Walking alone for 24 hours.
It felt like being silently surrounded, cut off from all sides, with no sense of security whatsoever.
The little girl lying on the ground hugged the baby bear tightly, helpless and pitiful. In the vast, dim space, she was the only light, a tiny ball, curled up helplessly.
After a while, a soft sigh came from behind. The little girl kicked her feet. She couldn't stop here; this wasn't the end.
She stretched, held up the receipt to check the direction, and said, "Okay, let's continue!"
It's just walking in the dark, right? As long as you have a direction and a destination, you'll eventually reach your destination.
There's nothing to fear if there are no other living beings; it means there's no danger!
After encouraging herself, Cheng Shuang stood up, hugged the teddy bear, and continued walking towards the red dot.
Luckily, she had her cubs with her. So what if it was a little dark? What's so scary about that!
The little girl walked with great pride and high spirits. After half an hour, she yawned. After an hour, she rubbed her eyes. After three hours... she plopped down again.
Because of this familiarity with time, one feels that time seems to pass by endlessly, and every minute and every second is an ordeal.
This can't go on.
She needs to plan carefully, otherwise she definitely won't be able to hold on until the end.
Cheng Shuang gritted her teeth, rummaged through her spatial storage and pulled out a bag of spicy strips... She took a bite and slurped it down; the spicy and salty taste was refreshing. Then she took out a math problem and slapped it on Luo An, who was sitting on her shoulder, so that it could read the problem while she answered it. The receipt was handed to the zombie monster above her head, which would issue an alert if the route was wrong.
Actually, listening to music is quite nice. She has too few songs downloaded on her phone, so listening to the same songs over and over again gets boring.
Middle school is a bit challenging for children who haven't even graduated from elementary school. The little girl has to think hard, which makes her forget about everything else for a while. She flips over her palm, writes and draws, and chatters away. Her mind is always busy, so she is naturally not affected by her surroundings.
After doing a few geometry problems, Cheng Shuang found it hard to concentrate. She patted Luo An's hand and changed the subject, "Have you never had a formal education?"
Luo An, stammering as he reads the question: ...I can read.
"How about I teach you to read the text?"
Thank you, no...
"Let's decide on this!"
Luo An: ...
Although Luo An was a ghost doll who only lived to the age of five, he had experienced a lot. He had no problem recognizing words and numbers, but he naturally didn't know more common things, such as mathematical formulas and multiplication tables.
In addition, they are simple-minded yet have considerable experience, so they are not difficult to teach.
At least Cheng Shuang taught him very well, until his throat was hoarse from talking so much.
The little girl drank some water and sucked on a throat lozenge to protect her throat before cautiously glancing at her phone.
The calendar on the phone remains fixed and doesn't change, but the clock keeps ticking as usual.
After dawdling for so long, thirty-nine hours have passed.
The road conditions remained unchanged, with no buildings or people in sight; the empty world was filled with darkness.
For a moment, Cheng Shuang even thought she was spinning in place.
But she believed the ticket wouldn't lie; it had indicated that if they got separated, they could use it to find their companions.
Unless they're also going around in circles?
The little girl rubbed her head. There was another possibility: this wasn't the real 'City of the Abyss,' and the red dot didn't represent the location of her companions, but rather the symbol of the City of the Abyss.
As for the speculation that the tickets were a trap to harm the maintainers... If Cheng Shuang had thought about it before, now that she has experienced the Gate of Reincarnation twice, she can roughly sense that the Gate of Reincarnation and the Earth's consciousness have the same goal. They elect maintainers and newcomers in order to enter the Land of Death, or another name for the Death Domain. This can be seen from the emblem on the butterfly wings. Even the slightest change can affect the development of the Land of Death.
And they are the ones who bring about change.
The land of death should be divided into several levels, such as cruise ships where humanity has been hit and is on the verge of extinction, and old schools that are about to be trapped in the apocalypse without realizing it or saving themselves.
She has experienced too little, and perhaps new clues will emerge in the future to overturn the current analysis. But for now, she firmly believes that the Gate of Reincarnation has no intention of harming her. In fact, from another perspective, it has saved many humans who died unexpectedly.
Cheng Shuang, whose mind had been working overtime, finally stopped. She spread her thick clothes on the ground to keep warm, set an alarm, and fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down. During this time, the three bear cubs took turns keeping watch until five hours later, when they were ready to set off again.
Using a plastic bag to catch the spilled water, she washed her face with mineral water, rinsed her mouth with mouthwash, tied the discarded bag neatly, and put it in the designated trash bin. The little girl tidied herself up in an orderly manner and ate breakfast as she hurried on her way.
Because the journey was too long and stressful, she chose not to deprive her stomach and ate her favorite foods at every meal.
Forty-eight hours later, darkness remained, and so did the scenery.
Like an endless hell, it torments the human soul, and an indescribable sense of anxiety wells up in one's heart.
She buried her face in the bear cub's fur, giving up on walking, filling her mind with all the beautiful memories she had ever had, leaving no blank spaces.
The first bicycle I got on my third birthday, my kindergarten graduation ceremony, being confessed to by my deskmate in first grade... and, and a teddy bear.
What makes her happiest is that the bear cub comes to life, can truly interact with her, and will protect and accompany her.
As for her parents and older sister, the little girl dared not think about them at this moment, for the thought would make her want to cry.
She knew that her mood changes were closely related to her environment, so she tried her best to suppress her strange emotions, from pleasant memories to cartoons and comedy movies she had watched.
Until 54 hours.
The running giant bear suddenly stopped, and Cheng Shuang looked up sharply. "What's wrong?"
The listless little girl finally perked up, her eyes brimming with eager anticipation.
However, a human figure could be faintly seen where the monster's light shone.
She slid off her chest and onto the ground, and carefully walked over. Before she even got close, a putrid smell immediately wafted over.
This is the remains of a person wearing a vest and camouflage pants; they must have been decomposed for several years.
Cheng Shuang wasn't sure; who knew how this dim world calculated the passage of time? But the appearance of this corpse roused the little girl to her senses.
She knew about autopsy investigations, but unfortunately, she didn't know how to use them.
The only thing we can do is ask Luo An to check if the body has suffered any serious external injuries.
Luo An's answer was no; it said, "He starved to death!"
The young girl was initially a little skeptical, but she quickly thought of the newcomer's situation. They had no rest stops to rely on, their food supply was unstable, and perhaps this person had been starving for a long time before arriving in this death zone.
Cheng Shuang took out a clean towel, wanting him to leave peacefully, but as she squatted down and the unfolded towel covered his withered face, a notification sound rang out.
The empty, silent space was suddenly filled with frightening mechanical noises.
The little girl almost fell backward, but luckily she managed to steady herself.
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