The gale howled.
It seemed to be growing stronger by the moment.
Below the New County Party Committee Compound building, sand and dust filled the air. Just like that afternoon, visibility had already become poor. Zhou Wei, General Manager Sun, and the other officers—eight people in all—saw that things were getting bad. They glanced at the other staff members in the distance, who had already taken shelter from the wind in their cars, and prepared to head over as well. They had seen everything they needed to see at the site and done what their county was supposed to do. Fenzhou City could find no fault with them, and they could not be bothered to waste time here with Dong Xuebin.
"Let's go!"
"The wind's too strong!"
"Whew! Back to the cars!"
Zhou Wei led the group. Though he was only a secretary, he was County Chief Li Zhixin's secretary, so his status was naturally different. Once Zhou Wei nodded and said they were leaving, the others turned around.
Dong Xuebin slowly closed his eyes.
Stop!
Time abruptly froze!
The windblown sand suspended in midair, and the howling wind suddenly cut off!
Not a single sound remained in the enormous compound. Everything—people, objects, even the light—stood still!
Glancing at the eight people ahead of him, their backs turned and frozen like statues, Dong Xuebin did not know whether he had enough time left. He did not want to waste a second. Instead of taking the stairs through the building, he turned around, strode several meters away, grabbed a railing, and climbed up. The building had not yet been fully completed, and there were scaffolds of all sizes everywhere. Dong Xuebin barely had to exert any effort to climb onto the roof of the sixth floor.
Twenty-five seconds...
Twenty-six seconds...
Twenty-seven