Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 43

At dusk, Yu Xi stood behind the blinds, gently parting the slats to observe the situation outside from the shadows.
Across the four-lane road was the neighborhood where her character in this world lived. After leaving by bus in the morning, she had quietly returned.
She believed in the old saying: the most dangerous place is the safest place. Of course, she had considered leaving Hai Ru City, but the geographical conditions were unique, and to reach other cities, one had to rely on transportation.
She could take a boat, a plane, a train, or drive herself out. Public transportation wasn’t an option since her appearance didn’t match her identification after using the [Disguise Lipstick]. She feared being stopped before boarding if she waited to revert to her original appearance. Driving herself wouldn’t be an issue, but leaving Hai Ru City meant passing through a mountain tunnel.
The mountain tunnel was 55 kilometers long, with the mountain above it reaching over two thousand meters high. In such an apocalyptic scenario, especially after experiencing the collapse of the underwater tunnel, it didn’t sound safe. As for climbing over the mountain, the steep cliffs in her mind made her abandon the thought instantly.
Considering it was a global catastrophe, she wouldn’t avoid it no matter where she went. Hence, staying put and conserving energy seemed the best course of action. As it turned out, her judgment was correct.
She was in a twelve-story commercial building, currently on the sixth floor, in a large 24-hour internet café with overnight stay options and private rooms. She found this place online, attracted by pictures of the private rooms.
The private room had windows facing the street, offering a good view. Besides a computer, it had a television, a wide sofa, and a bathroom, making it suitable for an overnight stay.
She arrived before noon, hoping to see if she could get in without identification, as her face didn’t match her ID. If it didn’t work, she would find another way.
Luckily, she got in smoothly and paid for two days in advance, buying a lot of instant noodles, snacks, and drinks to avoid suspicion.
Once inside, she checked the room for hidden cameras using an app on her phone, ensuring it was safe. The room was clear.
After checking in, she decided to rest a bit, setting an alarm for the evening. Despite the world’s seeming stability, the looming apocalypse made her vigilant.
At sunset, she woke to the alarm, checked herself in the phone’s selfie mode, and saw she had reverted to her original appearance as a 30-year-old.
Looking out the window, she saw the black SUV still parked outside the neighborhood. The people inside were undoubtedly looking for her, as they hadn’t seen her leave and were still waiting for her to show up.
They might also start searching for her within the neighborhood or try to locate her through her phone, but it won’t work. She had already stashed the character’s phone in the Star House storage last night. As long as she didn’t take it out, they would never be able to track her.
After making sure there were no abnormalities, Yu Xi sat down to have dinner. She took out some fried rice cakes, a bowl of spicy beef vermicelli soup, and a serving of almond tofu for dessert.
Her appetite hadn’t fully recovered, so she could only eat some light dishes for now. The fried rice cakes were just as chewy and soft as they were in the shop. The spicy beef vermicelli soup was savory and spicy, each bite a delight, and the almond tofu was silky with a hint of milk and a slight sweetness.
After eating, her appetite improved a bit, so she took out a box of durian flesh to snack on. It was the best golden pillow durian, soft and sweet but not too greasy. Because it had been chilled, it was a bit cool, making each bite feel like eating ice cream.
While munching on the durian, she used the computer in the private room to browse local news. There was no news or video about the underwater tunnel collapse, no subway incident, and nothing about the black worms—no mention of insects at all.
Unyielding, she combed through the news from the past few days, hoping to piece together useful information from various s. Five days ago, a news piece about a brawl among workers at a seaside construction site caught her eye.
The video showed a er arriving at the scene where several construction workers were fighting, nothing particularly special about them. The reason for their conflict was unknown, but they were all extremely agitated, with close-up shots showing their enraged faces.
Despite attempts by other workers and the police to pull them apart, the fighting continued. It only escalated when they started using tools, throwing bricks, and even wielding steel rods to stab each other.
The situation grew chaotic, and the police had to call for reinforcements to control the scene. The er later did a follow-up outside a police station, ing that the brawling workers had been detained and might face criminal charges, though the cause of the fight was still under investigation.
