Chapter 162: Finding the Map
The motorcycle left the main road, turned into a narrow alley, went straight for a while, then suddenly swerved right—heading in the opposite direction of the city exit.
Fang Menglei slipped her hand into her coat pocket and gripped her dagger. “What are you doing?”
The middle-aged uncle chuckled. “Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous! I know a shortcut—we can get out of the city quickly!”
Fang Menglei pressed the dagger’s sheath against his back. “Stop the bike! Or I’ll kill you!”
The uncle didn’t believe she was really carrying a weapon. He ignored her and accelerated.
With a shing, the blade was unsheathed and held against his neck. Fang Menglei shouted, “Stop!”
Startled, the uncle dared not disobey.
Without wasting time, Fang Menglei jumped off and ran.
The uncle glared at her back and spat resentfully. Damn it! He’d lived nearly forty years and never even tasted a woman. He’d wanted one last thrill before dying! But fine—he could just find the next unlucky victim.
*
Meanwhile, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang sped along on their motorcycle—until the road ahead clogged with abandoned cars.
They had no choice but to ditch the bike and resume the “Route 11 Bus”—their own two legs.
More and more people were abandoning vehicles. The streets were crammed with heads and bodies, making even rooftop parkour hard.
Worse still, hostile locals deliberately blocked them—fighting for space on car roofs and trying to drag them down.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang could handle them, but each clash wasted precious time.
The two-hour countdown ticked by at frightening speed, yet the endless road stretched on with no exit in sight.
Above, planes streaked across the sky to envious cries below—only to be shot down minutes later, flaming wrecks plummeting into the city.
Boom—Boom—!
Screams followed, chaos spreading.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang pressed on, but the high-rises on both sides all looked alike. It felt like they’d been running in circles.
Mu Lantu slowed, gasping, hands on his hips. “Huazhang, something’s wrong. Maybe we missed a clue.”
Xu Huazhang nodded lightly. “But we already checked our backpacks—nothing useful. Just travel supplies and those old-style cell phones, no maps.”
Mu Lantu fanned himself with his hand. “We should’ve grabbed a map from the bookstore before leaving the mall, then chosen the shortest route out. But too late now… At least we still get retries.”
They had chosen this road thinking it was the shortest, based on how crowded it was. But the “short” route seemed endless.
Xu Huazhang wiped Mu Lantu’s sweat with a tissue. “Fear City is much larger than we imagined. At our speed—or even on a bike—we should’ve been out already. Keep going?”
Mu Lantu glanced at his watch—1 hour 42 minutes had passed. Only 18 minutes remained before missiles rained down.
“Keep going. We’ve taken ninety-nine steps—no point stopping short of the last one. Maybe the exit’s just ahead.”
They drank some water, then sprinted again.
One minute… three… fifteen…
Yet every towering sign still read Fear City Hospital, Fear City Bank, Fear City Trade Tower. They were still trapped inside.
They stopped, leaving the road once more.
Mu Lantu plopped onto the steps of a shop, gulping water. “I’m dying of thirst…”
Xu Huazhang sat beside him, drinking too. Around them, despairing locals cried and wailed.
“Huazhang,” Mu Lantu asked tensely, “when the missile hits… will it hurt?”
Xu Huazhang set down his bottle, pulled Mu Lantu into his lap, and covered his ears with both hands. “If I’m holding you, there’s nothing to fear. Just close your eyes.”
Mu Lantu leaned on his shoulder, covering Xu Huazhang’s ears in return.
As the final second ticked away—BOOM! The ground shook violently. His mind buzzed, went blank—and when he came to, he was back at the starting point: the mall.
His stamina was restored, and once again came the panicked screams, the stampede, and the eerie children’s song looping from the play area:
“The death knell has already rung,
Ding ding dang dang, ding ding dang dang,
The reaper unilaterally declares a game of hide-and-seek with you,
Follow the rainbow shimmer,
And parallel lines will lead you to safety…”
Not a single player was missing—proving no one had cleared it on the first try.
