15
For seven days, Ning Gu was locked in a small room on the top floor of the clock tower and could only tell time by the food delivered to him.
He counted the three meals a day, morning, noon and night. It had been 21 meals in seven days.
If no one had sent him food, Ning Gu would have begun to wonder if he had been forgotten by the ghost town. No one had come to see him for seven days, and no one had even appeared under the bell tower.
"Ah—" He stuck his head out of the window and shouted in the strong wind, "Ah—nail—nail—Li Xiang—Li Xiang—"
The wind was too strong, and it was even stronger at the top of the bell tower. It seemed like his voice was blown away before even the last note was fully developed.
He looked at the thick fog in front of him, which was blown into texture by the strong wind.
Is the car coming again
If this car were alive, it would be the car with the most personality.
In Ning Gu's limited life of more than twenty years, he had traveled by car countless times. The longest interval was his two birthdays, and the shortest interval was only one day. Even the most enthusiastic travelers could not set off again immediately after a night's sleep.
If the train was coming again, how could he get out of here? How could he leave the clock tower, sneak out of the shelter and get on the train under strict surveillance by various capabilities
"Ah—" He shouted again, "Li Xiang—"
Based on his experience, the only person who could rescue him now was Li Xiang, who had rescued him countless times.
"Captain Li Xiang and the team leader have gone to Shewan." A voice suddenly came from behind.
Ning Gu was startled and turned around suddenly, seeing half of Lin Fan's face in the small window on the door.
"Why are you here?" he asked warily.
"See if you can run away." Lin Fan said.
"How long have they been gone?" He finally reacted to Lin Fan's words.
"It's been a few days." Lin Fan slowly moved his face to the center of the small window and looked at him. "Are you bored?"
"Not bored." Ning Gu sat back on the ground.
Normally, he didn't have much interaction with Lin Fan. It was normal for this man to stay in his room for a month or two without showing up. Now he suddenly appeared here alone... If it weren't for the experiences in the main city, and Lin Fan's questioning of various details and wanting to check his shoes, he wouldn't have thought much.
But now I feel a little uneasy.
"Have you reflected on this these days?" Lin Fan asked.
Ning Gu glanced at him. Since the team leader and Li Xiang were not there, it made sense for Lin Fan to come and check whether he had been behaving himself and whether he had reflected on his actions.
"No," he answered truthfully.
Lin Fan frowned: "The captain left a message saying that when you agree not to go to the main city without permission, then he will let you go."
"Then wait," Ning Gu leaned back, "I don't mind going out."
Lin Fan looked at him without saying anything.
Ning Gu was tense for a while, and also looked at him. The window on the door was very small, just enough to accommodate Lin Fan's face. He looked at it for a long time and couldn't help but said, "Is your face stuck on the window?"
"Huh?" Lin Fan was stunned for a moment and then suddenly laughed.
This was the first time Ning Gu saw him smile. It wasn’t very pretty, and all the hidden wrinkles were exposed. But no matter how pretty it was, it surprised Ning Gu.
This guy can even laugh.
"You look a lot like your father." Lin Fan stopped smiling and said.
Ning Gu hadn't finished eating the first surprise, and then he ate another big surprise. He suddenly felt like he was choked, and he swallowed twice before he recovered.
"What did you say?" He jumped up from the ground and walked to the door.
Lin Fan said nothing and turned his face away from the window.
"Lin Fan!" Ning Gu was anxious and immediately stuck his head out of the window. He saw that Lin Fan had turned around and was walking down the stairs.
He kicked the iron gate hard several times, and the metal guard on his shoes hit the door with a clanging sound.
"Don't go! What do you mean?" he roared.
"There was a gap in the guard when the car came," Lin Fan's voice gradually became quieter, "You can leave or not. It's up to you."
"Lin Fan!" Ning Gu retracted his head back into the house, leaned against the window and shook the door hard a few times.
Of course, the door didn't move at all, and Lin Fan's voice also disappeared.
"A new day welcomes you."
The headache did not ease, and Lian Chuan still had tinnitus when he heard the system greeting.
