Chapter 36 The Land of Freedom (Part 3) Let's watch the meteor shower together, falling...
"The moon...? Is that the moon?"
In the silence, someone spoke first, and Xia Zhu followed the direction she pointed and saw three moons on the horizon.
She had never seen such a clear moon before. No matter how clear the night sky was in the countryside, the hazy feeling brought about by distance always made the bright moon remain mysterious.
The three moons are remarkably clear, as if they were just three glass beads within arm's reach, rather than stars billions of light-years away, giving one the illusion that they could be touched with a mere reach.
As night falls, all the light comes from the stars, like jewels and diamonds blooming in black velvet. A strange orange-red light shines at the horizon, like a raging fire burning in the distance. Silver shooting stars streak across the sky below the moon, and a glistening rain curtain is woven in the darkness.
The world has lost its original peaceful order, and everything appears both magnificent and bizarre.
A massive celestial body silently approaches the blue planet, without making any move, seemingly just watching quietly, or perhaps the entire Earth is moving into the depths of space in an instant, so fast that gravity and the atmosphere don't have time to react, so fast that humanity hasn't even realized what it's about to face.
Some people raised their phones to capture the scene, while others held hands tightly, captivated by this magnificent cosmic transformation. Just when everyone thought this sudden event would continue beautifully and peacefully, a meteor abruptly changed direction, bursting through the atmosphere and igniting in flames as it hurtled towards the crowd at incredible speed. It crashed into the Gothic-spired tower with a deafening roar, and the building that had served as the city's timekeeper for years was reduced to ruins in smoke and flames.
Crowds screamed and scattered, cars collided indiscriminately, and what was once the safest part of the city, with its dense buildings, became a precarious crisis. The world, which had been paused, resumed its previous state; peace was gone.
One, two, countless fiery meteors fell from the sky, sweeping away all differences with overwhelming force, like a massive purge of humanity. Whether it was the giant glass screen still playing its ongoing projections, the proud skyscrapers, or the vibrant poppies in the flowerbeds, nothing was spared in this extinction.
Xia Zhu was knocked to the ground by the heat wave from a fireball that fell nearby. She snapped out of her shock and quickly got up. The air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur, and the smoke and dust entered her nostrils without any obstruction. Without looking back, she followed the crowd and ran in a certain direction.
Suddenly, as she passed through the panicked crowd, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
A somewhat bewildered boy, wearing a pink apron, was walking out of a fast food restaurant. He seemed to have not had enough time to process what was happening in front of him, and was even carrying a stack of pizzas for delivery.
As if sensing something, Feng Mian looked towards Xia Zhu's location, and the two exchanged a glance across the chaotic street.
Xia Zhu pushed through the crowd and dashed across the road, having to watch out for the fireballs while also dodging the malfunctioning vehicles.
She saw Feng Mian reach out to her, grab her wrist, and the two rushed into the fast food restaurant.
"What on earth is going on?" Feng Mian seemed to be complaining that this dream was too unlucky, perhaps because he had just woken up. But he didn't stop moving, his left hand steadily holding the pizza box and his right hand tightly holding Xia Zhu's hand.
"I'm not entirely sure either."
The two walked through the restaurant lobby, which was littered with tables and chairs, went straight through the kitchen, and rushed out of the restaurant through the back door.
"Here you go!" Feng Mian tossed a stack of pizzas to Xia Zhu. "Military rations!" he explained carefully.
Without hesitation, Xia Zhu stuffed the bag into her backpack.
"This start was bad, but not too bad either." He pulled a car key from his apron pocket. "At least we have a means of transportation now."
Just when Xia Zhu thought they would have an escape device with cover on all sides, Feng Mian pressed the ignition button on a small electric scooter next to the trash can.
The two stared at each other silently for a second.
"Not bad either."
He hopped on the electric scooter, started it, and Xia Zhu sat behind him, her hands tightly gripping Feng Mian's clothes.
Countless fiery meteors fell behind them, the sky hung low, and dust billowed everywhere.
Feng Mian turned to Xia Zhu and asked, "So where should we escape to?" The world seems so big.
Xia Zhu only hesitated for a second before looking firmly ahead.
"The west."
Fengmian turned the engine to maximum and sped through the alley.
This is the backyard of the city. Apart from garbage dumps and rats, no one usually comes here, so they have a smooth journey. However, the buildings on the side are hit by fireballs from time to time, and the smoke instantly obscures their vision.
Fortunately, Feng Mian's driving skills were quite good. After dodging falling objects with a few swerves, he sped out of the alley and rejoined the crowd.
All the refugees were piled up together, no longer caring whether they trampled on anyone who fell to the ground. They just ran forward with their heads down, as if there would surely be safety at the far end.
They were blocked by a car that fell from the sky, and Fengmian had to hold the brakes tightly to avoid crashing into it.
Xia Zhu looked at the spot where the car had fallen, grabbed Feng Mian's shoulder, and pointed to the dark alley on the right.
"Get on the elevated road."
Without hesitation, Feng Mian turned the car around and took a shortcut through the dark alley to the overpass.
