As soon as Gao Chang said this, everyone except Wu Cuilian laughed. It’s one thing for that rascal not to want to go, but he even brought up his family’s dog as an excuse!
“Wu Cuilian! You damn woman, you made me search high and low for you. How did you end up here?” The man speaking was in his forties; he was Wu Cuilian’s husband, Zheng Guoyun. Yes, he came back on his own.
“Guoyun, you’re back? Aiyo, you damn man, you scared me to death…”
Since the man came back on his own, there wasn’t much else to fuss about. Zheng Guoyun and Wu Cuilian, husband and wife, returned home together. The other people living in their courtyard had all scattered. The sun was growing stronger by the minute—it was hard to tell whether it could really harm people. It seemed safer to stay inside the house.
Avoiding the sun could indeed prevent many deaths, but it didn’t guarantee survival. The blue sunlight had made nature vicious and unforgiving. The peaceful life they once knew was over.
After closing the window and drawing the curtains, Gao Chang and Rhubarb hid inside the room. The room where Gao Chang had slept since childhood had no windows. In the past, it felt a bit stuffy, but now it was just right. Once the door was closed, the entire room was immediately plunged into darkness.
“This is really strange,” Rhubarb said, wagging his tail as he jumped on the bed and curled up beside Gao Chang.
“It’s only going to get stranger from here. Anyways, just be careful,” Gao Chang crossed his legs and began to meditate. The disaster had already arrived; there was no escaping it. Only by having the strength to fight back could one survive for long.
“What happens if someone gets exposed to the sun?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
In his previous life, Gao Chang never fully understood the dangers of blue sunlight. He would hide in a dark room every day, and only venture out with the people from the neighborhood at night to search for some food. The most he ever encountered were some feral cats and dogs. Most of the time, they would run away if they could, and rarely took the initiative to fight. Given the skill level of those people at the time, they indeed were not a match for those animals.
But things turned out to be even worse than what Gao Chang had anticipated. That afternoon, the village descended into chaos. A child from one of the households in the village somehow ended up exposed to the sunlight. The child’s weak resistance couldn’t hold up, and he quickly grew manic. He bit his family members and ran outside to bang violently on his neighbors’ doors.
A lot of people were alarmed by the commotion. At this point, although people said they should hide, in reality, most people didn’t feel much fear toward the blue sunlight. Some villagers came out to help. Together, they managed to tie up the child with a rope.
Going outside inevitably meant being exposed to the sun. Perhaps because nothing terrible happened immediately when some people got exposed to the blue sunlight, everyone became a bit complacent. An hour later, the disaster escalated. Several more people began to go mad one after another. Chaos erupted in the courtyard. Those with slightly lower vigilance were quickly swept into the catastrophe.
Gao Chang finished his meditation and lay on the bed, listening to the waves of howls and screams outside. Mixed among the noise were cries from livestock. It seemed animals had started to suffer as well. Gao Chang hadn’t considered this issue; these people were hiding in their houses, but still let their poultry out as usual. He knew that even if he had warned them, it wouldn’t have much effect. Until people truly experienced it, they couldn’t grasp how terrifying the blue sunlight really was.
“Gao Chang! Gao Chang! Open the door quickly!” Someone was knocking on the door from outside. It was a young man’s voice. Gao Chang recognized him; his name was Zheng Zongwen. He was currently in his second year of high school, a fair-skinned young man with good grades and a good character. He was the pride of their village.
“Gao Chang! Open the door and let me in! Open the door! I’m begging you!” Zheng Zongwen pounded on Gao Chang’s door with all his might, his voice growing more frantic and sorrowful. Soon, a high-pitched wail was heard, and then there was silence.
“Bang! Bang bang!” The strange creature began striking the door with something heavy. Their strength was terrifying. After several hits, Gao Chang’s door frame began to shift out of place.
“What do we do?” Rhubarb looked up at Gao Chang.
“Block the door.” These rural wooden doors weren’t built to withstand such monster attacks. The courtyard is already in such chaos now, and it seems there are quite a few people who have gone berserk. Gao Chang just hopes their lives will be consumed quickly, bringing an end to this turmoil.
The table, stools, bed, and cabinet—all the furniture from Grandma Gao’s room were hauled out. Gao Chang and Rhubarb barricaded both the front and back doors tightly. All afternoon, the sound of pounding on the doors echoed intermittently. Gao Chang and Rhubarb didn’t return to their room; they just sat in the living room, staring intently at their two doors.
By dusk, the courtyard finally began to quiet down. As the sun set, the entire village sank into deathly silence. After a long while, figures emerged soundlessly from various corners. Seeing the blood-stained courtyard, some sobbed softly while others simply let the tears fall in silence.
