What followed was a slow-paced daily routine, and Qi Yan even went to an underground game hall that he hadn't been here for almost four or five years.

He has not been addicted to games since he was a child, or rather, he is almost not addicted to anything, and his calmness in staying out of things has always made him calm and objective, but the ensuing sense of withdrawal has made him lose a lot of fun.

So he didn't miss much of the years he grew up in the real world, but when he returned to reality at this time, he could appreciate the daily fireworks more deeply than ever.

The more I have experienced those moments of death, the more I can feel calm from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Qi Yan came to a game machine at random and kept throwing game coins into the arcade.

Games can't bring pleasure to those who aren't addicted, but the noisy and inferior graphics of the underground arcade, the poor graphics of old game consoles, and the smell of cigarettes and fried noodles are what Qi Ji needs now.

Towards evening, Qi Yan went to the inpatient department building of the Municipal General Hospital.

Because he often runs here, he is very aware of the shift change time of the nurses in the inpatient department, and he also knows when the inpatient department is the busiest, and often the management is the most loose when the shift change and busyness are the same.

Qi Ji easily entered the inpatient building without attracting anyone's attention, the familiar smell of disinfectant water in the corridor was permeating, the family members who came and went were numb or sad, everyone was immersed in their own emotions, and no one in the hospital corridor would pay attention to the strangers passing by.

In the real-world timeline, Qi Xiaonian was hospitalized half a year ago.

Half a year ago, Qi Dongyao and his wife took Qi Yan to attend the premiere of his younger brother's movie, and on the way back, a family of four suffered a serious car accident, and his adoptive parents died on the spot, and his younger brother was sentenced to cognitive loss and could only lie on a hospital bed.

In this incident, the only "lucky person" Qi Zhen only recuperated for less than a week and recovered.

There are even secret rumors among the relatives of the Qi family that Qi Jiu, a child adopted from the welfare home, will bring misfortune to the family, but their upbringing makes them dare to tell secretly behind their backs, and they still maintain the appearance of relatives in front of Qi Jiu, so Qi Jiu doesn't care, because rumors have never had anything to do with him, as long as they are willing to help.

Qi Zhen pushed open the door of the ward, and Qi Xiaonian lay quietly on the hospital bed as before, looking like he didn't know anything.

Qi Yan walked to the window and closed the window tightly for Qi Xiaonian, the weather forecast said that there would be heavy snow at night, and if the window was not closed, the snow would pour into the house.

After that, Qi Yan sat on the edge of the hospital bed and quietly looked at the ignorant Qi Xiaonian.

Even though Qi Zheng already knew that Qi Xiaonian was a violator who purchased insurance and entered the "Rules Illustrated Book", Qi Dongyao and his wife purchased a guarantee for their biological son through illegal channels before the incident.

But at this moment, Qi Ji does not intend to hinder this from happening, and his inaction is equivalent to acquiescing in Qi Xiaonian's illegal entry into the "Rules Illustrated".

This is contrary to his goal of completely fixing bugs and cleaning up violators.

"Why?" Qi Zhen whispered a question in his heart.

This is him asking himself from the position of 079.

Because Qi Zhen knew very well that if 079 was still awake, he would definitely ask him like this.

It's not because 079 doesn't know the answer to the question, but because he will let Qi Ji say it himself, so that Qi Ji will face the answer in his heart.

When he was in the dying city, Qi Xiao asked Qi Xiaonian how he felt after he came in, and Qi Xiaonian gave Qi Ji the answer at that time-

"You asked me if I wanted to, and I said it would be hypocritical to say no from my standpoint... Brother, you know what? I almost died in the dungeon on my adult birthday, and I was really just a little close... But to be honest, I didn't have any fear at the time, because I imagined that spending my adult birthday like a corpse in a hospital bed was far more terrifying than dying here."

Qi Xiaonian has already made his own choice and has already told Qi Yan the answer.

