The terrain ahead gently undulated, wild winds carrying yellow sand, revealing rough, weathered black rocks.
Further away, layers of wind-eroded minerals and stone fragments remained on the surface, stretching toward the vast deep yellow desert.
The vehicle jolted as it drove. After a while, Ning Yu softly said: “It’s beautiful.”
It was evening now, the sunset like an overturned dye palette, pouring from the horizon to the ground, rendering the desert in deep red, orange-red, golden-red, sand gold… layers of colors interweaving, dotting the scattered Populus euphratica forest beneath the distant sky.
“I’ve loved deserts since childhood, always wanted to come, never had the chance.”
Ning Yu was lost in thought, then murmured again: “So beautiful.”
Zhou Rong suddenly glanced at him through the rearview mirror, “If you like it, you can come travel often in the future.”
Ning Yu smiled again, his tone surprisingly light: “Yes, that’s what I was thinking.”
When Night First Descended
“As night first descended, streetlamps along the tree-lined path lit up, warm yellow pools extending to the road’s end. I had an experiment that evening, standing at the research institute’s entrance, watching you all leave until you disappeared…”
“…That’s all.”
Ning Yu paused slowly for a moment, saying: “This is all I remember about your parents’ matters.”
Si Nan’s brow gradually relaxed, softly saying: “Thank you.”
Ning Yu looked at Si Nan, his gaze seeming to pierce through his face, seeing memories from a far more distant, unknown past.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, unsure whether speaking to Si Nan or someone else:
“Really… it’s okay.”
Chun Cao pressed the launch button.
The rocket launcher fired, tracing a parabolic arc in the sky, causing an earth-shattering explosion seconds later.
Boom—
Countless zombies instantly vaporized, more broken bodies transforming into blood spray shooting skyward. Millions of air waves carrying sand and stones howled in all directions from the explosion’s center.
Armored vehicles and zombie groups outside the blast radius were swept away by terrifying desert air currents, flying over twenty meters before crashing, all blast-resistant windows simultaneously developing horrific cracks, zombies falling like a violent downpour.
An indeterminate time passed, with time feeling particularly blurry after the violent impact.