Calculating the time, Yu Xi realized these individuals should still be in custody. She continued browsing and paused at another news item eight days ago about an old mountain drainage system being temporarily closed for repairs due to disrepair. It was a minor , without any pictures.
The phrases “disrepair” and “temporarily closed” reminded her of the previous night’s news about the underwater tunnel. Although it had collapsed, it was ed as being closed for repairs due to age. She repeatedly read this text-only news item and made a bold hypothesis.
Perhaps something similar had happened in that drainage system, and the relevant authorities had investigated. Whether it was a strange incident discovered for the first time or something they were prepared for (not the first occurrence), they closed the drainage system and diverted attention from the real issue.
However, all these news pieces were just her conjectures for now. The true nature of the events might only be revealed when the forty-eight hours of relative peace ended.
There were now eighteen hours left until the end of this safety period. At eleven in the evening, the black SUV parked outside the neighborhood finally left. Whether they had given up on her as an “experimental” subject or for some other reason was unknown.
Preparing for the end of the forty-eight-hour limit the next afternoon, Yu Xi decided to sleep for a while. Before sleeping, she took off her clothes, took out the [Instant Cleanser], and went to the bathroom to “shower.”
Even though it was only her second time using it, Yu Xi had already grown fond of the feeling of instantly removing all the dirt from her body. Today, she hadn’t spent much time outside and didn’t have any new injuries, but she still didn’t feel at ease. Living in such a world, using the [Instant Cleanser] every day was just to give herself peace of mind.
Sure enough, after using it, she only saw some very fine skin flakes at her feet and no visible dirt. Satisfied, Yu Xi put on a clean short-sleeve T-shirt and a tracksuit, then took out a blanket, set the alarm, and closed her eyes.
She still didn’t sleep soundly that night. Being in an unfamiliar post-apocalyptic world and having such heightened senses meant she was half-awake, frequently hearing distant sounds of objects being smashed and people arguing, like someone was having a breakdown.
The sounds were distant, so she didn’t fully wake up. With limited time, she needed to rest as much as possible. But later, she was awakened by an argument nearby. She opened her eyes and checked her phone—it was just before six in the morning.
The argument was coming from outside the private room, within the internet cafe. She listened carefully and quickly understood the reason for the dispute. A couple from the neighboring city of Liancheng had come to Hai Ru City for a trip. The girl had initially planned to return last night, but the boy wanted to stay longer, so she agreed to stay for a few more days. They had booked a private room in this internet cafe to play games overnight after temporarily checking out of their hotel.
Not long ago, the girl received a call from Liancheng Public Hospital, informing her that her parents were injured in a nearby threat incident during the night. Their house’s window was hit by a petrol bomb, causing a small explosion and fire. Both parents were injured, with her father suffering severe injuries while protecting her mother and was now undergoing surgery in the hospital.
Panicked, the girl started packing and arguing with the boy. The sound of heavy objects being smashed began to emerge from outside, and others in the internet cafe were also alarmed. From the footsteps and breathing, there were about a dozen people who had stayed overnight in the cafe.
Yu Xi thought for a moment, put on a mask and baseball cap, and opened the door of her private room to check the situation. This internet cafe was similar to most others, with a large hall at the entrance leading to two corridors lined with private rooms. There were also smaller windowless private rooms in the middle. Since she wanted a room along the road with a window, she had chosen a more expensive large private room located at the innermost end of the corridor.
The initial sounds of the argument came from a private room near the hall, and now both individuals were in the hall. Others had gathered around, including the night staff, and no one noticed Yu Xi’s presence. Someone had already smashed two computer screens. The night staff, who had initially tried to mediate, were now furious and instructed another staff member at the reception to call the police.
A crowd was gathered, with some trying to intervene, only to be met with objects thrown by the girl. She seemed extremely agitated, her eyes red and her face twisted in anger. She screamed and smashed things with such intensity that it no longer resembled a coherent argument but rather a descent into a fit of rage.
Yu Xi observed this and couldn’t help but think of the men involved in the construction site brawl from the news the night before. They had similarly refused to be calmed down, as if they had deep-seated grudges, determined to fight each other to the end.
