Chapter 216: Escape
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
Even though Lin Sanjiu should be able to fly in her higher consciousness state, that was under the premise that she was not carrying any load. While she carried two people weighing up to 180 pounds, she couldn't even fly being dragged down by their weight, much less change directions. It took all her energy just to keep the kids from falling too fast.
Hearing Reno's sudden shout, her heart missed a beat as she swung her eyes upward. She instantly felt a bout of bitterness.
Have you ever seen an ice-cream cone which had been under the summer sun for too long?
The 30-stories residential building that they were in had somehow become oddly flexible. It curved down on them like a banana. It had created a platform, composed of a floor of apartments, as if ready to 'catch' them when they landed.
The apartments which made up the platform were stretched and flattened. Under the dazzling glass windows, the multiple dead bodies belonging to the former residents were also flattened. "Pop!" An eyeball burst under the pressure of the windows and became a squishy mess.
The building which was supposed to be made of reinforced concrete was now displaying unbelievable flexibility and movement. Cracks appeared on the bricks which formed the walls of the building as loud creaks filled the air. They sounded like the cackles of a gigantic creature.
"Ahhh! It's coming. It's coming!" Rena suddenly shrieked while she struggled in midair. Her excessive movements made it even harder for Lin Sanjiu to maintain their falling speed. Unfortunately, Lin Sanjiu could not say a word. Lin Sanjiu tried her best to endure it for some time but finally, she faltered like an injured bird trying its best to flap its wings. The siblings fell unimpeded for a segment. Reno was so scared that she shouted once again. "Fly further away!"
There was an apartment, from whichever floor, very close to Rena. She could see the open balcony door right in front of her. It was no surprise that Rena was scared because Lin Sanjiu saw the largest family portrait she had ever seen in her life, right behind the open door.
It was a standard family photo of three. Lin Sanjiu could understand how it could come off the wall, move to the balcony and expand to the point that it was higher than the apartment's ceiling. There was a matted reflection on the photo and one of its corners was skewed. The extended portion of the photo was flat and thin. This weird shape caused the faces of the people in the photo to become deformed. It was as if the only feature recognizable were their black eyes. As Lin Sanjiu and the siblings fell closer, the people in the photo seemed to show their gleeful faces.
"Hell, I want to fly further too!" Lin Sanjiu wanted to curse.
If they continued falling like that, Rena wouldn't be the only one who would be snatched away by that family portrait, Reno and herself would also fall straight into that platform of apartments below. In the past, Lin Sanjiu had never really understood the phrase 'sparing no effort'. However, when she saw a row of windows suddenly opening beside her without any warning, she finally understood what that meant. If she was still in her corporeal body, she was sure that forcing herself to use that much strength would have caused her eyeballs to burst like those corpses.
She used all her strength but she still couldn't stop the siblings and herself from falling. Meanwhile, the family portrait was at the railing of a balcony. One of its corners was almost touching Rena's leg. The middle-aged woman in the portrait flashed a wide smile. The three people in the photos were stretched in an even more twisted manner. Rena screamed as one of the pink shoes was caught by them. Shocked, Rena kicked off her shoe such that it hit the family portrait right in the middle. A suddenly low groan rang out. The family portrait suddenly lost its vigor as if it had been struck by an attack.
"I nearly forgot that these shoes are Special Items." Rena gasped as the air rushed past her while she was falling. Then, she shouted, "Quick! Let go before it recovers!"
Lin Sanjiu felt a moment of relief and when she heard Rena, she managed to forcefully change their direction. She created some distance between them and the residential building. Noticing that they were further, the building bent further, while a rapid succession of cracking sounds filled the air. The roof of the building lowered further and almost created a 'C' in midair.
All this happened in less than ten seconds. Meanwhile, Reno started regaining his ability to move. He lowered his head and saw the platform of apartments right underneath him. In less than three seconds, he was going to fall into one of the windows. His face immediately turned pale.
"Brother, don't you have those bombs? Quick! Use it!" Reno heard his sister calling out from above him. With her quick reminder, the teenager quickly removed a chain of small round balls around his belt. Just when Lin Sanjiu was wondering what they were talking about, Reno wrung the chain of balls a few times and threw them all out.
They were greeted by a tsunami of explosion sounds and a strong gust of wind which almost seemed to engulf everything. It was as if someone compressed countless claps of thunder together, or as if something had pierced through the fabric of reality. In any case, if Lin Sanjiu had ears, she would be made deaf. Lin Sanjiu had never encountered any explosion of this degree.
The blast wave flung the three of them almost a kilometer away from the explosion. Seeing that they were close to the ground, Lin Sanjiu relaxed and released her grip on the siblings. They fell heavily to the ground. The fireball behind them had swallowed almost everything. The siblings were battered by shards of glass, concrete, and steel. Thankfully, though they were covered in wounds, they had left that strange building.
Rena wiped the dust and blood off her face and looked at her brother before shouting at him, "Are you stupid? Why did you throw so many bombs?"
"What did you say?" Reno replied in the same volume. He dug his ears and answered, "I can't hear you!"
Lin Sanjiu returned to her usual form. When she looked at herself, she couldn't help feeling upset. With such an exertion, she had used up a large amount of her higher consciousness. Not only did her thoracic vertebrae and rib bones disappear, even the skull covering her brain was almost gone. Hearing the siblings squabbling despite becoming near deaf, she wrote 'Let's go!' and flew away first.
It was only then that the siblings reacted and followed her in a hurry. When the three of them walked past the other buildings in the residential area, the main doors of those buildings suddenly opened. From the looks of it, the buildings in this residential area had become weird 'demonic buildings'.
Haunted by the traumatic experience, the siblings gasped for air as they ran for almost over ten minutes before they finally left the residential area far behind them. They could already see the train tracks leading toward the train station. Reno suddenly stopped and gripped his sister's arm.
"What?" Rena shouted. Lin Sanjiu turned around.
"Look…" Reno said while he pointed in the direction that they came from. That residential building which was right in the middle of the blast was still standing. After the smoke and fire cleared, it returned to its normal position with the same cracking sounds without showing much damage other than a few dark burnt marks. It appeared to be normal once again.