Chapter 70 Humanity They each went to their own disaster
"Who are you looking for?"
Tang Yanran tilted her head in confusion. Her hair was messy, her coat was hanging loosely on her body, and even her face showed the fatigue of running around for many days.
The surrounding environment was even darker.
But even in such a turbulent period, her hands still held the bundle in her arms steadily, patting it gently.
The investigator lowered his voice unconsciously after noticing her actions. He repeated, "Did you see a girl? She should have entered Lingcheng with you."
Tang Yanran recalled distressedly: "I haven't met any girls. Do you want to ask other people?"
The investigator's brows furrowed immediately.
This girl seems to be quite important.
Tang Yanran secretly looked at the other person's expression and thought to herself: He must be an important person. If I can help, maybe they can get better treatment when they first come to Lingcheng.
"Can you describe her specific characteristics?" Tang Yanran said deliberately gently, "If I meet her again, I will definitely -"
"No, no, no."
The investigator immediately spoke out to stop them. He said sternly, "You just need to tell us. Don't let them find out, and don't let them notice you."
This is not the way to treat your fellow man.
Tang Yanran was surprised and asked, "Did she do something bad?"
"She didn't do anything wrong. It's the world that's wrong." The yellow-haired man behind the investigator said indignantly. He was about to loudly condemn it, but the investigator glared at him coldly.
Huangmao was so frightened that he dared not speak.
Tang Yanran was confused by this: If a person has done nothing wrong but still needs to be alert, what is the reason?
"Just notify us when the time comes." The investigator said hurriedly.
He waved to the yellow-haired man and prepared to search somewhere else, but before leaving, the investigator stopped abruptly: "By the way——"
The investigator looked at Tang Yanran and pretended to be casual: "If you meet a young woman who particularly likes red in the future, you can also tell us."
Red? Young woman?
Tang Yanran was a little surprised after hearing this. The topic changed so quickly that she couldn't react, but this time she subconsciously looked at her rough nails.
What a pity... Tang Yanran thought with regret: If it weren't for the baby, she would now be a young woman wearing red nail polish and dressing fashionably.
But people cannot be compared.
Tang Yanran patted her bag gently. When she looked up, she saw that the two people who had just asked her had gone far away.
"So what happened?"
Tang Yanran was very troubled by this, but she could only continue to walk towards her original destination. Lingcheng was much better than her original city in this respect...
At least she won't die on the street.
Tang Yanran broke the glass door of a drugstore and tiptoed in. She gently placed her child next to the medicine cabinet and went to collect medicines alone.
Children's fever medicine, children's cold medicine, children's antibacterial agent...
Soon, her backpack was filled with various children's medicines, but it was far from enough. Tang Yanran opened the cardboard packaging of the medicines and tried to compress the space in her backpack.
She could eat weeds on the road and drink rainwater, but her children could not.
Tang Yanran didn't plan to stay in Lingcheng for too long. She felt that the atmosphere in Lingcheng was not right. It was just like when she refused to meet at the place designated by the other party, she was looked at by the other party with strange eyes several times...
Why? Tang Yanran was very curious about this.
Isn't it normal for a mother to refuse to leave her child and refuse to hold her child in the cold wind?
While warming the bottle, she complained to herself: The people she met later were also very strange... They were almost like those psychopaths who felt that "the whole world owed them"...
But my feet are on my legs, so if I really can't do anything, I can just run away.
Tang Yanran shook her head disapprovingly. She picked up the bottle and touched her cheek. Just as she was about to give it to the child, Tang Yanran suddenly saw a strange woman standing in front of the medicine cabinet.
"Get out of there!"
Without time to think, Tang Yanran shouted. She quickly ran to the medicine cabinet, pushed the woman away viciously, and held her child tightly in her arms.
"She doesn't look like a normal child." The old lady said calmly.
"You don't look like a normal person!" Tang Yanran angrily accused the other party of his ridiculous remarks. Her arms were shaking, and even her tone seemed a little hysterical.
Seeing this, the old lady just glanced at the other person and said calmly: "But a normal child would cry and make a fuss when hearing such a loud noise around him."
