Chapter 33 Camping
If you don't eat instant noodles for a long time, and then eat them occasionally, you'll find that instant noodles are incredibly delicious.
She even added a braised egg and a sausage; the experience was heavenly.
In my previous life, I suffered for three years. Back then, even eating rice was a luxury. Some official bases even provided ordinary people with cockroach biscuits and urine-filtered water.
Therefore, in this life, I must make up for it by eating whatever I want and doing whatever I want. If I still can't make it through three years, then I will not have lived this life in vain.
Therefore, if you are not full, you must eat until you are full.
One bucket of noodles never feels enough, but two buckets are too much to finish. I'm so worried.
Yu Miaomiao, still feeling unsatisfied after finishing a bucket of noodles, kept torn between "another bucket of noodles" and "eating something else."
At this moment, Libra's tendency to have difficulty making choices is on full display.
"I suddenly feel hungry. How about you do me the honor of having another meal with me, sister?"
Lu An glanced at Yu Miaomiao, who was staring at the empty bowl of noodles with a long face, and knew that she hadn't eaten enough.
"Okay, okay, what do you want to eat? How about crayfish? Garlic, five-spice, or spicy?"
"Spicy! I'm a spicy food lover!"
"Yay! We're thinking the same thing!"
A look of joy appeared on her face. Her best friend was indeed the one who understood her best, and she saw through her without saying a word.
I took out the packaged spicy crayfish I had bought earlier from my storage space. It was still steaming hot, and the numbing and spicy aroma filled my nostrils, as if it had just come out of the pot.
After her second meal, Yu Miaomiao hummed a little tune happily as she quickly washed the dishes and cleaned the table. Lu An was responsible for checking that the doors and windows were locked and turning on the air circulation to keep the air inside the RV circulating.
The two took a simple, but extremely luxurious hot shower in the RV, and changed into clean pajamas.
I dug out a bottle of night cream from my storage space and applied a little to myself, adhering to the principle that since I've already bought it, I should use it occasionally.
Lu An didn't care about skincare before the apocalypse, and she felt it was even less necessary after the apocalypse. She was just too lazy to do anything, but Yu Miaomiao eventually forced her to get out of bed and apply some.
Then, hugging the pillow, she sank into the soft blankets and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Yu Miaomiao switched the lights inside the RV to night mode and fell into a deep sleep.
The three little ones lay side by side on a single bed made up of a dining table and stool, covered with a thick, soft coral fleece blanket. Ma Jiang rested his head on his front paws, his eyes slightly narrowed, staring at the RV door.
At the slightest sound of wind or movement outside, it would raise its upper body, its ears perked up, and it would watch alertly in the direction of the RV door.
The two-legged creature was sleeping so soundly that it had no sense of danger whatsoever.
What if we get attacked by wild animals at this time? Seriously.
The two kittens were engrossed in kneading, their soft, coral fleece paws bringing out their natural instincts.
Sesame paste: You're hopeless. This family is entirely dependent on my hard work to keep it afloat, otherwise it would really fall apart.
Tuanzi and Yuanzi blindly echoed: Meow, Big Brother is right!
Nothing happened that night, and the two woke up naturally at five or six o'clock the next morning. They felt that they had developed the habit of going to bed early and waking up early since the apocalypse, which was not bad and made them feel healthier.
After a quick breakfast, we continued our journey.
Yu Miaomiao drove the first half of the race, while Lu An took charge of the second half.
This section of the road went without incident, but the planned route passed through the urban area of a neighboring city. The closer we got to the city, the more people gathered, making it inevitable that we would be targeted by some ill-intentioned individuals.
However, they are all small, insignificant groups with no real weapons. It's a bit of a stretch for them to compete with the world's most powerful off-road RVs using only farm equipment and scrap metal.
Basically, a slight increase in speed and intimidation would deter the survivors who coveted the RV from approaching. Their chances of winning in a physical fight were zero, and each person was risking their own life.
"How do you drive? Stop the car! Stop the car! Stop the car! You hit me! You'll pay with your life! This isn't over yet."
Of course, there are occasionally one or two who are reckless.
The car accelerated and rammed into someone who was blocking it. Just as they were about to hit him, the person scrambled to avoid them, yelling at them to stop while banging on the outside of the car.
Seeing that the RV completely ignored him and showed no sign of slowing down, the man cursed and chased after it for a few steps, but when he realized there was no way he could catch up, he gave up.
After that, we didn't encounter any situations that required military force to suppress them.
