The Sudden Typhoon

Rumble!

A clap of thunder rang out, accompanied by the pouring rain and the howling wind outside. It sounded rather chilling.

Chen Xu hid inside a clothing store, watching the sky outside grow darker and darker, unable to keep from frowning. He glanced at his phone. 13:45. The rain had been falling for over three hours, with no sign of letting up.

With winds this strong, they had to be at least Force 10.

"But why would there be a typhoon at this time of year?"

He found it a little strange. It had been September when he entered the dream, and four months had passed since then. It should be January now. He had never heard of typhoons occurring in January.

Huh? That wasn't right either. January was supposed to be one of the coldest months, but the weather now was no different from September. It was scorching hot, and he still had to run the air conditioner when he slept at night.

Once he thought about it, he accepted it. Anyway, nothing that happened in a dream was strange.

This was probably another deliberately illogical detail, meant to remind those inside the dream that this was not reality.

"I'm so hungry."

Rubbing his stomach, he decided he couldn't just wait around like this. The rain didn't look like it would stop anytime soon, so he should go find something to eat.

He should have brought some snacks with him.

He thought irritably. There was food in the car, but getting back to it now was unrealistic. It was several hundred meters away, and with winds this strong, he didn't dare run out onto the main road.

Just now, he had already heard several heavy objects crashing to the ground. He had no idea whether they were broken tree trunks or advertising signs blown down by the wind.

In any case, it was dangerous outside.

However, he had already searched this store and found nothing to eat. He definitely couldn't stay here any longer. He had to go somewhere else to find food.

He remembered that there was a convenience store a few shops down. There was bound to be food there.

He took off his backpack and removed everything he did not need for the moment, lightening his load. Then he pushed open the door.

Whoosh—

The moment he pulled the door open, the powerful wind shoved him backward. Raindrops lashed fiercely against his face, and he quickly lowered his center of gravity, ducked his head, and headed outside.

Once he stepped out, the wind grew even stronger, carrying sheets of rain that quickly soaked him from head to toe.

Supporting himself against the wall, he struggled forward step by step. The mere dozen or so meters took him several minutes to cross.

When he reached the convenience store, he found that its open door could not keep out the wind. The interior was a complete mess, with all kinds of merchandise blown across the floor.

He did not stop. He headed straight for the Warehouse in the back, pulled open the door, and hid inside. Then he used all his strength to shut it.

With a bang, the wind and rain were sealed outside. The whole world seemed to fall quiet at once.

By then, he was soaked through. His wet clothes clung uncomfortably to his body. He took out a spare set of clothes from his backpack.

"Not bad for a Name Brand backpack. Its waterproofing is pretty good."

He praised it as he changed into dry clothes, instantly feeling much more refreshed. Then he picked up his lamp and began searching for food. The Warehouse was not large, but it held quite a lot of things, all sorts of snacks and drinks.

He took a pack of biscuits and a carton of pure milk, then sat on a case of bottled water. Listening to the howling wind seeping through the crack in the door, he began eating his lunch.

As he ate, he suddenly grew worried about Luo Xiyun back at the Main Camp. He wondered how she was doing.

"What's there to worry about? She has food, water, and electricity at home. Her conditions are who knows how many times better than mine here, as long as she doesn't go out..."

At that thought, he suddenly remembered something. "What day is it today? It seems like Wednesday."

He remembered that she went out every Wednesday.

He and Luo Xiyun lived next door to each other. It could be said that they kept out of each other's business—she lived her life, and he lived his—as though they had formed some kind of unspoken understanding.

After being neighbors for three months, they had met fewer times than he could count on one hand.

Yet their homes were separated by only a single wall. Even if they did not meet, their everyday lives allowed them to sense each other's presence at all times.

When he woke up in the morning, he could hear the sound of watering. When he went out, he could see that the vegetables in front of her door had been picked. On the way to the "garage," he could see the trash she had thrown out.

Then there were the sounds of doors opening and closing, the aroma of food drifting over while she cooked, the clothes hung outside every day, and so on. All of it made it abundantly clear to him that a woman named Luo Xiyun lived next door.

After three months, though he had not deliberately paid attention, he had still roughly grasped her routine. He knew that every Wednesday at nine in the morning, she would ride out on a bicycle and return around eleven.

Today was Wednesday. The weather had been so nice in the morning that she would definitely have gone out on schedule. This rain had started after ten, so she would certainly have run into it.

"That unlucky girl. Wouldn't it have been better to stay home? Why did she have to go out? And on a bicycle, too."

He shook his head and said sympathetically. Then he picked up another biscuit and stuffed it into his mouth.

This brand of biscuits tasted pretty good, though they were a little too sweet.

He wolfed down the entire pack in a few bites, then tore open another one. Together with two cartons of milk, it was finally enough to fill his stomach.

"I'll watch some TV."

He took out his Tablet Computer from his backpack. It had several TV dramas downloaded onto it, which he had specifically prepared to pass the time.

It was an urban romance drama, and the plot was pretty idiotic. But he had no room to be picky anymore.

With the internet being so widespread and fast these days, everyone watched online. Few people downloaded movies or TV dramas onto their computers anymore. He had dismantled dozens of hard drives in the company building, yet only found a few dozen shows, most of them Korean or American dramas.

There was, however, a huge pile of ***** from some island nation, measured in terabytes.

The wind outside seemed to have grown even stronger.

The TV had been playing for several minutes, but Chen Xu couldn't focus on it at all. Luo Xiyun kept coming to mind.

"She's a grown woman. If she ran into heavy rain, she'd naturally find somewhere to shelter. At most, she'd get a little wet."

"Maybe she went home early today."

"Maybe..."

Irritably, he shut off the video and paced several circles around the cramped warehouse. Finally, he stopped and sighed. "Forget it. I'd better go back and check."

If something had really happened to her, he would have to spend the remaining two months alone.

No sooner thought than done. He slung on his backpack, pulled open the door, and went outside.

He struggled against the wind, lowering his center of gravity as he trudged forward step by step. The clean clothes he had just changed into were soon soaked through again.

After finally reaching where he had parked, he got into the car, wiped his face, started the engine, and drove off.

The rain, driven by the wind, crackled against the windshield.

He turned the wipers up to their highest speed, but his view was still blurry. He didn't dare drive too fast and had to watch out for obstacles that had appeared on the road. If he damaged the car, it would only delay him further.

It wasn't until he reached familiar roads that he dared to pick up speed.

Forty minutes later, he finally saw the outline of that familiar building. He slammed on the accelerator, and amid the roar of the engine, the car surged forward.