Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 426 Quick Disguise

Xu Xiaoyan didn't urge her anymore. She turned around and went back to her tent, put her backpack on her shoulder, checked the zippers and buckles, and made sure everything was in place.

Less than ten minutes later, Blue Moon emerged from the tent.

Her hair was tied haphazardly at the back of her head, and her face still looked sleepy.

But his eyes were already focused, and his movements were nimble, clearly indicating that he was the kind of person who could immediately get into a state of mind once he woke up.

She zipped up the tent, slung her backpack over her shoulder, nodded to Xu Xiaoyan, and silently said, "Let's go."

The two didn't say anything more, and walked one after the other along the hardened path in the camp, heading down to the trading point.

When Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue arrived at the trading point, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

However, there were already people at the entrance of the trading point.

A crooked line snaked out from the tightly closed gate, turned a corner along the wall, and then stretched out quite a distance into the open space next to it.

Xu Xiaoyan glanced at them briefly; there were probably more than twenty people.

Some stood yawning, some squatted on the ground eating dry food, and a few simply laid out moisture-proof mats at their feet and dozed off, half-lying and half-sitting.

The two exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, they took off running to the back of the line.

After standing at the back of the line, Xu Xiaoyan finally breathed a sigh of relief; they had managed to get ahead of the main group.

But she knew in her heart that once those who had been up until midnight last night woke up, the group would expand at a visible speed.

She stood still for a moment, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over the people in line ahead of her.

Some of the faces looked familiar; when they came to exchange pine resin yesterday evening, those people kept staring at them.

I followed them from the counter to the scale, and then from the scale to the door, until they slipped through the side door and disappeared into the night.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat. Without making a sound, she turned to the side, took the backpack off her shoulder, and pretended to fix the zipper.

Using this action, I glanced at them again to confirm, and yes, they were the same ones.

One of the young men, who was squatting on the side of the line eating a biscuit, had been at the front of the line last night, running up the mountain.

It seems only a matter of time before they are recognized.

Xu Xiaoyan removed her hand from the backpack zipper and reached into the side compartment of the backpack.

My fingertips touched a soft piece of fabric, and I quickly pulled it out; it was a black face mask.

She skillfully hung the mask on her ears, pressed the metal nose clip firmly against the bridge of her nose, and immediately only her eyebrows and eyes were visible on her face.

That's not enough! She put her backpack at her feet and tucked her hands behind her head.

She ran her fingers through her hair, deftly twisting it into a tight bun, then wrapped it twice around the back of her head to make sure no stray hairs fell down.

Then she took out a dark baseball cap from the side pocket of her backpack, put it on her head, and pulled the brim down so low that it almost covered her eyebrows.

Most of his face was covered, leaving only a narrow slit for him to see.

At first, Lan Yue didn't react. She tilted her head and looked at her for two seconds, then her pupils widened slightly. She understood!

Without saying a word, she unzipped her backpack, rummaged through it for a while, and pulled out a smoky gray scarf from the bottom.

This scarf was originally intended to be tucked into the bottom of my bag as cushioning; it was all wrinkled, but it was long and wide enough.

Lan Yue wrapped the scarf around her neck twice, then pulled it up, covering her from her chin to the bridge of her nose, leaving only her eyes and a section of her forehead exposed.

The end of the scarf was tucked into the collar of the coat to secure it, and the entire face was completely covered, so even her own mother might not recognize her.

She seemed to think it wasn't enough, so she cleared her throat, deliberately lowered her voice, and occasionally bent down to cough once or twice.

Her voice was muffled behind her scarf, sounding like that of a frail middle-aged woman, completely different from her usual clear and crisp voice.

Xu Xiaoyan glanced at her sideways, her eyes crinkling slightly, and silently gave her a thumbs up.

Lan Yue blinked, a hint of smugness flashing in her eyes, then lowered her head, buried her face in her scarf, and continued to cough faintly.

Some of the people in line ahead glanced back at them and saw that they were two figures wrapped up tightly, one wearing a black mask and the other a gray scarf, but they didn't pay much attention.

These days, all sorts of people come to the trading point to exchange goods, and many of them don't want to show their faces.

Some people are afraid of being recognized, some are afraid of being targeted, and some simply don't want to greet people.

The man's gaze lingered on the two of them for only a moment before turning back to stare blankly at the tightly closed trading post doors.

Xu Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief, but her body remained tense.

She kept her head down, the brim of her hat obscuring most of her vision, and stared at the heels of the person in front of her without saying a word.

Lan Yue stood behind her, her breathing slightly rapid beneath her scarf.

The sky brightened a bit more.

On the mountain road in the distance, several beams of flashlight were moving in this direction, and the sounds of voices and footsteps could be faintly heard.

Twenty or thirty more people joined the end of the line, quietly lining up behind them.

No one spoke; everyone was waiting.

As it approached seven o'clock, there were at least a hundred people in line in front of the trading point, and more and more people were still jogging in from the direction of the mountain road to join.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the tightly closed door, as if if they stared long enough, the door would open on its own.

Just then, six figures walked in from different directions of the camp.

Sergeant Wu walked at the front, followed by Sergeant Wang and sergeants from the other four regiments. Some had their hands behind their backs, while others had roll call lists in their hands, and their gaits varied.

But their expressions were surprisingly consistent, all carrying a calm composure born of worldly experience, and a hint of undisguised helplessness.

They had clearly heard about the "spectacle" last night and anticipated this scene this morning.

But when they actually saw the long queue stretching from the entrance of the trading point all the way to the big willow tree by the roadside, they all paused involuntarily.

Sergeant Wang placed his hand on his brow bone, squinted at the length of the line, and made a "whoosh" sound. He turned to the sergeant next to him and muttered something, but the other sergeant shook his head slightly and didn't reply.

Sergeant Wu was the first to react.

He didn't walk to the front of the line, nor did he shout for everyone to return to the original meeting point, which was obviously unrealistic.

These people are completely captivated by the trading point; they can't be roused by shouting.

He glanced around and quickly chose a relatively open flat area to the side of the group.

He stood about ten meters away from the queue, so that he wouldn't disturb the people waiting in line, yet his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

He walked over and stood still, holding the roll call list to his left and raising his right hand in mid-air to signal the other sergeants to come over.