[Chapter 439: The Principle Is That]
After the explosion, the hotel where Zhu Dazhi was staying was affected by the shockwave. The couple first tried calling the front desk to understand what exactly had happened.
Then, the situation they faced: naturally, no one answered at the front desk.
Their cellphones had no signal.
After searching the hotel for so ergency dical supplies, Zhu Dazhi administered so simple first aid to his wounds, and the young couple decided to go out and seek help.
Then, they discovered the streets outside were also deserted.
In the face of a crisis, Zhu Dazhi and Xiao Yu reacted like ordinary people: first, they tried to find soone they knew.
Actually, if Zhu Dazhi had his way, the first thing he would have done was find his sister, Zhu Xiaojuan.
But the problem was, with Xiao Yu by his side, the situation was different.
Xiao Yu was anxious to go ho to see her parents—when facing a crisis, everyone’s first reaction is to seek out their family.
After thinking it over, Zhu Dazhi considered that his sister, Zhu Xiaojuan, was with her husband.
And Xiao Yu only had him by her side.
He couldn’t just let a girl wander off by herself in these circumstances, especially in the middle of the night, could he?
So, Zhu Dazhi accompanied Xiao Yu back to her house.
Of course, there was no one at Xiao Yu’s ho.
After coming up empty, Xiao Yu’s emotions clearly began to crumble.
At Xiao Yu’s ho, Zhu Dazhi comforted his girlfriend for a while before clenching his teeth to organize his thoughts.
"Even if it’s a damn war and the Governnt has evacuated people, they couldn’t have cleared out everyone all at once, right?"
Zhu Dazhi angrily raked his fingers through his hair. He wasn’t soone who excelled at thinking things through, and faced with such a situation, his mind was a complete muddle.
But instinctively, he also felt that sothing was terribly wrong.
After failing to find Xiao Yu’s family, Zhu Dazhi’s options naturally turned to finding his own people.
He led Xiao Yu to the hotel where the wedding they attended that night had taken place, but it was a bust.
Then, Zhu Dazhi thought of finding Chen Nuo and Zhang Linsheng.
Zhu Dazhi crossed off the option of looking for Chen Nuo first—the direction to Chen Nuo’s place was engulfed within the range of the explosion’s destruction. It was unreachable.
So, they returned to Daming Road and went to Zhang Linsheng’s ho.
Just like that, the young couple wandered back and forth in the vast Jinling City, squandering over twenty hours.
And the sky had still not lightened—even two young people as clueless as Zhu Dazhi and Xiao Yu could tell sothing was seriously off.
The electricity had been cut.
Zhu Dazhi had, in fact, fallen into a state of extre agitation; anyone would feel panic, confusion, and helplessness in this situation.
But fortunately, Zhu Dazhi was a rather straightforward person; he simply didn’t dwell on things he couldn’t understand.
The issues on his mind now were quite practical: take good care of his girlfriend and ensure their survival first.
Food and drink were not an imdiate concern.
Zhu Dazhi pried open the shutter door of a roadside supermarket with a steel pipe and scavenged a lot of food.
Xiao Yu, clearly smarter than Zhu Dazhi, first had him get so fresh at.
Warehouse-type large supermarkets all had freezers, and even though the power was out, they wouldn’t defrost imdiately and could still preserve food for so ti.
After fetching so at from the freezer and so vegetables, they returned to Zhang Linsheng’s nearby ho.
In those days, old-fashioned residential complexes had not yet been fitted with liquefied petroleum gas pipelines, and many households were still using gas cylinders.
This ant fuel was, for the mont, not an issue.
A fire was lit in the kitchen, and they cooked a pot of cabbage and pork. The two, who had been drinking cold water and gnawing on bread for more than twenty hours, were starving. They imdiately began to wolf it down.
After this warm al, Xiao Yu called Zhu Dazhi over and helped him check his wound.
"It’s alright, it doesn’t seem to be infected or inflad," Xiao Yu said after looking for a while, sounding sowhat uncertain.
Zhu Dazhi laughed. "You poured half a bottle of alcohol on my arm back then. If it still gets infected, then that’s just my bad luck."
"You should still take so antibiotics, just to be safe," Xiao Yu said after a mont’s thought. She took out a pack of cephalexin from her bag, popped out a pill, and handed it to Zhu Dazhi.
