Moth Chasing the Sun 20

The desert was an uninhabited zone—harsh and forbidding. Even with water storage technology and the current level of societal advancement, living in desert regions was entirely feasible.

But who would bother?

The world was vast. Even if radiation had turned many places into dead zones, there were still plenty of livable environments left. Who would be idle enough to build a city in the desert, forsaking places with mountains and water, just to eat sand all day?

The escort convoy had fifty guards in total, with Xu Zhen as their captain.

The convoy itself was oddly constituted. All of them were trucks, carrying their own guards, all dressed head to toe, faces wrapped in gauze scarves, leaving only their eyes visible.

They never exchanged a word with the escort party during the journey, not even during rest stops when they prepared their own meals.

The convoy's leader would occasionally share route details, but he was taciturn, speaking only when necessary.

The trucks were loaded with boxes of every size—large and small, long and short. Some were up to two meters in length, others barely half a meter. They were sealed with black iron sheeting, marked with white-painted X's, giving off an unsettling vibe.

As they neared the desert, temperatures soared.

Everyone shed their coats, switching to short sleeves, yet the heat remained stifling. Fortunately, the vehicles had air conditioning.

Once they entered the desert, they switched to traveling by night and resting by day.

At first, the group chatted and laughed, but the monotony of the desert landscape soon grated on their nerves, and gradually, they lost the will to speak.

One night, just before departure, the convoy leader approached Xu Zhen and said, "Ahead, we need to wear protective suits."

Xu Zhen narrowed her eyes.

Protective suits? That hadn't been mentioned before, and none had been prepared.

The convoy leader said curtly, "Bring a few of your men and follow me."

Xu Zhen pointed at a few of her team members, and they followed him to one of the trucks.

He gestured at the two outermost rows of boxes. "These two rows contain protective suits. Take them and put them on."

Xu Zhen waved her hand, and the team members each carried two boxes back.

When they opened them, they found fifty pristine white protective suits, covering the wearer from head to toe, with ventilation units on the face and a green arc icon printed on the chest.

Most didn't pay it much attention, but Tan Yiyuan's face changed as he whispered, "That's the radiation symbol."

They were headed into a radiation zone?

Even the uneducated knew radiation was dangerous—it caused mutations, deformities, and incurable illnesses.

Some felt a knot of anxiety, but turning back wasn't an option.

They all donned the suits, checked each other over, and then got back into the vehicles.

The truck crew also changed into suits, and the convoy set off again. After another half day's travel, the vehicles came to a halt.

The leader got out and told Xu Zhen, "You can head back now. Your escort duty ends here."

His voice was muffled by the suit, echoing strangely.

It reminded Xu Zhen of NPCs in horror games.

"Are you sure you don't need us further?" she asked.

"Certain," he replied.

Orders were orders—she was to follow his instructions. So Xu Zhen radioed her team, and they turned around, heading back the way they came.

She didn't want to linger in that radiation zone a second longer.

The truck convoy continued onward, stopping in the middle of the sand as dawn approached. The area was barren, but soon the sand ahead began to sink, revealing a tunnel leading underground.

The trucks drove in one by one, and the covering slid back up, sand cascading down to conceal the entrance.

Underground, the vehicles traveled a bit farther before stopping in a cavernous plaza. The crew disembarked, walked to an entrance at the side, and after thorough decontamination, stripped off their suits and changed into gray robes.

Then they went back out and began unloading the boxes from the trucks.

Meanwhile, another team arrived from a different entrance. When they met, both groups pressed two fingers to their foreheads and intoned in unison, "Praise the Mother Goddess."

Together, they carried the boxes away to various sections.

Some boxes held oddly shaped ores, others held food. Some contained lab equipment and medical instruments, others daily necessities. Still others, when opened, released a puff of cold air, revealing intact human bodies covered in frost, or bodies submerged in green liquid, eyes closed, chests rising and falling faintly.

***

Shangyuan City was a small, unremarkable place—nothing notable in culture or economy.

Perhaps that's why the Church chose it as a base.

With its underdeveloped economy and mediocre location, the population was sparse and aging. Ambitious young people tended to leave, making it a city for leisurely retirement.

There were no wealthy families or conglomerates here, and thus relatively better public security, since even gangs found little to profit from.

The Resistance had no foothold here either, so when Yan Xianchuan and her group arrived, their first task was to rent several lodgings. They couldn't be adjacent, but also not too far apart, to allow mutual support.

Of the five, some stayed in hotels, others in apartments. Yan Xianchuan, naturally, stayed with Lu Mingqiu.

