Yang Yong's heart sank. Grabbing the middle-aged man by the collar, he dragged him into a secluded corner of the building.
He crouched down, stared into those lifeless eyes, and asked gravely, "Do you still remember me?"
No response.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Three minutes passed.
The middle-aged man remained motionless, like a completely frozen computer that gave no response no matter what command was entered.
The silence was terrifying.
Yang Yong had almost run out of patience and was about to get up and leave.
Only then did a hoarse voice, stuttering to an extreme degree, slowly squeeze its way out of the man's throat:
"I... remember..."
The word dragged on endlessly, seeming to catch countless times along the way, making his skin crawl.
Yang Yong was speechless.
This was hardly a conversation. It was like talking to a broken computer with outrageous lag that could disconnect at any moment.
Forget it.
Time was short, and danger lurked everywhere in the secret realm. He had no time to waste here.
Without another word, Yang Yong turned and continued searching the next building.
To his surprise, however, the middle-aged man silently followed him.
His steps were stiff and his movements mechanical, but he followed behind without missing a step.
Yang Yong paused, but did not drive him away.
After all, this man had been among those fleeing with the convoy. He was an old acquaintance of sorts.
If he wanted to follow, then let him.
If anything needed testing later, he would be just right for the job.
Yang Yong kept running, weaving between one eerie building after another.
He had not seen a single Transcendent from the convoy.
Yet after several rounds of searching,
several ordinary people who had once belonged to the group gradually gathered behind