Blind Spot

Watching the car drive away, Li Chengyi stood still. He really wanted to chase after it, but the meaning conveyed by the other person's words cooled his heart as well.

That person's friends and son seemed to have all died in the Blind Spot.

This world... appeared peaceful, but dangers like the Blind Spot seemed to be everywhere.

And what did that person's last sentence mean?

Why would calling the police cause him to lose the last shred of hope?

Li Chengyi's mind raced with countless thoughts, but he had no clue whatsoever.

He picked up his phone and started searching for information related to the Blind Spot.

The sky gradually darkened, and the streetlights along the road slowly glowed yellow.

Groups of students with hands in their pockets started to come out for walks and strolls in twos and threes.

The shops on both sides of the street lit up one by one, their various colored halos making this neighborhood exceptionally bright.

Li Chengyi stood there the whole time, frantically searching for information related to the Blind Spot.

But there was nothing.

All information seemed to have been censored and deleted, leaving only some basic missing person cases circulating online.

Disappointed, he put down his phone and looked up at the sky.

In the sky, a basin-sized full moon hung silently in the center, serene and silent.

'There must be some way....'

Li Chengyi looked back at the café but did not return. Instead, he put away his phone and walked toward the bus stop.

As his pant leg neared the green belt between the roadway and the sidewalk, a line of clear black characters emerged once again on the back of his right hand.

Li Chengyi did not notice, nor could he see it; his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of that eerie underground garage and the strange, huge human face.

A strong oppression and panic filled his entire body. If he hadn't forcibly controlled himself, he might have been trembling with fear by now.

He continued along the green belt.

In his mind, Li Chengyi's thoughts flickered madly with all kinds of methods, possibilities that could allow him to escape from the Blind Spot.

He was already prepared to go back and get ready with various weapons, knives, alcohol for setting fire, powerful pepper spray, and the like – anything was better than nothing at all.

All that could help should be utilized.

Food and drink also needed to be prepared in case he escaped the monstrous human face but remained trapped in the Blind Spot and couldn't get out; he would need sustenance.

And a cassette tape player — he most likely had entered the Blind Spot by playing music on that tape.

So the first thing to do upon returning was to secure it.

Additionally....

'That's right!' Suddenly, a spark of realization flashed through his mind.

'The pattern on the back of my hand! It looks very mysterious; perhaps it can offer me some help!'

A sliver of hope quickly rose in Li Chengyi's heart.

He raised his hand, but there was nothing to be seen on the back of his hand; the pattern could only be clearly seen in a mirror's reflection.

He hurried over to the display window of a clothing store, and using the reflection from the window, looked at the back of his hand.

At this time, the characters had disappeared from his hand, reverting to the black pattern from before.

'So, how do I use this thing? What is it for?'

Looking at the black pattern on the back of his hand, Li Chengyi thought of a method. He opened the camera on his phone and pointed it at his hand.

Sure enough, the phone screen clearly showed the black pattern on the back of his hand.

It was a pattern of small black flowers that formed a cluster of blossoms.

They seemed to sway in the wind, their posture slightly tilted. They also looked like black flames burning, flickering and profound.

'Perhaps there is some trick to it?' As Li Chengyi looked at the black pattern, he extended his hand to touch it carefully, but his fingertips couldn't feel anything tangible – as if the pattern didn't exist at all.

'I can't wait any longer; the more time drags on, the less there is. Time to start preparing other things!'

Not knowing what use the pattern had, Li Chengyi quickly turned around and jogged towards the bus stop.

He needed to prepare all the necessary things as quickly as possible.

Even though the middle-aged man had said that weapons were useless, that was just a stranger's word, which couldn't be completely trusted.

Without any delay, he got on the bus. This time, without any mishaps, he made it back to the entrance of Happiness Community before the sky was completely dark.

Instead of going home, he walked along the road outside the community to a chain supermarket by the roadside and began to buy food with a long shelf life.

Compressed biscuits, jerky, bottled water — he bought a large bag full.

He also bought a folding fruit knife, a sharp meat cleaver, several windproof lighters, filter masks, etc.

Under the threat to his life, Li Chengyi unleashed one thousand percent effectiveness and completed all preparations in just half an hour.

Then he started checking his phone for anything he might have missed.

Last, he added a small first-aid kit that he bought from a small pharmacy next to the supermarket.

Everything was ready.

The time had also arrived at seven forty in the evening.

Carrying his bags, Li Chengyi entered the community and glanced at his fifth-floor window – no light shone there.

With that, he quickly entered the stairwell, pressed the elevator button to ascend.

Waiting for the elevator to come down, he pondered on the purpose of the black pattern on the back of his right hand.

'If the common and simple preparations like these were enough to get through the Blind Spot, then all those people online wouldn't be so pessimistic. So....'

Li Chengyi had the feeling that his real chance of survival might rest in the pattern on the back of his hand.

But how to discover its function, he was completely clueless.