Gao Chang pulled the light cord, but the light didn’t turn on; the power was out, even earlier than when he was in the city in his previous life. He and Rhubarb moved the clutter blocking the door bit by bit. After all, he was part of the village, and at this time, he had to go out and help with some tasks, like digging graves and burying bodies. The strong smell of blood outside could even be smelled inside the house. Though the frenzied people and animals didn’t seem to eat flesh at first, the smell of blood could still provoke and attract them.
The door opened. Gao Chang and Rhubarb stepped over the threshold and walked out. Then he took out the padlock from his pocket and locked the gate from the outside. From then on, their home would remain pitch black both day and night. If someone—or something—sneaked in, it’d be a serious problem.
The scene in the courtyard was unbearable to look at. It was hard to believe humans could become so violent after going mad. Not only was blood flowing everywhere, but there were hardly any complete corpses left. Arms were here, heads were there—body parts strewn everywhere like discarded dolls.
There were plenty of animal carcasses, too, though the chickens and ducks hadn’t been that dangerous when they first went feral. Any adult could twist their necks and take them down quickly. There was even a pig lurking in a corner—probably had escaped the pen after being exposed to the sunlight. Fortunately, Gao Chang’s was the only household in the village with a dog, and no one kept cats.
Gao Chang had barely stepped out into the courtyard when a fist came flying straight at him.“You son of a—! Why didn’t you open the door earlier? Didn’t you hear Zongwen shouting outside?”
“Would I still be standing here alive if I’d opened the door?” After all, Gao Chang had been cultivating for so long, so he simply shifted his body and dodged the punch with ease.
“Shameless bastard! The whole village is dead—how can you still be alive alone? Why the hell didn’t you die earlier? What’s the point of someone like you still living? My family’s Zongwen’s life was worth a hundred times more than yours!”
The middle-aged man, having lost his son, was venting his anger hysterically, repeatedly lunging at Gao Chang, trying to hit him. Not so much because he was overwhelmed purely by grief, but rather because he realized that Gao Chang, who had no family ties in the village, made him an easy target. He could beat and curse him without any pressure.
“If his life was so valuable, why didn’t you save him yourself? Or are you saying your life’s worth even more?” Gao Chang ruthlessly exposed the man’s wound. When his son’s life was in danger, this man didn’t have the courage to stand up. After his son died, he was filled with remorse and took it out on someone who had nothing to do with it. What a disgrace, acting like a damn woman[mfn](娘们). In rural speech, “娘们” may imply a nagging, overly emotional, or soft nature—here it’s used to criticize someone for being emotionally weak or dramatic[/mfn].
“If I hadn’t been blocked by those things, you think I’d be counting on you?! You heartless bastard who watches people die and doesn’t help!” That man rebuked Gao Chang with a fierce voice and expression.
“I don’t see any wounds on you?” Gao Chang sneered. If he really risked his life to save his son, would he still have the strength to throw punches at him right now?
“You son of a bitch! If I don’t get rid of you today, I won’t be surnamed Zheng!” The man, furious and embarrassed, looked around, picked up a hoe, and was about to come over and smash Gao Chang’s head. It looked like he genuinely meant to kill—and in this courtyard already soaked with blood, murder no longer felt as hard as it once did.
Gao Chang didn’t bother arguing with him. He lifted his leg and kicked the man squarely in the stomach, then grabbed the hoe and tossed it into the yard with a loud clang.
“What the hell are you doing?! Do you think that the death toll in the village is not enough already?” The village chief, Zheng Guobang, rarely showed such courage and shouted loudly.
“Village chief, please be fair. Before Zongwen died, he knocked on Gao Chang’s door desperately, but that beast refused to open it! We are from the same village after all. When his grandmother passed away, I helped him a lot, and Zongwen even helped him get money! But today, that beast just stood by and did nothing while he was dying!”
A tall and strong man of 1.8 meters just sat on the ground and cried with snot and tears pouring down his face. It was truly heartbreaking to hear, enough to make the listener cry. Those who had loved ones who died today resonated strongly. “Guobang, Gao Chang is really ruthless. I also saw Zongwen pounding on his door for a long time, but he wouldn’t open it.”
“This wretched thing is just an ungrateful wolf! Village chief, we can’t let him stay in the village any longer. The world’s already starting to fall apart—what if he stabs us in the back one day? By the time we regret it, it’ll be too late!” As soon as someone spoke up in support, Zheng Guochao became even more relentless.
“This house has been passed down by my ancestors. You want to drive me away? What a joke! Go ahead and try if you have the ability!” Gao Chang wished he could smash this guy’s mouth. He was an incompetent guy, all bark and no bite, with a heart blacker than charcoal.
