Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 339 - Chapter 339 Chapter 332 Who Are You Ghost

Chapter 339: Chapter 332 Who Are You? Ghost Chapter 339: Chapter 332 Who Are You? Ghost Liu Ba didn’t know if what the other person said was true, but he still took some actions and informed a few people. He also took precautions himself. As for whether others believed it or not, he couldn’t control their thoughts. He had no right to force others to comply with something even he wasn’t sure about.

Since that day, for the next few days, Liu Ba took the opportunity to make calls, both to others and to “four sixes” every day. Sadly, each time he called, the phone was switched off.

As the date shown on the mobile phone approached the time mentioned by the other party, Liu Ba grew unusually restless. In the past, even when he had taken very dangerous jobs, he had never been this restless. Although it didn’t show on his face and others couldn’t tell, the feeling buried in his heart and unable to be vented nearly drove Liu Ba mad. An eight-magnitude earthquake, was this a joke? If it happened in Chuhua City, there would hardly be any buildings left standing.

In Chuhua City, Zheng Tan continued his daily routine as usual; everything seemed normal. But when he was alone at home, he would secretly go online. It wasn’t really “secretly” anymore, as Zheng Tan had once carelessly left some “clues.”

One day, Mr. Jiao picked a cat hair from the keyboard and glanced at Zheng Tan, but that was it. His face didn’t show any other unusual emotions, which made Zheng Tan more certain that Mr. Jiao must have had an inkling.

As the day drew closer, Zheng Tan did not go out and stayed at home all day on that day, opening web pages and keeping an eye on a few websites.

Because Zheng Tan hadn’t paid attention to the matter at the time, his memory of the exact date was imprecise, remembering only an approximate time. So, he sat in front of the computer waiting. Information on the internet should be faster than on television news, and since Chuhua City wasn’t on a seismic belt and was relatively far from the epicenter, it should be safe. That’s why, even though Zheng Tan knew something abnormal was expected that day, he stayed at home.

He went out for lunch and then continued in front of the computer. After dozing off slightly and waking up, he refreshed the web pages. Just as Zheng Tan was about to click the mouse, he suddenly felt a shake.

It’s here!!

Some people in the school felt it and came out of the buildings. Students who were conducting experiments in the lab also quickly ran out once they realized what was happening. However, many others didn’t notice anything–some were asleep in their dorms, and some were preoccupied with other things and didn’t realize what had happened.

Zheng Tan refreshed the web page again; there wasn’t much reporting yet. He walked around the house and then ran out to the Old Tile House District, taking out his mobile phone to call Liu Ba.

The call didn’t go through.

He tried again, but still couldn’t get through.

Zheng Tan thought, he had told Liu Ba everything, and had even specifically sent another text yesterday to remind him of their conversation, and Liu Ba had replied. He should have been prepared, but now he couldn’t get through on the phone…

It might not be that Liu Ba was in trouble; it could be a communication failure.

That night, the news, newspapers, and internet were all discussing the earthquake that happened in Northwest Shu in the afternoon. Many students were trying to call classmates, friends, and relatives in that area, encountering many instances where the calls didn’t go through or the lines were busy.

Zheng Tan went out to try calling Liu Ba again, but still couldn’t reach him. Perhaps Liu Ba was in an even more secluded area, away from the large urban zones. If it was near the epicenter in a mountainous region, he probably faced a lot of trouble.

That night, many were destined to lose sleep.

The next day, Zheng Tan didn’t stay at home; he ran to the Old Tile House area and waited with his phone, eager to know about Liu Ba’s situation and how many people had prepared and were able to survive as a result.

While Zheng Tan waited, in a small town in Northern Shu, some distance from the city, many of the residential buildings had collapsed, and the roads on the ground were gone.

Liu Ba sat on the ruins, with no other choice, as ruins were all around. He hadn’t closed his eyes since the previous afternoon. At that time, the survey team he was with was inspecting a primary school. He had convinced the team leader to hold an all-school meeting in the spacious playground the day before the incident. The playground was large, and when the earthquake struck, part of the teaching building collapsed. Although chaos ensued, most people survived. Liu Ba, meanwhile, had been helping a few from the team with the rescue efforts, only now sitting down to catch his breath. If he didn’t rest, he probably would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Dust-covered, his head heavy and dizzy, his eyes red with blood vessels.

If it had been in the past, Liu Ba never would have thought he’d risk his life to save others. Just escaping with his own life would have been good enough. But now, without having eaten, drinking only a few gulps of not so clean water, he looked disheveled, joining a few folks to rescue survivors from the rubble. There was someone in the team who seemed afraid of trouble, someone Liu Ba always considered too weak, too spineless, not a real man. Yet that person had been working with Liu Ba and a few others since yesterday, looking worse off than Liu Ba, nearly collapsing just recently, and had to be forced to rest. In such a state, not only was he suffering himself, but it could also lead to mistakes during the rescue efforts.

The aftershocks continued.

Hero? Bungler? Only when it really comes to that can one tell. To what extent a person can go, maybe even they themselves don’t know.

Liu Ba pinched the corner of his eye with his dusty, wounded hand, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a twisted cigarette. The lighter was gone, but there was a mini fire-starter on his keychain. After lighting it, Liu Ba took a deep drag.

