Chapter 21 sold out

Throughout the morning, several incidents of riots caused by fighting over food were reported in the group chat; going outside seemed to have become somewhat dangerous.

But despite the talk, regardless of whether they had managed to buy food in the past two days, many people still headed out today. Everyone knew that food was becoming harder and harder to buy, and the scarcer it became, the more people wanted to buy it.

It wasn't until the afternoon, after Bai Xiao finished her Compound Bow shooting training, that she noticed the neighborhood group messages had reached 99+ again while she was resting.

【Binhe Mansion Owners Group (496)】

【5#1-1001】: Big news! The Supermarket closest to us has already put up a 'Sold Out' sign for food. If you haven't gone yet, don't bother.

【3#2-604】: For real? Such a big Supermarket.

【4#1-903】: My family and I went to another big Supermarket five kilometers away yesterday, and it was the same situation.

【5#1-1001】: It's true. Even though it's a big Supermarket, no logistics have come in since the fog thickened last Friday and the highways were closed. The Supermarket has been selling its inventory these past few days. Normally it would have lasted a couple more days, but with the recent panic buying, the higher-ups pressured the Supermarket to release several waves of stock, and it hit rock bottom yesterday.

【2#2-701】: What about the wet markets? Has anyone gone?

【1#1-1402】: Fresh produce is perishable and can only be stocked for a day or two at most; it's even more dependent on logistics. The wet markets ran out even earlier. Supermarkets at least have processed products like cookies and canned goods that they aren't afraid to stock and sell.

【2#2-701】: Oh my god, how did it come to this? When will the authorities be able to restock?

【5#2-402】: With such thick fog, how can they transport anything? Even if they want to restock, it's difficult.

【5#1-1301】: What should we do? Does anyone know where we can still buy things? Our supplies at home are running low.

...

Several people in a row asked for the same information, but unfortunately, no one answered anymore, and the messages came to an abrupt halt.

Ding—

A new message came in.

[Xiao Xiao, your cousin is a graduate student at Yunzhou University. She didn't go home for the summer break and is now trapped in her dormitory. Can you go pick her up and let her stay at your place for a few days?]

It was from her biological father, who hadn't contacted her in eight hundred years.

Setting aside the fact that she hadn't seen this cousin since her parents' divorce, Yunzhou University was in another district. It would take an hour and a half to drive there under normal conditions; even if she wanted to go, she couldn't get there now.

This father of hers was truly as entitled and irresponsible as ever. He hadn't cared for her for so many years that sometimes Bai Xiao couldn't help but want to ask her grandmother if he was really her biological father.

To put it bluntly, she wondered if it was possible her mother had an affair and had her with someone else.

Later, during one New Year's, her mother returned from abroad. One night, thinking she was asleep, her grandmother and mother talked about the past. It turned out her father had been on long-term business trips away from home and had long since entertained thoughts of infidelity. Whether he had acted on them was unknown, but it became the fuse for their divorce.

Since then, Bai Xiao's relationship with her father had grown increasingly distant.

[Can't go.] Bai Xiao replied simply.

She then opened her chat history with her mother. The last message was from two days ago when she told her mother she was going to stockpile some daily necessities. Her mother had been too busy to reply, only sending a 'Good' at some point later.

Bai Xiao let out a cold laugh. Perhaps she truly had a weak connection with her parents. Her mother was slightly better than her father; although she hadn't raised her personally, she had at least sent plenty of living expenses since she was little and even left her an apartment. That was already quite good.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Xiao asked her if she had ever given her father the home address.

After a long time, her mother said no, and Bai Xiao felt relieved.

As for whether her father continued to send messages, Bai Xiao didn't look again. She put down her phone and immersed herself in the next round of training.

...

July 7, 2092, Tuesday. The seventh day since Bai Xiao left the game, and also the seventh day since the fog arrived. Today, the visibility in the heavy fog was already less than 50 meters; the residential building opposite was reduced to a very faint silhouette.

