Chapter 5

This yellow dog, whether in speed or strength, was far superior to any ordinary village dog. It bit through the fat woman's neck in two bites, something even a regular wolf couldn't do. This was simply a monster.

The two men ran frantically, and suddenly, a惨叫 from the youth with the shaved head came from the distance, followed by angry roars and howls...

Chu Nan and Tang Sanli heard this, their backs drenched in sweat, but they didn't dare turn around. Instead, they gritted their teeth and ran even faster, leaving the youth's cries far behind.

Suddenly, the howls and roars stopped abruptly, and everything became eerily quiet.

Chu Nan and Tang Sanli, who were fleeing, looked at each other. Both of their faces were extremely pale, and they could see the deep fear in each other's eyes.

"I... I can't run anymore..." Tang Sanli suddenly fell heavily to the ground, lying there motionless like a dead dog.

At his age, after the折腾 of the night, he was already exhausted, relying solely on sheer willpower to keep going. Now, he could no longer support himself, completely drained, unable to stand, gasping for breath, his eyes rolling back as if he were about to die.

Chu Nan wasn't much better. He collapsed on the ground, panting heavily, his heart beating so fast it felt like it would burst out of his chest. His hands were on the ground, his legs felt as heavy as lead, and he was drenched in sweat. This feeling was worse than death.

Both were completely exhausted, not knowing how far they had run, and not caring if any more monsters would appear. They lay on the ground, and after a while, Chu Nan gradually recovered, his mouth dry, his stomach cramping. He barely managed to press his hand against his stomach, looked up, and was startled.

Unconsciously, they had already escaped the ruins of the detention center. A few dozen meters ahead, there was a large road. Not far away, a building had collapsed, crushing a car beneath it.

"Road... This is the road to the city—" Chu Nan screamed, suddenly becoming excited and agitated.

The First Detention Center of Jiangtian City was located in the outskirts, with a road leading directly to the city center. However, there were rarely any vehicles on this road, and after the massive earthquake, it was even more desolate, with no vehicles in sight.

Hearing Chu Nan's scream, Tang Sanli, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, also stirred. He suddenly arched his back, looked up, and shouted, "Damn it, I finally escaped—"

A surge of strength came from his exhausted body, and Tang Sanli got up, excitedly calling out, "We're saved. Let's go, quickly, let's leave that damned detention center—"

Chu Nan also stood up excitedly. The two of them ran to the road and found it severely damaged.

The force of the earthquake was terrifying. The asphalt road was crisscrossed with cracks of various sizes, and the street lamps had fallen. Not far away, a car had flipped over, with most of it stuck in a crack.

They didn't know if anyone in the car was alive or dead.

"There's a car, let's go." Just as Chu Nan was about to go check, the ground shook again.

Both of their faces changed.

"This is an aftershock, quickly move away from the buildings, heaven—"

Chu Nan cried out. Although it was an aftershock, the earthquake was so terrifying that the ground split into pieces, and the cracks that had already formed began to compress. The car stuck in the crack was crushed into a pile of scrap metal.

The large pieces of building debris began to shake and collapse again amidst the terrifying tremors, rumbling loudly.

Dust flew, and the earth shook. Chu Nan and Tang Sanli ran to an open area, their hearts pounding, feeling the power of nature, which made humans seem so insignificant.

Chu Nan was deeply worried about his family for the first time.

Was this earthquake only in the outskirts, or did it affect the entire city of Jiangtian?

How serious was the situation in Jiangtian City?

Thinking about the power of the earthquake, Chu Nan had a bad feeling, but he didn't dare to think about it. He simply convinced himself that the earthquake had not affected Jiangtian City, only the outskirts and the counties below.

The aftershock was very short, lasting only a few seconds. When the shaking stopped, Chu Nan and Tang Sanli both showed a bitter smile, feeling a sense of relief after surviving the ordeal.

"After surviving this, I will never deal drugs again. I will find a good job, treat my wife well, and educate my children... Lord... I, Tang Sanli, know I was wrong. I will never deal drugs again... Give us a chance to live... Give us a chance to make amends..."

