I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 96

As they spoke, Jing Qizhen picked up his travel bag. Inside were the special items he had collected from the erosion areas. Among them was the bloodstained ‘Fairy Tale Anthology’, which was still tucked away in the bag.

When David saw the book Jing Qizhen pulled out, his pupils shrank and his face turned pale. He stammered in disbelief, “How can that book still be here? Does this mean I can never get rid of it?”

Jing Qizhen and the others were momentarily stunned.

After a pause, Jing Qizhen realized what David was likely imagining, a common trope in supernatural horror films. The protagonist tries to throw away a cursed doll, only for it to inexplicably reappear. Every time the doll is discarded, it somehow makes its way back, sitting ominously on a table with a sinister grin.

Jing Qizhen explained, “No, no. I put this book in my bag and brought it here. It’s not what you’re thinking. It didn’t just jump into my bag and follow me to find you.”

David stared blankly at Jing Qizhen.

Jing Qizhen shrugged. “I packed it on purpose. It didn’t follow me on its own. You’re worried about this. I’m not mistaken, am I?”

After confirming that Jing Qizhen was telling the truth, David finally let out a sigh of relief. “God, I thought my heart was about to stop.”

Sitting quietly in the corner, Manman noticed David’s expression of relief. Finding it amusing, she casually pulled out another ‘Fairy Tale Anthology’ from her own bag, placed it gently on the table, and said nonchalantly, “I also brought the one Jiayang had earlier.”

David: “…”

Faced with the presence of two identical books, David’s expression became indescribable.

After a long pause, he finally couldn’t help but ask, “You were under sniper fire earlier and you still remembered to grab the books?”

It confirmed that the so-called experts were meticulous enough to prioritize important items even during an attack. Yet David couldn’t shake off the lingering unease in his heart.

Manman, unfazed as a non-combatant, glanced at David calmly. “We waited a while afterward, didn’t we? Besides, it’s just a book. Even in the middle of an ambush, there’s always time to grab it and toss it into a bag.”

David: “…Fine, fine.”

He admitted defeat. Clearly, he wasn’t qualified to question them.

Since Jing Qizhen and Manman had taken out the books, the conversation naturally shifted toward their significance.

Tang Song said, “When it comes to identifying the core of an erosion area, the person or object responsible must—”

Tang Song had originally intended to mention the Earth’s methodology but reconsidered, given David’s presence. He smoothly adjusted his phrasing, “According to earlier theories, the core must resonate with at least two parallel universes simultaneously. While the basic logic is clear, the exact origins of this resonance remain elusive.”

Manman, holding her unfinished bowl of hand-pulled noodles, tilted her head slightly and said, “Previously, the erosion area at Yunhai Wancheng Department Store had Miss Li, the female ghost, as its core. The erosion area in the remote village of Shennongjia had Xu Siya as its core. If you think about it, they share quite a few similarities.”

Tang Song nodded. “Exactly!”

Based on those observations, the think tank backing Tang Song had proposed a rough hypothesis. The core of an erosion area often stems from the overwhelming resentment of those who died with unfulfilled desires.

It turned out that the erosion core of the Boston villa was a fairy tale book.

Jing Qizhen had just safely exited the erosion area when Tang Song sent the latest findings back to his team in China, instantly overturning their previous hypothesis.

Tang Song remarked, “The concept of resentment comes from conscious beings, whether human or animal. A book, by definition, is an inanimate object. Since it’s lifeless, how could it possibly harbor resentment?”

Hearing this, Jing Qizhen raised an eyebrow and replied, “Not necessarily. Isn’t there a saying that everything has a spirit?”

After all, even the Earth itself had somehow gained sentience. It was endlessly dramatic, constantly narrating its own over-the-top middle-school anime-like fantasies in its head, producing content that could easily fill a 500-episode series. If such a phenomenon could occur, who’s to say other inanimate objects couldn’t also form some kind of resonance?

After a moment, Jing Qizhen reflected on the first time he’d heard the Earth’s voice. “Besides, if we go by what Babyball originally said, erosion cores exert a massive gravitational pull on both worlds. And gravity is a pretty solid concept in physics, isn’t it?”

As for theories involving resentment or the spiritual resonance of objects, those felt a bit far-fetched and completely unscientific by comparison.

Tang Song: “…”

The sudden shift to physics, especially to concepts like gravitational pull, felt oddly familiar and reassuring.

Meanwhile, David looked thoroughly confused. He could understand each individual word Jing Qizhen said but when strung together, they left him completely baffled.

Still, David was a good boss. The less he understood, the quieter he stayed.

After all, if the ‘experts’ were discussing things that regular people could understand, then why even hire them? If he could figure it all out on his own, he wouldn’t need to pay for their expertise.

That said, while David was clueless, his curiosity was far from dampened, especially since it was a matter of life and death for him. On everyday topics, he might be fine with surface-level knowledge but when it came to his survival, he needed to get to the bottom of things.

With that in mind, David quietly relayed the entire conversation between Jing Qizhen and Tang Song to Caroline via text, including his own confusion about the discussion.

A moment later, Caroline sent him a series of photos. She had taken snapshots of the document Jing Qizhen had shared earlier from the erosion area.

After sending the photos, Caroline suddenly reconsidered and began retracting the messages.

David sent a question mark, [?]

