Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 76

It was a very old and shabby car.
At first, when Yu Qi noticed the car in the rearview mirror, she thought it was just someone heading in the same direction. Although this was still the edge of the uninhabited area, another two or three days of driving southwest would take them to the Dan’er River and the Dan’er Dam. Following the Dan’er River for a few dozen kilometers would lead them to Dan’er Town. Dan’er Town was a watershed; continuing west would still be a vast uninhabited area, but heading south for another two to three days would finally take them out of the uninhabited zone. That also meant they were getting closer to home.
Since they were near the Dan’er River, it wasn’t unusual to occasionally see other vehicles on the road, so Yu Qi didn’t pay much attention initially.
Yu Xi, however, had noticed. Not only did she notice, but she also saw the people in the car behind through the rearview mirror. The driver and the person in the passenger seat were the two boys from Qidun Town.
She didn’t know how these young boys could drive or how they had a car, but as long as they didn’t act stupidly, she would just ignore them.
They had spent most of the day in Qidun Town reinforcing their vehicle, and it was getting dark soon after they left the town. The terrain here was relatively flat, so they drove off the road and stopped on a verdant slope. After so many days on the boat, it was finally time for the dinner they had been looking forward to.
Ya Tong, who had been resting on the double bed for half the day, had recovered. When she first got off the boat, she felt like she was still swaying with each step. After leaving the dock area, Yu Xi took out the RV, and she immediately rushed in to take a shower, changed into clean, soft clothes, and fell asleep.
Yu Xi and Yu Qi also took turns showering. The warm water flowing over their bodies felt so good that even Yu Qi couldn’t help but sigh, feeling all the fatigue from the past three days on the fishing boat wash away.
It’s easier to get used to luxury than to get used to frugality. They had already become accustomed to the days in the RV. On the fishing boat, they couldn’t eat well, let alone take a shower or wash their hair. Although they could endure it, they had to admit that Yu Xi’s space had spoiled them.
They never lacked food or water, they had plenty of fuel, and the RV’s air conditioning kept it warm. Whether they were hungry or not, they could always find their desired snacks by opening the fridge. If they wanted hot food, they could take it out from the space, or if the drive was smooth, they could even cook on the road.
Yu Xi had even installed a fully automatic coffee machine in the kitchen area. She didn’t know where she got it from, but this coffee machine was very advanced and convenient. It brewed fresh coffee in a minute with just a push of a button after adding the beans.
In contrast, the fishing boat was cold, damp, and utterly bleak.
Ya Tong was fully revived. After getting up, she made the bed and came out after washing up. She ruffled Yu Xi’s yellow hair and hooked Yu Qi’s neck, saying, “Just wait, I’ll cook you a feast tonight.”
Yu Qi smiled and handed her a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
After drinking the coffee, Ya Tong originally wanted to get off the RV and set up the sunshade for an outdoor feast, but Yu Xi stopped her.
Across the road, on the other side of the grassland, that old car had also stopped. The two boys had already gotten out, leaning against the hood, munching on hot dogs and staring at them.
“What’s wrong? Are we being followed?” Ya Tong initially wanted to roll up her sleeves and go deal with the boys but reconsidered when she saw their ages. “Are they driving by themselves?”
“Yeah, they’ve been following us since that town,” Yu Xi nodded.
“What do they want?” Ya Tong didn’t like those who seemed to be up to no good but hadn’t made a move yet.
She preferred straightforward people who, if they had a problem, would come directly at them. But these boys were just hanging around, not doing anything, making it hard to decide what to do with them.
Yu Xi, although not particularly bothered, saw that it was affecting Yu Qi and Ya Tong’s mood, so she decided to address it.
She took some oxtail bones, vermicelli, radishes, and a large pot out of the space, indicating that she wanted oxtail soup for dinner and suggesting that Ya Tong could fully showcase her culinary skills even inside the RV.
Ya Tong chuckled, understanding her intention, and didn’t object.
Throughout their journey, she had long realized that among the three of them, Yu Xi was now the pillar.
Yu Qi saw Yu Xi take out a gun from the space and then grab an empty beverage bottle from the trash can, put it in a plastic bag, and head outside. She reminded her to be careful but didn’t stop her.
The two of them began washing the oxtail bones and preparing the ingredients in the RV, while Yu Xi went out, found a tree nearby, and started arranging the cans, glass bottles, and other items from the bag on it.
She turned and walked in the opposite direction, her peripheral vision catching the two boys. They had stopped eating their hot dogs and seemed to want to walk over but were puzzled by her actions.
