Walking Alone Under Heaven

Snowflakes fluttered down from the sky. About an hour after the rules began, the city's ground was already covered in a pure white layer.

The tram's windshield wipers moved back and forth, keeping the view ahead clear.

"Heh..."

Guan Tong sat in the car, breathing warm air onto his hands.

The temperature was dropping faster than he'd expected. Even sitting in the car, he could feel the chill seeping into his clothes.

Since it hadn't reached an unbearable point yet, he hadn't activated the [Thermostatic Tech Underwear]. This item could only be used for 6 hours a day, so he had to use it sparingly.

He hadn't turned on the car's heater either. Electric trams already consumed more power in low temperatures. If he turned on the heater, the original 1000-kilometer range might be drastically reduced, potentially leaving him stranded before reaching his destination.

"There are fewer people and private cars on the street now. It seems everyone has already taken shelter indoors."

The only vehicles he saw outside now were basically official department vehicles.

For example, large snowplows with a big blade at the front and a large hopper on the back.

And the Unmanned Transport Vehicles used by the Life Support Department to transport survival supplies like food.

Some of these vehicles had drivers. Seeing Guan Tong's shared car on the road, many cast curious glances his way, wondering where he was headed.

Guan Tong, observing the dwindling traffic, also guessed the Official Department's ultimate decision.

They were concentrating people in the big cities rather than evacuating on a large scale.

He felt this choice was likely a last resort.

Large-scale evacuation would not only require urgent mobilization of transport capacity, supplies, and other resources, but also research into where to evacuate people and how to group them for evacuation.

Not to mention that the city's population exceeded ten million, and everyone had their own ideas. Even if they were clearly told that the snowfall was related to population density, many people might still choose to stay, huddling together in the big city.

They would still believe that resources and equipment were more abundant in big cities, making them safer, and that they would feel no security evacuating to remote areas.

This line of thinking couldn't be entirely wrong, as no one could guarantee that evacuating to a remote area would be safe. Yes, perhaps the snow would be lighter there, but if food and other supplies couldn't keep up, they might starve.

Any slight delay in this process would eat into precious time needed to leave the city.

Unless an individual, or a small group of people with firm resolve, set out immediately after learning the hidden rules, they could still outrun the blizzard.

Otherwise, any hesitation would mean that with the speed of the super blizzard, all roads except the main thoroughfares, which the Official Department was constantly clearing with de-icing agents and snowplows, would soon be piled high with snow, making travel impossible.

This was the principle of a small boat being easy to turn.

Once the boat was large, even if the captain wanted to turn the helm to change direction, it would take a long time.

In this situation, the smallest unit of a "boat" was undoubtedly a single person.

Guan Tong increased his speed, getting closer to the city's edge. The number of Official Department vehicles also decreased.

With fewer snowplows, the snow on the road was visibly much deeper than in the city center.

"No, I can't use autopilot anymore."

Guan Tong immediately turned off the autopilot and took manual control.

Autopilot had built-in legal limitations, resulting in very low speed limits within the city.

If he continued at that speed, Guan Tong worried that the snow on the road would become too deep before he reached his destination, rendering the car immobile and leaving him in a difficult predicament.

Moreover, the roads outside the city wouldn't be cleared by snowplows. He absolutely couldn't assume the conditions inside the city would apply outside.

He accelerated, and after more than twenty minutes, he arrived at the new city development zone.

It appeared dead silent, with no signs of activity. The only sound in the world seemed to be the rustling of falling snow, giving Guan Tong a sense of solemnity.

He knew that this area was mostly filled with "dark factories" that already had few people. With the heavy snowfall, everyone had likely already fled into the city.

Guan Tong took a deep breath and continued forward.

He knew that since he had chosen to stay away from people and the city at the beginning, there was no turning back. He could only see this path through to the end.

He drove out of the new city development zone at top speed, reaching the outskirts of Yunhua City and entering its surrounding townships.

As soon as he left the city, the road conditions worsened significantly, and the snow was visibly accumulating rapidly.

Guan Tong gripped the steering wheel, concentrating fully on driving, not letting his mind wander or checking his phone for the latest updates online.

He had only one goal: to reach Mingdao Mountain as quickly as possible, paying attention to the road conditions, and driving carefully to avoid skidding off the road.

After driving for over an hour, Guan Tong looked at the size and speed of the snowflakes falling outside the window and had a distinct feeling: the snow was getting lighter.

Yes, he had had a vague feeling of this before, and now, as he moved further away from Yunhua City, the phenomenon became even more apparent.

In the center of Yunhua City, the snow wasn't falling like snow; it was being dumped! It was as if a giant stood in the sky, holding a huge, snow-filled sieve and pouring it down continuously!

