Liu Miao shouted, "Look out!" and shoved Wu Ling aside.
A gunshot rang out. The bullet seemed to hit no one.
Liu Miao rushed forward.
Shao Jianguo tried to fire again, but a figure appeared behind him.
The person swung a hand and knocked Shao Jianguo to the ground.
"You!" The gun was kicked out of Shao Jianguo's hand. Clutching the back of his head, he glared up at Ning Zhe in fury.
Ning Zhe stood ramrod straight, making no unnecessary movements. He merely lowered his eyes to look at Shao Jianguo, then lifted them and swept his gaze over the three people from Greenleaf.
"They killed my people, and yours too. You're still going to help them?" Shao Jianguo demanded.
Ning Zhe raised a hand, and a cigarette appeared between his fingers. "Wake up. We've been dead for a long time."
Shao Jianguo's expression turned ghastly.
Ning Zhe looked at Wu Ling. "What are you going to do now? Kill all of us?"
"More or less," Wu Ling replied.
The fire had gone out completely, and all the weeds had been burned away.
The view had opened up, with nothing left to obstruct it.
The place wasn't as large as they'd imagined. At most, it was about the size of two soccer fields.
The bodies scattered across the ground had vanished as well. The ruined buildings were fading, like mirages about to disappear.
The camera panned around, capturing the handful of people who remained.
She Xie, her face smeared with blood, climbed numbly to her feet. Old Xie was beside her, also getting up from the ground.
Farther away, Zhu Ziyang watched from a distance, shrinking back and afraid to approach.
The charred earth was turning into darkness.
The gray celestial body overhead remained motionless.
This space was growing