Yu Xi walked quite a distance before turning around, unlocking the safety on her gun, and taking a deep breath. She pressed the trigger.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!” Five shots, and she hit all five targets without missing a single one.
She held her gun and glanced at the two boys, her look carrying a hint of warning.
The boys’ hands shook, and one of them dropped his half-eaten hot dog.
The two boys exchanged glances, then quickly got back into their car, reversed, turned around, and disappeared around the bend in the road.
Yu Xi: …
She thought she might have overdone the warning, but the next day when they set off, she realized she hadn’t.
That old car was still following them from a distance, but this time it kept much further away. During rest stops, it no longer approached them, trying to minimize its presence.
Yu Xi was puzzled. What confused her more was that she never sensed any malicious or aggressive emotions from the boys. Instead, they seemed mostly excited, expectant, even admiring.
Yu Xi: …??
Two days later, when the Dan’er River came into view, Yu Xi finally couldn’t hold back. During lunch, she got out of their vehicle and walked over to the boys’ car, slapping the hood with her hand and asking them what they were up to.
The old car was not very sturdy. With her slap, it dented.
The two boys shakily got out of the car, their eyes shining as they looked at her. “You speak E-country language so well!”
“Answer me. Why are you following us?”
They looked at each other, and finally, they explained.
Their monotonous small-town life had been dull. While the world outside was facing doomsday adventures, they continued living the same boring days. They had grown up and wanted a change, wanted to go on an adventure.
When Yu Xi and her companions appeared, they seemed mysterious and powerful—after all, they dared to drive through uninhabited areas. The boys had not dared to leave their town alone before, but now they followed Yu Xi’s car, partly relying on them.
They didn’t expect Yu Xi to be so fierce, displaying her perfect shooting skills, making them worry she might practice on them next. Hence, they kept their distance.
“Adventure?” Yu Xi didn’t know what to say to their choice of words and mindset. Their lives had been too peaceful. Anyone who had faced a disaster or life-and-death situation wouldn’t describe the doomsday experience as an adventure. “Go back, stop following us. We’re not on an adventure; we’re just trying to get home.”
However, the boys hesitated and were unwilling to leave. Finally, Yu Xi slammed their car hood again, and they confessed the truth.
They had followed them all the way here, using up almost all their fuel and food. They needed to go to the Dan’er Town ahead to replenish their supplies, or they couldn’t return home.
“If I see your car following us after we leave Dan’er Town, do you know what will happen?”
Yu Xi looked at the stunned boys and opened their car hood. She punched the dent she had made earlier, knocking the metal back into place.
Victor and Anton: …
The two boys nodded frantically.
Neither Yu Xi nor the two E-country boys expected the adventure they had been eagerly anticipating would come so soon and be so thrilling.
After lunch, the RV continued along the road beside the Dan’er River. About twenty minutes later, Yu Xi was the first to feel the ground shaking.
The feeling was familiar; it had been happening often lately.
An earthquake!
Ya Tong slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a stop in a nearby open area. The three of them, experienced as they were, got out of the car one by one, taking cover to wait for the earthquake to end before getting back in. If the quake was too severe and threatened the vehicle, Yu Xi would put the RV into the space.
This earthquake was stronger than any they had experienced recently. The three of them crouched on the ground, feeling the earth shake violently, but fortunately, the ground did not crack.
Yu Xi sensed that they were not at the epicenter, as the sound of large structures collapsing seemed to come from far ahead on the road. Accompanying these sounds was another strange noise.
After a while, the shaking stopped. The three of them brushed the dirt off their clothes and stood up, checking on each other for injuries and inspecting the road around the RV.
The two brothers who had been following them from a distance also stood up, looking both terrified and excited.
Yu Xi shook her head and was about to get back in the car when Yu Qi pulled her forcefully.
“Yu Xi!” She pointed towards the river ahead, her finger trembling. “Is that… water?”
Yu Xi heard the sound at the same time. Turning her head, she saw a grayish water line rushing towards them from the end of the river.
It felt like she was back in the first apocalyptic world. Back then, she had watched from a hotel balcony as a similar water line surged through the city. But now, she was at eye level with it.
She finally understood what the collapsing structures had been—the dam!
Dams usually have a safety margin and wouldn’t normally fail in an earthquake. But in this meteorite apocalypse, who knows how many quakes the dam had withstood, or if it had been struck by a meteorite. Clearly, the Dan’er Dam upstream had collapsed in the recent earthquake! That was the epicenter!
The road they were on lay between two mountains, in a valley with the river on one side. With the dam’s collapse, floodwaters would rush down the river, sweeping away everything on this road.