Thanks to the RV's imposing appearance and Lu An's superb driving skills, the trip was completed smoothly and without incident.
After passing the neighboring city, the next stop is the provincial capital.
The provincial capital is located at a high altitude with many mountain roads. In addition, the roads are covered with ice and snow, making them very difficult to drive on as tires slip and the road becomes icy. No matter what kind of car it is, it is no match for the ruthlessness of nature.
Overall, the disaster situation in the provincial capital was better than in other areas. The closer you got to the provincial capital, the more survivors you saw, more than double the number in neighboring cities.
Many survivors were walking in twos and threes toward the provincial capital base, and quite a few of them were with their families.
Yu Miaomiao also saw a little girl holding a spotted dog, sitting on the cart her father was pulling, her hands hidden under the dog's body to keep warm, and occasionally getting off the cart to help her father push it.
Even in the face of devastating natural disasters, a family must stay together and face the hardships together. Even if they have to endure wind and rain and live frugally, as long as the family is together, there is fulfillment and hope.
This is an inherent attribute of being Chinese.
Many people were riding bicycles, tricycles, pulling flatbed carts, pulling sleds... you name it.
Among them, countless people drive sedans and SUVs.
Everyone shared the same goal. Although it wasn't pre-arranged, they moved in groups of three or five in one direction, forming a large and impressive migrating force.
Yu Miaomiao and her group's Unimog stood out somewhat in the main force, attracting many envious or jealous glances.
When encountering traffic jams, some people cling to the sides of vehicles, trying to strike up a conversation through the windows, peering inside in hopes of getting a ride. However, the privacy curtains are drawn everywhere except for the driver's seat.
"Little girl, are you alone? Do you need protection? I can take on three people and be your bodyguard, and I can even warm your bed!"
I floored the gas pedal, ignoring him completely. I just left the man off the car.
I'm beautiful on my own, I don't need those guys with mediocre skills.
Once you've passed the provincial capital, you'll be halfway to the capital.
At their current pace, they should reach the capital in less than a week.
Once we leave the provincial capital, there will be fewer survivors on the road, so we can drive faster.
After driving for four hours straight, even with polarized sunglasses on, Yu Miaomiao felt physically and mentally fatigued, so she switched with Lu An and went to the back of the car to take a nap.
P.S. [A little tip: Driving long distances in snowy conditions can cause "snow blindness" due to the vast white expanse. Wearing polarized sunglasses can make your vision clearer and more natural. Please pay attention to driving safety!]
When she woke up again, the car was already parked outside a forest halfway up the mountain.
"Let's camp here tonight. It's very quiet around here, and there's not much wind or snow in this area."
The forest was filled with white, mutated plants covered in snow and ice. Lu An was unsure whether these plants posed any danger, so he did not venture in rashly.
He Liang, however, relied on his shadow for protection and swaggered into the woods.
So far, the Shadow Walker's ability has no offensive attributes, and even the name was just randomly chosen by Yu Miaomiao, which he thinks is quite fitting.
In terms of escaping and defending alone, his ability must be top-notch and professional.
Even so, he still took out a Swiss Army knife from his backpack as a backup.
This was his only weapon, which he found by chance at a counter in a shopping mall while searching for supplies after the natural disaster, and he found it very handy to use.
He had very few supplies, all of which he had saved by being frugal. Among them were relief grains distributed by the municipality for nearly a month. Apart from some vegetables that couldn't be stored, he carefully preserved the rest of the rice and flour, which he could use to exchange for admission tickets when entering the base.
He wasn't sure if it would be enough, so he would try to do some free shopping if he had the chance along the way.
After walking for more than ten minutes, the mutated plants around us remained calm.
He Liang cautiously extended an arm from the black hole to probe, but apart from the instant numbness caused by the extreme cold, no plants attacked him.
So he stopped in the middle of the forest, staring at the snow-white fruit on a mutated plant. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped out of the shadows, reached out and picked it, and then instantly returned to the shadows.
I encountered many different plants with fruit along the way, so I used the same trick again and quickly unlocked a lot of plant fruit illustrations.
He didn't dare to eat them directly. These fruits were white and smooth on the outside, and had a soft texture like button mushrooms. He felt that they wouldn't taste too bad.
However, I still have some reservations about eating an unknown species directly, afraid of seeing little people and just lying on the board.
"Lu An, look what I found!"
When He Liang returned to the RV, Lu An was adding antifreeze diesel to Unimog.
