Translator: 549690339
Summer lengthened the daylight, the sun was on its last gasps.
The sunset reluctantly dragged the buildings and trees into lengthy shadows, coated in golden twilight, tired, quiet… A car whizzed by, stirring up waste paper and plastic bags on the side of the road, bringing brief uproar to the tranquility.
The Jeep slowed down gradually, finally stopping behind a congested road.
“Lun Ang, Su Man, you two go to the front and see how far the congestion goes.” Yan Qingwen instructed them, “If it’s not that far, let’s move the cars. If it’s too long, we’ll take a different route.”
Uncle Fatty and the woman in the red dress got off the car as per the instructions, each taking a weapon to scout ahead.
Yan Qingwen took out a map to consult; the man and the woman in the back seat also got out of the car, saying, “Brother Yan, we are going to look around nearby to see whether we can find some water.”
Their food supply was still plentiful, but they could never have too much clean drinking water.
“Don’t wander off too far. Zhu Shu’s wound just healed,” Yan Qingwen instructed calmly.
“We got it.” The man chuckled and walked away with the woman.
Not long after the two set off, Uncle Fatty, Lun Ang, and the woman in red, Su Man, were already back.
“How is the road ahead?” Yan Qingwen asked the two of them.
Lun Ang wiped the sweat from his face, his mutton-chop whiskers also dripping with sweat, and shook his head, “The congestion is not too bad, but there are dolls about which would very likely trigger a game. We better take a detour.”
Su Man got into the car and saw the back seat was empty. She asked, “Where did Li Li and Zhu Shu go?”
Lun Ang laughed, “Where else could they be? Off on a date! They stick together all day. Now that we’re not around, they finally grabbed the chance to spend some time alone! Ha ha ha ha!”
Su Man’s face darkened, and she frowned at Yan Qingwen, “Brother Yan, why don’t you stop them?”
Yan Qingwen, face unchanged, kept looking at the map. “Why would I stop them? They are adults in their twenties, not three-year-old children.”
Su Man pursed her lips. She still wasn’t happy and muttered, “What if they meet with danger…”
“Hey! If you’re so concerned about him, go check on him yourself!” Lun Ang blurted out unabashedly, “She clearly likes him but doesn’t admit it. Now look at her, someone else swooped in and took him away!”
Su Man glared at the fatty fiercely, “Who said I like him?! I’m just afraid they will get into trouble and end up creating trouble for us!” Uncle Fatty dug at his ear, “Alright, alright, whatever you say…”
A shout came from the distance.
The three in the car turned their heads and saw the man and the woman running back hastily.
Yan Qingwen frowned and got out of the car.
“Brother Yan, you…you look over there!” Li Li was so out of breath he could barely speak. He pointed to a distance and said, “The fog over Hangzhou… it’s gone!”
“Ha?” Lun Ang burst out laughing, his laughter booming like thunder, “Li Li, are you seeing things because of heatstroke? Ha ha ha ha! .
“Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself!” Li Li pushed the woman next to him forward, “Zhu Shu saw it too! We were up on a building nearby and had a clear view!”
The petite young woman nodded and took small breaths, clutching her chest,
“It’s gone… the large fog cloud, it’s gone.”
Yan Qingwen frowned, returned to the car to get a telescope, hopped on the roof, and looked in the direction of Hangzhou.
The others gathered around him, asking, “What’s the situation? Is the fog really gone?”
Yan Qingwen looked for a while, put down the telescope, his facial expression changing unpredictably, unclear whether it was sunny or gloomy, “…It seems someone has passed through the maze of Hangzhou.”
Li Li said, “When we passed the maze, we didn’t see anyone else. If the other party entered the maze after us, that means, they completed it in less than 4 hours! How could that be possible?!”
Yan Qingwen looked up and asked. “How long did we take?”
Li Li replied, “6 hours and 27 minutes.”
“That must be fake…” Lun Ang said, “They only took half the time we did?”
Everyone exchanged glances.
Simultaneously, several faces came to mind in their heads….