The Return of Cambrian Period Volume 1 Chapter 3 9 Dec 26, 2019

After the man put Cong Xia down, he became much more obedient. Like a little wife, he stood aside decently, silently watching the soldier ransacked his refrigerator, then stuffed the vacuum packed food into the backpack.

Cong Xia was hesitating for a while and then asked.

"Mr. Soldier, why did my uncle want me to go to Beijing? He turned off his phone, so I couldn't contact him."

The man turned around to look at him and threw a piece of folded paper to him. Cong Xia managed to catch it and opened it. It was a letter that his uncle wrote himself, but this piece of paper was obviously faxed. It said: 'Xiao Xia, when you see my handwriting, just consider like you're seeing me. You must have many questions in your mind. I don't have very much time to explain. Yunnan is not safe, go with comrade Cheng Tianbi to Beijing to find me, no matter what happens on the road, don't give up, be sure to come to Beijing to find me, you are my only relative, I hope we can meet each other - Cong Zhenzhong.'

[Note: This phrase 'when you see my handwriting, just consider like you're seeing me' or '见字如面' is a phrase that is put at the beginning of a letter for describing the feelings: "I haven't seen you for a long time. Today I received a letter from you. When I saw the sentences and the words, suddenly, your special character and personality emerge in my mind..."]

Cong Xia repeatedly read those lines which only contained a few words three times. Although he couldn't remember his second uncle's handwriting, it sounded very similar to his uncle. Moreover, he felt that it was not necessary for this soldier to pretend. First, he was just an insignificant person. Second, it was not up to him to decide whether he went or not anyway.

If this letter was real, then it had revealed a lot of information. First, the human living environment had undergone great changes, and these changes were dangerous ones. The government knew much more than them, and Beijing was definitely safer. His uncle was a highly respected expert in the field of biology. He was never an alarmist. When he said that Yunnan was not safe, it only confirmed Cong Xia's guess. Secondly, the change would only escalate. At present, Yunnan had not even reached that dangerous level yet, but his uncle had already made a prediction about the future, so this evolution was not just a temporary event, it would certainly become worse. Third, turned out this handsome guy called Cheng Tianbi.

Cong Xia carefully folded the piece of paper and put it into his shirt pocket.

"So your name is Cheng Tianbi, did you go from Beijing to here to pick me up?"

Cheng Tianbi pushed the full backpack into Cong Xia's arms.

"I was on duty in Yunnan. I was just passing by. Let's go."

"We have to leave now?"

Cong Xia had a look around the apartment that he had rented for three years, for a short moment, he couldn't accept the fact that he had to leave just like that. He was afraid that as soon as he left, just after three days, the apartment would be full of mushrooms and weeds. If one day he could truly come back, it would become unrecognizable. Moreover, there was no guarantee that he could come back.

How could the world change so fast? This time yesterday, he was still sound asleep because he stayed up late to play games. In just a short day, the end of the world arrived, he was also forced to leave.

Cheng Tianbi once again wore the big backpack that he himself brought and said briefly.

"Go."

"Big Brother, we only bring these things? I need to bring some daily necessities and credentials, as well as my computer. I definitely have to bring my computer."

In just five minutes, a normal person, who lived a comfortable life, had to be make preparation for long-distance travel. Cong Xia really couldn't adjust his state to the escape mode.

Cheng Tianbi looked at the watch.

"Three minutes."

Cong Xia was in shock for two seconds, then immediately rushed into the bedroom, quickly put the computer into the backpack. He then took out his credentials and all his savings and also brought two sets of clothes. As he was sweating all over after finishing packing up these things, Cheng Tianbi had already opened the door, made a gesture by lifting his chin to signal him to leave quickly.

Cong Xia couldn't help but feel upset. In fact, he was fully aware that even if he brought these things, he was afraid that he would not be able to use them. He was hoping that he was just having a nightmare, and when he woke up, he could still eat and sleep happily in his own nest. Unfortunately, he must wake up to face this world.

He felt a bit tingling in his nose. He sighed heavily and turned around to leave. Before leaving, he carefully locked the door. He still hoped that he could come back one day.

The two of them went downstairs and got in a military jeep. Cong Xia asked.

"How do we get there?"

"By airplane."

"Oh, that's great, then we should be there very soon."

Cong Xia gave out a sigh of relief. It became much simpler if they traveled by airplane. After a few hours, he would be able to see his uncle. At that time, he must ask his uncle face to face, what was wrong with the world.

Cheng Tianbi was observing the growth of plants on the roadside while driving at the same time. The higher-up sent an airplane to pick them up, but at this evolutionary speed, he was not sure if the taking off of the plane could be affected or not.

When Cong Xia saw that Cheng Tianbi was paying no attention to him. He also stopped talking. He opened his laptop and continued to pay attention to the news on the Internet. Countless rumors about the apocalypse filled the Internet, and there were many people constantly posting all kinds of strange photos that they took. A cat whose body had evolved as big as a calf, a willow whose branches grew a dozen meters long. These mutant creatures, which only appeared in science fiction movies, now were everywhere on the Internet.

At present, many animals and plants had changed, but humans... Cong Xia suddenly remembered the woman who pushed away the 160-170 pounds man and caused him to fly last night. She was probably an evolved human being, for an ordinary woman like her, it was impossible to have such great strength.