“Get in the car!” They didn’t need a reminder. The three of them grabbed each other and leaped into the RV. Ya Tong took the wheel, quickly reversing and speeding back the way they had come.
The RV sped down the road, passing the old car. Yu Xi shouted a warning to the two boys, who, despite their foolishness, recognized the flood and immediately jumped into their car, turning around to follow the RV.
The two vehicles raced down the road, but the floodwater was much faster.
What had been a faint sound of water became a deafening roar. Yu Xi forced herself to stay calm, checking the map with Yu Qi.
On such a straight road, they couldn’t outrun the water. They needed to find a route that would take them away from the flood.
“Here!” After getting lost the last time, Yu Xi had been studying the map meticulously. She had mapped out several emergency detours from their original plan in detail.
“Keep going for a few hundred meters, then there’s a small road to the right. It should be an uphill path. If it’s high enough, we can avoid the flood! Be careful, it’s a V-shaped turn, watch your speed to avoid flipping the car!”
“Got it!” Ya Tong glanced at the rearview mirror. The gray water line had turned into a visible wave, and the flood was faster than she had expected.
Yu Xi stepped up to the front area of the RV, bracing herself with her left hand while opening the right-side door slightly. Standing on the passenger seat, she peered out over the car door.
The strong wind from their speed hit her face, stinging her skin, showing just how fast Ya Tong was driving.
Yu Xi quickly surveyed the road, estimating the distance. She closed the door and got back inside. “About 300 meters ahead, slow down. There’s a forest patch. The uphill path should be in there. Watch out for tree trunks.”
“Got it!” Ya Tong focused intensely on the road ahead while keeping an eye on the rearview mirror.
The water line seemed almost alive, chasing them closely. Though slightly lower than when they first saw it, the water’s speed meant it would soon engulf the RV.
The old car followed closely behind, swerving in panic and nearly hitting the mountainside several times.
Ya Tong signaled a right turn, hoping it would alert the car behind.
The 300 meters passed quickly, and Ya Tong turned on the hazard lights, easing off the gas and pumping the brakes.
The RV jerked as it slowed down, but it was effective. The speed dropped quickly.
“There it is, just ahead, less than 50 meters!” Yu Xi pointed out.
Ya Tong spotted the forest, and the mountainside lowered into a gap where the path should be.
She saw the turn!
Ya Tong pumped the brakes again, slowing the RV down before releasing the brakes and sharply turning the wheel. The RV swerved, its front end turning towards the path.
Ya Tong quickly turned the steering wheel while stepping on the gas pedal, and the car accelerated instantly, heading up the narrow, uphill path. Because the RV was large and moving too fast, the right-side mirror collided with a tree trunk and was knocked off.
Ya Tong ignored it and continued driving up the slope until they reached a high ground about four or five meters above the road below and stopped the car. The floodwaters roared down the road below, carrying all sorts of debris and building materials. Ya Tong’s hands were still tightly gripping the steering wheel, and she was trembling all over.
“It’s okay now, we’re safe, Ya Tong,” Yu Xi gently held her hand.
From the back of the RV, Yu Qi, who was checking the situation outside, shouted, “Come and look at this!”
The two of them moved from the driver’s area to the back of the RV and followed Yu Qi out of the car. Since Ya Tong had turned the car when she parked, the RV’s front faced the road below the mountain, while the door faced the slope they had just climbed.
At this moment, the water had already submerged the forest below the slope. The two boys’ car was half-submerged in the floodwaters, with one side of the vehicle already underwater. Most of the floodwaters surged forward, but some flowed back due to the slope, forming a whirlpool that engulfed the forest below.
The two boys were clinging tightly to the same tree trunk, half their bodies submerged in the whirlpool created by the backflow. They desperately tried to escape the water’s pull, but each attempt to kick free only caused them to slip down the muddy slope.
Their faces showed no excitement now, only the terror and despair of facing death. The water level quickly rose to their shoulders, the whirlpool’s force increasing while their strength waned, causing them to gulp down water.
They knew they couldn’t let go; letting go meant being swept away by the flood. But they were nearing their limit.
At the critical moment, a black inflatable boat slid down the slope, landing beside them. The boat was tied with a climbing rope, the other end held by the two foreign women who had warned them earlier. They swiftly secured the rope to two sturdy trees up the slope.
“Hurry!” the girl who had warned them shouted in Mandarin. Though she only said one word, they understood immediately.
Victor, nearest to the boat, grabbed the rope, flipping into the tilted boat and pulling Anton in as well. The inflatable boat, with its 20 cm high sides, acted like a scoop, securing them from the floodwaters.