The boy initially argued with her, but he was now frightened by her wild rampage. He called out his girlfriend’s name and tried to apologize, but she suddenly lunged at him, seemingly trying to strangle him. Fortunately, someone nearby managed to pull her away. Even while being restrained, she continued to struggle.
Yu Xi frowned.
Something was wrong.
It wasn’t just the girl; the air itself felt off. She detected the same briny smell she had encountered before. Were there black worms here? Oddly enough, she hadn’t noticed the smell when she first arrived at the internet cafe.
Yu Xi carefully scrutinized the girl and eventually noticed a nearly healed thin scar under her ear. It appeared that the girl hadn’t bled much and hadn’t bothered to cover it with a band-aid.
Images flashed through Yu Xi’s mind: scenes from news s and her own experiences. These disjointed pieces of information seemed to be coming together, forming a coherent picture that was about to reveal itself. However, her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two police officers.
The officers looked hurried and exhausted, as if they hadn’t slept all night. Whether it was due to experience or something else, they took one look at the girl, asked a few questions to the bystanders, and without even talking to the boy, they immediately took out a stun baton.
One officer restrained the girl while the other used the baton to incapacitate her. The girl convulsed a few times, her manic behavior gradually subsiding, and she went limp, starting to fall. Her boyfriend rushed to catch her before she hit the ground, looking both scared and angry at the officers.
“What are you doing? She’s just upset because something happened to her parents!” he yelled.
Even if he had never seen the police handle a similar situation before, he understood that this response was far from normal. The officers, however, didn’t explain. Instead, they began questioning him about his identity, his relationship with the girl, and the places they had visited recently. They also asked an oddly specific question that seemed unrelated to anyone else listening: “Have either of you been injured recently?”
The boy, intimidated by their serious demeanor, replied, “No, we haven’t—oh, wait, my girlfriend accidentally scratched herself three days ago, just under her ear… does that count?”
“Where were you three days ago?” the officer asked.
“We hadn’t left yet. We were in Liancheng,” the boy replied.
The two officers exchanged a look, then instructed the boy to bring his girlfriend to the police station to follow up on the matter. One officer led the couple away, while the other stayed behind to ask if anyone else had been injured, even if it was just a minor cut. He emphasized that if they didn’t it now, they wouldn’t be able to claim compensation later if any issues arose.
This explanation sounded strange, but people generally trusted the police. They checked themselves carefully. Sure enough, two people had been cut by flying debris when the girl had been smashing things. Though the injuries were minor, the officer insisted they come with him to the station. After receiving a call, he became more assertive, urging them to cooperate.
The two injured individuals initially wanted to argue, but their companions persuaded them to comply to avoid conflict. Eventually, the officer took the two injured people and their companions away.
Once the police had left, the remaining people in the internet cafe started to discuss the situation, expressing how odd it all felt.
“Did you notice how that girl seemed really off, almost like she was having a breakdown?” one person remarked.
“Yeah, like a zombie. You know, in the early stages of a zombie infection, people often become extremely aggressive!” another joked.
“Whoa, don’t joke about that! You’re giving me the creeps!” someone else responded.
“Haha, I was just kidding. If it were something like a zombie virus, we’d all have been taken into quarantine!” another added, but their comment led to a moment of uncomfortable silence.
After a pause, someone spoke uneasily, “But… what if it’s something serious? Like, what if those two who got hurt…?”
“Stop it! This is ridiculous…”
…
Yu Xi shut the door, blocking out the voices from outside. She locked it and turned on her computer to revisit some of the news articles she had seen the previous day.
Her mind pieced together the fragments of information that had been interrupted earlier:
The old and neglected mountain drainage system…
The construction workers by the sea losing their minds and fighting…
The girl just now…
The unusual behavior of the police…
The sporadic sounds of disturbances and arguments throughout the night…
She remembered that Haicheng had a unique topography, surrounded by mountains on three sides. This encirclement was complete, with the outermost edge of the mountains right by the sea.
Her mouse stopped moving as she found what she was looking for.
There it was—