Cave Refuge-Chapter 271 - 267 Sudden Shake _1
An abrupt earthquake caused many buildings in Pengcheng to crack. Surprisingly, this wasn’t due to poor construction quality. On the contrary, this was a result of repeated natural disasters over the years - whether they were extreme cold or hot temperatures, followed by prolonged periods of flooding.
There is an old saying that buildings can withstand a thousand years of dryness, a million years of dampness, but just half a year of intermittent dryness and wetness. Buildings in Pengcheng were showing signs of exterior peeling. Before the natural disaster, city officials would have arranged for immediate repair to maintain city appearance. But in these desperate times, no one had the leisure to care about the aesthetics of building exteriors, a habitable environment was all that mattered.
The sudden earthquake reminded everyone of scenes from the previous natural catastrophes, causing everyone to swiftly evacuate from various buildings.
Before everyone could exit the buildings, the earth shook once again, causing the cracks on the buildings to widen further.
Fortunately, after that shake, there were no more tremors. However, none of the survivors dared to reenter the buildings. Everyone was terrified, standing in open spaces.
About an hour had passed. Because of the abrupt earthquake, everyone was in a state of panic while descending the stairs and could only hastily grab a coat. Even though current temperatures were comfortable, everyone’s attire was quite casual.
After such a long wait, and realizing the earthquake did not reoccur, many people wanted to return home to change their clothing first.
Once this thought entered their minds, regardless of others urging them against it, they mindlessly overlooked the danger, believing their ideas were right.
As more and more people returned to the buildings, the number of survivors left in the open space started to dwindle. Those who initially intended to simply change clothes and return outside ended up removing their coats and laying on their beds to continue sleeping.
Because Father Dong and Mother Dong lived on a higher floor, they remained on People’s Square after evacuation. This was also because they were with a group of the elderly.
Though they too descended in panic and were clad in randomly put on coats, once they arrived at People’s Square, and stood with others, they were each handed a blanket to wear.
While it had been over an hour since the last earthquake, those residing in office buildings -- largely located on high floors like Father Dong and Mother Dong -- decided unanimously for safety measures to spend the night at People’s Square.
By this point, night had fallen. Dong Tianyu was in the cave playing hide and seek with the canaries. Dong Tianyu played the hunter while the canaries, dressed in various cosplays, hid. Once caught by Dong Tianyu, they would accept his playful punishment.
During the game, to maintain the fun factor, Dong Tianyu intentionally sealed his Divine Sense. Otherwise, no matter where the canaries hid, a wave of Divine Sense would allow him to instantly find their hiding spots. If he cheated with this method, the fun of the game would be lost. It would have been better to be a punching machine.
Despite watching Dong Tianyu play with the canaries every day in different ways, the longer the pause between natural disasters, the more uneasy Dong Tianyu became.
Not because of potential danger to himself, but because of concern for his parents’ safety, who were still living outside.
Some people might see Dong Tianyu’s actions and thoughts as self-contradictory.
He claims to worry about his parents facing danger living outside but doesn’t accommodate them in the undoubtedly safe cave. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
But the reality can be compared to a child who has just graduated. Whether the child’s first post-graduate job is good or bad, parents respect the child’s decision.
Parents believe that as long as the child is not engaged in illegal and criminal work, it doesn’t really matter if their first job is good or bad. After all, parents will provide a safety net.
This is Dong Tianyu’s current mindset too. As long as his parents are comfortable and safe outside, let them continue doing so. In case something happens, he can bring them into the cave. He can provide the safety net.
However, as time passed and the natural disasters did not reoccur, Dong Tianyu began to lose confidence. Hence, whenever he had the time, Dong Tianyu would subconsciously glance at the data layout in his mind.
As long as the daily number of survival points collected remained unchanged, it meant that the next round of natural disasters hadn’t yet occurred. For the time being, Dong Tianyu didn’t need to worry about his parents’ safety.
But when Dong Tianyu finished counting down and was about to "hunt," an involuntary glance at the data layout alerted him that the daily survival points had increased from ten to eleven.
Just a single-digit change, but this indicated that a new round of natural disasters had begun.
