The wind was howling fiercely, whipping up dust and stones that obscured the sky, rapidly dispersing the visible light around them.
“I can’t run anymore…” The girl clung to her mother’s hand, collapsing to her knees and gasping for breath.
The woman, who had been dragging her daughter forward, came to a halt.
Surveying their surroundings, there was nothing to shelter them from the relentless wind and sand except for a few clumps of withered grass on the ground. She knew that even if there were shelter, it would be meaningless in the face of the impending danger.
Those things hidden in the sandstorm, concealed in the approaching darkness, were unseen by anyone and could easily devour ordinary humans like them.
All they could do now was run, run forward, just like the few people ahead of them who had already disappeared without a trace, running for their lives.
In the distance, a massive black shadow, faintly visible through the yellow sand, was their destination. Arriving there before it was swallowed by the darkness might be their only chance to survive.
In her anxiety, she roughly pulled her daughter up from the ground, gasping for air and shouting with difficulty: “We’re almost there! Just five hundred more steps, and we’ll be there! Do you see the black mountain ahead? We’re almost there! We can’t stop here…”
As she spoke, the sand and dust had already filled her mouth, choking her to the point where she could hardly breathe. She didn’t have time to adjust the scarf wrapped around her face and just tightened the cloth wrapped around her daughter’s head, silently pulling her forward to continue running.
The daughter didn’t utter another word, stumbling as she was dragged forward, her depleted strength not allowing her to make a sound.
Ahead was a mountain—a black mountain.
“I thought today would be a calm day,” Qiu Shi said softly.
A crazed figure running frantically appeared several hundred meters outside the protective wall, just as a blue bolt of lightning struck down from behind.
And there was more blue lightning flashing in the distance amidst the sandstorm, as if chasing the running figure and slowly pressing in this direction.
Qiu Shi watched through binoculars.
“It’s getting closer,” Zhao Lü said, standing beside him, squinting in the same direction, pulling his scarf tighter and flexing his arm a bit, feeling a bit uneasy.
Even though in the current strong wind, without the aid of equipment, he could only see chaos everywhere except for the large-scale lightning, based on years of experience, he could still judge what was happening over there. There were definitely people over there; otherwise, Qiu Shi wouldn’t be so interested in staring.
Sandstorms were not uncommon; they occurred every now and then, and it was a daily routine that everyone had grown accustomed to. What made Zhao Lü uneasy were the densely packed lightning storms called the “jungle” that had appeared in recent years and the things that might appear along with the lightning.
The appearance of the “jungle” was unpredictable, with the only rule being that it moved from south to north. For ordinary people without protection, encountering it was a matter of luck, and once encountered, survival was not a matter of luck.
They would surely die.
The person leading the way stumbled but quickly struggled to get back up. It was evident that his stamina was depleted, and he relied solely on his willpower to continue.
Within seconds, several more figures appeared behind him. This time, there were quite a few of them.
“Do you think they can make it?” Zhao Lü leaned in and quietly asked, “How about betting on today’s body count?”
Qiu Shi lowered his binoculars, wiped the dust off the lens with the hem of his clothes, and then raised the binoculars back to his eyes. After a moment, he answered, “They’re all goners.”
“Alright.” Zhao Lü nodded and squinted his eyes as he continued to watch. Even though Qiu Shi had never won, their gambling remained the same, simple and boring.
If these people couldn’t enter the protective tunnel before being engulfed by the “jungle,” they would all die. However, the tunnel was not at the foot of the mountain. For defensive reasons, the tunnel’s entrance was on a cliff nearly a hundred meters above the ground. When they reached this point, they would still need to climb the rugged stone slope on their own…
Zhao Lü glanced at his timer; the tunnel’s opening hours were about to end. Even if they didn’t encounter the “jungle,” these people might not make it into the city today, although they wouldn’t die. But what would it matter if they did make it into the city?
“There are children too.” Qiu Shi saw a mother and daughter stumbling between two bolts of lightning.
“Where? Are you sure?” Zhao Lü asked eagerly. It had been almost half a year since they had seen many children among the refugees entering the city.
