Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 396 On the Road

Xu Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking forward, her rain boots stepping into a puddle.

Mud seeped in through the gaps in her shoes, and the cold, sticky feeling spread from her toes to the soles of her feet. She frowned, but didn't stop.

The path underfoot was becoming increasingly difficult to walk on; what was once a barely discernible trail had now turned into a winding muddy river.

Each step required pulling your feet out of the ankle-deep mud before stepping into the next mud pit.

Although the rain did not intensify, it showed no signs of abating either, with raindrops pounding heavily on the raincoat, making a dull sound.

After walking for about 3 hours, Xu Xiaoyan stopped. She raised her wrist and glanced at her watch; the time showed 6 p.m.

She turned to the three of them and said, "It's getting dark. Should we continue on our way, or find a place to stay for the night?"

Wang Ling, Chen Wenshan, and Wu Yue exchanged glances and then whispered among themselves.

Chen Wenshan seemed to be saying something, but her voice was very low and mostly drowned out by the sound of rain. Only a few vague words occasionally floated out: "physical strength," "not good," "afraid of not being able to keep up."

Wu Yue didn't speak, but huddled under the waterproof cloth, nodding slightly and then shaking her head, seemingly in response to something.

Wang Ling frowned, her lips moved a few times, and finally she raised her head, her eyes showing a tired but determined look.

"If possible," Wang Ling said in a hoarse but earnest voice, "we hope to continue our journey. We're worried that if we stay overnight, the further we get from the unit, the less likely we will be to catch up."

After she finished speaking, she bit her lower lip, as if she was worried that her decision might be too selfish.

After all, Xu Xiaoyan wasn't their guide; she was just a kind person they happened to meet and had no obligation to stay up all night with them on their journey.

Xu Xiaoyan did not answer immediately after hearing this.

She looked down at her mud-covered rain boots, remained silent for a few seconds, and rainwater dripped down from the brim of her hat, making small dents in front of her toes.

She looked up at Wang Ling, then at Chen Wenshan and Wu Yue behind her.

All three of them wore the same expression: "We know it's tough, but we have no other choice."

"The problem is that you don't know where the troops are," Xu Xiaoyan said in a calm tone, without impatience or sympathy, simply stating a fact.

"Their northwest is quite different from our northwest. Of course, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just stating the facts."

After she finished speaking, she herself felt that what she said was a bit too blunt, but the words had already been spoken and could not be taken back.

Wang Ling's expression changed slightly, and her lips moved, but she didn't say anything.

Chen Wenshan lowered her head, and Wu Yue buried her face in the collar of her windproof jacket.

They all understood that Xu Xiaoyan was right. They had no idea which direction the troops were in; they had only been told to "go northwest," but that was such a vague concept.

The northwest is a fan shape, not a point.

The northwest they went to and the northwest that the army went to may have been tens or even hundreds of kilometers apart, but they had no other information or other choice but to "go northwest".

Xu Xiaoyan sighed inwardly as she watched their reactions.

She didn't say anything more, but turned around, facing away from them, and pretended to rummage through her backpack.

She unzipped the bag, reached inside, and took out a pack of compressed biscuits from the backpack.

The cookies came in a military green, sealed package with white lettering printed on it; they were square and about the size of a palm.

She held up the compressed biscuits to her chest, gesturing to the three of them, and said, "I'm a little hungry and need to snack on some biscuits to replenish my energy. Do you mind?"

Wang Ling kept saying she didn't mind, Chen Wenshan nodded in agreement, and Wu Yue, though silent, nodded faster than anyone else.

Wang Ling added, "We're already very grateful that you brought us along. You can eat slowly and don't worry about us."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, and without further ado, lowered her head and tore open the packaging bag.

The compressed biscuits are vacuum-packed. When you tear them open, you hear a soft "hiss" as the seal is broken, and a faint wheat aroma wafts out of the bag.

She broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth. The biscuit was hard and a bit difficult to chew, but it had a sweet taste unique to grains.

She chewed slowly, not in a hurry to swallow. She was used to eating and drinking well before, and now she had to get used to eating compressed biscuits.

Rain dripped down the brim of her hat and onto the bag of cookies in her hand, wetting the edge of the packaging. She wiped it with her sleeve and continued eating.

The three of them watched Xu Xiaoyan munching on a cookie with longing eyes; their gazes were restrained, yet impossible to completely conceal.

They tried not to stare. Wang Ling turned her head to the side, pretending to look in a certain direction in the rain.

Chen Wenshan lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes, which were covered in mud.

Wu Yue turned her gaze to the distant, hazy hillside, as if observing something.

But their eyes would unconsciously glance back at the bag of compressed biscuits in Xu Xiaoyan's hand.

Glancing at her slightly puffed-out cheeks as she chewed, and at the crumbs of biscuits on her fingers, their throats unconsciously swallowed.

Although the rain was loud, Xu Xiaoyan still heard one of them, probably Chen Wenshan, making a faint "plop" sound.

Xu Xiaoyan knew they hadn't eaten anything after walking for so long, but she didn't ask or offer them any cookies.

It wasn't that she was stingy, but rather that she needed to observe whether they would lose their composure in the face of hunger.

It sounds cold, but she needed to know what kind of people these three women really were.

She continued chewing on the biscuit, her gaze sweeping across her watch and then looking at the road ahead, as if she were intently considering her route.

After Xu Xiaoyan finished eating the cookies, she carefully folded the packaging bag and stuffed it into her pocket, then patted the crumbs off her hands.

Then I looked up at the sky. Actually, I didn't need to look; I could tell from the dimness of the light that it was getting dark faster than I expected.

She stood up, stretched her knees which were a little numb from squatting, zipped up her backpack, and shook the mud off her rain boots.

He turned to Wang Ling and the other two and said, "Let's go, keep going, go as far as we can."

The three of them quickly stood up. Wang Ling straightened the waterproof tarpaulin again, and Chen Wenshan bent down to pick up the other corner that had been blown away by the wind.

Wu Yue patted the mud off her pants, and the three of them continued walking behind Xu Xiaoyan.

An hour later, it was completely dark, leaving only the slippery mud underfoot and the rain pouring down from above.

Xu Xiaoyan stopped, took out a flashlight from her backpack, and turned it on.