During that time, Liu Wang walked a long distance alone, with a cane. He walked around the neighborhood where he lived and was surprised to find that every plant and tree here was so unfamiliar. He didn't feel like someone who had lived here for more than a decade.

When a person lives in a place for a long time, he will have an emotional connection with that place, where he belongs, and where the flowers and plants carry his memories.

Maybe he had these memories too, but he accidentally lost them later.

Outside the complex is a street of shops. He hadn't been there for a long time.

The first thing he saw was a steamed bun shop called "Aftertaste". When he was a child, when he was studying and on vacation, he would come here every morning to buy steamed buns to eat.

He doesn't have a lot of food, and he can eat enough with two meat buns. The aunt of the bun shop was a little distressed when she saw Liu Wang's thin appearance, so she would add an extra fried dumpling or xiaolongbao to him every time.

After going to high school, Liu Wang lived in the school, and rarely patronized this bun shop again.

It was during that time when mobile phones began to explode in popularity.

The most typical event is that some telecommunications companies have begun to carry out large-scale "mobile phone charging activities".

Smartphones were originally only held by young people and a small number of older generations, but the proliferation of such activities has led to more and more cheap mobile phones entering every household and into the hands of more and more older generations.

Liu Wang once again passed by the "aftertaste" steamed bun shop, the fragrance in his memory overlapped with reality, but it was mixed with some other flavors, and he couldn't say what it was.

The shopkeeper's aunt was lying on a chair, her legs high on the table, a glowing brick in her hand, her eyes staring intently at it.

Liu Wang remembers that a few years ago, she was still using a black-and-white screen mobile phone with buttons, and when she was doing business, whenever she had a phone, the mobile phone would emit a wah-wah sound, and the volume was earth-shattering, and the whole street could hear it.

Now her phone has a new look, the screen is bigger, brighter, still color, still touchscreen, and she can surf the Internet.

Liu Wang walked to the door of the store, smelled the aroma of meat buns, and was a little greedy.

"Auntie, here are two meat buns. Liu Wang called softly.

I saw that the middle-aged woman lazily lifted her buttocks from the chair, because she had been sitting for a long time, her thighs were unusually thick, and it was actually a little laborious to get down from the chair.

She held her phone in her left hand all the time, and her eyes never took off the screen for a moment. After finally standing up, she took a step forward, but tripped over the plank on the ground because she didn't see it.

She hurriedly grabbed the phone in her left hand and propped her right hand against the wall, barely standing firmly.

She slipped her slippers and clattered over, her eyes still fixed on her left hand, and only occasionally swept the steaming basket with her peripheral vision.

If it had been before, she would have bounced off her chair and jumped to the stall to fill the buns for the guests.

"What do you want?" she asked, looking down.

"Two meat buns. ”

"What?" she asked again, as if she hadn't heard clearly, and as if she had lost her mind.

"Two meat buns. Liu Wang raised his voice.

I thought that my aunt would raise her head to look at him when she heard his voice, but I didn't expect her to just reluctantly put her phone aside, then opened the steaming basket, neatly filled two meat buns in a plastic bag, and threw them on the table.

She didn't add any xiaolongbao or fried dumplings to herself, and just threw them on the table.

Then she quickly picked up her phone again and looked at it to herself.

Liu Wang dared to say that if he picked up the bun and ran now, it would take half a day for this aunt to react. It's a pity he can't run now.

Liu Wang took out a few coins from his pocket and put them on the table, and the aunt didn't even look at them, she slid her right hand and slid them into the drawer under the table, her eyes still staring at her glowing bricks.

The aunt turned around and walked into the house, Liu Wang picked up the buns, and the familiar smell came to his face.

He originally wanted to say hello to the aunt, after all, he was a regular customer. But seeing her with a tense face and not even raising her head, I couldn't help but feel a little weak in my heart, so I hesitated.

Just as he wanted to take a bite of the familiar delicacy, he suddenly saw that the back of the aunt who was walking in began to become a little blurred.

He rubbed his eyes. But when he saw his aunt again, she had completely turned into a transparent shadow, just like everyone else before.

The bun in his hand suddenly became tasteless and fell to the ground.

Liu Wang knew that no matter how much he shouted, it was useless, so he stopped calling.

It's better to take the opportunity to grab a few more buns and go. He didn't know why, but he had such an idea in his head.