Qiu Shi handed the binoculars over to him, lowered the wind visor on his head, and walked out of the shelter.
“Where are you going?” Zhao Lü immediately shouted, turning to look at Qiu Shi while taking a quick glance through the binoculars, confirming the presence of the mother and daughter.
Qiu Shi didn’t answer, and Zhao Lü chased after him. He couldn’t see anyone, but he heard the sound of an engine. He shouted in a hushed voice, “Brother Shi! It’s one thing on normal days, but today the people from the main office are still down there!”
“Who cares?!” Someone nearby shouted loudly.
When Zhao Lü turned his head to look, a four-wheel motorcycle leaped from behind the shelter’s rocks, burst out of the protective wall, and landed on the gentle slope outside.
In his peripheral vision, he saw Qiu Shi’s signature blue tattered scarf trailing behind him, an inch away from being inevitably caught in the wheels but miraculously avoiding it every time.
Who cares, huh?” Zhao Lü pointed in Qiu Shi’s direction and looked at the person next to him. “Then go with him.”
“My abilities don’t allow me to be so audacious,” Hu Xiaoling still said loudly, giving an earnest reply.
The engine’s sound carried far in the wind, and several people in the shelters came out, climbing to the top of the shelters. Someone used their handheld spotlight to illuminate Qiu Shi’s path ahead.
In less than a minute, Qiu Shi had already reached the halfway point on the slope.
“What’s going on?” The only person in the lower shelter who hadn’t climbed to the top shouted with binoculars in hand. He was the team leader sent by the company. “Who went out?”
No one answered. Everyone kept their eyes on Qiu Shi, and the light from the spotlight moved ahead of him, staying not far from him. It continued until a glint in the rocks lit up, and Qiu Shi came to a stop.
“Qiu Shi!” The team leader yelled into the walkie-talkie. “Qiu Shi! Answer immediately! Explain your current actions!”
“He didn’t take that thing,” Zhao Lü replied, pulling the walkie-talkie from his waist.
“Why didn’t he take it?” The team leader asked.
“He’s sick,” Zhao Lü said.
“What? Who are you?” The team leader was very surprised and even forgot to keep an eye on Qiu Shi. He looked around, trying to find the person holding the walkie-talkie. “Who are you cursing at?”
“Qiu Shi,” Zhao Lü said. “He’s sick.”
Several people around the team leader burst into laughter.
The burst of light from below the rocky slope suddenly interrupted the team leader’s anger, and when he looked down again, his anger flared up once more: “What is he trying to do?”
–
“Do you see it?” The woman pointed at the faintly visible halo and letters in the black mist ahead. Though she didn’t understand the meaning, her fingers were trembling with excitement. “That’s not lightning! Someone is signaling us!”
Happy.
“I saw it.” The little girl picked up her pace immediately.
“It’s closer than the gate they mentioned!” The woman said it confidently. “Closer than the gate. We can make it! Someone is signaling us there! That’s the safe place!”
“Okay,” the little girl nodded.
Just a few simple letters ignited the last traces of energy in the bodies of the struggling mother and daughter. With clear feedback, the exhaustion they had felt seemed to be replenished. That place, which looked much closer than they had imagined, was their hope.
“What on earth is he doing?” the team leader whispered, his binoculars shifting between the people trying to enter the city and Qiu Shi. “Where did he get that thing?”
Qiu Shi had a small floating sphere by his shoulder, which was a companion robot. It could take on various appearances, and most people chose animal-like forms. So, these things were often referred to as “little pets” by those living inside the city. Little pets could provide simple functions such as video calls, taking photos, and scanning ID cards.
Of course, they could also use lasers to project meaningless words onto the approaching black sandstorm.
This thing was not uncommon, but in the team leader’s understanding, it should never have appeared by Qiu Shi’s side.
Qiu Shi and his team were corpse collectors who were not allowed to enter the inner city.
This was another suspicious incident to be recorded and reported.
The team leader’s binoculars shifted to the slope, where Qiu Shi remained motionless on his motorcycle.
Turning to the distance, people continued to fall amidst the increasingly intense lightning.
Back on the slope, Qiu Shi and his pet sphere remained motionless.
