Volume 3: Dance of the Aurora Chapter 12 Moon River
When Fang Cheng was woken up by Xu Xia, it was already bright outside.
He originally just wanted to curl up and take a nap, but five hours passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ah... uh, what time is it now."
"It's around two in the afternoon." Xu Xia heaved a sigh of relief when he saw him wake up, picked up his schoolbag and walked outside. "I just heard the rescue team's voice. We can finally leave this damn place."
The rescue was organized overnight, which was a very quick response.
"The rescue team? You go find them. I won't go."
The burly boy who was walking towards the door stopped when he heard this, turned around and looked at him with eyes that Fang Cheng had never seen before.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and Xu Xia finally couldn't hold back and blurted out what was in his heart.
"Are you really crazy?"
Fang Cheng looked at the expression on the other person's face and suddenly couldn't help laughing out loud.
He didn't know what he was laughing at, nor did he know if he was really crazy. Perhaps all this was a dream, he just stayed up too late doing experiments and fell asleep on the table in the laboratory, and then was stimulated by the magnetic field of the instrument and had this strange and crazy dream.
Everything is so absurd yet reasonable, just like a circus performance full of tension, and he is the clown in the center of the stage, exaggerating and making all kinds of funny movements driven by the atmosphere.
Hahaha, I don't really think I'm the protagonist now, do I? That's really sick.
"You really don't want to come with me?"
Xu Xia stared at the thin boy who was laughing on the ground. His body was covered with all kinds of stains and bloodstains. His glasses were drooping precariously on his head. He looked like a mentally ill homeless person.
Otherwise, just take him out by force.
"I...I'm probably not crazy."
This explanation had a considerable counter-effect.
“…”
"Go find a rescue team. Don't feel guilty. This is a decision I made after rational judgment. It will be fine."
"…I think…you need some psychological treatment now."
During the previous climb, the team leader had specifically talked about the problem of emotional breakdown under extreme living conditions, but this was the first time Xu Xia had witnessed such a situation with his own eyes.
"…Really, no need. I have made up my mind."
Fang Cheng had almost never been able to refuse others smoothly before. From childhood to adulthood, he almost always agreed to things in a daze, even though he might not do it after agreeing.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, and he easily refused this time. Maybe the aliens were really giving him some kind of psychological suggestion.
"You are really crazy, can you think about it? It's a mess everywhere. How can you survive out there by yourself? There's not even food and water."
It’s okay, the aliens will help me solve it.
This sentence popped up in Fang Cheng's mind, but he didn't say it out loud. After all, if he really said it out loud, it would make him sound more like a psychopath.
He still couldn't be sure whether Xu Xia still remembered the contact with the aliens last night, or whether the other party really believed that he had to follow the aliens' instructions to save the earth.
His intuition told him that it would be better to say nothing at this critical juncture.
He stood up with the help of the wall, feeling piercing pain in every joint of his body. The discomfort caused by the new injury turning into old one was much more severe than last night.
After Fang Cheng struggled to stand up, he brushed off the dust on his pants and shook his head seriously at Xu Xia.
There was a brief silence.
"Okay, just take responsibility for your own life."
Xu Xia didn't say anything else and ran out of the house without looking back.
Really gone?
After confirming that the other person had disappeared from his sight, Fang Cheng looked down at his phone subconsciously. This is almost a conditioned reflex for modern people after they relax a little.
There was a series of missed calls on the phone, including from parents, counselors, deputy class teachers and others.
Fang Cheng called his parents back before the battery ran out, and lied that he had evacuated to a safe area and would be home soon to reunite with them. As for the counselor, he could not go to school anymore, so he might as well ignore him.
But they are still contacting students at this time, which shows that they are really dedicated.
After the call, he realized that the connection meant that the mobile phone signal had been fully restored. A closer look revealed the word 5G in the upper right corner of the screen, and the battery next to it was only 20% left.
Fang Cheng was flipping through the message logs and found a phone call in the missed call list that had been called many times.
It was a call from the girl who was doing the experiment with him. After noticing the incoming call notification, he thought for less than a millisecond before pressing the redial button.
“Beep—beep—”
His palms began to sweat slightly.
“Beep—beep—”
“Beep—beep—”
The monotonous ringing sound suddenly stopped, and was replaced by a melodious song accompanied by piano:
“Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, your heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin'your way...”
The song was played twice in a loop but no one responded. It seemed that the call could not be connected this time. Fang Cheng took the phone away from his ear. He didn't know where the Bluetooth headset had fallen.
He saw the screen on his hand showing "Connected" and immediately put the phone back to his ear.
"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"
“Ah, I can hear it.”
"Are you safe now?"
The people on both ends of the phone said this almost at the same time.
"I'm fine. I've been staying in the dormitory since last night and haven't gone anywhere. How are you now?"
"A lot of things have happened here. I think it's safe now."
"Where are you now? Are you still at school? I heard that the firefighters and emergency rescue team have arrived. Have you found them?"
"I'm not going to look for them."
As always, he regretted it immediately after blurting out this sentence.
"ah?"
There is no choice but to continue talking.
"Now... I know how to deal with this monster on my own, so I must take on the responsibility and get rid of it."
Silence again.
"Are you serious?"
The tone just now didn't sound like a joke. Before Fang Cheng could finish his words, the voice on the other side continued.
"Where are you now? I'll come find you."
"Ah, what? No need, I can do it myself..."
"Are you still alone? Tell me where you are and I'll be there right away."
From the other side of the phone came the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
Fang Cheng's heartbeat suddenly accelerated with the sound of footsteps. A feeling he didn't know whether it was anticipation or excitement surged into his heart, making his palm holding the phone feel numb.
Moon river, wider than a mile,
I'm crossing you in style some day.
