2045年11月7日上午9:00 —
"早晨."
朱世九刚洗完澡,就推开妹妹的卧室门,向刚起床的李华打招呼.
或许是因为李华通常早上没课的时候都会睡到快中午,但朱世九一打开门,就看到李华一脸疲惫——头发凌乱,眼皮耷拉着,整张脸都透着疲惫.
"早上好..."李华瞥了一眼同样一脸疲惫的朱世九,嘴角忍不住抽动了一下."朱哥...你不会也没睡吧?"
很明显,朱世九的状况也好不到哪里去.
他打了个哈欠."差不多吧."
事实上,他直到凌晨四点才睡着——而且即便如此,他还是会时不时从噩梦中惊醒.与他在学校的正常作息相比,这基本上就等于没睡.
现在几点了?
李华查看手机时——刚过九点.
他伸了个懒腰,下了床."诸葛,你梦里...江城在十岁的时候就被毁了,对吧?"
朱世九点了点头."只剩一个小时了."
"你父母呢?"李华小心翼翼地从房间外探出头来.
"他们去上班了."朱世九耸了耸肩回答道.
"你让父母去上班后还能这么平静地坐在这里?如果是我,我早就告诉他们了."
但说到一半,李华突然想起——他连自己的家人也没告诉过.
朱世九理性地说道:"没有证据,你觉得他们会相信我吗?说实话,如果我没有预料到老张的事情,你大概也不会相信我."
李华搂住他的肩膀."我怎么可能不搂?我们是兄弟!"
"迷路."
---
上午 9:26 —
洗漱完毕后,两人坐在桌旁吃着朱世九父母做的米粥和蛋饼,两人都明显心不在焉.
李华处于半信半疑的状态——他有一定程度上信任朱世九,但内心深处仍然动摇.
至于朱世九,越接近十点钟,他就越焦躁不安.
"诸葛."
他正要把李华的碗拿到水槽边去,这时他听到李华用一种奇怪的犹豫的语气叫他.
"嗯?什么事?"
"...没什么."李华犹豫了片刻,最终还是没有说出口.
朱世九觉得奇怪,但心想或许是自己的焦虑传染给了李华.谁知道一座拥有数百万人口的城市会在半小时内消失,都会感到不安.
他摇了摇头,朝厨房走去.
李华走到窗边,望向晴朗的天空——丝毫没有世界末日即将到来之势的迹象.
与经历过那场噩梦的朱世九不同,李华并不真正理解"世界末日"的含义,所以他没有感受到同样的紧迫感.
但他确实相信这是有可能的.否则,他昨晚就不会答应和朱世九一起偷偷溜出江城了.
他之前试图开口说话的原因...并非出于恐惧.
他有个问题.
"…Why ten o'clock exactly?" he murmured to himself by the window.
"Good question," Zhu Shijiu said from behind him. "That timing is too precise—down to the minute. I didn't see the seconds in the dream, but even so, it's too… deliberate."
He came over to stand next to Li Hua and looked at the sky.
"You didn't wash the dishes?" Li Hua asked. "Want me to help?"
"…Who cares about dishes right now?" Zhu Shijiu replied blankly. "They're soaking in the sink."
Li Hua returned to the main topic. "You're sure it was exactly ten?"
"Absolutely," Zhu said. "Dream-me looked at the clock at that moment."
"If that's the case… maybe it wasn't a natural disaster. Maybe it was man-made."
Zhu Shijiu had a darker guess—one Li Hua hadn't experienced enough to consider.
That blue light…
The sky turning into an overwhelming veil of blue…
It didn't feel like something human technology could create.
A missile explosion would flash like the sun. But that wasn't what he saw.
What he remembered was the entire sky being covered by a blue curtain—ethereal, unnatural, all-encompassing.
They talked in circles for a while.
---
9:55 AM —
"Zhu-ge."
Li Hua suddenly spoke.
"If the destruction isn't just Jiangcheng… what's your plan?"
"…Not just Jiangcheng?" Zhu looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what you said on the first day—if it's really the end of the world… what will you do?"
Zhu let out a small laugh. "What else can I do? Die, I guess."
The calmness of his answer made Li Hua frown.
"Zhu-ge… have you ever considered something?"
"What?"
"That this wasn't just a dream." Li Hua's voice trembled slightly.
Zhu Shijiu froze.
Li Hua continued, "I couldn't sleep last night either. I kept thinking about it… Based on your descriptions, I don't think you simply dreamed it."
Zhu's expression slowly grew solemn.
He already knew what Li Hua was implying.
Li Hua looked at him deeply. "Maybe… that was something you already lived through."
Zhu didn't answer.
Li Hua sighed softly—a rare moment of maturity from him.
"If that's true… maybe to you, first cycle me and second cycle me look the same. But to me, I only have one life."
---
9:59 AM —
Li Hua didn't expect Zhu to reply at this point. He simply continued talking to himself.
"Zhu-ge… if you really go back again… I hope you tell me everything again. The moment you throw a 'prophecy' at me, I'll believe you just like yesterday."
"If I get another chance…" Zhu said seriously, "I will."
Last ten seconds.
Ten…
Nine…
Eight…
Seven…
Suddenly, Li Hua grinned mischievously.
"Oh, right—help me tell next-cycle me something."
"What?"
Six…
Five…
"Tell him to hide the stuff under the bed—the third box."
Zhu blinked. "What stuff?"
Four…
Three…
Two…
Li Hua didn't answer.
One—
10:00 AM.
A flash.
In an instant, Zhu Shijiu's entire field of vision turned blue.
Everything—light, shadows, the whole world—was drowned in shifting shades of blue. The source was the sky itself, as if a massive blue veil had descended over reality.
Ten seconds later—
Zhu felt something wrong in his body.
Li Hua suddenly cursed.
"什么——我的鼻子!我流鼻血了!"
他的手上沾满了血.
但当朱看向他时——他惊恐地僵住了.
不仅仅是李华的鼻子.
他的眼睛,耳朵,鼻子——鲜血从这些地方汩汩流出.
即使透过这片蓝色的世界,朱也能清楚地看到它.
十秒后——
鲜血开始从李华的毛孔中渗出.
看到这一幕,朱下意识地摸了摸自己的脸.
他的手指还很温暖.
血.
他自己的血.
然后,疼痛袭来.
一种撕心裂肺的剧痛席卷了他身体的每一个细胞——仿佛他正被从内到外撕裂开来.这是一种超越人类所能承受的痛苦.
与上次被冲击波瞬间杀死相比,这次简直是酷刑——缓慢而痛苦的分解.
他们两人都倒在了地上.
朱从外面隐约听到尖叫声——邻居,附近楼宇,整个居民区...
每个人都遭遇了同样的命运.
在这种难以忍受的痛苦下,朱只坚持了两秒钟就崩溃了.
他无法思考,无法呼吸——纯粹而无情的疼痛抹杀了他的意识.随着意识的消散,就连"疼痛"的概念也最终消失了.
直到最后——
他的尖叫声突然停止了.
…
第三个周期开始.
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