Chapter 90
The teenage punks, dressed in leather jackets and pants, took off their silver-grey helmets and whistled at Shen Baizhou and Xing Nuo, who were wearing matching duck helmets.
“Hey, dude, what do you think? Pretty cool, huh?”
The other punks yelled and laughed, blocking Shen Baizhou’s path.
Shen Baizhou got off the scooter, took off his helmet, his silver-streaked hair falling over his forehead, and looked up at them, his monolid lifting lazily.
“Why are you blocking the road?”
He didn’t care about these teenagers.
He just wanted to continue his ride along the riverbank with his little brother, who was clearly enjoying his first scooter experience.
Xing Nuo also jumped off, took off his helmet, his hair tousled, and, clutching his brother’s clothes, looked at the teenagers.
One of the punks, seeing Shen Baizhou’s silver hair, exclaimed, “Whoa, dude! Your hair is awesome! Where did you get it dyed? It’s so evenly distributed!”
Shen Baizhou, his monolid drooping, looked at him indifferently and replied after a moment:
“It’s natural.”
The punks clearly didn’t believe him and surrounded Shen Baizhou.
Their leader, his face filled with disdain, bumped Shen Baizhou with his shoulder.
“Oof!”
He yelped, clutching his shoulder, which now ached from the impact. He hadn’t even moved Shen Baizhou.
His face contorted in pain, then anger, he pointed at Shen Baizhou.
“You think you’re so tough?! I’ve had my eye on you since we saw you outside school! Riding that stupid scooter, you think you’re so cool?!”
Shen Baizhou, still looking indifferent, pulled Xing Nuo behind him.
“Look behind you,” he said calmly.
The punk leader, about to order his gang to attack, was interrupted by one of his underlings, who poked him nervously.
“Boss! Look behind you!”
A sense of foreboding washed over him, and he quickly turned around, his eyes widening.
The once empty intersection was now filled with wrecked cars.
The cars were covered in dust, the bloodstains dried and black, a foul stench filling the air.
It looked like a major accident. A skeletal figure could be seen through the shattered window of the car in the middle.
The teenagers, horrified, took a step back.
“What the hell is this?!”
“A car accident? But there were no cars here!”
“Did we travel through time?! Are we in some kind of apocalypse movie?!”
The peaceful riverside path had become a wide highway.
Traffic lights lay broken on the ground, one still eerily glowing red, the surrounding buildings dilapidated and crumbling.
The entire city looked like a deserted wasteland.
Xing Nuo, peeking out from behind his brother, looked at the scene, his face puzzled, and scratched his cheek.
“Big Brother, we go wong way?”
Shen Baizhou picked him up, flicked his curls, and said in his usual lazy tone:
“No, we didn’t. Still want to ride the scooter?”
Xing Nuo, hugging his duck helmet, nodded eagerly.
“Wun awound! Wind on face…feel good!”
The autumn breeze, cool against his face, warmed by the sun, felt wonderful.
And he felt like he could fly when he was on the scooter, his arms outstretched.
Shen Baizhou, ignoring the terrified teenagers, put Xing Nuo back on the scooter, swung his long leg over, and turned the handlebars.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Xing Nuo’s face lit up, and he raised his hand, his head barely peeking over the handlebars.
“Let’s go!”
They rode past the wrecked cars and continued their ride through the strange, deserted city.
The teenage punks, still trying to figure out what was going on, watched them go.
“Boss, what do we do?”
“Should we follow them?”
“This place is creepy. I feel like a monster is going to jump out any second!”
Their leader, still a teenager himself, having never experienced anything like this, frowned and snorted.
“Follow that brother complex guy? Don’t be ridiculous! How strong can he be?”
He might look cool, but he was just a high school student playing with his little brother.
“He’s too scared to even skip class. Following him will only get us killed faster!”
His initial fear replaced by a strange excitement, he thought, Maybe this is my chance! A chance to become powerful in this chaotic world!
He waved his hand, leading his gang in the opposite direction.
He was going to find his opportunity in this city!
Shen Baizhou and Xing Nuo found a quiet, deserted road.
Green willows swayed gently in the breeze, the river clear and sparkling in the sunlight.
Shen Baizhou slowed down, letting Xing Nuo enjoy the scenery.
Xing Nuo’s eyes widened, taking in the beautiful view, gasping in awe.
“So pwetty! Big Brother, we take Daddy here too!”
Shen Baizhou stopped the scooter, picked up Xing Nuo, and they walked towards the riverbank.
Xing Nuo skipped ahead, trying to reach the willow branches, then turned to show his brother.
Shen Baizhou walked slowly behind him, watching as he ran through the sunlight, the wind ruffling his curls and the willow branches, dappling his face with light.