When Liu Wang got home, he immediately closed the door and locked the door. He leaned against the door, gasping for air.

That way, no one should catch up, right?

When Liu Wang left the steamed bun shop, he took two steamed buns, he forgot whether he had paid or not, and he took them and left anyway.

He was on crutches, not only could he not walk fast, but it was also very laborious, and after a while, he was sweating a lot behind his back.

As he walked, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, his heart was beating fast, his breathing was rapid, it was a nervous feeling.

He felt something pulsing in the air around him, and they were gradually wrapping around him, making him uncomfortable.

Behind him, the air behind him was tumbling violently, as if a high-powered fan was whining at his back.

It's like ......

Someone seems to be following him.

The man's steps were big, and he was running. But why did he run?

Liu Wang turned his head, but there was no one behind him. There were only a few dead leaves on the road he had stepped on. It must have been some time since the dead leaves had fallen to the ground, and the smell of decay was distinct.

Since there is no one, then keep walking.

He turned around and took a step, but before he knew it, he was walking faster and faster.

It was the confluence of afternoon and evening, and the sky was not bright, but it was definitely not yet as dark as it should be.

Besides, the weather was not bad, and there were no clouds.

But why, everywhere it looks like it's black?

Wait, why did you go so fast?

Liu Wang was stunned for a moment and began to slow down.

However, as soon as he slowed down, the frequency of his heartbeat became faster and faster, which was a very abnormal thing.

Because a person's heart beats faster only when he exercises vigorously, but now he has clearly slowed down.

But there's another possibility, and that's extreme tension.

That's right, it's nervousness.

He visibly felt himself nervous.

The man behind him is approaching, he is approaching!

The sound of his pounding heartbeat made him involuntarily want to turn his head to take a look.

So he turned his head again and looked nervously.

But there was nothing but dead leaves on the road behind him, not even the plastic bags and packaging shells that used to be everywhere.

Wrong.

The path is lined with evergreen broad-leaved trees that are several storeys tall and still flourish during the season.

It stands to reason that there should be shadows of sunlight shining on the ground through the gaps in the leaves on the road, but he did not see any shadows on the ground.

Moreover, at this time, the sun should be on the horizon of the western sky, reflecting that patch as a fiery red.

Liu Wang followed the light and looked westward, but instead of seeing a bright light, a dull dark purple cloud, wrapped around a brown sphere, slowly sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He was a little incredulous at what was happening in front of him, what was wrong with the world?

The growing sense of oppression and tension forced him to keep running with his steps, and as soon as he stopped, the feeling of depression would gradually deepen.

Maybe if he continued to suppress it like this, eventually his body would be crushed, and then sprinkled on the ground like those rotten dead leaves, buried in dust.

The aura behind him kept tumbling.

Who is following me, who is chasing me?

Where is he? Where is he?

Liu Wang's clothes were already soaked with sweat and stuck to his body.

He was on crutches, but he walked out of the speed of a 100-meter sprint and stepped into the gate of the community like a fly.

He turned his head.

After confirming, there was no one behind him.

Keep walking.

No, his heartbeat became faster again, and the moment he stepped into the gate of the community, his left chest trembled violently.

Then the heart pounded in the chest at an incredible speed, and the air around it trembled.

Liu Wang seemed to hear something, and the sound came from behind him, hitting his back and shoulders like bullets.

Who is it? Who is calling me?

Turned.

There's nothing behind you, no one is there, no one!

He suddenly noticed that the brown orb on the western horizon was halfway down, and the dark purple clouds around it began to drift in all directions.

The light quickly turned from dim to deep purple, and they were like ghosts around Liu Wang's side, and they couldn't shake it off.

Liu Wang had no choice but to speed up his pace and stay as far away from them as possible.

From time to time, he looked back behind him, but there was nothing behind him.

But his heart was beating so fast that Liu Wang felt that it was about to pop out of his left chest!

The tumbling air was mixed with eerie sounds, like the rustle of an old black-and-white television set when it didn't receive a signal, or like a car traveling at a speed of 100 kilometers and then suddenly braking suddenly, the friction between the tires and the ground.

Where did these sounds come from? They scurried around Liu Wang's ears, pricking his eardrums.

No, I don't have time to think so much, I need to hurry up, hurry!

Ignoring the pain in his body, Liu Wang quickly danced his crutches and legs, shuttling through the community.

