died later, but one pilot also died, and the other managed to crash-land the plane.”
Yu Xi didn’t elaborate on her abilities. While she wasn’t deliberately hiding them in emergencies, she preferred not to stand out unnecessarily in a world where order still existed.
Kong Lin seemed to accept her explanation and turned toward the group of classmates to carry out her instructions. Yu Xi then headed toward the cockpit. Once she was out of sight, she pulled out two precision claw hammers, using their sharp ends as makeshift climbing hooks. With careful movements, she climbed the plane’s exterior and re-entered the cockpit through the broken window.
Inside, the captain who had saved the plane was lifeless in his seat. Knowing he had come into contact with the mutator’s blood, Yu Xi carefully checked him. There were no signs of life or post-death mutation.
She located the communication panel and attempted to contact the control tower again. This time, no matter how much she tried, there was no response.
Frustrated, Yu Xi abandoned the comms and exited the cockpit. She passed by the flight attendant seats and found one attendant already dead, while another, with a broken leg and head injuries, was groaning weakly on the floor.
Further back, the cabin was a scene of devastation. There were dead, severely injured, and lightly injured passengers, along with others crying or in shock. It was even more chaotic and grim than the wreckage viewed from outside the plane.
Under such circumstances, waiting indefinitely for rescue was impossible. They needed a team of uninjured individuals to leave the desert, find the nearest city, and bring back help for the critically injured passengers.
…
The rescue team was ready to depart. Excluding the three missing classmates and the teacher presumed lost in the crash, twelve classmates with minor injuries volunteered to join. A few young passengers from D country also joined the effort.
Everyone grabbed a backpack, packing food, water, medications, and clothing. Yu Xi returned to her original seat to retrieve her backpack, replacing her contaminated protective gear and sweat-soaked clothes with a fresh, breathable tracksuit. She also donned a mask and hat.
Using the sun to determine direction, Yu Xi referenced the cockpit’s electronic map to estimate the nearest city’s location. After a quick meal and hydration, the group set out.
The responsibility of securing help for the injured reinvigorated the once-despirited classmates, motivating them to press on.
Yet, a sense of unease gnawed at Yu Xi. Why had the control tower’s rescue team failed to arrive? Why were their calls for assistance unanswered? Would the city even have the resources to help the injured?
She kept these doubts to herself.
…
Dust-covered and weary, the group climbed a tall dune, finally spotting the distant high-rises of a city known for its beaches, deserts, and towering buildings.
However, just as hope surged, a sharp-eyed classmate pointed out an ominous sight. Columns of black smoke rose from multiple parts of the city. Faintly, the sounds of sirens from police and fire trucks echoed in the distance.
“What’s happening?”
“What’s going on over there?”
The classmates exchanged uneasy glances, their growing dread reflected in each other’s eyes.