Zhou Bai borrowed the world map and started looking at it, immediately becoming engrossed.
After a long while, he finally raised his head and let out a sigh.
Although he had already speculated while observing the stars, it wasn’t until now, looking at the world map, that he fully confirmed it.
"Earth, it’s really fucking Earth."
And now, the Eastern Continent where humanity had retreated, along with the last remaining five main cities, were located on what used to be Huaxia Land.
Zhou Bai slumped into his chair, closed his eyes, and felt his mind in disarray.
Christina asked in surprise, "Zhou Bai, what’s wrong with you?"
Zhou Bai sighed, with a myriad of thoughts in his mind, yet unable to articulate any, "Nothing, just tired."
Christina looked at the coordinates on the world map and said, "Zhou Bai, look at these coordinates... don’t they look a bit like the ones Dr. Zhuang left us?"
Zhou Bai suddenly perked up, looking at the various coordinate numbers on the map, which were not the latitude and longitude he was familiar with, but another numerical model. He compared them with the numbers he remembered.
"It does look similar, but seems a bit different."
Zhou Bai and Christina hastily started comparing and checking them, half an hour later, they stared at the map in shock.
"The part of the coordinates given by Dr. Zhuang is just the coordinates on the world map, only more precise." Zhou Bai compared the coordinate locations on the world map, finally fixing his gaze on the location of Donghua City, "The coordinates left by the doctor... are they in Donghua City?"
"Could the numbers behind the doctor’s coordinates indicate altitude?"
Zhou Bai immediately borrowed a detailed map of Donghua City, and after some calculations and comparisons, he finally figured out the location of the coordinates left by the doctor.
"I always thought that the coordinates left by the doctor would mark some hidden place in the wilderness."
"But they were actually in Donghua City."
Zhou Bai muttered, "This should be the civilian area of Donghua City, right?"
"But wasn’t Donghua City only constructed over thirty years ago? That means Dr. Zhuang must have been to Donghua City in the last thirty years?"
Christina replied, "Not necessarily, Donghua City has long existed, but thirty years ago, humanity retreated to the Eastern Continent and selected five cities for remodeling and reconstruction, transforming them into their current state."
Previously thinking Dr. Zhuang’s secret was hidden in some unknown and secretive place, Zhou Bai naturally hadn’t planned on searching for it.
But now that he knew it was in Donghua City, Zhou Bai became somewhat tempted.
Especially considering his current inability to read the Dao scriptures, his urge grew stronger.
’But my current strength is a bit weak, can I go?’
Zhou Bai thought about this, his eyes suddenly lighting up: ’I have the gemstone, the Time Reverse of the gemstone, so even if I encounter danger, I can still make a full retreat.’
Christina in his mind asked, "Zhou Bai, do you plan to go to this place?"
Zhou Bai nodded, "After a couple of days, when the gemstone’s cooldown is over, I plan to make a trip."
He pondered, "Being so close, and with the gemstone to reverse time, it would be too wasteful not to go. On one hand, if I can’t read the Dao scriptures, my cultivation speed will inevitably slow down.
And recently, Elsa’s dog-like behavior has been getting worse, I want to solve it sooner rather than later."
The recent image of Elsa starting to bite her own tail came to Christina’s mind, she nodded in agreement, "The silly dog is indeed getting sillier."
After returning to the dormitory, Elsa, who had been squatting at the door, pounced on him, sticking out her tongue and attempting to lick Zhou Bai.
During the day when Zhou Bai was in class, Elsa could only wait at home, and most of her time was spent lying at the door watching it.
Zhou Bai hugged her and patiently said, "Elsa, remember not to lick me, if you miss me, you can hug me like this."
Elsa licked her lips, looked at Zhou Bai, opened her mouth: "Zhou... Zhou..." eventually turning into a bark.
