I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 106

Lu Lingxi suddenly stopped walking and said softly, “What’s that sound?”

Everyone froze in place and instinctively held their breath.

In the dead silence, a muffled and faint noise from above became increasingly clear.

It didn’t sound like someone walking. Judging from the sound alone, whatever it was seemed to be moving extremely slowly.

Standing in the stairwell, the group exchanged uneasy glances.

Lu Lingxi pointed upward and silently mouthed, ‘There’s something up there.’

The sound on the rooftop continued its slow movement.

They listened for a while but couldn’t make sense of it. The noise had initially moved to the other side but after a while, it came back.

Jing Qizhen and the others were puzzled. Was that thing just circling around up there?

Jing Qizhen gestured silently toward the stairs. ‘Let’s go.’

Everyone nodded, trying to keep their footsteps light as they made their way downstairs.

On the second floor, they did the same thing and turned on all the lights in the hallway and rooms.

Then Jing Qizhen finally whispered, “There’s no one on the second or third floor. We haven’t heard anything from the first floor either. The only sound is from the rooftop of this building but we don’t know if it’s a clue.”

Manman said, “Normally, there should be night staff in a hospital.”

Jing Qizhen replied, “We haven’t seen any doctors or patients.”

Old Xiao, wiping his sweat with a tissue, said, “Is it because of the time?”

Jing Qizhen instinctively checked the time again. It was almost 10:30 p.m.

Lu Lingxi added, “And that sound from the rooftop… we haven’t figured that out either.”

Jing Qizhen thought for a moment. “We need to come up with a way to confirm what’s going on up there.”

For Lu Lingxi, climbing to the rooftop from a third-floor window would be easy. But without knowing what was waiting up there, it was too dangerous to try.

Just as they were passing by a restroom, Jing Qizhen’s eyes fell on the mop handle placed inside.

After a brief pause, Jing Qizhen suggested, “Find a long enough rod, tie a phone to it and use it to film the situation on the rooftop?”

Lu Lingxi blinked. If selfie sticks weren’t usually too short and easily replaceable with other tools, he would’ve written himself a memo to bring one next time.

Jin Guijuan said directly, “The mop isn’t long enough and it’s kind of heavy. I remember the hospital should have IV stands.”

Grandma Fang added, “Guijuan’s probably talking about infusion stands. Those things can usually adjust their height.”

It had to be said that hospitals really are well-equipped.

Once they made up their minds, Jing Qizhen and the others turned on all the lights in the first-floor hallway and offices, making the whole building brightly lit. Then they quickly went back up to the third floor and silently found a suitable IV stand in one of the offices.

Manman offered her phone. “I turned off the sound and flash and dimmed the screen brightness to the lowest.”

Conveniently, hospital tape was readily available. It was easy to fix Manman’s phone securely to the dismantled IV stand.

The noise on the rooftop continued but now it seemed slightly faster than before, with a faint sense of anxiety-inducing tension.

***

Meanwhile, the young man on the rooftop was staring at his phone in a daze. There was no signal at all.

Not only had the 2G signal for calls disappeared but also the 3G and 4G data signals and even the hospital Wi-Fi was completely gone.

Frowning, he sat on the rooftop and confirmed that his phone hadn’t been disconnected due to an unpaid bill. Then he started thinking hard.

His plan to call 119 and have the fire department rescue him from the rooftop was now impossible.

It really didn’t make sense.

First of all, a hospital shouldn’t be so dead silent. Even late at night, there should be family members ordering food, delivery guys running in and out, ambulances arriving and leaving, security guards strolling the yard, and mobile patients chatting with each other.

But now, he couldn’t hear anything.

The whole hospital yard had gone dark. A little farther out, it was pitch black and nothing was visible.

Could it be a large-scale power outage in the city that somehow also knocked out cell signals?

If it weren’t so unnervingly quiet, that might’ve seemed like a decent explanation.

But then again, hospitals have too many people. It’s impossible for everyone to mysteriously disappear, right?

He tapped his head again and immediately dismissed his own theory. If the power were really out and people had no internet, no TV, and no computers, unless they were stuck on the rooftop like him, most would probably go downstairs out of boredom to chat or find some excitement.

Besides, in hospitals, some medical equipment cannot lose power. Backup generators are standard and critical units, like the ICU always run on backup power.

He couldn’t help but get up and pace around the middle of the rooftop, his steps small and cautious to avoid falling off in the dark.

Was he really going to stand on the roof and shout for help?

But doing that might ruin his internship. Worse, he could become a cautionary tale told by professors back at school, a thought that made his scalp tingle.

Just then, he suddenly saw something rising from the edge of the roof.

He froze on the spot, not daring to move.

***

In an office on the third floor, Si Jiayang was holding up the IV stand, acting as a selfie stick through the window, trying to film the rooftop. Suddenly, they all sensed something was wrong.

Jing Qizhen pointed toward the roof and silently mouthed, ‘The sound stopped.’

Jin Guijuan felt goosebumps all over.

In Wilcox’s mind, classic horror movie imagery was already flashing, like seeing a terrifying white-eyed face staring at you through a peephole or door crack.

Manman lightly placed her hand on Si Jiayang’s wrist and silently gestured, ‘Keep filming.’

Si Jiayang nodded.

***

Meanwhile, the young man who had just been startled finally realized what was being raised. It was clearly an IV stand, with a familiar rubber tube hanging from it, and a phone taped to the top using white medical tape.

