As the clock struck 11:59, Tom finally made it into the courtyard. Despite shrinking in size and having a narrower field of vision, it didn't stop Tom from reconstructing partial scenes in his mind based on memory and what he could see.
The courtyard resembled the layout of the TV show "Seventy-Two Tenants of Prosperity," or rather, it should be said that the layout of these old houses was a hit back in the day. The surrounding buildings formed a square shape, enclosing the central courtyard. Greedy landlords later built several bungalows in the courtyard to accommodate more tenants and collect more rent.
All the buildings remained frozen in time at 2:00 am on April 6th; even the poor locked their doors to sleep. So, expecting to find shelter in one of the rooms was unrealistic unless one climbed through a window. However, the windows were all in a dilapidated state, and Tom, in his current condition, lacked the ability to climb.
Shaking his increasingly heavy head, Tom tried to discern the direction and finally caught sight of the stairs on the right. He quickly grabbed the large red crystal and headed towards the stairs, then began to climb slowly, step by step.
Finally sheltered from the rain, but raindrops driven by the strong wind still pelted Tom as he entered the stairwell. He had to continue climbing. He had to climb at least 8 steps to reach the deepest part of the stairwell and hide from the rain.
The 8th step was the deepest part of the stairwell leading to the first floor, with another turn to climb to the second floor.
In these old buildings, each floor had a long corridor with individual rooms lining it.
Now, with the heavy rain and wind, there was even more water in the corridor, making the 8th step where Tom took refuge the most suitable place to avoid the storm. The wind and rain couldn't reach him there.
He was soaked from head to toe, and so was his backpack. At this point, he could only huddle in a corner and lie down.
One of Tom's ribs was broken, and he felt a persistent phlegm in his lungs that he couldn't cough up, making breathing difficult. Coupled with being drenched in the rain and his injured leg, reaching this point was already his utmost limit. Seeking help from the old Chinese doctor was now out of the question.
Tom had no strength left in his body; he could only helplessly lie in the corner, watching the heavy rain slowly close his eyes.
In his sleep, Tom saw the yellow-patterned Darwin fish again. He tried to get a clear look at the figure, but as usual, his efforts were in vain, and the figure quickly disappeared into the blurry rain. Then, a snake emerged in the drizzle, and this time, it actually bit his hand instinctively protected in front of him, causing a sharp pain.
Tom was jolted awake by the intense pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw a large head looming into view.
"Biscuits?" He was overjoyed, but the next moment, the large head opened its mouth, ready to bite him.
He quickly threw a punch, smashing the large head to pieces, with its viscous fluids splattering on his already damp face.
"Ants! They're ants!" It was then that Tom recognized them. Now, several large ants were crawling towards him.
These were black ants, relatively large in size. Tom wasn't sure if they were mutated, but undoubtedly, they saw him as a delicious meal.
Tom struggled to sit up against the wall, facing the ants' attack, relentlessly striking them with his fists.
Although his broken rib affected his punching strength, the 4.5-fold enhancement from the red crystal tied to his arm still made his fists lethal to the ants.
The ants kept swarming up, and as he staggered to his feet, striking them while standing, these black ants, no bigger than a spaniel, couldn't withstand the force of his punches. However, Tom, already injured with a broken leg and rib, now with a fever, couldn't gain any advantage against these dozen or so black ants. Although he managed to kill all the ants drawn by the scent, he exhausted his last strength and collapsed on the ground again.
In a daze, he vaguely saw three people approaching.
"Hey, Bo, this guy's backpack must have some good stuff in it! Wow, such big gems! We're rich!"
"Fool! Look at him, he can kill so many black ants with just his fists. He's got some skills, alright?"
Tom struggled to signal for help, but at this point, he couldn't even move his fingers. He could only see a man's blurry face approaching. "Hey, Bo, he's still breathing, but he'll die soon. It's unfortunate. Should we take him to burn, as Uncle Seven ordered to burn all the dead?"
"Uncle Wei disagrees, but... let's secretly burn him. Haha!"
Then Tom's world plunged into darkness once again.
It was unclear how much time had passed when Tom woke up again, only to find himself lying on a small makeshift mat, covered with a white cloth. He realized he was naked, but his chest was wrapped in white cloth. His legs seemed to be fixed with something hard, and his whole body ached, devoid of strength.
