out of time

Chapter 1 Alive
March, early spring.

In the eastern part of Nanhuangzhou, a corner.

The hazy sky was gray and black, revealing heavy oppression, as if someone had spilled ink on the rice paper, and the ink soaked the sky, smudged the clouds.

The clouds overlapped and blended with each other, spreading out crimson lightning bolts, accompanied by rumbling thunder.

It was like a low roar of the gods, echoing in the world.

The blood-colored rain, with sadness, fell to the mortal world.

The earth is hazy, and there is a ruined city, silent and lifeless in the red rain of blood.

In the ruins of the city, everything withered, blue and black corpses can be seen everywhere, like broken autumn leaves, silently withering.

The once bustling streets are now deserted.

The sandy road where people used to come and go is no longer noisy.

Only blood mud mixed with minced meat, dust, and paper remained, which was indistinguishable from each other, which was shocking.

Not far away, a dilapidated carriage was sunk in the mud, with an abandoned rabbit puppet hanging on the shaft, fluttering in the wind.

The white burlap had already been soaked into a wet red, eerie and eerie.

There seemed to be a trace of resentment in the muddy pupils, and they looked at the mottled stones in front of them alone.

There, there was a figure lying on its stomach.

This is a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, his clothes are ragged and full of dirt, and there is a broken leather bag tied around his waist.

The boy squinted his eyes and remained motionless. The biting cold wind passed through his worn coat from all directions and hit his whole body, gradually taking away his body temperature.

But even if the rain fell on his face, he didn't blink his eyes, staring coldly into the distance like a falcon.

Following his gaze, a skinny vulture was gnawing on the carrion of a wild dog at a distance of seven or eight feet, and looked around vigilantly from time to time.

It seems that in this dangerous ruin, if there is any slightest disturbance, it will fly into the air in an instant.

And the teenager is like a hunter, patiently waiting for the opportunity.

After a long time, the opportunity came, and the greedy vulture finally submerged its head completely into the abdominal cavity of the wild dog.

In an instant, the boy's squinted eyes suddenly became cold.

His body was like an arrow that left the string, he rushed out quickly, and went straight to the vulture. With a swipe of his right hand, he pulled out a black iron pick from the leather pouch at his waist.

A sharp cold light flashed from the tip of the iron stick.

Perhaps it was the perception of murderous intent, the moment the boy rushed out, the vulture immediately sensed it, fluttered its wings into the air in fright, and was about to fly away.

But it was still too late.

With the boy's expressionless swing, the black iron stick turned into a black line and shot out.

puff!
The sharp iron stick pierced the vulture's head in an instant, shattering the skull and killing it instantly.

The powerful impact brought its body, tilted and fell, and with a bang, it was nailed to the carriage not far away.

The blood-colored doll on the side also shook more and more due to the turmoil of the carriage.

The young man looked calm, and his speed didn't stop at all from the beginning to the end. He went straight to this place, and when he arrived, he grabbed the vulture's corpse together with the iron stick.

The force was so great that even a small part of the part of the carriage nailed by the iron pick was lifted off.

After doing this, he quickly left along the edge of the street without looking back.

The wind seemed to be stronger at this moment, and the blood-colored doll on the carriage swayed, as if watching the boy go away.

Farther.

The wind is indeed stronger, with the coldness of rain, blowing over the young man's thin shirt.

The boy shook involuntarily, frowned slightly, shrunk his clothes, and let out an inhalation sound.

He hates the cold.

The way to resist the cold is to find a shelter from the wind and rain to rest, but at this moment, the young man running on the street did not stop at his speed, and dilapidated shops passed by his eyes.

He doesn't have much time left.

Because it took too long to hunt vultures, he still had one place he didn't go today.

"It shouldn't be far away." The boy whispered to himself and galloped along the street.

On the way forward, blue and black corpses can be seen everywhere. Their hopeless faces are full of ferocity, as if they have turned into a breath of despair, trying to infect the young man's mind.

But the young man took it for granted and didn't even look at it.

As time passed, the young man looked at the sky from time to time, with a little anxiety on his face, as if to him, the change in the sky was more terrifying than those corpses.

Fortunately, not long after, when he saw a pharmacy in the distance, the boy heaved a sigh of relief and rushed away.

The pharmacy was not big, and there were many medicine cabinets scattered on the ground, exuding a musty smell, like a tomb that had been opened, full of mess.

