Return countdown: 120:01:39.
In a bank in the fourth district, more than forty time travelers were hiding with more than twenty refugees.
The forty-two Timewalkers were from the same team. They had taken refuge in this bank in advance because they encountered a rat swarm. Later, out of kindness, they opened the door and took in more than twenty refugees.
Of these 42 people, 3 were cliff challengers who had just completed their 5th challenge and each ate 5 Longevity Fruits.
You also need to be more determined than others.
Ye Han, who was also a challenger, hugged a trembling eight-year-old boy and comforted him: "Don't be afraid, little brother. Take a nap. Your seniors are here to protect you."
A piece of flesh had been bitten off the little boy's calf by a rat, and Ye Han could only give him a simple bandage; there was nothing else she could do.
Inside the bank lobby, the refugees trembled, their faces filled with despair.
They comforted each other, and Zhang Hubao, the challenger who had supported Hu Jingyi at the cliff, whispered, "Don't worry too much, everyone. The little dean provided these shelters so we can avoid the storm for now. There are too many rats outside. He will come to pick us up once things calm down a bit."
"Will the young dean really come?" the traveler asked worriedly.
“He should,” Zhang Hubao nodded and said, “He made such a detailed plan and set up such detailed refuge points for us, which is precisely to make it easier for him to pick us up. Don’t worry, don’t let the refugees’ despair affect us, we must conserve our strength.”
To be honest, Zhang Hubao wasn't sure either. He didn't know if the boss would come to their rescue in such a dangerous situation.
According to common sense, it's understandable that no one would come to the rescue. Who would put themselves in danger time and time again? Besides, Zhang Hubao knew that if Qingchen really wanted to rescue someone, there would be too many teams to help.
Just then, a rumbling sound suddenly came from outside the bank. Someone looked through the blinds and saw a dense swarm of rats rushing past.
Because the bank had already been looted, the rat swarm did not search the area again.
But the next moment, someone on the opposite building suddenly screamed instinctively.
The swarm of rats outside suddenly stopped and swarmed towards the source of the screams.
After a long while, the screams from the building across the street stopped.
Everyone sat quietly in the bank, silently waiting for Qingchen's rescue, not daring to speak.
One hour, two hours... eight hours, twelve hours.
Zhang Hubao and his group never received any rescue.
Until all expectations slowly begin to turn into disappointment, or even despair.
Later, when someone asked Zhang Hubao whether the young director would come to save everyone, Zhang Hubao just said blankly... "Probably."
Because he didn't know either.
"Why don't we charge out ourselves? Maybe there's still a glimmer of hope," challenger Ye Han said.
Zhang Hubao refocused his eyes: "No, too much time has passed. According to the boss's estimate, the rat swarm has already formed. No one can survive to cross dozens of kilometers."
"Yes, no one can survive crossing dozens of kilometers, so no one will come to rescue us."
Just then, there was a clear knock on the door.
Then a tired voice said, "Open the door."
Zhang Hubao's eyes lit up, and all the Time Travelers stood up!
That's the young dean's voice!
They tried to open the bank's gates, but the refugees stopped them: "Don't open the gate! What if the people outside bring in the rat swarm?"
Zhang Hubao calmly said, "Make way, we're leaving. Whether you want to follow is your own business."
After saying that, he pushed the refugees aside and pulled up the bank's gate.
Under the moonlight, Qing Chen stood outside the door, looking exhausted: "Sorry I'm late."
Zhang Hubao's nose tingled with emotion: "Please don't say that. We're not late. Everyone is still alive."
“Let’s go,” Qingchen said with a smile, “I’ll take you to meet up with the others.”
Zhang Hubao carried the injured 8-year-old boy on his back and nodded vigorously.
The people in the bank didn't follow, and Qingchen didn't try to stop them.
Each stage has its own choices, and at this point, he can only save those who are willing to believe in him.
...
...
Return countdown: 105:39:02.
Xiao San and his group had just repelled a wave of rats, and everyone sat panting on the damp sandbags. At this point, no one cared about their appearance; they just wanted to sit down and rest for a bit.
There are also many women in the parents' meeting. The mistress doesn't let them go to the battlefield, but only lets them do some logistical work.
At this moment, the women carried away their fallen family members on makeshift stretchers.
They carried the load while tears streamed down their faces, because some family members had their hand bones gnawed out by rats, and others were still in the act of tearing at rats.
The gruesome state of those corpses was too painful to look at.
The logistics personnel placed the bodies one by one at the back. No one knew if they would have the chance to bury them again. Perhaps they too would soon lie there and reunite with their comrades underground.
There were also wounded soldiers on stretchers, trying not to cry out, for fear of affecting morale.
The mistress turned her head away and didn't dare to look for a long time.
A voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie: "They're back! The parents are back!"
Everyone stood up and looked, only to see Qing Chen leading more than a hundred people running quickly. Fortunately, the rat horde had just been driven back, otherwise these people probably wouldn't have been able to escape so easily.
"Quickly, quickly," the mistress said, "heat up the food so he can eat a few bites as soon as he gets back!"
