“A crack?”
The driver yawned and said, “We’re on the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway. We’ll pass it when we enter Qingdao in a bit. We'll see whose shoddy construction project has been exposed this time.”
“A crack ‘up above’?”
Qi Xia felt it was a bit strange. Although he knew the earthquake would arrive tomorrow at noon, could there be strange omens before then? Before Qi Xia could figure it out, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes.
The car, originally going one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, dropped speed abruptly. Sitting in the back, Qi Xia wasn't wearing a seatbelt at all. The emergency stop nearly sent him crashing into the front seat.
“What’s wrong?”
He steadied himself and raised his head in confusion.
“That’s strange… There’s a long line of cars on the expressway.”
Qi Xia followed the driver's gaze and looked into the distance. Sure enough, the traffic ahead was extremely congested. The colorful vehicles on the road stretched as far as the eye could see.
The driver looked at the time, a little anxious.
“Aiya… Probably a pile-up. I've been in one before, it's at least an hour's wait… The entrance to Qingdao is right up ahead… It's almost seven-thirty, what are we going to do…”
He kept looking left and right, as if trying to figure out how to change lanes to get around the congested traffic.
“It’s alright, driver. We can consider this as having arrived in Qingdao,” Qi Xia said.
“Just take your time.”
“Aiya…”
The driver glanced at Qi Xia in the rearview mirror, a little sheepishly.
“Young man, you’re a real decent fellow. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get you home before eight-thirty.”
Qi Xia nodded and said no more. The driver also slowly pulled the car to the back of the line. What neither of them expected was that the long line of cars hadn't moved at all since they joined it.
Cars continued to pour in behind them, and now they were stuck in the middle of the whole procession, unable to advance or retreat.
“What a strange business…”
After waiting for over an hour, with the time approaching eight-thirty, the driver could only scratch his head helplessly.
“Even if there was a pile-up, it should have been cleared by now…”
Qi Xia was growing anxious, but at this moment, there was no better option than to wait. Their current location was still twenty kilometers from Qi Xia's home. If Qi Xia were to walk from here as he had before, he probably wouldn't arrive until dawn.
Thinking of this, he once again took out his phone and dialed Yu Nian'an's number. Still, no one answered. The sound of the unanswered call from the other end made Qi Xia even more restless.
At this point, both of them fell silent. Only the static-filled voice from the car radio could be heard.
“To all listeners, an unknown atmospheric phenomenon has occurred on the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway. The actual situation is pending analysis by experts. Drivers who are able to, please take a detour in advance.”
“Atmospheric phenomenon?”
It was the first time the driver had heard such a novel term on the radio, and he was a bit baffled.
“It's probably something like ‘ball lightning’ or a ‘mirage’,” Qi Xia explained.
“It might have attracted a large crowd of onlookers, which could have indirectly caused a traffic accident.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is? Young man, you really know a lot. You must be a university student, right?”
Qi Xia didn't pay any more attention to the driver, continuing to lean back against the seat with his eyes closed to rest. In his previous memory, he hadn't chosen to return to Qingdao that night, so he knew nothing of what had happened on the expressway.
He only knew that when he set out the next morning, the entire road had returned to normal. In other words, the current traffic jam wouldn't last for long. Qi Xia's best option right now was to wait.
But when one waits for a long time without a clear end in sight, feelings of frustration are bound to arise. After all, no one knew how long they would have to wait. Gradually, the sound of car horns began to rise and fall on the road, creating a racket that unsettled the heart.
After a while longer, drivers gradually turned off their engines, got out of their cars, and started chatting with each other. The taxi driver was clearly not one to sit still. The moment he saw people moving about, he got out of the car.
He no longer paid attention to Qi Xia, but instead stuck a cigarette in his mouth and began shooting the breeze with a few nearby drivers. Qi Xia sighed and took out his phone to send a message to Yu Nian'an.
“An, something might happen tomorrow. Pack some daily necessities. I'll take you out in the morning to find shelter.”
Qi Xia deliberately made it sound more serious. The most important thing right now was for Yu Nian'an to understand the gravity of the situation the moment she saw the message. As for words like “earthquake” or “anomaly,” he could leave those out for now.
After doing all this, Qi Xia leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. He didn't know why, but even knowing tomorrow would bring an earthquake, he would feel at ease as long as he was by Yu Nian'an's side. His own power was limited; he couldn't save too many people.
If he went around proclaiming the news of an earthquake tomorrow, he would only be immediately arrested for disturbing public order. Therefore, within his limited scope, Qi Xia could only choose to save a few people. He never thought of himself as a savior.
Everything he did was merely to allow himself to keep living in this world. Qi Xia closed his eyes and dozed for a while. He didn't know how much time had passed when he was suddenly woken by the sound of the driver opening the car door.
“Young man, come look at this, quick!”
He didn't care if Qi Xia was sleeping and just howled at the top of his lungs.
“What?”
Qi Xia opened his eyes blankly and saw the driver waving a mobile phone at him. He took the phone and saw that it was a photo. The location where it was taken should be the expressway toll plaza up ahead.
“A driver up ahead took this, it's spreading all along the road!” the driver said with an excited look on his face.
“Young man, you're knowledgeable, quick, help me see what kind of atmospheric phenomenon this is!”
Qi Xia zoomed in on the picture and couldn't help but frown. To call this an “atmospheric phenomenon,” this thing was a bit too obscure. He saw a crack hanging in the sky, and many luminous objects were pouring down from it, as if stars were falling.
Many cars were blocked by this curtain of light, completely unable to move forward.
“The sky cracked?”
Qi Xia asked doubtfully.
“Yeah, it really looks like a hole opened up in the sky. Is this atmospheric phenomenon called ‘I suspect the Milky Way has fallen from the Nine Heavens’?”
Qi Xia pursed his lips helplessly.
“Uncle, although I don't know what this phenomenon is, the one you mentioned definitely doesn't exist.”
The driver gave a simple-minded laugh and sat down in the driver's seat.
“But they say the opening is getting smaller. It should disappear in a little while. Once those glowing things aren't blocking the road anymore, we'll be able to go.”
Qi Xia nodded, took out his phone, and froze for a moment.
“It's past two in the morning?!”
“Yeah…”
The driver also stretched.
“Young man, you’re a decent guy, and I’m not a stingy person either, so I turned off the meter a long time ago. Otherwise, all this waiting time on the road would have cost a pretty penny.”
That wasn't what Qi Xia was concerned about at all. What he realized was that Yu Nian'an still hadn't replied to his message. A feeling of unease spread through his heart.
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