"They had you identify people on the list, then just left you on your own?" I asked in surprise.
This was a turn of events I'd never seen coming.
Su Xiaoyu nodded. "They... stopped looking after me... I asked them what had happened here, but they couldn't be bothered to answer. I was hungry, but they ignored me. There was no food... I could only wander around the outskirts. Eventually, I couldn't even see them anymore..."
Tears streamed down Su Xiaoyu's cheeks again.
"Everyone there ignored me. I died several times... I died, then came back to life... Until one older sister secretly gave me two cherry tomatoes and told me what had happened here..."
My mind was a muddle.
The Thin Man and Nantian furrowed their brows, too.
Su Xiaoyu wiped her tears and continued. "That older sister said this place had been cut off and thrown into a void. Like how people used to be exiled: driven to barren lands or cast out to sea, left to fend for themselves. We can't get out. There's no running water here, no power plants. The man-made river and ponds have dried up. Over the years, they've used up all the food and water that was here. Every day starts anew, but the food and water don't come back. People who die come back to life and keep living like this. Time here is almost frozen. It's just like something out of a sci-fi movie. I couldn't believe it... but by then, I'd already died once... I really did starve to death..."
Su Xiaoyu trembled.
"There were people right beside me. Some of them just sat there, waiting to die. Others watched people die right in front of them... I slowly died like that... Then, after dawn the next day, around