I have a city in the end times

At four in the morning, Song Ziyu squatted outside a hutong bar, smoking a cigarette.

The bar was about to close, and many drunken men and women were walking out, supporting each other.

These young women were all fair-skinned and beautiful, radiating youthful energy. Even the morning street sweepers couldn't help but take a few more glances, trying to ease the disharmony of the elderly couple's lives.

But Song Ziyu was completely uninterested, her attention fixed on the playboys driving cars.

Song Ziyu had just graduated from high school this summer and was taking advantage of his summer break to work as an illegal driver, hoping to save for college tuition and living expenses.

Song Ziyu was born into a difficult family. His father left home when he was young, his mother was chronically ill, and his younger sister was still young and needed care. He had to fend for himself. Song Ziyu's target was a drunken young man, staggering towards his Cayenne with a charming young woman in his arms. Song Ziyu quickly approached him and asked, "Handsome man, do you need a designated driver?"

"Get out of the way! Don't I know how to drive?" the young man swore, his breath reeking of alcohol.

Song Ziyu said cheekily, "Handsome man, you've been drinking, you're not allowed to drive."

Smack!

A strong wind blew.

Song Ziyu was slapped hard.

"Who the hell is drunk? Did you see that? You filthy designated driver, I'm telling you, if you talk nonsense, I'll beat your ass off!"

The young man cursed with bulging eyes.

Song Ziyu covered his face, not daring to retort. He couldn't afford to offend a second-generation rich kid who could pick up girls in a Cayenne, so he had to swallow his anger.

Thankfully, the girl in the second-generation rich kid's arms was quite nice, and she managed to trick and coax him out of the predicament, allowing the angry young man to get into the car. This misfortune left Song Ziyu in a sullen mood, and she could only go home to sleep.

In about three hours, she had to go back to the construction site to move bricks.

On the way home, Song Ziyu couldn't help but feel anxious.

Half of the vacation was already over, and she had only scraped together a third of her tuition and living expenses. At the current rate, her university life was likely to be very difficult.

As her thoughts wandered, a siren blared up ahead.

Looking in the direction of the sound, Song Ziyu saw a car overturned on a flowerbed at an empty intersection. A few dozen meters away, a bloody figure lay on the ground, her life or death uncertain.

Song Ziyu quickly ran over to take a look. Wasn't the car the Cayenne of a wealthy family?

Song Ziyu glanced at the person who had been hit and saw it was a young girl.

The girl's features were covered in scratches, and her clothes and pants were torn to varying degrees. Her body was bent awkwardly, and a trail of blood stretched a long way... Song Ziyu couldn't help but vomit.

This person must be dead! By this time, the second-generation rich kid had been apprehended by the police, and the young woman in the car with him was so frightened that she squatted on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Song Ziyu's accumulated resentment dissipated.

Karma, karma!

I told you to drive drunk, I told you not to pay the price. You deserved it.

It was a pity for the young woman who helped me out; I'm afraid she's also in trouble.

Such a serious traffic accident on a major thoroughfare in the downtown area was handled swiftly. While Song Ziyu was watching the excitement, an ambulance transported the deceased's body, the vehicle involved in the accident was towed away, and the drunk second-generation rich kid was taken away by the police. He will face prison time.

Song Ziyu continued walking towards his residence and stumbled upon a black bracelet left by a flower bed not far from the body.

Song Ziyu picked it up and examined it.

The bracelet was shaped like a wristband and felt very light. It was unknown what material it was made of, but it wasn't gold or silver. Song Ziyu stuffed the bracelet into his trouser pocket and continued on his way home.

It was already 5:30 a.m. when he returned to his rented apartment. He went straight to bed without brushing his teeth or washing his face.

Ding, ding, ding…

The ringing of the phone woke Song Ziyu, and the voice on the other end of the line barked, "Song Ziyu, what's wrong with you? You're not at the construction site again?"

Song Ziyu was startled. He rubbed his dry eyes and checked the time, realizing it was already 9:30 a.m.!

"Foreman, don't worry. I'll be there soon." Song Ziyu hurriedly rolled out of bed.

"Forget it. You don't have to come. You've been fired." The foreman's tone was icy.

"Don't..." Song Ziyu pleaded, but the other end had already hung up.

Song Ziyu was chagrined at having lost the job he had worked so hard to find in a matter of minutes, but there wasn't much he could do. He lay in bed, lost in thought. Bored, Song Ziyu pulled out a black bracelet, put it on, and began admiring it.

The moment Song Ziyu put it on!

The black bracelet suddenly lit up with an eerie glow, and a series of cold voices echoed in his mind.

[New host detected, activating...]

[Activation successful, binding in progress...]

[Bind successful, teleport?]

Teleport?

Teleport what?

Song Ziyu was bewildered.

[Teleport?]

The mechanical voice inquired again.

This voice seemed to possess infinite magical power, amplifying Song Ziyu's curiosity and compelling her to respond.

For some reason, Song Ziyu said, "Teleport."

The black bracelet glowed green, and the entire rental house was instantly ablaze with a shimmering azure light.

And then...

Song Ziyu was horrified to find herself in the Gobi Desert. Just a moment ago, Song Ziyu was lying in the doghouse of her rental apartment, huddled in the sour, smelly quilt. Now, she was on the endless expanse of yellow sand in the Gobi Desert.

What the hell!

After calming herself down, Song Ziyu quickly pulled out her phone to call the police, but it showed no signal.

Song Ziyu panicked, thinking this must be related to the black bracelet!

Song Ziyu immediately tried to remove the bracelet, but it seemed welded to her hand, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get it off.

Song Ziyu suddenly had an idea and shouted, "Teleport! Send me back."

A mechanical voice echoed in her mind:

[Insufficient energy. Teleport failed. Estimated charging time: 12 hours.]

Song Ziyu was stunned. Was she going to stay in this godforsaken place for 12 hours?

As her thoughts wandered, a figure appeared in the distance across the Gobi Desert. Song Ziyu was overjoyed and hurried towards the figure. What a blessing it was to see a living person in this deserted area.

Song Ziyu thought about asking someone to find out what kind of hell he had been transported to.

However!

After running a hundred meters or so, Song Ziyu stopped, his joyful expression giving way to fear.

He gradually saw more clearly that the person ahead...wasn't human at all.

Turning towards him was a rotting skeleton!

The closer the skeleton got, the clearer Song Ziyu could see it!

It was a pale white thing, its skeleton stretched sideways and vertically, its ribs dangling, its exposed organs already shrunken and hanging black within its abdominal cavity. The sight was sickening. The terrifying skeleton's head swung, its sunken eye sockets gleaming with a bloodthirsty red light...

The skeleton trotted toward them, its pace steady and steady. Song Ziyu suddenly realized that if caught up by this thing, his fate would be disastrous.