RHWHEG – Chapter 38 Escape (Part 2)

Dong Changxin wandered aimlessly through the Agricultural University campus like a headless fly—she was lost. With the black snake rampaging, all she wanted was to stay far away to preserve her little life, but she ended up getting swept into a chaotic brawl.

Lin Luyi aggressively blocked the survivors from Shangyuan City who were trying to flee with food: “That’s not yours!”

The Shangyuan survivors didn’t hesitate. They had stolen a bottle of hydrochloric acid from the lab and splashed it directly. Sun Min rushed over to support, and soon a fight broke out. When all the Shangyuan survivors were knocked down, only Lin Luyi, Sun Min, and Dong Changxin were left standing.

Seeing their unfamiliar faces, Dong Changxin instantly realized—they were from the opposing camp! And that black snake was brought by her camp. Naturally, they were enemies. Two against one wasn’t worth it, so she quickly turned to run.

Her hasty retreat made Lin Luyi suspicious. If there was nothing wrong, why run? He chased after her. Sun Min tried to contact Yu Qunqing’s group, then, seeing Lin Luyi run off, followed him.

They cornered her in a dead end. Suddenly, Dong Changxin spun around and flung a handful of plastic shards at them. The shards were tiny, cone-shaped, often used for hair clips and clothing decorations.

Lin Luyi instinctively shielded himself. Sun Min, recognizing her, shouted: “You’re that thrower!”

Dong Changxin said, “Everyone calm down. I’m afraid I can’t control myself, and then you’ll both end up full of holes.”

Relying on his undying ability, Lin Luyi sneered: “Go ahead and try!”

Sun Min reminded him, “First get rid of the things she threw at us!”

“You two are already locked by me.” Dong Changxin pressed her palm against the wall. Because the building was damaged, this wall resembled a giant cone. Her voice was calm: “One of you has 23 shards on your body, the other has 9. My ability moves faster than a bullet. Who dares to gamble?”

Lin Luyi had no idea how many were stuck on him. He jumped, and several shards dropped out. He glanced at Sun Min, who was just as clueless about when those 9 had landed on him.

“Drop your weapon!” Lin Luyi stood in front of Sun Min. “Otherwise, let’s see whether my regeneration is faster or you are!”

“We can’t take that risk,” Sun Min muttered, shaking his clothes. He could feel tiny cold objects sliding across his skin, but how many glass shards were still lodged on him?

“Take this first!” Dong Changxin pulled some unknown metal from her pocket and threw it. She wasn’t bluffing—anything she used for “cone-shaped displacement” could reach 700 meters per second, the speed of a rifle bullet. At that velocity, even a steamed bun could hurt someone.

The metal streaked through the air, emitting a blinding white light. Lin Luyi felt a sharp pain in his eyes and pulled Sun Min back. Sun Min gambled that the “bullet” wouldn’t turn midair and immediately dropped flat. In a blink, the glowing metal reached Lin Luyi. He couldn’t dodge in time, so he raised his forearm to shield his face.

A searing pain shot through his arm. The white light gradually faded. Lin Luyi slowly lowered his arm to check his wound.

It looked like it would heal quickly…

They’d been tricked!

Sun Min quickly pieced it together: even if the initial throw was fast, the metal she used had a low ignition point and had burned up midair. She didn’t have proper ammo at all.

And of course, she was already gone!

Lin Luyi didn’t understand the mechanics, only that he’d been made a fool of. He clenched his fist. “I’ll never let her off!”

Sun Min sighed. “Don’t make such useless, rage-filled declarations.”

Once they left, the lid of a nearby trash can popped open. Dong Changxin peeked out like a timid kitten, confirmed no one was around, then crawled out. She’d successfully tricked the enemy camp—she really was the invincible genius.

Then she looked up—and She Lulang was standing right in front of her.

“Ghost!!!” Dong Changxin screamed in horror, flipping halfway out and knocking the trash can over, spinning like a top.

She Lulang felt an inexplicable urge to sigh. Yes, being reborn was great, yes, finding old teammates again was wonderful, double the luck. But now that they were reuniting one by one, with their leader being such a troublemaker, that familiar exhaustion of being the deputy came rushing back…

He set the trash can upright, then lifted the stiff Dong Changxin out. “No running,” he instructed in a low, villainous but strikingly handsome tone.