Caroline replied, [You’ve already paid them. Why not just ask Jing Qizhen for a printed copy instead of squinting at photos?]

David was enlightened.

He turned to ask Jing Qizhen and Tang Song for the documents but noticed they were still deep in discussion. Deciding not to interrupt, he figured the files could wait. For now, he’d listen to what they had to say.

Jing Qizhen continued, “And if I remember correctly, Babyball once said that the number of things on Earth capable of becoming erosion cores might actually outnumber humans…”

Old Xiao had just finished his noodles. Hearing this, he was momentarily stunned and cautiously asked, “So, even an ordinary-looking rock could become an erosion core, as long as the circumstances align perfectly?”

Jing Qizhen looked at Old Xiao earnestly and replied, “If that rock became an erosion core, it definitely wouldn’t be ordinary anymore.”

Old Xiao: “…”

The others: “…”

The logic was flawless, airtight and entirely reasonable.

Jing Qizhen thought for a moment and chuckled. “Earth has been around for over 4 billion years. If you think about it, every rock might have its own story.”

At that point, Jing Qizhen suddenly paused, realizing something. “Huh? From this perspective, all the erosion cores we’ve encountered so far, whether people or objects, seem to originate from events roughly a few decades ago! But with such a small sample size, it’s too early to draw conclusions.”

The Earth chimed in at just the right moment, “The situation with the African tribal erosion area might be different. That wooden mask seems to carry what you humans would call an ‘ancient era vibe’!”

Jing Qizhen reminded it silently, “Even modern tribal humans have a very ‘ancient era vibe.’”

The Earth paused. “That… actually makes sense!”

Jing Qizhen continued, “But that’s not a big problem. We can just have Tang Song arrange for a carbon-14 dating test on the wooden mask to determine its true age.”

The Earth eagerly agreed, “Yes, yes, yes!”

After all, the Earth’s memory stretched back billions of years but it could only recall major global events like the first global ice age, the two-million-year-long rainstorm, the spread of vegetation turning Earth green, and similar transformations like ice skins, rain-themed animations, and rainforest overlays.

Additionally, Jing Qizhen had yet to inform his companions about the erosion area in Africa, which had already been resolved by a local tribal elder. He planned to discuss it with Tang Song first to figure out how to handle the matter.

As the conversation between Jing Qizhen and the others came to a natural pause, David took the opportunity to express his curiosity about the documents related to the erosion areas.

Jing Qizhen looked at Tang Song.

Without missing a beat, Tang Song stood up, pulled an encrypted USB drive from his bag, and said, “One moment, Mr. David.”

A few minutes later, Tang Song returned with a freshly printed stack of A4 documents, using the printer they’d found on the farm, and handed them to David.

Jing Qizhen added at the right moment, “If you have any questions, we can discuss and exchange ideas. But keep in mind that erosion areas are an extremely unique natural phenomenon that only recently emerged. Research into them is still in its infancy and some issues are purely speculative at this stage, with no definitive conclusions.”

David nodded as he began flipping through the documents. “I understand.”

Meanwhile, the other team members, who hadn’t entered the erosion area and didn’t know what Jing Qizhen and the others had experienced: “…”

However, there was one thing they could see clearly. When it came to doing business for money, whether it was themselves or Jing Qizhen, they were all extremely professional.

At that moment, Jing Qizhen’s phone suddenly rang.

Jing Qizhen glanced at the screen and said, “It’s Wilcox.”

With that, he directly pressed the speakerphone button.

Tang Song calmly reminded, “Keep the call under one minute.”

David froze for a moment, lifting his head from the documents. “Huh? Isn’t there usually a margin of error of several kilometers when locating someone through their phone? It’s not that easy to track someone down.”

Manman responded, “…The problem is, even with a ten-kilometer error, there’s only one farm in the area, so they’d still find it immediately.”

David: “!!!”

Wilcox sounded completely bewildered. “Where did you guys go? Why can’t I find you?”

After accompanying his younger cousin to a health check-up at the hospital, Wilcox was shocked to discover that David’s villa had clearly been the site of a gunfight, with a heavy police presence in the area.

Perhaps because of Wilcox’s sudden appearance, the police deemed him suspicious and brought him and his cousin to the station for questioning.

At the time, Joyce, the younger cousin who had just left the hospital only to end up in the police station, gave his cousin Wilcox a gaze filled with indescribable confusion.

He was wondering with his cousin leading him around, what kind of erratic behavior was this supposed to be?

After finally clearing himself of suspicion, Wilcox immediately called.

Jing Qizhen, remembering Tang Song’s reminder, kept it concise. “David was attacked by someone with ulterior motives. It’s possible that the relatives of the deceased were exploited but the attacker also seems to harbor a certain desire for revenge. Tell your cousin Joyce to be careful. This trouble might spread to other survivors. For now, we can’t disclose our location. Let’s talk when we’re back in the country!”

After briefly explaining the situation, Jing Qizhen hung up, the call lasting less than 30 seconds.

Wilcox: ” =口=!!!”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand. It was just that the world was changing too fast for him to keep up.

Joyce, incredulous, asked, “David was attacked and I might get dragged into this?”

Wilcox shrugged helplessly. “…Who knows? Damn!”

Not far outside the police station, a small truck with its accelerator floored came hurtling toward Wilcox and Joyce.