novelraw Chapter 65 : Situation
Chapter 65 : Situation
Chapter 65: Situation
The street tonight was very quiet. There were no cars or people, only the moon in the sky accompanied Zhang Wenda.
Zhang Wenda arrived at the crossroads under the moonlight. He stood at the center of the intersection, unsure of which direction to take.
It felt as if he could go in any direction, yet also as if no direction was the right one.
Just then, a cat’s meow rang out. Zhang Wenda looked toward the sound and saw that it was Black Lump, the small black cat.
He walked in that direction, bent down, picked up Black Lump, and walked resolutely eastward.
After walking for about twenty minutes, Zhang Wenda arrived under the utility pole with the treehouse.
“Meow~” As Black Lump cried out, Aunt Flo stuck her head out from the treehouse.
Zhang Wenda waved at her with a smile and said, “I don’t have a home anymore. Can I stay here?”
Song Jianguo, who had a cat ear on her head, leapt out from Aunt Flo’s back. After seeing Zhang Wenda, she tilted her head toward the treehouse. “Come up.”
As soon as he climbed up, Aunt Flo came over and gave Zhang Wenda a big hug, squeezing him so tightly he couldn’t breathe.
“I didn’t expect you to have had it so hard. My heart aches for you.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine now. It’d be even better if you let go of me.”
Song Jianguo lightly sliced once and also came over to go through the motions before quickly letting go.
Seeing this, Zhang Wenda’s heart instantly warmed.
That night, Zhang Wenda stayed in Song Jianguo’s treehouse. The good news was, the cats didn’t reject him this time. He even had a tiny short cat blanket covering his belly.
After a day of turmoil, exhausted and worn out, Zhang Wenda lost consciousness shortly after lying down.
When he woke up the next day, it was the punishment from the rule of attending class that jolted him awake in pain. The intense pain throughout his body made him curl up like a shrimp.
The black cats nearby formed a circle around him, staring with their big curious eyes, watching Zhang Wenda as he hovered between life and death, until he finally fainted from the pain.
This time he didn’t stay unconscious for long. Before long, he was awakened by the pain once more.
“It’s getting worse. This isn’t my imagination. The rule is intensifying!” Zhang Wenda confirmed again, feeling the pain on his body.
“Do you do this every morning?” Aunt Flo commented emotionally from the side.
“No, not before. Especially today—it’s a rest day.” But now that he fully understood the cause and effect, he no longer wanted to explain anything.
“I must go to the Dark Web. Even if it’s dangerous there, I have to go.”
“I have to completely remove this rule from my body! No matter what the cost!”
Aunt Flo sighed. “I knew you’d say that. Wait a bit, let’s talk when Mimi comes back.”
Zhang Wenda wiped the sweat and blood from his face. “Where is she?”
“She went to find Lollipop for you. I heard if you eat that, you won’t feel pain.” Aunt Flo spoke while picking at her fingernails.
“Really? That’s rare.” As Zhang Wenda leaned weakly against the wall, the cats immediately surrounded him, sticking out their soft little tongues to lick his wounds.
“Kid, Mimi isn’t all that bad. It’s just that I can’t stay by her side for long. She’s just never had anyone to teach her.”
“I know.”
Hearing this, Aunt Flo continued, “You see, she already treats you as a friend. That collar on her neck, shouldn’t you take it off for her?”
Although Aunt Flo often elbowed Song Jianguo, she had always considered herself an elder to Song Jianguo and was indeed sincerely thinking for her sake.
“I promised her, so I’ll definitely do it. It’s just… this matter is a bit troublesome.”
Back then, to prevent Song Jianguo from breaking free of control, he hadn’t left any backup at all. He had thrown the unlocking key directly into the stomach of the Youth Center.
Not to mention whether he could even find that Youth Center again—he probably couldn’t even enter it anymore, just like with the Library. To retrieve that key now would be harder than climbing to the heavens.
“Let’s wait for now. I’ll handle everything here first, and then I’ll—” Zhang Wenda had only said half the sentence when Song Jianguo suddenly crawled in from the hole with a look of terror. “Something’s wrong! Something big happened!”
“Don’t be so dramatic. What is it?” Zhang Wenda asked.
“The place where you bought the candy—no one’s there anymore.”
“I thought it was something serious.” Zhang Wenda got up from the ground. “It’s Sunday. Maybe the Supply-and-marketing Cooperative is closed. They’re civil servants now. It’s already good enough they don’t beat you up when they’re in a bad mood, let alone treat customers like gods.”
“No! No!” Song Jianguo didn’t seem to be joking at all. “It’s not just the people—the stuff is gone too! That little building is just an empty shell now!”
“What?” Zhang Wenda was shocked upon hearing this. Now he felt that things weren’t that simple. Even if it were closed for the weekend, they wouldn’t clear everything out, would they? Normally, the items would be locked up inside.
“Let’s go take a look.” Zhang Wenda became serious. This could be a big or small matter.
After all, the candy could resist the rule’s punishment. If the Supply-and-marketing Cooperative was really gone, he’d have no choice but to physically endure the pain every day.
When he arrived at the entrance of the Supply-and-marketing Cooperative with the others, he was shocked to find it was just as Song Jianguo had said—completely empty. The once-bountiful shelves of snacks and candy were now bare.
“How strange? What’s going on?” Zhang Wenda held a flashlight, and carefully jumped over the counter.
He discovered not only were all the goods gone, but not even a trace had been left on the floor.
“What happened? Is it just this one Supply-and-marketing Cooperative, or all of them?” Just as Zhang Wenda pondered this, Aunt Flo’s voice came from outside.
“Kid, come out for a moment. I have a bad feeling. Why is there not a single person or car on the street?”
Zhang Wenda’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. He quickly ran outside. The once-bustling street was now completely deserted. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Even the tall smokestacks in the distance weren’t emitting any white smoke.
“What on earth is going on today?” Song Jianguo said anxiously.
“No, it didn’t start today. It started yesterday!”
Zhang Wenda suddenly recalled how the streets were also deserted last night. But he had thought it was just because it was late and people were asleep. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
“Yesterday?” Upon hearing this, Aunt Flo’s face turned pale.
Though she said nothing, Zhang Wenda seemed to already understand her thoughts. He swallowed and spoke, “Aunt Flo, is this the paradox you mentioned? The one caused by interacting with your past self in the Network World?”
Aunt Flo no longer had the composure she did before. “I… I don’t know! Don’t ask me! I don’t even know what form the paradox will take. The only thing I know is, anyone who encounters a paradox in the Network World will completely disappear and never be seen again!”