Worried about his parents’ safety, Dong Tianyu rushed out of the cave without paying any mind to the canaries still hiding.
When Dong Tianyu returned to the cave, he found that many stones had fallen inside. The cave had not collapsed yet, but the occasional falling rocks served as a constant reminder to Dong Tianyu that the cave was currently dangerous and that he needed to leave as soon as possible.
By this time, the two tremors had already ended. Standing on the platform, Dong Tianyu looked into the distance, finding no difference from before.
However, since the falling rocks had appeared in the cave and the daily survival points on the Data Layout had increased, this indicated that a new disaster had arrived. Dong Tianyu simply didn’t know what type of disaster it was.
But for the moment, everything else was secondary. What mattered was getting to the office building to check if his parents were in danger.
With this thought, Dong Tianyu immediately released the black car from the storage space. After a brief thought, he adjusted the interior of the car, adding a door that could be freely opened between the front and rear compartments.
Then, he placed numerous individual rations, self-heating food, and several barrels of pure water in the rear compartment before quickly driving the black car toward People’s Square.
Because People’s Square was the only open area nearby, many survivors gathered there. Despite the bold survivors who had returned to their homes, many people still came here.
However, as more and more people gathered here, although the situation was a bit noisy, the fear the survivors felt from the earthquake gradually dissipated. As they shared their experiences, smiles reappeared on their faces.
Fortunately, People’s Square is located next to West City District’s Main Avenue. Although the number of cars in Pengcheng was gradually increasing, most of the vehicles on the roads were trucks, with very few SUVs on the road.
There were very few three-box sedans, and those two-seater supercars or mini cars were basically not repaired due to their impracticality.
Due to the scarcity of private cars, even though there were two earthquakes, there were no traffic jams on Main Avenue.
Dong Tianyu arrived at People’s Square in his black car without any obstructions. Seeing the crowd squeezed in the middle of the square, he was worried about his parents’ situation and immediately used Divine Sense to find their location.
Although the survivors in People’s Square were numerous, the scanning speed of Divine Sense was extremely fast. Before long, Dong Tianyu found where his parents were, as well as the members of the other elderly groups around them.
After seeing his parents’ current situation, Dong Tianyu finally relaxed.
After parking the black car, Dong Tianyu immediately got out and approached his parents.
Before Dong Tianyu could see his parents, he was stopped by the Command Post’s security.
Now, not knowing anyone’s combat capabilities beforehand and with many martial artists in Pengcheng having guns, the security member who stopped Dong Tianyu did not speak rudely and instead explained politely that the group inside was made up of families of government officials. He asked Dong Tianyu to stay away unless there was something important.
Just as Dong Tianyu was about to explain that his parents were inside, Ye Liuyun’s voice came from behind:
"Don, you’re here. I figured you’d come. Don’t worry - your parents are with my family. Even if you hadn’t come in time, just with our relationship, they would have been looked after."
After hearing Ye Liuyun’s words, the security member who had stopped Dong Tianyu instantly realized he had mistaken him for someone else and was worried that Dong Tianyu would give him trouble.
Dong Tianyu reached into his pocket (storage space) and took out a pack of cigarettes, forcing it into the security member’s pocket before he could decline. Dong Tianyu said:
"Brother, don’t worry. You’ve done nothing wrong, you’re protecting the safety of my parents. I’ll not only no get mad but I’m also very thankful to you. Take it, I won’t disturb you anymore."
After that, without waiting for the security member’s response, Dong Tianyu pulled Ye Liuyun to his parents’ location.
Because everyone was somewhat tired and sitting on the ground, when Dong Tianyu was stopped by the security member, many people turned their eyes this way. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson got up immediately when they saw their son coming.
Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Thompson standing up in the crowd, Dong Tianyu let go of Ye Liuyun’s arm and quickly walked to his parents’ side.
"Dad, Mom, are you two alright?"
After the earthquake, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were a bit panicked. Living in Pengcheng for most of their lives, they had never experienced an earthquake, so it was normal for them to be a bit at a loss.
Luckily, other members of their elderly group who had young people at home were quick to react when the earthquake occurred. They not only woke their families and urged them downstairs but also responsibly informed their neighbors to seek refuge.
