Chapter 3

With heavy doubts, Fang Linyan picked up the shopping basket and placed it in front of the cashier. After scanning and paying, he was about to leave when something unexpected happened. As he was leaving the supermarket, the scanner beside the door suddenly started beeping.

Fang Linyan was a bit bewildered, but a security guard had already skillfully positioned himself at the door, pressing down on Fang Linyan's shoulder with a forced smile.

"Be honest, take out the stuff."

A plump and robust auntie nearby seemed to have been injected with an adrenaline rush, jumping up and exclaiming:

"Oh, ha ha! You little scoundrel, you actually dared to steal!"

Fang Linyan felt indignant and his face turned red as he said:

"I didn't... cough, cough, cough."

He became agitated and bent over, coughing violently. The security guard thought he was trying to escape and take advantage of the situation—this had happened before, and it cost him half a month's bonus. So, this time, he roughly pulled the almost collapsed Fang Linyan inside and called for help.

The plump auntie ran over excitedly, her face jiggling, and as she got closer, she raised her arm, ready to give Fang Linyan a few hard slaps.

But in the next second, something terrifying happened!

A low, rumbling sound suddenly came from the street. Everyone was familiar with this sound, which was the engine of a heavy truck that frequently passed by. However, amidst the engine sound, there was also a sharp honking.

Immediately, a fully loaded heavy truck, weighing at least 70 tons, completely lost control and rushed in, hitting the supermarket at a speed of over 80 kilometers per hour.

The truck sped past Fang Linyan, who was less than a meter away. At such an incredible speed, the pillars at the supermarket entrance shattered instantly, and the metal structure softened and deformed like clay.

Not only that, but Fang Linyan felt time slow down, and he clearly saw the plump auntie, who was the first to be hit, being directly struck by the out-of-control truck. She burst like an overripe, flat tomato, exploding into pieces!

The out-of-control truck plowed a path of blood, flesh, concrete, and metal through the supermarket entrance, then drove another twenty meters before crashing into a five-story building behind it.

The building's exterior was made of red bricks, with no paint, and it was much older than Fang Linyan. It couldn't withstand such a force, and after shaking for a moment, it collapsed, burying half of the truck's front and sending up a cloud of dust...

Everyone present was shocked and speechless for several seconds. It was the injured people's agonized screams that finally brought them back to their senses, and they hurried to help.

At this moment, who cared about the earlier alarm from the machine? Fang Linyan naturally helped as well, working up a sweat. Later, when others noticed he was coughing so badly that he was even coughing up blood, they urgently advised him to rest.

When Fang Linyan returned home and lay on the bed, he couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. This was because the two events he had experienced earlier had deeply affected him. The incident in the bathroom was extremely bizarre, and the car accident was a close and terrifying experience!

The shock of facing the madly rushing truck, the cruelty and helplessness of life being destroyed in an instant, made Fang Linyan deeply feel the impermanence and illusion of life! His mind kept replaying the details of what had happened.

Suddenly, Fang Linyan thought of something that made his spine chill and his whole body feel as if it had fallen into an ice cellar! Because he carefully calculated that if he had paid normally and left without the machine alarm, the out-of-control truck would undoubtedly have hit him!

This was a truly terrifying thought, the image of a person exploding like a tomato being stepped on... It was too cruel, making Fang Linyan feel a deep sense of fear from the depths of his soul.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down and focused on a key point.

Why did the supermarket machine suddenly alarm?

The possibility of a machine error was not zero, but it was very small, so Fang Linyan ignored it.

So... the most likely scenario was that he really had an item that hadn't been scanned on him!

To verify this, he simply needed to check. First, Fang Linyan emptied the contents of the supermarket shopping bag and started counting. In just a few seconds, he was almost certain nothing was missing.

Next, he checked his own body. Habitually, he first put his hand into his right pocket and immediately had a puzzled look on his face. Yes, he found a hard, square object inside.

Fang Linyan took it out and realized it was a phone!

Yes, it was an old, almost obsolete Nokia 100 model. This type of phone was basically useless to young people, but because of its loud sound, durability, long battery life, and low price, it was popular among many elderly people, so it could still be seen in the supermarket.

Looking at the new phone in his hand, Fang Linyan was truly baffled. He couldn't understand how he ended up with this phone, especially since he clearly remembered not even going near the phone section, let alone stealing a phone.

Moreover, to be honest, Fang Linyan used a Huawei or Oppo smartphone, so he wouldn't have stolen an old phone!

At this moment, Fang Linyan noticed that the phone was still on. He hesitantly tapped it and found three unread messages. The sender was displayed as "Unknown." When he opened the messages, his pupils contracted sharply because the content he saw was extremely bizarre!

"You were not supposed to see this message. You should know exactly what I mean. Yes, your normal life trajectory should have ended at 9:47:32 PM today, the cause of death being a car accident that would make it difficult to find all parts of your body."

The old phone could only display a limited number of characters per message, so the content ended here, and he had to read the next message. Fang Linyan didn't rush to open the next message; his heart was pounding, and his worldview was severely shaken because he knew every word in the message was true!

At this moment, Fang Linyan felt a wave of darkness in his vision, knowing that his weak body couldn't handle the intense emotional fluctuations and might faint at any moment. So, he took a few deep breaths, grabbed a handful of glucose powder, and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he closed his eyes and forced his mind to go blank, gradually recovering.

After several minutes, Fang Linyan finally calmed down and opened the second message.

"I know you have many questions now, but it's not the right time to tell you the answers. Knowing you have terminal cancer and can only wait to die is not a good feeling, right? Have you thought about changing this fate?"

Seeing this question, Fang Linyan clenched his fists tightly, and his whole body trembled violently.

Yes, after learning the bad news, what he thought about the most was fighting! But after researching a lot of information, he found that so-called cancer treatment could only be described as "leaving it to fate." The helplessness and powerlessness were the most despairing things.

In fact, if there were a way to change his fate, Fang Linyan would do anything, even if it meant going crazy, using his teeth, or even his head! As long as he had a breath left, he would never give up!!!

"Of course... I want to!" These three words were involuntarily squeezed out from between his teeth.

He eagerly opened the third message, which, for him, was like a drowning person grabbing onto a straw! Because even the worst outcome couldn't be worse than this, and the mysterious message had already shown something clearly beyond known science.

The third message was extremely simple, just one sentence with a few words.

At 12:17 AM on the 13th, Huichuan No. 5 Dock, silver box, cannot arrive early, cannot arrive late.

Looking at this, Fang Linyan's expression became serious. This hint was not what he wanted! It only provided a time and place, with no information about what he would face. The unknown risks were too great. However, in such a bizarre situation, he had no choice but to go, or he would die!

Rushing into things wasn't Fang Linyan's style; he preferred to plan before acting.

So, Fang Linyan immediately opened his phone and started checking maps and information. He soon discovered that Huichuan No. 5 Dock had been abandoned for several years, located about 50 to 60 kilometers away from the city center, in a very remote area. The nearest road was about 2 kilometers away, and the only connection was a dirt road.

After thinking for a moment, he went to an internet cafe because only a computer could display satellite images and street views. However, when he tried to access the images, he saw a "404" error. He sighed regretfully and decided to go and scout the area from a distance the next day.

Fortunately, there were still about two days until 12:17 AM on the 13th, giving Fang Linyan ample time to investigate everything.