Chapter 134: Why can we predict in advance?
The actions of Shen Ti in front of him were exactly the same as twenty minutes ago.
An Wujiu also took the Zhuyuqing from him, just like before.
If everything was really the same as the previous cycle, then now…
An Wujiu swung his knife downward.
A hand that was rapidly extending outward had its five fingers severed by An Wujiu in one swift motion.
In the last cycle, he had been grabbed by this hand at the ankle before he managed to cut it off from the wrist.
Sure enough, it was the same as last time.
“Step back first!”
He grabbed Shen Ti’s arm and retreated with him. Just as expected, the vending machine in front of them caught fire and transformed into a huge fire monster, just like in the previous cycle, lunging at them in a burst of fury.
An Wujiu instinctively looked towards another intersection.
A truck came speeding towards them…
Everything was exactly the same as in the previous cycle. The truck crashed into the monster that was about to devour them and stopped in front of them. The door opened, and Wu You sat in the driver’s seat, with Nan Shan in the passenger seat.
“Wujiu, hurry up and get in!”
An Wujiu nodded dazedly and got into the vehicle with Shen Ti.
In the last cycle, his arm had been corroded and pierced by the pollutant’s mucus, but after a cycle of regression, the injury on his arm had completely disappeared.
The four of them successfully escaped from the pollutant that had assimilated the gun vending machine this time as well. All the conversations that took place after getting into the vehicle were exactly the same as those An Wujiu had experienced in the previous cycle.
“Finally found you guys,” Nan Shan said, looking back at the two of them, “Do you have guns?”
“Just got them,” Shen Ti said in the same tone and manner, “At least this monster had a bit of decency, not going berserk before we took our stuff.”
Even his sharp rightward movement due to inertia after speaking was the same as before.
Wu You turned the steering wheel, “So I’m not dealing with the pollutant?”
An Wujiu felt like he was dreaming. He had gone through so many games, no matter how bizarre or terrifying the scenes were, none had made him as fearful as this moment.
Could it be that he was the only one who entered this loop?
“Wujiu-ge?” Wu You didn’t get a response and glanced at the rearview mirror to see what was going on with An Wujiu.
This glance was different from before.
And because of this glance, the car nearly hit a falling electric pole—
“Wu You, watch out!”
Nan Shan leaned over and steadied the steering wheel, barely avoiding a disaster that would have crushed them all under the falling pole.
“Let me drive.”
Just like before, Nan Shan and Wu You switched seats.
An Wujiu tried to calm himself down and figure out why he was trapped in this loop.
He looked down and pulled up his right sleeve.
The exposed wrist showed a new number.
12:10:23
No, that’s not right.
An Wujiu frowned.
How could the time he had suddenly increase so much, from twenty minutes to a full twelve hours?
An Wujiu turned around, grabbed Shen Ti’s wrist, and looked at his time.
00:29:43
In the previous cycle, when he met Shen Ti, An Wujiu specifically checked his time. At that time, he had 45 minutes left. Calculating the time, 16 minutes had passed since then, which was normal.
An Wujiu looked up and asked the other two, “Nan Shan, Wu You, how much time do you have left on your wrist?”
“Still…” Wu You glanced at his, “61 minutes.”
“I have 49 minutes left,” Nan Shan told An Wujiu.
An Wujiu quickly did the math in his head. Their times were also consistent with the last cycle; at least the total amount hadn’t changed.
“What’s wrong?”
Shen Ti, next to him, seemed to have noticed something off about An Wujiu and grabbed his hand.
An Wujiu was considering whether to tell him, as he hadn’t yet figured out why this was happening.
When Shen Ti looked over, his gaze shifted upward, and his face suddenly changed.
“What’s wrong with your health value? Are you injured?”
Wu You also immediately turned around.
An Wujiu was a bit confused. He raised his head and looked at the two parameter bars above himself.
The sanity value had barely changed, but the health value had decreased, about an eighth.
“I’m not injured.” An Wujiu checked himself over. Indeed, with the experience from the last cycle, he had deliberately avoided the vending machine pollutant, so he didn’t have a single wound.
Despite An Wujiu saying this, Shen Ti still felt it was strange because some bizarre images vaguely appeared in his mind—An Wujiu’s arm was injured, and he had gotten angry and took off his jacket to bandage him.
But An Wujiu wasn’t injured. It was as if his memory was in disorder.
“Why would your health decrease for no reason?” Wu You couldn’t understand, “We didn’t do anything.”
No.
It wasn’t that they did nothing.
An Wujiu suddenly understood. He had entered the loop, and this might be the price.
Thinking this, he then denied it. It was still impossible to conclude that this was a loop because there had only been two times in total. Maybe he had just time-traveled once.
Yes, time-traveled.
An Wujiu immediately thought of the time card he had drawn earlier.
However, he felt it was unlikely to be due to this card, because the rules were clearly stated at that time. Using this card required paying a portion of health value as a price, and the player had to voluntarily and actively submit a portion of their health value to exchange for the corresponding time reversal.
But at that time, he was directly torn apart by the monster. He had neither the time nor the conscious awareness to use this time-reversal card.
