Earth Era

severely wounded

When Qin Feng woke up, it was already three days later. In the dim light, things around him seemed blurry, and he couldn't distinguish whether it was day or night, nor did he know where he was.

At that moment, a girl's voice asked, "Are you awake?"

Qin Feng looked around but couldn't see anyone, only hearing the voice.

"Xiao Ya?" he tentatively asked, his voice hoarse.

A figure walked up to him, but it wasn't Xiao Ya; it was a stranger.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Qin Feng paused, looking at her white coat, he figured she was a nurse, then glanced around, "Is this... a hospital?"

"Yeah," she answered and casually turned on the light, brightening up the room.

It was a spacious white room with a few machines around besides the bed he was lying on, slightly barren but standard for a hospital room. There was a large French window nearby, and outside it seemed picturesque, but it was clearly a simulated screen.

"What happened? Is this a bunker?" Qin Feng tried to sit up, but as soon as he did, a sharp pain shot through his head, forcing him to lie back down.

She nodded, "Yes, do you not remember what happened?"

Qin Feng frowned, pondering, "I remember, I was knocked out by an explosion."

"Not just now, three days ago," she chuckled.

Qin Feng looked at her in astonishment. She pointed to his head, saying, "Someone saved you. Luckily, you're fine, just banged your head."

Banged his head and still fine?!

Qin Feng skeptically touched the back of his head, "Ouch! It hurts!"

"Who saved me?" he asked.

"I don't know," she glanced at the machines, jotting something down on her notepad, "You just need to know you're alive. Rest up." With that, she left without looking back.

Qin Feng furrowed his brow, thinking, 'At such a critical moment, everyone was probably busy saving themselves, right? Who would have the time to rescue someone? Could it be Xiao Ya...' But just as he was about to ask the nurse if she had seen Xiao Ya, the lights in the room went out, and the nurse vanished without a trace.

He felt extremely frustrated, not because the nurse left too quickly or because he hadn't asked the question he wanted to, but because for the first time in his life, he needed to go to the bathroom urgently, yet he was helpless, and there was no one around...

The next day, Qin Feng's father arrived, accompanied by several soldiers. Upon entering, he immediately rushed to Qin Feng's bedside and looked him up and down before asking, "How are you feeling?"

Grimacing, Qin Feng replied, "My bladder's about to explode."

"..."

His father quickly signaled for a few people to come forward and help.

Qin Feng asked his father, "Where's Mom? Why hasn't she come?"

His father shook his head silently and said, "Don't worry, the search and rescue team sent by the United Coalition Authority has already set out."

"Perhaps... she's somewhere in the bunker looking for us," Qin Feng said calmly.

"Okay," his father nodded, patting his shoulder.

Qin Feng's father was the commander of the Special Marine Corps of Silver City's 22nd District. Due to the chaotic situation outside, with the defense against aliens and rescue operations in full swing, he didn't linger for too long and left. Before leaving, Qin Feng lightly said four words to him: "Take care, Dad."

Several days later, Qin Feng had mostly recovered, largely thanks to the attentive care of the nurse miss Xu Jia...

After spending a few days together, the two of them gradually got acquainted and became familiar with each other. Her name was Xu Jia, 19 years old this year, three years older than Qin Feng.

On the day of his discharge, she came to help him tidy up the bed and asked, "Where are you planning to go?"

He thought for a moment and said, "To find my mother."

"Good luck!"

Qin Feng nodded and left. He came to the central square full of hope, hoping to find any news about his mother, but unexpectedly, he encountered Xiao Ya here.

Her eyes were slightly red as she stood in front of the central screen, motionless, with several soldiers standing beside her.

Qin Feng coldly scanned the faces of the soldiers and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Upon hearing his voice, Xiao Ya glanced at Qin Feng, then suddenly burst into tears.

Qin Feng hurriedly went up to her and embraced her. Tears quickly soaked his shoulder. He had never seen her cry so sorrowfully, so heartbroken.

After a long time, she gently pushed Qin Feng away, wiped her tears, and sobbed, "I have to go." Without giving him any chance to ask questions, she turned and left, not even looking back.

Qin Feng stood there dumbfounded. By the time he snapped out of it, Xiao Ya and the soldiers had already disappeared into the sea of people...

It was then that he noticed the huge central screen beside him, scrolling through the list of deceased and missing persons. Qin Feng instantly had a foreboding feeling.

Sure enough, when he saw Xiao Ya's parents appear on the screen, his head buzzed instantly!

Several hours later...

"Huh? Why are you back? Did you find your mother?" Xu Jia asked.

Qin Feng nodded.

She looked around and asked again, "Then where is your mother?"

Qin Feng didn't say anything, he just went up and hugged her.

That night, Xu Jia took him to her place and cooked several of her signature dishes for him, but he didn't even look at them and went straight into his room.

She didn't know what had happened, only that he was in the room crying alone, crying bitterly all night long!

For a long time (probably more than two months~), Qin Feng's mood was very low. He was deeply immersed in self-blame and regret...

If he hadn't stopped Xiao Ya from going to find her mother that night, would their mother still be alive? If he had agreed to go home with Xiao Ya that night, would they at least have been able to see their mother one last time?

It was all his fault. He hadn't thought that his mother couldn't find him and would rather die than leave home. He deprived Xiao Ya of the right to see her mother one last time. He "personally" killed his own mother! So Xiao Ya should hate him because he was the murderer!

Xu Jia tried to comfort him, saying, "It's not your fault, you did nothing wrong! If you two had gone home in such a dangerous situation, you would have died too! You're not the culprit, it's those aliens!"

Qin Feng remained silent. During this time, he had visited Sector 3 of the Air Defense Zone more than once to find Xiao Ya, just to say, "I'm sorry!"

But he was always turned away, Xiao Ya's response was always, "I don't want to see you."