Four cities
In the studio of the late-night show "Healing of the Stars" at a radio station in a small city in the north.
Zhang Shuya, wearing headphones, was tired and terrified, but she couldn't complain or scream into the microphone.
Because the show isn’t over yet.
"Healing of Stars" is a program that starts at midnight. It is aimed at people who are worried and distressed late at night, and focuses on warmth and healing.
However, the listeners who called today gave all the staff in the studio a chill.
This small local radio station received a call from a listener in the field of ghost stories for the first time.
The first call was probably a prank, they often encounter similar situations.
Then the second and third calls came right after each other...it was most likely not a prank, even though they were from different regions.
The director on the other side gestured to anchor Zhang Shuya to stay calm, then searched the Internet for relevant information and reported to his superior.
The result of a quick discussion among the top management was to not suspend the program and to provide a platform for human communication in the field of ghost stories.
Of course, if there is any sign of something wrong, the director has the right to stop the program immediately.
The directors on the other side were busy trying to find out why so many ghost stories were able to access this band. Zhang Shuya needed to rely on her experience to find something to talk about and comfort the audience who were listening in the ghost story field.
She tried her best to keep her voice as steady and gentle as usual. "...Now I'm going to connect to the seventh listener..." Her palms were covered in sweat, fearing that it was another listener from the field of ghost stories.
"Hello, dear sister."
This time it was a calm female voice, and Zhang Shuya breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hello, what's your name?" She sat upright.
"You can call me Fawn."
"Hello, Xiaolu, what's bothering you recently?" She secretly thought that finally a normal person called her, and she felt like a happy dancing little man in her heart.
"I'm sorry, I'm not worried at all. I'm just using your show to send a message to the people I'm worried about."
Zhang Shuya: “……?”
"My boyfriend and I are at home to avoid the air pollution disaster. The coverage area includes Jiangcheng District of Nanjiang City. The sky appeared red in the early morning. Please do not send or reply to any text messages if you encounter the same situation. Text messages with garbled characters are not credible. I repeat, do not send or reply to any text messages. Do not believe text messages containing garbled characters. Also, I called the hotline of channel 3."
"Thank you, dear sister, for answering my call. I'm done."
beep--
The director on the other side gestured to remind her, and Zhang Shuya came back to her senses and cut off the busy tone.
"...I believe everyone has heard Xiaolu's warning. If you are in the same situation, please..."
Oh my god! What is she talking about! This is a midnight healing program, but now it has turned into a panic-mongering radio program!
There are still many ordinary listeners listening!
Do the top management think with their feet?
Zhang Shuya could no longer hear what she was saying and just wanted to get off work immediately to escape the strange phone call.
At this time, the director transmitted the data to her computer.
She clicked through mechanically.
The horrifying content made her hand tremble as she held the mouse.
How is it possible... these cities...
She got goosebumps and felt like she was falling into a bottomless whirlpool. The suffocating darkness submerged her.
She couldn't breathe and longed for someone to pull her up.
knock.
Seeing that she didn't respond, the director on the other side knocked on the partition glass.
Zhang Shuya woke up in shock.
Someone can wake her up from her nightmare, but no one can help the people trapped in the realm of ghost stories.
Her show and their platform are these people's tiny chance of survival.
She should stay calm and persevere.
Zhang Shuya pinched her cheeks hard, sat up straight again, and changed her tone to a serious one: "Attention, late-night listeners, I will now interrupt with some of the latest news that our station has collected. Please listen patiently, because it concerns the lives of people in four cities."
"The first news came from Qingyang City. The scenic area of Qinyan Town, Qinyan County, Qingyang City, became an open area of ghost stories six days ago, but it has not disappeared so far, and has spread to a large area. The latest local situation is that the police station, neighborhood committee and nearby urban and rural units in Qinyan Town have lost contact, and the local cultural bureau has issued a regulation prohibiting all people and vehicles from entering Qinyan County."
"The second piece of news is about Nanjiang City, a first-tier city in the south. According to the emergency evacuation notice issued by Hongmian City, which is adjacent to Nanjiang City, a large area of red light has appeared in Nanjiang City. Drones have captured red light covering the entire city, and all government agencies in the city have lost contact."
"The third piece of news is about Yuhe City in the south. According to the emergency evacuation notice issued by Wutong City, which is adjacent to Yuhe City, a large area of red light has appeared in Yuhe City. Drones have also captured red light covering the entire city. All government agencies in the city have lost contact."
The more Zhang Shuya read, the more frightened she became. Her body kept shaking, but her voice remained steady.
"The fourth piece of news is about Tianshui City in the south. According to the neighboring city..."
A total of three cities have been transformed into a super-large open-air ghost story area, with the marked red light covering the entire city.
Zhang Shuya finished reading tremblingly, with a long-lost flame of enthusiasm burning in her chest. "I believe many listeners heard Xiaolu's call just now. She claimed that it is early morning in Nanjiang City, but it is 1:16 in the morning in Yong'an City where our station is located."