Qi Yan didn't think he was a "fair" person, and he also didn't want Qi Xiaonian to spend his adult birthday in a hospital bed.

"Xiao Nian, I wish you a happy birthday in advance," Qi Yan leaned down slightly, and said in the ear of Qi Xiaonian, who was unconscious, "See you in the dungeon." ”

After saying this, Qi Yan got up and left the ward, and soon the nurse who was doing the ward rounds was about to come over, although he was still Qi Xiaonian's elder brother, and would not arouse the suspicion of the nurse, but he didn't want him to come back to visit his relatives and cause too much movement.

Qi Xiaonian mentioned when he saw Qi Jiu's black trench coat before, in his vague impression, Qi Jiu had stood in front of his hospital bed in this trench coat, it was a snowy night, and there was a smell of blood in the air, Qi Jiu leaned down as if he was saying something to him, but unfortunately he couldn't hear his brother's voice clearly.

Now that Qi Ji thinks back, Qi Xiaonian's vague impression happened on the night Qi Yan was killed.

And the smell of blood mentioned by the other party is probably the breath he brought out from the "Rule Illustrated Book", Qi Xiaonian has always been very sensitive to smells.

After coming out of the general hospital, the snow finally fell.

Later in the evening, the city is shrouded in bright snow.

Qi Yan pulled the collar of his windbreaker and walked towards the snow curtain at the beginning of the lanterns.

It won't be long before the streets of the general hospital area will be out of power due to line failures due to snow, and Qi Zhen deliberately walked to the bar in the adjacent area to wait for the last moment.

There weren't many bars open at this time, so he picked a clean tavern, and as the first guest of the day, the boss gave him a slice of cake when he ordered a drink.

"Please enjoy it slowly."

"Thank you." Qi ordered Negroni, which he and 079 had drunk at the "Midnight Bride" road hotel.

Qi Yan sat by the window and ate the cake in front of his own reflection on the glass.

"Happy birthday to me in advance, too." He pursed the corners of his lips slightly.

Time passed quickly, and it was close to midnight when Qi Jiu left the bar and walked back into the snow.

In the pocket of the trench coat was the pistol.

Under the street lamp, he noticed a few gray cat hairs stuck to the sleeves of his windbreaker, which were left by the little gray cat, he was slightly stunned, and his hand brushing the cat hair stopped in mid-air, and finally put it down.

Qi Jiu decided not to clean the cat hair on the cuffs.

He remembers that in this timeline, when he and "himself" passed by, "himself" likewise noticed the cat hair on the cuffs.

This clue will be the opportunity for him and Ash to meet again.

Chapter 259: Replicants (21)

The news of the failure of power equipment due to heavy snow in the area of the city general hospital came from nearby houses——

"The power equipment in the area is being repaired, and it is expected that the power will not be fully restored until 6 o'clock in the morning, so the general public is requested to prepare accordingly......

The sound of the broadcast gradually faded away, and Qi Ji walked towards the area of the city's general hospital that was paralyzed by electricity.

Qi Zhen walked along the familiar street to the intersection, passing the only convenience store with the light on, the convenience store with its own power generation equipment like an isolated light, drifting in the darkness at night when the power was paralyzed.

Qi Yan glanced into the convenience store through the floor-to-ceiling glass window, and the birthday cake in the window looked a little sweet, and the thick cream was covered with colorful candies and chocolate chips.

Qi Yan doesn't like sweets, and the leftover cake from this convenience store seems to be too high in sugar, and he thought so at the time, but in the end he decided to buy the cake, and it seems that the sweet snack on his birthday is not a big deal.

This cake is destined to belong to his eighteenth birthday, although it does not look so delicious and he will not have a chance to taste it.

Qi Yan lowered his gaze and continued to walk forward, the light of the convenience store was gradually covered by falling snow, and finally disappeared completely behind him.