In the corner was the corpse of an old man, his whole body black and blue, leaning against the wall, as if he had no time to rest his eyes, staring blankly at the outside world.

The boy stepped in and glanced at it, then immediately started searching.

Most of the medicinal herbs here are the same as those corpses, they have turned black and blue, only a few are still normal.

Among these normal medicinal herbs, the teenager carefully identified them for a long time.

As if recalling his past experience, he finally picked up a common Golden Chuangcao and took off his thin clothes, revealing a huge scar on his chest.

The scar hadn't fully healed yet, and it could be seen that the edge of the wound had begun to turn black, and some blood was even oozing out.

The young man looked down, crushed the herb, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and raised his hand to dab it on the wound.

In an instant, the severe pain from the wound hit like a turbulent tide, causing the young man to tremble uncontrollably, but he endured it forcefully, but the sweat on his forehead could not be suppressed, dripping down his cheeks onto the dark ground.

It became ink stained.

The whole process lasted for more than ten breaths, until he completely applied the medicinal herb to the wound, the young man seemed to lose his strength all of a sudden, holding on to the medicine cabinet beside him, he slowed down for a long time, and then exhaled deeply, Slowly put on clothes.

Looking at the sky outside again, he took out a broken map from the leather pouch at his waist after thinking about it, and spread it out carefully.

The map is very simple, and it depicts this city.

The location of the pharmacy inside has been marked, and in the northeast direction, many areas have been marked with fingernails, but there are only two areas left without crosses.

"After searching for these days, it should be in these two areas." The boy murmured hoarsely, and was about to leave after putting away the map.

But before leaving, he looked back at the corpse of the old man beside him, and his eyes fell on the clothes of the corpse.

It was a leather jacket, perhaps because of the special leather, the corrosion of the leather jacket was not that great.

The young man thought for a while, walked over, took off the leather jacket from the old man's body, and put it on himself.

The leather jacket was a bit big, but after wrapping his thin body, the young man finally felt a bit of warmth, so he looked down at the old man's open eyes, raised his hand and gently covered it, making him close his eyes.

"Rest in peace." The young man said softly, tore off the curtain in the shop, covered the old man's body, and turned to leave the pharmacy.

When he walked out, a gleam of light was reflected from his feet. The young man looked down, and there was a broken mirror the size of a palm in the blood mud.

In the mirror, he saw his own face.

Although the face reflected in the broken mirror was full of dirt, it could still be seen vaguely that it was an extremely delicate face.

It's just that the immaturity that a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy should have is gone, replaced by indifference.

The young man silently looked at himself in the ground mirror, raised his foot after a while, and stepped on it.

Click.

A series of cracks appeared.

After crushing the mirror with one foot, he swayed and galloped away.

On the ground, although the broken mirror was full of cracks, it still reflected the sky, which seemed to cover the world and all living beings, like half a vast human face with a broken face of a god.

With a crippled face and eyes closed, he was indifferent, standing high above, with only strands of withered curly hair hanging down.

That is the natural existence of this world just like the sun and the moon.

It seems that under him, all living beings are ants, and like stinging stings, the phenomenon of the growth of all things is affected by it and has to be changed.

But at this moment, the sky is gradually losing its light under the face of the god.

The shadow of the setting sun is like a black haze, permeating the ruins of the city, covering the earth, as if to engulf everything.

more rain
As the night gradually engulfed, so did the wind, and there were bursts of sharp whimpers.

It was as if the howling of a ghost began to awaken the strange existence in the city, causing all kinds of creepy voices to respond one after another like a soul-stirring one.

The running boy has faster steps and more rapid movements. Between this and the coming of night, he nimbly shuttles through the streets.

Until, when he passed by a collapsed house and wanted to use his strength to jump far, the boy's pupils suddenly shrank.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw not far away, among the ruins, there seemed to be a person.

From a distance, the man was neatly dressed, as if he had no injuries, and was sitting there leaning against the wall.

The most important thing is that the exposed skin of the opponent's body is of normal color, not black and blue!
Such a figure, in this city, unless it is a living person, it is impossible to appear!
And the living... These days, the young man has not met anyone other than himself.

This scene shocked him, and he seemed to think of something soon, and his breathing became a little short.

I want to go there, but the smog-like night behind me has engulfed me.

The boy hesitated, remembered this position, and left quickly.

Galloping all the way, he finally caught up with him in the dark, and the boy returned to his temporary residence in this city.

It was a burrow, very small and full of bird feathers.

