After Li Shiqing pulled Xiao Heyun out of the car, he just thought he had met a lunatic, and after cursing a few words secretly, he continued to walk towards the bridge, trying to find a taxi or a ride to cross the bridge.
As a result, before he had gone far, the bus collided with the oil tanker, and even formed a small mushroom cloud when it exploded, scaring him to turn around and run away.
He was not far from the scene at that time, and he was so shocked that he lost his hearing on the spot. He fell again during the escape and was stained with kerosene leaked from the ground. The clothes on his body were set on fire and he was seriously injured.
Fortunately, he escaped the first wave of explosions. Although he was burned, at least he was still alive. He was rescued by the ambulance that arrived at the scene.
When he first got into the ambulance, he was still awake. When the medical staff on the ambulance confirmed his identity with a note, he said that he was a passenger who got off the bus temporarily, but because of the pain, he did not say If there is too much, you will pass out.
After he came back from the first aid, there were already policemen waiting by the hospital bed, but at that time his physical condition was so bad that he was deaf, and he was still wearing an oxygen mask and intubated, so he couldn't say a few words at all. , I can only leave a few key information, including that I was dragged out of the car, and I don’t know another person, that person got out of the car and ran away.
For the rest, he really didn't know anything.
It's just that he never expected that Li Shiqing, who got off the bus before him, was not much better. When he got off the bus, he hit himself with a concussion and completely forgot what happened on the bus.
"You mean, you were not far from the scene and were seriously injured?"
Li Shiqing was startled, "But the police officers just told me that you are deaf!"
When she was questioned repeatedly until she couldn't breathe, she once asked why they didn't go to another survivor. The answer given by the police at that time was that he was deaf and it was inconvenient to communicate.
Hearing Li Shiqing's words, Xiao Heyun was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a moment, he guessed, "That's probably some kind of questioning technique? If you are really the real culprit of the bus accident, or if you really know something, if you know my knowledge The person is seriously injured and is about to die, and he will definitely bite to death if he doesn’t tell the truth.”
After all, "death never proves".
"So, when I saw you on the bus, you jumped up and groped yourself because..."
As soon as Li Shiqing imagined that possibility, goose bumps crawled all over her arms.
"Um."
He responded in a low voice, "You can imagine that one moment I was dying in the emergency room of the hospital, expecting God to spare my life, and the next moment I appeared on the bus again, good man Good feet, intact skin, nothing wrong except tinnitus…”
The little brother showed a sad smile, "At that time, everyone would think that they were already dead, right?"
Xiao Heyun was indeed terrified, until he saw the familiar yet unfamiliar girl beside him.
At that time, he was very sure that the girl "escaped" from the car accident like himself, and she ran away from the "death zone" as soon as she got out of the car. She had no reason to "die" like himself.
Then she didn't know his own situation, which made him more convinced that this world was not real.
"Then, are we still lying in the hospital ward, or..."
Li Shiqing flinched, and said a more creepy possibility.
"Actually, we're already dead?"
"No, it won't."
The glasses brother was frightened by her guess, his face turned blue, and he stammered.
"With such a big explosion, no one can survive?"
Li Shiqing began to wipe away tears secretly again, "Why did I wake up without any injuries? If only the soul is reincarnated and not the body, doesn't that mean I'm already dead?"
When she was "circling" alone, such speculation would only be the last straw that broke the camel's back, so she didn't dare to think deeply at all, and she didn't dare to let herself explore the "truth of the matter."
At that time, even if you just want to live a second longer, you have to do your best.
Now that there is an "ally" and time to breathe again, the uneasiness and panic accumulated in Li Shiqing's heart are like an opened Pandora's box, and all of them come out in one go.
She sobbed, and said, "I heard that if someone dies in vain, he will be trapped in the place where he died forever, repeating that day. I used to think of it as a legend, but, but... "
But what if it's true
In the small locker room, even the slight gasps of people could be heard clearly. Li Shiqing, who was crying, heard the glasses brother on the opposite side swallowed, panting for a long time, unable to say anything to refute, and cried even more sadly. .
