Qi Xia never imagined that he would walk along the road for an entire day, until the sun set below the horizon, without ever seeing the edge of this city.

A normal person’s walking speed could reach five kilometers per hour, but Qi Xia calculated that given his physical condition, his pace was only around three kilometers per hour.

Today alone, he had already walked for over seven hours, covering roughly over twenty kilometers.

Now he just felt dizzy and lightheaded, both legs constantly trembling. His ability to continue moving forward relied almost entirely on the inertia of his legs.

“I just hope I can die a little later…”

After walking for another ten or so minutes, Qi Xia truly couldn’t walk anymore. He found a dilapidated building and went inside. Night was falling, and being outdoors would expose him to those bizarre “insects.” Although he didn’t yet know what danger those insects posed, he still chose to avoid these unnecessary troubles in advance.

Qi Xia used Officer Li’s lighter to ignite a fire pile, then took out the “Heaven’s Mouth” map and flipped it to the back side. Dipping his finger in his own blood, he roughly recorded the route he had traveled.

This city was far more massive than he had imagined.

He had thought that following the road would at least bring him to somewhere like the wilderness, but unexpectedly, the buildings around him gradually grew taller, as if he was walking from the suburbs toward the city center.

“The diameter of an ordinary city rarely exceeds fifty kilometers…” Qi Xia calculated while drawing the map with his own blood. “Theoretically, by tomorrow afternoon I should reach the city’s edge. Everything will be revealed then.”

With this thought, he moved closer to the fire pile and found a relatively comfortable position to lie down. The bloodstains on his body had all dried up, emitting an unpleasant rusty smell.

Last night, Lin Qin had treated his wound with a torch. Although the bleeding had stopped, the burned area was both painful and itchy, making it difficult for him to fall asleep all night.

After daybreak, Qi Xia dragged his nearly defunct body up.

A night’s rest hadn’t restored any of his strength. His entire being was now completely depleted.

No water source, no food, and no medicine.

Qi Xia even felt somewhat envious of Han Yimo, who could die so decisively.

He found several relatively clean sheets of waste paper in the room, tore them into pieces, and swallowed them.

If there was nothing at all in his stomach, he probably wouldn’t make it to the city’s edge.

Facing the morning sun, Qi Xia set out once more.

He was already very far from the initial plaza. He couldn’t hear the “bell tolls” here, and rarely saw any “zodiac animals.”

But as he continued deeper, the native residents in the city gradually increased.

This place seemed like a real city, except that most of the people on the streets were walking corpses. They had no expressions, no aggression, didn’t communicate with others, and just wandered aimlessly on the streets.

For a brief moment, Qi Xia felt he was just like these walking corpses on the street.

Their movements, demeanor, expressions, and even walking speed had no difference whatsoever.

How ironic was this?

Could it be that these people had also been stabbed once, then walked determinedly toward the city’s edge?

As the sun rose higher, Qi Xia felt something was wrong with his condition.

He touched his forehead and neck—they seemed to have started burning up.

It seemed that cauterizing the wound with fire was too risky after all. Even if it could temporarily stop the bleeding, it couldn’t prevent wound infection and fever.

Qi Xia felt his eyelids growing heavier the more he walked. He could collapse headfirst onto the ground at any moment. If he fell this time, he would probably never get up again.

After nearly another half hour passed, Qi Xia slowly stopped at the roadside.

He couldn’t take another step.

At this moment, he placed his hand on an old taxi by the roadside, gasping heavily for breath.

“What a pity…” Qi Xia gazed at the distant road. There was clearly still a long way to go, but unfortunately, he was going to fall here. It seemed that at the final moment of his life, he still wouldn’t see the ultimate secret of this place.

Qi Xia leaned against the old taxi and lowered his head in frustration. Just as he was about to sit down on the spot, he suddenly noticed there was someone in the car.

That person didn’t look like a corpse, but rather a woman who was blinking.

“A ‘native resident’…”

Qi Xia looked at the rigid ground, then at the soft seat inside the car, revealing a bitter smile.

If he really had to die here, he should at least choose a soft spot.

With this thought, Qi Xia inexplicably opened the car door and sat directly in the passenger seat.

The car smelled nice—like a girl’s car from his memory.

Whether or not this counted as good news, at the final moment, Qi Xia could escape the stench that permeated the entire city.

“I never thought before that a car seat could be this comfortable…” Qi Xia muttered to himself. “Now I can die in peace.”

“Where to, please?” The woman beside him asked indifferently.

“Where to?” Qi Xia smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Where can I even go now?”

He patted his thigh with his hand, slowly reciting song lyrics: “Drive, drive toward the city’s edge, roll down all the windows, trade speed for a bit of pleasure…”

“The city’s edge?” The woman thought for a moment. “I don’t know where that is. Please give me directions.”

After saying this, the woman pressed the meter display in the car, then turned the key.

Just as Qi Xia had expected, the car made an old, worn sound and didn’t start.

The woman didn’t give up. She turned the key several times in succession. Finally, after forcefully turning the car key five times, the entire car began to shake.

Qi Xia was startled. He turned his head to look at the woman in disbelief. She indeed didn’t look like a “native resident”—at least her complexion was rosy and her build was well-proportioned. Could she be a “good person”?

A “good person” with her own car…

“Please fasten your seatbelt. We’re departing.” The woman reached out to shift into first gear and start, releasing the clutch and giving gas in one smooth motion.

Qi Xia fumbled for the seatbelt somewhat at a loss, only to find that what was at hand was just an elastic rope. The metal buckle on it had already rusted through.

He didn’t have time to think about these things and could only try to make conversation with the woman. “You… you’re… a taxi driver?”

“Customer, you’re such a joker.” The woman shook her head, then shifted from second to third gear. “If I’m not a driver, am I a car thief?”

Seeing that the woman before him could communicate smoothly, respond fluently, and even crack a little joke, Qi Xia was even more confused.

A woman with such a normal mental state was clearly not a “native resident,” so she should be a “participant.” But why would a “participant” be driving a taxi?

“Haven’t you noticed… that this place is very abnormal?” Qi Xia pointed at the scene outside the window, trying to figure out the stance of this plain-looking woman before him.

“Really?” After hearing this, the woman glanced outside the window and said indifferently, “It is a bit abnormal. It’s overcast.”

Qi Xia sighed helplessly. It seemed the woman before him was still a “native resident,” but she appeared to have just recently transformed into a “native resident.” Currently, her thinking was still relatively clear.

“What’s your name?” Qi Xia asked again.

The woman didn’t speak. She pointed to the position in front of Qi Xia, where the woman’s professional qualification certificate hung, displaying her photo and name.

She had a very pleasant-sounding name—Xu Liunian.