My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

His hometown was rich in bamboo, and many people knew how to make and play bamboo flutes. His maternal grandfather was an expert. In addition, he could also use bamboo to weave items like baskets, winnowing fans, dustpans, chairs, and beds.

In the past, he would also take some to the market to sell, but since many families could make these handcrafted goods themselves, they couldn’t fetch a high price. It was barely enough to supplement the family’s income.

His little cousin didn’t come along. Even though he was in elementary school, he had a lot of winter break homework. Li Xiang told him to save the hard parts, and he’d help him with them later when he and his sister came over to visit.

His little cousin had just started his vacation yesterday. Today was the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. Elementary schools let out a bit earlier, while high schools didn’t get out until the twenty-fourth.

...

On the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Xiang went to the market and bought many large grass carp, along with some cheap, high-proof white liquor, to come back and make cured fish.

Sichuan Province, the "Celestial Country," was full of rivers, so its fishery resources were also quite abundant.

Li Xiang bought a full eighteen large grass carp, all of them weighing over five kilograms. The largest one was a full twenty kilograms.

Naturally, these large grass carp were the best for making cured fish. They were big, with thin skin, thick flesh, and a fresh flavor. The resulting cured fish had a brilliant color, a strong cured aroma, and a great texture. Even after long-term storage, the meat would remain plump and taste especially fragrant when eaten.

Fish like silver carp and bighead carp, on the other hand, might look big, but after being cured and dried, they were basically just a "thin shell" of skin and bones. There was no meat to eat, but it was a shame to throw them away.

Li Xiang was by the Overlapping Waterfall, scaling and gutting the large grass carp. The mother cat and her five kittens had been playing far away, but at the smell of fish, they came running over with a WHOOSH.

The mother cat and her five kittens were fed Spirit Medicine Porridge by Li Xiang every day. The "Spicy Strips" they had caught before were all gone, so now they were eating meat porridge with a side of dried fish. Every one of them was strong and healthy, running as fast as lightning and with the vigor of a tiger.

Xiaobai was the biggest of the litter. Although it looked simple and honest, it was gradually developing an indescribable, domineering air, and even the dairy cow cat no longer dared to bully it. When neighbors came to visit, they all praised how well the kittens were growing.

Granny privately mentioned that when the mother cat gave birth to a litter of five, she had worried they wouldn’t all survive. She thought a few might die, because such a large litter often results in some kittens being born with deficiencies and dying young. She never expected them all to grow up so well.

Li Xiang couldn’t help but smile to himself. ’They get their fill of Spirit Medicine Porridge every day, on top of eating wild boar and snake meat, with dried fish for snacks. How could they not grow up well?’

The little kittens came over and meowed incessantly. The dairy cow cat was a particularly bold one; it went right up and tried to bite the twenty-kilogram grass carp, wanting to drag it away. Li Xiang and his granny laughed their heads off.

"You call that a bite? You’re just licking it!"

Lick, lick, lick, it couldn’t even leave a scratch. If Li Xiang hadn’t already killed the grass carp, it probably could have swallowed the kitten in one gulp.

Li Xiang washed his hands, took out his phone, and recorded a video of the little kittens trying to drag the big fish. He then posted it to his social media account.

The mother cat was smarter and knew the rules. She didn’t touch the big fish, but instead snatched two swim bladders, hid off to the side, and called her kittens over to eat.

Swim bladders were actually good stuff—a source of fish collagen, with nutritional benefits like improving skin, strengthening the immune system, promoting brain development, protecting eyesight, and stimulating appetite. But his granny was too old to chew them, and as for Li Xiang, he spoiled the kittens so much he’d willingly give them the whole fish, let alone just the swim bladders.

And sure enough, Li Xiang chopped off a meaty fish tail. Worried the kittens’ mouths were too small to bite it easily, he even took his knife and scored it a few times before placing it on a large Stone slab nearby. With a "MROW," the mother cat led her little ones over.

As for the swim bladders from before, they had long been devoured without a trace.

Er Huang and the Little Fox watched from the side with looks of disgust. These two little things had practically become sentient; they no longer ate raw, bloody food. They were also very particular now—if their dog bowl was dirty, they wouldn’t eat from it.

If their master didn’t wash it, Er Huang, urged on by the Little Fox, would carry the bowl in his mouth to the Overlapping Waterfall to rinse it out.

Although the Little Fox was a red fox, looking like a fiery cloud from a distance, upon closer inspection, you could see some black or white fur inside its ears, around its nose, on its paws, under its jaw, and on its belly.

But with over 90% of its body covered in red fur, it was already extremely rare and precious.

