Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 321

Yu Xi noticed Da Feng’s choice of words: Min Cheng is in trouble—not something happened.
Such specific phrasing usually meant that the issue wasn’t a large-scale environmental disaster affecting everyone but rather an incident that had singled out an individual.
On the other end of the walkie-talkie, chaos erupted. Da Feng barely had time to say that one sentence before shouting watch out at someone—then the transmission cut off.
Yu Xi tried calling back, but there was no response. She wasn’t sure if they had heard her but were too occupied to reply, or if the situation was simply too noisy for them to notice.
She checked the time—it was around 1 AM.
Although she was somewhat skeptical about what trouble meant—especially since she had only given them the walkie-talkie earlier that day—since she had offered it, it was a promise. She had to check it out.
Worried that her parents might wake up early and notice her absence, she left a note outside their bedroom door before heading out, instructing them to contact her via the transparent phone if needed.
This time, she didn’t leave empty-handed.
From Star House storage, she retrieved an emergency backpack equipped with food, water, medical supplies, rope, and other essentials. She also put on a pair of half-finger tactical gloves.
She hadn’t applied 【Sunblock Spray】, so the moment she stepped out of Star House, a wave of humid heat slammed into her.
Even at 1 AM, the highland’s temperature hadn’t dropped much.
She pulled out a thermometer—real-time temperature: 38°C (100°F).
After putting the thermometer away, she decided to apply 【Sunblock Spray】 after all, adding a protective layer around herself.
The oxygenated isolation membrane, capable of resisting extreme temperatures, pressure, radiation, and even vacuum conditions, was far more practical than any other protective gear she had obtained in the Endless Train world. Although each bottle only lasted for eight uses—sixteen hours total—now that spaceship energy was plentiful, she had no reason to be stingy.
Still, such high temperatures were alarming.
If this summer truly reached terrifying heat levels, the South Sea Islands would likely be hit first.
Previously, she hadn’t had the capability or transportation to return to the islands. But now, with a low-altitude car and an airship, she could easily make the trip. If she remained cautious, she could even reset Star House there.
If Xue Fei’s situation was still manageable, she’d leave her extra Star Gear. If not, she would relocate her immediately.
She had her theories and contingency plans in mind, but deep down, she hoped she was wrong. No matter how strong she was, she couldn’t save the entire planet.
This world was too vast, and humanity would ultimately have to endure this planetary disaster on its own.
However, ever since the nebula world and interdimensional space had appeared in her mind, she had been considering an idea—one that had yet to fully form. Whether it was possible or not… she would have to wait until Xing Min’s spaceship system upgrade was complete to find out.
With these thoughts swirling in her head, her pace quickened.
Under the cover of night, she moved at full speed, crossing the highland in under two minutes and arriving at the southern cliffside.
In the darkness, five five- to six-story lodges stood side by side.
The buildings were well-arranged, spaced closely together, and their design resembled the first lodge she had chosen when she initially reset Star House—except these were more modern, elegant, and reinforced.
The reinforcements were evident.
Glass exteriors had been fortified with wooden planks and aluminum strips. Floor-to-ceiling balcony windows and large glass panes, once potential weak points, had been modified into makeshift cages—not aesthetically pleasing, but significantly increasing security.
Additionally, a two-meter-tall artificial perimeter fence, built from aluminum panels, surrounded the lodges. Wooden planks were nailed vertically along the inner walls for extra support.
No wonder they had invited her to stay earlier.
This place had electricity, water, sturdy buildings, and perimeter defenses—it was, without a doubt, the best lodging on the highland.
The first lodge on the left had dim yellow lights glowing inside, and through the quiet of the night, the sounds of shouting, gasps, and furniture crashing against the floor rang out.
In the silence of early morning, the commotion was deafening.
The walkie-talkie in Yu Xi’s hand crackled again.
Da Feng’s voice, more panicked than before, came through amidst the background chaos.
“Ya Tong, are you there? Sorry, I couldn’t reply earlier—here’s what happened—”
Mid-sentence, his walkie-talkie was knocked away. The next moment, after scrambling to pick it back up, he tried to continue, but before he could explain, a cool and composed voice cut through his earpiece.
“No need. I’m already here.”
Da Feng: …??
Wait.
How the hell did she get here that fast?
Was she launched over?!
**
As it turned out, the situation had started because of what happened during the day.
Not long after Yu Xi left, some people, fearing another mosquito swarm attack, quickly packed up their tools, wrapped themselves in makeshift protective gear, and rushed back to the lodge in a panic.
Da Feng, Min Cheng, and a few others stayed behind. After all, the deceased wasn’t just anyone—he was one of them, someone they had lived alongside for months. They couldn’t just leave the body behind.
