Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 369 Finding the Entrance

She pressed down the nose strip of the mask to make it fit the contours of her face, and adjusted the elastic bands on both sides to prevent them from being too tight.

The sun hat has a wide brim, is off-white, and has a soft steel wire around the brim that can be bent freely.

She pulled the front brim of her hat down until it just covered her eyebrows, and then flipped the back brim up a little to let the back of her head breathe.

Fully armed, Xu Xiaoyan searched downwards along the perimeter of the sinkhole.

She first walked eastward along the edge of the pit, pushing aside clumps of bushes and stepping over pebbles.

Keep your eyes fixed on the ground beneath your feet, not missing any possible entrance into the sinkhole.

She would stop at every suspicious spot, squat down, and use her hands to brush away the fallen leaves and loose soil on the surface to see if what lay underneath was solid or loose.

She picked up a stick to use as a probe, poking and probing every possible spot to hear whether the sound was dull or hollow.

Xu Xiaoyan circled around from the east to the north.

The terrain to the north is steeper than to the east. The rock walls at the edge of the pit are almost vertical, and the grayish-white limestone drops straight down from her feet, with a drop of about several tens of meters.

She held the wooden stick horizontally in front of her, leaned over the edge of the rock wall and looked down. The rock wall was intact, with no path and not even a large crack.

She stood up, retreated helplessly, and walked for more than ten minutes before returning to the vicinity of the sinkhole.

The south side is where she came from. She didn't see any similar entrance on her way here last night, so she won't bother searching again for now.

The terrain to the west is slightly gentler than to the north. The rock walls are not vertical, but have a slope of about 60 or 70 degrees.

It was covered with withered vines and shrubs, and some thick tree roots grew out of the crevices of the rocks.

The sun was already high in the sky, having jumped from the eastern ridgeline to a position slightly south overhead.

The light changed from oblique to direct, shining on her hat brim, shoulders, and arms, making her light gray sun-protective clothing appear white.

Her back was soaked with sweat, which seeped out from the neckline of her sun-protective clothing.

It trickled down the curve of my neck, was blocked by the edge of the mask, and accumulated at my collarbone, making me feel itchy.

But she didn't want to reach out and wipe it, because her hands were wet anyway, and wiping it would be pointless.

Xu Xiaoyan slowly walked down the steep slope. The ground under her feet was solid and had a springy feel. It was a layer of humus accumulated from years of fallen leaves.

She took a few more steps forward, the branches whipping against her sun-protective clothing with a crackling sound, and her hat brim got caught on a vine. She reached out and pulled it off, continuing on her way.

After walking about two hundred meters, she stopped. There was nothing beneath her feet, not the kind of sudden collapse, but a piece of loose soil suspended in mid-air, supported by tree roots and vines.

She peered down from the edge of the small hole. It was pitch black, and she couldn't see anything, but a cool breeze blew up from below, carrying the scent of moisture and earth.

Xu Xiaoyan pulled out the wooden stick, took two steps back, and tried to probe the left and right sides, but they were all false. After three hours, she finally found a possible crevice to enter the sinkhole.

The more difficult it is to find the path into a sinkhole, the safer the sinkhole is. Ideally, the rock walls on all sides should be intact, closed, and without any gaps.

In that case, when the next person comes over, they can only stand at the edge and look down, then turn around and leave helplessly.

The sun was getting stronger and stronger, making her scalp feel hot, and the air inside her sun-protective clothing was very stuffy.

She pulled her mask down a little, revealing her nose, and took a deep breath.

The air was hot, carrying the dry, burnt smell of withered grass and pebbles that had been roasted.

She couldn't help but pull the mask back up. So what if it's hot? It's better than having the sun shining directly on her face.

Looking at the increasingly scorching sun, Xu Xiaoyan felt an urgent need to find a place to escape the heat.

So she temporarily abandoned her plan to explore the crack and prepared to find a flat place to take out her small truck to rest.

As we continued westward, things felt even worse than before; every place was a slope, and there were fewer and fewer bushes.

Although the shrubs I had seen before were also withered and could no longer block out the sun, at least they provided some shade, which was better than nothing.

Here in the mountain valley we've arrived at, there are very few dead trees.

The cracked soil curled up in clumps, covered with some grasses whose names she didn't know—withered, short, the tallest reaching no more than her calves.

Looking around, all you can see are layers upon layers of mountains.

The vegetation on those mountains was completely barren, consisting of bare trees and withered shrubs, offering no shade for her to find shelter.

She stood in the middle of the valley, looking around blankly. Sweat streamed down her forehead and nose, reaching the edge of her mask where it was absorbed by the fabric, forming a small, damp patch.

Xu Xiaoyan glanced at her watch; it was past noon, precisely when the sun was at its hottest. So she quickly took the small truck out of her spatial storage.

She opened the car door, stepped in, and pressed the air conditioning switch. The moment the cold air rushed out of the vents, she felt like she had come back to life.

Xu Xiaoyan tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and pulled her mask down to her chin, pointing the air vent at her face and chest.

He adjusted the seat back a little, then slumped back in the seat, stretching out his limbs to rest.

The solar panels have enough power to support the operation of the air conditioner. As long as the sun doesn't set, she doesn't need to worry about the power supply in the future.

She opened her eyes, looked out the windshield at the open space that was steaming from the sun, and wondered how long these sweltering days would last.

Xu Xiaoyan took out the braised beef set meal she bought from Jinshi from her spatial storage. The set meal was packaged in a transparent plastic box, containing a box of braised beef, a box of rice, and a small box of braising sauce.

The beef was cut into even slices, the dark reddish-brown slices covered with a layer of translucent tendons, glistening with an oily sheen in the sunlight.

She lifted the lid, and a rich aroma of star anise, cinnamon, and soy sauce immediately wafted out. The braising liquid had seeped into the texture of the beef, making it look very flavorful.

She picked up a slice of beef with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. The meat was tender but not falling apart, and it had a good chewy texture.

The aroma of the braised meat slowly spread in her mouth, a perfect balance of salty and sweet, even better than she had expected.

The rice was served separately, with each grain distinct.

She poured the braising sauce over the rice, the brown liquid slowly seeping into the gaps between the rice grains. After stirring it a few times, every bite was coated with a rich meaty aroma.

She ate slowly, savoring each bite. The lunchbox was soon empty. She put the empty box away, wiped her mouth clean, and felt a wave of weariness wash over her after she finished eating.

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