"The Central teorological Station continues to issue thunderstorm warnings. In the past six months, most areas in the southern part of our country have experienced lightning strikes, thunderstorms, strong winds, and heavy rain. We urge all citizens to take safety precautions when traveling..."
The liquid crystal display screen hanging on the wall had sohow turned on, and a noisy sound intermittently appeared, accompanied by a crackling electric noise.
So loud!
In the empty white hospital room, accompanied by the creak of the bed, the young man, unable to move, was awakened by the noise.
His legs still felt numb, and he struggled to tilt his head and lift his eyelids to look out the window.
The window curtain was half-drawn, and the sun outside was bright and warm.
A shaft of warm light stread in, failing to dispel the chill in the room; its only ssage was that morning had arrived.
"Lived another day..."
According to his habit, he reached out and felt for the rectangular remote control.
Xu Xiaoshou casually turned off the weather forecast, ssing around with the screen hanging on the wall.
He had stayed in this private hospital room for three years, or rather, hadn’t left the bed much during those three years.
The functions of the screen on the wall, apart from the daily morning alarm provided by the weather forecast, mainly served as a way to watch live streams.
One of Xu Xiaoshou’s few pleasures.
He liked watching those outdoor strears hiking, bungee jumping, or even just wandering around the city with a phone, capturing random people, finding it all quite entertaining.
"Look, look, who has the strear caught today?"
A curious exclamation successfully piqued one’s interest.
Xu Xiaoshou held his remote control paused, squinting at the live stream. He was sowhat nearsighted.
The cara focused on the zebra crossing at an intersection, facing a rather tall man. Surrounded by modern people, only this person was in ancient attire, with extrely exaggerated black and red long hair.
Cars and people flowed endlessly.
Yet those passing by, at the tallest, could only reach the man’s chest, casting peculiar gazes towards the oddly styled ancient man.
"Isn’t it cringy..."
Xu Xiaoshou silently mocked, thinking he might be so celebrity who had just finished filming so cheesy xianxia drama or movie, inadvertently forgetting to remove makeup before grabbing snacks, ultimately waiting to trend on social dia.
He succeeded!
The live stream quickly beca lively, with comnts rapidly scrolling:
"Who is this guy, he’s so tall, must be over two ters?"
"No way, not working early in the morning, cosplaying Demon Lord Zhong Lou here, seems like he’s crazy."
"Don’t recognize this face, not handso either, which D-list celebrity didn’t remove makeup and went out?"
"Hard to comnt, with a worried expression, head down, arms spread — does he really think he traveled through ti?"
"Internal OS: Damn, is it really the End of Dharma Era? I’d love to kill all these ants in one go, but it would disrupt the balance of spaceti..."
Pfft!
Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t hold back his laughter.
Gotta admit, online codians sure have so talent, sotis enviably gifted.
He looked closely and saw a "500 ters away from you" displayed in the lower-left corner of the live stream, indicating it was near the hospital?
"Buzz..."
Suddenly, a dizziness made his mind spin, feeling nauseous without vomiting.
Xu Xiaoshou’s vision blurred, and when he gathered his bearings, the buzzing remained in his ears, prompting a harsh self-slap.
Missed!
A black-speckled mosquito swiftly flew past his eyes, landing on the white quilt on his knees, glaring provocatively.
Xu Xiaoshou glared fiercely; these mosquitoes were the worst. A single bite would swell into a large bump, unbearably itchy.
"When did room hygiene beco this poor, mosquitoes buzzing in the morning..."
He strained to arch his upper body, attempting to kill the mosquito.
Missed!
He never passed the bend-forward test since school days, not to ntion being partially paralyzed now.
Strangely, the mosquito didn’t seem bothered, stubbornly resting on the quilt, as if predicting it couldn’t be hit.
"You darn thing!"
Xu Xiaoshou seethed with anger, tossing the remote control, which clanged against the bed’s edge.
Another near miss.
Without the faint buzzing noise from the mosquito, Xu Xiaoshou might have thought it was an illusion. And it didn’t flee?
"What are you looking at, don’t think I won’t eat you!"
The mosquito remained like a stone sculpture, seemingly capable of seeing its disdainful eyes, but silent as ever.
Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath, ignoring it, eyes shifting towards the screen, the ugly ancient man still posing on the sidewalk, now blocking traffic, growing more annoying with each look.
Apart from being tall, he seed worthless, just like him.
At this mont, the cara suddenly shook, and the ancient man turned around, appearing to fix his gaze on Xu Xiaoshou on this side of the live stream, his eyes lighting up.
Heavens, it wasn’t an illusion.
Those were genuinely glowing eyes, blood-red.
As if when Xu Xiaoshou glanced at him the second ti, he saw Xu Xiaoshou as well, whispering a deep guttural sound in an unknown language:
"Gulu sare..."
Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded.
For a mont, he truly thought the guy was speaking directly to him.
Until he realized the man was outside the hospital, and he was inside the room, separated by a screen, how could he see him?
Also...
"What ’saranghae’?"
"What’s this bird language?"
As these thoughts flashed through Xu Xiaoshou’s mind, unexpectedly Xu Xiaoshou seed to decipher the man’s language:
"I’ve found you..."
Just a hunch, without verifying right or wrong.
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