Today's breakfast was beef and eggs, but he couldn't taste anything after he finished eating it. His mouth was bitter.
It's been a week and the frequency of headaches has decreased a lot. They should disappear in the next two days.
Lian Chuan changed his clothes and prepared to go out to buy some daily necessities and then go to Lei Yu's house to sit down.
He was not used to wearing casual clothes, walking, and even less used to walking in a crowd.
Although at times like this, he would not feel hateful gazes, would not hear vicious curses and insults, nor would he have the pressure of facing desperate gazes again and again.
But he seemed to prefer to be a hyena.
Hyenas have goals, hyenas have fears, and hyenas have the struggle to survive no matter what.
For Lian Chuan, a not-so-ordinary person who holds a second-level resident ID card in the main city, the most meaningful activity he could think of today was buying toothpaste.
"What flavor do you want?" The cashier took his ID card and swiped it. "This month we have lemon, apple, green pepper, and pepper."
"Apple." Lian Chuan replied.
"Do you want anything else?" The cashier took a tube of white toothpaste from behind her and put it into the machine next to her. A few seconds later, a tube of pink toothpaste fell from the outlet into the small bucket next to Lian Chuan.
“… No need.” Lian Chuan hesitated for a moment and picked up the toothpaste. “Why is it pink?”
"Apples are pink," said the cashier.
"Aren't apples green?" Lian Chuan said.
"That's a green apple," the cashier said. "If you want green, you can get a green pepper."
"No." Lian Chuan took the toothpaste and turned to leave.
After buying the pink toothpaste, Lian Chuan had no need to wander around the street anymore. He looked around and decided it was time to go to Lei Yu's house.
Aunt Chun bought the ingredients early in the morning and said she wanted to make him something delicious, and asked him to call the eldest brother.
He did call, but when the boss was not on a mission, he didn't know where he was, and he couldn't say whether he could go to eat.
To get to Lei Yu's house, one needs to cross four vertical axes. Although they are both in area B, Lian Chuan's residence is a dormitory building provided by the Internal Defense Department, which is basically diagonal to Lei Yu's house, so Lei Yu will only go back when he is resting.
Although they don't see each other every day, the couple's relationship has always been good. It is worthy of being a marriage based on free love. It is not as perfect as a partner matched by the system, but they have overcome all imperfections because of the heart-beating moment in the crowd.
Lian Chuan looked around and saw that everyone was just looking at their feet. He walked towards the tunnel entrance.
Transportation in the main city is very simple. There is no ground public transportation. There are only a few tunnels connecting the four main urban areas. Each underground stop is very large. The size of the stop and the billboards all over the walls and the ground show how prosperous the main city used to be.
Let the sunshine of the main city wake you up every morning, which was once a very confident advertisement.
The bus stops are still quite large, but their usage rate is less than half of what it once was. Most of the area is now filled with black fog, and the billboards have long been extinguished. The few pieces on the wall basically contain notices and bans issued by the City Affairs Department.
The homeless would rather choose to escape into the Lost Valley than stay in the no-man's land of the stop.
Lian Chuan stood on the platform, staring blankly ahead, but all his senses were working and he habitually paid attention to everyone around him.
He had noticed the man in the gray shirt behind him when he came in.
He looked no different from any ordinary citizen in the main city, but Lian Chuan could still sense the twinkle in his eyes.
He doesn't care about his identity. He is not a hyena now. Even if the person standing in front of him is a bug, he cannot do anything. All law enforcement officers in the main city are only allowed to exist as ordinary people after taking off their uniforms.
He didn't care too much about what this person was going to do. In the main city, under normal circumstances, no one could threaten his safety for the time being.
What he cares about is that people who are obviously not "qualified residents" have begun to appear in area B.
The man in gray followed him into the car and stood one meter away from him. He never looked at him directly, but his peripheral vision always stayed on him.
When Lian Chuan got off the car, the man in gray followed him.
There are two large settlements in A5, Area B, and many people got on and off the bus. After Lian Chuan got off the bus, the man in gray squeezed through the crowd and walked in front of him.