When stocking up on diesel, I specifically stocked up on some -50 grade antifreeze diesel, but the freezing point of antifreeze diesel is only around minus fifty degrees Celsius, so the action of turning off the engine and refueling must be swift and decisive.
Lu An filled the diesel tank, and with a gesture from Yu Miaomiao, who was already sitting in the driver's seat and ready, he immediately started the vehicle.
If she hadn't given in to pity and provided the tickets, she wouldn't have had any of these troubles while refueling in the space. Yu Miaomiao suddenly regretted agreeing to go with him.
With the help of the two, the RV started smoothly, and Lu An looked down at the dark figure.
"What did you find? Can you bring people in, you shadowy figure?"
Lu An had been into a space before, but never into a black hole, so he was quite curious.
"We found a lot of fruit, but we don't know if we can eat it? Bringing people in? You mean bringing living people into the shadows too?" He Liang had never tried this before. "Why don't you come in and try it?"
"Let's give it a try."
Lu An jumped directly onto the shadow, making a dull sound as he stepped on the ice. Nothing happened, but He Liang reached out and grabbed Lu An's leg, pulling slightly, and Lu An suddenly fell into the shadow.
Yes, it seems that both the space and the shadowy figure require the permission of the ability user or the provision of a medium to enter.
In a sense, He Liang's superpower and space are similar.
Lu An stood in the pitch-black shadows. Because he couldn't share He Liang's vision, he couldn't see anything, only hear He Liang's voice.
"Look at this fruit, it's so big and white, I wonder if it's edible."
Lu An pulled a small, high-powered flashlight from his pocket, barely managing to illuminate a section of the field of vision in the deep darkness.
"Be careful not to eat anything you shouldn't, or you might get sick."
"I haven't even eaten it yet! You're so knowledgeable, could you take a look and tell me if this thing is poisonous?"
"I'm not a botanist." Lu An rolled his eyes. "It's all black here, nothing interesting. Let me out."
"Please take care and welcome back next time."
He Liang pushed Lu An out of the shadows, while Yu Miaomiao sat by the window, her eyes immediately drawn to the white fruit in He Liang's hand.
Ice cake is an edible mutated plant fruit that appeared after a natural disaster.
It tastes like apples, sweet and refreshing, with a soft, fluffy texture like ice jelly. It's also a bit addictive; you can easily eat too much without realizing it.
Growing at high altitudes, its inherent cold-resistant properties prevent it from freezing solid in temperatures tens of degrees below zero; instead, it feels somewhat soft to the touch.
Where did the fruit come from?
"They're everywhere in the woods, are they edible?"
"You can eat it, but don't eat too much. It's too cold in nature, and eating too much can cause diarrhea."
Yu Miaomiao also planned to go into the woods to pick some; these things are edible, but not too much.
Ice cakes are not poisonous, but the stomachs of ordinary people cannot withstand such cold food. Eating one at a time is fine, but eating more than two at a time will cause severe diarrhea and pain.
Moreover... in extreme cold, defecating in the wild is an extremely risky thing to do.
It's very unfriendly to the butt.
In the face of a natural disaster, it's impossible to even find a public toilet.
"What about these? Are they edible? This one looks pretty good, like a durian."
He Liang took out a bunch of oddly shaped fruits from his backpack, as well as some thorny ones.
"It really looks like a durian, but you can't eat it."
After careful examination, Yu Miaomiao learned that the base had studied mutated plants and animals in the previous life and had even published a manual on the consumption of mutated plants and animals, which every survivor in the base knew by heart.
"This is edible."
From a pile of fruit, Yu Miaomiao picked out only one edible one: an iceberry, a mutated fruit similar to a strawberry, but without the sweet taste of a strawberry. It was more like a strawberry in shape, tasted like a banana, and had a slightly starchy, creamy texture.
Mutant fruits produced under extreme cold conditions should not be eaten in large quantities, as they are all considered cold foods.
Eating too much of it will cause diarrhea, and you might even be at risk of collapsing from just one extra bite.
However, it's not entirely unsolvable.
Some Chinese herbal medicines can counteract the damage caused by cold pathogens entering the body. Several kinds of Chinese medicines that dispel cold, relieve pain, replenish qi, and strengthen the spleen are effective for this type of diarrhea. If it is a mutated Chinese herbal medicine, the effect will be even greater.
However, these herbs were hard to find even before the natural disaster, and they are even harder to find after the disaster.