Chapter 1
Two weeks before the apocalypse, City F.
In the middle of the golden rice field, a girl wearing a straw hat, a long-sleeved shirt, overalls, boots, and gloves is busy harvesting crops. She didn’t rest from morning to noon, and her smooth forehead was full of sweat.
While patting her sore waist, she looked up at the sky, and saw a group of birds flying from the mountain to her direction at a very fast speed. She turned pale and squatted down quickly. As they flew near her head, the sound of the birds flapping was deafening.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
Duagh! Prang! Duagh! Duagh!
She took a peek and saw the birds falling like rain. Some flew around without direction, crashing into buildings, walls and breaking windows. The phenomenon lasted ten minutes before the birds flew over her fields.
After waiting for another minute, she didn’t hear any sound before she stood up tremblingly and looked around. Part of the rice fields were destroyed by birds. Fortunately, she has almost finished harvesting all her crops.
Not long after, her cell phone rang, and seeing the name flashing on the screen, she picked it up.
“Hello, Qiu.” she said in a trembling voice.
“Xia, are you okay? I saw the news from the Internet that your area was attacked by groups of birds. What’s going on?” Ji Qiu asked worriedly.
“I don’t know. I was harvesting crops, and suddenly swarms of birds flew from the mountains to the town. It seemed that they had lost their sense of direction. They either hit buildings, walls, breaking windows, or died and fell to the ground.” Ji Xia looked at the bird carcass as she said.
“Xia, stay at home these days. My friend who is studying at MIT said that there is something wrong with the core of the earth, and we may face the end of the world. These phenomena are caused by this.” Ji Qiu said.
“What about mom and dad?” Ji Xia asked worriedly.
“You don’t have to worry about them. There’s me, our elder brother, and Bing, we’ll take care of Mom and Dad. You’re there alone, so make sure you stock up on enough food and other supplies. Find a safe place to hide. I have a bad feeling about this.” Ji Qiu said.
“I know. Take care of mom and dad.”
She hung up the phone and moved faster. She also had a bad feeling about this. In the past three months, she has seen a lot of news from all over the world, all reporting either the news of hundreds of people dying suddenly in the same place or the strange movements of animals.
The World Union thought it was a terrorist attack, but after careful investigation, it was found that the cause of death was sound waves. The sound waves are caused by changes in the magnetic field that last about one to ten minutes.
Similar situations have been seen in other countries and she also saw an aurora in the sky last night. She was confused when she saw the Aurora while others thought it was beautiful. Even if she is not a science top student, she still knows that in her current area, it is impossible for the aurora to appear in the sky.
The only reason it appears is because oh the violent fluctuations in Earth’s magnetic field during solar storms. Some particles produced by solar storms travel along magnetic field lines, and when the particles interact with gasses in the atmosphere, auroras appear.
That’s why she decided to harvest the crops early. She was afraid that something big would happen. That day, she finished harvesting all the crops and moved it to the warehouse building behind the small house.
While eating dinner, she watched the news and saw similar flocks of birds appearing in various parts of the country. The government issued a statement saying that the bird migration is normal and there is no need for citizens to panic.
Ji Xia turned off the TV after washing the dishes and went to take a shower. For some reason, her heart was beating fast and she suffered from insomnia for several days. Tonight, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Her eyelids trembled, and she murmured to herself in her sleep. Cold sweat broke out all over the body. Her face was pale, and she clutched the sheets tightly. It looked like she was in great pain.
At the same time, in S City, Ji Qiu also experienced the same pain. But when Ji Xia was sleeping, she was fully awake. She held her head and curled up into a fetal position. Cold sweat soaked her whole body, and she let out a soft groan.
“Uh…”
She felt her head was split open by brute force, and her brain was scorched by magma. Her eyes became red and her lips turned white. The pain lasted for an hour before slowly subsiding. Taking a few deep breaths, Ji Qiu propped herself up from the ground and looked at her own reflection in the full body mirror.
Through the mirror, she saw a blurred scenery. The place is beautiful and bright, with a small river running through the middle of the vast fields. At the end of the river is a small pond, and there is a two-story house by the pond. She walked to the mirror, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes. She raised her hand and touched the surface of the mirror. In the next second, her body disappeared from the room.
The next moment she opened her eyes, her room was nowhere to be found. What she saw in front of her was the scenery she saw through the mirror. Ji Qiu pinched herself hard, and she was shivering from the pain. Determined that this was not a dream, she walked towards the river and saw clear river water flowing inside.
The river is about 2 meters deep and 5 meters wide. She could see river rocks glistening in the light, but there was nothing in it but water. Going down the river, she saw a small pond at the end of the river.
The pond is about 5 meters wide and water emerges from the bottom of the pond, filling the pond. She knelt down to scoop the pond water. The water felt cool on her skin, but there was a feeling of warmth oozing from her palms and flowing through her body.
As a die-hard fan of sci-fi and fantasy novels, Ji Qiu had a premonition that this water might have similar attributes to the protagonist’s golden fingers. She hesitated for a few seconds before taking a sip of water.
She closed her eyes and savored the sensation. The same warm feeling that oozes from the water flows through her. She was both excited and worried. If this was true, then the apocalypse her friend had told her earlier might be true.
After a few more sips, she got up and walked towards the house by the pond. The house is a two storey house with a beautiful modern minimalist design. The house has about 90 square meters per floor.
There is a bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom on the first floor. Although the house is smaller than her current house, it looks clean and tidy. She saw a staircase near the bedroom and went up to the second floor.
On the second floor is a small living room, two bedrooms, a master bedroom, and a study. The master bedroom has a small balcony facing the pond and farmland.
After a short tour, she had a general understanding of the place. The farmland is very fertile and can grow anything. She will buy some seeds tomorrow and start planting.
Standing by the river, she looks at her surroundings thoughtfully. If she can breathe here, keeping animals shouldn’t be a problem. She should also buy some animals and try raising them. She wasn’t sure if she could bring another person into the place.
After all, she is the owner of this place, and it is normal to come and go. However, it may not be the same for others.
‘I should have tried to bring Bing in first. If this is working, then we still have some backup plans if something does happen.’
After making plans for tomorrow, Ji Qiu closed her eyes and thought about her room. The next second, she opened her eyes, and she was standing in front of the mirror. This time, the mirror is normal. But the scenery of the space could be seen clearly inside her mind.
Her lips curled up. This space is controlled by her mind, she just needs to think about it if she wants to enter or exit.
Turning around, she saw an apple on the table. After thinking about it, she walked to the table and picked up the apple. Suddenly, the apple disappeared, and in her space, a red apple appeared on the ground.