"The realm of ghost stories suddenly descended three years ago, taking the lives of many citizens and breaking up many families. Now four cities have been trapped in the realm of ghost stories. It is time for humans to fight side by side! I implore listeners from other regions to tell the time for those trapped. Please call the "Healing Stars" hotline..."
Her heart was pounding as she prayed that not all the ordinary listeners would be scared away and would be willing to call in to report the time.
One second passed.
Two seconds...
bell--
The rapid ringing of the landline made her heart beat faster, and she forced herself to remain calm and pressed the speakerphone button to answer the call.
"Hello, I'm your dear sister."
"Hello... I'm from Tianshui City..."
"Please relax, take a deep breath and speak slowly."
"Okay, okay. I'm in Tianshui City. It's about six in the morning here too. The sky is red. Channel 1 has already announced the time at six o'clock."
“Excuse me, do your rules also relate to text messaging?”
"Yes."
“Is it related to air pollution?”
"have!"
"Is our radio station... also Channel 3?"
"Yes!"
Zhang Shuya, with a pale face, looked at the stunned directors opposite her.
The entire broadcast room was dead silent.
Zhang Shuya's hands were shaking so much that she could barely press the button or hang up the speakerphone. "This is the first time... two cities have been caught in a similar strange story. If there are any listeners from Yuhe City, please call and explain the specific situation..."
bell--
She immediately answered the call by pressing the speakerphone button.
"Hello, I'm your dear sister."
"Hello... I'm from Yuhe City..."
"Don't be nervous, tell everyone what you know."
"Okay. Now I know that the entire city of Yuhe is in the field of ghost stories. Thank you for your radio station."
"You're welcome. Humans should help each other instead of fighting."
The directors on the other side listened quietly to the conversation between the two sides.
"Yeah. It's early morning here too, and the sky has already brightened. More than an hour ago, the telecommunications company sent us a text message about cutting off the Internet and avoiding air pollution, asking us not to go out and stay at home to listen to radio programs."
"Thank you for calling to explain the situation. I wish you a smooth and safe escape from the ghost story area."
Zhang Shuya took a deep breath and concluded, "According to the information we have so far, it is already dawn in Nanjiang City, Yuhe City, and Tianshui City. The strange talk area they are caught in contains information about air pollution, and citizens need to stay indoors and listen to the radio. Now, we implore listeners from other areas to call us and explain whether it is early morning or early morning in other areas."
She once again pleaded with ordinary listeners: "I hope that listeners from other regions who are still listening to this program can help them escape from the field of weird stories."
Please…
Please call!
She clasped her hands together and prayed silently.
bell--
She answered excitedly.
"Hello, I'm your dear sister."
"Well... I'm from the Northwest region. It's still past one in the morning here and it's very dark. I have to go to work tomorrow, so I'll hang up now."
"Okay, thanks for calling and providing the information."
Lu Miao recorded the information he had obtained on paper. Apparently, only Nanjiang City, Yuhe City and Tianshui City had seen daybreak.
What does the time difference imply?
"What a coincidence! All three of our cities have experienced sudden deaths from melting."
Si Lan rested his chin on his hand and looked at her notes. "A murder case where someone suddenly died and melted on the street?"
"That's right, these abnormal deceased people had all been to the ghost story area of Qinyan Town before their death." As she said this, she became more worried about Gao Ying's safety.
My dear sister said that the field of ghost stories in Qinyan Town has not only not disappeared, but has continued to expand.
"I have reason to suspect that the strange stories in our three cities are related to the strange stories in Qinyan Town."
"It is rare for anomalies to leave the realm of strange stories. If they become the medium for the emergence or spread of the realm of strange stories, more than three cities may fall into the realm of strange stories."
Lu Miao was very solemn. "Yes, Qinyan Town is a popular check-in spot, and people from all over the country can go there."
She stared at Si Lan without blinking. "In fact, I have always believed that the field of ghost stories is alive."
He raised his eyes.
"Not only are the domain masters alive, but certain factors in the field of strange stories are also alive. If my guess is correct, and they are alive and have consciousness, will they deliberately choose which cities to fall into the field of strange stories?"
Si Lan was silent for a moment before he said, "Some strange stories are about to break through the constraints of the rules. They have strong hatred."
Lu Miao understood. "Nanjiang City has set up a ghost story investigation department, and the cracking rate is several times higher than other cities. It's not surprising that it has become a target. Forget it, we can't take care of these for the time being, let's solve the current dilemma first."
He raised a gentle smile, his eyes full of expectation.
Lu Miao wrote down five channels on a piece of paper. "Channel 1 is for weather forecasts, Channel 2 is unknown, and Channel 3 is the communication platform. Currently, the other two channels only have noise, but they are not useless. Let's listen to them later."
Knock knock——
After she finished speaking, there was an unexpected knock on the door.
She and Si Lan looked at each other warily.
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