Old News

By the riverbank at night, there was no one around, only the sound of rushing water.

Zhang Heng held a flashlight and searched the ground for something. For some reason, a patch of fog suddenly drifted over the river, blurring his vision. Zhang Heng immediately pulled the Filter Lens from his pocket.

Yet the Filter Lens, which had proven immensely useful in several previous instances, unexpectedly failed this time.

Zhang Heng's vision still could not penetrate the thick fog.

Realizing the danger, he began backing away toward the car.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, the inexplicable fog began to dissipate again.

Zhang Heng looked up and saw the embankment packed with "people." They all lowered their heads and grinned at him, their silent smiles and gazes like they were appraising food on a plate.

The next moment, Zhang Heng opened his eyes and saw the alarm clock on the table. It read 00:36.

Two hours earlier, he had just finished copying his homework and leaned back in his chair to rest for a while. Instead, he had fallen asleep outright and dreamed of being surrounded by those things.

Zhang Heng did not know whether it was because he had heard Bai Qing talk about her family at noon, but he was beginning to realize that those things might have infiltrated human society far more deeply than he had imagined. If left unchecked, perhaps before long, they would quietly take control of the entire society and then silently exterminate all humanity.

Fortunately, this was only happening in an instance.

Zhang Heng got up, washed his face in the bathroom, and brushed his teeth while he was at it.

He had originally planned to visit the riverbank again that night, but perhaps because of that dream, Zhang