Chapter 10: The Mark on the Heart
When Xie Liang opened his eyes again, he was back on the bus. The landslide ahead had stopped, and the bus was no longer swaying, now hanging firmly on the edge. Xie Liang put his hands in his trouser pockets and found his phone was still there. Everything felt like a dream.
Xie Liang looked at Li Xi, Hu Xiaojuan and Grandma Wang Mei who died in the vortex world in the car. They seemed to have no memory of what happened in the vortex, and were just waiting for rescue with nervous expressions.
The bearded man Li Dong looked absent-minded, dazed as if he had not yet come to his senses, while the driver Dai Tian lay on the steering wheel as if he was asleep.
Rescuers had arrived and hooked a rope around the rear of the bus. They were shouting at the driver, Dai Tian, to open the door, but he showed no response, as if he was asleep.
Just as the rescuers were about to break the window, the driver, Dai Tian, suddenly came to his senses. He quickly opened the car door and jumped out from the back door, shouting in terror, "I don't want to die! I want to go home! Get out of my way!"
"Slow down, hey? Don't run!"
"Finish taking notes before going back!"
"Is that the driver? Why did he run away?"
"Frightened?"
The rescuers were talking to each other, and before they could stop him, Dai Tian rushed into the crowd and disappeared.
The bearded man looked at Xie Liang with a complicated expression, as if he really wanted to confirm with Xie Liang whether what happened in the vortex gate was true, but he probably didn't ask rashly because he saw so many people around.
Hu Xiaojuan, Li Xi and Grandma Wang Mei were all rescued by the rescue team, and Xie Liang and Li Dong also got off the bus one after another.
Later, Grandma Wang began to feel unwell, so Li Xi accompanied her and Hu Xiaojuan to the hospital in the rescue team's car. Xie Liang and Li Dong were taken to the police station to take statements.
The two cars were driving one after the other. When they were waiting for the traffic light in the city center, the car in front carrying Li Xi and three others was hit by a large truck directly on the rear end.
The rear of the car was severely deformed, and it flipped several times before crashing into the green belt on the side.
The huge sound of the car landing resounded all around, deafening. The back half of the car body was directly shattered. The three people at the back were trapped in the deformed car body and their flesh and blood were mixed together. There was no possibility of survival.
After Xie Liang and Li Dong witnessed it with their own eyes, they both felt their hearts tighten. They looked at each other, no one spoke, but they both understood that everything in the vortex gate was real and not a dream.
Not long after, the car stopped in front of the police station. Two female police officers asked quietly, "Did you notice where the collapse started?"
Xie Liang recalled for a moment and said softly, "It seems to have spread from the giant statue on the side of the road to the surrounding areas."
"Yes, that should be it. I was so shocked at the time that I stretched my head to take a look." Li Dong agreed.
"Did you notice the exact time?" the policewoman asked, looking up.
"I don't know about that. The situation was too urgent at the time and I didn't have the mind to look. But the driver should know that it was he who made the rescue call." Xie Liang added.
"Was the driver in a panic state from the beginning, or did he become like this only after he made the call?" asked another female police officer holding a recorder.
Xie Liang thought of the things in the vortex world, and his heart was shocked. He slowed down his tone and said, "I don't know about that. There seemed to be nothing unusual before the call."
Li Dong scratched his head and said, "He's in the front, closest to us. Maybe he's frightened."
A male police officer nearby leaned over and gossiped to the two female police officers:
"Just got a call. Three women who were rescued from a bus were hit by a drunk driver's truck. The car driver only suffered minor injuries. What's the big deal? They barely escaped death, only to be hit by a truck."
Neither Xie Liang nor Li Dong mentioned what happened in the outrageous vortex gate. After completing the basic inquiries, they went back home separately.
After Xie Liang returned home, he felt relieved. He lay down on the bed tiredly, feeling the softness of the quilt and mattress, and planned to take a shower and have a good sleep.
