Chapter 1622: Narrow Path

When Xie Feng looked back at herself from a year and a half ago, it was like she was seeing a completely different person. Only a year and a half had pa.s.sed, but the girl from back then seemed ten years younger than she did now.

Before that time, Xie Feng had been preoccupied with things like high school finals, which college to apply to, the stubborn pimple on her right cheek that refused to go away, and whether she could get her hands on the limited edition figure from the anniversary collection. Tear City was small—just one city in the whole country—but it felt huge to her, filled with eighteen years of her life, along with her hopes, family, and future.

Tear City got its name because its shape resembled a teardrop, as if it had just fallen from the continent and was about to slip into the ocean. Despite its small size, Xie Feng had never felt uneasy about it; after all, beyond Tear City’s borders was the vast ocean and the rest of the world.

When the news about “Neighbor Star being destroyed by posthumans” first broke and became the biggest global headline, neither she nor her cla.s.smates had any idea that their fates were about to change completely. They continued with their usual routine—going to school, hanging out, playing sports—while, in the background, the world was quietly being reshaped by that single piece of news.

On that day a year and a half ago, although the news had just come out, the situation had already deteriorated rapidly. To be honest, no one had even seen a trace of the posthumans that were supposedly going to bring about the world’s destruction. Yet the chaos was undeniable: newspapers, TV, streets, and cla.s.srooms were filled with endless arguments and protests, to the point where it felt like society had already started to collapse. Xie Feng was caught up in the chaos herself, often getting into heated debates with others—”Even though Tear City is small, it’s still our country!” “Do you think this is some kind of business merger?” “Of all places, we can’t submit to the Eirenarch Empire! I mean, you wouldn’t apply for a job without checking out the company first, right?”

Once, a relative of hers overheard one of these debates and immediately retorted, “What do you know, kid? Tell me this: Tear City’s army is weak, and we’re under-armed. How are we supposed to deal with posthumans and the end of the world? Other countries can suppress posthumans, but we can’t—we’d be the first to get wiped out!”

She was left speechless at the time, and her uncle smiled triumphantly, as if he had won. Later, she thought of many things she could’ve said in response, but the moment had long pa.s.sed.

Xie Feng didn’t know what people outside of her school thought, but at least within school, most of the students shared her views, especially the girls—they had all heard plenty about the behavior of the empire’s people. That day, just before they were supposed to meet at City Hall for the protest, Xie Feng had gym cla.s.s. She changed out of her school uniform and into sneakers and shorts, stuffing the uniform into her bag, planning not to change back before heading straight to the protest after cla.s.s.

If it hadn’t been for that decision, Xie Feng had no idea where she would’ve ended up that day. Thankfully, she was wearing clothes she could move easily in, unlike her friends…

“Come to think of it, the people who got arrested that day still haven’t been released, right?” The overweight man next to her opened his mouth, and a heavy, greasy smell hit her. His tone had long since implied certainty, though he pretended he’d just thought of it—as if he’d enjoy seeing any hope Xie Feng had dashed.

Too bad for him, he’d be disappointed.

Xie Feng shoved his phone aside with the edge of her palm, watching him scramble to catch it before it hit the ground. Only then did she coldly say, “If you have bad eyesight, go get it treated. Don’t talk to me.”

“So, you’re saying this person isn’t you?”

“Is every fat slob on the street you?” she snapped back, deliberately switching to the local dialect.

The man clearly understood her, and his face tightened as if she had just spat on him. After a few seconds, he suddenly let out a creepy laugh and said, “Then I’ll go to the police and let them see who it is.”

“Go ahead,” Xie Feng replied, turning her head to look out the window. She wasn’t afraid of the man’s threat; as soon as she got off the train, she could easily disappear into the crowded streets. She had been living on the streets for two years now—he didn’t have her personal information, and even if he did, there was no place he could find her.

“Or should I call them now?” The man’s smile vanished completely.

Xie Feng almost asked what he intended to do but held her tongue just in time. She knew exactly what he had in mind—some things, women just understand.

“I said, do whatever you want.”

After all, it had been a year and a half since that day, and plenty of people had escaped the scene back then. The joint military-police forces probably didn’t care about them anymore, and the man likely wasn’t sure about it either.

He probably didn’t expect her to stand her ground so firmly, and for a moment, he seemed unsure of what to do. His face darkened, and he fell silent. The longer he stayed quiet, brooding over whatever was on his mind, the more anxious Xie Feng became.

It should be fine, she rea.s.sured herself, quickly a.n.a.lyzing the situation in her head. Even if he called the police now, the joint forces wouldn’t show up immediately. This was the fastest train, with no stops along the way—it wouldn’t reach the terminal for another three hours. By then, she’d have plenty of time to blend into the crowd of pa.s.sengers and slip away unnoticed…

Suddenly, the man leaned in again.

“You think you’re something special?”

Before the words even registered, his hand shot out and grabbed the flesh under her arm, twisting it viciously in a way that was both greedy and spiteful. The sudden pain left Xie Feng stunned, her mind going blank. By the time she snapped out of it, the man had already hurried off.

