Only I Walk Alone

Humans, as a species, are always intrigued by the secrets of others, and the Nine-tailed Fox is no exception.

These two individuals, adopting an archeological approach, began to examine the information stored on the girl’s phone, and soon found themselves deeply engrossed.

After a while, Wu Ge disclosed his intention for seeking the Fox Immortal: “I found a Netherworld Lotus in the Underworld, which is said to be a material for concocting the Seven-Turn Golden Pill. Can you concoct the Seven-Turn Golden Pill?”

The Fox Immortal looked up, somewhat puzzled, “How did you know that the Netherworld Lotus is a material for the Seven-Turn Golden Pill? I can concoct it, but we are still missing at least two main ingredients, which are extremely precious and rare. So, concocting the Seven-Turn Golden Pill is almost out of the question.”

Wu Ge nodded, then asked, “I’ve always been curious, why can these pills enhance mental strength? If we can understand the principle behind it, perhaps we can achieve pill concoction through technology, much like modern Traditional Chinese Medicine.”

The Fox Immortal explained, “It’s not that the pills can directly enhance the consumer’s mental strength. Rather, the pills contain tremendous vitality. After acquiring this vitality, cultivators can refine essence into qi, qi into spirit, ultimately enhancing their mental strength. If a common person without knowledge of cultivation consumes it, they would only meet with a violent death.”

Wu Ge understood and said, “I’ve stored the Netherworld Lotus in the warehouse. You can use it for pill concoction whenever needed. As for the other main ingredients, we’ll have to leave it to luck.”

Wu Ge was about to leave. Although exploring was interesting, he couldn’t immerse himself in it all the time. He wouldn’t peek at the girl’s information anymore.

But as Wu Ge was about to leave, the Fox Immortal suddenly said, “Wu Ge, I got this phone from the WG-3 room. You know, the items in the rooms starting with WG are all related to you. Besides your belongings, there are also items from other people connected to you. The owner of this phone might be one of your classmates.”

Wu Ge was startled. My classmate?

He had completely no recollection. The human brain selectively forgets memories that are not used. Throughout our lives, we forget many people who pass through, those we don’t interact much with, those who don’t leave a strong impression.

The fox immortal continued, “This girl never mentioned the person she had a crush on. I was wondering if it could be…”

Wu Ge interrupted, “Impossible. I was very solitary during my student days. I did everything alone, had no friends, no presence in class, no one communicated with me, and I didn’t initiate conversations. To me, classmates are just strangers without any connection after graduation.”

The Fox Immortal was silent for a while, then walked up to Wu Ge, touched his head, and said sadly, “Wu Ge, it’s not your fault.”

Xiao Chao also sent a message: “Wu Ge, please don’t hurt yourself.”

Wu Ge: ???

After a moment of speechlessness, Wu Ge said, “I’m leaving. I have work to do.”

The Fox Immortal watched Wu Ge leave. After he was gone, she gently said while looking at the phone, “Did this feeling get through?”

Wu Ge left. He returned to his villa, to his room, and then lay down on his bed.

There was no work. It was just an excuse to be alone.

Wu Ge reminisced for a long time, but the memories before the disappearance of all humanity had become very blurry. He couldn’t remember much.

Wu Ge put on a neural connection device, then started to check the information copied from the girl’s phone.

As he checked, Wu Ge kept asking himself, “Is it me? It couldn’t be, right?”

Despite promising not to peek again, Wu Ge couldn’t resist the allure of secrets, a common human weakness.

Gradually, Wu Ge’s expression turned serious. When he saw what the girl wrote on July 14, 2025, he got out of bed and contacted the Fox Immortal.

Using the neural connection device, Wu Ge said seriously to the fox immortal, “Fox Immortal, check the phone for entries starting from July 14, 2025. From that day, what she recorded is no longer about a crush!”

July 14 was one month after Wu Ge’s college entrance exam, and August 25 was when humanity was abducted by aliens. Most students’ school year starts on September 1, though some schools start earlier.

In this nearly one-and-a-half-month period, something incredible seems to have happened to this girl!

The Fox Immortal immediately turned on the girl’s phone, then searched for the records of July 14, 2025. She quickly found a brief entry in the notepad:

Today, I had a terrifying dream. I dreamt that a disaster struck, and all of humanity died, including me!

The Fox Immortal was shocked. She contacted Wu Ge to ask, “What is this? A prophetic dream? Or just a coincidence?”

Wu Ge said, “Keep reading, there’s more!”

The Fox Immortal continued to the entry for July 15th, and on this day, the girl had the same dream again. She wrote in her journal in terror:

The same dream! Disaster struck again, it was a great flood, and all of humanity was drowned. The timing… it seemed to be while I was on my way to university!

Wu Ge, using the neural connection device, told the Fox Immortal, “I’ve already asked Xiao Chao to check. Her university’s start date was exactly on the day humanity disappeared, August 25th, which is a few days earlier than most universities start… I’m now heading to Airport 3. I plan to make a trip to the city where she was.”

That city was also Wu Ge’s hometown. Although mechanical cities had been built there, the buildings from 200 years ago were still relatively well-preserved. Robots often maintained those buildings because Wu Ge would sometimes return home to visit. Thus, the buildings of the elementary, middle, high schools, and parks had not been demolished.

Upon hearing this, the Fox Immortal said, “Wait for me, I’ll come with you.”

The two met at Airport 3 and boarded a transport plane. Then, the Fox Immortal continued to read the entry for July 16th on the phone, which was again a very brief record:

I dreamt of a great disaster again, this time it was a meteorite strike, and no one survived. I told my parents about this dream, and they said they would take me to see a psychologist tomorrow.

The transport plane had taken off, and powerful robots, armed with charge guns, surrounded them for protection. Amidst the sound of the transport plane’s engines, they opened the record for July 17th:

Disaster struck again in my dream, and I’ve become numb to it. Today, I saw a psychologist, who said this was due to my anxiety about the future and fear of the approaching end of summer vacation. He said I must have some regrets, something unfinished, and worried that once I go to university, I would never be able to complete it. That’s why I have these dreams where the world ends as soon as I go to university.

The psychologist hit the nail on the head. Indeed, there was a regret I hadn’t fulfilled!

The psychologist suggested that I visit the university I was admitted to, to help alleviate my anxiety about the unknown.

My father said he would take me there in three days.