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My heart sank as I quickly grabbed Old Qiao and asked, "What did you just say?"
Old Qiao was panting heavily, struggling to catch his breath. "He... he jumped off the train! Old Ge... he jumped off!" He handed me a messenger bag. I opened it to find some basic gear inside, along with a very familiar Data Bag.
At that moment, my junior brother cursed loudly, "Damn it, that guy!" He dashed out in front of me, and A Li, looking worried, said, "I'm coming with you!" and ran after him.
I felt utterly frustrated; hadn't this just happened? Was everyone suffering from amnesia? Then it struck me—no, that was in a dream. Perhaps someone had intentionally sent me a dream to prepare me in advance to save everyone from disaster. That had to be it. After all, we were all law-abiding citizens, the proud successors of the Chinese Nation, tasked with the glorious mission of national rejuvenation; our lives were not meant to end here.
I didn't have time to explain anything to Old Qiao. I slung the bag over my shoulder and pulled him along as we rushed outside. Just then, the train stopped at a station where many passengers boarded with large bags and suitcases, making it difficult to move through the crowd. Old Qiao was panting heavily behind me, repeatedly asking what was going on. The noise made it hard to talk, and explaining everything would take more than just a few words. I could only give him a vague response. But when I turned around, I realized Old Qiao had vanished!
Panic gripped my heart as images of being hit by an off-road vehicle flashed through my mind. Countless shards of glass sparkled in the air as they flew around me. Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced my right eye, and my vision began to be engulfed by red like spilled ink… At that moment, a blurry figure jumped in front of me, bringing with it a strong smell of Xian Cao. Damn it! It was that guy again! My throat tightened as my chest felt heavier; I could barely breathe… Just then, a familiar voice broke through the haze: "What the hell? Can you really fall asleep like this? Am I that uninteresting?"
I groggily opened my eyes to see my junior brother sitting at my feet peeling an orange while A Li sat across from him engrossed in a book—yet another identical scene.
Seeing me awake, my junior brother stretched lazily and quipped, "Oh look... Senior Brother, you're awake! I'm so tired; I'm going back to sleep!" He clapped his hands and rolled over onto his bed. My heart sank again; if I brought up Ze Zhang now, would everything happen all over again? Damn it! This was clearly a Dead Loop!
Suddenly, I realized that while my junior brother, Old Qiao, A Li, and Old Ge were all involved in this situation, they were unaware they were repeating the same actions. This suggested that this Dead Loop seemed to be targeting me specifically. Each time that shadow nearly suffocated me, the cycle would end with my junior brother waking me up to start anew.
Yet something still felt off; it seemed too fast and missing something crucial. But what exactly was it? Then it hit me—since this was a Dead Loop and I couldn't die, I could take my time and observe closely.
Resolute in my decision, I began asking my junior brother about Ze Zhang. He spoke little but demonstrated a lot for nearly ten minutes. Then A Li handed me the staff from the box. Estimating the timing was right, four minutes later Old Qiao indeed rushed back inside in a panic to tell us about Old Ge jumping off the train. Following that, my junior brother and A Li dashed out while I was just about to follow when suddenly an idea flashed in my mind—I understood now! The problem lay right here!
In the first cycle, which I refer to as the dream transmission, after Old Qiao came in from outside, I did not rush out after him. Instead, I suspected that Old Qiao was not telling the truth. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was there to verify with him, I read the letter Old Ge had written to me and then analyzed it with Old Qiao. It was during this analysis that an off-road vehicle suddenly crashed into our compartment, leading to the incident. In the second cycle, after hearing about Old Ge jumping out of the car, I rushed out directly. Less than two minutes later, the accident occurred, which was at least half an hour earlier than in the first cycle.
However, in a Dead Loop, all paths must remain consistent and interconnected; otherwise, it is easy to expose flaws and break the cycle. Could it be... that this is not a Dead Loop at all? What is it then?