In the end, they put on their protective suits, dug a few graves in the forest opposite the greenhouse, and buried the dead.
By the time they returned to the lodge, the two factions inside were already arguing.
The ones who had died had all been from the second group—the refugees who had evacuated from the county. Each of them had family or close friends. For them to leave for just two hours and return with such devastating news was something their loved ones couldn’t accept.
During the mosquito attack, in the chaos and panic, people had indeed pushed and shoved each other while scrambling for their lives. It wasn’t necessarily that one side had deliberately harmed the other—there were even cases where people from the same group had accidentally tripped and fallen, blocking others’ escape.
But in the heat of the moment, no one had been paying attention to details. Now that everything had settled and they had to face the grieving families, no one dared to admit what had truly happened.
With everyone talking at once, confusion took over. Since all the deceased were from the same side, blame naturally fell onto the other faction.
The two groups had been at odds for months.
One side was the production crew from a major city—celebrities, directors, cinematographers, makeup artists, screenwriters. They were well-traveled and knowledgeable, and some among them subconsciously looked down on the county survivors.
Meanwhile, among the county refugees, there were former fans who had once idolized these celebrities from afar. Now, seeing them eat and live under the same roof, it was inevitable that complicated feelings arose.
Some had tried to pursue a female celebrity, only to be rejected, which led to behind-the-scenes ridicule and resentment.
Someone from the production team, having never cooked before, made an inedible meal during their assigned cooking shift, which had to be thrown out and redone, sparking complaints from the county survivors about wastefulness.
Even when hunting for poultry, the two sides contributed unevenly, leading to disputes over food distribution.
…
On their own, these were all minor grievances.
But over time, resentment built up, and this tragedy became the final spark.
One of the deceased was named Zhong He.
He had an older brother, Zhong Lin, who was one of the county group’s strongest fighters.
When Zhong Lin fled the county, he had brought along his parents, his girlfriend, and his younger brother. But after encountering numerous mutated creatures along the way, by the time they reached the highland, only Zhong Lin, Zhong He, and his girlfriend, Xiao Tong, had survived.
Though grieving, Zhong Lin had found solace in the fact that at least he had managed to save his brother. And with Xiao Tong still by his side, it was a small comfort.
But from the moment Xiao Tong arrived at the highland, she became visibly distracted—because she was a huge fan of Min Cheng.
The Zhong brothers had never been into celebrity culture.
They only knew that Xiao Tong liked reading entertainment news.
To Zhong Lin, Min Cheng was indeed ridiculously handsome—but this was the apocalypse. What mattered now was survival—finding food, staying safe. What use was a pretty face?
At first, he didn’t think much of it.
But then he noticed that Xiao Tong was always running over to the production crew’s lodge. Worse, the fruit and meat he had saved for her—all of it had ended up in their hands.
When he angrily confronted her, Xiao Tong dismissed his accusations, saying he was overthinking things. She resented his interference in her personal choices, and their arguments escalated.
In reality, Xiao Tong wasn’t just fixated on Min Cheng—she had other favorite celebrities, including some of the female stars in the group.
The food Min Cheng received? He actually rejected all of it. The ones who accepted it were two female celebrities.
But Zhong Lin didn’t know that.
To him, Xiao Tong was giving everything to Min Cheng.
He wasn’t well-educated. He didn’t understand dreams or admiration—he only saw that his girlfriend was losing interest in him and seemed infatuated with another man.
Previously, despite their fights, Zhong He had always been there to mediate, ensuring things didn’t escalate too far.
But this time was different.
Zhong Lin had just lost the last family member he had left.
And now, surrounded by his grieving and furious teammates, all shifting blame onto the other side, he became convinced—this was the production crew’s fault.
The two factions had already clashed once during the day.
Not everyone in the two groups was irrational, but most hadn’t been present during the mosquito attack and hadn’t witnessed the truth firsthand. With conflicting accounts and no clear resolution, all they could do was try to calm things down.
However, the argument had gotten out of hand, and a lot of things had been broken in the process.
Xiao Tong had a feeling that the other group wasn’t actually responsible for what had happened. She thought Zhong Lin was being too impulsive, always refusing to think things through and easily influenced by others in their group.
In her view, just because they had come from the same place didn’t mean they were all good people with aligned interests. Everyone had their own selfish motives—it was the apocalypse, after all. Who could afford to be selfless now?
But Zhong Lin wouldn’t listen.
From his perspective, Xiao Tong was siding with the production crew because of Min Cheng. To him, that meant only one thing—she had fallen for him.