Dong Changxin nodded furiously.

“Ghost!!!”

The familiar cry rang out again—not from her, but from not far away. It was Lin Luyi and Sun Min, who had actually circled back and were sprinting at full speed.

“There’s a second snake here!” Sun Min shouted when he saw She Lulang. “It—it smashed trees to pieces!”

“And it’s ugly as hell,” Lin Luyi added. “Super ugly! It doesn’t even have eyes!”

Dong Changxin’s body went rigid at the description. She was most afraid of exactly that kind of long, hairless creature.

Lin Luyi spotted Dong Changxin, and immediately changed targets: “You, you, you! Get whatever’s on Sun Min off her!”

“I lied to you all.” She Lulang looked strong, and since she was with them, Dong Changxin dared not make a fuss. She admitted frankly: “Actually, I’m nearsighted. Can’t tell people from animals beyond ten meters. I didn’t even know if I hit anything.”

Lin Luyi looked deeply hurt, as if his intelligence had been gravely insulted.

The sound of collapsing buildings drew nearer. She Lulang was just about to explain. “It’s coming!” Sun Min immediately dragged the grieving Lin Luyi and bolted.

At this moment, Dong Changxin couldn’t hold back—she was utterly terrified of snakes. Glancing once at She Lulang, she turned and ran with Sun Min and the others.

“We can head to the Agricultural University’s driveway,” Dong Changxin said, running alongside Sun Min, thoughtfully giving directions.

“She’s a liar!” Lin Luyi refused to listen, but his protest was useless. The three of them were forced to flee together.

She Lulang stood frozen in place, wanting to speak but stopping short.

A nearby wall shattered to pieces, Lego-like fragments tumbling to the ground. Out of the dust surged a square, solid-colored, faceless snake head. With some unknown micro-control, it executed an impossibly tight 180° turn, swallowing the debris clean.

The blocky snake continued crawling forward.

Sitting cross-legged on its body, holding up a broken umbrella, Yu Qunqing quickly arrived in front of She Lulang.

“Looks like they’re getting along well. Maybe our team’s about to gain some new members.” Yu Qunqing sighed regretfully—he’d wanted to say hello properly. “But why are they running so fast?”

She Lulang’s face remained expressionless. “Don’t you already know the answer?”

Yu Qunqing: “?”

The trio of fugitives soon reached the highest experimental field, now deserted, the land pockmarked with deep craters. Dong Changxin squatted down and yanked out a potato.

When Sun Min asked what she was doing, she replied that she wanted to take it back to cook—lately they’d been eating nothing but meat, their diet dangerously unbalanced.

“You still want to live here?” Lin Luyi asked.

Dong Changxin couldn’t nod, yet when she thought of her immobile classmate Yue, determination welled up in her. She stood. “I’m leaving. I’m going back!”

President Qi’s group also wanted to return. After a short rest, they discussed how their plan had failed—better to go back and reassess. Though the black snake had destroyed many things, a shattered mirror could be pieced back together and used again; so too with life. Give it a day, a week, a month, and the traces of crisis would be forgotten.

“Back to our Medical University—that’s our home.”

“Exactly. We’ve even grown attached to the rabbits. The Agricultural University’s been ruined so badly, its future can’t possibly compare to ours.”

Voices of agreement spread. Limping and staggering, they left in the direction of the setting sun. By the time the red sun sank and rose again, this place would once more be a safe, carefree college town—at worst, a haven split between two camps, squabbling in petty disputes.

But the Agricultural University’s migrant faction had already set off earlier.

Yao Linlin, clutching seedlings, struggled to cross a deep chasm. The Agricultural University lay behind them, the sound of the black snake’s rampage suddenly stopping. Yet no one dared look back—their future lay ahead.

They had abandoned too much: the rescued survivors from Shangyuan City, the classmates unwilling to leave, the victims of the Klein bottle attack… They had no choice but to keep moving!

The gates of the Polytechnic University came into view, marked by an irregular, geometric design that seemed stylish and full of intent. Everyone exhaled in relief, already savoring their new life.

“This will be our new sanctuary,” Yao Linlin declared. But unease grew heavier in her chest.

