Wu Xiaode abruptly opened his eyes.
Before him was a simple wooden table with several bottles of beer and a few plates of barbecue on it.
His clothes were intact, without a hint of seasoning on him.
His phone was mounted on a stand.
An ongoing concert played on the screen.
The endearing members of a girl group, clad in fishnets and miniskirts, were performing a lively dance.
"I'm back... I'm really back..."
Wu Xiaode muttered to himself.
This place was the small shop beneath his apartment.
The shop, which served barbecue and some stir-fried side dishes, was somewhere he often frequented for a bite.
Outside the shop was a small alley, surrounded by residential buildings.
—But when he had died, he had been engaged in a group fight; how had he returned to the front of this barbecue stall?
Wu Xiaode slid his finger across the screen.
The music and dance vanished, replaced by the time displayed on the screen.
06:09.
—6:09 PM.
What would happen next?
He meticulously recalled everything in his mind.
Following the sequence of events, his phone would soon receive a breaking news alert.
Half a minute later, the owner would bring over ten skewers of grilled cartilage, placing them on his plate.
He had barely eaten a few bites when his upstairs neighbor, whom he was very familiar with, hurried into the alley, followed by several thugs.
The thugs harassed her, taking advantage of her distress.
This neighbor was quite close to him, practically having grown up together with him.
Of course, he couldn't stand by idly. He stepped forward to intervene, which led to a fight with the thugs.
It was supposed to be a minor issue.
Yet, amidst the chaos, he was stabbed in the heart from behind by a fruit knife.
That stab was the reason he had ended up in the Death Demon Cave.
Wu Xiaode gazed at the time displayed on his phone, deep in thought.
If he had truly returned to moments before everything happened, then the first thing that would occur would be—
Breaking news.
He intently watched his phone screen, waiting in silence.
A moment.
Two moments.
Three moments.
Suddenly, messages began to pop up all over his phone screen from various apps:
"An underwater earthquake has occurred in the Western Ocean, with a magnitude of 8. It's predicted that the earthquake will trigger a tsunami, affecting countries such as..."
"This is the fifth earthquake this month with a magnitude greater than eight!"
"Drones have captured some bizarre, blurry scenes."
"The most advanced robots will explore the ocean floor after the earthquake ends to assess the situation."
"Intense scientific research is in full swing."
"To ensure the safety of coastal cities, the military has already been deployed."
Just as expected, breaking news!
Wu Xiaode glanced through the news for a while, then turned to look at the barbecue stall owner.
The owner approached with ten skewers of crispy cartilage, placed them on his plate, and said, "Little Wu, eat while it's hot."
Wu Xiaode silently watched his plate, took a few breaths, and then raised his head to look towards the mouth of the alley.
A slim, long-haired beauty hurried into the alley, followed by several rowdy young men.
"Beauty, let's be friends."
"Yeah, why run so fast? You're in high heels; you can't outrun us."
"Haha, she's got a nice figure."
The young men teased, lingering around her.
Everything matched up.
Wu Xiaode held his breath, quietly observing everything happening around him.
It seemed he truly had returned to a few minutes prior, and everything was repeating itself.
This meant—
He could make a different choice.
This way, he wouldn't get stabbed to death and thus, wouldn't end up being transported to the Death Demon Cave as a doomed soul.
A new choice...
Wu Xiaode's eyes flickered, fixating on the woman.
Back then, he couldn't stand what was happening and spoke out, which led the thugs to rush up and fight him.
But this time.
He must not do that.
Wu Xiaode made up his mind, lowered his gaze, and sat quietly on his chair without moving.
The woman, unable to shake off her followers, looked terrified and shouted, "What do you want? I've already called the police!"
As she quickened her pace, it looked like she was about to pass by the barbecue stall.
"Hahaha, beauty, you never took out your phone; how did you call the police?" a young man joked.
Another young man's gaze swept toward the barbecue stall, and he shouted at several patrons, "What are you looking at? Mind your own business."
The patrons immediately averted their gaze from the thugs.
Wu Xiaode avoided making eye contact, appearing like he was avoiding trouble, and indeed, he didn't catch the thugs' attention.
Finally.
The thugs surrounded the girl and walked past the barbecue stall toward the deeper part of the alley.
The girl screamed, but one of the thugs covered her mouth.
...
Safe!
Wu Xiaode exhaled softly.
For the sake of his life and to avoid entering that horrifying place again, he kept his head down quietly, watching the barbecue and beer in front of him, pretending to be timid. Indeed, this didn't draw the thugs' attention.
Really.
He had been so foolish.
Why had he tried to intervene and reason with those thugs?
Getting stabbed was not worth it.
So.
Now he could proceed with the correct course of action.
After waiting a moment, he suddenly grabbed two beer bottles, quietly stood up, briskly followed the few thugs, and swung the bottles in his hands with all his strength.
Crash! Crash!
The crisp sound echoed through the entire alley.
Having returned from the Death Demon Cave, Wu Xiaode had no reservations and struck fiercely, sparing no effort.
The two thugs, caught off-guard, collapsed to the ground, moaning in pain.
As the other thugs turned around, they saw Wu Xiaode already picking up a chair, which he smashed hard on another thug's head.