Sixteen Years

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Liu Ruosong felt that he might have had a stroke of bad luck.

If time could rewind, he would definitely visit a temple and buy a thousand and eight water-repelling talismans before the apocalypse to protect himself thoroughly.

Before the high-speed train derailed, chaos had already erupted on board for a while.

At the time, he was in the first-class carriage, and the seats next to him had been removed, leaving only a few scattered seats with several young soldiers escorting him. If Liu Ruosong didn’t know that there was a blood sample in his bag, he would have thought that the scene resembled the escort of a high-value criminal suspect.

When the commotion broke out in the rear carriage, Liu Ruosong didn’t actually know what had caused it. Based on the scattered clues he overheard during conversations, the disturbance was happening in the fifth carriage, which was quite far from where he was seated. It seemed that excessive negative emotions had led to some civilians exhibiting aggressive behavior, resulting in a dangerous situation.

Liu Ruosong never expected that someone could achieve a literal “explosion” in the physical sense.

Suddenly, the alarm on the entire train blared, and immediately after, Liu Ruosong felt as if the train had slammed on the brakes with tremendous force. He was thrown backward, crashing into the seatback, which left his shoulder blades sore.

However, the emergency braking didn’t ease the danger. In the blink of an eye, Liu Ruosong heard a deafening crash from behind, and then the whole train seemed to drop suddenly. He was uncontrollably thrown sideways, causing his world to spin, and his ears were filled with a buzzing noise.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Ruosong had only managed to tightly protect the bag in his hand. He curled up to protect his head and face as best as he could, After that, he remembered nothing.

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, it could have been several hours or even an entire day. When he groggily opened his eyes, he found himself thrown out of a window and lying on a rocky slope not far from the tracks.

The derailed high-speed train was emitting white smoke nearby, and Liu Ruosong’s ears were still ringing loudly. He could faintly hear the moans of survivors, but he couldn’t see anyone alive around him.

His backpack had been scattered nearby, and Liu Ruosong gingerly touched it. He felt relieved when he realized that the blood samples were intact.

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Fortunately, due to security measures, the seats around him had been removed, leaving enough space for him. He hadn’t been trapped inside the train. Despite the rough landing and various bruises, a quick self-examination revealed that he hadn’t broken any limbs. Considering the circumstances, he was in relatively good shape.

He had no idea how long he had been out, but now it was pitch dark outside. His phone was nowhere to be found, and Liu Ruosong, clenching his teeth, took a few minutes to prop himself up with one leg, using his hands for support.

His ear ringing had improved compared to before, but he probably had twisted his leg, as he limped and felt a sharp, stabbing pain whenever he put weight on his right foot.

He hadn’t walked for long when he came across another scattered passenger.

This young man was wearing camouflage clothing and lay face down on the grass. In the darkness, Liu Ruosong hadn’t noticed him and almost tripped over him.

“Hey, wake up,” Liu Ruosong knelt down with difficulty, flipped the person over, and tapped his face, “Can you hear me?”

The person should be another fortunate individual who had been far from the accident scene and had not suffered major injuries. Liu Ruosong called out to him for three or four minutes before he woke up.

“Mr. Liu?”

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“Yes,” Liu Ruosong said, “What happened? Why did the train suddenly derail?”

“There was a problem in Carriage 5,” the young man sat up from the ground and said, “There was a big fight, and it caused a serious fire.”

Liu Ruosong…

A fire? Liu Ruosong didn’t know if his ears were playing tricks on him or if his brain had been affected by the fall, but he stared fixedly at the young man, taking a good ten minutes to finally understand what had happened behind him.

At that time, something big had happened in Carriage 5. Liu Ruosong didn’t know what it was, whether it was an accident or intentional, but he learned from the young man that an entire bottle of diethylzinc reagent had been shattered.

In hindsight, it was negligence. In the current situation, everyone was trying to save their lives, and there was no time to worry about train safety. Security checks had long been forgotten.

Diethylzinc was highly flammable, and someone panicked and instinctively poured a whole bottle of water on it, causing it to explode instantly.

Afterward, the train emergency brakes were applied, but it was too late. The rear carriages derailed first, and during the derailment, they pulled down the front carriages, causing the entire train to overturn.

As for this young man, he had been planning to go to the front carriage to inform the train supervisor, but halfway there, the train had derailed. He had been thrown against the glass from the aisle and, like Liu Ruosong, had been lucky not to be trapped inside.

“How many people are on this train?” Liu Ruosong’s voice was hoarse, and he was struggling to stay on his feet. He blinked his eyes and wiped away the blood that was flowing down his face, then asked softly, “What’s the situation behind us?”

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“It was packed,” the young man replied, lowering his head. “There were even some who insisted on getting on… I’d say it was probably overloaded by about one-third.”