Tang Yanran frowned after hearing this, but her emotions were calmer than before.
"An An is just more quiet."
She rubbed her daughter's cold feet and smiled peacefully. But these actions would only make outsiders think that Tang Yanran was a crazy woman.
The old lady looked at her with pity.
"I'm looking for someone." The old lady asked directly, "She's a girl, probably not very old, likes red and hopscotch very much, and is probably introverted, the type who goes with the flow."
Finally, the old lady murmured in a subtle voice: "Of course, it could be a boy."
More detailed information than just now was placed in front of Tang Yanran.
Tang Yanran frowned when asked: A few years ago, if someone asked her this question, she would pat her chest and say "this is me" without hesitation, but now the world has changed, and she has a lot to consider...
"What are you looking for such a person for?" Tang Yanran asked curiously.
The old lady fell silent after hearing this.
After a long moment, she sighed and said, "I don't know either."
It's even more confusing.
Tang Yanran's eyebrows jumped after hearing this. She even felt that it was more troublesome to talk to a human being than to get close to a disaster. Most of the disasters in Lingcheng would not be dangerous as long as they were ignored.
To be honest, it's much better than the city she left.
"Many people are looking for her, some are good, some are bad. And I..." The old lady said sadly, "I don't know whether I should be a good person or a bad person..."
It's super confusing.
Tang Yanran suddenly became annoyed and said, "Listen, I know you all have secrets, but since you don't plan to tell me your secrets, don't expect me to have any opinions!"
“It’s really inexplicable.”
At the end of her words, she couldn't help but complain.
But after the last sentence, Tang Yanran quickly realized her inappropriateness. She carefully looked at the other person's expression, only to see that his face was still peaceful, like the peace of a dead lake.
Tang Yanran secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although she didn't plan to stay in Lingcheng for a long time, she didn't want to make enemies without any reason.
The old lady stared at Tang Yanran with dead eyes. After a long while, she said, "Can you tell me the situation outside? In exchange, I will also tell you the situation in Lingcheng."
Tang Yanran was stunned after hearing this.
She was somewhat tempted by this. If she could get information about Lingcheng, she and her daughter would be able to live a better life during their short time in Lingcheng.
She doesn't have to worry about her words or actions easily causing trouble.
But can this strange woman be trusted?
Tang Yanran expressed doubts about this.
"I don't believe you." Tang Yanran said bluntly, "I don't think a woman who hides her true feelings can provide me with any valuable information. Of course, you can disagree--"
“But it is what it is.”
She didn't want to waste her time in a weird place. Instead of deliberately catering to a crazy weird woman, it would be better to get in touch with other seemingly normal survivors.
"But you don't have anyone you can trust anymore."
The old lady stated calmly: "People here are very secretive when they speak. If you want to use this standard to find someone, then I think you can give up."
Who is it?
Tang Yanran's eyebrows jumped after hearing this. She held her child and slowly slid towards the backpack, complaining in her heart: She couldn't afford to offend him, but could she not hide from him...
It's just that her children didn't give her this opportunity.
Suddenly, a few cries of babies came out of the bag that Tang Yanran had kept well protected all the way. Tang Yanran realized at this moment that she had been on the road for too long and An An must be hungry.
She hurried to get the bottle and put the warm nipple to the child's mouth.
Tang Yanran gently patted the child's back and sang a lullaby peacefully. But the occurrence of this incident surprised the third party present -
"She...she is still alive?" the old lady murmured in surprise.
After hearing this, Tang Yanran glanced at the old lady coldly. She said coldly: "Everyone who can survive to this day has a secret, right?"
The old lady was stunned after hearing this.
She realized that Tang Yanran was using her words to fight back against her. But when she heard this, she felt inexplicably relaxed.
"Yes... yes hahaha..." the old aunt couldn't help laughing.
By the time they left the pharmacy, the two women had reached a delicate mode of getting along.
An old lady who already had two children criticized sternly: "At first I thought you were holding a dead baby, so I didn't pay much attention. But now that your child is still alive, the way you hold him will only make your child uncomfortable."