It was quite reasonable. All animals, plants and microorganisms had evolved, so there was also a possibility that human could evolve as well. However, when compared with the evolutionary speed and scale of animals and plants, there was very little news about human evolution.

As the car just made a turn into the main road, it stopped.

Cong Xia looked up and saw a long lines of cars in front of them. They couldn't even see the end of the line at all. All the vehicles were moving at turtle speed.

Cheng Tianbi frowned, he quickly steered the steering wheel and drove the car on the sidewalk.

Cong Xia was shocked.

"What are you doing?"

Cheng Tianbi did not say anything unnecessary. He rushed forward on the sidewalk. There was no pedestrian on the road. The weeds seemed to be even denser than when he saw them in the morning.

From the rear-view mirror, Cong Xia saw that there were some vehicles following Cheng Tianbi and drove on the sidewalk. They were rushing along the way.

This road was the most convenient way to get to the airport and highways. Could it be that these people wanted to get out of the city too?

Cong Xia said.

"There are so many people wanting to leave the city, we may not be able to pass this road."

Cheng Tianbi said.

"A lot of people have realized that the closer they are to Qinghai, the unsafer it is."

"Why did the earthquake trigger species' evolution?

"I don't know."

Cong Xia looked at the side of his face.

"But you definitely know more than me, just tell me anything."

Unfortunately, Cheng Tianbi did not intend to answer him. He just concentrated on looking at the road ahead. There was a large sculpture in front. They could not drive on the sidewalk any longer. He could only be forced to return to the roadway. However, the roadway was already jam-packed. It was impossible to get in the line. The more they delayed, the less chance they have to leave by plane. They must not let this drag any longer.

Cheng Tianbi said.

"Get off the car."

Cong Xia did not even reacted yet and Cheng Tianbi had already jumped off the car, and then walked to the Cong Xia's side and dragged him out of the car.

Cong Xia quickly shouted.

"So we walk?"

There were still more than 20 kilometers...

Cheng Tianbi kicked the car door and said.

"Just go first."

Cong Xia was carrying his heavy backpack and followed him. The two men made a turn to a road and arrived at a commercial area. This street was very familiar to Cong Xia. His company was located here.

But when he approached the office building where the company was located, he realized that he could not recognize the place.

A stout, huge pine branch broke through the window of the office on the third floor, it almost reach the road. Cong Xia was extremely shocked. Wasn't that the bonsai pine of his company?

Cheng Tianbi saw him stop and used his gaze to urge him.

Cong Xia pointed at the pine tree and muttered.

"That is the bonsai tree of our company. It used to be just as tall as my waist."

Cheng Tianbi also lifted his head up and glanced at the pine branch.

"The speed is increasing."

"What speed?"

"The speed of evolution."

Cong Xia was really upset because of his 'casting him aside' attitude. He intuitively knew that this soldier must know a lot of things that he didn't know. He must find an opportunity to ask him thoroughly.

Cheng Tianbi patted on his back and said.

"Walk."

Because Cong Xia was still in shock because of the bonsai pine, when he walked forward, he tripped. He subconsciously hugged Cheng Tianbi's waist, which could only made him barely steady his body.

Cheng Tianbi looked down at him.

Cong Xia awkwardly released his grasp. As he was about to step back, he suddenly saw the change in Cheng Tianbi's expression, his pupils became instantly larger. Then, Cheng Tianbi hugged him tightly and jumped to the side.

The two men were rolling for two or three meters before they stopped. Cong Xia could only hear some small swishy sound. When he finally stabilized his body and looked back. The bonsai pine branch just shot hundreds of pine leaves at the position where they just stood. Some of those dark green, tiny, needle-like pine leaves fell to the ground while some stuck in the gaps between roadside tiles.

Cong Xia was extremely frightened. He could not even say a single word.

This bonsai pine was... attacking them?

Just a while ago, if they was hit, it might not be fatal, but they would look the same as the hedgehogs. There would be holes all over their bodies. When Cong Xia thought of this, he was scared to even make a move.

Cheng Tianbi pulled him up. He didn't dare to stop running towards the far distance. They didn't even take two steps yet and the small swishy sound once again was right behind their back. Hundreds of pine leaves were shot again, but the range was limited.

Together, the two men ran away for more than 30 meters. They were finally certain that those pine leaves could not reach them. Cong Xia felt like his calf was very itchy. When he looked down, his pants and shoes were filled with the green needles. He pulled out one by one, although it was not painful, it was very itchy.

There were also some leaves on Cheng Tianbi's trousers. He pulled out a tiny needle and looked at it carefully.

Cong Xia also pulled out while studying these pine needles. The pine needles had become very sharp. Normally, when you touched the pine leaves, you could only feel a little bit thorny at most, but these pine leaves had evolved and became even sharper than the cactus thorns. They could easily sink into the flesh.

But these were not the worst. The most horrible thing was that the pine tree did not only have the ability to attack human but also have... the intention!

Cheng Tianbi threw the pine leaves on the ground.

"Let's go."

"Wait a minute."

Cong Xia grabbed his trouser leg.

"I will help you pull all of them out, otherwise it will affect your walking."

Cheng Tianbi broke free from his hand.

"No need to."

Cong Xia sighed. This person was too difficult to get along with, would he have a peaceful trip at all?

The two men got up and headed to the airport's direction. Cong Xia looked back at his company and the thick pine branch for one last time. He did not know if it was just his imagination or not, he felt like the pine branch was longer than before...