If only I could figure out my approximate location.
Forget it. This was already pretty good.
Xu Qing folded the map into a neat square like a block of tofu and tucked it into his clothes, then turned and left the gaming room, following the ruined corridor out of the house.
The street was still deathly silent. The glaring sunlight made Xu Qing narrow his eyes, though they soon adjusted.
He had not gone far before a small supermarket came into view. Most of its storefront had collapsed, and shattered display-window glass littered the ground.
Xu Qing approached the supermarket cautiously. Just as he reached the entrance, he caught sight of a middle-aged man pinned beneath a shelf out of the corner of his eye. No! It was a zombie.
Most of the zombie's body was pinned firmly beneath a toppled metal shelf, leaving only its head and two arms exposed. Its lower body was completely trapped under the heavy shelving, preventing it from getting out.
Yet even in that state, the zombie kept letting out hoarse growls. Its two rotting arms flailed wildly, clawing madly at Xu Qing as he slowly approached, its cloudy eyes locked firmly on him.
"Crushed like that, and it still isn't dead."
A chill rose in Xu Qing's heart. Forcing down his fear, he scanned his surroundings, picked up a thick, broken wooden stick, and gripped it.
He tentatively extended the stick and gently poked the zombie's head.
The moment the stick touched its head, the monster let out a furious roar. Its rotting neck twisted with all its strength, and its hands clawed desperately forward, trying to reach Xu Qing.
"Damn! Still so vicious even like this!"
"Come bite me~ Come bite me~ Bleh, bleh, bleh~"
Xu Qing tossed aside the stick and ignored it, walking straight around the zombie pinned beneath the shelf.
Soon, he began rummaging through the scattered clutter.
A rolling pin? A pot lid? A steel scrubber?
What is all this junk!
Before long, however, he pulled a cleaver from a gap between the toppled shelves.
Finally, something useful.
Xu Qing gripped the cleaver tightly.
Cleaver in hand, he cautiously explored deeper into the supermarket, constantly on guard against any danger that might spring from the shadows.
Fortunately, aside from the trapped zombie, there were only a few dismembered corpses left in the supermarket.
But this really fucking stank. It was so disgusting.
Urgh~
I can't take much more.
Covering his nose, Xu Qing quickly approached the rows of shelves. At the sight before him, the corners of his mouth twitched violently.
"Damn, why is everything gone?"
Most of the shelves in the sizable supermarket were empty. Clearly, someone had looted the place.
He lightly ran a finger across a shelf, picking up a thick layer of dust, then rubbed it between his fingertips.
By the look of things, a long time had passed since the place had been looted.
And nearly everything taken had been food supplies, such as snacks, vegetables, and meat.
Most of the appliances and everyday odds and ends, on the other hand, remained untouched on the shelves.
Going by the apocalypse novels he had read before, there should have been human survivors after the zombie outbreak, and they had come here too.
Seeing that he could find nothing useful, Xu Qing lingered no longer. He quickly left the supermarket and headed toward a phone shop across the street.
The sound of his running immediately alerted several zombies wandering the street.
The zombies roared at the sound, twisting their stiff bodies as they charged toward him.
Xu Qing's heart tightened at the sight. He hurriedly picked up his pace and darted straight into the phone shop.
Most of the phones inside were still sitting intact in the display counters.
Xu Qing did not recognize their brands, but judging by their appearance, he thought they should still work.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and smashed open a glass display case, sending glass shattering with a crash. He took out a phone and tried pressing the power button.
No response?
He picked up another and pressed its button.
It lit up!
Unfortunately, the screen only flickered weakly before going completely black.
Clearly, the phones had run out of battery after being without power for so long.
"Forget it."
Xu Qing put the phone away, then continued exploring the deathly silent town.
After spending more than three hours in total, Xu Qing finally finished a rough survey of the town.
By a rough estimate, he had already seen over three thousand zombies in town. Fortunately, all of them were ordinary zombies, with none of the powerful mutated zombies from novels appearing. Of course, besides humans, cats and dogs had also mutated, and Xu Qing had spotted over a dozen during his exploration.
Xu Qing secretly counted himself lucky. If he had been thrown into an area full of high-level zombies right at the start, he probably would have already lost his little life here.
After looking around for a while,
he found a house whose interior furnishings were still reasonably intact. After carefully observing the surroundings and confirming that the place was relatively safe, he climbed over the wall and entered the house.
Xu Qing planned to make this his temporary base for future exploration.
Besides, judging by his two visits, he would enter at the same place where he had last left, so choosing somewhere safe was best.
Once inside, Xu Qing immediately began inspecting the house carefully. There were no zombies, and the house was generally very well preserved. It was just that, after being unoccupied for so long, a thick layer of dust covered the coffee table and sofa.
He did some simple cleaning, then found a clean spot and sat down cross-legged.
He needed to confirm whether this Parallel Earth had Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi so he could plan what to do next.
Xu Qing slowly closed his eyes and calmed his mind.
Wisps of Spiritual Power slowly spread outward from his body.
A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, a glint flashing through them.
Great!
There really is Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi here!
However, there also seemed to be another kind of energy permeating the air, violent and disordered, filled with deathly stillness and decay.
Yet Xu Qing discovered that, although this energy filled the surrounding environment, it did not seem to have much of a negative effect on him.
No, it's more like something inside my body purified it after it entered.
He silently experienced the two completely different kinds of energy: on one side was the thin but pure Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, and on the other was the omnipresent, violent, chaotic, strange energy.
If my guess is right, the cause of the catastrophe should have a lot to do with this strange energy.
But what's going on with this Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi? Could it have something to do with the Earth Consciousness?
Forget it. Whatever the case, having Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi is better than not having it.
Xu Qing withdrew his Spiritual Power and slowly opened his eyes.
It's time to leave.
With a thought, a spatial tugging sensation abruptly enveloped his entire body. In an instant, he left Parallel Earth and returned to his room.
The next day.
Early in the morning,
Xu Qing slowly woke up in bed, two heavy dark circles beneath his eyes.
After returning from Parallel Earth last night, he had noticed something: time seemed to flow differently on Parallel Earth than it did here in Douluo.
However, he had been so sleepy at the time that he had not looked into it closely.
Xu Qing stretched deeply, got dressed, and walked to the room next door, raising his hand to knock gently.
"Nana, are you up?"
Gu Yuena's gentle reply soon came from inside. "I'm coming."
A rustling sound followed from inside the room, and a moment later, the door opened. Gu Yuena looked at Xu Qing and gave a slight nod.
Xu Qing nodded and turned to go downstairs to wash up.
By the time he had finished, Tang Xue had already laid breakfast on the dining table.
Having witnessed Gu Yuena's astonishing appetite last night, Tang Xue had deliberately prepared quite a bit of extra food.
After the family finished breakfast, Xu Yan left for work.
Xu Qing also said goodbye to Gu Yuena and set off for Red Mountain Academy.
As for Gu Yuena, Tang Xue took her out to buy some everyday necessities. Of course, Tang Xue mainly wanted to take Gu Yuena shopping for girls' clothes.