"Oh my god, have you never even thought about what diapers do?"
The old lady shook her head and said, "If I were your mother, I would definitely feel dizzy when I knew this."
It doesn't have to be so absolute...
Tang Yanran pulled the corner of her mouth awkwardly after hearing this. She looked at the old lady who was carrying her backpack and rushing to the supermarket at full speed, and the words to stop her were inexplicably stuck in her throat.
Because she really needs someone to tell her how to take care of An An.
Her An An is not like an ordinary child, but as a mother, she still hopes that she can be an ordinary mother, a mother who can be trusted and loved by her children.
"where u from?"
"Ningcheng."
"Ningcheng?" The old lady turned to look at Tang Yanran in surprise, "Why did you come from Ningcheng?"
"Is there anything strange?"
Tang Yanran tilted her head in surprise. This was the first time she had talked to someone about the city she had left, and she had rarely been able to start a conversation on her way to escape.
"I was working in Ningcheng before the disaster." Tang Yanran explained.
"No, that's not what I meant." The old lady shook her head quickly after hearing this. She asked urgently, "Did something happen in Ningcheng? Why did you leave Ningcheng?"
"Logically speaking, Ningcheng should be much safer than here."
"..." Tang Yanran fell silent. She glanced at the shopping cart filled with diapers, milk powder cans and other supplies, then glanced at the old lady whose face suddenly tensed up after hearing her words, and finally spoke sullenly:
"Don't go."
"ha?"
Tang Yanran said sadly: "I mean don't go to Ningcheng."
The old lady's hand pushing the shopping cart loosened instantly. A bitter smile appeared on her face, and she murmured absentmindedly: "Ning Cheng... Ning Cheng is the same..."
“It’s a lot worse than here.”
Tang Yanran said calmly: "At least the monsters here won't kill people right away."
From the second floor of the supermarket, she calmly looked at the monsters of various shapes wandering on the street. Some of them were humanoid, some were weird and twisted, but none of them escaped the rule of 'no random killing'.
"I saw a dark, deformed monster dragging people out of a car and torturing them on purpose." Tang Yanran narrated without any sadness or joy, "Then I found that they were communicating with each other in a language I didn't know."
She couldn't understand what they said, but she could guess their body language.
The monsters were discussing whether to let the mother and daughter go. In the end, the monsters let them go, but not out of pity, but out of more intuitive cruelty.
It is like releasing small fish back into the sea, waiting to be caught in the future.
"I'm going to the capital."
When Tang Yanran's thoughts returned to reality, she heard her own words ringing in her ears. So she repeated firmly: "I must go to the capital."
All cities are subject to capture, but the capital is defended at all costs.
"I want my girl to live."
A mother's intuition was more accurate than ever. Even with death looming, Tang Yanran could still clearly recognize that the "little fish" in the monsters' conversation was her An An.
"The capital city..."
The old lady muttered absentmindedly. Then she suddenly laughed at herself: "I have been to the capital and traveled there several times."
“I’m a retired teacher.”
The elegantly dressed old lady suddenly said absentmindedly: "I have already walked half of my life. I have my own children, my own husband, and my own students."
"My husband died in a car accident a few years later, but I still have my two sons. Although neither of them has achieved anything, they have never given me any worries."
“I’m not doing well, but I’m not doing badly either.”
The old lady kept talking, as if she was reviewing her life, or trying to convince herself. She was reluctant to give up her life, and she also missed everything that was left in the world.
However, these emotions were cut off abruptly and regretfully in her last sentence:
"But compared to my children, I think I have lived enough."
ha?
Tang Yanran raised her eyebrows in confusion. The old lady's help did make her feel good, but she still disliked her mysterious words.
Tang Yanran reached out and took the shopping cart.
She first glared at the old lady speechlessly, then said calmly: "Okay, you can tell me about the situation in Lingcheng. If I meet the person you described later, I will try to tell you first."
The old lady was stunned after hearing this.
She looked at the sky outside the store and said tiredly but gently, "It may be too late."
What's too late?
Tang Yanran was shocked after hearing this: So it still has a time limit?
