TLCBITAR Chapter 248

The “tap tap tap” sound echoed countless times. Zhou Zhou lay curled up on his side in a pile of weeds, his eyes lightly closed, exuding an aura of listlessness.

He had tried traveling continuously for two days, attempting to escape this bizarre loop, but eventually, he couldn’t suppress the urge to take a nap. When he woke up, he was back in the weeds again.

He had tried immersing himself in dreams, unwilling to wake up, but there seemed to be an irresistible force pulling him back, preventing him from staying in the dream for too long.

“Does the real world have such mysterious places?” Zhou Zhou opened his eyes, a bleakness within them. His thin, pale lips moved slightly, his words as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.

After lying there for an unknown amount of time, dark clouds silently appeared above Zhou Zhou. He turned over, stretched out his arms, and lay on his back in the weeds, shouting at the sky with a “what’s the use of worrying” attitude, “Just strike me dead with lightning!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark purple lightning bolt flashed across the sky, followed by a deafening “boom.” The lightning still struck the distant mountaintop.

Zhou Zhou felt only helplessness. Not a trace of energy could arise in his chest. He pursed his lips, reached out, and pulled a blade of grass to chew on, letting the raindrops fall on his body.

An hour later, he was soaked to the bone, his wet clothes clinging tightly to his skin. He didn’t feel uncomfortable; he was used to it. Anyway, after he woke up, everything would return to its original state.

Suddenly, a bright white light faintly appeared above the dark clouds. Zhou Zhou’s pupils constricted, and he abruptly sat up.

This was the first time this had happened in so many days. He raised his hand to wipe away the raindrops clinging to his eyelashes and blinked hard. The light from just now seemed to be his imagination; it didn’t reappear for a long time.

“Heh, Zhou Zhou, don’t fantasize about miracles that could never happen to you.” Zhou Zhou lowered his eyes slightly, his thin eyelids wet with rain, his face also dripping, making it hard to tell if it was tears or rain.

Just then, a snow-white Screaming Mouse darted out of the grass. It climbed up Zhou Zhou’s trouser leg and quickly nestled on his shoulder, letting out two soft cries.

Zhou Zhou raised his hand to stroke its head. Suddenly, his eyelids lifted, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. In the previous cycles, the Screaming Mouse would show fear and vigilance as soon as it saw him, but now, it was actually approaching him voluntarily.

This anomaly gave Zhou Zhou hope.

He reached out and pinched the back of the Screaming Mouse’s neck, holding it up in front of him for a closer look.

The Screaming Mouse tilted its head, its narrow eyes showing confusion and dependence. It stuck out its long tongue and licked Zhou Zhou’s chin, gently making “squeak squeak” sounds.

“You’re not afraid of me anymore?” Zhou Zhou reached out his fingers, which had turned white from being soaked in the rain, and gently rubbed its head. Because its fur was too wet, it didn’t feel very good.

The Screaming Mouse narrowed its eyes, its throat making a purring sound like it was being petted. Its half-drooped ears suddenly twitched. It opened its eyes warily, broke free from Zhou Zhou’s grasp in a few quick movements, and instantly climbed to the top of Zhou Zhou’s head, screaming towards the mountains.

Zhou Zhou followed the direction of its gaze, but the rain blurred his vision, and he couldn’t see the distant scenery clearly. “Bai Bai, what’s there?”

He had seen this Screaming Mouse at least a hundred times, so he took the liberty of giving it a name. The Screaming Mouse “squeaked squeaked” twice, then suddenly leaped forward, its round body tumbling forward and flattening a pile of weeds.

It turned its head and called out to Zhou Zhou, signaling him to follow. After Zhou Zhou understood its meaning, he quickly ran towards the distant mountains.

Zhou Zhou took off his suit jacket and threw it into the weeds. The waterlogged jacket was too heavy and affected his movement.

Anyway, after he woke up, the suit and everything else related to him would return to normal.

He followed closely behind the Screaming Mouse, pushing aside the weeds in front of him and struggling to move forward.

After walking for about an hour, the rain stopped, and the scenery ahead became clear.

Zhou Zhou suddenly stopped, his pupils trembling violently. At the foot of the mountain, a white light flashed, accompanied by a spiral-shaped whirlwind rushing towards him.