Zhu Dazhi took it and swallowed it directly, then looked out the window. "This is no good. I still want to go out and take a look. We can’t just keep hiding here indefinitely."
He paused, then said, "This situation looks weirder by the minute. Everyone’s disappeared... Even if there’s a war or so ergency, it’s impossible that they evacuated everyone without us knowing."
"And my sister, my brother-in-law, my Senior Brother, they definitely wouldn’t just ignore ."
"My parents wouldn’t just leave without contacting either," Xiao Yu said in a low voice.
Seeing Xiao Yu looking disheartened, Zhu Dazhi rubbed his hands vigorously, took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and exclaid loudly, "Xiao Yu, don’t worry! With here, I’ll do everything I can to protect you!"
As he spoke, Dazhi flexed his biceps, trying to look strong and reliable.
Xiao Yu glanced at him, her lips twitched, and she couldn’t help but reveal a bitter smile.
Their relationship had progressed well since they t, and now, in such an environnt and under these circumstances, they naturally grew even closer.
Gathering his courage, Zhu Dazhi went over and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. He wasn’t really feeling any lust at that mont—there were more pressing concerns. He just wanted to provide her with a sense of security in this way.
After hugging for a while, Zhu Dazhi suddenly said, "Right, when we were in the hotel room last night..."
Xiao Yu’s face flushed imdiately, and she couldn’t help but give Zhu Dazhi an annoyed look. "What ti is it, and you’re still thinking about..."
"No, no! Absolutely not!" Zhu Dazhi quickly clarified. "I wasn’t thinking about that kind of thing!"
After a pause, Zhu Dazhi continued, "It’s just... at that ti, when I looked at you, the way you were looking at ... your face seed scared, like you saw sothing frightening?"
Xiao Yu was startled, then recalled the event and said in a soft voice, "I... I don’t know if I saw it wrong, but, just..."
Being a girl, she was naturally shy, and now she was even more embarrassed to recall it. But knowing it might be sothing strange and important, she endured her shyness and shared it.
"At that ti, when you were holding , you suddenly jumped up..."
"I didn’t jump. I just don’t know what happened; so force made float up..." Zhu Dazhi quickly explained.
"Just listen to !" Xiao Yu glared, and Zhu Dazhi imdiately shrank his neck. "You talk, you talk."
Then the girl spoke softly, "At that ti, I saw you, your whole person, suddenly, suddenly... beco transparent."
"What?"
"Like, all of a sudden, you looked like you were going to disappear. Your face and your body beca transparent, like glass... but not completely transparent. Ah, I don’t know how to describe it. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
To Xiao Yu’s surprise, Zhu Dazhi actually nodded. "I... understand."
"Huh? You understand? You really understand?"
Zhu Dazhi nodded solemnly. "Actually, at that ti, I saw the sa thing happen to you..."
Xiao Yu’s expression imdiately beca serious. "What?"
"I an, I saw you suddenly beco transparent too! Like glass, bit by bit turning transparent, as if you were about to disappear... I was startled and quickly reached out to grab you."
Both fell silent.
After a while, Xiao Yu said softly, "This is really strange, right? Dazhi... do you think that we might actually have been taken to a weird world?"
"What do you an?"
Xiao Yu thought for a mont. "Look, at that ti, we both saw each other as if we were about to disappear. Then, you grabbed onto ... and then, we both just... It’s like... right, have you ever read any strange novels or seen movies like that? Like falling into a completely deserted... mirror world!"
Xiao Yu spoke faster and faster as her thoughts unfolded.
After all, she and Zhu Dazhi were different; Zhu Dazhi spent his daily life either working or practicing martial arts.
Xiao Yu, on the other hand, enjoyed reading novels and watching movies. Now, making the connection, her line of thought opened up, and she analyzed, "It’s like... the world inside a mirror! Look, here, besides the two of us, we can’t find anyone else. We’ve analyzed it before; even if it were a war or so conflict, and the Governnt evacuated citizens, they couldn’t possibly have cleared out everyone so quickly. Plus, we really didn’t hear any commotion, and neither our families nor friends have contacted us. So, the people here didn’t disappear because of an evacuation; it was more like... *poof*, everyone was just gone. We must have fallen into a world without people, like a mirror world. Maybe we’re in a mirror right now."
"In a mirror?" Zhu Dazhi looked puzzled. "Then, who did this to us? Why would soone pull us in here? What’s the point?"
