Escape to the Outskirts

About half a minute later, Yun Ning suddenly stopped under a banyan tree by the roadside.

By then, the two had run at least five hundred meters away. Huang Xiu looked back and could no longer see the school gate.

Yun Ning gently set Huang Xiu down and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.

“Junior Huang, we’ve left the virtual realm’s contact zone. Rest for a bit. I need to go back.”

Although his stamina was nearly depleted, he still had to go back to help the rear guard.

“Mm!” Huang Xiu nodded. With her left hand supporting her against the banyan tree, she reached into her pocket with her right and pulled out a furry, palm-sized spiked ball and handed it to him.

“This is a mutated burdock. It works like a grenade. Take it for protection.”

This mutated burdock was the girl’s last resort for self-defense. But now she no longer needed it, so it was better to leave it for Yun Ning and the guard troops.

“Thanks!” Yun Ning looked at the girl seriously, his eyes deep like a cold spring, his thoughts unknown.

He took the burdock and stuffed it into the pocket of his athletic shorts.

Then he turned and turned into a white blur, disappearing from Huang Xiu’s sight in an instant.

‘I hope he’s safe.’ By now, Huang Xiu was completely an outsider. She could only pray silently.

After watching Yun Ning disappear at the end of her sight, she turned to observe her surroundings.

The area was desolate. She stood on the right side of the road, next to a vacant lot overgrown with weeds.

Across the street were some old shops, their vintage signs damaged and covered in dust.

The shops were closed, with no lights on the first or second floors.

The shop names looked very familiar. Huang Xiu instantly realized where she was.

“Happy Supermarket… this is the main road to the city center. About eight hundred, almost a thousand meters from school.”

The girl was stunned.

First, she was surprised by Yun Ning’s speed. Second, she was surprised by the vast range of the virtual realm’s influence.

‘Keep moving outward!’

Having given away her last defense card to Yun Ning, she was completely without fighting strength. Standing there, looking at the darkness around her, her heart was pounding.

Even though Yun Ning was confident leaving her here, Huang Xiu didn’t know if this place was absolutely safe.

So to be safe, she decided to leave and continue toward the city.

The farther from the virtual realm, the safer. That was definitely right.

‘Just another five hundred meters, and I’ll reach the city center!’ Huang Xiu cheered herself on.

She shifted her weight entirely onto her left foot, using her right foot only for slight support.

Even though it still hurt, she could now manage to walk.

After walking a little while, Huang Xiu’s forehead was covered in sweat from the pain. She wiped it with her hand and was about to sit down to rest.

Suddenly, a person carrying a gun, wearing a bulletproof vest, and a four-eye night vision device ran over quickly.

He stopped in front of Huang Xiu, glanced at the school uniform she was wearing, and immediately pressed the microphone button on his right ear.

“Zone A3, found one female student from Number One High School.”

Then, noticing Huang Xiu’s swollen ankle, he added, ‘Right foot injured, presumed mobility impaired.’

Police? Or someone from the Special Administration Bureau? Whatever… Huang Xiu didn’t bother thinking about it.

Anyway, seeing her own people meant she had probably completely left the virtual realm’s range.

She let out a relieved breath.

Her whole body seemed to have its bones pulled out, visibly softening and losing its spirit.

“Yes, understood!”

The man tilted his head slightly, listening for a moment, as if receiving orders. After acknowledging, he hung the gun back on his waist, quickly walked over, and reached out to support Huang Xiu.

“It’s dangerous here. Let me take you out. Can you walk? Do you need me to carry you or give you a piggyback?”

He tried to make his voice gentle, but his weathered voice was still a bit hoarse.

“It’s fine, I can walk. Just support me!” Huang Xiu shook her head.

She didn’t even want to be carried on someone’s back, let alone be held. Being carried all the way today was already the limit of her humiliation!

The man seemed about to say something but ultimately remained silent. He supported Huang Xiu as they walked for two minutes.

A small camp set up on the road, illuminated by searchlights as bright as day, appeared in view.

Inside the camp were army-green tents. Police cars and military-green trucks were parked orderly around the tents, forming a defensive line.

Groups of people in police uniforms or fully equipped, seemingly soldiers, moved among the tents in the camp.

Occasionally, the sounds of engines starting and stopping, as well as orderly footsteps, could be heard in the camp.

Huang Xiu’s gaze crossed the midline of the camp and saw the far end of the other entrance.

There, a long yellow-white caution tape was stretched, sealing off the entire camp and the surrounding roads.

Police patrolled along the tape, stopping any vehicles or pedestrians that might come through.

Perhaps the man had already communicated with the camp, because as soon as Huang Xiu saw the camp, two soldiers ran over carrying a stretcher.

“This student, let us carry you?” Although the man phrased it as a question, his tone left no room for doubt.

Of course, Huang Xiu had no reason to refuse. She nodded.

Thus, for the first time, she experienced being carried, not in a coffin, but being carried while alive.

How to describe it… It was swaying, and she always felt like she might suddenly fall off.

Many searchlights were set up around the camp. Those huge lights, of unknown lumens, cast harsh, pale white light.

Lying down, Huang Xiu had to squint. Through the slit of her eyelids, she saw herself being carried into the camp.

“Name?” A man walked over. Squinting, Huang Xiu couldn’t see his face clearly.

All she could see was a chin full of stubble, not young.

The man wore a bulletproof vest, a holster with a black pistol at his waist, held a tablet in his left hand, and swiped quickly on it with his right.

“Huang Xiu.” The girl turned her head to the side away from the light, curiously observing the camp’s layout.

Just now outside, she couldn’t see clearly. Now inside, she noticed that besides police and soldiers, there were many people in black trench coats.

These people should be from the Administration Bureau, right?

Huang Xiu was still silently guessing their identities when she heard the man with the tablet ask in a flat tone, “I didn’t hear clearly just now. Could you please repeat your name?”

‘Did you not eat? Speaking so quietly…’ Huang Xiu mentally translated the man’s words.

But she was really hungry. The quiet voice wasn’t her fault.

She pursed her lips and raised her voice. “My name is Huang Xiu. Huang as in ‘yellow’ and ‘rest’, Xiu as in ‘rest’ for all things.”

“Understood!” The man nodded. Suddenly, a chaotic sound of footsteps came from the other side of her view.

At the same time, the stretcher was suddenly placed on the ground.

Click…

From the direction of the footsteps came a very orderly, unusual sound resembling plastic rubbing against metal.

What happened?

Huang Xiu was curious and about to turn her head to look, when something hard and cold suddenly pressed against her forehead.

“Don’t move!” the man said coldly.