Tang Sanli suddenly knelt down, clasped his hands, and earnestly muttered.

The power of nature, combined with the terrifying and bizarre events of the night, made Tang Sanli suddenly realize his mistakes. If he could survive and return home, he decided he would never commit crimes or deal drugs again.

Chu Nan watched, and the faces of his parents appeared in his mind. Of course, Li Feng's beautiful face also flashed through his mind, but he quickly forced himself to forget it.

"How is she now?"

As soon as this thought came to mind, Chu Nan felt a pain in his chest, punched himself hard, and gritted his teeth, "Chu Nan, you coward, why are you still thinking about her? She wanted to kill you, ha, ha."

Tang Sanli, who had been bowing to the sky, was startled by Chu Nan's laughter, quickly turned his head, and picked up the police baton on the ground, looking panicked, "What... What's wrong with you?" afraid that Chu Nan might suddenly turn into a monster.

Chu Nan shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I just thought of a woman who framed me, and I couldn't help it."

Tang Sanli sighed with relief, his face a bit gloomy, "Scaring people can be deadly, you know how scary this place is tonight."

Chu Nan stood up, dusted off the dirt on his pants, and said, "Let's go."

The two followed the road, carefully avoiding the irregular cracks. As for the car that had been crushed and swallowed by the cracks, they didn't need to check it. Even if there were survivors inside, the final violent compression would have killed them.

Following the direction to the city, they had to stop after a short while because a huge crack, more than three meters wide and deep, blocked their path.

They couldn't cross it, so they had to find a way around.

Chu Nan hesitated, "It's not far from dawn. Why don't we stay here and wait for the rescue team to come?"

Tang Sanli smiled bitterly and looked at Chu Nan, "Rescue us? I think they'll come to arrest us. Don't forget our current status."

Chu Nan fell silent. They were suspects in the detention center. He thought of Li Feng's frame-up and the faces of the police interrogating him, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

"This is a rare opportunity. The earthquake killed almost everyone in the detention center. The bodies are unrecognizable. We can quietly escape and live under new names. Who would know we're missing?"

Tang Sanli's tone was excited. He was a drug dealer, and if caught, he would face at least a decade in prison. With this opportunity, he was willing to take the risk.

Chu Nan was also tempted. He gritted his teeth and decided to go back and check on his parents first.

"Right, take off the prison uniform. Now that we're on the main road, we might encounter other people. Wearing the uniform would be troublesome." Tang Sanli remembered something and quickly took off his prison uniform, throwing it into the deep crack.

Chu Nan also took off his uniform and threw it in, taking a deep breath, feeling like he had been reborn.

"Let's go." They couldn't cross the crack, so they followed it to the right. The crack extended for a long distance, but the width wouldn't always be more than three meters. They would find a narrower spot to cross.

To the right, not far away, was a field. The huge crack meandered through the field, extending into the distance.

On the left side of the road, far away, were collapsed rural houses. The two didn't want to get close, fearing that more monsters might appear, so they chose to go around the field.

They walked through the field, one step deep, one step shallow, in the darkness. After a long time, the distance between the cracks remained more than three meters, leaving them frustrated. They had to keep walking.

Finally, they crossed the vast field. Ahead were large trees, and between them was a black asphalt road, not wide, no more than five meters, just enough for two cars to pass.

The asphalt road was also filled with cracks, and the trees on both sides were leaning in all directions.

As soon as they stepped onto the asphalt road, they saw a car blocking the road, with a fallen tree on top, deforming the car.

"Is there movement?" They soon heard faint sounds coming from the car.

"It seems there are survivors. Let's go check." Chu Nan took a few steps forward, but Tang Sanli tightened his grip on the police baton he had been holding, "Be careful, it might be..."

Chu Nan felt a chill, thinking of the monsters, nodded, and slowed down, holding the rebar with a piece of concrete.

"If there are people, we can move the tree and maybe start the car." Chu Nan noticed that the car, though damaged, wasn't severely damaged, and he had his own thoughts.

Tang Sanli said, "Even if the car can be started, the road is so damaged, it won't be able to drive."

However, seeing Chu Nan determined to check, he didn't stop him and followed.

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