"I don’t know... maybe aliens?" Xiao Yu’s eyes revealed a trace of panic. "Or so kind of evil magician?"
Zhu Dazhi’s expression imdiately beca serious.
He didn’t understand very complicated things.
But he did know one thing: Chen Nuo, his Senior Brother, seed to have a really mysterious background!
In the past year or so, too many miraculous things had happened to him, his family, and the people around him.
For instance, his brother-in-law, who had been bald, suddenly grew a full head of hair!
And there was a ti last year when his Senior Brother Chen Nuo seed to have undergone Body Seizing or sothing...
The mont Zhu Dazhi entertained the possibility that soone was trying to harm them, he instantly shifted into a different mode.
His expression grave, he first went into the kitchen, found the household cleaver, and tucked it into his waistband. Then, he wandered around the house, looking for any other handy weapons.
"What are you doing?" Xiao Yu watched her boyfriend rummaging around the house.
"Looking for sothing to defend ourselves with," Zhu Dazhi shook his head. "Whether it’s aliens or so demon, if we encounter an enemy, I have to protect you."
Xiao Yu was stunned for a mont, then couldn’t help but sigh.
Well... alright then.
Though her boyfriend could be a bit dense, he was ultimately a reliable man; his first thought was still to protect her.
Just then, Zhu Dazhi’s expression suddenly changed!
He quickly let go of Xiao Yu and said urgently, "There’s a noise outside!"
"Huh?"
Zhu Dazhi hurriedly said, "Go into the other room! Don’t co out until I call for you!"
With that, he pushed Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu was reluctant to leave and was hesitating when they heard a few knocks on the door.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
A rough voice outside started shouting, "Zhang Linsheng! Are you in there?! Zhang Linsheng!!"
The two young people inside the room tensed up.
Zhu Dazhi imdiately grabbed the candle on the table and blew it out. Then, he pushed Xiao Yu down, whispering, "Hide! Don’t make a sound!"
With that said, Zhu Dazhi stood up and quickly moved to the door in two strides.
"Zhang Linsheng! Is anyone in there? Zhang Linsheng! Are you in? Damn it! I clearly saw a light in the window from downstairs."
Zhu Dazhi took a deep breath, gripped the doorknob tightly, yanked the door open, then swiftly stepped back. The cleaver was already drawn in his hand, held out in front of him!
Two people were standing outside the door.
The one in front was holding a flashlight, its beam shining directly on Zhu Dazhi.
Blinded by the light for a mont, Zhu Dazhi tried to shift his head to make out the person at the door and saw a man.
He appeared to be in his thirties or forties, of average build, sturdy and strong, with short hair—but Zhu Dazhi didn’t recognize him.
Behind this man, in the hallway, there was another, much larger shadowy figure—extrely burly, at least twice as wide as the man in front, though it was too dark to see clearly.
Zhu Dazhi brandished the cleaver, assuming a defensive stance, and barked, "Who are you! Aliens or demons?!"
"...What the hell are you talking about!" Startled, the man outside imdiately lowered the flashlight, looking at Zhu Dazhi with an excited and odd expression. "Who are you? I’m here to find Zhang Linsheng! Isn’t this his place?"
"My Senior Brother isn’t here!" Zhu Dazhi declared, head held high. "Who are you? And... why are you here?"
The man outside peered at Zhu Dazhi, then turned to signal to the person behind him. "Honey, Lin Sheng isn’t here. This is his junior brother."
Then, turning back, he glanced at the knife in Zhu Dazhi’s hand and shook his head. "Calm down, young man. I an no harm. I’m a friend of Zhang Linsheng."
After a pause, he added, "My surna is Guo. I’m Guo Qiang. Um... I don’t know if you’ve heard of . I own a noodle shop."
Zhu Dazhi imdiately lowered the cleaver and scrutinized the man. Tentatively, he asked, "...The noodle shop... Boss Guo? I’ve heard my Senior Brother ntion you."
Relieved, Guo Qiang first gestured to the person behind him—undoubtedly Boss Guo’s wife, the Guo Family’s Fourth Miss.
"Can we co in?" Guo Qiang sighed.
Zhu Dazhi promptly stepped aside to make way. As Boss Guo entered, Zhu Dazhi realized there were nurous bloodstains on the man’s clothes!
