Chapter 89 Peculiar Indigenous Inhabitant
Qi Xia could hardly have anticipated that he would spend the entire day walking along the road, and even as the sun sank beneath the horizon, he still had not glimpsed the city's edge.
A normal person can walk at a speed of five kilometers per hour, but given his current state, Qi Xia calculated that he was barely managing three kilometers per hour. After over seven hours of walking, he had covered approximately twenty kilometers.
Now, he felt dizzy and his legs trembled with each step. He was barely able to continue moving forward, relying almost entirely on the inertia of his legs.
"All I can do is hope I don’t die just yet..."
After another ten minutes, Qi Xia found it increasingly difficult to continue. He entered a dilapidated building as night began to fall, hoping to avoid the strange {insects} outside. Although he didn’t yet know what danger those {insects} posed, he preferred to steer clear of any unnecessary trouble.
Using Officer Li's lighter, he ignited a small fire and took out the map of {Passage to Heaven}, flipping it to the back. He dipped his finger in his own blood and roughly marked the path he had taken.
This city was much larger than he had anticipated. He had expected that following the roads would lead him to a more rural area, but instead, the buildings around him grew taller, as if he were moving from the outskirts to the city center.
‘The diameter of an ordinary city rarely exceeds fifty kilometers…’ Qi Xia mused, sketching out the map with his blood. ‘In theory, I should reach the edge of the city by tomorrow afternoon, and then everything will be clear.’
Last night, Lin Qin had treated his wounds with a torch. While the bleeding had stopped, the burned areas were both painful and itchy, making it impossible for him to sleep through the night.
When dawn broke, Qi Xia dragged his nearly exhausted body upright. A night of rest had not restored any of his strength; he felt completely depleted. With no water source, no food, and no medicine, he couldn't help but envy Han Yimo for the way he could so easily slip away from life.
He rummaged through the room and found a few pieces of relatively clean scrap paper, tearing them into shreds before swallowing them. He feared that if his stomach was completely empty, he might never see the edge of the city.
Facing the rising sun, Qi Xia set off once again.
He had strayed far from the original plaza; the sound of the {bell} was no longer audible, and sightings of the {Earthly Branches} had become rare.
However, as he ventured deeper, the indigenous inhabitants of the city gradually increased in number. This place resembled a genuine city, yet most of the people on the streets appeared to be mere shells of their former selves. They lacked expressions, showed no aggression, and did not engage with one another, aimlessly wandering through the streets.
For a fleeting moment, Qi Xia felt as if he, too, was among these soulless figures. Their movements, demeanor, expressions, and even their walking speed were indistinguishable from his own. How ironic it was—had these individuals also been stabbed and were now resolutely moving toward the city's edge? As the sun rose higher, Qi Xia sensed something was off with his condition. He touched his forehead and neck, realizing he was beginning to run a fever.
It seemed that using fire to cauterize the wound was indeed too risky; although it could temporarily stop the bleeding, it could not prevent infection and fever.
Qi Xia felt his eyelids growing heavier with each step, and he sensed that he might collapse at any second. If he fell now, he feared he might never rise again.
After nearly half an hour, Qi Xia came to a slow stop by the side of the road. He could hardly move another step, resting his hand on an old, worn taxi while gasping for breath. ‘What a pity…’ he mused, gazing at the distant road. There was still a long way to go, but it seemed he would fall here, unable to uncover the ultimate secrets of this place in his final moments.
As he leaned against the decrepit taxi, feeling frustrated, he was about to sit down when he suddenly noticed someone inside the vehicle. It wasn't a corpse; instead, it was a woman blinking at him.
‘An {indigenous person}?’ Qi Xia glanced at the rigid ground and then at the soft seat in the car, a bitter smile forming on his lips. If he were truly to die here, he would at least choose a comfortable spot.
With that thought, he inexplicably opened the car door and settled into the passenger seat. The car carried a pleasant scent, just as he had imagined a woman's car might, which, if one could call it good news, allowed Qi Xia to escape the pervasive stench that enveloped the city.
"I never thought car seats could be so comfortable..." he murmured to himself, a resigned acceptance washing over him. "I can die in peace now."
“Where to, sir?” the woman beside him asked in a calm voice.
“Where to?” Qi Xia replied with a wry smile, shaking his head. “Where can I go now?”
He patted his thigh and slowly recited the lyrics, “Drive, drive towards the edges of the city; Roll down all the car windows, in hope of obtaining a temp high from speeding[1].…”
“The edge of the city?” the woman pondered for a moment. “I’m not sure where that is; could you guide me?”
With that, she pressed the fare meter inside the car and twisted the key. As Qi Xia expected, the car emitted an old, creaky sound and wouldn’t start.
Undeterred, the woman turned the key several more times, and finally, after a vigorous fifth twist, the car began to tremble.
Qi Xia was taken aback, turning to look at her in disbelief. She certainly didn’t seem like an {indigenous person}; at least her complexion was rosy and her figure well-proportioned. Could she be a {common person}?
A {common person} with her own car…
“I'm about to start driving, so please fasten your seatbelt,” she said, reaching for the gear stick to shift into first, smoothly releasing the clutch while pressing the accelerator.
Qi Xia fumbled for the seatbelt, only to find a loose webbing strap beside him, the pillar loop had rusted beyond use. He had no time to dwell on that and attempted to engage the woman in conversation. “Are you… a taxi driver?”
“You’re quite the jokester, aren’t you sir?” she replied, shaking her head as she shifted from second to third gear. “If I’m not a driver, what am I—an auto thief?”
Seeing the woman communicate so smoothly and even make a little joke left Qi Xia even more perplexed. A woman in such good mental condition clearly wasn’t an {indigenous person}; she had to be a {participant}. But why would a {participant} be driving a taxi?
“Don’t you notice… how strange this place is?” Qi Xia pointed out the scenery outside the window, trying to grasp the understanding of the woman before him, who appeared rather unremarkable in appearance.
“Is it?” she glanced outside and replied nonchalantly, “It’s just a bit overcast.”
Qi Xia sighed in resignation. It seemed the woman was still an {indigenous person}, but she appeared to have only recently transitioned into that state, as her thoughts remained relatively clear.
“What’s your name?” Qi Xia asked again.
The woman didn’t respond verbally but pointed to the area in front of Qi Xia, where her Certificate of Professional Qualification hung; it featured a photograph of her face along with her name.
She had a lovely name: Xu Liunian(许流年).