There are six turns and a long distance to get back to the ground. After turning the third turn, the man in gray looked back and saw that there was no one following him, only passengers walking in a hurry.
He paused and reached into his coat pocket.
Before he could take the things out of his pocket, he felt something hit him on the left, and his whole body seemed to leave the ground for a moment.
When he came to his senses, he was already being grabbed by the throat and pressed against the wall of the maintenance passage nearby.
"Don't move," Lian Chuan pressed his thumb on the gray-clothed man's throat, "Don't talk."
The confusion in the gray-clothed man's eyes gradually faded away, replaced by panic, but he dared not move or make a sound.
Lian Chuan reached into his pocket and took out his ID card, held it between his fingers and waved it in front of his eyes, then put it back into the inside pocket of his coat.
He had placed his ID card rather casually after buying the pink toothpaste, and probably this man had spotted him and followed him all the way.
"Don't call the police," the man in gray said carefully and anxiously, "Please... I just want to buy something to eat..."
Lian Chuan exerted a little force with his fingers and his words were stuck in his throat.
"I told you, don't talk," Lian Chuan said, "You can leave when I leave."
The man in gray blinked.
Lian Chuan let go of his hand, turned around and left the passage.
You can't just use your ID card to buy things. If the information doesn't match, it will be immediately recycled. If you want to use it, you need to go to the Lost Valley and find a bat that can rewrite your identity information.
But before finding the bat, you may be lost, beaten to death, or starve to death because you can't find the right bat. If you finally find it, you may not be able to pay the fee, and the bat will snatch your ID card and beat you to death or starve to death. After all, an ID card can do a lot of things, and an original card is very valuable.
Lian Chuan didn't want to hear such people talk, whether in missions or in daily life.
He didn't want to hear any words of helplessness and despair.
Those words will pull people into the abyss, and they will never be able to float up again.
"The boss arrived earlier than you," Aunt Chun handed over a drink, "Try it."
"I came here after buying some things." Lian Chuan took the drink and took a sip. It tasted quite good, with a little bit of sourness in the sweetness, but not greasy.
There has been no change in Lei Yu's home, it is simple and warm. Within their means, the couple are keen on adding various decorations to the house.
There are several sets of sofas and chairs in different styles and materials.
The eldest brother was occupying a single soft sofa and taking a nap.
I don’t know whether he was really taking a nap or just pretending to take a nap, but he just closed his eyes and ignored people.
When Aunt Chun went to prepare the food, Lei Yu sat next to Lian Chuan with a cigarette box: "Do you want one?"
"No." Lian Chuan waved his hand.
"What did you buy?" Lei Yu lit a cigarette and looked at him.
"Toothpaste." Lian Chuan took out the pink toothpaste from his pocket and squeezed it. "Isn't it cute?"
Lei Yu laughed: "I have never liked pink colors since I was a child."
Lian Chuan also smiled but said nothing.
Whenever Lei Yu mentioned his childhood, his bones ached. Although he had many other memories of his childhood, such as Aunt Chun playing games with him, taking him to see small animals, and cooking for him... pain and fear were the clearest memories.
You won't laugh heartily.
It hurts.
Your happiness will not be unforgettable.
Fear will.
"How are you feeling lately?" Lei Yu took two puffs of his cigarette and suddenly asked after a moment of silence.
"Very good." Lian Chuan looked at him. Lei Yu seldom asked such questions. For him to ask such a question, it was probably some news that did not involve any core secrets but was only related to Lian Chuan himself.
The eldest one was indeed taking a nap. After Lei Yu asked this question, he opened one eye.
"That Ning Gu," Lei Yu said, "if he comes to the main city again, I might assign you to deal with him."
"Will he come again?" Lian Chuan frowned, "It seems that he has almost no ability to protect himself at the moment."
"That's not the case," Lei Yu said, "He escaped from your hands. Not only did he escape, but the one who was with him also escaped."
The eldest brother closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose.
"If anyone runs away from me, I have to catch him," Lian Chuan said, "Is that what you mean?"
