Chapter 5

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

More than one hour had gone by since Chen Xu came to the river. His eyes were already sore, but the five floats on the water didn’t move at all. Not to mention big fish, he didn’t even see a single guppy.

“Looks like the fish in the river have vanished just like the other animals.”

He was a little disappointed. He was hoping to find a few catches and savor some fresh fish. In the end, as expected, this didn’t work out.

After staying here for a month, he discovered many unreasonable peculiarities about this world.

For instance, all living creatures had disappeared. Dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, geese, fish, prawns, even rats… all had disappeared without a trace.

Whether it was in supermarkets, food markets, pet houses, aquariums or even zoos, no living animals could be found.

Until this point of time, the only living creatures he had discovered were house flies and mosquitoes.

Animals had vanished into thin air just like other humans.

The second oddity was, the road was full of mobile phones, wallets, bags and so on as those were what remained of humans after they disappeared. However, he never saw clothes.

It would imply that clothes had disappeared alongside humans.

Why had clothes vanished while mobile phones and wallets were left behind?

With a little thought, one could detect the anomalies of the world.

Chen Xu felt that these settings were deliberately made this way to remind him that this was a dream to prevent him from being completely lost in it.

He looked at the time. It was almost 5.00 p.m. He packed up and drove towards his base camp.

Not too far away, he passed by a crossroad. He habitually looked to the right. Down the path was a region that he had not explored.

He vaguely remembered that there seemed to be a subway station over there.

Suddenly, he saw a few unusual cars from the corner of his eye and impulsively pressed on the brake.

There were a few black SUVs. On the bodies of these cars, there was the word “SWAT” painted in white.

Over the past month, his main focus had been placed in transforming the region he was living in. The area he had explored was not large. This was the first time he had seen such a car.

Those special police force vehicles were parked over there. Were they on duty?

He was very curious. He got down from his van and walked over. Sticking his head by the black glass window, he saw the items inside. His eyes brightened up; there were guns.

He pulled the door handle. It was locked.

He took out a glasscutter from his backpack, made a few hard strokes on the glass window, and easily made a hole. He reached his hands in, successfully opened the car door, and retrieved the guns inside.

From the three cars, he found nine pistols, nine rifles, and many bullets.

He was very excited. There were only a few men who didn’t like to play with guns, and he hadn’t gotten to touch one before. Now, he could finally play with one to his heart’s content.

He found an empty luggage bag and stashed the guns and bullets inside. He planned to have a good look at it once he got back.

Upon zipping up the luggage bag, he abruptly heard a loud bang from behind.

He was startled, turning around with a snap.

After a month, he was already accustomed to this quiet world. The shock of an unexpected noise that appeared out of the blue was indescribable.

At the opposite main road, he saw a black Hummer that knocked over a few cars. Its front bumper was fuming.

Creak—

A flipped orange-red car slowly fell sideways, emitting the sound of twisting metal that made him cringe.

Chen Xu immediately dropped the things in his hand and recklessly dashed over to the black Hummer.

Despite not knowing where the car came from, the car was moving, proving that there was someone inside.

He had survived for a month in this barren world, waiting for the person who should have shown up much earlier on to appear before him. In the end, he waited for a whole month since the day he started.

He always thought of himself as someone who could endure loneliness. Now, he had realized that he was wrong.

Humans were social animals. When there was only one left in the world, enduring was much harder than he could have imagined.

It was still okay during the day. But when night fell, when it was all pitch-black outside the house, it would be difficult to evade such loneliness. Every day, at that moment in time, he would become very eager to have someone to talk to.

In order to find Luo Xiyun, he had thought of many plans. He had set off fireworks, set up high-powered spotlights, and emitted radio broadcasts. However, she never appeared.

He had already given up a month in. He guessed that she would’ve already left the city. The world was so big, where should he go in search of one single person?

Thanks to the Heavens, she had finally appeared this time.

At this moment, Chen Xu was simply ecstatic.

He went across the distance of tens of meters in a sprint.

The Hummer’s front bumper was a little deformed. Through the shattered windshield, he could see a person the car. It was a woman, leaning over motionlessly at the steering wheel with only the back of her head visible.

Chen Xu’s heart thumped vehemently. Please don’t die on me.

“Are you okay? Hey! Hey!”

He yelled and pulled the door. It didn’t budge. The door was locked.

The woman in the car heard his voice and moved her head.

Seeing her reaction, Chen Xu was overjoyed. He yelled, “Don’t move, I’ll save you right away.”

Upon finishing, he ran back.

The Hummer’s window was shut tight. He had tried it before. The glass windows on that car were very strong. Without a convenient tool, it would be difficult to smash it open.

He dashed back to his van, found a box under the front passenger seat, fumbled out for a glass cutter, and promptly sprinted back.

He broke the window of the passenger’s seat with a glasscutter, pulled the door open, lugged her through, and finally got the woman out of the car.

It’s her!

When Chen Xu got her out of the car, her head was dangling downwards. She was indeed Luo Xiyun.

Her forehead was covered in a terrifying bloodstain. He quickly brought her to the roadside, placed her down, and examined her injuries.

Her eyes were tightly closed, and she had completely fallen unconscious.

Chen Xu quickly checked her over. Of her entire body, there was only a wound on her forehead.

He was not a doctor, neither did he knew how badly she was injured. However, her breathing was very gentle, and her body temperature and heartbeat were still normal. This soothed him a little.

After confirming that she wasn’t in any immediate danger, Chen Xu took her to the car and brought her back to his base camp.

He drove very slowly along the way for fear of swaying too much and aggravating her wounds.

Back at the base camp, Chen Xu took Luo Xiyun to his room and placed her on his bed. Then, he wiped off the bloodstains on her face with a clean towel, cleaned the wound, disinfected it, and wrapped it in bandages.

“Please get well soon,” Chen Xu thought in his heart.

His stomach began to rumble after half a day of work. Looking at the time, he saw it was already past seven. He took a quick look at Luo Xiyun and gently closed the door.