Today, the neighborhood group wasn't as lively as the previous days. Almost all the messages sent were pleas for help—some offering high prices for food, others wanting to barter. It seemed these were all people who had started stockpiling late and hadn't managed to grab much food once the crowds grew.

Meanwhile, on the internet, the current situations in different cities were highly polarized. The trending videos all came from cities where the heavy fog had descended suddenly.

Ever since the news of the heavy fog blanketing the entire country was released on Sunday afternoon...

In places like Yunzhou City where the fog developed slowly, most people had stockpiled more or less food before the situation escalated. Although the public's mood was panicky, the overall social order remained relatively stable.

However, in those cities that were originally normal, the sudden descent of the heavy fog left them with no preparation. Normal social life was abruptly interrupted. The anomaly of the fog combined with news reports caused panic to spread among the masses.

Residents near Supermarkets were the first to stockpile a lot of supplies. Those further away either got lost shortly after leaving home or finally managed to grope their way to a Supermarket only to find it had long been picked clean.

Seeing this situation, individual fruit and vegetable shops and small convenience stores also closed early for self-protection. This led to some people being very wealthy in supplies while others couldn't buy any food at all.

The most terrifying part wasn't even this. The sudden descent of the heavy fog caused a series of collisions among a large number of vehicles that were originally driving normally, resulting in numerous major traffic accidents. Cars piled up on streets and highways.

Countless vehicles blocked the roads completely. Combined with the fog affecting visibility and there being too many accident sites, rescue forces such as the police, fire department, and medical services could not reach every location in time. This caused the death toll to soar continuously, becoming impossible to count.

Bloody incidents over food were playing out everywhere in the cities. In less than two days, the entire urban order had completely collapsed.

Cities were spatially severed from one another by this heavy fog. Even if cities that hadn't fallen into major chaos had the spare capacity and wanted to help, they were powerless.

Cities were forced to become isolated islands, with only the internet remaining as the last thread of connection that hadn't been cut.

...

July 8, 2092, the eighth day of the fog disaster. Today the fog was so thick that one couldn't see their own fingers in front of them. Standing by the window, Bai Xiao felt as if she were standing among the clouds.

At nine o'clock, shortly after Bai Xiao left the game course training room, a sudden, urgent knocking sounded at her door.

She cautiously lightened her steps, drew the dagger from her back and hid it behind her, then slowly approached the door. Through the peephole, she saw a young man and woman; they were also leaning in toward her peephole to look inside.

Bai Xiao was caught off guard and startled by the eyeball. Fortunately, the peephole was one-way, and the people outside couldn't see into the house at all.

After waiting a while and hearing no reaction from inside, the woman nudged the man with her elbow and said, "I told you no one's here. This place has been under renovation before and there's been no movement for a long time. Look, there's nothing in their shoe cabinet, how could anyone be home?"

"Fine, fine, let's go then. Let's check the next house," the man said impatiently, and the two of them headed toward the neighbor's door.

Bai Xiao thought it was lucky she had moved in a hurry and had the storage slot space. Recently, she had gotten used to taking items directly from the storage slots for use, so the shoe cabinet outside the door was indeed unused.

Knocking soon sounded at the neighbor's door as well. The pair seemed to know someone was there. Seeing that no one opened the door, they shouted loudly outside, "Hello? Is anyone there? We're your neighbors from upstairs, we've met before. We really have no food left at home. Does your family have any extra? We can buy it for double, no, triple the price!"

"Open the door!"

Bang, bang, bang! The woman kept pounding on the door. Seeing that no one was opening it, the man seemed to grow angry and began thumping and kicking the door.

After waiting a while, the two of them eventually left grumbling toward the two units on the west side.

Seeing the two walk away, Bai Xiao tucked the dagger back into the sheath on her belt and returned to the living room. People without supplies were already unable to restrain themselves!