“Did you hear that?” a classmate asked. “Something just collapsed. Is the black snake coming?”

Someone shouted, “Quick, into the Polytechnic!”

Carrying sacks of supplies, they rushed inside. From their left came the thunder of buildings collapsing. A colossal, unseen monster was demolishing everything familiar, destroying bit by bit their fragile hopes.

The ground began to tremble slightly. Their steps faltered. The sound drew closer and closer, until someone finally couldn’t help but look back—

This must be a world abandoned by the gods.

How else could such a monster exist?

It was a perfect cuboid, every right angle precise to the extreme, its endless body devoid of any concept of curves. At sunset, its shadow stretched long and dark, creeping over their faces, blotting out every last trace of dazzling light.

It was like a speeding train rushing past. Even the toughest reinforced concrete was no more than paper before it.

Wherever it passed, all objects turned into mysterious blocks; the physical laws humanity relied on were a joke in its eyes.

It altered everything, assimilated everything.

And now, that colossal mountain-like body was gaining on them!

“Run!” a student screamed, voice tearing. “Run!”

They scattered to the sides. Someone tripped and fell.

But the blocky snake ignored them—it cared nothing for insignificant humans. It barreled straight ahead, smashing the Polytechnic University’s grand gates to rubble.

Shards of blocks rained down, just like their shattered hopes.

They could no longer deny it: from the Klein bottle’s invasion of the college town, to the birth of the black snake, and now this unspeakable serpent sweeping everything away… The college town was no longer their safe, warm refuge.

In the stifling atmosphere, they screamed meaninglessly, trying to shed the crushing weight on their chests.

In the apocalypse, to live simply for the sake of living meant enduring endless misfortunes.

The serpent’s body passed by them, the red sun hanging above it, bearing cold witness to the end of this tiny planet.

The block snake suddenly made a 180° turn—it was coming toward them again!

“We… we still have to run…” Weak-limbed, they supported each other. Utterly dazed, yet driven forward by the most primitive survival instinct.

“…Just a bit farther, if we can just get farther away, it’ll be fine.”

Next to them was the University of Finance and Economics, and behind them the giant serpent was only one step slower. It rammed into the tallest central teaching building like Gonggong ramming Buzhou Mountain in ancient myth. The serpent grew longer and larger, soon towering as high as three stories, its body endlessly extending.

Jiangbei Nursing University was split in half. The statue of the ax-wielding figure at the University of Engineering was no more. The empty cultural corridor of the Academy of Fine Arts was buried in rubble. The blocks piled higher and higher—viewed from the sky, it looked as if the mythic serpent of the world’s courtyard was cramming itself into the human realm.

In the end, running had become pure instinct.

They reached the University of Medicine. Yao Linlin from Agricultural University’s camp saw the heavily wounded President Qi from the opposing faction, as well as the Shangyuan City survivors who had snatched food and fled. At the far end were Dong Changxin, Lin Luyi, and the others who had just arrived.

“Was this your doing?!” President Qi was the first to accuse. The black serpent had clearly been dealt with, so why was there another monster? The university town was supposed to be safe!

A student, exhausted, muttered, “Actually… this isn’t the first calamity to hit… The Klein bottle came before.”

“What! Could it have slipped through the rift on our side?” A student from the University of Medicine suddenly realized the flaw.

Both sides stared at each other, and at last, the truth dawned: this shelter had never been safe. The surrounding overpasses always had gaps—calamities could come and go freely. The only reason they had survived this long was sheer probability.

They had been deceiving themselves all along…

One layer after another, the truth peeled back. The reality was bloody and cruel. But once exposed under the sun, it felt like nothing worse could still be hidden.

“If there are gaps… that means there’s still a way out.” Yao Linlin trembled from head to toe as she voiced the thought everyone had been avoiding. “We can walk out of the university town!”

President Qi, ever the fence-sitter, quickly echoed, “Yes, yes, we—we’ll go too!”

“What about the classmates left behind if you leave?” Dong Changxin suddenly cut in. President Qi’s face twisted with fear. “What can I do! It’s their misfortune!”

The Shangyuan City survivors agreed as well—they figured sticking with the students might get them some spoils. They spoke up in support of President Qi, gathering around him. Surrounded, he felt reassured, speaking with more confidence: “Do you really think you can stop all of us?!”