Her first instinct was to vomit, but her second reaction was relief.

Perhaps any woman in her situation would feel a faint sense of relief: luckily, his hand, which had clearly been aimed at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, had only reached her armpit because her arm and backpack straps blocked the way.

If that could even be considered something to be thankful for.

Xie Feng knew there was no point in yelling. No one cared about things like this anymore.

For the rest of the trip, she took the chance to get up and head to the restroom, using it as an excuse to check the nearby cars. Sure enough, she spotted the man. When their eyes met, he turned his face away, expressionless, acting as if he had never seen her before.

She clenched her fists, her palms empty—no stick.

Three cars down from Xie Feng’s seat was the dining car, which sold drinks and snacks. As the train approached its final destination, Xie Feng made her way to the dining car and spent a long time staring at the items on sale.

She had two weeks’ worth of wages on her, which wasn’t much. Considering the smugglers were sure to charge a hefty fee, it probably wouldn’t even be enough to cover the cost of an escape. To save money, she’d been eating nothing but an apple for lunch each day lately—she really shouldn’t have spent a single cent on food from the overpriced train cart.

But if she’d been rational, she wouldn’t have been living in a capsule hotel on the streets for the past two years.

When Xie Feng left the dining car, her timing was perfect: the train had just pulled into the platform and came to a stop. The lady working the cart, who probably had never seen someone buy food so close to the station, not only prepared what Xie Feng asked for but also gave her an extra two biscuits after looking her up and down, as if she’d figured something out.

She sighed. “You young people have it tough. It doesn’t matter for us old folks; they don’t care about us. But for you… the future…”

Don’t cry over something so small.

After thanking her, Xie Feng bit her lip, tucked the two biscuits away carefully, and gripped the paper cup in her hand as she squeezed into the crowd of pa.s.sengers getting off. Her slim frame allowed her to weave through the throng, and soon she spotted her target. As the fat man’s back appeared ahead of her, Xie Feng pushed through with a few calls of “Excuse me,” managing to get right behind him.

Just as the man was about to step onto the platform, Xie Feng popped the lid off her cup and, with one quick motion, stretched her arm past another pa.s.senger and dumped the entire scalding cup of coffee onto his pants. As he let out a yelp of pain, Xie Feng dropped the cup and ducked her head, quickly slipping back into the train car.

She had asked the lady to make the coffee extra hot, and even with the heat sleeve, she’d barely been able to hold it—imagine an entire cup poured onto someone’s leg.

Her skin tingled with excitement and nerves, a tremor running through her body. Xie Feng knew better than to linger at the scene, so she quickly made her way through the cars, striding into the next one. When she glanced back for the last time, she could see the man, red-faced and furious, storming back into the train, yelling like an enraged boar. He was shouting across the pa.s.sengers, “Who? Who did this?”

A few seconds later, he seemed to have realized something, grabbing someone and asking, “Did you see a girl? She was wearing sports clothes and black shorts—”

Though Xie Feng’s palms were slick with nervous sweat, she could hardly stop herself from laughing. She picked up her pace, slipping out the door of another car and onto the platform, breaking into a run. In the past two years, she had fled countless times, and her speed was well-practiced by now.

Once, during a street clash, imperial guards had charged at her like tanks. She had bolted, but one had grabbed her backpack, causing her to stumble. Instinct kicked in so fast that even she marveled at it afterward: she slipped her shoulder out, letting the bag fall, and took off running, her speed never slowing. She left the guard far behind.

So dodging one fat man was nothing. When Xie Feng reached the exit, she took a quick look around, saw no sign of him, and blended into the flow of people leaving the station. She went through security again, pretending nothing was wrong. As if they were going to find any contraband on a closed high-speed train. The bored inspector barely glanced at her and waved her through.

Before she had even left the station, the salty tang of the sea air reached her.

Xie Feng felt as though she’d woken up from a bad dream, her whole body feeling lighter. No matter how unpleasant her experiences were, as soon as she got near the ocean and saw the vast blue expanse, her mood always lifted. To her, the sea represented freedom and the hope of a new life.

But her feet weren’t heading toward the sh.o.r.e.

She followed the address that had been shared in the group chat—the kind of underground smuggling operation she was looking for didn’t advertise with signs, so she couldn’t be sure if the address pa.s.sed by word of mouth was even real. After a lot of walking, backtracking, and wandering through winding alleys, she finally found the right street name.

Xie Feng entered a shabby little convenience store and looked at the owner behind the counter, who was lounging back, playing a game on his computer. The shop was dim, probably to save on electricity, with no lights or air conditioning. Dusty goods sat silently in the stifling heat. Was this dingy place really the start of her new life?

She felt a pang of fear.

The owner didn’t acknowledge her, his nicotine-stained fingernails tapping away at the mouse. She reminded herself that smugglers weren’t going to look polished and professional.

“Excuse me,” Xie Feng mustered the courage to whisper, “Chen Qingqing sent me… I’d like to buy a ticket.”