As he examined his condition, the pain from his chest wound made him grit his teeth and emit a sound, attracting an old man over.
"Kid, you're really lucky," the old man said, his face full of wrinkles, his hair half-white, but his complexion surprisingly ruddy.
"Did you... save me, sir?" Tom asked.
"It was Ah Qi's runner, Bo, who found you outside in the corridor last night, and then Ah Qi had someone bring you here," the old man replied, checking his forehead and then his eyes before gripping his wrist. "Don't move, let me check your pulse... hmm... you've made it through, you're really lucky."
"Thank you for saving my life, sir. My name is Tom."
"Just call me Uncle Wei. When Bo brought you over last night, you had a fractured sternum, a leg injury, slight pneumothorax, and pneumonia, plus a high fever. We've all shrunk, and my treatment methods are very limited. All I could do was my best, and the rest was up to you. And yet, after this night passed, you managed to pull through. Quite remarkable."
"Thank you, Uncle Wei. Where am I?" Tom asked.
"This is my clinic. It's been open for over thirty years, but now I have to relocate next month because there's no place left. I'll have to take my grandson back to the countryside. Ah, didn't expect that overnight, all the neighbors would shrink, and we don't even know what's happening outside. By the way, I heard from Ah Qi that they found a handgun on you. Frankly, are you from the Shen Group?"
Tom recounted his origins and the events of the previous night, including the crash of the Hayway Group's aircraft. Uncle Wei nodded slightly.
"We've seen that Sanctuary Redemption place, but to go to the square, you'd have to take a long detour. None of the neighbors dare to take the risk. Tianzi, be careful not to burn yourself; Grandpa is here."
Tom turned his head and saw an eight-year-old boy holding a wooden cylinder emitting heat. Uncle Wei took the cylinder, helped Tom up, which made him feel embarrassed. He couldn't believe an eight-year-old boy had to help him sit up.
"Ah Wei has been protecting you all this time, my men are getting restless. It's difficult for me as their leader," Uncle Seven said.
Tom remembered Uncle Wei mentioning earlier that it was Ah Qi's runner who brought him back. The imposing figure in front of him was undoubtedly Uncle Seven.
Uncle Seven? Tom thought for a moment. Wasn't Li Qiang saying that he was associated with Uncle Seven?
"Uncle Seven, I wonder..." Tom didn't know how to interact with him.
"Although Ah Wei gave me an explanation, when you're old, you become suspicious. So I came to ask myself. I ask, you answer, don't say a word more than necessary, understand?"
Tom nodded.
"What kind of person are you?"
"I'm a tenant from Dadi Street."
Uncle Seven stared at Tom intently. "How did you end up with so many gems and a handgun?"
"I collected them. The gems were dug from the bodies of mutated ants, cockroaches, and rats. The handgun was taken from the armed personnel of the Hayway Group who came to pick me up. Our aircraft was attacked by mutated cats the night before last and crashed behind the houses across the street."
"Dug from the bodies of mutated ants? Are you kidding me? Do you think I've been wandering the streets for decades and haven't even stepped on an ant?" Uncle Seven kicked Tom to the ground, and the force aggravated Tom's chest injury, causing him to convulse in pain, unable to speak.
Uncle Wei rushed over and pushed Uncle Seven away, checking on Tom. Then he scolded loudly in Cantonese, "Are you stupid? His ribs aren't healed yet, and with your kick, he's got another one broken! How am I supposed to treat him?"
"Another broken rib? I'll break his head off later and feed it to the ants! Gems dug from the bodies of ants? Does he think I'm an idiot?"
"You are an idiot! Don't you understand that if you have someone dig up a few ant corpses, you'll know the truth?" Uncle Wei argued loudly. "Besides relying on your thugs, all you know is to show off your power? Back then, when nobody was around, you were being chased down seven streets. If it wasn't for me..."
"Don't mention the past to me!"
Tom struggled to speak, "The gems aren't from non-mutated ants; only those that have tasted human flesh mutate! The ants I killed yesterday, even if you search now, you won't find any more. Other ants would have eaten the gems from the bodies."
"Oh, you've got some guts, huh? So it's your word against mine? Then I'll make sure you have no proof!" Uncle Seven shouted, "Get in here!"
Five or six big men rushed in, their eyes gleaming with malice as they waited for Tom, seemingly unable to resist tearing him apart.