He lay there and fell asleep without knowing when.
Under the cold night, heavy snow was falling all over the sky. The big trees on both sides of the welfare home’s gate were covered with snow, and it seemed that the branches would break under the weight in the next second.
A boy who looked to be in his teens was curled up under the tree.
"Hey, wake up, you can't sleep here, you will freeze to death!"
Xie Liangyin was wearing a heavy cotton jacket and was clumsily pushing the boy lying on the ground with his hands.
"Hey! Wake up..."
The strength was too weak to wake up the frozen boy.
Xie Liang hurried back to the alley not far away and happened to meet his parents who were out looking for him.
"You kid, it's so late and you still don't know how to go home. Your dad and I are worried."
"Mom, Dad! There's someone freezing up ahead, come with me!"
His little hands clumsily pulled his mother's clothes and ran towards the door of the welfare home.
"It looks like it's inside the welfare home." Xie's mother said, looking at the gate of the welfare home.
"Let's send him to the hospital first. I have to go to the mine to be on duty later. I'll ask him tomorrow when he wakes up." Father Xie said as he looked at the fluttering snowflakes.
"Yes, hurry up and send him to the hospital. The little brother is going to freeze to death." Xie Liang said as he brushed off the snow covering the boy's face.
——
"Luckily you brought it here in time. It's just chronic malnutrition. I just need more nutrition."
In the hospital, the doctor was telling Xie Liang's parents about the boy's general condition.
Xie Liang stood by the boy's bed, eagerly waiting for him to wake up soon.
"Xiaoliang, Daddy is going to work. Mommy will go home and bring some food and daily necessities. You are already ten years old, so you can't run around everywhere. Mommy will be back soon, okay?" Xie Liang's father, Xie Hao, gently touched Xie Liang's head and advised.
"I know, Dad. I'll just stay in the hospital bed and wait for my brother to wake up. I'm not going anywhere!"
Xiao Xie Liang quietly stayed by the bed and fell asleep without knowing when.
When the heavy snow stopped, the moonlight shone into the hospital bed, illuminating Xiao Xie's cold, red, and soft face.
As soon as the boy lying on the bed opened his eyes, he saw a strange little boy lying in front of the bed.
The strange little boy seemed to realize that he was awake and slowly opened his eyes. After seeing him, the little boy rubbed his eyes and said excitedly: "Hello, my name is Xie Liang, what's your name?"
He lay on the hospital bed without saying a word for a long time, looking at the little boy in front of him who was full of vitality and had an impeccable face.
He thought for a moment and then replied, "Hello, Xie Liang, my name is Su Yubai." Then he raised the corners of his mouth slightly, stared at the little boy and said, "Nice to meet you, Xie Liang..."
At this time, the moonlight outside the window reflected the white snow in the city, and the earth looked pale.
——
Suddenly, the scene changed to the reservoir, where Su Yubai's rotting and smelly body was fished out. Xie Liang hid behind Xie's mother, looking at the bloated Su Yubai in horror.
"Why didn't you save me? Why did you run away?" Su Yubai's voice came from the corpse's broken lips.
Then, the corpse broke free from all restraints and flew straight towards Xie Liang. Its swollen and white hands grabbed Xie Liang's shoulders fiercely and shook him hard.
The corpse's eyeballs had fallen out of their sockets and onto its nose, but its dead fish-like eyes were still fixed on Xie Liang, and its swollen white lips were opening and closing as it questioned Xie Liang:
“Why don’t you save me!”
"You just learned how to swim! You did it on purpose!"
"You just want me dead! Right!"
"You promised to always be with me. We will be together forever!"
Su Yubai's voice was sharp and piercing, exploding in Xie Liang's mind.
"No, I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it!" Xie Liang murmured on the bed.
Xie Liang's heart was beating fast when he woke up. He felt himself sweating and sticky. What happened in the past two days was too bizarre.
