The blazing light swallowed everything in an instant, and the deafening explosion sounded like the roar of death. Xu Zhongkun felt a huge force tearing him apart. His consciousness was like a kite with broken strings, falling rapidly in the darkness, and the endless darkness seemed to swallow him completely.
After an unknown amount of time, a faint light pierced the darkness, and Xu Zhongkun opened his eyes with difficulty. What comes into view is not the familiar laboratory scene, but a cluster of low adobe houses, with mottled mud walls showing traces of time. The air was filled with the faint smell of gunpowder smoke and the bitter smell of herbs, damp and cold. He felt severe pain all over his body, as if every bone had been crushed and reorganized, heavy and numb.
