As time passed minute by minute, the traffic finally began to move.

However, it advanced much more slowly than Qi Xia had imagined.

It seemed that at the location closest to the entrance, a car accident had indeed been triggered by this strange weather phenomenon.

By the time that bizarre crack disappeared and traffic began entering Qingdao again, it was already eight in the morning.

During this time, Qi Xia continuously dialed Yu Nian’an’s number, but there was still no answer.

After much thought, only one reason could explain the current situation.

Yu Nian’an had already been taken into police custody.

“Driver, let’s change the destination.” Qi Xia keenly detected this and knew he couldn’t return home, so he said to the driver, “Don’t go to where I got in the car. I’ll give you a new address.”

After speaking, Qi Xia searched for an address on his phone and reached out to hand it over.

“Oh?” The driver took the phone and glanced at it, immediately knowing the destination. “Alright, the distance is about the same. I’ll take you straight there.”

Finally, around ten-thirty in the morning, the driver brought Qi Xia to his destination.

This was an area of cheap rental housing in the old Shibei district.

“Finally here, young man.” The driver let out a long breath. “Really didn’t expect to be delayed this long.”

“It’s fine, driver.” Qi Xia pulled out another 1,500 yuan in cash from his pocket and handed it to the driver. “Thank you.”

“No problem, no problem! This is all as it should be!” The driver excitedly received the money. “Young man, if you need anything, call me again!”

Qi Xia nodded. Just as he was about to walk toward the rental housing, he suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back to say, “Driver, I know you’re already very tired, but don’t go home before noon. If you’re tired, just stay in the car for a while.”

“Hm?” The driver was stunned. “What do you mean? You won’t even let me go home?”

“I have no reason to lie to you.” Qi Xia said. “A major event is about to happen. It’ll be safer to stay outside.”

After saying this, Qi Xia paid no more attention to the driver and walked toward the rental housing.

This was a backup hideout that Qi Xia and Yu Nian’an had rented, precisely to deal with special moments like this.

He planned to pack a few clothes here, then decide what to do next.

After taking seven steps, the phone in Qi Xia’s pocket suddenly vibrated.

His heart jumped, and he hurriedly pulled it out to look.

Incoming call from “A.”

“An?” Qi Xia was stunned, feeling that his deduction seemed to have gone wrong somewhere.

Had Yu Nian’an not been taken into police custody?

Or… was someone else making her place this call?

“Hello?” Qi Xia answered the phone, his tone flat as he greeted.

He knew that even if this call came from the police, he had to make them take Yu Nian’an and leave the building indoors, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.

“Xia!” Yu Nian’an called out weakly. “I’m sorry… I think I got sick. I’ve been in a deep sleep since yesterday afternoon and only just woke up.”

“Got sick?” Qi Xia furrowed his brow slightly and asked, “Did you feed the fish yesterday?”

“Pfft…” Yu Nian’an smiled slightly. “What are you doing? Setting up a ‘code word’ for me? Nothing happened. I’m just really not feeling well.”

Only then did Qi Xia understand. He hurriedly said, “An, listen to me. Pack up your things right now and wait for me downstairs. I’m coming to get you.”

“Hm?”

“There’s no time to explain. Trust me.” Qi Xia said anxiously. “I’ve deceived many people, but I’ve never deceived you.”

“Okay…” Yu Nian’an agreed. “I’ll go pack now. About how long until you arrive?”

“I…” Qi Xia turned his hand to look at his phone, feeling the situation was somewhat ominous.

Taking a car from here would take at least an hour. He would probably arrive right when that terrible earthquake hit.

“Don’t worry about how long it takes me to arrive. In any case, you need to leave home quickly, even if you just stand at the entrance.”

“Oh… alright then.” Yu Nian’an nodded. “I’ll wash my face and come down in about ten minutes.”

“Good!”

Qi Xia hung up the phone and hurriedly turned back to look for the taxi driver. He found that he indeed hadn’t left and was now sitting in the driver’s seat using a miniature UV flashlight to check for counterfeit bills.

“Driver!” Qi Xia knocked on the car window, startling the driver.

“Aiya mama!” The driver hurriedly put away the money, only then discovering that the person before him was none other than that “big customer.”

“Young man?” He rolled down the window and looked around, asking, “What now?”

“Take me to where I got in yesterday!” Qi Xia said. “This time also needs to be quick. I’ll give you a hundred!”

“Hey!” The driver smiled and waved at Qi Xia. “I got it, get in quickly!”

Qi Xia opened the car door and got in, the expression on his face still somewhat anxious. He continuously checked his phone in the car, but unfortunately, he hadn’t memorized the time at the instant the earthquake occurred.

He only knew the earthquake would arrive around noon, but was it exactly eleven o’clock or twelve o’clock?

Thinking of this, he urged the driver again, “Please go a bit faster.”

“Young man, you’re really being unreasonable. I’m fatigued driving right now…”

“Uncle, I’m really in a hurry.”

“Fine, fine, fine…”

The driver couldn’t resist Qi Xia and could only step harder on the gas pedal.

A journey that originally took an hour took only forty minutes.

“Thanks, driver.” Qi Xia tossed down a hundred yuan and got out of the car without looking back.

But when he looked around, he felt something was strange.

Yu Nian’an wasn’t waiting for him downstairs at all.

“What’s going on?”

Qi Xia’s first reaction was that Yu Nian’an might be buying something at a nearby convenience store. He dialed her number, but still no one answered.

“An, where did you go…?”

Before he could figure it out, loud rumbling sounds suddenly came from the distance.

The roaring sounds came one after another, as if tens of thousands of trains were traveling on the road.

The next second, the ground suddenly shook violently. Qi Xia lost his balance for a moment and fell hard to the ground.

“Damn it!”

He knew this was bad. The last time the earthquake came, he had also been standing at this position.

It was as if there was a predetermined arrangement in the dark—the same time, the same location.

Even though everything had started over, nothing had changed.

Vehicles around began crashing into each other in chain collisions, and people’s screams rose and fell.

Qi Xia couldn’t care about much else. He could only run toward his apartment building. Even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance that Yu Nian’an was at home, he had to rescue her. But it was really too difficult to move during an earthquake. Qi Xia fell five or six times before he finally regained his balance.

“An!!” He roared toward the upper floors. His home was only on the third floor—she should be able to hear the sound.

Qi Xia steadied his mind again and walked into the unit entrance.

He remembered that when he had entered the unit entrance before, the entrance hall had collapsed, and it was because of this that he had lost his life.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly dodged to the side. A huge stone instantly crashed onto where he had been standing.

This stone was very large. Being hit by it would have meant certain death.

“Seems I really did die before…”