Although there is more exposure here, their small electric vehicles can quickly escape the city and reach the suburbs by weaving through the gaps between cars.
The overpass is a stage rising above this crumbling city; once the view opens up, the horrors of the disaster are laid bare.
The city was almost completely destroyed, and the world rushing past behind was collapsing.
The two dared not even catch their breath. Fireballs rained down around them like a storm. The car was already at its maximum speed, and the wind and smoke rushed towards them, making it impossible for oxygen to enter their nostrils. They could only hold their breath.
A massive meteor was hurtling towards them from the sky directly ahead, and Xia Zhu could even feel the oppressive heat. But it was too late to turn back now, so they had no choice but to gamble everything and get past it – that was their only hope.
"Hold on tight!" Feng Mian's voice was carried to Xia Zhu's ears by the wind. She rested her head against his back and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.
The situation seemed to be getting worse, but along with the meteor came a car traveling in the opposite direction, bursting out of the dust and smoke, leaving them nowhere to hide.
Xia Zhu even closed her eyes.
The oncoming cars suddenly lost speed, their tires burst, and a second before they collided, the entire car was thrown into the air, flying over them like a dark cloud. Then, the huge meteor also streaked across the sky, accurately striking the car that crashed to the ground a few meters away.
Feng Mian even exclaimed in surprise, this car was truly exhilarating to drive.
Amidst the howling wind, he even had the leisure to turn his head and chat idly with Xia Zhu.
"What does this show? It shows that you must never drive against the flow of traffic!"
Xia Zhu brushed the hair that was stuck to her face.
"But you even drove your little electric scooter on the highway."
Fengmian laughed and tightened the steering wheel again.
Filled with the exhilaration of surviving a disaster, they drove towards the unknown edge of the city.
As their car was running out of battery, it exited the overpass and drove into the suburbs, where there were large grassy areas.
The fireballs had stopped falling, and a vast constellation hung quietly in the sky, radiating a soft and beautiful light, coldly watching over this devastated and war-torn land.
Having escaped the disaster, the ears cannot adapt to the sudden silence, and the brain seems to think that the body's owner has passed away, so it has to generate some noise to awaken life.
Both of them had tinnitus to varying degrees. To save power, they drove their electric bike at the lowest speed on the country road. They stopped talking and remained silent in tacit agreement.
As night fell, the chirping of insects returned to the grass beside me. If it weren't for the reappearance of damaged houses nearby, a reminder of the recent disaster, driving along the country roads would have been quite pleasant.
This stark contrast creates a sense of unreality.
Being both involved and detached from worldly affairs creates a strange kind of pleasure.
Fengmian parked his car in front of a house that was less damaged, and pointed to another tram parked in the yard.
"Wait a minute, I'm going to steal a battery."
He got out of the car, pretending to be relaxed. Xia Zhu watched his back and knew that Feng Mian just didn't want to let his emotions show and affect himself.
Several hours have passed since the disaster began, and they still haven't heard from Feng Feng.
Xia Zhu sat in the car for a while. Saturn was right overhead, and its light made it possible to see clearly without electric lights. It felt like she had returned to her childhood. The moonlight was still so bright and was not obscured by clouds or exhaust fumes.
She jumped out of the car and followed Feng Mian, looking around the house.
The architecture here is more like that of a foreign country, a small villa with two courtyards in the front and back. When Xia Zhu entered the house, she found that only the kitchen had collapsed, while the other rooms were still relatively intact.
The owners were nowhere to be seen; they must have fled for their lives.
A half-built colorful block castle was still piled on the living room carpet, and there were traces of crayon doodles on a corner of the wall, which were thoughtfully preserved. It seems that a child with strong hands-on skills and a happy family once lived here.
Even knowing that this was a world created by Ryou, the warmth that permeated the home still stung Xia Zhu's eyes. She seemed to fear warmth more than cold cruelty, warmth that was fleeting.
“We can rest here for a while.” After checking the condition of the house, Xia Zhu came to the yard, where Feng Mian was loading the removed battery into their car.
A layer of white gauze shrouded the courtyard, along with Feng Mian, who had her back to Xia Zhu.
"Okay." He closed the seat, stood up, and gave Xia Zhu a very forced smile.
Under the starlight, Feng Mian appeared even thinner; his skin was almost transparent, making it hard to believe that he was the one who had just been speeding on the overpass.
The kitchen is completely destroyed and food cannot be obtained from it.
They sat around the living room carpet, next to the colorful block castle, and took out a box of delivered pizza.
"My reserve rations really did come in handy." He was still trying to lighten the mood, but his scalp was covered in soot, making him look rather disheveled and pitiful.
"I wonder if Xiao Feng has any war rations." He quickly stuffed a cold pizza into his mouth, making his voice muffled, and the solidified grease from the sausage slices disgustingly stuck to his upper palate.
Feng Mian realized that Xia Zhu might want to say something to comfort him, so he added another sentence.
"She'll be alright." He said this to Xia Zhu, and also to himself.
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