Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

April 1.Sunday.Night, 23:20. The three white candles on the candlesticks were half burned, and the slowly flowing candle tears cooled and condensed. A cold wind blows from the depths of the black atrium from time to time, the candlelight trembles and flickers in the weak wind, and the shadows on the wall behind are sometimes clear, sometimes blurred, and sometimes hysterical. Yoko Yutian hugged her sleeping son tightly, staring at the three candles, imagining that her face was also covered by the candlelight, giving off a warm reflection like animal fat—this is not imagination. She also imagined—her pale cheeks, flushed with cold in the dim light of a winter morning.Get out of the thick quilt, see the distant window, on the dimly lit skyline, some kind of extremely beautiful and strange light is lit up - I will never forget that moment until I die.

That year, she was thirteen years old. After the quiet morning, the tatami under her body shook violently, and half a minute later her house was turned into ruins. She regained consciousness amidst the ruins, thankful that she was still able to crawl.A beam hung overhead, shielding her from the deadly mass of wood, stone and brick.In the biting cold air, facing the gray sky, she climbed to the edge of a collapsed wall.She saw the mangled body of a woman and a man buried in the rubble.Tears blurred his eyes, and his parched throat made no sound.She managed to reach out with a hand, through the pile of scattered books, to catch Dad's free fingers.

Remember when Dad looked into her eyes for a few seconds before they became cloudy and dark.She couldn't hug her father who was crushed under the rubble.When she heard the shouts of the search and rescue personnel, she wanted to climb out of the grave, but found that her right hand was firmly held by her dead father, and she could not move no matter what. The bent fingers were as hard as steel. He was reluctant to let go of his daughter. She knew it wasn't imagination either. Seventeen years later. Yoko Yutian spread out her right hand, and the palm of her hand gave off a dazzling white reflection in the candlelight—just now, to help the young Chinese, her soft and slender hand broke off two dead fingers...Suddenly, dazzling The bright light flashed above her head, she closed her eyes subconsciously, and at the same time did not forget to block Zhengtai's face.The light flickered a few times, and there was a snake-like "sizzling" sound, and then a "bang bang" sound.Then, the entire atrium of the Future Dream Building was lit with various lights, including the corridors upstairs.

I was shrouded in darkness for an hour, but compared with the weak candlelight just now, my eyes were so bright, as if the day had descended into the night. who saved the earth There were cheers from every corner on the ground floor of the shopping mall, as if the dead had been resurrected, and rescuers in armor were about to descend from the sky. Zhengtai opened his eyes, and Yutian Yoko hugged him even tighter, fearing that the sudden light, just a few degrees brighter, would wipe him out.She didn't notice that the lights were far less bright now than they were before the disaster.The brightest rows of lights were not turned on, and only about one-third of the lights were on, evenly distributed throughout the shopping mall. It felt like the power had been restored, which was because the eyeballs had been in the dark for too long.Lights illuminated the vast atrium of the mall, and dozens of bodies lay in the horrific ruins.Yoko Tamada seemed to be numb to death, but she just covered her son's eyes to prevent him from seeing this scene.

The circuit was not stable, and the lights of several lights were still beating from time to time, and each time it turned on and off, it was like opening a revolving door. Some living people came out from the bottom of the wall, and the lights illuminated the terrified faces of the survivors, like walking dead walking out of the ruins of a nuclear explosion.Yutian Yoko saw Tao Ye's face, this Chinese man who was a few years younger than himself, wearing a tattered and dirty supermarket overalls, with several survivors behind him.He yelled, "Hey! Is anyone alive? Come out, everyone!"

More people crawled out from the shadows, some weeping and trembling, some hugged and supported each other, some were stained red with blood, and some could only crawl on the ground, probably suffering serious injuries or broken bones. Yoko Yuta roughly counted, there are a total of thirty survivors, including those lying on the ground who are still alive, it seems that the situation is not as bad as imagined.In addition to Tao Ye, she recognized another person, that is the famous Professor Wu that she often saw on TV and advertisements. Recently his name and photo have appeared on the front pages of major Japanese newspapers. Many Japanese who believe in the end of the world are Absolutely adore him.

