35 The Death of Qin Shi Huang05

◎A familiar figure appeared in his sight◎

The scenes along the way were familiar, exactly as Zhu Heng remembered them.

The last time he came to the welfare home was the year the director passed away.

Now I am back in this place. There are still the same flowers, the same trees, and the same tall buildings. The beams and rafters of the buildings are still the same old and new as I remember.

It seemed as if it remained forever in his memory, so unchanged that Zhu Heng felt a little weird.

The little girl in the red dress was still leading the way in front with a dejected look on her face.

While muttering: "Hurry up, the director's mother is coming back."

Zhu Heng's heart moved: "Where has the dean been?"

"Go to the hospital to take care of the old director." The little girl replied.

Zhu Heng stood there in a daze.

He suddenly turned around, leaving the little girl behind, and ran in the other direction, all the way to the courtyard of the office building, looking at the digital clock hanging on the outer wall.

He had even forgotten that he had the ability to turn his eyes. His mind was almost blank, and he only wanted to confirm the current time with his own eyes.

On the light green exterior wall of a building covered with green vines, a string of red numbers caught Zhu Heng's sight.

July 6, 883, 10:22:04 AM

It was 883, the year the dean died.

A few hundred meters away from the welfare home, a new bus No. 1634 is stopped at the platform.

Zhu Heng retracted his gaze and without thinking, he jumped over the wall and ran out.

The bus stopped by the roadside and didn't move, as if it was waiting for Zhu Heng, waiting for him to get on.

The moment Zhu Heng stepped onto the bus, the announcement rang out: "Welcome aboard bus No. 1634. This bus runs from the welfare home to the Yinhe Hospital. The Yinhe Bus Group will serve you throughout the journey. Please sit tight and hold on. Keep your head and hands out of the window..."

-

On another bus No. 1634.

Tao Ran listened to the station announcement with a blank expression: "Dear passengers, our next stop is Weiguo Station. Passengers getting off please prepare in advance."

From the first stop, South Korea, to the second stop, Zhao State, and now Wei State, for three consecutive stops, this broken bus has been broadcasting all the time, but has never stopped at the platform, as if if they don't do something, the bus will keep driving and never stop.

It was still raining outside the car window. After a long time, the rain seeped into the car. The raindrops were floating and could not be blocked even by closing the window.

He turned around and looked at the three people around him. He didn't know if they were big shots, but they were definitely bigger than him.

Xie Shenzheng leaned over slightly, put on Wang Kunshu's outer robe, and opened an umbrella to shield her from the rain.

Xu Wenjun was still the same, calmly looking at the environment in the car. His hair was slightly wet with rain and stuck to his face. His expression was calm.

Tao Ran was about to cry: "How are we going to get off the bus? Don't you guys care?"

Wang Kunshu frowned slightly when he heard this, as if he found him annoying.

Xu Wenjun raised his eyelids indifferently and glanced in Tao Ran's direction as if he was looking at a fool.

In comparison, Xie Shen seemed much friendlier.

He half-raised his umbrella, smiled politely, and said, "Don't worry, this is only the third stop."

Tao Ran was stunned. "What do you mean by the third stop? Do you mean we'll just sit like this forever?"

"That's not necessarily true," Xie Shen explained in a gentle voice. "The order of arrival is the same as the order in which Qin conquered the six kingdoms. So we have to go through at least three more stations before we can make a decision on how to break the deadlock."

Tao Ran: "Then the next stop is..."

"Chu. After Chu, the next stop is Yan. After Yan, the last stop is Qi."

"But why do we have to wait until all six stations are completed?" Tao Ran was puzzled. "What if this is a dead end?"

"Won't."

Xie Shen smiled and glanced outside at the gray, withered giant computer. "Remember what the system said? It wanted us to find the date of the First Emperor's death. That would have been at least after the unification of the world."

