redvbooks Chapter 525 Explosion
Chapter 525 Explosion
"The fifth district is the worst affected, with more than a dozen people reported missing! More than a dozen, girl, not three or five, but more than a dozen!"
They were all young people, and suddenly they just disappeared. We can't reach them by phone, no one's home, and we can't find them at the shop. Isn't that strange?
Xu Xiaoyan felt a chill run down her spine. How similar this was to Lan Yue's situation! If Lan Yue hadn't secretly come to tell her the news, who would have known she was missing?
More than ten young people have gone missing in District 5, three in District 7, and Blue Moon is from District 8. She doesn't know if there are any other missing people in District 8.
However, if this is a large-scale disappearance event covering multiple regions, then it means that Blue Moon's disappearance is not an isolated case, but part of the whole event.
"So today's citywide evacuation and military search are because of this?" she asked.
Sister Li shook her head: "I dare not say anything casually, but I guess it is related to this."
But you're saying the higher-ups would turn the whole city out and have the army conduct a thorough search just to find a few missing people? That's a huge commotion, isn't it?
I think there must be other reasons, but I don't know what they are. My friend at the trading center didn't tell me either, so he probably doesn't know either.
"By the way, big sister," Xu Xiaoyan suddenly thought of a question, "Were those two men and one woman you mentioned the ones who disappeared along with the boss? Do you have their exact location?"
"Over there in the old street," Sister Li answered without hesitation, "near that food stall. I'm not sure if those two men and one woman went with the owner."
But they all disappeared during that time period, right?
Xu Xiaoyan took a deep breath, looked at Sister Li, and asked the question that had been lingering in her mind:
"Then how do you know so much, sister? Most people couldn't possibly know such details, could they?"
Sister Li paused in her shelling of sunflower seeds, exchanged a glance with Sister Wang, and they both laughed at the same time.
"Her," Sister Wang finally stopped laughing, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, "she's known as the gossip queen in our area, and she loves to wander around the trading centers in various districts."
She's gotten to know everyone there so well that she feels restless if she doesn't go out and listen to their gossip every day, like she's addicted.
If you ever see a woman eating sunflower seeds and chatting with everyone at the entrance of the trading center, that's definitely her.
Far from being embarrassed, Sister Li puffed out her chest, looking proud.
"What's wrong? I just have strong social skills, what do you know? The fact that those people are willing to talk to me means I'm popular."
You think just anyone can sit in the trading center for an afternoon and find out all this information? That takes real skill!
"Sister Li, have you heard if anyone has gone missing in District 8?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.
Sister Li thought for a moment, then finished cracking the last sunflower seed in her hand, spat the shell into her palm, and poured it into the plastic bag next to her.
"District 8? I haven't really paid attention to that. I don't go to District 8 often, and I don't know many people there."
But if you want to know, I'll ask the trading center for you after this is over.
I know a young man over there who manages the household registration system. What's his surname again... Ma, yes, Ma. He's a really nice guy. He even helped me look up some information last time.
"Then thank you in advance, Sister Li."
"No need to thank me, it's nothing," Sister Li said with a big wave of her hand, very generously. Then she grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and continued to eat them.
After listening for a while, Xu Xiaoyan stood up, patted the sunflower seed shells and grass clippings off her pants, and said, "Sister Li, Sister Wang, I'm going back to my tent now. You two can continue chatting."
"Go on, go on," Sister Li waved her hand. "This search will probably take quite a long time. You should get some sleep first. I'll call you when it's time to go back."
"Okay, thank you, Sister Li."
Xu Xiaoyan went back to her tent, crawled inside, and closed the tent flap. She then drifted off to sleep.
I don't know how much time has passed.
She seemed to hear an explosion, coming from a great distance. After a brief silence, there was another explosion, louder and closer than the first.
Then came the third and fourth tones, with the intervals getting shorter and the sounds getting louder until it became impossible to distinguish which tone it was.
Xu Xiaoyan sat up in her sleeping bag almost as if she had been ejected.
Her first action wasn't to listen for the second explosion, but to reach into her sleeping bag, find her phone, and see that the screen lit up and showed 10:47 PM.
Her second action was to pull back the tent flap and peek out, revealing a scene she had never seen before.
On this open space at the foot of Xiling Mountain, hundreds of tents are crammed together.
Some people were climbing out, some were pulling the curtain, some were groping for their shoes in the dark, and some were calling their children's names.
The explosions continued. Xu Xiaoyan climbed out of the tent, stood on tiptoe, and looked towards Qing City.
I can't see anything.
The city lights had long been out, whether by deliberate power outage or by a blown-up line, she didn't know. There were only sounds of explosions, gunshots, and some other sounds she couldn't distinguish.
The crowd surged to the edge of the open space, looking towards the city gate.
They stood at the highest point of the open space, craning their necks and widening their eyes, trying to catch even the slightest clue in the darkness.
But apart from those sounds, they couldn't see anything else.
No one speaks.
Xu Xiaoyan had never experienced such quiet before.
Time flowed slowly in this eerie silence.
People began to return to their tents one after another, but not to sleep; no one could fall asleep.
They returned to their tents, sitting, lying down, or simply standing, their eyes still fixed on the direction of the city gate, as if waiting for an answer that might not appear for who knows when.
More people stayed where they were.
They squatted on the ground in twos and threes, or stood, or leaned on someone's shoulder, communicating in very low voices.
How low were those voices? So low that even Xu Xiaoyan, standing less than two meters away from them, couldn't hear what they were saying.
The sounds within the city had completely ceased at some point.
The crowd stirred for a moment, then quieted down again.
Everyone is waiting.
There was finally some movement at the city gate.
The sound of metal rubbing together was loud and grating, like something heavy being slowly pushed.
The West Gate of Qing City is a heavy iron gate that is never completely closed under normal circumstances, but today it was closed, and now it is being opened.
Then came the sound of orderly footsteps as two teams emerged from the shadows of the city gate.