Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

I've been in the US for nearly two months now, and my internship is almost over. Since I'm here, I have to bring something back. There aren't many local specialties in the US, and it's hard to pack too much on a plane. After much deliberation, I decided to buy some clothes. Sportswear here should be cheaper than back home. Taking advantage of the weekend, Rong Zixuan and I headed to the mall to see if there were any suitable clothes.

The mall was quite crowded on weekends, so we went into a world-renowned sportswear store to browse. Back home, this brand's clothing is incredibly expensive, often costing four or five hundred yuan, so I usually wouldn't consider it. But this was overseas, so it should be cheaper. As expected, the prices were different. Converted to local currency, they were still cheaper. Hehe, this was the right place to come. I bought a few T-shirts and a few for Rong Zixuan, and we left the store feeling refreshed.

There are so many brand-name stores here, and Rong Zixuan loves basketball, so we need to buy him a few pairs of shoes, so we went from store to store. We had just left the store when we heard a series of loud noises and the sound of people screaming. What was that sound? Gunfire! Rong Zixuan and I exchanged glances, realizing the severity of the situation. Before I could react, he grabbed me and ran away. From the third floor, we saw a gunman indiscriminately attacking the crowd below on the first floor. No, not just one, but three! And there was a high probability that the gunman would be heading upstairs. Our situation was very dangerous, so we had to flee the mall. However, we had to go downstairs to leave, and a gunman was blocking the main entrance. We were unarmed and couldn't face them head-on. All we could do now was hide.

Rong Zixuan pulled me into a store because the crowd in front was running towards us, and the crowd behind was also rushing forward, which meant that the gunmen were coming from both sides and we were now trapped. He quickly pulled me into the store, which was packed with people. He pulled me through the crowd and walked to the back. There was really no room for anyone else to squeeze into the store. I don't know who closed the door, locking the people behind us out. Because the door was made of transparent glass, the gunmen outside were shooting indiscriminately, and bright red blood splattered on the transparent glass. It was heartbreaking to see. Rong Zixuan covered my eyes and hugged me tightly.

The two gunmen smashed the glass door hard, trying to open it, but the people inside kept blocking it with things from the store. It looked like the glass wouldn't hold up much longer; it was already cracking. If the two gunmen got in, we would be trapped, with nowhere to escape! The moment the glass shattered, the crowd inside rushed out like crazy. Rong Zixuan saw the opportunity and pulled me out while the chaos was going on. The impact of the crowd knocked the two gunmen to the ground, allowing some to escape, but it was a disaster for those who didn't get out in time. The two gunmen stood up and fired at the crowd around them, and the crowd collapsed instantly.

Due to the shooting, most shops were closed. Those that remained were filled with people lying in pools of blood, their lives uncertain. There was still a gunman downstairs, and we couldn't escape, so we fled down to the second floor. The situation there was even more horrific than the third, with people lying on the ground. Seeing this, my legs gave way and I collapsed, my face pale. Then, a series of gunshots rang out, sending me into a state of despair. Rong Zixuan looked down and saw that the police had shot the gunman at the first-floor doorway.

"Ah Qing, get up quickly! The police are here," he said as he lifted me up. Hearing the police, I felt a surge of hope and immediately grabbed his hand and stood up. As the police entered, the gunman on the third floor shot one of them. The officers on the first floor took cover inside. A fierce gunfight ensued between the gunman on the third floor and the officers on the first floor. The bang bang bang of gunfire filled me with terror. I crouched on the ground, covering my ears and curling up. Rong Zixuan held me tightly. The scene was as intense as the police and criminal battles in Hong Kong dramas, but I never expected to encounter it in real life. It was so terrifying to be there.

After a while, the gunfire stopped, but I still didn't dare to move and continued to squat on the ground, trembling.

"Aqing, stay here, I'll go take a look around", Rong Zixuan let me go after saying that, but I held on to him tightly and wouldn't let him go. At this moment, a man ran over, and with a gunshot he fell in front of us. It was the gunman! He went down to the second floor! We had nowhere to retreat because we were right in his shooting range. The gunman slowly walked up to us, raised his gun to shoot us, Rong Zixuan let me go, opened his hands, and used his body to block me. The gunman pulled the trigger, and I only heard a "click" sound, the gunman was out of bullets! Rong Zixuan found the moment when the gunman was changing the shell, pushed the gunman to the ground with all his strength, and then beat the gunman madly. The gunman was frightened by this sudden action, and had no time to react, so Rong Zixuan pinned him to the ground and punched him several times. The gunmen behind him turned over one by one and pinned Rong Zixuan to the ground. Rong Zixuan was counterattacked and was also hit by the gunman several times. I quickly stood up, picked up the gun on the ground, and fired a shot upwards. The gunman stopped beating me, raised his hands, slowly stood up, and turned around. When he saw that I was a girl, he showed disdain on his face and slowly approached me, and kept insulting me. I motioned him not to move forward, otherwise I would shoot. Instead of stopping, he kept mocking me and rushed forward to grab the gun. The moment his hand was about to touch the gun, I pulled the trigger. A bullet pierced his throat and he fell to the ground. His blood splattered on my face, hot and fishy blood splattered on my face. My heart was beating very fast at this moment, and my brain was blank. I watched the person in front of me fall down. I killed him. My legs went weak and I sat on the ground. Rong Zixuan ran over and hugged me, wiped the blood off my face with his clothes, and kept comforting me, saying don't be afraid, he is here.

Soon, the police from the first floor rushed up, checked the gunman on the ground, and told us we were safe, though we might need to go to the police station to explain the situation. Rong Zixuan thanked me and then led me out of the mall. Back in my rental apartment, I was still in shock. He held me tightly, and I didn't know when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, I was still in his arms.

In the following days, embassy staff and police came to visit us to understand the situation and take our statements. We explained everything truthfully, and they also saw the incident on surveillance video. Because I fired the gun in self-defense, I am not responsible under US law. This shooting incident still left a deep psychological scar on me. For a long time, I would subconsciously hide when I heard fireworks or loud noises.