An Wujiu opened the system. At this moment, the Player System was already damaged, and many functions were forcibly shut down, but fortunately, the Easter Egg Card page was still there.
An Wujiu clicked on it, and just as he thought, the time-reversal card hadn’t been used.
So what was the reason?
“You still have one card left to draw,” Shen Ti saw it and casually remarked, “Why not draw it?”
“Right…” An Wujiu responded in a daze and clicked as he said.
But the system didn’t react at all.
“Maybe it’s broken,” An Wujiu clicked a few more times, “No response.”
“Really unreliable,” Shen Ti snorted coldly, “Giving a reward so reluctantly, and now it’s directly swallowed.”
He leaned back in his seat and said, “Try again after a while. It seems the Saint Player System has issued a maintenance notice.”
“None of the three work?” Wu You asked.
“The first one was used up. The second one I drew was a time-reversal card.” An Wujiu explained the specific rules to them but omitted the part about needing to exchange health values.
He didn’t want these people to worry and stop him from using the card in critical moments.
“I see,” Wu You nodded, “This card might play a key role at some point.”
“Maybe,” An Wujiu said softly.
Nan Shan drove silently. Thinking of something, he still spoke, “Wujiu, you’d better be cautious using that card.”
An Wujiu looked at him and suddenly noticed a pollutant ahead. He picked up the assault rifle, opened the window, and leaned out, aiming and firing quickly, taking it down.
“Sorry,” he said, sitting back down and saying to Nan Shan, “You continue.”
Nan Shan drove, trying his best to avoid the pollutants ahead, leaving them for those with weapons to deal with.
“What I’m about to say might sound a bit metaphysical, so just take it as a reference. Time reversal sounds like a way to correct past mistakes and gain another chance for redemption, but…”
He changed from his usual unreliable demeanor and spoke to An Wujiu with a very serious attitude, “Time is a very complex and difficult thing to control. When you change the past, the future that was supposed to come from that past also changes because of your actions. No one knows if the new future is what you want.”
“However, I’m not trying to scare you with fatalism,” Nan Shan chuckled softly, “On the contrary, my Taoist belief teaches me anti-fatalism, which is Tianming theory. Tianming, like the forward flow of time, is a natural law, an ultimate rule of the universe. Fate is inevitable, but actions can change things.”
Wu You started to understand but got confused again by his words.
“What are you talking about?”
Shen Ti scolded him for being stupid, “He’s telling you that the rules of this world might be unchangeable, but if you actively do the right things, you might break free from your fate one day, like achieving enlightenment and becoming immortal.”
Nan Shan smiled and said realistically, “That’s just a beautiful ideal.”
An Wujiu understood.
Nan Shan was telling him not to act recklessly just because he had the ability to reverse time. Some destinies are unchangeable and unshakable by ordinary people like him. But even so, he shouldn’t fall into despair, thinking that fate is unchangeable no matter what.
As long as he finds the right path, even if he can’t change time, he might be able to find the least damaging outcome.
“Thank you,” he said to Nan Shan.
Nan Shan smiled, “Just take it as casual advice, listen if you like.”
They encountered many pollutants on the road. An Wujiu gave the gun to Wu You, letting him shoot to gain more time.
As in the previous cycle, they discussed the whereabouts of Zhong Yirou and Yang Erci, as well as the safety zones in the city. Wu You once again suggested going to the abandoned factory in the southwest.
An Wujiu looked out the window at the sky. The cracks in the night sky were still deep, like ice floes about to break apart, shattering into pieces.
“We’re not going to that factory,” An Wujiu decisively changed Wu You’s plan.
Wu You was a bit surprised and turned to look at An Wujiu, “We’re not going? There shouldn’t be anyone there.”
An Wujiu felt sad seeing Wu You’s face.
There were people, and they were very dangerous.
No matter what, he had to save Wu You this time.
“No, let’s go to Yirou’s house.”
Shen Ti nodded, “Sure, her place is a single-family house, so there shouldn’t be many people. And at least there are some supplies. We can use her house as a transit point. If they were also initialized to other places, the most likely gathering spots would be either Yang Erci’s house or Yirou’s house.”
Wu You nodded and said, “Alright then.”
He turned to Nan Shan and said, “You drive, I’ll navigate to Yirou-jie’s house.”
Due to An Wujiu’s presence, they changed their decision in this cycle. He knew that the masked man was currently ambushing at the factory, so he couldn’t lead them into a trap.
The initial route was the same, so the pollutants they encountered were identical. An Wujiu again encountered the pollutant that sprayed mucus, but this time he avoided it thanks to his memory.
He killed the pollutant, and his arm remained intact, uncorroded.
“Turn left up ahead.”
The factory was on the right, and Yirou’s house was on the left.
“Yes, go straight. Watch out, there’s a pollutant catching up on the right!”
Wu You kept an eye on the rearview mirror, and Shen Ti used a light machine gun to take down the large monster chasing them.
After some twists and turns, they finally arrived. Nan Shan parked the car about 200 meters away from Zhong Yirou’s house, leaving some room for maneuver.
“The house seems dark.” Wu You took a flashlight from the car and handed it to everyone.