But now, far from the big city, there were villages along the roads. These villages, being on the outskirts of a large city, actually had a considerable population, much livelier than villages in remote areas.

Yet, even so, the snow had visibly lessened. Although it was still heavy compared to the snow in previous winters, this change filled Guan Tong with excitement.

He knew that as long as he kept driving forward, moving further away from populated areas, the snow would only get lighter!

Keep going!

Guan Tong didn't have time to stop for lunch. He took out a piece of chocolate from his bag, ate it to replenish his energy, and continued driving with renewed vigor.

Another hour passed.

Creak, creak, creak...

The sound of the vehicle's tires crunching on snow had become exceptionally noticeable. Guan Tong looked at the snow layer on the road ahead. Less than three hours after the rule took effect, the accumulated snow was already seven to eight centimeters deep, reaching halfway up the car tires.

And the destination was still...

Guan Tong glanced at the navigation. Mingdao Mountain was about two hundred kilometers away.

Two hundred kilometers. If he could maintain a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour, he could get there in two hours.

But even with almost no other cars on the road, Guan Tong didn't dare to drive that fast given the snowy conditions.

Guan Tong checked the time. "It's 12:13 now. If I drive at 70 kilometers per hour, it will take about 3 hours to cover 200 kilometers. If everything goes smoothly, I should arrive before 4 PM."

This arrival time was still acceptable to Guan Tong. Any later, around 4 or 5 PM, and he might face darkness.

Normally, in June, it wouldn't get dark so early. But after the rule took effect, thick clouds obscured the sky. It was already very gloomy at noon, and by 5 PM, it would definitely be pitch black.

Even if the snow had lessened by the time he reached Mingdao Mountain, entering the mountains in the dark was undoubtedly a dangerous endeavor.

Having planned his time and speed, Guan Tong stopped thinking about it and began to focus on execution.

He couldn't afford to be distracted in the slightest; only then could he ensure his own safe driving.

"Continue straight. Current distance to destination, Mingdao Mountain, is 178 kilometers."

"Turn right at the upcoming intersection. Take the first lane. Distance to destination, Mingdao Mountain, is 145 kilometers."

"Rain and snow weather, please slow down."

"Distance to destination, Mingdao Mountain, is 109 kilometers."

The electric car's engine was very quiet. Besides the sound of the wheels on the snow and the navigation's voice prompts, Guan Tong could only hear his own breathing.

As the navigation continued to announce the distance, Guan Tong drew closer to Mingdao Mountain.

From over two hundred kilometers, to over one hundred, then to ninety, eighty, seventy...

"Distance to destination, Mingdao Mountain, is 31 kilometers."

Almost there, he was about to arrive!

Guan Tong felt a surge of joy, even humming a song unconsciously.

He could clearly see that the snow outside was getting lighter, now resembling a normal heavy snowfall.

While a normal heavy snowfall could still cause a disaster if it lasted for a month, as long as he dealt with it carefully, he wouldn't easily perish from the disaster!

"Distance to destination, Mingdao Mountain, is 17 kilometers."

"Distance to destination, Mingdao Mountain, is 9 kilometers."

Through the front windshield, Guan Tong could vaguely make out the silhouette of the large mountain.

Just then, he suddenly saw several cars stopped on the road ahead and quickly slammed on the brakes.

"Screech--Bang!"

Although Guan Tong reacted in time, the snowy road was slippery, and braking was difficult. The car still lightly bumped into one of the cars blocking the road.

"Collision detected. Automatically reporting to authorities!"

Guan Tong took a few deep breaths and muttered with a wry smile, "What's the point of reporting? If traffic police were going to come, they would have cleared the cars blocking the road already..."

The shared car automatically shut off after the accident. He got out of the car and looked carefully ahead.

It seemed that four or five cars had been involved in a chain-reaction collision, completely blocking the road. However, due to the remote location and the imminent release of the new rule, no one had come to handle it, and these cars had been stuck there ever since.

"This is troublesome..."

There were long, deep ditches on both sides of the road. Guan Tong couldn't even turn around and bypass the blockage.

"Less than ten kilometers left. How about I just walk there? But..."

Guan Tong looked down at his feet. The accumulated snow was past his calves. Walking in such conditions would be very difficult. Moreover, he had to carry supplies: one large backpack, one small backpack, and a sleeping bag.

After a moment of thought, Guan Tong put all the supplies on his back, then took out the Wordless Book and summoned Shadow.

He had Shadow carry him and then run forward at top speed!

He intended to utilize Shadow's infinite stamina to carry him as far as possible within its duration. After that, he would cover the remaining distance on foot.