Pops Novel
Chapter 1029: Scones in the Rain
The dark and heavy clouds loomed over, covering the city's tall buildings, growing lower and thicker, casting a damp, cold, and gloomy hue that completely blocked out the daylight. Raindrops began to fall as Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia kept up their pace. They'd walked for over ten minutes now. Once it started, the rain intensified rapidly. Soon, dense columns of rain poured down with a deafening roar, shrouding the world in a vast expanse of grey-white. The mist, dim light, and incessant downpour obscured everything from view, making it difficult to see even objects just a few meters away through their rain-soaked eyelashes.
Their clothes clung heavily to their bodies, making it difficult to catch their breath. Every step they took resulted in a squelching sound as water seeped out from their shoes. As posthumans with heightened senses, they felt even more uncomfortable walking in the rain. They kept walking for a while on the empty streets before finally giving up and hastily taking refuge under the eaves of a two-story residential building at the roadside.
In such weather, it was unlikely that anyone would come out to catch them.
Unexpectedly, Bohemia hadn't complained yet.
"Wipe your face," Lin Sanjiu handed her a towel. "Why are you so quiet?"
Bohemia's muffled voice came from within the towel, "Rain is something beyond our control. What is there to say about it? If we have to talk about every event in my life, I'll die of exhaustion."
Having seen her lose her composure so often, Lin Sanjiu almost forgot that Bohemia was also a resident of the Twelve Worlds Centrum who had fought her way to this day.
Taking back the towel, she turned to look behind her—a red door that only needed one more corner to become a right-leaning parallelogram. Compared to other buildings, it was already quite symmetrical.
"I'm not worried about this rain," Bohemia's hair was a deep brown mess from the moisture. She simply gathered it all up and tied it into a low ponytail. "I don't think that we can find the way to the junkyard. Look at the city's layout; it can't keep up with those amateur designers in the Twelve Worlds Centrum. I can't even find the entrance that we just came from!"
Hoping for a professional architect or urban landscape designer to teleport there was highly unlikely. Therefore, the parts of the Twelve Worlds Centrum that were built by the posthumans themselves relied on Special Items, shallow introductory books, wild imagination, and inflated blind confidence.
But compared to this world, the Twelve Worlds Centrum seemed incredibly professional.
Lin Sanjiu sighed—even though she had a general sense of direction, she wasn't confident she could find her way back to the junkyard. Ever since they left the entrance, they hadn't encountered many pursuers, but the abruptly interrupted streets forced them to turn back multiple times.
"Take a look at this door," Bohemia pointed behind her. "It's crooked—" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝔀𝒆𝒃𝒏𝓸𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝙢
As if sensing her finger, the red door creaked open, revealing a head of soft silver hair. Underneath the silver hair was a face with deep wrinkles and a calm expression. The woman, who appeared to be in her sixties or seventies, looked spirited, with a rosy complexion. As soon as the door opened, the fragrance of pastries wafted out from behind her. She glanced at the two of them and didn't seem to find them threatening, so she asked, "Would you like to come inside and take shelter from the rain?"
Lin Sanjiu's gaze went past her shoulder and saw a small round table in the corridor with an old-fashioned telephone on it.
"Thank you, we would like that very much," she pulled Bohemia and smiled at the old lady. "Once the rain stops, we'll leave right away."
Bohemia immediately glanced at her, seemingly taken aback.
The old lady opened the door—due to its shape, the door had to be divided into three parts and opened separately to allow entry. She turned around and led the two of them into the corridor, saying, "I was just about to make some tea... You can freshen up in the bathroom and we can have some hot tea together."
"We couldn't possibly— "
Lin Sanjiu responded with a smile. As they passed by the old-fashioned telephone, she snuck her hand behind the round table, reaching for the telephone cable. Once she caught it between her index finger and thumb, she instantly severed it with a slight force without the lady noticing.
When the three of them sat down together in the dimly lit guest room, the rain outside had intensified even further. The thunderous sound of rain engulfed the world, making it almost impossible to hear what others were saying. Most of the daylight had vanished, leaving the room dim and gloomy. Only a faint glimmer seemingly struggled to survive.
Occasionally, a bright white lightning bolt pierced through the pouring rain outside, illuminating the face of the old lady as she lowered her head to drink tea.
The shape of the guest room was also irregular, with most corners shrouded in shadows. It should have looked normal with a TV and a sofa-like piece of furniture—except that, like the owner, all the furniture exuded an old-fashioned feel.
"Try the scones I baked," in the dim room, she gestured to the golden-brown pastries in her hand. "My late husband loved them... After he passed away, I continued the habit of baking a few every afternoon for tea. Today, I happened to make a few extra... At my age, you never know when it might be your last day."
Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but glance at Bohemia, who, even as a lover of food, only pretended to bring the teacup close to her lips. After pinching off a small piece of scone, she left it on the saucer.
Even in a world of ordinary people, they still had to be extra cautious. Especially after experiencing the Meat Elysium, Lin Sanjiu became naturally cautious about anything she put in her mouth.
The old lady seemed to enjoy the scones very much.
"You're not from around here, are you?" She had eaten several scones in no time, elegantly wiping her mouth with a handkerchief. "I could tell at a glance."
"We have a relative working at the local garbage disposal company," Lin Sanjiu cautiously answered, "but we accidentally lost the address and got lost. Do you know which direction the garbage disposal facility is?"
Who would pay attention to where the garbage disposal facility was located? The old lady was understandably stumped. After thinking for a while, she raised a finger. "Wait here, I'll fetch the city's facilities information booklet... It should have the information." contemporary romance
As the two watched her walk out of the guest room with small steps, they exchanged glances and stood up from the sofa, scanning the room.
"The design of this wall is terrible," Bohemia walked to the other end of the guest room and frowned at a wall. She couldn't help but poke it. "Why are there so many tiny holes... It's like they're pores, so densely packed."
Lin Sanjiu had long grown accustomed to the unreasonable aesthetics of this world. She approached the television—although it took some imagination to recognize it as a television because it bore almost no resemblance to the one owned by the fat man in the junkyard. She lifted a thick, cushion-like layer, revealing the entire screen. When she lightly touched the screen, her fingertips immediately felt a slight residual warmth.
It seemed that not long ago, the television was on.
She called Bohemia over and found the button to turn it back on. When the screen flickered to life, both were startled. Two familiar faces appeared on the screen, staring right back at them. In the background was the small hall filled with unevenly placed counters. Meanwhile, a female voiceover kept emphasizing, "Breaking news, two people with mental issues broke into the entrance center today and are currently on the run. Citizens are advised to take appropriate measures upon discovery... I repeat, breaking news..."
With a quick slap, Lin Sanjiu immediately turned off the television. When she turned her head, her gaze met Bohemia's—she, too, had realized what was happening and tightly pursed her lips.
From the subtle signs they had noticed earlier, this breaking news had been playing on the television for quite some time. Moreover, before they entered this house, the old lady had clearly seen their faces on the television.
So, what was she planning to do next?
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m