"Well, that doesn't make sense either."
Xiao Heyun's heart was also turbulent, but he still tried his best to calm himself down, "Well, I've heard this legend too, doesn't it mean that as long as you find a 'replacement ghost', you can escape?"
He patted Li Shiqing's drooping shoulders, comforted her and said, "If you were a ghost, you would have found me as a 'scapegoat' by now, so there is no reason to keep being stuck here, right?"
"I, I didn't think of anything to replace the dead..."
Li Shiqing heard Xiao Heyun mocking herself as a "scapegoat", raised her head in embarrassment, "I was just afraid..."
"I understand, I don't blame you. But it's too soon to say we're dead."
He nods.
"There are always some things in this world that cannot be explained by science. There are also many novels and movies like ours. Don't they all have a perfect ending in the end?"
It was obviously the unlucky one who became the "scapegoat", the little brother wearing glasses still took care of the girl's psychological state with grace, and said comforting words in an unskilled manner.
"Don't always think of it as a punishment from God, why can't you think of it as a chance from God?"
"Look, I was supposed to be killed on that bus, but now I can't stand in front of you?"
The glasses boy spread his hands and showed her a complete self.
"At least you saved me."
Li Shiqing, who was comforted, had no time to be moved when there was a loud knock on the door outside the locker room.
"Is there someone in there? This is the changing room of the supermarket. What do you want to play and go home? Someone complained!"
The uncle knocking on the door outside shouted fiercely.
"You are hogging public resources, if you don't come out, I will call the police!"
They stayed inside for nearly half an hour, during which time some people wanted to try on clothes, but they were persuaded away by the voice of the younger brother when they knocked on the door. Some people probably felt that something was wrong, and finally went to the security of the mall.
Seeing that the "hiding" place was exposed, the two looked at each other, the glasses brother made a mouth shape of "go out and talk", Li Shiqing nodded.
So the glasses brother opened the locker room, and under the contemptuous gaze of the security uncle, he pulled Li Shiqing out.
Uncle Security originally wanted to scold them, but when he saw Li Shiqing being dragged away with tears all over his face, his anger suddenly turned into vigilance, and he chased after him for several steps.
"Little girl, is there anything wrong? Do you need my help?"
After finishing speaking, he looked warily at Xiao Heyun who was pulling people in front, then turned his head and said to Li Shiqing: "Girl, don't be afraid, tell me anything, I will help you."
Li Shiqing was still sad at first, but as soon as he heard the uncle's words, he knew that the uncle regarded the glasses boy as a bad person, and he had vented his fear and panic before, so he was so teased that he laughed and shook his head to replace him. The glasses brother defended:
"It's okay uncle, I know him..."
She looked up at the glasses boy, saw that he was also angry and funny, and quickly said:
"Thank you, him, he is my friend."
After making sure that the little girl really knew the little brother, and not being coerced, the uncle gave up suspiciously and continued to follow, but he still educated a bunch of things like "the dressing room is a public environment and can't be occupied casually", "you should also be careful when you are in love. Influence" and so on.
They didn't dare to entangle at all, Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun, two shallow-skinned young men, fled in embarrassment at the uncle's words.
After being so delayed for a while, it was almost three o'clock when they found a fast food restaurant with no one on the top floor and sat down.
"It's been an hour and fifteen minutes since the car exploded."
The glasses brother lost his backpack while running, asked the waiter of the fast food restaurant for a pen and paper, and began to analyze the cause and effect of the matter with Li Shiqing.
"Do you remember where your first accident happened?"
"Probably in the middle of the bridge across the river."
After so many cycles, many of Li Shiqing's memories have been blurred, but fortunately there is still a reference, "I remember there is a small pavilion for pedestrians to rest, there are not many places with pavilions on the bridge, I saw it It should be the one in the center."
"and after?"
he asked again.