Because of what happened last time, An Wujiu was still apprehensive. He said to Nan Shan and Wu You, “You two stay here. Just sit in the driver and passenger seats, and if anything happens, drive away.”
Nan Shan was a bit puzzled, “Let’s go in together, it’s safer with more people.”
An Wujiu insisted on his idea, “You protect Wu You. Shen Ti and I will go in first. If everything is normal, I’ll call you over.”
He initially wanted to go in alone, but he knew Shen Ti wouldn’t agree.
“That’s a good plan.” Shen Ti put his arm around An Wujiu’s shoulder and said, “I like this grouping.”
“Get in the car.” An Wujiu looked into Wu You’s eyes.
Wu You felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint what. An Wujiu’s sorrowful gaze made him reluctant to oppose his command.
“Alright.”
After settling Wu You, An Wujiu and Shen Ti headed towards Zhong Yirou’s house.
The house was indeed dark, and the front door seemed closed. As An Wujiu approached, he noticed the external smart lock was destroyed, but it looked like something heavy was blocking the door from the inside.
Could it be that pollutants followed them?
An Wujiu looked around and indeed found some mucus on the ground.
He stood up and glanced at Shen Ti, who was already prepared with bullets loaded.
“Yirou?”
An Wujiu called out from outside the door, “Are you in there? It’s Wujiu, we’re here.”
In such situations, even if they were inside and alive, there was a possibility of contamination, but An Wujiu couldn’t give up.
There was no response from inside.
An Wujiu thought for a moment and then stepped back.
“What are you going to do?”
“We’ll have to force our way in.”
He kicked the door hard, creating a gap. The heavy object inside fell with his powerful kick. Shen Ti then stepped forward and kicked it once more, fully opening the door.
An Wujiu immediately shone his flashlight around the interior, which looked the same as the last time they visited, filled with containers.
They carefully moved inside, and An Wujiu could faintly hear suppressed sobbing.
Following the sound, they quietly moved closer. The source was in the innermost container.
Shen Ti approached with his gun raised. The scene illuminated by the flashlight made him freeze in place.
Zhong Yirou was kneeling on the ground, her face covered in tears, cradling a bleeding Yang Erci.
An Wujiu was also stunned, “How did this happen?”
His mind couldn’t help but recall what Nan Shan had said earlier.
[When you change the past, the future that was supposed to come from that past also changes. No one knows if the new future is what you want.]
Had it really changed?
He put down his gun and approached, kneeling to check Yang Erci’s breath.
“She’s already dead…” Zhong Yirou said painfully, “I… I couldn’t save her…”
Shen Ti used the flashlight to inspect Yang Erci’s body, “She was stabbed in the chest. This wasn’t done by a pollutant.”
At this moment, Zhong Yirou was nearly losing her sanity and willpower, unable to coherently explain the situation.
An Wujiu grabbed her arm, “Yirou, calm down first. Tell us what happened, or Erci might really be lost.”
“She was already gone…” Zhong Yirou couldn’t describe the painful time she endured. She wiped her tear-streaked face with blood-stained hands, mixing tears and blood, making her look even more desperate.
Even so, Zhong Yirou tried her best to tell them what had happened.
“Just now… Erci and I rushed back, hoping to get some medicine and then escape. On the way back, we encountered someone who crashed into our car. Erci was already injured from the crash… He grabbed Erci by the hair, demanding something from her.”
An Wujiu frowned, “What did he want?”
“An email,” Zhong Yirou shook her head, “I don’t know what email. He kept smashing Erci’s head against the car. I… I found a gun, but it only had one bullet.”
Zhong Yirou was nearly breaking down, “I hit him, I shot him, but he seemed to anticipate my move and dodged.”
She lowered her head, trying to suppress her sobs, “Then… then he stabbed Erci to death…”
“He didn’t get what he wanted and left. He drove away… I brought Erci back, trying to save her. I didn’t dare to turn on the lights. I couldn’t even save the person I love…”
Zhong Yirou was exhausted, her mind filled with the last image of Yang Erci. She covered her face and cried bitterly.
“What should I do… Wujiu… I don’t know what to do.”
How could he anticipate her moves?
An Wujiu felt something was wrong, and the place was too dangerous.
Shen Ti voiced what An Wujiu was thinking, “We need to leave. If he could find you on the road, he might find this place too.”
“What did he look like? Do you remember?” An Wujiu asked.
“I…” Zhong Yirou stood up, a bit unsteady, “He wore a mask. I couldn’t see his face.”
This sentence hit An Wujiu like a thunderbolt, making his mind go blank.
“A masked man…”
So, everyone maintained their actions from the previous cycle, except for him.
And the masked man.
It turned out that he wasn’t the only one who could reverse time.
“Damn it.”
Zhong Yirou wiped her tears and tried to pull herself together, “It’s okay. This place is hard to find. He left, so he probably won’t come here, at least not so soon. Let’s go.”
“Is that so?”
The door creaked open, and a processed electronic voice echoed.
In the moonlight, a figure leaned against the door, playing with a short knife in hand, speaking with a cold tone.
“I’m already here.”