In the distance, the mother and daughter were struck by a lightning bolt while running, collapsing to the ground instantly, motionless. Simultaneously, the “happy” message projected on the black mist disappeared.
The team leader quickly turned toward the slope… The engine roared.
Qiu Shi’s motorcycle also reversed direction and charged back up the slope, its wheels scraping against rocks and crevices, producing white smoke,even sparking at some point.
It seemed this bike had been heavily modified, but no matter how strong the modifications were, descending the slope was easier than coming back up. Going uphill with lightning and sparks was a challenge; one slight misjudgment could send both the rider and the bike tumbling to the bottom of the hill.
A ripple-like halo flashed behind Qiu Shi, and after the halo disappeared, the lightning struck, creating a web-like pattern of light threads in the air.
The protective net had opened.
It was the first time for the team leader to go out on a mission outside the city and witness the protective net deployment. He was stunned, taking a few seconds to appreciate the fireworks-like display before snapping back to reality. He turned and rushed back to the shelter, heading for the tunnel leading up the slope.
“Team leader,” a few of Qiu Shi’s men quickly followed.
“Why are you following me?” He asked while running, turning his head.
“Brother Shi said we have to stick with you wherever you go,” the burly one at the forefront replied. “Outside is not like the city; one moment of carelessness, and you could lose your life… He’s afraid you’re not familiar with the environment and might encounter accidents.”
He sneered and only spoke when they reached the shelter that served as Qiu Shi’s “office”: “You want to monitor me, aren’t you?”
“Isn’t that your job?” Qiu Shi’s voice came from the front.
This person was indeed fast; in a short time, he had already parked the car and returned to the shelter.
This man was quite fast; in just this short time, he had parked his vehicle and returned to the shelter.
“Qiu Shi,” he was genuinely angry now, walking up to Qiu Shi and pointing his finger at his nose, “Don’t talk to me like this. I remind you that I didn’t come here to play hide and seek with you for no reason, and I am not your subordinate! I am appointed by the head office…”
“I don’t buy into this. I call the shots here,” Qiu Shi interrupted him, pulling down the goggles on his head impatiently. “Don’t talk about being a team leader. Even if you’re a captain, outside the tunnel, you’re just a loud fart.”
The team leader looked at Qiu Shi: “I am the captain. My last name is Xiao.”
Several people in the room fell into silence. It became a bit awkward. Qiu Shi glanced at Zhao Lü, and Zhao Lü cleared his throat.
The team leader had introduced himself that way, but even if he was a captain surnamed Xiao, this eagerness to claim a nickname demonstrated that his brain might not be functioning at its best. For the rest of his challenging time working here, the nickname “Loud Fart” would stick with him.
“Get out.” Qiu Shi gestured to Zhao Lü with a tilt of his head.
Zhao Lü and a few others left the shelter.
“Xiao… Captain,” Qiu Shi used the correct titles, wiping his face with his sleeve. “Sit.”
“Xiao Lei, just call me by my name,” Xiao Lei said. Qiu Shi’s face, where the goggles didn’t protect, was marked with fine cuts from small stones whipped up by the strong wind, oozing blood. However, Qiu Shi seemed unfazed. He pointed at Qiu Shi’s face and said, “Don’t you need to attend to these wounds first?”
Qiu Shi touched his face and chuckled: “You call these wounds?”
“Since there’s no need to tend to them, let’s begin.” Xiao Lei took out his little pet and gently tossed it into the air. It was a cat-shaped, small drone. “Capture, record, and automatically select the current time… Qiu Shi, I need you to explain your behavior just now.”
The cat-shaped drone moved to the side of the two and began recording.
Qiu Shi looked at him, glanced to the side, and the smile on his face slowly faded. He uttered four words, “End-of-life care.”
“…What?” Xiao Lei was bewildered.
“They will all die, or turn into… in short, collectively termed dead,” Qiu Shi said. “You know about this, right?”
Of course, he knew.
Xiao Lei pondered for quite some time, arranging various understandings related to the four words “end-of-life care,” and finally arrived at a rather incredible conclusion.
