“Missing?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
“Yes. It is said that the last time a worker saw the missing person, it was around 2 am. He sat up from his bed and muttered a few words. Then, he put on his clothes, got up, and walked out of the room. At that time, his roommates thought that he had just gone out to use the toilet. They never expected him not to return.
“Later, the construction company gathered people to look for him. Only then did they find his hard hat and wallet in the half-built tunnel. However, they were unable to find him. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air. This incident also caused a small riot because the subway tunnel they were building did not have any forks. The end was also a dead end. No one could think of where to hide him.”
Ma Lu hesitated for a moment before continuing, “It’s because our city has been regarded as the dynasty’s capital for the past few centuries. At that time, there was a rumor circulating in the construction team that this subway line had destroyed the underground dragon vein. The disappearance of that worker was a warning. This rumor became more and more popular after more and more people fell ill for no reason. However, the management of the construction company was more inclined to the idea that the missing person had actually been killed by the enemy. The safety helmet and wallet in the tunnel were just a trap set up by the murderer. As for why no one was found alive or dead, the murderer threw the body into the blender and mixed it with the concrete.
“A speculation of this sort is indeed more realistic, especially since the missing person had an emotional dispute with another worker on his team. The two happened to be from the same village, and the suspect liked a girl from there. The dowry was originally agreed upon, but the missing person interfered and added 30,000 yuan to the dowry. As a result, the two became enemies, and the suspect had a credible motive for murder. Later, the police conducted an investigation, but perhaps due to outdated testing at that time, they were unable to find any substantial evidence and had no choice but to release the suspect.”
Zhang Heng nodded. “Do you know what the missing person said before he left the house?”
“The worker who lived with him didn’t hear it clearly because he was half-asleep. He said that he only heard one sentence, something that sounded like the water was a little cold.”
“The water was a little cold?”
“It was quite strange because it was summer at the time. It hadn’t rained for a few days, and there weren’t many lakes and rivers nearby. Perhaps he dreamt of his hometown while he was sleeping.” He didn’t really believe in such things, though, and usually only heard it in casual chats after dinner.
But as he had said, the three were now in this subway tunnel, and they hadn’t seen the next platform even after walking for so long. Combined with the rumors he had heard, Ma Lu couldn’t help but shudder, no matter how big he was.
However, the culprit that caused all of this didn’t seem to have much of a reaction.
Furthermore, to Ma Lu’s surprise, Zhang Heng opened his mouth and said, “I’m close to understanding what happened to the missing worker.”
Ma Lu was stunned when he heard that. After a moment, he said, “What?” “What are you saying? That’s just a legend. Furthermore, it’s been so long since we were at the scene that night. The police at that time were unable to investigate the matter, so how do you know what happened?”
“It’s simple. Because we’re experiencing the very thing that’s happened to him,” Zhang Heng said calmly.
His words seemed to have caused the temperature in the tunnel to drop by a few degrees.
Ma Lu’s heart turned cold, and he forced a smile. “Now is not a good time to joke around.”
“Indeed,” Zhang Heng admitted. “Unfortunately, I’m not joking around.”
As he spoke, he stopped and picked up a coin from the ground in front of him. “I dropped this coin 30 minutes ago.”
“What do you mean?” Ma Lu was a little confused.
“It means we’re going in a circle,” Zhang Heng said.
“How is that possible?” Ma Lu’s eyes widened, “There are no forks in this tunnel, and we haven’t turned back. We’ve been walking in one direction. Even if we did go in a circle unknowingly, we should have seen the platform we came from.”
“Logically speaking, yes,” Zhang Heng said. “But the situation we’re facing now can not be explained by common sense.”
“My friend, have you gotten too engrossed in the story I told you earlier?” Ma Lu smiled bitterly. He turned his gaze to Fan Meinan, hoping to get some support from him; however, Fan Meinan’s face showed that he had completely accepted Zhang Heng’s explanation. After that, he asked with a serious expression, “Did you find anything else?”
“Time is still ticking.” Zhang Heng compared the starfish on his wrist to the time on his phone, and he found that the timing was the same.
Even though the starfish watch was a birthday present from Zhang Heng’s parents, it had a lot to do with the old man. Whether it was in the pocket dimension or the real world, its speed remained the same. Therefore, as long as it was compared to the phone, it was easy to see a problem with the time.
In addition, Zhang Heng was also keeping an eye on his physiological condition. Up until now, at least, his metabolism had remained at a normal level. In other words, what they were facing now was not a problem similar to a time loop, more like someone had unwittingly picked out a section of the tunnel from the beginning and connected it to the end, forming a closed loop.
Was It Loki’s doing?
It sure sounded like his style but combined with the story before this. Zhang Heng didn’t think it was Loki’s doing, or at least it wasn’t to deal with them. This had, after all, happened more than 50 years ago when the subway line had just been built. If nothing went wrong, the missing worker had been trapped in this tunnel with no exit or entrance.
However, the other party was different from them. He seemed to have been summoned to enter the tunnel. Before he left, he mentioned water, which should be a key information point. However, the scope was too wide, so Zhang Heng didn’t have any leads at the moment.
“So, is this a hallucination?” Fan Meinan asked as she reached out to touch the wall. The feeling on her fingertips was extremely real. She could even clearly feel the roughness and coldness of the stone wall. Then, Fan Meinan picked up a small stone and threw it on the other side of the stone wall. It bounced off and did not pass through the wall.
