Chapter 1: The Sun Disappears

Time: December 22, 2012

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"China Central Television! China Central Television! Dear viewers, you are now watching China Central Television!"

"Dear viewers! I am currently in Queens, New York City, where a riot has just occurred. The New York Police Department has deployed a large number of personnel to forcibly disperse the rioters. This riot has resulted in one death and over thirty injuries. We are still gathering more information..."

...

"Now we will connect with Sun Fei in Europe to understand the situation there."

"Hello, host!"

"Hello, Sun Fei. Can you tell us about the situation in Paris?"

"Sure. Since this afternoon, a large crowd has gathered in front of the Elysée Palace in Paris, holding various signs and demanding the government reveal the truth. We can see a large number of police gathered in front of the presidential palace to prevent the situation from escalating. President Sarkozy has canceled his visit to the Middle East and has addressed the nation via television, urging the public to remain calm..."

"Alright, now we will connect with Su Ren in Tokyo. Hello, Su Ren, hello, hello... Okay, the satellite signal might be poor, so we can't connect with Su Ren for now. No problem, we will now invite two guests in the studio to provide a scientific explanation of this event."

"Welcome back. This is a special news program on China Central Television. First, let me introduce our two distinguished guests, who are also leading experts in their fields. This is Professor Huo Sinen, an astronomer from Tsinghua University, and Professor Zhang Ting'en, an astrophysicist from the University of Science and Technology of China!"

"Good afternoon, Professors. We know that at 7:15 AM Beijing time today, the entire sun suddenly disappeared from the sky for 10 minutes. This unusual astronomical phenomenon was observed worldwide, and there were no prior reports of a solar eclipse, which has led to a lot of speculation."

"Of course, the most famous speculation is related to the Mayan prophecy. According to the Mayans, the sun was supposed to disappear completely after the 21st, plunging the Earth into darkness. Many people are very concerned about this, especially some foreign citizens who are worried about the prophecy coming true. By 7:00 AM on the 22nd, many people thought this prophecy was just a joke, like the end-of-the-world predictions in 1999."

"However, we also know that around 7:15 AM, the entire sun suddenly disappeared without any warning, plunging the world into darkness. Global communications were severely disrupted, and the entire process lasted 10 minutes before returning to normal. As a result, many people now believe that the Mayan prophecy might become a reality. Of course, we know this is a special astronomical phenomenon, but since it has never happened before, we would like the two professors to help us understand it from a scientific perspective. Thank you!"

"Thanks to the explanations from these two distinguished professors, we have gained a clearer understanding. We now believe that this special astronomical phenomenon has a scientific basis, and it also refutes various rumors like the Mayan prophecy. We should view such events from a scientific perspective and avoid unnecessary panic..."

Chu Yunsheng reached out and turned off the remote control. He felt there was no need to continue watching. The internet was already filled with criticism, and the so-called experts' debunking had become synonymous with deceiving the public. After 2008, few people still believed in so-called experts, and Chu Yunsheng was no exception.

Although the internet was in chaos, with the authorities constantly censoring content, most people were still curious and watching the spectacle. Of course, this also caused panic for many. Just look at the crowds in the supermarkets at noon, frantically buying food. If the panic was not quickly quelled, it would cause significant economic losses.

Chu Yunsheng was very confident in his judgment. For a long time, he had felt something was wrong, and the reason was the ancient book passed down in his family. Although the text in the book was completely indecipherable, not even resembling oracle bone script, he was certain it was an ancient book.

The so-called ancient book had been used as a footrest for a long time. It looked too old and worn, with no other advantages except for its thickness. Chu Yunsheng's father always said the book was passed down from their ancestors and would never sell it, but in reality, when Chu Yunsheng was accepted into university and needed money, his father secretly took the book to various pawn shops and antique markets. The result was that it was just an ordinary book, and the experts said it was at most a few years old, which clearly contradicted his father's claim. This made Chu Yunsheng's father very angry.

Later, the book was passed to Chu Yunsheng, who continued to use it as a footrest. When he decided to buy a house, he, like his father, visited the antique market with high hopes, but no one was interested. In a fit of anger, Chu Yunsheng had the book carbon-dated, and the results clearly stated it was a book from within the last ten years, not an ancient book at all.