Wait, why am I going so fast?

Who's following me?

There's no one behind you, yes, I've made sure, there's no one there!

Don't look back.

And he also found that not only was there no one behind him, but even the entire community was empty, which was not normal.

Because of this point, it is the rush hour after work, and there should be a lot of pedestrians and vehicles coming and going, but there is nothing on the road except him and the corrupt fallen leaves.

For a moment he wondered if he too was a corrupt leaf, being driven forward by an invisible force.

You don't have time to turn back, he's going to catch up!

Beads of sweat on his forehead slid down his neck and then to his collar. The violent heaving of his chest reminded him that he couldn't stop.

Yes, there's no time to stop, there's no time to turn back.

However, after a while, he felt confused again, who was chasing me?

The air molecules that pulsated on his eardrums became extremely restless the moment he stepped into the building.

The shrill sound almost pierced his head.

"Who's there!"

Liu Wang pointed to the elevator entrance in front of him and shouted, because he saw a figure from above. The man was the same size as he was, and he pointed his finger at him in the same way.

The elevator door slowly opened, and the figure vanished.

He rushed in like crazy, leaning against the innermost wall.

Close the door, or he'll follow!"

Liu Wang anxiously watched as the dark purple gas gathered faintly towards this side, and he was about to rush into the elevator door.

He hurriedly jumped forward and slammed the elevator door button with his cane.

Hurry up!

The elevator doors closed quickly.

Before it could activate, however, the door shook violently a few times, as if something was banging on it. Liu Wang thought of the battering ram used in ancient sieges.

It must be him, he's banging on the door!

Liu Wang clung to the handrail.

Suddenly, he noticed something unusual behind him.

"Who?!"

He jerked his head back and saw a figure on the smooth wall.

Who?!Who's there!

He took a few steps back and leaned against the elevator door.

The man took a few steps back, moving exactly like himself.

No, the person chasing him was outside the door.

The one outside the door is him!

He's right behind me!

"Ahh

The elevator door suddenly opened, Liu Wang screamed, and fell out at once.

He thought he was going to fall to the ground, hit the back of his head, and then fainted. When he woke up, the doctor told him that he was welcome to come again.

But he didn't get what he wanted, as if something was holding him back and preventing him from falling to the ground.

Who is it? Who is holding me back?

Who will be outside the door at this time?

It's the people outside the door.

It's him!

He's waiting for the rabbit!

He's coming!

"Ahh

Liu Wang shouted, rushed towards his house, and crawled with a roll.

He's coming, he's coming!

He's coming!

Can't look back, never look back!

He kept telling himself this in his heart. Because I don't have time to think at all, that person is so close to me!

He burst through the house and slammed it with his cane.

With a loud snap, the walls trembled wildly, and a lot of snow-white wall powder fell.

He locked the door behind him and leaned against the panel panting, sweat ticking down his hair.

Now, that person shouldn't be able to catch up, right?

Just as he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

How could the door be open? When I went out, it was closed.

True, he clearly and unambiguously remembered that he had closed the door before going out, otherwise he would not have brought the key.

He put his hand in his pocket and felt it, and sure enough, there was a bunch of keys inside. The smell of copper wafted out of the pockets and between the hands, diffusing through the air.

So, who opened the door?

His eyes suddenly widened, and his gaze became a little hollow. It's an expression that comes from being extremely frightened.

It's him.

It had to be him!

He's already in the house!

Liu Wang looked around nervously, and sure enough, he saw a shadow in the living room, and the shadow's face was very blurry, and he couldn't see it clearly.

However, he was also looking at himself.

Liu Wang's whole body began to break out in a cold sweat.

Because he noticed that the air in the room was very strange, and a thin wisp of dark purple mist was rolling everywhere.

Looking a little along the fog, their source was in a window facing west.

Through the window, Liu Wang saw the black sun slowly sinking on the horizon.

When the last faint rays of the sun also drowned in the horizon, the earth was finally swallowed up by darkness.

Liu Wang was suddenly stunned. He noticed that in addition to the strange dark purple gas, there was another bright smell in the room that was pleasant.

Gradually, they converged and rushed towards him.

Huh? What's that floating around?

Liu Wang couldn't help but lean over and sniff it.

This is a taste, and it is familiar...... Is it strawberry flavored?

Suddenly, his mind was dizzy, and then he lost consciousness.