His hands, which used to be capable of deftly untying ropes even when bound, were now uncontrollably shaking.

Liu Ba always prided himself on staying calm in the face of change, capable of facing the collapse of Mount Tai without his expression changing. But now he knew he had overestimated himself.

Looking up at the sky, there wasn’t much sunlight; the sky was overcast.

Reborn from disaster, yet oddly devoid of much joy.

If only he could have told more people…

But there are no ifs in the world.

The nicotine softened the stiffness caused by fear and exhaustion, giving him a bit more strength.

Not far ahead, the cracked ground was like a gash brutally torn open in people’s hearts, with the heart-wrenching cries around it having been heard countless times. In the face of cruel nature, human life is so fragile; it disappears in the blink of an eye. All former greatness and vanity are equally brittle.

He took out his mobile phone from his pants pocket. Since all communications had been cut off at the time, he couldn’t make calls or use it. Later, while helping with the rescue, it fell, nearly crushed by the concrete slab from above. Luckily the SIM card should still work, and he had a backup phone kept in his backpack. Communications still hadn’t been restored, so it was still useless.

After finishing a cigarette, Liu Ba felt some strength return and his mind clear up. He stood up, dusted off his clothes, and continued to help rescue people–also bringing out those who had already perished.

Zheng Tan received a call from Liu Ba on the third day after the earthquake had struck.

Since Liu Ba was able to make calls again, he had received a lot of calls and messages. Liu Ba didn’t have many relatives, and most of these were from his friends and people who he had warned in the previous days. There weren’t many who truly counted as Liu Ba’s friends, but Jing Gui was one of them, and one of the few people who knew of Liu Ba’s whereabouts.

“You son of a bitch, you’re actually still alive!” Jing Gui hadn’t slept in the past two days, dialing the phone every once in a while, then checking for related information online. Finally, he got through.

Liu Ba didn’t say much to Jing Gui, as time was of the essence. After confirming that Liu Ba was still alive, Jing Gui’s tense nerves relaxed, he gave a brief admonition, and then went to sleep.

Aside from Jing Gui, Liu Ba picked up a few other calls and quickly scanned the messages on his phone. Although he was young, he had taken many jobs and knew people in this province from all walks of life, even some high-ranking ones within the system. After their initial shock, fear, and grief, they all called to find out the situation from Liu Ba. Why did Liu Ba know about this event? This was a natural disaster, not a man-made one, extremely difficult to ascertain. If not for Liu Ba’s warning, perhaps they would have been buried under the ruins by now.

Liu Ba didn’t bother with them for the time being. He switched to a new SIM card and placed the old one from his damaged phone into it, then dialed four sixes.

This time, the call was not disconnected, and it was quickly answered.

Liu Ba took a deep breath, suddenly unsure of what to say,

On the other end, the same unchanging silence persisted.

The heavy silence lasted for nearly a minute before Liu Ba managed to speak, his voice rough and hoarse.

“Who are you?”

There were too many questions, too many whys, too much that was unbelievable, but in the end, he only managed to ask these three words.

Liu Ba had asked this question many times before, but never had he felt such an urgent need to know the identity of the person on the other end.

The prophecy had come true; the doubts and suspicions he had while sitting on the toilet seat had vanished without a trace. If it hadn’t been for that person, he would have been buried under the rubble alongside the exploration team, and that elementary school might not have had so many survivors.

“Who are you?”

Due to the other party’s silence, Liu Ba asked again. Although his voice was not loud, it carried an undertone of profound exhaustion and fatigue, yet it was filled with an obstinate force, as if to say, “If you don’t tell me, I’ll risk everything to find out.”

Another period of silence ensued.

“Who–are–you?” He asked for the third time, enunciating each word with even more emotion than before.

Liu Ba thought he wouldn’t get an answer after asking three times and expected the other person to hang up when suddenly, a subtle rustling sound came from the other end of the phone.

Without his headphones, which had broken the day before, Liu Ba pressed the phone’s receiver tightly against his ear, focusing all his attention on it.

The tapping sound transmitted from the phone’s earpiece, and Liu Ba lifted his hand to write down letter by letter on a piece of cracked wood covered in a layer of dust, his fingertips dry and cracked with wounds splitting as they moved. Liu Ba seemed oblivious to the pain, intently inscribing the translated five letters on the wood.

“g-h-o-s-t”

Ghost? Spirit?

Before Liu Ba had the chance to ponder it, the dial tone signaling a disconnected call came through the earpiece.

Just after the call ended, another call came in.

Liu Ba answered it, and at the same time, he wiped the dust off the wooden board with the palm that wasn’t holding the phone, erasing the five letters.

“Fuck! Liu Ba, are you okay? I was almost buried under my own house, fuck. If it weren’t for your warning… Wait, you… how did you know this… who told you?” The person who could call out “Liu Ba” with this tone evidently had a good relationship with him.

“…God.” Liu Ba took a deep breath and uttered softly with a sigh.

“Are you fucking with me?! Don’t play like that…”

Before the other person could say more, Liu Ba hung up the phone and silenced it. He looked out at the town in the aftermath of the disaster and walked forward.

Ghost? God?

It didn’t matter.

I will find you sooner or later! (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it at Qidian (NovelFire.net). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)