This result initially made Chu Yunsheng very disappointed, but he soon realized something was amiss. He had known about the book since he was a child, and it had been in his father's possession for at least 20 years, as far as he could remember. The test results saying it was no more than ten years old suggested that the book was not just junk but a mysterious and valuable item.

Chu Yunsheng studied the material of the book for a long time but found no results. Later, he spent a lot of time studying the strange symbols and text, and through their slight resemblance to Chinese characters and oracle bone script, he managed to learn about 300 relatively simple characters. This was in 2010.

These 300 characters were not enough for Chu Yunsheng to understand the book's full meaning, and he could not read beyond the first ten pages. However, from those ten pages, he managed to decipher the author's repeated warning to future generations: "The celestial track has returned, all laws will be restored, the universe will revert to its original state, and the world will be in turmoil."

At that time, Chu Yunsheng was emotionally low due to a breakup and the influence of the movie "2012" and frequent natural disasters worldwide. He became very curious about things like the Mayan prophecy. Out of boredom, he followed the book's calculation rules and compared them to the Gregorian calendar, repeatedly calculating the date of the celestial track's return. Initially, he was afraid he had made a mistake due to his limited knowledge of the characters, but as he learned more, his calculations became more precise. The date of the "restoration of all laws" was only seven days after the Mayan prophecy's date of December 21, 2012, meaning the great change would occur on the 28th.

Chu Yunsheng calculated many times, and the more characters he recognized, the more precise his calculations became, but the date always pointed to the 28th. He was very anxious and felt that the book had a special power that compelled him to believe that a great change would occur on that day.

He later studied the Mayan calendar and anonymously posted information about the date on ancient astronomy forums, but it went nowhere. At the time, various prophecies were rampant, and some were even pursued by the government, so his post quickly sank.

Three months ago, he discovered the ancient book emitting a rainbow of light. He was about to turn off the lights and go to bed when the brilliant colors illuminated his entire bedroom, almost mesmerizing him.

The last time the book glowed, Chu Yunsheng had been drunk, and under his friends' skepticism, he almost believed it was a hallucination. This time, he was sober and shocked, and he no longer doubted it. For the past three months, he had been frantically preparing for the day, and his extreme actions made all his friends think he was crazy, with some even suggesting he be sent to a mental hospital.

He sold the house he had bought on loan without hesitation, sold all his valuable possessions, and exchanged them for a large amount of cash. In the most central part of the city, which he believed would be protected by the military, he rented two apartments on the same floor. He did not rent on the ground or top floors because the book said that the return of the celestial track would bring about the intersection of tracks from another space, leading to the invasion of powerful beings from a strange space, which Earth's life forms, isolated from the celestial track, could not resist.

Chu Yunsheng sealed the doors and windows with the strongest steel and stored a large amount of food, purified water, and other living supplies in the two apartments. He bought over ten tons of rice, which cost him more than 20,000 yuan, enough to last him for over a decade. He also bought water, salt, sugar, paper, batteries, toothpaste, laundry detergent, and lighters. Later, he spent a lot of money to buy a 92-type pistol and 100 bullets from the black market. By the 21st, his bank balance had dropped from hundreds of thousands to just 2,000 yuan, not because he didn't want to buy more, but because the rooms were already full, even the bathroom and bed.

The landlords of the apartments Chu Yunsheng rented were one abroad and one in Shenzhen, rarely returning to the city. On the last day before the 21st, he secretly broke through the wall between the two apartments, sealed the main door and all windows of one apartment, and waited quietly for the unknown great change.

Chu Yunsheng was not unwilling to help his friends, but almost everyone, including his relatives, thought he was crazy and refused to believe him.

However, more and more people called him that morning because the disappearance of the sun was too shocking. Although many still did not want to believe anything extraordinary would happen, panic was spreading. Many people who knew about his preparations asked him what would happen, but Chu Yunsheng really did not know, as he could not understand the text after the "return of the celestial track." He could only patiently advise them to prepare supplies. By evening, he went to the supermarket across from his neighborhood and found that it was almost empty.

The evening news repeatedly emphasized that the phenomenon had a scientific basis and that the end of the world would not happen. Meanwhile, the public in foreign countries was increasingly demanding that their governments reveal the truth, and all the news websites had the same headlines:

"The Sun Disappears, Is the Mayan Prophecy Coming True?"

"End of the World, Are You Prepared?"

"2012, Have You Bought Your Ticket?"

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