"So... the First Emperor couldn't collapse before the six kingdoms were destroyed." Xu Wenjun took over Xie Shen's words. "If I'm not mistaken, our mission should be to find the exact time when the computer went on strike after passing Qi Station."

Wang Kunshu also nodded: "Whether it's June 3rd or August 3rd, by then, no matter what, we have to make a choice."

"What if I make the wrong choice?" A bad thought arose in Tao Ran's mind.

"If we make the wrong choice, we might end up..." Xu Wenjun said quietly, "staying here forever, never being able to get off the bus again."

-

Helan Dao stood in front of the photo wall and searched for a long time but couldn't find Zhu Heng.

A small red shadow suddenly appeared in my peripheral vision.

He turned his head to look at the person who came and laughed: "Didn't you say you were going out? Why are you here again?"

"The dean is coming back, so it's better not to go out today." The little girl said with a hint of annoyance. "What about you? Did you find him?"

"No." Maybe Mr. Zhu doesn't like taking pictures.

He Landao looked at the photo wall and asked the little girl casually, "Is your dean in the hospital?"

He remembered that a few minutes ago, the little girl said that the dean went to the hospital... What was he going to the hospital for?

The little girl glanced up at him and sternly corrected him, "It was the old dean who came in, and the dean's mother went to visit."

Helan said "Oh".

It doesn't matter.

You have to go to the hospital anyway.

"Are you sure all the children in the orphanage have their photos here?" He was still a little skeptical, so he reached out to the photo wall and flipped through the stacked photos.

Before the little girl could speak, Helan Dao paused with his right hand for a second.

He fell silent for a moment.

"Wait a moment."

Helan Dao seemed to remember something and took out a notebook from his pocket.

If Zhu Heng was present at this time, he would find that this book looked exactly the same as the one the actress had been holding in the copy of Dayu's flood control.

This is a proportional copy made by the system based on the diary that the actress was reading.

Except for the cover being different from the original diary written by Zhu Heng when he was a child, the contents of this book are exactly the same.

After reviewing Zhu Heng's record of breaking through the levels, Helandao felt that this diary might be useful later, so he asked the system to save a backup just in case.

I didn't expect it but I ended up using it.

He opened the diary.

Zhu Heng's records lasted for about 4 or 5 years, from the time he learned to write until he was 7 or 8 years old, and stopped in 873.

Helan Dao suddenly remembered that Zhu Heng said that some of the articles were not written by him.

He turned directly to the last few pages of the diary.

The above contents were all related to Zhu Heng's "mother". Perhaps because of his preconceived notion, Helan Dao took a closer look at the handwriting and found that it was indeed different from the others.

It's as if... someone deliberately imitated Zhu Heng's habits and wrote it.

However, these contents that inexplicably appeared in Zhu Heng's diary were not Helan Dao's current focus.

He continued to flip through the diary until he reached the end.

Here is the final content of this diary.

On the last page of the diary, there is a single written entry from 883, written ten years later.

His handwriting is more neat than it was ten years ago, and there is a hint of decisiveness in his strokes.

There were only a few words on it, which read:

"On July 9, 883, the abbot died."

There are three days left before the dean passes away.

Zhu Heng waited for half an hour and finally got off the bus. He followed the route he remembered and arrived at the dean's ward.

He stopped at the door of the ward, his steps hesitant.

I was actually a little timid.

Glancing inside, I saw a skinny old man lying quietly on the hospital bed, resting.

Zhu Heng paused, then gently opened the door and walked into the room.

The old man seemed to sense someone, his eyelashes trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes. The moment he saw Zhu Heng, he seemed to become excited, and his lips moved: "...Where is my Xiao Heng, my Xiao Heng..."

The old man was not very clear-headed and seemed to only recognize Zhu Heng when he was 17 or 18 years old.

But it's okay this way.

Zhu Heng came to the dean without saying a word, picked up the kettle on the bedside and poured water in. The sound of water hitting the bottom of the cup echoed in the room.

