But obviously, without seeing the situation in the Suburb with her own eyes, no normal person could truly understand the meaning behind the words “City Mutation.”
They had only briefly mentioned the situation to the Self-Defense Forces during check-in, but the soldiers were busy. Within the Temporary Safe Zone, there were still two hospitals and a shopping center that were only temporarily quarantined; they hadn’t yet had time to clear the monsters wandering inside. At street corners, there were still many corpses waiting to be dealt with.
The content recorded on that “Red Tongue Monster Experiment” sheet was partially known to the Self-Defense Forces personnel. So, even if they couldn’t fully grasp it, they didn’t think they were making it up.
On the contrary, the soldiers said they would send people the next day to get a detailed understanding of the situation.
They also advised them to avoid going outside for now since these were extraordinary times. The safe zone had been set up hastily, and there was no guarantee there weren’t any stragglers inside. Without a vehicle, staying inside the building was definitely safer.
At seven in the evening, Tang Siqing finished bathing and changed into clean clothes from head to toe. The outermost layer was still her waterproof outdoor jacket set—a light gray top and dark gray pants.
Clothes like these, which were windproof and waterproof, were perfect for outdoor activities. She had bought many sets in the same style and color simply because she was too lazy to pick and choose.
This color was also good at hiding dirt. Even though she had changed into a clean outfit, no one else would be able to tell.
After stepping out of the bathroom, she stretched out fully on the big bed. This temporary sense of peace made her breathe out deeply.
The situation in the city’s Temporary Safe Zone indeed weighed heavily on her, Zheng Ying, Zhang Yu, and the others.
The Red Tongue Monsters were terrifying, but at least they didn’t spread infection on a massive scale like the Zombie Virus. As long as the military and civilians reacted quickly, they could pick up their weapons and fight back to save themselves.
What worried Tang Siqing more now was the phenomenon of City Mutation, as well as the still completely cut-off signals. She had no idea what the situation was like in other places. After leaving City West, should she continue westward or return home?
But she hadn’t found her sister yet — she hadn’t even reached the area where her sister was reported missing. Their former home was now just a house to her…
Relaxing completely, her body soon felt the pangs of hunger. Since starting the escape plan that morning, she had only eaten a small bread roll and drank a bottled coffee at a beauty salon. The mental tension during the escape kept hunger at bay, but now that her mind was slightly at ease, exhaustion and hunger surged in waves.
The hotel room was not large, a standard thirty-plus square meters. After checking the cameras, locking the doors and windows, and drawing the curtains, the space became entirely her private sanctuary.
Previously, at the beauty salon, although she had time and space to rest alone at night and sneak in extra meals, she mostly chose simple meals that didn’t emit strong odors, just to maintain her energy. On the first night, she had curry rice; on the second, a beef hamburger—both already cold. Food lost its flavor once it cooled.
During the day, staying with others in one room, she mainly ate dry food like bread and beef jerky. Though filling, it always felt like she had eaten but hadn’t. So tonight, she planned to prepare some hot food for herself.
Tang Siqing suffered from mild hypoglycemia, and her stomach was twisting painfully. She hurriedly took out a cup of Black Sugar Pearl Milk Tea from her space and started drinking.
She had stocked up on these in City West’s shopping center two and a half days ago. Milk tea had a short shelf life; at room temperature, it should be consumed within seven to eight hours. According to the time flow inside her space, it could remain fresh for up to a week but would begin to spoil after twenty-four days.
At the time, she thought she would soon leave City West, with the next stop being a smaller County Town. Fearing limited choices in local food and drinks, she had stocked over twenty cups of various milk teas and fruit teas—both hot and cold—planning to finish them all before they spoiled.
Now, the milk tea was just right to quickly replenish her sugar levels.
She had picked a hot milk tea. Expecting it to be cold after two and a half hours in the space, she was surprised to find it still warm, as if freshly made.
Tang Siqing frowned slightly. Plastic cups were not good for holding heat, so she remembered instructing the clerk to make the hot milk tea only warm, not too hot. Could it be that they had made all the cups hotter than she requested, so that after two hours, the temperature was just right for drinking?
She pondered, then took out a cup of cold milk tea from the space. The cold milk teas were all made without ice.
From the surface, nothing looked different, but when she held the cup, it was indeed still cold… After two hours, would cold milk tea become room temperature or retain some chill?
