Compared to the back mountain, the park's conditions were way worse. This was where the floods had drowned everything during the second year. Now that the water had finally receded, what lay beneath was a monster's face revealed.
The riverbed was nothing but sludge and muck mixed with rotting garbage, poisonous bugs, and moldy debris. All kinds of junk had settled at the bottom, blocking paths everywhere.
Even from a distance, you could smell that rancid stench, sharp and sour, like something had been rotting for ages. It was enough to make anyone gag. Just like before the apocalypse, when the back mountain couldn't hold everyone, people had been shoved here as a backup.
Jing Shu never thought she'd end up here again. Fate really had a habit of pushing her into the same corners over and over.
"Dad, how about we just stay outside instead of driving the RV into the park? The flood just pulled back, and look at all those muddy pits. I don't think the RV can handle it." Her sharp eyes took in what was once a lush green park. Now it looked like a trash heap.
Even the flood shelters had been better than this dump. Too bad earthquakes hit the mountains, so they'd been forced to move everyone into this swampy park.
Jing An frowned. "You two tidy up inside and be careful. I'll ask around first, see where we can park."
When it came down to it, the man of the house still stepped up.
Inside, Jing Shu and Su Lanzhi lifted all the stuff that had toppled over. Even the broken things were saved. Grandpa Jing insisted he'd find a way to glue them back together.
They were lucky earlier. Grandma Jing had been holding Xiao Dou, so when the quake threw her, she would've hit headfirst on the floor. But Xiao Dou fell first, and Grandma Jing's head landed right on the hen's sturdy body.
The bird squawked twice, but tough as an ox, she was fine. Grandma Jing had been so terrified she couldn't even scream, only recovering after a long moment.
Grateful, she scooped up all the spilled soy-meat sauce and fed it to Xiao Dou. "Eat, eat. You saved my life. You're a good chicken. Tonight you get a feast."
Xiao Dou was thrilled, eyes gleaming. With her little bird brain, she still figured out that saving family members meant getting rewarded with her favorite food. From now on, she'd keep an eye out.
Beasts will never be slaves! Unless you offer room and board!
The RV still shuddered now and then. Jing Shu rushed upstairs to check the livestock. She half expected shattered tanks and chaos, but it wasn't that bad. Some water had spilled, a few fish flopped on the ground, but she tossed them back in.
The livestock cabin, though, was a disaster. This was the RV's first real trial in a natural disaster. One sheep's horn had rammed right into the partition, stabbing a hole clean through. The poor thing bleated pitifully, looking wronged. Chickens had gone wild, pigs had crushed others under their weight, and one unlucky hen was dead. Jing Shu picked it up, planning to roast it later.
A rabbit had even leapt onto the roof and was now trembling, stuck there like a fool. She grabbed it down too.
The place reeked of chicken shit. It smeared the floor, even streaked across the walls.
Jing Shu sighed hard. She tapped into the Rubik's Cube Space and cleaned everything up, then handed the broken partition to Grandpa Jing. "See if you can fix this. We need to modify the cabin so each animal has its own cage. Otherwise, every quake will send them flying. If one of them crashes into my room next time, I'll lose it."
She cursed herself for ever thinking keeping livestock in the RV was a good idea. If they couldn't even survive the third year's quakes like this, how would they survive the great migration in year five? That journey would be endless chaos.
Not long after, Jing An returned with news. The quakes in the back mountain were too strong, so everyone there had been moved here too. Nothing outside was safe anymore. Xuanwu Lake Park was the only zone without active epicenters. Dirty or not, they had no choice but to hide here.
He added that the staff were actually welcoming. "They said RVs and cars get special VIP spots. They just cleared them. It's safer inside than staying out here where quakes keep hitting."
"Fine. As long as we don't end up living on a garbage heap, whatever." Jing Shu let out a heavy sigh. This was bound to happen anyway.
In her last life, when the quake hit, everyone bolted so fast they didn't even bother grabbing clothes. They came out with nothing. Floods had been bad, sure, but quakes were killers. Back then, she'd been bitten horribly by carrion scavengers in the muddy swamps. Unlike mosquitoes that only itched, those bastards left swollen, throbbing wounds.
The German MAN had already parked near the lake before the back mountain group arrived. Spotlights lit up the towering RV, and guards stopped them at the gate.
Jing Shu and Jing An got out. Two men were checking vehicles. Jing An pointed at the RV and smiled. "Comrade, it's this one. One hundred virtual coins to get in, right?"
The leader frowned. "Uncle, the RV you mentioned isn't this big. Entry's free for people. Small cars are thirty, big ones fifty, RVs a hundred. Yours is oversized, so two hundred. We charge by space, or else everyone would drag in huge vehicles. Where would the rest go? Besides, we've cleared you a proper spot. Otherwise, you can try parking in the slums."
Jing An hesitated, then nodded. "As long as this is official state business, we'll pay."
"Don't worry. Just scan the Wu City government code. It's all trackable in the database."
Anything that showed up in the database wasn't private extortion, so Jing An accepted it. Still, it hurt to part with ten months of savings in one shot.
For Jing Shu, it was eye-opening. In her past life, she walked in on foot. This time, they had to pay two hundred just to pass. She couldn't say if the fee was reasonable, but the man's warm smile screamed trouble. Too friendly always meant a scam.
"Xiao Wang, take them to VIP No. 3. Show them the rules."
"Got it, boss. Come with me."
The spot wasn't bad at all. It used to be the park's parking lot, wide and open, with no buildings that could collapse. Even if quakes hit, it was safe. The trash had mostly been cleared, though a thick layer of mud still squelched underfoot with every step.
The lot was a square about the size of a soccer field, the painted lines long gone.