A few unfamiliar faces followed behind the professor—a young woman wrapped in a cloak. Although her hair and face were covered with dust, her eyebrows and eyes were still beautiful.The man in his twenties, wearing a security uniform, was obviously from the countryside to work in the city.He supported a female cleaner who looked injured, a typical middle-aged Chinese woman, with vicissitudes and hardships written all over her face.Also injured was a man with a hanging tag. He was about the same age as Yoko Tamada. He looked like a white-collar worker from the look of his clothes, with bandages wrapped around his arms.

Farther away there is a young man and woman.The boy's fine long hair covers his eyes, which looks like a beautiful boy in a Japanese drama. The girls follow closely to the left and right, like Fujii and Fujii.However, when the boy wanted to approach Tao Ye and the professor, the girl frowned and stood still.Still want to be alone with guys?The stern youth didn't take a step forward, his eyes passed over a pile of dead bodies whose bones were not yet cold, and met Yutian Yoko's sight. Being good at observing and analyzing everyone in front of her is a skill she learned from her father since she was a child. She also has a pair of eyes that are sometimes intoxicated and sometimes cold.

Yoko Yutian lowered her head subconsciously, resting her chin on the forehead of her seven-year-old son, and stopped looking at the pair of boys and girls. People in the shopping mall gathered here from all directions, probably because they saw Tao Ye's backpack was the largest and he was still holding a bandage for dressing, and they suspected that he was the rescuer sent from above. Tao Ye waved to Yoko and Zhengta. Yoko thought he would walk quickly, but he squatted down on the spot, awkwardly bandaging the wound of a seriously injured man by the wall. I do not know when, the candle quietly extinguished.

Under the bright light, she thought of the candlelight jumping in the dark, and the shadow cast on her face. Most of the survivors recognized Professor Wu, crying and making noise around him and Tao Ye.Some people are loyal readers of Professor Wu and firmly believe in the theory of the end of the world. Such disasters have further verified his predictions.Some people lowered their heads and sighed in despair, thinking that there was no hope of escape.But most people are full of desire to survive, and they want to ask Professor Wu that there is still a chance of survival, even if it is just self-comfort.

