Deep in the night on Longevity Island, the gray fog, like cotton soaked in cold water, clung stickily to Mi Yao and Chen Kong's collars, carrying the damp smell of decaying leaves as they sprinted through the woods.
The dry branches and leaves crunched underfoot, mingling with the passionate BGM in Mi Yao's headphones and the roars of the Rotten Vine Corpses behind them, creating a rhythm that was both absurd and tense.
Chen Kong followed closely behind Mi Yao, who was leading the way. The wounds on his back, inflicted by the Rotten Vine Corpses, were repeatedly strained by the running motion. Each breath brought a needle-like sting, and cold sweat dripped down his jawline, splattering onto his mud-stained hands.
Meanwhile, the bandage on his arm, which had only been applied recently, was already soaked through with sweat, sticking to his skin—cold and itchy. Chen Kong could distinctly feel the skin beneath the bandage subtly radiating heat, a sign that the poison had not been fully cleared.
"Turn left! There's a broken wall fifty meters ahead that can temporarily block their line of sight."
After running for an unknown duration, Mi Yao suddenly slammed the brakes, turning around and tapping his finger in the air.
As the anime scene shifted to Mi Yao's perspective, a pixelated red arrow abruptly appeared on the empty ground in front of him.
Like a 'map guide' in a video game, it continuously pointed out the most suitable escape route for Mi Yao.
With a clear direction and goal, both Mi Yao and Chen Kong simultaneously increased their speed, bursting out of a thicket of impenetrable bushes.
Thorny branches scraped loudly against Chen Kong's sleeve, revealing the faintly green skin beneath. The sharp pain made him let out a muffled groan, but he dared not slow his pace.
The roars of the Rotten Vine Corpses behind them were growing closer, and even the ground trembled with their heavy footsteps.
After clearing the bushes, Mi Yao suddenly spoke up, seeing Chen Kong still trying to flee deeper into the island.
"Stop."
Though he didn't understand why Mi Yao said this, Mi Yao's performance throughout the journey prompted Chen Kong to make a decision immediately, obediently halting his steps.
As the adrenaline in his body slowly receded, Chen Kong finally had the mental capacity to look around.
He saw that they were currently stopped behind a faded, broken wall.
The wall was covered with withered Boston ivy, and the brick joints were stuffed with several sections of decayed wood, clearly the ruins of an old, long-abandoned building.
"Don't worry, wait here for a moment."
Mi Yao was the first to squat down and press against the wall. Seeing this, Chen Kong immediately followed suit, hiding behind the broken wall as well.
Soon, a sight that greatly surprised Chen Kong appeared.
The swarm of Rotten Vine Corpses that had been relentlessly pursuing them suddenly stopped about ten meters from the broken wall.
Their scarlet eyes fixed intently on the two people behind the wall, and their vine-tangled fists thumped dully on the ground. Yet, not a single one dared to cross the invisible boundary, as if they were terrified of something on the other side of the wall.
Then, under Chen Kong's astonished gaze, the Vine Corpses let out a series of furious growls before turning away one after another, quickly disappearing completely from the sight of Chen Kong and Mi Yao.
"You knew they wouldn't dare to come near?"
Chen Kong turned to Mi Yao, his tone full of surprise.
Mi Yao nodded, unreservedly sharing the information with Chen Kong.
"Didn't I mention before that I once considered venturing deep into the center of the island, but after reaching a certain area, I sensed unknown danger within, so I ultimately chose to return to the forest?"
Mi Yao paused, then pointed at the distinct urban architecture around them, speaking with a serious expression: "This is the furthest point I've ever reached."
"And back then, some of the Rotten Vine Corpses chasing me, just like this corpse tide, didn't dare to approach this place easily."
Hearing this, Chen Kong thought for a moment, then asked earnestly, "So what did you find inside back then?"
The next second, the anime camera followed Chen Kong's words and began to pan toward the cluster of buildings at the center of the island.
In the distance, only faint outlines of the central buildings could be vaguely seen in the dark night.
But the scattered lights and the faint, indistinct noises made the dimensional audience realize that this was not an abandoned city ruin but a 'city' with a human presence.
Of course, that's assuming the beings living in this city were truly 'people.'
When the camera returned to Chen Kong and the others, Mi Yao didn't rush to answer Chen Kong's question. Instead, he pulled out tent parts from his 'Tactical Subspace Folding Backpack' and immediately started setting it up, clearly intending to spend the night here.
This backpack was an exclusive item he exchanged with game currency. It looked like an ordinary arcade bag on the outside, but its internal space was ridiculously large.
"Kong, some things are hard even for me to describe. You'll understand after daybreak. Besides..."
Mi Yao rapidly assembled the tent frame, saying without looking up, "...Your poison hasn't been cleared, and I can't misuse my resurrection coin. We shouldn't take unnecessary risks."
Hearing this, Chen Kong said no more and sat down leaning against the broken wall.
Soon, overwhelming exhaustion washed over Chen Kong like a tide.
The escape last night and the poison's erosion had long pushed both his body and spirit to their limits.
Therefore, before the tent was even fully set up, he had fallen into a deep sleep, leaning against the cold brick wall, unaware that Mi Yao had placed a dry blanket over him.
[Morning - Longevity Island - By the Broken Wall]
The crisp sound of a bicycle bell, mixed with the Peking Opera singing from an old-fashioned radio, drilled into Chen Kong's ears.
He abruptly opened his eyes, squinting instinctively against the dazzling sunlight.
The gray fog, which had been too thick to dissipate last night, had scattered sometime during the night. The sky was a clean, pale blue, without a single cloud.
"Wake up and let's go. Any later, and we'll be stared at like anomalies."
Mi Yao had already packed up the tent and was leaning against the broken wall, chewing on a compressed biscuit. His headphones hung around his neck, and his eyes motioned for Chen Kong to look at the other side of the wall.
Chen Kong followed his gaze and was instantly stunned.
Beyond the broken wall was an open plaza.
The ground, paved with bluestone slabs, was neatly swept. Several elderly people dressed in Dacron shirts were slowly practicing Tai Chi, their movements expansive, humming off-key opera tunes.
A little girl with pigtails ran past, holding a big Dabaobaotang (Big Bubble Gum), which popped on her face, making the grandpa reading the newspaper nearby burst into laughter.
An old-fashioned bicycle with a horizontal crossbar pedaled across the plaza. The man with a green canvas bag hanging from the handlebars smiled and greeted the elderly people practicing Tai Chi, his voice loud enough to carry to the broken wall.
The scene was so realistic that Chen Kong felt inexplicably disoriented.
If not for the faint pain in the bandage on his arm and the wound on his back, he would almost have believed that he had time-traveled from the fallen zone of Longevity Island back to the small county town described in history textbooks from the 1990s.
"Let's go, let's take a look."
Mi Yao swallowed the last bite of compressed biscuit and clapped the crumbs off his hands.
Hearing this, Chen Kong nodded, then, with a mix of apprehension and curiosity, walked with Mi Yao toward the plaza not far away.
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