Zhou Bai smiled and patted Elsa’s head, but his eyes grew increasingly solemn, thinking to himself, ’Has Elsa been finding it increasingly difficult to speak recently, is she losing her humanity and intelligence?’
Zhou Bai’s mind once again conjured the image of the blonde little girl he had first seen, asking, "At this rate, will Elsa completely turn into a dog?"
He held Elsa’s head, earnestly saying, "Elsa, remember, you are a human, not a dog."
Elsa whimpered and affectionately nuzzled her head closer.
Zhou Bai sighed, tightened his embrace around Elsa’s body, and softly said, "Don’t worry, Elsa, I will definitely cure you."
Two days later, Zhou Bai felt the gemstone, which had returned to its original form, emitting a faint golden glow. He left Dao School that night, headed for the address left by Dr. Zhuang.
As he walked, Zhou Bai assessed his current strength.
Dao transformation rate: 10.0%
Primordial Spirit value: 1000
Divine diagram: Nine Calamities of Heaven and Man
Laziness: 3040
"I basically won’t be killed by a first realm person, and I should be able to hold off a second realm for some time," Zhou Bai thought. "Christina has also been practicing diligently lately, with a Dao transformation rate of 7.5% and a Primordial Spirit value of 668.
The two of us together, even if we encounter someone from the second realm, should be able to escape."
He left Dao School, passing building after floating building, and soon arrived at the surface level of Donghua City.
During the night, the surface covered by numerous building shadows appeared even darker.
Only in places with streetlights could any light be seen.
Looking at this long-unseen scene, Zhou Bai’s mind revisited his first time coming to Donghua City, searching for Zhang Aidao’s father’s house.
The same civilian area, the same dark, cramped streets.
’Hopefully, everything goes smoothly today.’
Zhou Bai followed one alley after another, feeling as if he were walking further into seclusion, with fewer and fewer people around, until he reached an area with hardly any light and almost no buildings.
"Why are there so few people here?" Christina looked around at the dark, silent area, devoid of even the slightest sound, ominously quiet, and said nervously, "Could it be dangerous? Maybe we should go back and train to get stronger before coming here."
"I used to say that Donghua City was of course safe. But now that even Heavenly Demons have appeared, who knows what’s at the location Dr. Zhuang left," Zhou Bai said. "But what’s there to be afraid of? If need be, we can just use Time Reverse and come again. Nothing will happen."
Zhou Bai, aided by the dim streetlights, looked at either side of the alley and could see various shattered windows, abandoned rooms, and even doors that had been torn open.
"It seems like nobody lives here anymore," Zhou Bai guessed. "Donghua City has always tried to reduce population burden, seemingly enforcing birth control, taking away the right to reproduce from those with low cultivation talent, causing the population to continuously decrease.
It looks like this area was abandoned because of the decreasing population. It seems Dr. Zhuang came here a long time ago."
Walking in the quiet, dark alley, Zhou Bai could only hear his footsteps.
With the distant streetlights growing fainter, he finally reached his destination.
What appeared before him was a hospital that had been abandoned for many years.
"District Six People’s Hospital." Zhou Bai looked at the partially fallen sign above the entrance, took out a luminous stone, and infused it with Primordial Spirit power.
He then saw burn marks on the hospital’s exterior wall, and could faintly make out red lettering on it.
"Die!"
"Everyone must die!"
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
"Let’s die together!"
In the silent, dark night, outside the abandoned hospital, upon suddenly seeing these red words, Christina shrank back into a bundle, "Zhou Bai! I want to go home! I don’t want to be in this kind of place late at night! It’ll give me nightmares!"
Zhou Bai sneered, "And you call yourself a cultivator; what’s there to be afraid of?" He scanned the exterior wall, thinking, "It looks like something happened in this residential area. Are civilians dissatisfied with the government or heaven’s policies?"
Unable to be sure, Zhou Bai shook his head, tried pushing the hospital’s large iron gate, and found it swung open easily, seemingly unlocked.