“Crack! Boom! Rumble!”
Tang Jiao was jolted awake by what sounded like thunder exploding right next to her ears! Half-awake, she felt the chill in the air and instinctively tucked her son under the covers. It’s already autumn… Why is it thundering? she wondered, rolling over to try and fall back asleep.
Suddenly, a cold, wet sensation splashed across her face. Momentarily stunned, she immediately pulled the blanket over her son and kicked her husband urgently. “Gu Yu! Gu Yu! Wake up! The roof’s leaking!” The words left her mouth even as a strange unease crept over her.
Gu Yu was woken by the familiar kick. Still groggy, he felt the rain and heard Tang Jiao’s words, snapping him fully awake.
He reached for the large miner’s lamp at the bedside. Meanwhile, Tang Jiao secured her son, grabbed a hooded coat from the end of the bed, and put it on, hood and all.
When Gu Yu switched on the lamp and shone it toward the ceiling, they both froze. Following the beam with their eyes, their hearts skipped a beat—they were utterly stunned.
Tang Jiao reacted first, snatching the lamp from Gu Yu and trembling as she scanned the room. The sense of unease only grew stronger.
They exchanged a glance in the dark. Though they could barely see each other, they could feel the shock, disbelief, and rising fear in one another.
This… this… where is this?! This isn’t our house!
This… this… are we… outside???
Indeed—they were in the open wilderness!
But the icy rain and shivering bodies gave them no time to process their shock. The urgent reality of their situation demanded action.
In an instant, they sprang into motion. Phones, tablets, chargers, and other essentials were tucked under the blanket. Mats from under the bed were dragged over to shield items from the rain.
Bending down, Tang Jiao realized something was wrong—the mats, which had been under the bed, were now level with it. And the bed? Where had it gone?
There was no time to dwell. Gu Yu angled the miner’s lamp to illuminate the space and began frantically organizing their belongings, prioritizing anything that couldn’t get wet.
After the chaotic scramble, their modest bedroom was mostly in order. Items that could survive a little rain or drying later were left exposed.
Finally, clad in raincoats and huddled under a large umbrella, they sat on the mattress—one holding the cat, the other the dog. Both pets were young and had somehow wandered into the bedroom during the commotion. They were discovered huddled together in a corner, trembling in fear.
Tang Jiao gently exposed her son’s face from the blanket to let him breathe and patted him as he slept. Nestled close to Gu Yu, they remained alert, watching the dark room around them, hearts racing, waiting in tense silence for the break of dawn.
Tang Jiao and Gu Yu:
Inside, I’m actually panicking like crazy—my mind is a whirlwind of a thousand thoughts, a thousand worries—but all I want is to just… be still…
…
After a long moment of silence, Gu Yu finally spoke: “Honey, what do you think… what’s really going on here?”
Tang Jiao, in truth, already had a vague idea. After all, this situation was far too strange.
While tidying up earlier under the dim lamp light, she had quietly observed their surroundings. They seemed to be standing in a patch of wild grass that reached above their heads—somewhat like thatch, but she had never seen it grow this tall. The poor lighting made it impossible to be sure.
Even in their own mountain home and the surrounding area, they had never seen grass this high.
No—the real issue wasn’t the grass. The problem was that they had suddenly ended up outdoors. So… where was their house?
Had the house vanished into thin air, leaving them behind in some other world? Or was the house still in its place, and they, along with some of their things, had somehow been transported?
That’s the real question.
After sitting down, Tang Jiao had checked her phone—there was absolutely no signal. The signal icon just showed an “X.”
Normally, even on their mountain, the signal was strong. They had already contacted the telecom company, which planned to install wireless internet in a few days. Having no signal at all was impossible.
Tang Jiao patted her restless son with one hand and warmed her other hand on the soft body of the cat in her arms. After a moment of thought, she asked, “Do you think… we’ve transmigrated? Or maybe it’s some kind of space distortion, or a time-space imbalance?”
After all, she loved reading novels about time travel, rebirth, apocalyptic survival, wilderness survival, and hoarding resources in the wild. If reality is already this strange, her brain couldn’t help but run wild—after all, all those novels she’s read shouldn’t have been for nothing.
Gu Yu had vaguely read these kinds of stories under his wife’s relentless recommendations—but he could not accept that this was actually happening to them. And most of all, their son was here too!
That was the main source of his anxiety and fear.
Their son was only four years old. If this was real, how could he survive in such harsh conditions? Not just food and clothing—what if he got sick or injured? Even a simple cold could be life-threatening.
And Tang Jiao herself had always been frail, spoiled by her parents and never used to hardship. Just thinking about all this made Gu Yu feel his hair might fall out.
Tang Jiao, of course, worried about their son too. While tidying earlier, she had silently counted their supplies—and the thought made her sigh even more deeply.
If they couldn’t return soon, their food and supplies simply wouldn’t last.
She felt a pang of denial. She had secretly wished this were all a dream, opening and closing her eyes several times, but every time she opened them, reality was still exactly the same.
She even pinched her husband to be sure, hearing his clear gasp of pain. That was enough to confirm the harsh truth in the cold.
Speaking of cold… Tang Jiao suddenly remembered something and immediately turned to look at Gu Yu…