Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 11: Modern World [Complete]

1339: Copper Harbor

When Deng Yilan walked out of the newspaper building, she missed a step on the stairs, stumbled, and fell. Her coccyx hit the ground with a dull sound, sending a sharp pain through her head.

Breathing heavily, she sat on the ground for a few seconds, still feeling dizzy. Her shin was scraped and bleeding when she fell. As she looked up, she noticed people nearby staring at her, but when they saw her looking back, they quickly turned away and left.

Deng Yilan hadn't cried for many days, and now her eyes were dry. This was the fourth media company she had asked for, and just like before, she came up empty-handed. No one could tell her what the Twelve Worlds were or who requested the advertisement. The staff seemed unaware as well, being evasive when questioned further. If she pressed them, she would only incur impatience or even anger.

Several media companies from out of town were still on the list, but Deng Yilan had lost hope in them.

But she had to try.

Otherwise, what should she do?

As Deng Yilan got up from the ground, she heard her phone ringing in her bag. She was taken aback. It could be a telemarketing call. Since Han Jun's death had been concluded, hardly anyone contacted her anymore, and her parents had returned home, unaware that she hadn't been going to work recently.

It was an unfamiliar number. She answered, "Hello?"

"Is this Miss Deng?" a harsh female voice from the other end said, without even a greeting, as if she wanted to push Deng Yilan with her voice alone. "Are you the one looking for someone named... Han Jun? He's your husband, right?"

At that moment, Deng Yilan thought she had been dreaming all this time and that Han Jun hadn't actually died.

His name spoken by a living person seemed to bring him back, especially since the sentence did not contain words of condolence, just proof that he was still alive. She was momentarily dazed and forgot to respond, but the woman continued, "I saw the missing person flyer you posted!"

A bucket of cold water poured over her, and Deng Yilan snapped back to reality. "Yes, but—"

"I have something important to tell you in person."

"Okay—okay—"

Deng Yilan was desperate to know what had happened to him after he disappeared and hastily gave the address of a cafe near her residential area. As soon as she hung up, she rushed home, her heart pounding. What had Han Jun done?

She waited at the cafe for fifteen minutes, tearing several sugar packets into a pile of crumbs. The woman called again, "I'm at the entrance of your residential area. Come over."

Deng Yilan returned to the entrance and, from a distance, saw a woman with bandages on her head and two men behind her. One of them noticed her and pointed at her, saying something. The woman with the head injury walked briskly toward Deng Yilan and shouted, "Miss Deng?"

"It's me... who are you?"

The two men surrounded her. "I've been looking for your husband for a long time. Look." The woman, about the same age and size as Deng Yilan, pointed to the bandage on her forehead, angry, "This is what he did."

Deng Yilan took a moment to process. "Han Jun hit someone?"

"What are you pretending not to know for? On the 6th, I was supposed to go on a cruise happily, but your husband attacked me!" The injured woman grew angrier as she spoke, her spit splashing on Deng Yilan's face. "He knocked me out, my head hit the wall, and he took my ticket—what do you have to say as his family?"