If it were a few moments earlier, Ji Mingxia would have been quite happy to meet a living person by chance.
But after experiencing Xiao Qi, Ji Mingxia had a psychological shadow. Even a girl he had already met could turn into a monster in an instant, let alone this stranger he had never met before.
Ji Mingxia immediately became more vigilant. Not only did he not approach the other man, he did not even say a word.
On the contrary, the man looked all over Ji Mingxia’s body and asked with concern, “Are you alright, are you hurt?”
The concern on the other man’s face didn’t seem fake, so Ji Mingxia had to say back, “I’m fine, how about you?”
The man had a very complicated expression on his face. He took a deep breath, looked at Ji Mingxia and said, “I’m okay too, it’s great to see you ……”
Ji Mingxia gave him a strange look, although the expressions on his face were a bit genuine, the memory of Xiao Qi a moment ago didn’t fade away. Even someone like a seasoned person like Ji Mingxia couldn’t accept seeing an ordinary person turn into a monster in an instant.
For people who had never experienced such things, these few days were akin to purgatory.
And yet this man did not break down on the spot and shout, he was already very calm.
Thinking of this, Ji Mingxia’s gaze fell on the man’s jacket.
It was the school uniform of their high school. In addition to the school logo embroidered on the chest, there was usually a school tag with the student’s name and class.
The flashlight inside the room was dim, but Ji Mingxia’s eyesight was extraordinarily good and he could see the words on the school tag at once.
Senior Class 9, Zhuo Cheng.
Ji Mingxia was a freshman this year and had just graduated from the school last year. This man was a senior, so he was Ji Mingxia’s junior, and had probably met him in the school before.
With such a layer of connection in place, Ji Mingxia’s heart was inevitably flooded with some sympathy even though he was still vigilant. He finally said with a soft voice, “Have you been alone these days? Where are your classmates, how are they doing?”
“Classmates?” The man froze and looked at Ji Mingxia in a dumbfounded manner.
Ji Mingxia only thought he was stunned, so he gestured to the school badge on his chest and said, “My name is Ji Mingxia, I just graduated from school last year, I’m a senior one year above you.”
The man stared at Ji Mingxia blankly and then looked down at his clothes.
When Ji Mingxia saw that he was unresponsive with his head down, he instantly gripped the ring in his hand warily, “Zhuo Cheng?”
Zhuo Cheng raised his head to see Ji Mingxia’s guarded look and he hurriedly adjusted his expression and said, “My …… classmates… I don’t know where they went, I got separated from them and I’ve been alone these past few days.”
Ji Mingxia looked at him suspiciously.
This man’s reaction gave Ji Mingxia a vague sense of foreboding.
Zhuo Cheng also seemed to notice that he was behaving strangely and hastily added, “I was alone in my room when the incident happened. The door was locked, and several people came knocking on the door in succession. I was more alert and did not open the door or answer. I slept until noon and woke up to find myself transported elsewhere.”
“I didn’t know something was wrong until I saw dead people in other rooms. I was lucky and spent most of my time hiding in the hotel. There were plenty of supplies and many bottles of water stored, and every time I went to a room, I found a place to hide and always carried water with me.”
“There was no signal on my phone, but I found a dozen power banks, so I always had battery. I didn’t team up with anyone, I was self-sufficient and I’m physically fit, that’s how I’ve survived this long.”
Zhuo Cheng finished in one breath and looked at Ji Mingxia with a sincere face, deeply afraid that he would continue doubting him.
Ji Mingxia was obviously not immediately convinced and said directly, “You never teamed up with anyone and were so vigilant, so why are you telling me this now?”
Zhuo Cheng said, “Because you came in from outside.”
Ji Mingxia frowned, “Why would you come to such a conclusion?”
His identity had been seen through at once. Ji Mingxia wouldn’t have had any doubts if it was Yu Ning who had come to this conclusion, but this strange man was worth being wary of.
Ji Mingxia’s wary demeanor made Zhuo Cheng smile bitterly, “Those who just came in are different from the people in here at first glance. Not only you, but also that monster just now, I’m afraid it was made shortly after coming in.”
Ji Mingxia’s silence was both an acquisition and also a measurement of his words, so Zhuo Cheng added, “You must be curious about what’s going on in here, I can tell you everything I know.”
Ji Mingxia gave him a look, “On what conditions?”
Zhuo Cheng looked at Ji Mingxia incredulously, “Mingxia, why would I put conditions on you?”
Seeing that Ji Mingxia was looking at him with even more suspicion, Zhuo Cheng hurriedly said, “You just saved my life, you are my saviour.”
This was not the first time Ji Mingxia had heard such words.
Ye Tian had often used the words “life-saving benefactor” before, and Ji Mingxia would only get embarrassed whenever he heard it, but today was his first time getting goosebumps from hearing the words.
However, Zhuo Cheng’s eyes looked sharp, his mind was active and his limbs were flexible, he was in a very different state from that of Xiao Qi.
He was the first of the stranded people that Ji Mingxia had met, and since the other party was willing to provide information, Ji Mingxia naturally wouldn’t refuse.