The gap in the entrance is not big, adults can't get in, only teenagers can barely get in here.

After entering, he skillfully blocked the entrance with books, stones and other debris in the cave.

The moment it was completely filled, the night outside covered it in an instant.

The boy didn't relax his vigilance, grabbed the iron stick in his hand, held his breath, and squatted there listening for a long time.

Gradually, there were the roars and shrill sounds of strange beasts, occasionally mixed with strange laughter.

It wasn't until there was a clearer roar echoing, and amidst the boy's nervousness, the sound seemed to pass by and faded away, and then he breathed a sigh of relief and sat aside.

The cave was pitch black, and the young man sat there silently, as if time stopped at this moment.

He was dazed for a while, calmed down the nerves that had been tense all day, grabbed a water bottle from his side, took a few sips, ignored the sound outside, and took out the vulture from his pocket.

In the dark, put it on the edge of your mouth and bite it bite by bite.

There were bursts of fishy taste in his throat, but he calmly swallowed it slowly, and squeezed the food down his throat to his stomach.

And the stomach is also wriggling vigorously at this moment, trying to digest and relieve hunger.

Soon a whole vulture was eaten by him. The young man took a deep breath, and the exhaustion flooded his body, and he slowly closed his eyes.

But in his hand, he was always holding on to the jet-black iron stick, like a lone wolf pretending to be asleep.

If there is any abnormality, he will open his eyes instantly.

In the outside world at this moment, the night is like a curtain, covering the city, the earth, and the sky.

The world under the sky is extremely vast, and Nanhuangzhou, which is located overseas, is just one of them.

Few people know the exact size of the whole world, except for the majestic face on the sky, with a strong shock, everyone can look up.

There is no way to determine the exact time when this crippled face will arrive.

People only know from the fragmentary descriptions in some classics that a long, long time ago, this world full of fairy spirits was prosperous and full of vitality, until... this huge incomplete face, from the depths of the remote void, , with destruction, attracts.

In the process of arrival, the sentient beings in this world tried all means to stop them, but they all failed. In the end, only a few ancient emperors ruled, leading some of their clansmen to abandon all living beings and chose to migrate.

Soon, the crippled face came and hung in the sky, and from then on, the nightmare came.

The breath from him permeated the whole world, and the mountains, the sea, all things and all living beings, even the spiritual energy that monks rely on for cultivation, were also infected by it.

All things wither, all living beings perish, and there is not one in a hundred.

From then on, those who survived this disaster called this half of their faces... gods.

Call this world the End Land, and the place where the ancient emperor ruled is called the Holy Land.

This title has been passed down from generation to generation through many epochs.

And the disasters brought by the gods are not only these, his majesty suppresses all living beings all the time, because...

Every few years or decades or even hundreds of years, He will open his eyes from time to time, and continue to count breaths.

Every time he opened his eyes to look at the area, it would be instantly polluted by its breath.

All living beings were turned into an eternal forbidden zone.

For many epochs, there have been more and more restricted areas in this world, and fewer and fewer areas that can be lived.

And nine days ago, the god opened his eyes again, and the place he was looking at was the area where the boy was.

All species in that area, as well as dozens of human cities, no matter where they exist, no matter whether they are in the city or the slums outside the city, are instantly polluted and turned into a forbidden area for life.

Under this terrifying pollution, some living beings were directly decomposed into blood mist, some mutated into strange beasts without intelligence, and some were dissipated and left behind polluted blue-black corpses.

Only a very small number of humans and beasts can survive.

Teenager is one of them.

At this moment, outside the dark cave, with a shrill sound from far to near, the sleeping boy quickly opened his eyes.

The iron sign in his hand was instinctively raised, and he looked vigilantly at the blocked entrance gap.

It wasn't until the shrill sound circled around and gradually faded away that the boy breathed a sigh of relief.

Without sleepiness, he touched the leather bag and took out a bamboo slip from it.

In the darkness, he touched the handwriting on the bamboo slips, and there seemed to be some light in his eyes, then he sat upright, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing.

The boy's name was Xu Qing, and he lived alone in the slums outside the city with difficulty since he was a child.

In the sudden catastrophe nine days ago, he hid in a crack in the rock. Unlike other frightened and crazy people, he calmly looked at the gods who opened their eyes in the sky, and in the eyes of the gods in the sky, the special cross pupils seemed to be lost. Emotion of fear.