He asked the dean, "Are you thirsty? If you're hungry, tell me and I'll buy you some."

The dean moved his index finger, then suddenly turned his head away. He pushed Zhu Heng hard with his hand and sat up on his own: "Go away. I don't want strangers to take care of me. I only want my little Heng."

Zhu Heng paused for a moment.

The old man in front of him was not at all like the frail and unable-to-take-care-of-himself dean he remembered.

Instead, it was the same appearance he had seen most often since he was a child.

Her face is always so cold and indifferent. She is like a wild beast ready to pounce. She always has endless worries, endless things to do, endless children to take in, and endless household chores to deal with.

There were always a few deep wrinkles between her brows, and as far as Zhu Heng could remember, they had never been untied.

She had never asked anyone for help, just like now.

Zhu Heng stood there without moving.

"I came back to see you, but Dean Mom might not remember me."

-

He Landao closed the diary, turned around and was about to leave the welfare home.

The little girl stood on the road in front of him, looking at him with serious eyes.

Helan Dao held the notebook down with his hands behind his back.

He leaned forward slightly: "I'm going somewhere, do you want to come with me?"

"Where are you going?"

He Landao said calmly, "This is the hospital where your old dean lives. Lead the way, and I'll take you out to play."

The little girl looked at him with scrutiny, as if trying to judge the truthfulness of his words.

Helan Dao looked at her.

The little girl was silent for a while and nodded.

Helandao let the little girl sit in his arms, and under her guidance, he boarded the No. 1634 bus bound for the Galaxy Hospital.

-

"The next stop is Qi State." The bus announcement sounded again, reminding the passengers on the bus of the stop.

Tao Ran and the other three looked at each other knowingly.

The last stop.

"So, did Qin Shi Huang die in June or August?" Tao Ran finally couldn't hold back and asked, "How about we just say June? What's written in the newspaper can't be wrong."

Everyone looked a little solemn.

Tao Ran didn't get a response, so he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Since no one objects, I'll report it later, okay?"

Xu Wenjun finally reacted and reached out to stop him: "Don't act rashly, it's not that simple."

Tao Ran was puzzled. "Apart from June, it's August. A 50% chance of winning, isn't that simple? It's either life or death, 50-50."

Xu Wenjun shook his head: "No, it's not 50%, it should be 33.3%. And there is a time, it was July 3rd."

"Where does this new saying come from?"

"It was on TV." It was Wang Kunshu who answered, and she raised her chin towards the car display screen.

Tao Ran then discovered that the display screen in the car was scrolling news from all over the country, and in the scrolling subtitles below the news, there was a short message about the First Emperor's computer going on strike.

The current date displayed is August 3rd.

Wang Kunshu continued, "Just now, when we passed the previous stations, the TV showed that the First Emperor's computer died on July 3rd. So, now there are three possible dates: June, July, and August. If we have to choose, we should choose one of these three dates."

"Then which day should we choose?" Tao Ran was speaking when his words suddenly stopped in his throat.

The No. 1634 bus they were riding passed Qiguo Station and continued to move forward, with no intention of stopping, and not even giving everyone time to find a day.

The broadcast continued: "Next stop is South Korea."

Everyone exchanged glances silently, and saw a hint of uncontrollable fear in each other's eyes.

So this is, has the cycle started?

-

Helandao led the little girl off the bus and walked into the gate of Galaxy Hospital.

The little girl must have been here before and was not unfamiliar with the place. She was giving Helan Dao directions all the way and even knew exactly what was blocking the road ahead, with incredible accuracy.

He patted the little girl on the head, walked through the crowd seeking medical treatment and medicine, and headed towards the old dean's ward.

Suddenly, he stopped at the door of a ward.

A familiar figure appeared in his sight.

【Author’s words】

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-06-28 01:24:18 and 2022-06-30 01:40:53~

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 10 bottles of centenarian Jerry;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!