The surrounding trees and weeds were uprooted and quickly disappeared without a trace.

“Bai Bai, don’t go!” Zhou Zhou saw the Screaming Mouse rushing towards the whirlwind without hesitation and quickly shouted.

The Screaming Mouse quickly braked, ran back to Zhou Zhou, opened its mouth wide and bit his trouser leg, pulling him towards the whirlwind.

Zhou Zhou pursed his lips, looked up at the sky, which had become a clear blue at some point, took a deep breath, and said with a heavy nasal tone, “Bai Bai, in the face of nature, humans and animals are equally insignificant. If you and I get caught in the whirlwind, there’s a high chance we won’t survive.”

The Screaming Mouse continued to tug at his trouser leg, its claws gripping tightly, and made urgent “whooshing” sounds in its mouth.

Seeing that the whirlwind was twenty meters away from him, Zhou Zhou raised his hand and opened his light brain, hesitating for a moment, but ultimately didn’t leave anything behind.

Pei Yanlie, will you blame me for not leaving you a last word?

Zhou Zhou bent down and picked up the Screaming Mouse, sniffing. “Let’s go, at least you’re here with me.”

The Screaming Mouse blinked, snuggled into his arms, and stuck out its tongue to lick its wet paws one by one.

Soon, the gale swept over. Zhou Zhou’s soaked shirt was billowing in the wind, and the cold seeped through his skin into his bones. He gritted his teeth and shivered, his eyes revealing determination and relief.

Finally, he was about to escape this soul-crushing nightmare.

He closed his eyes, subconsciously pulled the soft Screaming Mouse into his arms, and walked slowly forward, facing the gale.

In an instant, the white light engulfed his body, and consciousness instantly dissipated.

…

“Just finished administering the tenth bottle of purging agent. Blood pressure and heart rate have risen a little, proving that the medicine is working on him.”

At the Main Star Federal Hospital, Director Yao respectfully reported the changes in the patient’s condition to the man guarding the bedside.

Ever since the R Particle exposure at the Su family’s banquet, Zhou Zhou had fallen into a deep coma. Medically, it was diagnosed as a “transient vegetative state.”

R Particles were freely floating in Zhou Zhou’s serum. The research institute’s study of this black hole extract was still incomplete. They couldn’t predict how long the radiation it caused to Zhou Zhou would last, but one thing was certain: it would cause the infected person to fall into a “dream within a dream.” This was the personal account of patients who had been lightly infected that night after they woke up.

A total of eight people were infected with the R Particles that night. Six of them were only lightly infected, while Zhou Zhou and Su Wanxing, who released the R Particles, were severely infected.

Now, the lightly infected patients had already woken up. Besides being somewhat mentally broken, their bodies were temporarily fine.

Currently, only Zhou Zhou and Su Wanxing remained in the infectious disease ward’s intensive care unit receiving treatment.

Logically speaking, non-medical personnel were prohibited from entering the infectious disease ward, but Marshal Pei insisted on coming in, so naturally, no one dared to stop him.

Of course, the prerequisite for entering was to wear protective clothing to avoid cross-infection.

Pei Yanlie wore blue and white protective clothing, his face under the mask haggard. He hadn’t slept for who knew how long.

He was truly afraid that Zhou Zhou would leave just like in the world in the book, saying he was leaving and then just leaving.

He was uneasy every day, holding Zhou Zhou’s hand tightly, unwilling to relax even a little bit.

Director Yao sighed secretly, filled with emotion. What a couple plagued by misfortune.

He clicked on the testing instrument to view the latest test data, discovering that Zhou Zhou’s brainwaves were gradually stabilizing, no longer rising and falling like a roller coaster like before.

Before he could tell Pei Yanlie this joyful result, the boy lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes. He turned his head numbly, looking at Pei Yanlie in his protective clothing, his eyes brightening for a moment. In the blink of an eye, the light was obscured by darkness. He said in a hoarse voice, “Pei Yanlie, I see you again. How come I’m still not dead?”

He closed his eyes, his lips trembling as he endured something. His heart was already extremely fragile and could no longer withstand despair. Now, even the right to die had been taken away…