# Chapter 89: Strange Natives
Qi Xia never expected that he would walk along the road for an entire day, until the sun had sunk below the horizon, without ever seeing the edge of this city.
A normal person's walking speed could reach five kilometers per hour, but Qi Xia calculated that with his current physical condition, he could only manage about three kilometers per hour.
Today he had already walked for over seven hours, roughly twenty-plus kilometers.
Now he only felt dizzy and lightheaded, his legs constantly trembling. The only reason he could continue moving forward was almost entirely due to the inertia of his legs.
"I just hope I can die a little later..."
After walking another ten-plus minutes, Qi Xia truly couldn't go on. He found a dilapidated building and went inside. Night was falling, and if he stayed outdoors, he would encounter those strange "bugs." Although he still didn't know what danger those bugs posed, he chose to avoid this unnecessary trouble in advance.
Qi Xia used Officer Li's lighter to ignite a fire, then took out the "Heaven's Gate" map, turned it over, dipped his finger in his own blood, and roughly recorded the path he had traveled so far.
This city was far vaster than he had imagined.
He had thought that by following the road, he would at least reach somewhere like the wilderness, but instead the buildings around him gradually grew taller, as if he was walking from the suburbs into the city center.
"The diameter of an ordinary city rarely exceeds fifty kilometers..." Qi Xia muttered as he drew with his blood, calculating something. "In theory, I should reach the edge of the city by tomorrow afternoon. Then everything will become clear."
With that thought, he moved closer to the fire, found a relatively comfortable position, and lay down. The bloodstains on his body had all dried, emitting a foul smell of rust.
Last night, Lin Qin had used a torch to treat his wound. Although the bleeding had stopped, the burned area was both painful and itchy, making it hard for him to sleep all night.
After dawn broke, Qi Xia dragged his nearly ruined body and climbed to his feet.
A night's rest had not restored any of his strength. His body was now completely overdrawn.
No water, no food, no medicine.
Qi Xia almost envied Han Yimo for being able to die so cleanly.
He found a few relatively clean pieces of waste paper in the room, tore them into shreds, and swallowed them.
If there was nothing in his stomach at all, he probably wouldn't make it to see the edge of the city.
Facing the morning sun, Qi Xia set off again.
He was now far from the initial square. Here he could not hear the "bell sound," and rarely saw any "Zodiac."
But as he continued deeper into the city, the number of Natives gradually increased.
This place seemed just like a real city, except most of the people on the streets were walking corpses. They had no expressions, no aggression, and didn't communicate with others. They simply wandered aimlessly on the streets.
For a moment, Qi Xia felt that he was no different from the walking corpses on the street.
Their movements, demeanor, expressions, and even walking speed were indistinguishable.
How ironic was this?
Had these people also been stabbed by someone, then walked with clear purpose toward the edge of the city?
As the sun rose higher, Qi Xia felt something was wrong with his condition.
He touched his forehead and neck. It seemed he was starting to run a fever.
It seemed using fire to treat the wound had been too risky. Even if it temporarily stopped the bleeding, it couldn't avoid wound infection and fever.
Qi Xia felt his eyelids growing heavier with each step. He could collapse and fall face-first to the ground at any moment. If he fell this time, he probably wouldn't be able to get up again.
Another half hour passed. Qi Xia slowly stopped at the roadside.
He couldn't take another step.
He placed his hand on an old taxi parked by the road, panting heavily.
"What a pity..." Qi Xia gazed into the distance down the road. There was clearly still a long way to go, but unfortunately, he was going to fall here. It seemed that in the final moments of his life, he still wouldn't be able to see the ultimate secret of this place.
Qi Xia leaned on the old taxi, lowered his head in frustration. Just as he was about to sit down on the ground, he suddenly noticed someone inside the car.
That person didn't seem like a corpse, but rather a woman who was blinking.
"A 'Native'..."
Qi Xia looked at the hard ground, then at the soft seats inside the car, and let out a bitter smile.
If he was really going to die here, he should at least choose a soft place.
With that thought, as if possessed, Qi Xia opened the car door and sat directly in the passenger seat.
The car smelled pleasant—the kind of scent you'd associate with a woman's car.
Whether it counted as good news or not, at least in his final moments, Qi Xia could escape the foul stench that permeated the entire city.
"I never thought a car seat could be this comfortable..." Qi Xia murmured to himself. "Now I can die in peace."
"Where to?" the woman beside him asked casually.
"Where to?" Qi Xia shook his head with a bitter smile. "Where can I still go?"
He patted his thigh and slowly recited the lyrics of a song: "Drive, drive to the edge of the city, roll down all the windows, trade speed for a little relief..."
"The edge of the city?" The woman thought for a moment. "I don't know where that is. You'll have to give me directions."
With that, the woman pressed the meter display in the car, then turned the key.
Just as Qi Xia expected, the car made an old, worn-out sound. It didn't start.
The woman didn't give up. She turned the key several times in a row. Finally, after the fifth forceful turn, the entire car began to shake.
Qi Xia was stunned. He turned his head and looked at the woman incredulously. She really didn't seem like a "Native." At least her complexion was rosy, and her body was well-proportioned. Could she be a "Virtuous Person"?
A "Virtuous Person" who owned her own car...
"Please fasten your seatbelt. We're leaving." The woman reached out, shifted into first gear, released the clutch, and pressed the gas pedal in one smooth motion.
A bit at a loss, Qi Xia fumbled for the seatbelt, only to find a bungee cord in his hand, its metal buckle already rusted through.
He didn't have time to think about that. He tried to strike up a conversation with the woman: "You... you are... a taxi driver?"
"You really know how to joke, sir." The woman shook her head, then shifted from second gear to third. "If I'm not a driver, am I a car thief?"
Seeing that this woman communicated smoothly, answered fluently, and could even crack a small joke, Qi Xia was even more confused.
A woman with such a normal mental state was clearly not a "Native." So she should be a "Participant." But why would a "Participant" drive a taxi?
"Don't you find... this place very unusual?" Qi Xia pointed at the scene outside the window, trying to figure out the stance of this ordinary-looking woman.
"Is that so?" After hearing this, the woman glanced out the window and said indifferently, "It is a bit unusual. It's gotten cloudy."
Qi Xia sighed helplessly. It seemed this woman was still a "Native," but perhaps she had only recently been transformed into one, so her thinking was still relatively clear.
"What's your name?" Qi Xia asked again.
The woman didn't speak. She pointed at the spot in front of Qi Xia, where her professional license was hanging. It had her photo and name.
She had a very pleasant name: Xu Liunian.