"Do you believe your child?" the old lady suddenly asked.
Another confusing question.
Tang Yanran could no longer conceal the disgust on her face: "Listen, if you want me to agree with you, you'd better explain the situation in Lingcheng to me clearly."
"You don't expect me, who has only been in Lingcheng for a few days, to understand the situation in Lingcheng in a second, right?"
"Yes."
The old lady realized it belatedly. She clenched her left fist and tapped the palm of her right hand, and said hurriedly: "Then I will briefly tell you about the situation in Lingcheng. Because your child is special, the girl I want to find is also special, so I think-"
"They should be the same person."
"That's too outrageous. I don't believe it." Tang Yanran complained expressionlessly. Her An An had always been with her, and how could anyone think that a baby girl who was less than a year old liked to play hopscotch and liked the color red?
She can't speak yet.
However, Tang Yanran's brows tightened as the old lady spoke. She began to regret why she didn't ask more about Lingcheng's information and didn't communicate with people around her.
"You mean that every monster here corresponds to a person in Lingcheng?" Tang Yanran repeated in disbelief.
"Yes." The old lady nodded calmly, "That's why the atmosphere here is very subtle."
"etc!"
Tang Yanran couldn't help but get angry and said, "Why is it the latecomer's fault? There are obviously two people with problems, but why do they only pick on the latecomer!"
It's more than just trouble.
After hearing this, the old lady laughed at herself and said, "Maybe it's because those who arrived first get to the group first."
"It's much more peaceful here than the cities you've been to. I think this is why the conflicts have shifted to within humans," the old lady said lightly.
As a doctor of sociology, she understood the reasons for Lingcheng's current situation better than anyone else. But a mouth full of ink could not shake the reality...
The education she received was not enough to stop the cruel trend of reality.
"But this is meaningless." Tang Yanran frowned and criticized, "They have never seen the disasters in Ningcheng. They don't know how terrible those disasters are. When those disasters come, everything here will be meaningless."
"The most urgent thing is to leave here as soon as possible."
No, that's not right.
Tang Yanran suddenly looked at the old lady in front of her. She suddenly realized the reason why she told her these things.
"You... why are you..."
The unfinished words came to an abrupt end. As the two of them had talked about before, everyone has their own secrets, and everyone who survives has their own thoughts.
She need not specify this here.
Those trapped in Lingcheng by the 'Mirror City' cannot leave. Her An'an should also be unable to leave... No, that's not right...
"I believe in my An An."
Tang Yanran said confidently. Even if her An An was not human, she would still treat her as her mother. Because her An An was such a good girl, but if she was not...
It's not a pity to be killed by your own girl.
They must leave Lingcheng, leave the south, and get as far away from Ningcheng and the group of disasters in Ningcheng as possible.
"If you don't have the courage to leave, then let me leave." Tang Yanran said, "But I have to remind you, for the sake of your help. The peace in Lingcheng is only temporary."
"This comfort will eventually be broken."
She finally agreed with the old lady's words. Tang Yanran knew that if it was her An An, she would definitely teach her everything her mother liked one day in the future.
Hopscotch, red skirt, glass bead hair ties... these things make up Tang Yanran's dream when she was young, and also make up the future Tang Anan.
"I know." The old lady said calmly, "but I have nowhere to go."
She secretly held the hairband in her pocket tightly, watching Tang Yanran bow to her solemnly and then hurried away. The old lady witnessed everything, but she did not take out the glass bead hairband.
She took the glass bead hair string from the mirror. When she got the hair string, the little girl stood on tiptoe stupidly, trying to reach out to take the hair string.
But there was no crying.
It was this point that made the old aunt realize what kind of personality the human corresponding to the little girl would have.
but--
She didn't tell Tang Yanran that there would be patrols.
She also didn't tell Tang Yanran that her daughter of disaster would not come to hinder them, and the only ones who could prevent them from leaving were people.
If it goes well, all will be well;
If things go wrong, mother, child and rebel will all die on the same day.
They each went to their own disaster.
She went to face the disaster that corresponded to her, and they went to face those who were chasing them.
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