Though confused, he felt relieved that someone had found him.

He walked a few steps toward the IV stand, still staying a meter or two away from the edge just to be safe.

He simply sat down, then looked toward the lower floors and called out in a slightly hushed voice, “Hey, friends downstairs!”

Si Jiayang was so startled by the sudden ‘Hey’ that his hands trembled.

It was Manman who grabbed his hand just in time, allowing Si Jiayang to steady the IV stand and avoid dropping her phone.

Jing Qizhen didn’t hesitate. “Pull it back!”

Si Jiayang was already doing so.

Seeing the ‘selfie stick’ and the phone being pulled down, the young man on the roof grew anxious and raised his voice a bit, “Hey, guys downstairs! My phone’s got no signal. Can you call 119 or maybe 110 for me? If that’s not possible, can you at least tell the old man at the hospital reception?”

Jing Qizhen was stunned.

Everyone: “…???”

They all exchanged looks.

Si Jiayang had brought the IV stand back in. Manman quickly pulled her phone off and said in a low voice, “Let’s observe a bit first.”

In an erosion area, it was not unusual for strange things to speak human language.

Seeing no one respond from below, the young man on the roof became even more anxious. What the hell is going on here QAQ?

The night wind was cold. The young man had just come from the restroom and hadn’t worn a jacket. Now, with the wind cutting through, the warmth trapped in his sweater was completely gone and he shivered all over.

Manman opened the recorded footage and skipped straight to the middle section.

Her phone was one of the newest and highest-end models, even though she wasn’t a tech geek.

Even in night mode, the video showed the young man on the rooftop very clearly.

Si Jiayang said, “Uh… he really looks like a normal person. And his outfit looks pretty modern too.”

Though Si Jiayang still wasn’t sure about the time setting of the erosion area, the guy on the rooftop definitely didn’t look like he was from the 1990s.

Jing Qizhen said, “Those AJ sneakers are a limited edition from last year. I bought them…”

Suddenly, the Earth spoke in Jing Qizhen’s mind, “Ah! The retired hospital director was right!”

Jing Qizhen raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “Huh?”

The Earth said, “He didn’t want you all going to the fourth floor because he was afraid you’d get stuck on the rooftop! Isn’t this guy a perfect example?”

Jing Qizhen: “…” <em>That actually makes sense.</em>

After a pause, Jing Qizhen called out toward the window, “Hey, you up on the roof!”

The young man immediately replied, “Here! I’m here!”

He was terrified that they’d just leave him up there alone. In the dead of winter, being stuck outside overnight could literally kill someone. And his phone wasn’t working, it was way too miserable!

Si Jiayang and Manman whispered, “Isn’t this like when you clip through the map in a game and end up outside the invisible wall?”

Manman nodded. Even though she couldn’t see the poor guy, her eyes already showed a bit of sympathy.

The young man on the roof wore a blank expression. “…” He heard that.

Jing Qizhen asked, “The hospital was evacuated earlier. Why were you still in the building?”

The young man froze. “Evacuated? Why? I was eating dinner in the cafeteria earlier tonight and saw a bunch of ambulances coming and going. I thought there was a major traffic accident or something.”

The moment he mentioned the cafeteria, Jing Qizhen asked, “You’re with the hospital?”

The young man explained, “I’m a surgical intern but these past couple of days I’ve been helping the equipment department move stuff.”

As he spoke, his voice grew hesitant. “Did something happen?”

Old Xiao whispered, “Sounds like a communication gap between departments.”

The surgery side probably figured that since they lent someone to equipment, no need to notify him. The equipment department assumed that since he’s a surgical intern, his department would’ve told him.

Jin Guijuan and Wilcox both nodded knowingly.

Jing Qizhen stood by the window, listening closely to the poor guy’s explanation.

Honestly, the whole ‘clipped through the map’ thing reminded him of the first time he met Yun Shuanghua.

Back then, Yun Shuanghua had also been stuck alone on the upper level of the Yunhai Wancheng Department Store.

At the time, Yun Shuanghua naturally blended into their group.

Though Jing Qizhen had been on guard, he hadn’t doubted Yun Shuanghua himself too much. Even if Yun Shuanghua had seemed a little off, in that environment, everyone’s attention was on the obviously strange surroundings. Anything human-like was subconsciously overlooked.

But some details didn’t hold up under scrutiny.

In hindsight, Yun Shuanghua had exposed way too many issues.

Jing Qizhen lowered his gaze slightly and even confirmed a few recent trending news topics with the guy on the roof.

Though the trapped intern was confused and disoriented, he answered fluently. Even when he didn’t know something, it wasn’t suspicious. That was enough for Jing Qizhen to confirm the guy was from the real world.

Once he was sure, Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but smile and shake his head. “Alright, now we need to figure out how to rescue this poor guy who glitched out of the map.”

The intern, still trembling from the cold on the roof: “…What are you talking about? I don’t really get it.”

Jing Qizhen asked, “Were you on the fourth floor earlier?”

The intern: “Yeah, I just went to the restroom. When I came out, I was on the rooftop… I thought I was sleepwalking! I was even planning to visit the psych tomorrow.”

Lu Lingxi said sympathetically, “You’re fine. It’s just that the fourth floor is gone.”

The intern blinked. “Huh?”

If it weren’t for how eerily quiet the surroundings were, he might’ve suspected the people downstairs were actually psychiatric patients who’d escaped.