Until he saw a purple light falling from the sky and landed in the northeast direction of the city.

The next moment, he passed out completely.

After waking up, he became the only survivor inside and outside the city.

But he didn't leave immediately.

Because he knew that the restricted area formed by the opening of the gods' eyes would be covered by blood rain at the beginning, turning into an enchantment.

People inside can't get out, and people outside can't step in, unless the restricted area is completely formed.

And the sign formed is that the blood rain stopped.

This catastrophe seemed nothing to Xu Qing who grew up in a slum.

Because in the slums, whether it is all kinds of homeless people, wild dogs, or a disease, or even a cold night, people will lose their lives at any time, and it takes a lot of difficulty to survive.

And as long as you are alive, nothing else matters.

Of course, in the cruelty of the slums, there is still a touch of warmth occasionally.

For example, some down-and-out scholars will teach a group of children to read and write for a living, and occasionally draw some biological totems for them, some on land and in the sea.Other than that, it's just memories of loved ones.

It's just that in Xu Qing's mind, the memories of his relatives are gradually blurring with the passage of time, even though he tried hard to recall them, afraid that he would forget them.

But he knows that he is not an orphan, and he still has relatives, but they have long been separated.

So his ideal is to survive.

If you can live a better life, if you can have a chance to see your loved ones, it will be even better.

So he, who was lucky enough not to die, chose to enter the city.

He was going to the residences of the upper-class gentlemen in the city, looking for ways to make himself stronger that was circulated in the slums, and even looking for the purple light that fell into the city.

The way to become stronger has been spread in the slums and is desired by everyone. They call it practice, and those who master the method of practice are called monks.

So becoming a monk is Xu Qing's greatest wish besides the memories of his relatives.

Cultivators are not uncommon. Xu Qing has seen this kind of people enter the city from a distance in the slums in the past few years.

Their typical feature is that when looking at them, the body will instinctively tremble.

Xu Qing even heard people say that the city lord is a monk, and the guards around him also have monks.

So after searching in the city for a long time, he finally found the bamboo slip in his hand on a corpse in the city lord's mansion five days ago.

It was very dangerous there, and the wound on his chest was left at that time.

What the bamboo slips recorded was exactly the method of cultivation he longed for.

All the content on it has long been memorized by him, and even in the past few days, he has begun to try to practice.

Xu Qing has never seen other cultivation methods, this bamboo slip is the only one he got, and he doesn't know how to practice correctly.

Fortunately, most of the descriptions on it are simple and easy-to-understand words, mainly focusing on visualization and breathing.

So step by step, he has somewhat gained something.

This method is called Haishan Jue.

The method of practice is to imagine the totem carved on the bamboo slips in the mind, and breathe out with specific breathing.

This pattern is very strange, it is an alien existence, with a big head and a small body, only one leg, the whole body is black, and the face is hideous like a ghost.

Xu Qing had never seen this kind of creature, and it was called a mandrill on the bamboo slips.

At this moment, following the practice, Xu Qing's breathing gradually changed shortly after this pattern appeared in his mind, and an undercurrent gradually filled the nearby air.

The spiritual energy from all around poured in, slowly drilled into his body, and flowed through the whole body, causing bursts of biting cold, and the parts where it passed were like being in icy water.

Xu Qing was afraid of the cold, but he resisted and did not give up, and still persisted.

After a long time, when he finally ended his practice this time according to the requirements of the bamboo slips, his body was drenched in cold sweat.

And just after eating the vulture's stomach, there were bursts of hunger again.

Xu Qing wiped off the cold sweat, then touched his belly again, his eyes showed firmness.

Since practicing this exercise, his food intake has obviously increased too much, and his body is more flexible than before.

All of this made him more tolerant of the freezing cold during cultivation.

Looking up at this moment, Xu Qing followed the gap at the entrance and looked outside.

The outside world was pitch black, only a terrifying roar, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, reverberated in the ears.

He didn't know the real reason why he became a survivor, maybe it was a fluke, or maybe...he saw that purple light.

So while looking for exercises these days, he was also constantly going to the northeast region to look for the drop point of the purple light, but unfortunately he never found it.

In his thoughts, Xu Qing listened to the roar outside.The corpse leaning against the wall that he saw when he returned from sunset couldn't help appearing in his mind, so his eyes narrowed slowly.

The place where the other party is located is the northeast region, and... it seems to be a living person.

"Is it related to the purple light?"

(End of this chapter)