After that, the tension between the two groups remained, but since they lived in separate buildings, they avoided each other, and things didn’t escalate further.
At least, not until later that night, when something happened within the county group.
Zhong Lin suddenly stormed over with two other grieving family members and several others, causing an even bigger commotion.
This time, his expression was even darker. He must have listened to someone stirring the pot, because he went straight to Min Cheng and accused him outright.
“Why were you in such a hurry to bury the bodies? What are you trying to hide?!”
“Did you push my brother down just to save yourself?!”
In reality, some of the people who had stayed behind to bury the bodies had also been from the county group.
But those two were the quiet type, not the kind to speak up. No one even realized they had helped with the burial, and they certainly didn’t know Zhong Lin had brought a mob over to start a fight in the middle of the night.
Min Cheng had already been targeted multiple times, and there was no way he would just sit back and endure this kind of accusation.
Among the people Zhong Lin had brought, aside from the grieving relatives, the rest were just there to fuel the fire.
They all had their own grudges, believing that the production crew must have hoarded supplies. Their plan was simple—stir up enough chaos and take advantage of the situation.
Things quickly spiraled out of control.
Zhong Lin pulled out a knife and grabbed Min Cheng, demanding he come with him to dig up his brother’s grave so he could inspect the body himself.
The moment a weapon was drawn, the nature of the conflict changed entirely.
Unlike the production crew, who had been on the highland since the beginning of the disaster, the county survivors had fought their way through hordes of mutated creatures.
They had seen real chaos and real violence—some of them had even killed before.
Zhong Lin was one of them, though only in self-defense.
When they had finally made it to the highland, their only goal had been survival. They weren’t reckless enough to start a fight right away. That was why they had initially tried to coexist peacefully.
But for those who had already spilled blood, it wasn’t difficult to pick up a knife again.
And those who had never fought before—simply couldn’t believe the others would actually dare to use it.
In the scuffle, Min Cheng was the first to get injured.
Though it was an accident, the amount of blood startled everyone.
**
By the time Yu Xi arrived, members of the production crew had already rushed to the first-floor kitchen to grab knives.
With both sides fully engaged, the situation was on the verge of spiraling into complete chaos.
Standing outside the lodge’s entrance, Yu Xi took a glance inside—then casually tossed two tear gas grenades into the room.
One was enough to take down a crowd. Two? Even better.
The moment the gas spread, those inside had no idea what was happening.
They panicked, assuming they were under attack by some kind of mutated creature.
Within seconds, the room was filled with coughing, shouting, and absolute mayhem.
It took a while for the smoke to clear.
When the survivors finally stopped choking and confirmed that no creatures or plants had invaded, they returned to the lodge’s main hall—only to see a young woman sitting atop the front desk.
She had a backpack slung over her shoulders, her slender fingers clad in fingerless gloves, casually tossing a third tear gas grenade into the air and catching it.
As her icy gaze swept over the room, she let out a lazy chuckle.
“It’s the middle of the night, and you’re causing all this chaos? You people must have a lot of free time.”
Da Feng, still tearing up from the gas, was so overwhelmed with relief that he practically shouted, “Ya Tong!”
His expression was so exaggerated that no one could tell if he was laughing or crying.
Yu Xi glanced at him. “Call me Jie.”
“Jie! Jie! Ya Tong Jie!” Da Feng quickly switched to a more respectful tone before remembering something urgent.
“Min Cheng—his leg got slashed! He’s upstairs!”
Yu Xi nodded, showing no urgency. “With so few people stuck here together, you still manage to fight to the point of drawing knives? If you’re that skilled, why not go down the mountain and deal with the mutated beasts instead?”
“None of your damn business! Who the hell are you?!” someone in the crowd shouted.
Before anyone could see who had spoken, the woman who had been casually crouching on the front desk suddenly leaped into the crowd. A scream of agony followed immediately after.
Yu Xi was too fast.
The surrounding people instinctively backed away in shock, revealing a man on the ground clutching his face. His cheek felt like it had been torn apart, burning with pain. When he touched it, his palm came away wet—it was bleeding.
Yu Xi turned back, gripping a fully extended telescopic baton. She glanced around at the others. “See that? That’s what happens when you don’t know how to speak with respect.”
The man she had struck belonged to the county group. The others immediately heard Da Feng shout his name and saw their comrade being attacked. Assuming Yu Xi was a ringer brought in by the production crew, their hostility intensified.
They didn’t know how she got up here, but at this point, backing down wasn’t an option. If they retreated now, their morale would be crushed, and they’d never regain control.
So, the ones who had egged Zhong Lin on tightened their grips on their knives and charged forward, shouting, “Avenge our people! Avenge Zhong Lin’s brother!”