"No." Lei Yu put out the cigarette he had only taken two puffs of, stared at the cigarette butt for a long time without saying anything.
Lian Chuan didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.
"We must catch him alive this time," Lei Yu said, "at any cost, no matter where he hides. Only you can do it."
"No matter where they hide," Lian Chuan smiled, but soon his face turned cold, "It includes the Lost Valley, right?"
Lei Yu nodded.
The eldest brother scratched the sofa hard with his claws.
"Where's the new one? If it's broken, can you help me fix it?" Aunt Chun brought out a plate, glanced at the eldest brother, and placed the plate in front of Lian Chuan, "Use it as a cushion first, I'm still working on the other things."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
"Chuan," Aunt Chun looked at him, "you are the only one who passed the matching test."
"No one can surpass your willpower," Lei Yu said, "It would be best if we could catch Ning Gu outside. If he enters the Lost Valley and falls into Jiuyi's hands, he will be a card for Jiuyi. We cannot take any risks."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything. The Lost Valley was not a scary place. In his opinion, the people living there were in the same condition as those in the main city.
But except for the bats, no one who went in with the main city information had ever come out. He didn't know why Lei Yu and Aunt Chun persuaded him to go in.
"You have to go," Aunt Chun held his hand, her voice trembling slightly, and she lowered her voice, "not just to catch Ning Gu."
Lian Chuan looked at her and suddenly understood why.
It is not surprising that a traveler with a special identity or ability is required to be captured alive, and such a task is not uncommon for the cleanup team.
But Aunt Chun's last sentence was a reminder to him.
If necessary, he must go in and prove himself.
Just like he had to prove that he could fit in with Betelgeuse before, now he had to prove that he could handle the Valley of the Lost Path, he had to prove that he was irreplaceable.
Being irreplaceable is the only value that keeps him alive.
Dingzi has lived in the ghost town for more than ten or twenty years, and he has never lived his life so clearly.
As he stepped out of the house, he took a look at the numbers engraved on the metal plate next to the door, and counted them again with his hand. Sixteen.
Ning Gu has been locked up in the bell tower for sixteen days, and he hasn't even had the chance to get close to the bell tower, not even once. It's simply an insult to the friendship between him and Ning Gu.
He couldn't wait any longer today. The team leader and Li Xiang went to Shetou Bay. They would go there every once in a while, and each time would last about twenty days. During this period, they would not come back, and all matters were left to Lin Fan to handle.
Lin Fan rarely shows up in public. If he doesn't get Ning Gu out now, he will have no chance when the captain and the others come back. Given the captain's tough personality, he might lock Ning Gu up and turn him into a pile of bones.
"Where are you going?" Hammer was at the door.
"Go find the land king." said Dingzi.
"You've already asked him three times," Hammer sighed, "How can he help if he doesn't get any benefit?"
"The old guy has been around for so many years, he must have some ideas," Nail frowned and put on the goggles facing the wind. These were given to him by Hammer and found for him by Ning Gu in Lost Valley. "I'll trade with him for something."
Hammer grabbed his arm and asked, "What do you want in exchange?"
"That monkey's paw." Nail looked at him.
"That's Eagle Claw," said Hammer.
"I think it looks more like a monkey's paw," Nail insisted.
"Monkeys have no claws," said the hammer.
"Have you seen it?" Dingzi was unconvinced.
"Have you seen it?" Hammer was also unconvinced.
Nail said nothing more, just pulled his collar and walked out.
"There's only one of this thing in the whole ghost town," Hammer followed, "If you change it, it will be gone."
"There's only this one in Ninggu," said Dingzi, "Is he not better than a monkey's paw?"
"Okay," Hammer nodded, "I'll go with you."
"No, this is my own business," said Nail.
"I'm afraid he's cheated you out of your stuff and can't think of a way to deal with it," Hammer moved his arms, "If he doesn't behave, I'll beat him up."
Today's lunch time should have passed because Ning Gu was hungry. Based on how hungry he was, he felt that lunch should have been delivered at least an hour ago.
"Hey!" He kicked the iron door, "I'm going to starve to death in a moment!"