Then, looking at the Fourth Miss who followed inside, he was first surprised, then shocked again. His initial surprise was at her physique. His subsequent shock was because the Fourth Miss was hurt! Her arms and legs were wrapped with bandages, which were still seeping blood!
The Fourth Miss was seriously injured. Guo Qiang first helped his wife to a seat on the sofa, then glanced around the room. He noticed Xiao Yu crouching behind the coffee table and gave her a friendly nod.
Zhu Dazhi had already put away the cleaver and ca over to help.
The Fourth Miss was so large that she took up an entire two-seater sofa by herself and was panting heavily as she sat down.
"How are you feeling?" Guo Qiang, soaked in sweat, looked anxiously at the Fourth Miss.
"I’m fine, just can’t exert much strength," the Fourth Miss’s voice sounded sowhat weak.
Zhu Dazhi had already picked up a glass of water from the table and handed it over. Guo Qiang didn’t stand on ceremony, gulping down a few mouthfuls before asking, "Do you have any bandages or anything? I need to change my wife’s dressings."
"Yes!" Zhu Dazhi imdiately pulled out the first-aid kit from under the coffee table—he had retrieved it from a pharmacy.
Guo Qiang let out a sigh of relief. Spotting a strip of antibiotics on the table, his eyes lit up. He picked it up, looked at it, then tore off two pills and handed them to the Fourth Miss. "Antibiotics!"
The Fourth Miss took them and swallowed them without hesitation—this straightforward action imdiately earned Zhu Dazhi’s goodwill.
Guo Qiang finally let out another sigh of relief. While opening the first-aid kit, he asked Zhu Dazhi, "Is there no one else here?"
"No," Zhu Dazhi shook his head. "Just and my girlfriend."
Guo Qiang’s face darkened. "Damn... what the hell is this? We’ve been looking for almost a day. The whole Jinling City is like a goddamn ghost town; we can’t find a single living soul."
Zhu Dazhi’s eyes lit up. "You too?"
"Yeah, I... But first, tell about you two. How did you end up here?"
"I don’t know," Zhu Dazhi shook his head. "I’m damn baffled too. I blinked, and everyone was gone."
Guo Qiang was silent for a mont, his expression even stranger. "You... you’re sowhat lucky, at least."
"Lucky?"
"At least luckier than us." Guo Qiang couldn’t help swearing, then he started sharing his own experience.
Boss Guo...
Alright, definitely unlucky.
If Zhu Dazhi and Xiao Yu were indoors at the ti, and when they blinked, everyone in the world was gone—well, at least it didn’t happen right before their eyes.
Boss Guo was different!
He and the Fourth Miss had just arrived in Jinling more than twenty hours ago by train.
They were sitting comfortably on the train, then they blinked...
Damn it, WHOOSH! Everyone in the carriage was gone!
In the entire carriage, only Boss Guo and the Fourth Miss were left!
Tell that’s not terrifying!
The couple was stupefied!
Then, they ran all over the train, from car to car, searching for a while, until they finally confird it... everyone on the entire train was gone!
After that, Boss Guo suddenly realized a very serious problem!
The train driver was gone too!
And the train was still speeding onward!
Fuck...
Boss Guo dragged the Fourth Miss towards the last car of the train, thinking of jumping off.
The problem was, there wasn’t enough ti.
Before the couple found a chance to jump, the train derailed!
It must have been just before entering the station when the world suddenly changed.
Everyone in the world disappeared.
Naturally, the control personnel in the train station disappeared as well.
The train was speeding along, driverless, with no one to slow it down.
You see, train tracks need to be switched for routing before entering a station, and with no one in control...
It’s unknown where the train was diverted to, but after a collision, the whole train derailed and overturned...
During the derailnt, a fire and explosion also occurred. The two of them managed to escape the disaster using their skills.
The Fourth Miss, being weaker, was injured.
Listening to Boss Guo finish his story, Zhu Dazhi, who was nearby, couldn’t help but sigh.
"Boss Guo, you should really consider yourself lucky."
"What? Lucky?"
"Yeah!" Zhu Dazhi nodded. "Just think about it... it’s a good thing it was a train! If you had been on a plane tonight... and when the situation occurred, you were up in the air, and the pilots disappeared... Wouldn’t that have been a guaranteed fatal plane crash?"
Guo Qiang was speechless.
The logic is sound, I guess, he thought. But did you have to say it like that? Don’t you know it makes people want to punch you?
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