right, immersing himself in the written world.

As a science student, Tao Ci should be reading advanced scientific books, yet he wasn’t. He always believed that if he hadn’t been too lazy to memorize texts, he might have chosen liberal arts. The world of literature always had a special allure for Tao Ci, and choosing science was his way of proving he could master any form of art.

Only in the world of literature did Tao Ci feel truly secure. Although he often forgot the storylines and main characters’ names, some things always stayed with him—those things formed a person’s temperament and cultivation. From books, he learned understanding and tolerance. His soul, like the ocean, could accommodate endless myriad things.

Because of this, he found his current job dull—a daily routine of early rising, especially harsh in this freezing weather, commuting three hours just to get to work, doing a dead-end job, longing for the next holiday, and unwittingly squandering his youth.

Before he knew it, he had been working for four years. Growing experienced, he saw many things, yet the thought of living this way for decades filled him with despair, always pondering the meaning of life.

Most of his classmates and colleagues had a mindset of career success, understandable given the materialistic education they had received. With teachers lacking quality and cultivation, how could they expect the students to possess them?

However, Tao Ci believed career success was important but never at the expense of ignoring one’s inner voice. A life revolving solely around money felt pointless. So, he wasn’t very focused on his career but instead invested in sketching—a time-consuming endeavor yielding results only through continuous practice and perseverance.

Today had been productive, with steady progress in sketching. As Tao Ci read intently, sunlight suddenly began to fade, and the room turned dark. He looked around and then outside—the world bathed in sunlight vanished in seconds, as if a thunderstorm was approaching. But this was winter, early winter, no less; thunderstorms were implausible.

Glancing at the wall clock, it was 1:30 PM. His parents had gone shopping at the mall for over two hours. With the sunny weather earlier, they hadn’t taken an umbrella. Torn, Tao Ci picked up his phone.

"Hey Mom, it looks like it’s going to rain. Do you need me to bring an umbrella?" Tao Ci’s mom was equally stunned seeing the weather change through the mall’s glass.

"Sure, we’re on the third floor. Call me when you're here."

"Alright, see you soon."

Unbeknownst to him, clouds had gathered densely. The sky over the mall was dark, the roiling clouds seemingly pregnant with something ominous.

Walking downstairs leisurely, he headed towards the mall. Looking up again, his heart

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