Wearing climbing gloves, Yu Xi then pulled the boat, along with the boys, out of the water and up the slope to safety.
The two boys lay in the inflatable boat, soaked and shivering.
Yu Xi, while Yu Qi and Ya Tong untied the climbing rope from the tree trunks, walked over and squatted in front of them, asking quietly, “Was this adventure fun? Thrilling? Do you want to do it again?”
The boys: …
They were scared of the beautiful but very intimidating lady.
While waiting for the floodwaters to recede, Yu Xi and her companions lit a small fire next to the RV, providing warmth and a place for the boys to dry their clothes. The boys wore the women’s clothes, which fit them well, but the shame on their faces was hard to wash away. Besides the clothes, they were also given two bowls of soup and some bread.
It was their first hot meal in two days, delicious but also making them feel deeply embarrassed. Without these women, even if they had escaped the earthquake and flood, they wouldn’t have known what to do next, soaked and without a vehicle.
Reality and the imagined adventure were clearly not the same.
As they sat, holding the soup bowls in a daze, Yu Xi squatted in front of them again, “What about your parents?”
“They’ve been gone for a long time…”
“Do you still think such disasters are the same as your imagined adventure?”
“No… disasters are terrifying.” Both recalled the recent events with lingering fear.
“Having a spirit of adventure is good, but… the apocalypse is never an adventure.”
Victor, too embarrassed to look at her, buried his face in his bowl and quickly finished the soup. “Sorry, there’s no place to wash the bowl, so…”
“Just give it to me,” Yu Xi said, reaching out for the bowl.
Anton quickly finished his soup and, blushing, handed his bowl to Yu Xi. “Thank you,” he mumbled.
“We will leave as soon as the water recedes. We’re very close to Dan’er Town now. If the road conditions are okay, we’ll reach there in about an hour. But we won’t be going into Dan’er Town. We’ll drop you off at the entrance to the town.”
“You’re willing to take us?” Although they had lost their car and nearly their lives, they still had the money in their pockets. Once in town, they could find a ride back to their small town.
“We’re just going that way,” Yu Xi replied.
When the floodwaters finally receded, Yu Xi and her companions saw the road was in complete disarray, littered with debris, building fragments, broken branches, vehicle parts, and even bodies.
The road was impassable. Yu Qi unfolded the map and studied it again, finding another route on the high ground. It was a bit of a detour, but it would eventually lead them back to the road to Dan’er Town.
As they got closer to Dan’er Town, they began to see more people and vehicles. The atmosphere was tense; a recent earthquake and the collapse of the dam had thrown the town into chaos. Many people were searching for missing family and friends.
The road into the town was short, and from the entrance, they could see the buildings of Dan’er Town. The two boys got off the RV, once again blushing as they thanked Yu Xi and her companions and said their goodbyes.
They stood there for a long time, watching the RV drive away until it disappeared from sight.
Yu Xi and her companions didn’t know that when Victor and Anton stepped into Dan’er Town, they didn’t follow their original plan of finding a ride back to their small town.
Dan’er Town was in a mess from the earthquake and dam collapse, and the entire town was without power, hindering many rescue efforts. Fortunately, because of the terrain, the floodwaters hadn’t affected the town, but the aftermath of the earthquake was still a disaster.
Emergency power was being used in the hospital, and almost everyone who wasn’t injured was helping with rescue efforts.
As soon as they entered the town, a busy doctor called them over to help with a patient. The atmosphere was tense and urgent, and Victor and Anton were quickly swept up in the rescue efforts.
They ended up working non-stop for three days and nights. When they helped rescue another survivor from the rubble, the gratitude of the survivor’s family moved them deeply.
That night, they rested against a wall in the hospital’s main hall, watching the exhausted but determined faces of the rescuers around them.
“Brother, I don’t want to go back to the small town,” Victor said.
“Where do you want to go?” Anton asked.
“I want to join the rescue team. I heard their next stop is two towns that were hit by meteorites,” Victor replied.
“Alright, let’s go together,” Anton agreed.
The apocalypse wasn’t an adventure; it was a catastrophe for all of humanity. In the face of disaster, humans were small and fragile. Yet, despite this, there were still people tirelessly fighting against it. Victor and Anton wanted to be among those people, to bring hope to others, just as they had once been given hope by others.
Seven days later, their travel-worn RV finally crossed the border after several hours of waiting, officially entering their home country.
At that moment, a familiar neutral voice echoed in Yu Xi’s mind.
“World Mission 2: Escort your sister back to your home country safely, completed. Star Coin Count: 146.”