The guilt buried deep in his heart would repeatedly surface in his mind. Ever since Su Yubai's death, Xie Liang had been afraid of water. No matter where he was, he would be scared whenever he saw water.
Later, Xie's mother took him to see a famous psychologist, often took him to practice swimming, and spent a long time helping him slowly overcome the fear in his heart.
The curtains on the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom were not drawn, and from the height of the 27th floor, one could enjoy the night view outside the window. Xie Liang looked at the brightly lit night outside, and his heartbeat gradually calmed down.
Winter is approaching, and the nights are noticeably cooler. The scenes in the small world, the snowy winter in his dream just now, the snowy night, and the corpse that was rotten beyond recognition, all made Xie Liang uncontrollably think of Su Yubai.
After calming down, Xie Liang walked to the sofa and picked up his mobile phone. WeChat showed three messages requesting to add friends.
Two of them had remarked names, Xiao Ha and Li Dong, and there was one without a remark. Xie Liang guessed it was Xu He's, and then approved the addition requests one by one.
Unexpectedly, the friend I just added without a note sent me a message.
woke up?
Um, just woke up, are you?
I am Xu He.
Yeah, I guessed it too.
After a long time, another message came from the other side.
When are you free?
"Um... these past few days, what's going on."
After Xie Liang sent this message, there was no response from the other side.
It was almost dawn at this time. Looking at the slightly pale sky, Xie Liang returned to the bedroom again and lay on the bed to take a nap.
It was already past noon when Xie Liang slowly woke up in bed. He picked up his phone and saw the message that Xiao Ha and Li Dong asked him to have dinner with them. Xie Liang wanted to enjoy the leisure after surviving the disaster, so he postponed the time.
After rejecting their invitations, Xie Liang rolled around on the bed with ease.
Ever since the incident with Su Yubai, Xie Liang hasn't made any particularly good friends.
His parents died in a car accident two or three years ago, and he is the only one left at home.
He gradually got used to being alone, and now being involved in these bizarre things made him feel that life was becoming lively again.
He resigned some time ago because he couldn't stand the harassment from the female manager of the company and is now unemployed.
After rolling around on the bed for a few times, Xie Liang fell asleep again without knowing when.
After an unknown amount of time, Xie Liang's cell phone rang. He groped for the phone on the bed and picked it up. It was his uncle calling.
"Hello! Uncle."
"Xiaoliang, your aunt always nags you for quitting your job and not coming back to live with you for a while. She says you're too thin and she needs to fatten you up!" the person on the other end of the phone said loudly and excitedly.
"Ah... I'm used to living in the city. Besides, I'm not that thin."
"You little brat! Your uncle misses you, isn't that enough? Remember to come back and see us and make you something delicious!"
Xie Liang suddenly felt the urge to urinate and said hurriedly, "Yeah, okay uncle, that's it for now."
"This kid just hung up the phone." Xie Liang's uncle Xie Feng said while looking at the phone.
"Ever since his parents left, the child has become a little introverted. But fortunately, he's still the same with us as before. He always buys us a lot of things during the New Year and other holidays. Let's bring some gifts and go to the city to visit him someday."
Xie Liang's aunt Liu Xiuxiu was driving a group of geese she raised into the goose pen, while muttering to her husband Xie Feng.
After going to the toilet, Xie Liang remembered that he forgot to take a shower last night and decided to take a shower at the same time.
As soon as he took off all his clothes, he saw a pattern printed on his chest. At first glance, it was a circular pattern composed of 9 blue dots. Upon closer inspection, the dots turned out to be a miniature version of the vortex gate that was slightly rotating.
The entire pattern is only the size of a coin, and when you touch it you can feel that each small vortex is slightly raised.
"What the hell? Is this the mark of the vortex gate?" Xie Liang muttered as he turned on the shower. The water curtain spraying from above his head quickly wet his body.
He squeezed some shower gel onto his chest and rubbed it vigorously. The skin turned red, but the pattern didn't fade at all, as if it had grown into his flesh.
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