To Yu Xi, these people were no different from ants.
She first struck down the knives in their hands with her baton, then, with swift, precise kicks, sent them flying across the room.
In less than half a minute, every armed individual was disarmed and sent tumbling into the corners of the hall.
The production crew’s side, which had been ready to risk everything and fight back with knives for the first time, stood frozen in shock.
Yu Xi’s gaze swept over them, and, without a word, they all instinctively dropped their weapons.
In the entire hall, the only person still holding a knife was Zhong Lin.
Yu Xi jumped back onto the front desk, looking down at the crowd from above. “Listen up. As of today, this highland is under my control. I don’t care what grudges you all have—starting now, I make the rules. If anyone wants to challenge my authority, fine. Whoever beats me can be the boss. If you can’t? Then behave and fall in line.”
Zhong Lin, his eyes red from the tear gas, glared at her. “Who the hell are you?! We have no grudge against you—why are you interfering in our business?! My brother died for no reason, and even if I can’t beat you, I’m going to get justice for him today!”
“Your brother?”
Yu Xi recalled the drone footage from earlier—among the deceased, there had been only one young man.
“I was there during the day,” she said flatly. “Your brother’s death had nothing to do with anyone else. But those other two middle-aged victims? They were knocked down while trying to escape, which slowed them down and got them killed.”
During the chaos, neither the county group nor the production crew had seen exactly what had happened.
But Yu Xi had.
She hadn’t been physically present, but through her drone, she had watched everything unfold with perfect clarity.
With a flick of her baton, she pointed toward the individuals she had kicked into the corners. “It was them. They didn’t do it on purpose, but they did knock those two down.”
Zhong Lin’s brow furrowed as he gritted his teeth. He stared hard at Yu Xi.
“You expect me to believe that just because you said it?”
Yu Xi shrugged. “Suit yourself. Whether you believe it or not has nothing to do with me. I’m just telling you the facts—believe them or don’t, I don’t care.”
“It’s true!” Da Feng interjected. “Things were chaotic back then. They accidentally knocked people over and didn’t even try to help them up. Of course, those who fell behind got left behind! They might not have meant to kill anyone, but deep down, they know exactly what happened! And now they’re here talking about revenge? Revenge on who? Should they take a knife to themselves?
“And another thing—Min Cheng and the rest of us stayed behind to bury them because we couldn’t just leave their bodies out in the open! We risked our necks to give them a proper burial, and you turn around and say we did something shady? What kind of logic is that? Use your damn brain! There were people from your group helping bury them too—go back and ask them yourself! You came in here waving a knife at people without even getting the facts straight. Are you crazy?”
Zhong Lin still wasn’t fully convinced, but his expression wavered—especially when he noticed the guilty, evasive look in the eyes of the man Yu Xi had pointed out.
At that moment, a petite, cute-looking young woman ran into the lodge.
It was Xiao Tong—Zhong Lin’s girlfriend.
She had woken up to find Zhong Lin missing and immediately guessed that he had come here, so she had rushed over.
The moment she stepped inside and saw Zhong Lin holding a knife, she was stunned.
Xiao Tong was a devoted fan of Min Cheng, but Zhong Lin was still her childhood sweetheart. He had protected her all the way here.
She just didn’t like how irrationally jealous he got or how impulsively he acted. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him.
She stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, her voice trembling slightly.
“Lin Ge… we’ve all been together for so long. You know what these people are like. I know you’re hurting, but please don’t be reckless… Please don’t be reckless…”
In the end, Xiao Tong managed to persuade Zhong Lin to leave—at least for now.
Before leaving, he ordered the rest of the county group to carry the people Yu Xi had kicked down and bring them back with them.
Now that he was suspicious, he intended to get to the bottom of things himself.
Once they were gone, the production crew quickly shut the doors and started cleaning up the mess in the hall.
Da Feng eagerly approached Yu Xi, calling out, “Jie!”
Yu Xi gave a casual nod, exuding an undeniable big boss aura. “How many of you are in the production crew?”
“Including the staff who were already on the highland before everything happened, we have fifty-nine people. There are only about a dozen here in this building—most of the others are staying in the other two lodges.”
“So, the county group originally had eighteen people? Now they’re down to fifteen?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Fifty-something people, and you still can’t handle a group of fifteen? Heh.”
“……”
“Alright, I’m not leaving tonight. When morning comes, get everyone from the other lodges to gather here.”
Yu Xi didn’t say why she wanted them to come, but Da Feng agreed immediately, without asking any questions.
Then, as expected, he brought up Min Cheng.
“I know. Let’s go see him now.”
“This way, Jie! Upstairs!”