He took out his phone and snapped hundreds of pictures.
Satisfied with his work, he saved the pictures and called out to Xing Nuo.
“Xing Nuo, let’s go! We’ll miss lunch if we’re late!”
Today’s lunch was a feast ordered by Shen Yan from the private restaurant. Shen Baizhou loved the white cut chicken and could devour an entire chicken by himself when Xing Nuo wasn’t around.
Xing Nuo hummed, picked up a fallen willow branch, and ran back to his brother, taking his hand.
“Take home…put in vase…show Daddy and Big Brother!”
Shen Baizhou, his lips curving into a smile, seeing him bring back a souvenir, hummed in agreement.
They got back on the scooter, and just as they were about to leave, a tired voice called out from behind them.
“Wait! Wait for me!”
A disheveled man, stumbling towards them, saw Shen Baizhou and rushed over, as if seeing a savior.
“Quick! Quick! Give me a ride! If I don’t catch up to the others, I’m doomed!”
Shen Baizhou looked at him indifferently and kicked his leg as he was about to climb onto the back of the scooter.
“Why should I give you a ride? Who are you?”
The man, his hair messy and greasy, his face grimy, was about to lash out when he saw Shen Baizhou’s face and his eyes widened in shock.
“You’re…that brother complex guy! Shen Baizhou!”
Shen Baizhou, seeing that he recognized him, his expression still indifferent, frowned impatiently.
“What do you want? Who are you…oh, it’s you.”
The man, still wearing the same leather jacket, his greasy hair and face, his eyes filled with disbelief, stared at him.
“No, that’s not right. Why haven’t you changed at all?!”
He looked at Xing Nuo, sitting in front, his curls peeking out from under the duck helmet, and gasped.
“Why?! Your time hasn’t changed?! Why only us?!”
Xing Nuo, looking at the gaunt man, who looked middle-aged, scratched his cheek, puzzled.
“Uncle, you know us?”
He then added politely:
“We go home now. Big Brother taking me. Can’t give you wide.”
The man, still in a daze, stared at Shen Baizhou’s youthful face, his silver-streaked hair almost identical to his memory.
They, the teenage punks, had chosen to go in the opposite direction of Shen Baizhou when they first arrived in this world.
Their leader had led them through the city, but they hadn’t been able to leave.
After encountering a series of dangerous events, they had awakened their abilities and found the other humans hiding in the clock tower.
But before they could establish their dominance, they realized that time was flowing strangely fast.
Especially when they were standing still, they could feel time slipping away.
He had aged over ten years, seemingly overnight, becoming middle-aged.
Some of the people who had been hiding in the clock tower were now old and frail, ravaged by time.
The former punks, realizing the city’s strange properties, had tried to escape on their scooters.
But they couldn’t leave, no matter how far they rode, so they had turned back, going in the opposite direction.
The man had been unlucky. Having not awakened any abilities, he had been the first to be abandoned by his group when they encountered a man-eating monster.
He had escaped, covered in blood, and was now trying to catch up to the others.
He couldn’t be left behind. If he stayed here, time would accelerate, and he would soon be reduced to a skeleton!
Like the one they had seen in the car window when they first arrived!
He had to keep running, outrunning time, to stop it from consuming him.
As if to prove his point, his hair started turning gray at the temples.
He panicked and continued running.
Shen Baizhou, looking at the running man, secured Xing Nuo’s helmet and beeped the scooter’s horn.
“Alright, let’s go home. Ignore him.”
Xing Nuo hummed and looked ahead, seeing the stranger turn to look at them, his eyes filled with shock.
“Why?! Why are you unaffected?!”
Xing Nuo, not understanding the strange uncle, turned his head as they rode past him.
“Uncle, you go home too! Time for lunch!”
The man, startled, wondered how it could be lunchtime already.
Hadn’t over ten years passed for them?
The passage of time had added years to their memories, but those years were empty and meaningless.
Shen Baizhou beeped the horn again, then, looking back at the former punk, said calmly:
“You can’t outrun time.”
The man’s eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets.
“You know! You know what’s happening! Don’t go! Tell me! What’s going on?!”
Shen Baizhou didn’t stop. He had shown his little brother the city’s scenery. It was time to go home.
The scooter, despite its slow speed, caught up to a group of people ahead.
Among them were the former teenage punks, now middle-aged, running tirelessly.
Having run out of fuel for their scooters, they were now on foot, trying to escape the city.
Seeing Shen Baizhou on his scooter, their former leader thought about stealing it, then, seeing his face, his eyes widened in shock.
“Shen Baizhou?! You haven’t changed?!”
His shout made everyone turn to look at the small, yellow scooter.