Ding.

The elevator arrived on the first floor.

The doors slowly parted, revealing the somewhat dim and old interior.

Li Chengyi was about to step in when he hesitated at the faint dim light, his footsteps faltering, feeling vaguely apprehensive.

He paused for a while but eventually withdrew his foot, turning to take the stairs up with his bags.

Rushing to the fourth floor in one go, it was lucky he often ran for exercise; otherwise, carrying over a dozen pounds of items and racing up so quickly, an ordinary person might not have been able to catch their breath.

Using his key to open the door, there was no one at home.

In the three-bedroom one-living-room house, it was dim, with only a little moonlight shining through the living room window and the lights from the house opposite.

Whoosh.

Li Chengyi exhaled deeply, placing the large bag he was carrying on the ground of the living room, and changed shoes to step inside.

As soon as he entered, he noticed faint dirty footprints left on the floor.

Clearly, someone had entered the house without changing their shoes.

'Was it Li Chengjiu's guest?' he wondered.

He found a spot to sit down, took a sip of water, then picked up his mobile phone again and used its camera function to carefully study the pattern on the back of his right hand.

'Perhaps a specific spell is needed?'

He began trying out a mishmash of nonsense at the pattern, muttering every spell that came to mind.

Everything from "Alibaba" to "open sesame," he tried every absurd incantation he could think of, to no avail—the scope was too broad and there was no response.

'Maybe it requires a blood ritual to recognize its master?' The thinking influenced by various novels from his previous life once again guided Li Chengyi's thoughts.

He gritted his teeth, took a small knife from the kitchen, and cut the tip of one finger slightly, dropping a drop of blood onto the black pattern.

Regrettably, it was still futile.

'Do I need to trace it with a pen and draw?' Another peculiar idea struck him.

He began searching for a piece of white paper and with a pencil, started to carefully sketch the pattern.

Unfortunately, his skill was so poor that after a long while, all he had managed to draw was an amorphous blob that looked like a child's painting.

Still no reaction.

After keeping busy for a while, time gradually approached eight-thirty.

A wave of slight drowsiness began to surge over Li Chengyi.

He immediately became alert.

The previous two times he had entered the Blind Spot were preceded by a wave of drowsiness, and now it was happening again—was it almost time for the third instance?

His heart tensed up as he forced himself to stay alert, grabbing the large bag tightly, afraid that if it left his side, he would not be able to bring it along.

'If I die, could I possibly time-travel again?' A strange thought came to him at this moment.

'Those black flowers, I don't know where they came from, but they can actually do such incredible things...'

Li Chengyi felt a sense of wonder. As the end seemed near, he strangely felt less tense than before.

It was an odd sensation, as if his mind suddenly emptied and became clearer, and his thoughts rapidly crystallized...

Wait a minute!

Suddenly, a flash of insight zipped through his heart.

'The pattern appeared because of those black flowers, and the time-travel happened after I came into contact with that patch of black flowers.

The field I studied in my previous life was also related to plant care. Everything seemed to be connected to plants...

So, could this pattern also be related to plants?'

Once this thought clicked, it quickly dominated Li Chengyi's entire train of thought.

The more he pondered, the more likely it seemed.

"I could give it a try!"

He looked around—there were no plants in his house at all.

So, carrying the bag, he changed shoes and quickly dashed out of his home, sprinting down the stairs, racing to the gap between the buildings in the Happiness Community.

These gaps were fitted with simple oval greenbelts.

Inside there were trees, green grass, and flowers.

A fence was placed around it with a sign cautioning against stepping on the flowers and plants.

But Li Chengyi could no longer care about being cautious; he jumped over the fence and as soon as his feet touched the grass in the greenbelt, his body responded instantly.

The black pattern on the back of his right hand twisted and writhed, turning into a row of clear text.

'Please maintain contact for ten seconds... Initiation loading.'

Li Chengyi took out his phone's camera, looking at the back of his right hand, he clearly saw the row of text this time.

It was written in the Chinese characters he had used most commonly in his previous life!

'Yes!! It's right!!' A surge of electric tingles shot through his scalp.

The countdown also began to appear on the back of his hand.

'Six.'

'Five.'

'Four.'

'Three.'

'Two.'

'One.'

Whoosh.

In an instant, all the writing disappeared. The black on his hand returned to the black floral pattern as before.

And lines of invisible information, through another mysterious manner, streamed instantly into Li Chengyi's brain.

'Activation successful.'

Hum!!

Suddenly, a deep and dense fog of darkness emerged from nowhere, surrounding him from all sides.

The fog submerged and enveloped Li Chengyi's entire body.

His surroundings turned pitch black.

'What is this...!?' He felt disoriented, standing still, not daring to move.

Ding....

A clear and resonant echo, like a jade striking a chime, its source indistinguishable.

In the darkness, far away.

A faint glimmer of purple light slowly emerged, brightened, and approached.