Its appearance was secondary; the most important thing was that it was highly Spiritual—even more so than Er Huang.

Li Xiang had found a Breathing Technique in his system suitable for the Demon Race called the "Spirit Fox Moon Worship Technique." Creatures like foxes, wolves, and dogs could all practice its Cultivation. It was much simpler than Li Xiang’s own Shennong Longevity Spell, and he secretly taught it to them every night in the backyard.

According to the description of this Demon Race Breathing Technique, practicing Breathing exercises while facing a full Moon would enhance the effects of Cultivation. Unfortunately, there were no Extraordinary Particles at present, and the Moon was just an ordinary moon, so they still needed the aid of Spiritual Medicine.

During the dark age of the Apocalypse, although the Moon in the sky would be gone, the concentration of Lunar-Attribute particles would be extremely high, so Cultivation would still be possible. The "moon worship" aspect was really just a metaphysical formality and not truly important.

As for the kittens, their Spiritual aptitude was relatively poor, so he couldn’t teach them the Breathing Technique yet. Li Xiang had tried a few times, but they didn’t react at all and made no effort to follow along.

Xiaosanhua did try to copy him once, but it was just a simple "huff" of air! It couldn’t grasp the profound and subtle changes within the Breathing Technique.

Er Huang was actually a bit slow as well, but he had found himself a good "wife." The Little Fox seemed to understand a "foreign language," or perhaps "dog language." For the parts Er Huang didn’t understand or performed incorrectly, the Little Fox would "teach on the master’s behalf." She would go over and use her paws to help him, pressing here and there on his belly while letting out a "CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP~," as if she were explaining it.

Whenever he saw this, Li Xiang would think, ’This dog really lucked out. He’s definitely punching above his weight.’

Because of this, Li Xiang treated the Little Fox even better. There was no other reason; he was just afraid she would get tired of his dog and dump him.

And so, the scene in Li Xiang’s backyard at night was rather bizarre.

Li Xiang would sit on a large Stone in the Chicken Blood Stone Jungle, holding a large wine gourd. He’d take a sip of wine and then, like an enlightened master, begin to lecture and demonstrate.

Below him, the Little Fox and the dog would be standing on their hind legs like obedient little students, their fox eyes and dog eyes shining brightly as they followed his every move.

Occasionally, Li Xiang would, as if by magic, produce a small white porcelain cup and pour a little Spirit Wine for the Little Fox and the dog to taste.

The Little Fox could really hold her liquor and loved to drink it. She knew it contained potent Medicinal Power, and her eyes would gleam as she drank.

Er Huang’s tolerance was much lower. He’d stick his tongue out after just one lick, overwhelmed by the spiciness.

Li Xiang would scold him, saying he couldn’t even compare to a girl. The Little Fox would join Li Xiang in mocking Er Huang. Not wanting to back down, Er Huang would take several more licks, and then end up stumbling around drunkenly.

The days spent in their company made Li Xiang very happy.

The only thing these two little creatures couldn’t do was talk.

But occasionally, Li Xiang would find himself dearly missing Dahuang. He had died a rather tragic and early death. If not for that... SIGH. You could only say that every dog has its own fate.

He decided that from now on when hunting wild boars, he wouldn’t use Hunting Dogs. He’d go straight to using radar and drones.

The drone he’d bought before was too small and only had an infrared camera. But now, there were many civilian drones equipped with active phased-array radar. He was rich now and could afford one.

And surprisingly, standalone civilian-grade radars were also sold on the market—gallium nitride active phased-array ones, at that.

That was just insane.

You had to know, some foreign warships, even the Beautiful Country’s Aegis Shield, were still using passive phased-array radar.

The Chicken Blood Stones in his yard were all of very poor quality. They were just large, ordinary Stones with some dark red or dark yellow veins or spots on them. They looked colorful, but that was all; they weren’t valuable.

When neighbors came to visit, they would see the Stones and just think they looked nice. They’d ask where he dug them up, and Li Xiang would just make something up, saying he got them from this or that mountain. The neighbors were old; even if they knew where to find them, they wouldn’t have the energy to get such Stones.

Not only would they be unable to dig them up, they couldn’t carry them back even if they did.

Naturally, the neighbors wouldn’t go digging. Even if the mountain was right on their doorstep, they didn’t have the strength for such an endeavor. They simply envied Granny Li Xiang for having her grandson at home with her, fixing up the place so nicely, unlike their own homes where it was just the two old folks, their children and grandchildren all having to work away from home to earn money.

Whenever this happened, Granny Li Xiang would be grinning from ear to ear; you couldn’t imagine how happy she was.

Having acquired two new bamboo flutes, Li Xiang began to try playing them.