This was the seventh wave of students that Qing Chen had brought back. During this time, Qing Chen only sat on the ground once to use the Knight's Breathing Technique to regulate his body before leaving again.
The refugees saw him repeatedly bring them back, and everyone remembered his figure.
As Qingchen was leaving, an older woman secretly asked Xiaosan, "Does this young man have a girlfriend? He seems so amiable."
The mistress couldn't help but laugh bitterly: "You're wrong if you think he's all amiable. Did you see the news about him smashing through Base A02? He's the one who single-handedly defeated the Kamishiro Group."
The story is getting more and more outlandish. In the mistress's eyes, Qingchen is only missing three heads and six arms; everything else is perfect.
After Qing Chen escorted Zhang Hubao and the others to the defensive line, he simply asked, "Casualties?"
Xiao San's face darkened: "3,192 people died, 7,121 were slightly injured, and 1,409 were seriously injured."
Qingchen asked again, "Can you hold on?"
The mistress immediately stood up straight: "Yes!"
Qing Chen nodded: "Hold on to the death."
After saying that, he turned and left without pausing for even a moment.
"Parents, please stay and have something to eat and rest," the third sister said anxiously.
Qing Chen simply waved his hand and said nothing more.
There are dozens of Time Walkers and children waiting for him, so he doesn't have much time to pity himself.
Moreover, the rat swarm is growing larger and larger. He can wait, but those who are still waiting for others probably don't have that much time left.
Zhang Mengqian suddenly said, "Actually, the boss is punishing himself. He made the people from Kunlun, along with you, stay in this city. Every time one of you dies, he feels more guilty, even if he only made the right decision."
“But we don’t blame him,” the mistress said.
“Whether you resent him or not has nothing to do with it,” Zhang Mengqian replied.
Xiao San realized that this was what Principal Zheng meant when he said: the person who makes the decision suffers the most, and if you want to take over command, you have to bear this pain.
Qin Shuli gazed in the direction Qing Chen had left, remaining silent.
He had very little interaction with Qingchen, and even after marrying Zhang Wanfang, he rarely visited Qingchen.
At that time, he was worried from the bottom of his heart that Zhang Wanfang would often meet with Qing Guozhong because of Qing Chen.
During that period, Qing Guozhong even went to Qin Shuli's factory to borrow money, saying that if he didn't lend him money, he would dump Qingchen on Zhang Wanfang and Qin Shuli to support.
It's a terrible life experience for a current husband to have his wife's ex-husband come to him asking for money.
Therefore, when Qin Shuli examined the father and son Qing Guozhong and Qing Chen, he instinctively felt some rejection.
To be honest, any normal person would be repulsed by it.
After Qing Guozhong was imprisoned, Qin Shuli asked a friend to find out what happened. He then discovered that the person who reported Qing Guozhong was called "Mr. Qing, a concerned citizen." Who else could it be but Qing Chen?
However, Qin Shuli couldn't understand why Qing Chen would report Qing Guozhong.
Later, Qin Shuli arrived in the other world. When he learned that the parent at the parent-teacher conference was Qing Chen, he began to collect all the information related to that boy.
At that moment, Qin Shuli realized he was wrong. Qing Chen and Qing Guozhong were completely different, and he shouldn't have projected his prejudice against Qing Guozhong onto Qing Chen.
When the villa caught fire during the day, and Zhang Wanfang pulled him away from going to check it, Qin Shuli felt a strange sadness rise in his heart.
He didn't blame Zhang Wanfang, because his wife had also suffered a lot. She had finally reached the age of 40 and was now enjoying a better life. He really couldn't let go of everything she had now.
Qin Shuli felt that they all owed Qingchen a debt. That boy had a gambler father and a mother who didn't care about him at all; his life must have been very hard these past years.
In the other world, he worked tirelessly, always feeling that he should do more.
At the parent-teacher meeting, no one except Luo Wanya knew that Qin Shuli had another relationship with the parents. He worked hard little by little to rise from the blue family to the gold family.
Now, watching that boy slowly grow into a towering tree that shelters everyone, he felt inexplicably happy, even though he felt he didn't even have the right to be happy.
As the campfire was lit, Qin Shuli said to his family, "Let's go and continue collecting clothes."
At this moment, Zhang Mengqian arrived at the defense line and conveyed the method of protecting the neck. Qin Shuli collected clothes day and night and sent them to the front line so that Xiao San and the others could wrap their necks.
As a result, Qin Shuli had only taken two steps when everything went black. Many people did not notice that Qin Shuli had not slept for more than 30 hours.
"Are you alright, family member?" someone quickly helped him up.
Qin Shuli stood up and smiled, "It's alright, let's go find some clothes."
However, at this moment, several middle-aged women stepped out from the queue and said, "You all look so tired, you should take a rest. If you need clothes, we can go to your homes to get them for you; we have some clothes at home."
Xiao San was stunned: "You guys hurry back to the group, it's dangerous here."
"Don't worry about this," the women said, turning to the long line behind them. "Anyone with clothes at home, go home and get them for the young men!"
Many refugees in the line remained unmoved.
If you leave, you'll have to queue up again.