"Professor, tell me quickly! How can I escape?" "I, I don't know." Professor Wu sighed helplessly. He was no longer as elegant and eloquent as he was on TV, but lowered his head in a daze, and his prediction, which did not dare to face himself, became a reality. "Professor, don't hide it. I know you must have an escape plan, but you don't want to tell everyone, because only one or two people can escape, right?" , wearing a tight-fitting casual suit, although it is too dirty to see the color, but judging from the tailoring and workmanship, it should be genuine Dior men's clothing.On his wrist is a watch that is still in good condition. It is definitely a Swiss Patek Philippe. Although there are many counterfeit luxury goods in China, Yoko Yutian has a very accurate vision. Both the Dior and Patek Philippe are genuine.She thought of her college boyfriend and later husband, who was also a thin boy wearing Dior and Patek Philippe, because his father was the president of a large trading company.The young man in front of him is the so-called "rich second generation" in China. "You overestimate me." The professor smiled wryly. The young rich second generation whispered something to him, and the people around looked at him angrily, but couldn't hear what he said.In fact, what he said was not a secret: "Professor Wu, as long as you tell me how to escape, I can give you a lot of money. Twenty million? U.S. dollars? One hundred million? My father can give away half of the shares of his listed company for you!" Professor Wu couldn't help shaking his head, booing all around.The young man in Dior turned around and shouted, "Get out of here!" He angered all the survivors by uttering wild words in a domineering manner. Several hands were stretched out at the same time, as if they were going to beat him up.How could his slender figure be the opponent of these boxers who were full of anger? Tao Ye jumped up from the ground, stopped in front of the rich second generation, and shouted loudly: "You guys should use your fighting strength to escape!" As soon as the words fell, a loud voice came from upstairs: "Hey! Someone found a way out on the top floor!" Everyone raised their heads excitedly.Standing by the railing of the atrium on the third floor was a man in overalls, who looked like a property manager of Future Dream Building.He waved his hand up, then turned and disappeared. Everyone was silent for a few seconds, and then, like a small universe erupting, they scrambled towards the escape route.This time they didn't run down, but headed for the top floor of the nineteenth floor. Now that power has been restored to the building, rescuers are sure to arrive soon.The collapse of the exit on the ground floor just now showed that the building was indeed buried underground.But the top floor may still be above the ground, which is the easiest place to be rescued, and the easiest place to escape.Maybe all the surviving building workers have rushed to the top floor to escape, leaving only these fools waiting to die on the bottom floor - isn't this all trampling so many people to death? In the blink of an eye, most of the able-bodied people had rushed upstairs. Professor Wu still stayed where he was, and the rich second generation was still in shock. The security guard wanted to run but had to help the female cleaner, but he didn't run a few steps away. The injured white-collar only ran to the stairs with his arms covered. As for Tao Ye, he walked up to Yoko Yutian, held out his hand to her and said, "Come with me." She reached out her hand, held the young man's palm, and was pulled up by his strong arms. She was still blindfolded, hugged him in her arms, and strenuously walked towards the stairs.Taking care of the child alone all year round, Yutian Yoko's stamina has also become amazing. She walked up two flights of stairs with her seven-year-old son, and she was a little out of breath just now.Tao Ye took Zhengtai from her hand. Both of them couldn't run fast with the baby in their arms.In the front is an injured white-collar worker, and in the back is a security guard supporting a female cleaner.As for the young woman wrapped in a cloak, she seemed to be deliberately lagging behind, looking around in fear, not knowing what fright she had received.In the end, it was the rich second generation who took every step, probably because they were afraid of being beaten down by those angry people after they escaped.But the professor disappeared, not to mention the mysterious boy and girl. When everyone else rushed to more than a dozen floors, this group of people dragged their feet and only reached the seventh floor.The building shook again, and everyone habitually lay down on the ground, or squatted down with their heads hugged at the nearest wall, and everyone became a master of earthquake escape. The shaking lasted less than two seconds. "Wait a minute!" Yoko Tamada, who has personally experienced two major earthquakes, said a sentence in fluent Chinese.She took over Zhengtai from Tao Ye.There is an outdoor goods store on the seventh floor, and most of the windows are broken.She walked into the store with her son in her arms, walked around the dusty floor, and found a watch-like thing among a pile of tents, sleeping bags, and trekking poles. There was no strap, only a dashboard. "What are you doing?" Tao Ye immediately asked. She replied softly: "This outdoor goods store has many things we need most." "Isn't it going to escape soon? Why do you need these?" Interrupted was a young woman wrapped in a woolen cloak, who happened to be stepping on top of a tent. Yoko Tamada didn't want to argue, she was Japanese after all, and no matter how good the Chinese language was, it was impossible for her to speak better than the Chinese.She handed her son into Tao Ye's hands, lowered her head and adjusted the watch-like thing, and soon it showed the result.She was stunned, and the instrument in her hand fell to the ground. "What's wrong?" Tao Ye helped her pick it up.Fortunately, the "watch" was well built and seemed to be undamaged. She bowed and apologized for her gaffe: "I'm sorry." She looked at the "watch" carefully and finally gave up completely. She frowned and said, "We, now, are one hundred and fifty meters away from the ground!" "What?" The security guard, the female cleaner, the injured white-collar worker, and the girl wrapped in a cape said these two words almost in unison. "Let me see!" The rich second generation wearing Dior squeezed over, "Ah! I know this thing. It is an altimeter commonly used in mountain climbing. I used this in the Alps last year. It can accurately measure the altitude. Now , the display on this altimeter—no, it’s impossible, what’s going on?” Unfortunately, he was right. The display on the altimeter is - 150 meters. This is the exact altitude they are currently at, one hundred and fifty meters below sea level! Given that the city is located on the eastern coast of China, the ground level of the future dream building is only three or four meters above sea level.And here are the seven floors of the building, a total of nineteen floors, and the above twelve floors—even if each floor is four meters high, it cannot exceed fifty meters, which means that the entire Future Dream Building is already deep. Deep in the ground, buried deeper than a grave. Assuming that the overall structure of the building has not been damaged, the roof of the building is at least 100 meters above the ground at this moment.