"It should still be on the bridge."
"the third time?"
The little brother started to draw a table on paper.
"...like just getting on the bridge?"
Li Shiqing said uncertainly, "I only remember that when my accident happened, I was already on the bridge."
Every "cycle" of them is accompanied by various kinds of weakness, and every negative emotion will be backlogged on them, especially the first few times just after the accident. Every time before waking up, they have to overcome the double pain both psychologically and physically. open your eyes.
It was also because of this that Li Shiqing could no longer tell where she was when she was sober, but only roughly knew where she was when the accident happened.
But this information is enough for the little brother.
"My first 'loop' was near the intersection closest to the approach bridge."
The little brother drew a schematic diagram and marked the location.
"This is the intersection where the accident happened, here we are..."
"When I 'circle' for the second time, our position is here. The third time, it is here."
The little brother drew a few "Xs" further back at the intersection, and asked Li Shiqing, "Did you see anything?"
"Each cycle, will our position be farther away from the bridge?"
Li Shiqing looked at the schematic diagram for a while, then raised her head and asked in surprise.
Compared with the location of her first "accident", these recent locations are already a certain distance away from the bridge.
"Wrong, it's not that our position is farther away from the bridge, but that the start time of each cycle of ours is advancing."
The little brother reservedly concealed his pride after discovering the truth, "Time and space are the forms of existence of matter, and they correspond. So, not only our position is changing, but also the time we wake up is also changing. "
"Do you understand it?"
Looking at the girl who was staring at the schematic diagram, the little brother seriously told her the conclusion he made.
"We are not trapped in the original timeline. Every time we 'cycle', it is a different world."
Li Shiqing's eyes became hot, and she covered her mouth and nose with sobs.
She knew why the little brother said this to her specially.
She had worried that she was already dead, and now it was just a "death replay".
"If the process is different every time, but only the result is the same, then maybe 'breaking' the result is the key to leaving this endless loop."
It can be seen that such a conclusion lifted the spirit of the little brother, and made his tone of speech much lighter.
"We managed to get off once, so 'getting off' is not the way to get out of the loop."
This kind of emotion also infected the girl, and she also began to analyze, "I have successfully avoided my own 'death', but after that, I still cycled with you, so 'immortality' is not the way to leave this cycle."
"Then there are only other possibilities..."
She thought about the process of each cycle and made an inference: "Either let this car successfully reach the terminal..."
"Either..."
The little brother continued, "... successfully saved 'everyone' in the car?"
He heavily emphasized the word "everyone", which made Li Shiqing, who understood what he meant, frown even tighter.
"My God, aren't these two 'possibles' the same thing?"
She wailed, "We are just two novice players, should we go to this hell mode from the beginning?"
Saving everyone means that there can be no casualties, including criminals.
One of them is an ordinary female college student, and the other is a programmer who is panting after running 500 meters. How can He De ask God for such a hardcore task
"Actually, this is good news for us, which means that we will have more and more time."
The little brother is obviously very familiar with this model, and his emotions are also rising. "Isn't it our biggest advantage in this 'game' to be able to 'reload a file'?"
"I'm just worried..."
Li Shiqing hesitated to speak, but finally chose not to hurt morale, "Forget it, let's not talk about this, let's talk about what we should do next."
"If we want to stop the disaster from happening, we need to get more information. Where the explosives were placed in the car, how did they explode, and whether the ringtone of the mobile phone was emitted by the explosives device."
The little brother looked up at the clock in the restaurant.
"Even if the police didn't have time to find us at the beginning, now more than an hour has passed, the police who checked the surveillance footage must have found that we got out of the car early, and I'm afraid they are trying to find us..."
When they got out of the car, the two turned off their mobile phones, and then looked for a place where they could exchange information.
"Now, the choice we face..." The little brother drew a circle on the word "police". "Should we continue to avoid the police, or..."
He raised his head and looked at Li Shiqing.
"...cooperate with the police investigation?"