There are flashing traffic lights at the intersection not far away, which are temporary indicators to prevent traffic accidents.

Of course, Qi Zhen will not forget that he was shot through the heart by a bullet at this crossroads.

Wrapped in a trench coat, he crossed the road and turned to hide in the snow-covered alley.

It was so quiet that the snow sucked up the sounds of the city, leaving the night with nothing but a silent white.

Qi Yan took off his mask, leaned in the alley and raised his head slightly, the falling snow made this night without street lights brighter.

The silence slowed down the flow of time, and the alcohol he had drunk not long ago began to react in his body, and his frozen fingers gradually warmed up.

The light snow melted on his cheeks, and the body temperature turned the solidified white into a transparent liquid that dripped down the contours of Qi Yan's face.

He put his hand in his pocket, the touch and outline of the pistol unusually hard and distinct on a night like this.

Soon after, the snow stopped.

Qi Yan glanced at the time, it was already 11:56, and he was about to usher in his eighteenth birthday on this timeline, and the gears of fate would begin to turn.

From another part of the street, there was a loud commotion, and Qi Zhen remembered that a group of young people returning from a party should have passed by.

He knew what the presence of this group of young people meant.

Qi Ji put on his mask again to cover his face and stepped into the ranks of the party youth, a group of drunken young people who didn't care that there was one more person around them, and they used alcohol to party all the way through the streets without electricity.

11:57 a.m.

The temporary traffic light flashed and the green light came on.

The young man in the school uniform stood across the road, his gaze passing over the reveling crowd and landing precisely on Qi Yan.

Qi Zhen lowered the brim of his hat, pretended not to find anything, and followed the crowd across the zebra crossing.

Qi Zhen didn't need to confirm the other party's movements through his eyes, because after all this, he knew very well what kind of mental activities and actions he had at that time, and the other party was looking at him with his peripheral eyes through the crowd in line.

Qi Zhen knew that at that time, he had already had a premonition of what was about to happen, which seemed to be the instinct of all living beings, and he had a sense of the danger that was coming.

It's a strange feeling, it's clear that the last time I was the other party, but now I'm on the opposite side, manipulating everything that happens.

- From "victim" to "murderer".

As they passed each other on the zebra crossing, the other party lowered their gaze, and the gray cat hair on the cuffs of Qi Jiu's trench coat attracted each other's attention.

But the other party's gaze only stayed for half a second, because in the next second, Qi Yan had already put the muzzle of the gun against his back, facing the position of his heart.

"Don't make a sound, don't look back."

After the transformation of the voice changer, Rao is Qi Ji himself can't distinguish his own voice.

The noise of the party youth was gone, and only the two of them were left in the middle of the zebra crossing.

The two of them, Qi Ji on the two timelines, pointed a gun at himself.

The sound of a bullet loading was particularly harsh.

This electricity-paralyzed neighborhood is as silent as death, and Qi Ji, who is holding a gun, even has the illusion of returning to the ruined city of the "Rule Illustrated Book".

Qi Zhen covered his other lip with his gloved hand.

"Qi Jiu, try to live."

"I believe you can do it—"

After leaving ambiguous words, Qi Ji pulled the trigger and shot through his heart with the pistol that had already killed him once.

His hand covering the other's mouth moved up slightly, covering the other's eyes.

He knew that the snow was dazzling that night, too bright for someone whose life was passing quickly.

Blood gushed out of the bullet hole, quickly soaking Qi Yan's black trench coat.

Fortunately, the black fabric does not bleed.

This night was played out again in front of Qi Zheng's eyes, only this time he stood on the opposite side, making up for the cause and effect of what happened tonight.

In a sense, this is the beginning and end of his cycle.

The blood flow made the other party's body quickly cold, Qi Yan caught the birthday cake he bought from the convenience store, he didn't want his adult birthday cake to fall on the road in embarrassment.

The snow had fallen again, and I was out of breath and my heart on this timeline.