Apocalypse: Last Traveler

"A bright moon rises over the sea, at this moment, we share the same moon from afar..."

Lu Xi'an recalled these two lines of ancient poetry and murmured them.

Hmm... what's next? This poem seems to be a five-character regulated verse, eight lines in total, what comes after?

What we've learned was ultimately returned to the teacher.

Or, we could say now, returned to another world.

"Is this a poem?"

Yao Wei asked. She had read the language textbooks, hence she knew what a poem was.

Lu Xi'an nodded, saying, "Yes, it is."

Yao Wei then praised, "That's amazing."

"..."

Lu Xi'an smiled bitterly in his heart and responded with silence. The knowledge learned in another world had already been returned there, what's so amazing about that?

The moon on the sea, for him, was destined not to be shared at the ends of the earth.

Talking about this only brings a heart full of melancholy...

Li Bai said that people today do not see the ancient moon, yet the moon today has once shone on the ancients. But how could this bright moon before him shine on those people he knew?

When Li Taibai wrote this poem, he probably never imagined there'd be someone in his situation?

As Lu Xi'an gazed at the bright moon seemingly in the sea, amidst his melancholy, a sense of relief and grandeur unknowingly welled up in his heart.

What Li Taibai had not experienced, he had; what the entire world of the past had not seen, he had seen.

Such is the fortune of three lifetimes, why should one mourn the spring, grieve the autumn, and frown with worry?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.

Yao Wei noticed the change in Lu Xi'an's expression and asked, "What's up?"

Lu Xi'an did not answer, but instead asked, "Do you want to listen to a song?"

"Yes."

Yao Wei nodded. She found Lu Xi'an's singing quite nice, even though it didn't have any accompaniment like the music in the laptop, just pure singing, but she liked listening to it.

So, while continuing to stare at the full moon, he softly sang, "I am looking up, above the moon, how many dreams are freely soaring, yesterday forgotten, the wind dried up the sorrows, I want to reunite with you on that vast road..."

After Yao Wei listened to the song, she asked, "Reunite with whom?"

It seemed this woman was getting jealous.

Unexpectedly, this woman could get jealous.

Lu Xi'an turned to look at Yao Wei, smiled, and said, "It's you."

Yao Wei frowned slightly, "Since we met, we've never been apart, where does the reunion come from?"

Lu Xi'an said, "It takes ten years to cultivate the same boat crossing, a hundred years for the same pillow. We must have met in the previous life, so now it's a reunion."

A nonsensical feeling floated in Yao Wei's heart, but she didn't know what to say for a while, holding back for a long time, in the end, she still, as usual, squeezed out an "um", only her lips unknowingly curled up into a smile, unable to stop it.

The moon rose higher and had left the sea horizon. The elongation of the reflection in the sea had retracted into a circle.

Gou faced east, quietly watching the distance, all around seemed unrelated to it.

After watching for a while, waiting for the moon to hang high in the night sky, it was carried back into the car by Yao Wei to continue serving as a power-generator dog, until Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei lay down to sleep, it was instructed by Yao Wei to turn off the lights.

When turning off the lights, Lu Xi'an still said to Yao Wei, "There's sunrise tomorrow, should we get up early again tomorrow to watch the sunrise?"

Yao Wei still replied, "Yes."

Lu Xi'an then said to Gou, "Gou, remember to turn on the lights to wake us before sunrise tomorrow morning."

Alright, now Gou got another task.

And Gou's response, as usual, was: "Mechanical Dog 02 understands."

So, before dawn the next day, Gou turned on the lights in the RV to wake Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei from their sleep.

Lu Xi'an did not open the window shade, got dressed, got up, opened the door, and took a look outside. The cool breeze with a hint of saline seemed like it came from the sea, the moon in the west had turned pale and dimmed, about to set.

The eastern world had also been stained by a touch of brightness, the sea surface rippling, shimmering slightly, seemingly ready, prepared anytime to carry the sunlight.

When writing essays in childhood, it was always about phrases like "the east is tinged with fish-belly white", and only now does Lu Xi'an finally seem to understand what exactly fish-belly white looks like.

The morning sun finally rose, seemingly as big as last night's bright moon, yet seemingly larger, inexplicable and incomprehensible.

On the sea horizon, it looked like a half red disc, striving to occupy the sky above and the earth below, domineering and dazzling, more so than the daytime.

"Feels different from usual when the sun rises,"

Yao Wei remarked.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Is it beautiful?"

Yao Wei replied, "Yes."

The rising sun, of course, is beautiful, also full of hope, making one feel infused with strength.

Under this morning sun, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei started to exercise.

At a certain moment, Lu Xi'an even felt like he had entered some ancient sect, atop this secluded mountain peak, honing himself to become unbeatable, just waiting for the day to descend and showcase.

When will the seawater finally recede, allowing them to descend the mountain?

