Less than a meter ahead of our vehicle, the entire highway had collapsed, the intact section on the opposite side now separated by at least several dozen meters of empty space.
When I leaned forward and looked down at the sunken stretch, all I could see was swirling mist — the bottom was completely invisible.
Just the thought that, if the black-clad man had stepped on the brake a single second later, we would've plunged into that abyss, made my limbs go weak.
Xiao Hu's sharp, high-pitched crying snapped me out of my shock and dread.
I pulled my gaze away from the chasm ahead and turned toward him — what I saw made my face tighten.
We'd never gotten into the habit of wearing seatbelts.
The sudden stop had clearly caught Yangyang off guard — he was clutching his forehead in pain, and Xiao Hu lay slumped beside him, his tiny face streaked with blood, crying pitifully.
I quickly opened the door and got out of the car.
While Suo Tian went to check on the others behind us, I forced myself to move toward Yangyang's door.
Standing there, the edge of the road only a short step away from the drop, the sense of danger was completely different from inside the vehicle — my knees went weak again.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself not to look down.
I opened the passenger door, lifted Xiao Hu into my arms, then helped Yangyang out with one free hand.
Once I'd gotten them both to a safe patch of open ground away from the broken edge, I went back to grab the first-aid kit.
By now, Xu Shu, Shen Feng, and the others had climbed out of their vehicles after their own sudden stops.
When they reached us and saw the scene before them, every one of them froze in disbelief before finally snapping back to help me tend to the injured.
Xiao Hu's nose had taken a bad hit — the bleeding was heavy and didn't stop for quite a while.
Yangyang was luckier; he only had a swelling bump on his forehead.
Uncle Gazi came over holding a wailing Tingyun, followed by Chen Pu and Rongrong, who were trying to calm her down.
I noticed right away that Tingyun seemed hurt too — blood mixed with her drool as she sobbed.
Uncle Gazi's face showed pure anguish.
We quickly checked her over and, once we confirmed it wasn't serious, he finally breathed out in relief.
Wang Jun's group arrived a while later.
They had been driving slowly and were waved to a stop from afar by the black-clad man — which, it turned out, had kept them safe.
Driving slowly really was safer after all.
When Wang Jun and the others got out of their truck, they first thought we had simply stopped for a rest.
But the moment they saw the gaping break in the highway ahead, every one of them froze, mouths hanging open.
Earlier, the box of baby formula Suo Tian brought back had been meant for Rongrong and the others.
Now I set up the small alcohol stove, heated some milk, and fed the three children.
Even with her injured mouth, Tingyun drank eagerly, gulping it down so fast that even Uncle Gazi couldn't help but look embarrassed.
The broken highway meant there was no way to move forward.
After sending Uncle Gazi and Han Xue to take the kids back into the vehicle, the rest of us gathered together to discuss what to do next.
"How could this happen? How does a perfectly good road just collapse like that?" Wang Jun cursed under his breath.
No one answered.
The middle-aged man glanced toward Suo Tian, who was crouched near the edge of the chasm, examining something, and said quietly, "Let's wait to see what the Boss says. At this point, it's out of our hands."
"Why don't we turn back?" suggested Zhang Qicong.
"I remember a highway exit a ways back — we could head down there instead."
Shen Feng shook his head.
"No. We have no idea how strong this earthquake is or how far it'll reach. We're not even sure this place is stable. If we rush back and another quake hits, it could be far worse."
"That's right," Xu Shu agreed.
"Since we've already left, going back now would make everything we've endured meaningless. Compared to an earthquake, this situation is still the safer option."
Everyone started arguing — one person after another, back and forth.
Some insisted we should stay put and wait it out; others thought we ought to turn back and take a detour.
The noise was giving me a headache.
Glancing over at Suo Tian, who was still crouched by the broken edge of the road, I hesitated for a moment, then walked over to him.
When I reached his side, I forced myself to peer down into the abyss below.
After looking carefully through the mist and drizzle, I noticed several long stone pillars faintly visible beneath the clouds.
A thought struck me — this must have once been an elevated highway, a viaduct, probably broken apart for some reason.
Realizing that, I asked him, "Those stone pillars… they used to support the overpass, right?"
Suo Tian turned his head, glanced at me, and nodded. "Mm."
I frowned, glancing again at the faint shapes of the pillars.
Normally, a bridge built in such treacherous terrain would be extremely sturdy.
The apocalypse had changed the world, yes, but it wasn't like a war zone full of shellfire — so how could a massive bridge like this, deep in the mountains, suddenly collapse so cleanly?