“Don’t tell me you want them to believe they can enter the city before they die,” Xiao Lei said.
“Not them,” Qiu Shi said, “just that child.”
“A second later, you would have been blocked outside the protective net and then hacked to death!” Xiao Lei’s voice gradually rose. “Just to give false hope to refugees who may or may not be genuine and who came from who knows where? Have you considered the consequences of doing something so meaningless? You can’t even be sure if they are still humans!”
Qiu Shi raised his left eyebrow slightly, and his gaze toward him suddenly became sharp.
“I won’t be a second late,” Qiu Shi said, “Captain Xiao.”
“But what if you were?”! Xiao Lei was extremely angry. Having strictly adhered to regulations for over twenty years, he couldn’t accept Qiu Shi’s crazy behavior, even though he knew Qiu Shi didn’t fall under his jurisdiction.
“If I’m late, I die,” Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair. “Those brothers outside will take care of scattering my ashes.”
“I will report truthfully to the company,” Xiao Lei said.
“Who cares?” Qiu Shi smiled.
“And also,” Xiao Lei glanced at Qiu Shi’s shoulder, hesitated for two seconds, but ultimately suppressed the idea of asking about the pet. Qiu Shi and his people didn’t seem easy to get along with, and some room for maneuvering was necessary. “Let’s end it here for today.”
After Xiao Lei left, Zhao Lü walked in: “Loud Fart is gone?”
“Watch your language.” Qiu Shi took off his coat and shook it. “I’ll go out with you later. I noticed that some of those people today weren’t in the right state. I don’t trust others going with you.”
“Got it,” Qiu Shi replied. “Make sure someone keeps an eye on Xiao Lei. Sending him here is definitely not a routine check. Things have been restless lately; they probably want to investigate something.”
“Don’t worry,” Zhao Lü nodded, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly seemed excited. “Seems like it’s a big deal?”
“This guy seems like he’s not using his brain well.” Qiu Shi didn’t answer his question. “But who knows? Sometimes, even when you look like you’re not using your brain, you can still get by.”
Zhao Lü nodded at him. “I can tell you’re really running out of usable people.”
–
Today’s “jungle” transit took longer than usual. Zhang Sihai waited in the room for nearly two hours before the phone rang in the living room. It was a call from his dad.
“Are you coming back?” his mom asked. “Okay.”
His dad was still at the company. During these times, he had to stay in the office, waiting for reports from his subordinates about the damage to the city’s facilities.
As Zhang Sihai slipped out the door, his mom was still on the phone. He overheard a few phrases about the waterway district and disappearances.
There were recent rumors of unidentified creatures attacking the waterway district. Due to safety concerns, his parents didn’t allow him to go out at night. Today, he finally found an opportunity.
Despite the rumors, the streets were still bustling with people, and the various blinking lightboxes and billboards continued to create a lively atmosphere. People here seemed indifferent to the attack rumors. After all, the waterway district was in the outer city, built between countless blade-like rock peaks, and compared to the inner city, it was relatively safer. Except for a few open main roads, most of the activity spaces were within the mountainous terrain.
“Xiao Ding.” Zhang Sihai walked along the street toward the outer city, releasing his little pet. He glanced up at the faint night sky between the towering peaks on both sides.
It was pitch-black darkness.
The little pet was just a little butterfly, and its voice was somewhat hoarse, “I’m here.”
“Call Lao Deng,” Zhang Sihai said.
“Mm-hmm,” Xiao Ding replied.
“Don’t just ‘Mm-hmm,'” someone in the darkness next to them spoke, with a voice exactly like Xiao Ding’s, only colder: “I’m here too.”
Zhang Sihai turned his head and saw two people emerging from the crevices in the rocks beside him. It was Lao Deng and a slender man. He asked in surprise, “How did you get here?”
“I knew you would definitely come out,” Lao Deng said, tying up her hair. “Today, the manpower at the second checkpoint on the mountaintop is half of usual, so I slipped in without much effort.”
Zhang Sihai looked at the man next to her and asked, “Who’s this?”
“My assistant, Xiao Xia,” Lao Deng said.
