Chapter 1322: Seventy Years in a Flash
Chen Junnan kept his eyes fixed on the direction they had come from while Qin Dingdong, Di Niu, and Jin Yuanxun were destroying the "doors" on both sides. He felt that something unusual was happening in the distance, and the entire corridor was gradually becoming still.
"Seems off..."
"Off?" Qin Dingdong and Di Niu stopped their actions simultaneously and looked at Chen Junnan.
Chen Junnan also found it hard to describe this feeling. Although there was nothing in the corridor, he felt that something was about to come. It was an unfounded "intuition", but Chen Junnan knew that he had survived this long precisely because of his "intuition".
He walked up to a "door", took a piece of wood debris from it, then mustered all his strength and threw it far in the direction they had come from. The wood chip flew farther and farther in view of the group. It glided quietly through the air without anything strange happening. But after a few seconds, the entire piece suddenly began to tremble, as if it had hit something invisible. Then more and more things struck, battering the wood chip midair until it was twisted and crooked, making a "crackling" sound. Those things were shapeless and extremely fast.
"Run!!"
Chen Junnan shouted, turned back, and grabbed Qin Dingdong to run. Although they couldn't see anything, those things were clearly right behind them. At the critical moment, Jin Yuanxun used "Jump" and fled closely behind the two. The remaining Di Niu was not so lucky. She was just one second slower and felt something touch her brow, instantly controlling all her movements. Then her mind began to go hazy, and she stood there, lowering her head.
As he ran, Chen Junnan glanced back at Di Niu and couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine. He had already noticed that something was odd. At this moment, many "participants" and "zodiacs" were standing still like statues in the distance. Something major must have happened that even the "zodiacs" and "participants" couldn't control. But where could they run now? And how far had those things chased them? Since they had no visibility at all, he knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught. To escape now, they would have to pull off some trick.
Chen Junnan looked up at the corridor ahead that seemed endless, then at the doors on both sides that hadn't been completely destroyed. They were already in the "interview area". He had a flash of inspiration and suddenly came up with an idea.
"Xiao Jin!" he said, pulling Qin Dingdong as he ran. "Keep your eyes on me!"
"Huh?"
As soon as he said that, Chen Junnan changed direction, ran to a door, and rushed inside. Jin Yuanxun quickly followed, using "Jump" to get inside, and Chen Junnan took the chance to close the door. The three of them nervously blocked the door, still not knowing what they were fleeing from.
"Oh mo… bro…" Jin Yuanxun said with a puzzled look. "What was that? Is that Di Niu unnie still alive?"
"Shh! Don't talk yet!" Chen Junnan interrupted Jin Yuanxun and listened carefully for any sounds outside the door. But it was extremely quiet outside, so they couldn't tell if those things were still there.
"I don't know what happened to Di Niu either…"
"Doesn't this resemble… 'Pegasus Moment'?" Qin Dingdong asked from behind.
Chen Junnan nodded and turned to look at the two. "It does look a bit like that, but how could 'Pegasus Moment' affect even 'zodiacs'… Holy shit!!"
Before Chen Junnan could finish, something in the room caught his attention. Startled by Chen Junnan's shout, the two quickly turned to look where he was staring. But the room was empty, basically a vacant room, except for some spikes on the floor and some very old bones in the corner. If there was anything strange about this room, it was that standing here, one could hear faint sounds of fighting.
"Why are you so jumpy?" Qin Dingdong asked in confusion. "I thought there was someone in here…"
"No, if there were someone in here, it would be trouble." Chen Junnan looked at the spikes on the floor, then up at the ceiling and a strange handle next to the door. "What a coincidence, this fucking looks like our 'interview room'."
"Your interview room…?"
"I really stumbled in here by accident, completing the circle." Chen Junnan looked up at the still-intact ceiling. "Even when I'm about to die, I still return to my roots like falling leaves."
While they were talking, none of them noticed a strange change at the bottom of the door, as if something invisible was slipping in through the gap.
"This room seems to have been prepared…" Chen Junnan said, looking at the ceiling. "Just as I thought… If we fail, next time we'll just be sitting here on the second floor again."
As Chen Junnan finished speaking, he realized that the two behind him hadn't responded. A sense of foreboding rose in his heart, and he slowly turned around to find Qin Dingdong and Jin Yuanxun standing still with their heads lowered. He let out a cry and intended to escape immediately, but suddenly felt a chill at his brow. Something had touched his forehead.
Chen Junnan felt that everything was over. His mind gradually became a chaotic blur, like he had just woken from a three-day sleep, unable to remember who he was or where he was. Yes… who was he… exactly? Why had he been desperately running around on something like a "train"? He felt himself falling into pitch-black water. All his senses and reason remained on the shore as he sank deeper and deeper, drifting further and further away from those things called "people".
But wasn't that good?
As Chen Junnan slowly sank in the dark water, watching the light above grow smaller and smaller, he felt his thoughts begin to relax. No need to worry about those things that had been troubling him all along. No need to wake up every day to see so many scheming faces. No need to run day and night in a dark and stinking world. He wanted to rest, and also wanted to eat some tripe. If that wasn't possible… douzhi and fried dough rings would do too.
Chen Junnan closed his eyes in the pitch-black water. All his sorrowful thoughts remained on the surface. Just as he was about to rest peacefully, he felt some lights beginning to emerge in the dark water. They surged in from all directions, like sharks that had been hunting in the water for a long time. Chen Junnan sensed something was wrong and immediately opened his eyes, trying to swim away in the dark water. But after turning around a bit, he found that glowing orbs were everywhere. Each orb was about the size of a basketball, surrounding him completely. There was no place to hide, and no position to escape.
Seconds later, the orbs rapidly approached him. When the first orb touched Chen Junnan's finger, it burst like a soap bubble with a "bang", and countless images began to flood into his mind. Then all the orbs converged and merged into Chen Junnan's body.
At this moment, his sensation was very strange. Whenever he was about to completely lose his sanity, a large number of orbs would surface and touch his body, using countless bizarre images to pull him back from the brink of madness. Yet the more he remembered, the more he wanted to abandon reason. And so, in this pitch-black water, Chen Junnan went crazy and woke up, woke up and went crazy again.
In this push and pull, memories spanned over seventy years.