It was an old neighborhood, with peeling exterior paint on the apartment buildings. As she followed the landlord to view the place, she noticed elderly folks sitting on benches, chatting and singing—such a leisurely scene.

It was something she'd never witnessed before.

The last time she'd see anything like it was in her past life.

Everyone in this world hurried about, always seemingly busy, as if something were chasing them, and if they stopped, they'd be caught.

The only truly relaxed people she'd seen were the homeless sprawled on the streets, dead drunk like corpses. Not exactly leisurely; more like waiting to die in place.

The room itself was sparse: a metal table covered with a brown cloth in the living room, flanked by chairs, serving as the dining area. A worn leather sofa without a cover, no coffee table, no TV.

The bedroom held only a large bed and a wardrobe.

The rent was correspondingly cheap, and Lu Mingqiu paid for a month.

After days on the road, they reached Shangyuan City late at night. Though Lu Mingqiu felt anxious, she also knew that fatigue left little room for effective work.

So she urged everyone to rest and plan the next day's reconnaissance in the morning.

They took turns washing up and then got into bed together.

The room had only one quilt, but two pillows.

Lu Mingqiu slipped under the covers without qualms. "Sleep."

Feeling a bit awkward, Yan Xianchuan carefully climbed onto the other side and reached over to switch off the bedside lamp.

"Good night," she whispered.

Sharing the same quilt made a world of difference.

The gap between their bodies under the covers let in a chill, but the heat from the other person was unmistakably present, impossible to ignore.

Lu Mingqiu slept soundly, lying on her back without fidgeting.

Yan Xianchuan also started on her back, but her attention kept drifting aside. After a while, with self-discipline, she turned over, presenting her back to the other woman.

She knew Lu Mingqiu was serious about this mission and didn't want to disturb her rest, nor did she want to keep herself awake. She needed to recharge for tomorrow to be effective.

Sleep, just sleep...

After an indeterminate time, she drifted off.

When she opened her eyes again, daylight flooded in. The scene before her was familiar—her own bedroom, her home, the one with her parents in it.

What was going on?

She found a mirror and saw herself in a school uniform, looking young.

Was this a dream?

She pushed open the door and descended the stairs, where her parents sat at the dining table. Her mother called out, "Chuanchuan, sweetie, come eat breakfast, or you'll be late for school."

Her body moved on its own, walking over and sitting down at the table. She took a sip of congee first.

"Why so dazed?" her father chuckled. "Where do you want to go tomorrow?"

Yan Xianchuan froze, but heard herself say, "Let's go to the aquarium. I suddenly want to."

Her heart ran cold.

No, don't go to the aquarium.

But she couldn't utter a word.

Her father said, "Alright, aquarium it is, then maybe hotpot. How's that?"

She nodded, and after breakfast, picked up her backpack and left for school.

The school day flew by in an instant, and soon it was time to go home. Yan Xianchuan picked up her backpack and started back.

Halfway there, her phone rang. An unknown number. She didn't want to answer, but her body answered on its own.

"Hello?" she said.

Then she suddenly floated upward, viewing the scene from above, watching her own indifferent expression stiffen, gradually shifting into confusion.

"I don't understand. Could you repeat that?"

The voice on the other end was so loud it nearly burst her eardrum.

"Are these your parents? They've been in an accident. They're at the Third People's Hospital."

She watched herself hang up, hail a taxi, and rush to the hospital. A female police officer was waiting outside the operating room.

Her face bore a look of sympathy as she said quietly, "The accident happened on Chunxi Road. The driver fled the scene. Surveillance suggests drunk driving, ran a red light."

"A passerby called the police and an ambulance. We're still tracing the plates."

The officer had come to the hospital after learning of the situation, to offer comfort and keep her informed.

Her own expression remained bewildered. "Are the injuries severe?"

The female officer's face tightened. "Very severe."

Xu Zhen floated in midair, watching herself sit down on the bench, silent, staring at the red light that said "In Surgery."

Not long after, a doctor emerged. Seeing her, he paused, removed his mask, and said, "I'm sorry."

"Why apologize?" she could hear herself ask, not understanding. Why apologize out of nowhere?

"The rescue failed," the doctor said.

Her parents were wheeled out, temporarily taken to the morgue. Two men in plain clothes approached her, asking if she wanted them to arrange transport to the funeral home, offering full funeral services.

Hei Ge watched them silently.

The female officer, unable to bear it, stepped in and said, "Give me a card first; I'll arrange it."

Seeing a police officer, the men didn't press further. They handed over a card and left.

"With the plates, will it be quick to find the culprit?" Hei Ge heard herself ask.

The female officer nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, the police will catch the perpetrator."

"When you find them, can you tell me?" she asked.