“What about the one before?” Zhang Sihai became cautious.
“Missing,” Lao Deng looked at him. “When the jungle came over today, he’s the third person I know who’s gone missing.”
After confirming the identity of the assistant, Xiao Xia, Zhang Sihai asked, “Where are we going today?”
“The waterway district,” Lao Deng said, “You have two minutes to think about it.”
“Let’s go,” Zhang Sihai didn’t hesitate, “but I want to record a video.”
Lao Deng and Xiao Xia exchanged a glance, then nodded at him. “Feel free.”
“Xiao Ding,” Zhang Sihai said, “automatic recording, start now.”
“Got it.” The small butterfly ascended above their heads, circled once, and then began recording as it followed them.
“Hello, everyone,” Zhang Sihai began speaking. “I’m Li Datou.”
Xiao Xia glanced at him and asked, “You’re doing commentary?”
“Nonsense,” Zhang Sihai said. “Haven’t you seen my previous videos?”
“I’ve been in the outer city,” Xiao Xia said, “No equipment.”
“Oh,” Zhang Sihai didn’t say much; he just lowered his voice and continued the commentary, “You’ve probably heard about the recent disappearances. I’m pretty sure it’s related to that incident two years ago. Today marks the first step in my journey to expose the truth.”
“To be honest,” Lao Deng said, “your commentary is quite silly.”
Not only was the commentary silly, but Zhang Sihai’s agility wasn’t very smart either. When he flipped off the rocks next to the second checkpoint, he miscalculated, stepped into the air, and tumbled down the mountain with his buttocks and head, rolling and scrambling toward the bottom. Lao Deng stepped on the gravel closely behind, seizing him by the back of his collar only when he made his third headlong charge.
“F*ck.” Zhang Sihai, sitting on a protruding rock, was still shaken, looking at the outer city street about twenty meters below. He touched his face and said, “Hello, everyone, I’m fine. That’s why you can’t be too confident; even the strongest person can make mistakes…”
“Shut up,” Lao Deng suddenly said.
“You…” Zhang Sihai turned his head, not understanding her meaning.
Lao Deng didn’t speak but covered his mouth abruptly. Xiao Xia also made a gesture, signaling him not to speak.
Zhang Sihai realized this and followed their lead, slowly lowering his body. He quickly scanned the surroundings. The illumination in the outer city was not as great as in the inner city. Apart from seeing the colorful signs on the street below, they could only discern various shades of darkness around them.
But he heard a sound.
It was heavy breathing.
Like someone gasping for breath, but it sounded too wild for a human.
The air was filled with an eerie atmosphere, and Zhang Sihai’s hair stood on end.
To the left.
No, it seemed to be above.
Zhang Sihai slowly raised his head amid the sound of his own heartbeat.
On a protruding rock above, there was a blurry black figure.
As he tried to discern what it was, the figure’s eyes blinked at him from within the darkness.
It was only then that Zhang Sihai realized how close he was to this black figure. He could even see the bloodshot veins in the eyes within the darkness.
He instantly forgot Lao Deng’s request for silence and was about to shout.
Before he could make a sound, the black figure had leaped in his direction.
While Xiao Xia slapped her hand over his mouth, Lao Deng rushed toward the black figure. In her hand, a knife swept past his eyes, creating a cool breeze.
“Don’t go there.” Zhao Lü looked ahead, his flashlight swaying back and forth. Apart from a few people lying motionless on the ground, they didn’t see anything in the night mist.
But intuition told him there was definitely something.
“We’re missing one person,” Qiu Shi said.
“What?” Zhao Lü asked.
“Using that mother and daughter as a reference,” Qiu Shi waved the flashlight, drawing a line at the location of the mother and daughter, “there should be five people on this side.”
“One, two, three, four, four,” Zhao Lü counted seriously, his hand reaching for his waist, “Should we report it?”
“Let’s search first.” Qiu Shi turned around.
And he saw a pair of blood-red eyes.
The walkie-talkie on Zhao Lü’s shoulder rang, “Brother Shi! It’s behind you!”
Qiu Shi was touched; although the information wasn’t timely, it was quite accurate.
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