“Guochao ah, you really can’t blame Gao Chang for this. At that time, everyone was scared to death. He didn’t open the door, but we couldn’t force him either.” The village chief still had his wits about him, but he was always used to playing the peacemaker—and this time was no exception. “But let’s look at it from both sides. Still, reason aside, given the situation at that time, Gao Chang, the person shouting outside, was a fellow villager. How could you harden your heart like that?”
Gao Chang was clearly in the right, yet the village chief still had to say a few words to him. It was obvious he was just trying to appease Zheng Guochao. After all, death carries weight—and somewhere along the way, those who lost family started to act like big shots, as if someone dying in their family meant the rest of the world owed them something. Back when times were peaceful, people could still muster some sympathy and tolerance, but the days ahead wouldn’t be so easy. Whether they lost their parents or their child, no one would indulge their grief anymore. They would either have to grit their teeth and keep living—or just go die with them.
The Gao family had been passing down the line through a single son for generations—unlike other families in the village, whose roots were all tangled together, with ties and connections running deep. On ordinary days, this difference didn’t show much. After all, Gao Chang was a man and rarely got involved in idle gossip or domestic squabbles. He hardly had the chance to suffer any unfairness. But now, the gap was plain to see.
“Tsk, both sides? From now on, when I, Gao Chang, shut the gates of the Gao family, no one can open them. If you don’t believe it, you can try it!” Do you think he is a soft persimmon that’s easy to take advantage of? Who dares to try it?
“Village chief, look at him—he’s nothing but a beast! No one can stop me today. Let me finish him off with one swing of this hoe, and our village will finally be clean.” Zheng Guochao, who had just lost his son, raised his hoe again; his fury was even more intense than before.
This time, before Gao Chang could even react, Rhubarb leapt forward. Over the past two years, it had grown tall and strong—its weight nearly matched Gao Chang’s. Its leap and pounce were especially fierce. The man was pinned to the blood-soaked ground, Rhubarb’s front paws pressed firmly on his shoulders. Its sharp claws hovered just a hair’s breadth from his throat.
“Gao Chang, how dare you let your dog attack me!” When the man spoke again, his voice was clearly lacking in confidence.
Rhubarb bared its mouth, revealing long, sharp teeth, and let out a deep, rumbling growl from deep in its throat. It didn’t sound like a domesticated dog at all—more like a wild beast that had come down from the mountains. The man who had just been flailing and acting crazy instantly wilted, shrinking his neck and shutting his eyes, looking like a coward waiting to die.
Rhubarb lowered its body and bit down on the handle of the hoe, still clutched in Zheng Guochao’s hand. With a sharp twist of its head—bang, bang—the hoe snapped clean in two and slammed against the nearby wall.
A few villagers who had been emotionally unstable and ready to stir up trouble instantly fell silent. The dead were already gone, but the living still wanted to stay that way. No one was willing to test Rhubarb’s fangs on themselves.
Gao Chang narrowed his eyes slightly—he hadn’t expected this foolish dog to be so capable. Clearly, he had underestimated it before. But now was the perfect chance to clear his name. Otherwise, rumors would spread like wildfire, and he’d end up branded a villain for no reason.
“You were the one who struck first. Even if Rhubarb bites you to death today, it’s still self-defense. I’m not afraid even if the police show up. Perfect timing, really. Let’s see who’s more guilty: you for attempted murder, or me for failing to intervene.”
The courtyard fell silent. Even the village chief—always known as a people-pleaser—was at a loss for words. The entire Sanheyuan courtyard fell into silence.
“Gao Chang, don’t be angry, okay? Your Uncle Guochao just lost his son—his heart’s aching. Don’t hold it against him.” It was Auntie A-Shan from next door who spoke. She was known for being talkative and a bit nosy, but soft-hearted. In the years after Gao Chang’s grandmother passed away, she often brought food to his house. But as Gao Chang grew older, she gradually distanced herself to avoid gossip.
Gao Chang let out a low grunt, just to give Aunt Ashan some face. He remembered the kindness others had shown him, and the people in the village weren’t all that bad. Even that lunatic Zheng Guochao let him pick tomatoes from his field not long ago.
People in the countryside often grow more fruits and vegetables than they can eat, and those in town don’t fetch much money. Many times they rot in the soil. So it’s better to give them to the folks who don’t grow them. It builds closer relationships when they are given away willingly. Gao Chang knew how to return kindness. Zheng Guochao gave him tomatoes before. When he ran out of food in the future, he could also repay him with some rice and salt. But asking him to risk his life for Guochao’s son? That was asking too much. If Gao Chang had opened the door at that time and several crazy people rushed in, it would be hard to say whether he could have survived it at all.
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Thanks for the story