After exercising and washing up, Lu Xi'an stood at the edge of the mountain and looked down. The sea level that had flooded the city seemed not to have dropped even a bit.

He watched for a while and said, "I wonder if any fish or shrimp came in with the sea? If so, I might as well go down and catch some so we can taste some seafood."

But unexpectedly, Yao Wei decisively stopped him: "Don't go, it's dangerous!"

Lu Xi'an told her it was fine and that he could swim, but Yao Wei wouldn't agree.

It seemed that the surging seawater from yesterday had cast a huge shadow on this woman, making her reluctant to take risks and unwilling to let Lu Xi'an do so either.

"Alright, I won't go."

Lu Xi'an had to compromise, "Then let's take a walk around this mountain and see if there's anything useful."

"Okay."

Yao Wei nodded, agreeing.

So the two of them wandered around the mountain, but most of the time, they stayed in the mid-mountain area and did not descend.

The mountain wasn't exactly big, but it wasn't small either. Who knew if something was hidden there?

Because of this, they dared not stray too far from the mountaintop.

What if they went too far and something or someone came by to threaten the RV? What then?

Even so, they still made a discovery.

In a ravine, they stumbled upon a small water pool.

This pool seemed quite deep, like a spring, yet the spring's source was nowhere to be seen. Yao Wei lifted Gou to investigate, and once confirmed that the water was drinkable, Lu Xi'an tried it. It tasted sweet and pleasant, much better than water drawn from other rivers.

This discovery brought them great joy.

Lu Xi'an said, "This is great. We can replenish our water source and don't have to worry about running out of water."

"Yes."

Yao Wei nodded and said, "The water here tastes good. We can use the water from the car for washing up and this water for drinking and cooking."

Lu Xi'an smiled and said, "Good idea."

Immediately, they returned to the mountaintop and poured all the water from the barrel into the RV's tank, then came back with the barrel to fetch more water.

Then they looked around elsewhere but didn't find anything else useful.

By the time they returned to the mountaintop again, the sun was already high in the sky.

After finishing their tasks, the two prepared to eat.

Lu Xi'an proposed, "How about another meal of corn noodles today? Before, when we were trapped on this mountain, we were afraid of running out of water and didn't dare to use it lavishly.

"But now that we've found a water source, we needn't worry anymore.

"We have fresh greens, crown daisies — boil them with noodles, and it's pretty decent.

"Additionally, there's green onion, long eggplant, carrot, paired with some sausage, cut into cubes, made into a sauce, and poured over the noodles; it's sure to be delicious."

The corn from Institute 923 had already ripened, and they had eaten plenty when they were at the base.

When leaving the 923 Base, they naturally took some with them in the RV. But since they had eaten so much at the base, they hadn't been eating much of it lately.

Now, having gone a while without corn, let alone cornflour noodles, the time spent trapped on the mountaintop seemed perfect for leisurely preparing a noodle dish.

"Yes."

Yao Wei nodded. She didn't quite catch what exactly Lu Xi'an was describing, but his words made her inexplicably feel it was delicious, causing her to swallow her saliva uncontrollably.

Once they made up their minds, they got to work, peeling corn kernels and grinding them into flour by hand, then adding water and kneading the dough.

Next, they spread out the dough and cut it into strips. They didn't need to struggle as before. The RV's equipped kitchen had a small cutting board and even a tiny rolling pin for use.

Lu Xi'an had initially thought this tool could also be used as a hidden weapon, but now it finally served its intended purpose.

Yao Wei rolled out the corn dough and cut it into strips, boiling water, and putting it into the pot — something she had learned from Lu Xi'an last time. She was quite diligent, and once she learned something, she naturally wouldn't forget it easily. Now, when she cooked, she felt at home.

Meanwhile, Lu Xi'an was busy dicing carrots, eggplants, and sausage, while cutting scallions into sections, heating oil in the pot, and frying them.

This sauce couldn't quite become a proper sauce since it lacked cornstarch to thicken it, always missing something.

But it didn't matter; for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei now, it was more than enough.

Without the thickener, they simply added more carrot, eggplant, and sausage cubes. If the sauce couldn't be made, they could still whip up a vegetarian topping.

In the end, the finished product, with oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and a final burst of boiling water, was poured over the noodles. When mixed and brought close to the mouth, it was an exceptional delight.

The two ate to their heart's content, and when Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei if it tasted good, she couldn't even answer in time, a mumbled "yes" emerging from her nose, sounding somewhat muffled.

After only one meal that day, they were full, and there was no more eating at night.

Another day passed, and the two no longer indulged like this, eating simply, and enjoyed watching the sunrise and moonset, occasionally checking the water level below, hoping the sea would withdraw from Yangcai County's town.

But another day went by, and they still hadn't seen the tide recede.

When night fell, however, they saw a boat coming over the sea.

The small boat and the two people on it were incredibly familiar, the very ones they had seen in the mirage.