With Yu Ning away and no one to figure things out, Ji Mingxia could only rely on himself. If he wanted to find Yu Ning as soon as possible, the prerequisite was to first understand the situation in this area.
Ji Mingxia said, “I got separated from my partner, and I want to know about the situation here, so I’ll trouble you.”
“You have other partners?” Zhuo Cheng asked, “Aside from the one from earlier?”
“Something like that.” Ji Mingxia said casually, “Besides me, a man and four women came in together.”
“So that’s how it is.” Zhuo Cheng nodded with understanding, “Is it convenient to tell me the relationship between you?”
“Not convenient.” Ji Minxia said directly.
Zhuo Cheng froze for a moment, and then couldn’t help but laugh.
Seeing Ji Mingxia’s expressionless face, Zhuo Cheng did not delay any longer and quickly said what he knew.
Ji Mingxia has already explored the situation here, and the two biggest problems at present were the space distortion and the transformation of humans into monsters.
“The source of all this is actually caused by something. That thing emits energy that affects all matter around it. When it touches space, space shifts, and when it touches people, they turn into monsters, similar to nuclear radiation.” Zhuo Cheng said.
When a person becomes a monster, it naturally does not consider itself as a human being, it needs strength, it needs to feed.
And within this space, there was no more sumptuous cuisine than a living human being.
The only way to live was to stay away from those things, from the transformed monsters.
Zhuo Cheng said, “According to my observation, there are about two hundred people trapped in the whole space, but I am afraid that less than one fifth of them are still alive. The exit should be controlled by those things, but as soon as you get close to them, you may mutate into a monster, so it becomes a completely unsolvable proposition. Even when people found the way out, they were still trapped in here, unable to escape.”
When Zhuo Cheng finished, he suddenly asked curiously, “How did you guys get in?”
“There was someone who had a key with a special energy that could open the door into this place.” Ji Mingxia said.
“Impossible.” Zhuo Cheng immediately denied, “There are thousands of things gathered in here, how could one key alone get you in? It’s like ten thousand people guarding the city gates. There is no way in unless the person trying to get in is stronger than the ten thousand people in the city. Or unless the people in the city took the initiative to let him in.”
Zhuo Cheng’s words made Ji Mingxia recall the moment Liu Lin opened the door earlier.
Only Liu Lin knew the function of the key, and neither he nor Yu Ning had tried it themselves.
When she opened the door, she recited that she wanted to see Ke Chengxuan, but although the door opened, there was no sign of Ke Chengxuan at all.
Had something gone wrong with Liu Lin, or was it someone from the “city”, as Zhuo Cheng had said, who had deliberately put them into the city?
There were only six of them, and aside from Yu Ning, the rest were all rookies.
Even if Ji Mingxia racked his brain, he could not understand how his group could have been treated so well.
Could it be that Yu Ning’s protagonist halo had worked?
Seeing Ji Mingxia looking at himself without speaking, Zhuo Cheng said suggestively, “Perhaps there is a secret hidden in your party and you didn’t realize its effects, if you are willing to tell me, I can help you analyse it.”
His words caused Ji Mingxia to unconsciously think of Yu Ning again.
It was the same process of analysis but while Yu Ning made people want to ask questions, this person ……
Why did this person sound annoying?
In Ji Mingxia’s opinion, although Zhuo Cheng was quite good, it was not beyond the level of ordinary people.
Although Ji Mingxia had an average IQ, not just anyone could look down on him.
He could also do this kind of superficial analysis on his own.
With this thought, Ji Mingxia was about to digress when his hand suddenly went cold, followed by a stinging sensation. It was as if a sharp blade had cut his hand, and the wound was instantly covered by a burning pain.
Ji Mingxia froze and looked at his hand in disbelief.
It was only when the blood ran down his fingertips that Ji Mingxia finally reacted.
He suddenly stiffened, his face turning white instantly.
Zhuo Cheng was still waiting for Ji Mingxia’s reply when he suddenly saw Ji Mingxia stiffen with an extremely ugly expression. Just when he was about to ask what was wrong, he noticed the blood that was continuously dripping down from Ji Mingxia’s finger.
“You’re injured?!” Zhuo Cheng asked in shock but Ji Mingxia could no longer hear him.
He and Yu Ning were linked by fate, and since he was injured for no reason, that meant that Yu Ning was injured ……
Yu Ning had been injured!
Ji Mingxia only felt that his head was in a daze and his entire body was in a great panic, completely losing the ability to think.
“Yu Ning, I have to go find Yu Ning.”
He muttered, turning around and immediately rushed towards the door.
“Yu Ning?” Before Zhuo Cheng could react from the fact that Ji Mingxia was injured and bleeding, he saw Ji Mingxia running towards the outside with messy steps, “Where are you going, Mingxia? Ji Mingxia!”
He was about to go and stop Ji Mingxia when he saw the other party fall back, as if he had been pushed by something. He fell back so hard that his whole body crashed into the side of the closet.
Immediately afterwards, a bloodstain seeped out from Ji Mingxia’s shoulder.
Oh damn 👁️👄👁️