Chapter 150
Chapter 150
The world was nothing but white. Snowflakes fell endlessly from the murky gray sky.
Only three figures were still struggling onward through this silver-white world.
They moved slowly, their feet sinking deep into the snow with every step. Whenever they pulled a foot free, it left behind a dark hole, only for the blizzard to fill it moments later as though it had never existed.
The snow was particularly fierce, flying straight into their faces.
They could barely see the path ahead. There was only an expanse of white, occasionally broken by the brown outline of a tree trunk.
The three people braving the blizzard were Qingshui, Ye Que, and Wu Wujie.
Qingshui raised her head and glanced upward.
A metal sign had been nailed to a utility pole by the roadside. She stared at it for a long while before finally making out the words through the dense curtain of snow:
Wanhui Province – Linkou Boundary
She let out a breath. It escaped through the opening in her face covering and turned into a cloud of white mist.
They had… finally made it out of another province. They could stop and rest for a while.
Qingshui tugged at the transparent plastic sheet around her, wrapping herself more tightly. Even though they had layered up and were even wearing gloves, their clothes still couldn’t keep out the unusually violent wind and snow.
They were fine as long as they kept moving and generating heat. The moment they stopped, the cold set in, freezing their hands and stiffening their legs.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones suffering from the cold.
The Madmen they had encountered along the way had also slowed down. The icy pain this weather inflicted on flesh brought them nothing but pleasure, so they did nothing to avoid it.
They neither put on more clothes nor protected themselves from the cold. Gradually, their pace slowed.
That had made Qingshui’s journey much smoother. All they had needed to do was find food, rest, and keep moving, while occasionally watching out for the Madmen struggling through the snow.
They hadn’t reached the far north yet, but this winter was exceptionally cold. At these temperatures, they sometimes came across the frozen corpses of Madmen by the roadside. Each remained fixed in its final posture. Some were curled into balls, while others had their arms outstretched. Judging by their expressions, none of them had even realized they were dead.
Qingshui withdrew her gaze and looked around. “Let’s find somewhere to rest.”
The snow was too heavy. It had been falling for nearly a month, arriving as suddenly as it had opportunely.
At the time, they had just finished searching an abandoned grain depot for food when a group of Madmen, drawn by their scent, cornered them at the entrance to a village. At the most critical moment, huge snowflakes had suddenly come crashing down without warning. The snow instantly covered their tracks and scent while obscuring the Madmen’s vision.
At first, they had been thrilled by the lifesaving snow and successfully used the storm as cover to shake off their pursuers. But as the cold grew more bitter than in any previous winter, they could no longer find anything to smile about.
The three of them continued trudging through the snow. After about ten minutes, a small, square hut appeared ahead.
It stood alone among the trees.
Qingshui pushed open the door. The room was small, with a bed tucked against one wall. It was a metal-frame bed topped with a thin mattress that had already gone moldy. A broom stood behind the door, its plastic head coated in dust.
It looked like a shelter for sanitation workers.
Ye Que did not go inside. She began searching outside for usable wood, with Wu Wujie helping her. The two soon returned carrying a pile of wood and dead leaves.
They didn’t resort to starting a fire by rubbing sticks together this time. Instead, they used a lighter they had found along the road, and the fire was soon crackling.
Qingshui did not move closer to warm herself. She crouched beside the door and dipped a finger in the snow, using it to sketch on the floor.
She was recalling the route north that Lin Hao had originally planned.
She had studied that map countless times and remembered it clearly. Starting from Xiangjiang, they would pass through Ganxi Province, skirt the dangerous areas, and continue north.
Her finger moved slowly across the snow before stopping at a certain point. Their destination was still far away, but they were drawing closer little by little.
“Qingshui, get some sleep.”
Ye Que’s voice came from behind her.
Qingshui looked back. Ye Que was already leaning against the wall with the plastic sheet draped over her body, her face shifting between light and shadow in the glow of the fire. Her eyes were so large that, for a moment, Qingshui thought she saw a baby-faced girl in her place.
“All right.” Qingshui moved away from the half-open door and closer to the fire, then curled up in the most comfortable position she could find.
The fire warmed her body, but Qingshui did not sleep.
Her mind was still racing.