That would mean there were more than eight hundred people on board, Liu Ruosong thought.

The situation didn’t look good.

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, a shout erupted from the direction of the flames, as if in response to Liu Ruosong’s inner turmoil.

“It’s too late!”

It was a rough male voice and it sounded like the person hadn’t suffered much injury. It seemed that survivors on the other side had already begun organizing rescue efforts.

The young man who had been sitting initially immediately got up from the ground and said, “I… I need to go over there and help with the rescue.”

The young man cast a glance at Liu Ruosong. In his impression, Liu Ruosong seemed like someone who needed protection, a “privileged” person sent by Colonel Fu himself. Although he appeared friendly and caring, he also seemed pampered, likely a delicate individual.

He was afraid that Liu Ruosong would say something like, “You need to protect me first,” or “It’s too dark here, you can’t leave me alone.” He had mentally prepared himself for explanations and refutations. However, to his surprise, Liu Ruosong wiped his face, slung his backpack over his shoulders, fastened the waist strap, and said, “Let’s go, I’ll go with you.”

Liu Ruosong then bent down. He didn’t have any simple tools for securing things, but fortunately, he was wearing a pair of high-top shoes today, which was better than nothing. He threaded the shoelaces through the ankle strap buckle, tightened the laces, and managed to secure his ankles.

The wound on his head hadn’t stopped bleeding, and a small trickle of blood had flowed down again in just a short while. Liu Ruosong wiped it away casually and flicked the blood to the side.

The young man was surprised at how efficiently Liu Ruosong was handling everything, and he seemed momentarily at a loss, perhaps because reality didn’t align with his expectations.

“What’s wrong? Surprised?” Liu Ruosong managed a faint smile, patted the young man’s shoulder, and said, “Judging by your expression, your eyeballs are about to pop out.”

The young man was probably around eighteen or nineteen, and he had likely recently joined the military. Hearing this, he nodded almost mechanically, subconsciously holding onto Liu Ruosong’s arm as they walked toward the direction of the fire.

“I’m an outdoor photographer,” Liu Ruosong explained, still panting slightly, trying to catch his breath. “Climbing mountains, going down rivers, and even digging holes on glaciers. Once, we lost our equipment in Kekexili and almost died there. These minor injuries are nothing.”

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The young man was captivated by such adventurous experiences and couldn’t help but admire, “Bro, you’re amazing.”

“It’s nothing,” Liu Ruosong downplayed. Then, raising an eyebrow as if to show off, he said, “I used to play real-life CS with Colonel Fu, and I’d win him by a landslide every time.”

—Although Fu Yan had intentionally let him win, saying it out loud like this seemed a bit too much, so Liu Ruosong decided not to mention it.

Nevertheless, the young man’s admiration for him seemed to have skyrocketed, and he genuinely gave Liu Ruosong a thumbs-up, saying, “No wonder you were entrusted with the blood samples. You’re really something.”

He sighed and continued, “To be honest, I also like taking photos. But my family is not well-off, and I’m not a good student, so I had no choice but to join the army.”

“It’s okay,” Liu Ruosong consoled casually. “It’s not that difficult. After you complete your service, you can find a training program to pursue photography as a hobby.”

“Really?” The young man’s eyes lit up.

“Yes,” Liu Ruosong affirmed. “I’m not a professional photographer either.”

“Ah, I just don’t know when this disease will be over,” the young man sighed, as if he had just remembered his predicament. He hung his head and said, “I probably won’t be able to leave the army until this disease is gone, and I don’t know what’s happening with my family…”

He didn’t finish his sentence before there was another outbreak of shouting and yelling from the crowd up ahead, as if someone was trying to climb into the train but was being held back by others.

So the young man swallowed his untimely lament, kept silent, and hurriedly supported Liu Ruosong, quickening their pace.

With someone helping, Liu Ruosong’s progress became much faster. After passing another slope, he finally saw the scene of the train derailment clearly.

Some people, like him, had been thrown out, but more were trapped inside the train. The train had flipped on its side, with one side crushed on the ground and the other side’s windows deformed and piled up. Many people were in desperate need of help, caught in a dilemma, unable to move, and were already stuck inside the train.

The air was thick with the scent of blood, stinging the eyes. The fire at the point where the train had broken apart hadn’t completely extinguished yet, and faint flames could still be seen inside.

The young man had rushed forward to help, while Liu Ruosong’s mobility was limited, so he lagged a few steps behind. He was currently leaning against the train, catching his breath.

Scattered on the ground were several piles of people. Some were still alive, but others had died. The lower halves of their bodies were flattened like pancakes, and their mangled flesh made it impossible to discern their shapes.

The smell of blood emanated from them, so pungent that it stung the eyes.

The living and the dead were piled together. Liu Ruosong took just one glance and averted his gaze.