Chapter Text
17:42, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 23/04/2026
“CGTN, Headline; heir of house Wu, Mr Wu Sanxing, declared missing. Any and all information to be reported to the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau, or municipal police force of your local area.”
_
11:20, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 05/05/2026
“How many times will I have to tell you Xiao Xie? The police will do their job, it’s not your place to get involved and complicate things!”
“And I’m telling you Ershu, he sent me a message, no matter how often I ask the police they refuse to act on it. I can’t just sit here and listen to you all mourn like he’s dead.”
“Wu Xie!”
“No, if you won’t help me look for him, I’ll do it myself.”
_
07:31, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, 07/05/2026
“CGTN, Headline; virus spreads across southern China, stay at home. Contact local authorities if you, or any family members are experiencing symptoms.”
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11:00, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, 07/05/2026
“CGTN, Emergency broadcast; over the past four hours there have been reports of increasing antisocial behaviour across the country. All emergency services have been exhausted, or have been overrun by individuals effected by the disease. All commercial, governmental, and educational services will be closed within the next 24 hours. Citizens are urged to remain at home, in the event in which you encounter anybody exhibiting symptoms, ensure you keep your distance.
Symptoms include:
-Aggressive and unpredictable behaviour
-Haemorrhaging of eyes
-Severe fever (40-42.C)
-Unintelligible or staggered speech
-Hallucinations
-Amnesia
Rest assured we are doing our upmost to regain control of the situation, please stay safe until further notice.”
_
12:18, Qiqihar, Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport, Heilongjiang, 07/05/2026
No one was a fan of airports, well, no one who was sane was a fan of airports. They were two mutually exclusive traits. Wu Xie was mostly sane, and also mostly not a fan of airports. In fact, he’d never been less of a fan of airports than in that very moment. He’d essentially bulldozed his way through the panicked crowd outside, and by some miracle managed to land himself the last seat on the last flight to Beijing that night, and until further notice. It had only been about ten minutes since he made it past security before the airport shut its doors. Again, whatever his star sign was, it was working overtime.
He’d managed to grab a seat by one of the windows looking out into the airfield, as close to his gate as he could physically get before being shooed away by the flight attendants. It was only built to accommodate around thirty flights a day, not large by any means, and when the entire population of the city was scrambling to get out, it wasn’t exactly in its element.
The first case of the virus arose a mere few days ago, but within that time had literally managed to grind the whole country to a halt. The majority of cases were in the south, but given the speed of infection likely wouldn’t remain contained for very long. Mostly people were just trying to flee the country before borders closed. He couldn’t fault them, if it wasn’t for his Sanshu he’d probably be doing the same.
This whole nightmare had started almost two weeks ago with the disappearance of Wu Xie’s third uncle, Wu Sanxing. It was all the usual chaos at the start, police interviews, public appeals, rewards and information requests, but as time passed nothing came to light. Admittedly, he actually hadn’t been that worried at the beginning. It wasn’t out of character for his uncle to go missing for large periods of time, often without a word or indication he was leaving, but this time felt different. His fears were reestablished with the first cases of the virus, and he’d decided to investigate for himself.
With the help of his uncle’s assistant, Panzi, and tracing his credit history, he’d managed to track him down to Qiqihar, and had gotten on the first flight north. He had to admit that he’d barely even heard of the place before hand, but it was a starting point.
Wu Xie arrived late the previous evening and had planned to stay in the same hotel as his uncle, checking in with what he estimated as five braincells and definitely not enough caffeine in his body. The concierge had taken his bag, directed him to his room, and when he’d enquired about his uncle, exchanged a look before returning with a letter addressed to Wu Sanxing. Feeling pretty chuffed at his discovery, he’d opened the letter.
To Sanxing,
I hope you’re pleased with yourself.
I’ve enclosed what you’ve asked for.
Do not reach out again.
Erbai
A short, frantic search later revealed no further contents in the envelope. Neither Ershu or Panzi were answering his calls. He’d planned to sleep on his next move, try and get back to Hangzhou to speak to his second uncle in the morning. For obvious reasons that wasn’t going to be exactly easy anymore.
Wu Xie removed his glasses and sunk his head into his hands, he'd really had enough now. The jokes about the ‘zombie apocalypse’ online had dried up, all contact to the south had been practically cut off, and he had the overwhelming, grim thought that it wouldn’t stop there.
The creeping suspicion that Wu Sanxing was somehow trapped in the centre of it all didn’t help either. If there was anything he was certain of, he had to return to Hangzhou, find his uncle, and thoroughly get to the bottom of it all.
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