“I don’t care how many of you there are.” Dong Changxin stood blocking everyone’s path, anger burning inside her. How dare they abandon Yue? If they hadn’t hurt Yue’s leg back then, she would have escaped alongside her!

Everyone only wanted to flee, not fight. But the crowd surged forward, and Dong Changxin was like a small stone in a rushing river—seemingly insignificant, yet splitting the current in two. Amid the chaos, Sun Min grabbed her: “Go save her first!”

Dong Changxin snapped back to her senses and pushed against the flow, running toward the dormitory building of the University of Medicine. Her Yue was still up there!

But the serpent moved even faster than them all. It charged into the dormitory building, and in a blink, the structure bent at an impossible angle. A gaping crack split it open, dormitory beds flying out from the force. The crack widened, revealing jagged rebar like thorns. The building was cut in half. In the next second, the whole thing collapsed, blocks flooding outward like a breached dam.

Through the gaps in the tumbling blocks, Dong Changxin saw a familiar figure falling through the air. She reached out desperately, but the dozens of meters between them were too vast—enough to separate the living from the dead.

Her grief-stricken cry choked in her throat. In that endlessly stretched moment, a flock of white egrets appeared, sweeping through the sky and in the blink of an eye, flew before her.

Yue’s figure suddenly enlarged before her eyes—then landed squarely in her arms.

The two rolled across the ground, rescued from the avalanche of blocks by Lin Luyi’s vines.

The wickedly beautiful great villain appeared behind her and said, “This time, I made it in time.”

His eyes lowered, calm and detached, utterly out of place amid the tense atmosphere. He told Dong Changxin: “If you want revenge, wait until you’ve walked out of here yourselves.”

Then, turning to Sun Min and the others, he said, “Next time, wait until I finish speaking before you run. That Yu Qunqing really is…”

“What?” Sun Min gasped. “You mean all this is connected to Brother Yu?!”

She Lulang folded his arms. “Ask him yourselves.”

At that moment, Yu Qunqing was searching across the Agricultural University, finally finding Gu Tian and the rest of the “abandon resistance” group in the Geography Department building, along with many victims of the Klein bottle. Even in the apocalypse, they had held onto timid kindness, never abandoning their companions, even in the face of danger.

Gu Tian recognized him. “You’re that guy from the crematorium…”

“Please, don’t bring that up.” Yu Qunqing sighed. “Why won’t you run, even when terrified? You’re making things difficult for me.”

Gu Tian, bewildered, replied, “We have no ability to resist.” But Yu Qunqing hauled him up—though he was a heavyweight player, Yu Qunqing lifted him like a kitten.

Yu Qunqing led them out of the building. Outside, the serpent loomed like a wall, spanning the entire university town. Ruins were everywhere, the devastation horrific. But the block serpent only devoured “other snakes.” Humans with hands and feet didn’t qualify. Most injuries came from accidents or chaotic brawls. Yu Qunqing also avoided locations that might contain important data—he knew they would need it later.

Patting Gu Tian, he said, “It’ll disappear—so long as you’re willing to walk out.”

Gu Tian looked ahead.

The block snake had grown enormous. It was forced to crash into the overpass ruins at the edge of the town, turning them into white blocks.

It slithered along the ruins, devouring them. Its massive body stretched like a new wall encircling the town.

At the instant its head was about to meet its tail, Yu Qunqing commanded it to turn back.

“Ding-dong. Fifteen minutes remain until the end of the game ‘Snake.’ Players, please make the most of your time!”

The block snake withdrew. Before Gu Tian’s eyes, the serpent’s body vanished, as did the ruined overpasses… all barriers were gone.

His chest hollowed out. In the gray dust, he glimpsed distant withered, yellow, barren mountains.

The university town bared its true face to the outside world, wordlessly rejecting the wandering children clinging to it.

Gu Tian understood: without the terrain’s protection, their only option was to leave.

But where would they go?

“Ding-dong. Ten minutes remain until the end of the game ‘Snake.’ At that time, the game will forcibly end.”

—With the system’s countdown ticking, the block snake sped into the city at 120 km/h, carving out a wide passage from the university town.

—Target: The residential district in the city center.