The question slipped out before I could stop myself.
After listening, Suo Tian pointed toward the pillars and said, "This place was likely blown apart on purpose."
"Blown apart—on purpose? Why?"
He didn't answer right away.
Instead, he turned and looked back in the direction we had come, his expression thoughtful, as if trying to piece something together.
I tried again, changing the question: "Who would do something like that? What could they possibly gain by blowing up a bridge?"
After a few moments, Suo Tian stood up, still watching the jagged edge of the ruin, and asked me, "Do you remember that helicopter team we saw last time?"
"Of course I remember. Why?" I replied instinctively — and then the realization hit me.
My breath caught as I asked, "You mean… it was them?"
Suo Tian shook his head. "I'm not sure. But… it's probably related."
"Who are those people? And why destroy a bridge?" I asked, stunned.
He turned his gaze to the other side of the broken span and spoke slowly: "Maybe it's not about who they are… but about what they don't want getting through — whether they don't want something coming this way… or going that way."
"Something?" I echoed.
"You mean… the walkers?"
"Possibly." He turned back toward me.
"Whoever they are, this wasn't done on a whim. Blowing up a bridge like this takes planning — it means there's a reason. A place this remote… the most likely explanation is that they wanted to stop something from passing through."
I stared at the gaping bridge in shock.
The far side was barely visible through the haze, and just looking at it made my whole body shiver.
After a long moment, I asked, "If that's really the case… then what do we do now? Do we really have to turn back?"
Suo Tian shook his head and glanced behind us. "No. We're not turning back."
"Then what? We can't go back, and we can't move forward. Are we just going to camp here?"
He pointed down into the fog below and said quietly, "We go down."
I froze, staring at him. "You mean… down there?"
"Mm."
"That's impossible!" I exclaimed.
"Even if we somehow got down, there's no way up to the other side. And even if we could climb, there's no way to get the vehicles across!"
Hearing that, Suo Tian glanced at me, his calm and expressionless face turning toward the mountains on one side.
He said, "We'll go out from that way. Cross a few mountains and we'll reach a small town. From there, we can connect directly to the road on the opposite side. There should also be vehicles and supplies in the town."
What he said did make sense, but I still found the idea utterly unrealistic.
Taking Rongrong, Tingyun, and the others to climb over several mountains — and first having to get down from this height of dozens of meters — just thinking about it made me feel it was impossible.
But Suo Tian seemed to have already made up his mind.
After explaining it to me, he turned straight around to tell the bearded man and the others to pack up.
The black-clad men, apparently used to this sort of situation, showed no particular reaction to the order.
They simply turned and began gathering their gear.
The others, however, weren't as composed.
None of them had been mentally prepared for such a decision, and staring at those towering mountains ahead made them all uneasy.
They looked at one another, hesitation written all over their faces.
After a long silence, Shen Feng finally spoke to Suo Tian: "Is this really a good idea? Climbing mountains is exhausting work."
"Exactly! And Lili just had a baby — how could she possibly climb a mountain?" Lao Si added worriedly.
Uncle Gazi, unusually, didn't voice an opinion.
He merely glanced at Tingyun twice and muttered to himself, "Grandpa should be able to carry Yuntou up the mountain."
"Yeah, Brother Suo," Wang Jun chimed in, clearly reluctant, "why don't we just head back for now? You know how dangerous those mountains are — it's not some place you can just camp out in!"
At those words, Suo Tian swept his gaze across us, frowning slightly as he said, "Anyone who's willing to go down, come with me. Those who don't want to can turn back. It has nothing to do with me."
"Wait, Brother Suo, that's not fair," Wang Jun protested.
"We've known each other for quite a while now. How can we just split up like that when trouble comes? We should at least discuss a safer plan together!"
Suo Tian gave him a cold look, said nothing, and turned away, walking over to the bearded man's group to double-check their equipment.
Wang Jun was left awkwardly standing there, staring after him for a moment before muttering under his breath, "What the hell is his problem?"
Then, realizing that I and my group were standing beside him — Suo Tian's people — he quickly forced a smile and added, "I meant the broken road, of course."
Honestly, I couldn't blame Suo Tian for being upset.
Every time something happened, we'd chatter uselessly, waiting for him to come up with a plan.
And when he did, we'd just complain or doubt it.
Somewhere along the way, helping everyone escape danger had become his unspoken responsibility — even though he never owed us that.
I pulled Uncle Gazi and the others up from the ground and said, "Pack your gear. We'll be taking the children down shortly."
— The end of the Chapter–