Tang Siqing continued to think as she took out several other packs of ready-to-eat food purchased in different cities days ago for comparison. She even checked the hot water she had stored that night at the beauty salon. Finally, she put everything away, her gaze resting on the Diamond Mark on her wrist.
She had a vague suspicion, but it seemed too far-fetched. Yet, if her guess was correct—thinking this, she once again took a small box of Ice Cream out from the freezer inside the space.
After entering the space, because she feared time passing would melt the ice, she regularly plugged in the refrigerated cabinet and freezer to reinforce the ice layers. The last time she had done this was at the hotel where she stayed the night in City West.
Perhaps because the ice layer had just been reinforced, this box of ice cream was still very hard even after two or three hours in the space. She placed it next to the cold milk tea. Guesswork was useless; only an experiment could provide the answer. In two days at most, she would know for sure.
This guess improved her mood a lot.
Afterwards, Tang Siqing picked through the ready-to-eat food section and finally took a portion of Spicy Beef Rice Noodles and a serving of Mixed Marinated Dishes.
The beef rice noodles had been bought in the first city of their self-driving trip, packed separately with soup and noodles. Like the food she had eaten the past two nights, the beef bone broth had gone completely cold after several hours in the space.
The Mixed Marinated Dishes were cold food, including Yellow Cattle Beef, beef tripe, pig ear, kelp, bamboo shoots, and tofu—ready to eat as soon as opened.
There was electricity in the room, so she found a Small Electric Pot among her camping supplies, heated the cold beef broth first, and after it boiled, turned it off. Then she added the noodles and small packets of coriander, spring onion, and pepper powder from the packaging.
The white noodles soaked in the spicy soup with a drizzle of red oil, garnished with the green coriander and spring onion. She stirred it with chopsticks, and the rich, spicy aroma wafted up.
On the third night since the disaster began, she felt her appetite finally recovering.
Tang Siqing took a spoonful of soup first. This beef rice noodle was also quite famous. It used authentic Yellow Cattle Beef, and the beef bone broth was milky and rich. With a slight spiciness and a complex flavor, it made her sigh in satisfaction, feeling truly alive again.
Her sister had been right: no matter how dire the situation, you had to find a way to relieve stress that you liked, to make yourself happy. Finding joy amidst suffering was better than worrying without cause.
The former gave you the strength to keep going; the latter only sapped your will.
In the year since her sister had been gone, Tang Siqing had always remembered her words.
While eating the steaming meal, she opened her phone and found a survival skills video she had downloaded earlier, continuing to hone her abilities.
At eight o’clock, after cleaning the pots and throwing away the trash back into the space, she moved a heavy chair to block the door, lay down in her clothes, pulled a fleece blanket over herself, and went to sleep. For the past two days, she had barely slept five hours each night, and the quality was poor. Now that conditions allowed, she had to make the most of rest.
She set an alarm for six o’clock, didn’t open any apocalyptic novels to read, and emptied her mind, closing her eyes to rest.
***
She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but in a daze, she sensed some movement—not loud, seemingly distant and muffled.
Tang Siqing’s mind quickly cleared. She opened her eyes, folded the blanket back into the space, and got up to the window.
The hotel’s curtains had two layers: a thick blackout curtain and a sheer curtain. Both were drawn tight. She cautiously parted a small gap and looked outside.
On the third floor, with other buildings blocking the view, she couldn’t see far. But since the hotel was along the street, the view was still somewhat open.
Outside the tightly sealed glass window was a grayish, dim haze. She couldn’t even see the street below, only a faint yellowish light coming up from underneath. She knew it was the street lamp light. Her room was very close to the lamp on the third floor.
Fog again! The same thick gray fog as that afternoon!
From the nearby mist came the hoarse roars of Red Tongue Monsters—more than one. The sounds were mixed with doors and windows being battered, glass shattering, and terrified, helpless human screams from inside buildings…
The safe zone, which had been quiet and stable before sleep, seemed to be falling again.
In the distance, rumbles rolled on and on, like heavy thunder, or more like buildings being squeezed, cracking, and collapsing.
She felt a faint vibration all around her.
An earthquake!?
No, it was much weaker than an earthquake. It felt like the ground or a building was cracking and collapsing, causing nearby structures to tremble slightly.
Tang Siqing’s heart sank. Could it be… the City Mutation from the Suburb spreading its radiation here?