Before I could think further, the third impact occurred. Perhaps due to having grown accustomed to the process, I felt no fear at all; after all, everything would return to normal after a while. Yet the pain was very real, ten times worse than when Guan Yu Chang had scraped his bones to treat poison. If this continued in cycles, I wouldn't die but would be tortured to death.
Just as we were about to enter the fourth cycle, a twist occurred. It was hard to tell whether the situation before or after the twist was better.
After my junior brother woke me up for the third time with his toothpaste-squeezing voice, I felt a splitting headache. Although my body showed no visible wounds, the pain from being pierced by glass three times had not faded; instead, it compounded together, making me feel as if I had undergone a brutal execution. I had never experienced such agony; it penetrated every pore of my skin.
I swore that this time I had to end the battle!
My thoughts were chaotic and my head throbbed painfully; I couldn't make sense of anything. If this were a Dead Loop, it would be fine—breaking one link would sever the cycle. But it was not; although its starting point and endpoint were the same, there were many paths and infinite variations. No matter how I tried to break through or change things, it felt like punching cotton—utterly useless. In the end, I always arrived at that final step: where the starting point was also the endpoint.
Suddenly, an idea struck me! Yes! This is just like picking a U-lock. The copper wires inside are tangled and complex, but there is only one lock head. Most people trying to pick a lock instinctively think of cutting each wire one by one. However, there is a more direct and effective method: focus on opening the lock itself and work on that "unchanging" lock head.
I may have given a poor example, but the meaning is clear: we cannot always rely on habitual thinking. Since the paths are variable and uncontrollable, why not seize upon the unchanging and unique starting point?
Without delay, I gritted my teeth against my aching body and jumped out of bed. Ignoring my junior brother shouting behind me, "Where are you going?" I dashed into the corridor. I needed to find Old Qiao and Old Ge and get them out together; I vaguely remembered that something had happened to them in the smoking area.
There were two smoking areas in our train compartment located at both ends. Unfortunately for us, our room was situated right in the middle of the compartment. Therefore, they could have gone to either smoking area at either end; I couldn't determine based on proximity alone.
Well then, it's time to take a gamble! If I run fast enough, maybe I can catch both of them. I hurried toward the rear smoking area first. When I opened the door and looked inside—damn! This place was packed with over ten people! The air was thick with smoke and sweat; everyone glared at me as if my sudden intrusion had interrupted their "good" time. However, I could still see clearly that in this situation where they were strong and I was weak, as they say: a true man can bend and stretch; endure for now and calm seas will follow; take a step back and there will be vast space ahead. At this moment, I absolutely could not act recklessly and suffer immediate losses.
I immediately put on a look of deep apology and nodded to them, holding my breath as I quickly scanned the interior. I didn’t see Old Qiao and the others, so I turned and ran. However, just as I reached halfway, a large wave of people dragging luggage surged toward me from the front. A chill ran down my spine—damn it, I was a step too late!
The crowd pressed closer, and the mass of heads made my eyes blur and swell. I gritted my teeth; damn it, if they wanted to come, then let them! Back in the day, when I was staring down Di Tou Qing Yan Er in the Bagua Underground Palace, I hadn’t even frowned. Couldn’t I handle this?
The train shook violently again, the tremendous impact causing the carriage to lurch. The shouts of men and the cries of women and children became a chaotic mix. Instinctively, I crouched down with everyone else, covering my head. Shards of glass struck my arms like knives, but thankfully, my eyes were spared. Suddenly, someone kicked me; before I could react, I fell hard onto the ground. That person took advantage of my fall and mounted my chest, desperately choking me. With the light behind him, I couldn’t see his face at all.
“Good grandson!” I cursed under my breath and kicked him hard in the back. As he lost his balance, I seized his pulse point and rolled over to mount him instead.
“You dare to mess with me? Let’s see if I can make you cry!” I grabbed his neck with one hand while using the other to turn his face toward me. Just as I was about to throw a punch, I noticed a piece of glass embedded in his right eye, blood streaming down his face. Even so, I recognized that face—it was mine; it was Qian Yi’s face.
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