This Place Was Not Earth

A surreal feeling of being out of place was the first thing he felt as soon as he woke up. When Lu Jingren opened his eyes, the sky that seemed filled with pollution and smoke was no more and was replaced with a clear blue sky with no signs of clouds or dust. He also noticed that it was bright but there was no sun in the sky.

Lu Jingren instantly knew that at that moment, he might be dreaming again or hallucinating. Either way, this place was definitely not Earth.

He stood up and looked around his surrounding. The first thing that attracted his attention was the apple tree where he was previously lying under. It was a decent-sized tree that grew big juicy apples that could only be seen in well-cultivated farmlands and greenhouses. He also knew that apples as red as this growing out here was probably 100% organic and free of chemicals and pesticides.

Atleast he likes to think so.

He leaned closer and tried to smell any signs of chemicals.

There was indeed none. Moreover, the air he was breathing was fresh. It was far too different from the air that he normally breathed outside. Because he didn't pay much attention to people, he paid attention to his surroundings and so, even the smell of clean air, he could tell any slight difference.

He crouched down on the ground again and noticed something that caught his attention.

Footprints.

Small footprints to be precise.

He placed one foot forward and compared his size to the one he saw.

Noticing the difference, he knew immediately that it belonged to a woman judging from its smaller size and shape. There weren't many footprints on the ground and some of them had faded a bit but as he crouched down and looked attentively, he saw more of them, leading his gaze to look in another direction.

"How strange," Lu Jingren murmured upon seeing the vast land of growing fields before him. Since the apocalypse, he once thought that he would never be able to see this kind of peaceful scenery again.

He walked to the fields very slowly and roamed around, looking at the crops. He noticed some footprints again and some weeds growing on the ground. It would seem that the crops haven't been tended to for a while but seeing the traces of human activity was quite comforting.

When he saw a row of red bushes, his eyes widened and his lips lifted slightly to the side. He hummed in a low tone as he approached the bushes. He crouched down and started to pick some big, juicy strawberries one by one.

He produced water from his hand to wash them before placing one on his mouth.

The fresh, juicy strawberry with a slightly sour taste melted in his mouth. He licked his lips. He could scent that aroma which was like sweet caramel but was still quite fruity. Because he picked the ripped ones, he hardly tasted their acidity.

After eating a dozen of them, he got up and dusted his hands. He searched around some more and saw a henhouse...

Then some pens where some animals were kept. These animals that were still very docile and were far from the mutated monsters from the outside world made Lu Jingren feel a bit nostalgic.

He approached a pen and saw a pair of goats. He handed one a strawberry. The other approached his hand, sniffing but turned its nose away, disliking the sour yet sweet taste.

Near the animals were a wheat field so it would seem that they could live alone without much supervision since they were free to graze.

Lu Jingren moved around the place some more and stumbled upon a warehouse. It was filled with many things. From food to clothes and even appliances.

However, this wasn't what surprised him.

It was the fact that there was so much stuff, that most of the items were packed neatly outside the warehouse.

They were arranged according to their categories.

Food, clothing, medicine, equipment, and even cars...

When Lu Jingren saw a familiar-looking vehicle, he frowned. He approached it and observed its current condition and appearance.

Wasn't this the Marauder?

"This is odd." He murmured and moved on. Because he felt that this place was not normal, he became twice as observant and even managed to pick up a few strands of hair from the ground.

Thin, black hair that was short.

Very familiar.

He saw a clothesline with various clothes hanging, presumably to dry. He touched a familiar-looking shirt and was quick to pick up who it belonged to.

He walked and walked some more. He found an L-shaped kitchen with various kinds of knives hanging in a makeshift wall.

It felt strange to see a kitchen out in the open but as he looked up and saw no signs of cloud or the sun, Lu Jingren thought that it made sense.

This place was not Earth and so the laws of Earth may not necessarily apply to this place. Who knows? Maybe he was simply being crazy or this was simply another one of those dreams he was having. At this point, he was already very open-minded and could quickly accept anything out of the ordinary.

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