“Run! Fear City’s infected with a deadly plague! In two hours the government will bomb it to the ground!” someone shouted.
Zhang Junyang grabbed a man by the collar. “Which road out is shortest? Tell me! Now!”
“Let me go!” The man easily broke free and bolted.
“Even if he told us, we wouldn’t know the way! Ask where the bookstore is! They’ll have maps!” Zhao Yuanzhou barked, then stopped another fleeing local. “Where’s the bookstore?”
The woman he blocked snarled, slapping at him. He dodged, but her nails still raked a bloody scratch across his cheek.
Zhao Yuanzhou twisted her wrist coldly. “Where is it?”
Frightened, she stammered, “Th-third floor!”
“Sorry,” Zhao Yuanzhou muttered, releasing her. She cursed under her breath and fled.
Xiong Ping and Lu Haoran dashed toward the employee elevator. Mu Lantu’s group of five followed close behind.
When the elevator stopped at the third floor, people outside shoved in, blocking the exit.
Enraged, Lu Haoran brandished his dagger. “Move it! Out of the way!”
The locals scattered in fear.
The third floor was just as chaotic as the sixth. It took them half an hour of pushing against the flow before they found the bookstore.
Two children were huddled in a corner, sobbing for their mother—the older about six or seven, clutching the younger of only three or four.
No one had time to comfort them; everyone frantically ransacked shelves for maps.
Fang Menglei slipped two lollipops into their hands before joining the search. The kids still wept, but at least they quieted.
The older boy silently placed his toy car in her hand before returning to hug his sister.
Fang Menglei blinked in surprise, then discreetly tucked the car into her game backpack.
“Found it!” Zhao Yuanzhou’s shout drew everyone over. He held up a stack of maps. “All of these are maps of Fear City!”
The others lost interest in fighting him for them, turning to grab their own.
Xu Huazhang had already taken one, sharing it with Mu Lantu. Both frowned deeply.
“This eastbound road is the shortest,” Xu Huazhang said. “By car it’d take one hour. But with traffic this bad, even finding a car won’t get us out in time.”
Faces turned pale—college students or not, this math was obvious.
Zhao Yuanzhou tossed aside his map. “At least we know the route. Let’s find cars and mark them. Next respawn, we head straight for them and drive out.”
Zhang Junyang considered, then nodded. Sounded workable.
But Mu Lantu doubted it. Traffic jams could be unpredictable. He was sure they were missing something.
“So we just wait for the next respawn?” Xiong Ping asked uncertainly, eyeing Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang—their de facto guides.
“What else can we do?” Zhang Junyang slumped to the floor.
Zhao Yuanzhou sat cross-legged, silently watching Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang.
Fang Menglei crouched by the children, whispering softly.
Lu Haoran sneered, “Putting on a show.”
Fang Menglei stiffened, then moved the kids elsewhere.
Zhang Junyang rolled his eyes at Lu Haoran and picked up a random book to read.
The four unfamiliar players, wary of the group’s bonds, kept their distance.
Mu Lantu scanned through several books, tucking the valuable ones into his backpack for Xu Huazhang to read later.
The store sold more than books—stationery, toys, shirts, even snacks. Xu Huazhang cheerfully stuffed a variety into his backpack.
“Baby, help me out. Mine’s full.”
“Coming.”
Mu Lantu wasn’t surprised when Xu Huazhang picked Lego sets—his lover could never get enough of them.
The four strangers stared at them like they were crazy. Who gathered toys at a time like this?
Zhao Yuanzhou looked away with a pang. Between those two was an unshakable bond, a private world no one else could intrude upon.
“Alright, let’s rest.”
Xu Huazhang spread out a baby play mat on the floor. He and Mu Lantu sat cross-legged, building Lego and snacking.
In stark contrast to the panic and chaos outside, they were an island of calm.