They were approaching Wanhui Province, which meant the military shelters should also be close. Yet over the past month, they had received no news from the government at all. They had no idea what was happening now or whether those shelters still existed.
But if they did still exist, and if they were safe…
Perhaps she could use her information about the White Hole to strike a deal with them. They might even take her straight to the far north by helicopter. That would spare them months of walking and allow them to avoid those highly intelligent Madmen.
First, Ye Que and Wu Wujie would be able to live more securely under the military’s protection.
Second, they would no longer have to risk their lives following her to a promised land that might not even exist.
Now, all she had to do was find some way to get news of the military again.
Qingshui pursed her lips and closed her eyes. Several faces suddenly flashed through her mind.
Yuhui. Xiaolin. And… Li Wei’an.
“This… is nothing but… a game…”
The image of Li Wei’an’s furious expression surfaced in her mind once more. That contorted face, those tear-filled eyes, and the fists that had rained down on her.
It seemed that from that moment on, the phantom voices that had tormented her day and night had fallen completely silent.
She had not even noticed when they disappeared. Only now, looking back, did she realize that those cruel, vicious whispers had not sounded in her ears for a very, very long time.
Because… the truth was simply too despairing.
If even her “pain” was fake, then what did the voices tormenting her amount to?
If everyone learned that the world they were fighting so hard to survive in was fake, would they fall apart?
The people who had smiled and given her directions. The people who had offered her food. The people with their own joys and sorrows, their own loves and hatreds. What would happen to them if they discovered none of it was real?
In an instant, her fear of loneliness shattered beyond repair. She was no longer afraid, because she already stood at the edge of a precipice vast enough to plunge the entire world into despair.
But… was all of this really just a game?
Qingshui’s brow furrowed. The wind and snow around her, the air filling her lungs, the cold against her skin-everything felt so real.
Her memories of entering the White Hole had not returned. She could not even be sure whether the person she had seen amid that chaos had truly been Li Wei’an, or merely a comforting illusion conjured by her own mind.
Even so… she had to reach the White Hole. Her rebirth and Li Wei’an’s had to be connected to it.
Reaching the White Hole was her only goal.
…
At the same time, on a national highway…
A person had been bound to a leaning utility pole.
It was a woman. Her mouth had been stuffed full, leaving her able to make only muffled whimpers deep in her throat. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her ankles were bound together. Propped against the pole, she could not move at all.
Another person stood before her.
The figure was dressed entirely in gray and covered from head to toe: a thick padded coat, fleece-lined pants, gloves, and a helmet.
The bound woman struggled, muffled sounds escaping her throat. “Mmph… mmmgh…”
The gray-clad figure did not move. She merely watched with an icy gaze.
Under that frigid stare, the woman’s fury turned to pleading, then from pleading to an even deeper rage. Veins bulged along her neck, and her face flushed crimson.
The gray-clad figure bent down and pulled the stuffing from her mouth.
“Scream louder,” she said. Her voice was female, young, and cold. “Buy me a little more time.”
The bound woman gulped down air, glaring at her. Her eyes burned with such fury they seemed ready to burst into flame.
But she remained silent.
The gray-clad woman studied her, tilted her head, and suddenly smiled. “I’m only buying time the same way you did. What are you so angry about?”
The bound woman clenched her teeth and forced out through them, “I… wasn’t trying to push you…”
“Liar.” The gray-clad woman widened her eyes and pressed a finger to the woman’s lips, silencing her. “We could have left each other alone.”
She paused, then smiled again. “Goodbye.”
She turned and walked away without hesitation.
Behind her, the bound woman began to scream. Her vicious curses were swallowed by the wind and snow, growing fainter and more distant until nothing could be heard at all.
After walking some distance, the gray-clad woman stopped. She raised a hand and pulled down her face covering.
Wind and snow rushed at her, lashing her face, but she did not flinch.
The face beneath was young and cherubic.
The wind swept the loose strands of hair from her forehead, revealing one eye narrowed against the snow. The eye on the left side of her face remained tightly shut.
She looked down at the chunk of flesh that had been bitten from her forearm and curled her lip. Tearing a strip from an inner layer of clothing, she wrapped the wound.
After catching her breath, she pulled the mask back into place and bundled herself up tightly once more. Then she gripped her gun and strode onward.
The snow continued to fall.
Her silhouette was soon swallowed by the endless white.