The kayak wouldn’t be available for another three days.

Hu Qiangyong looked embarrassed.

“Yun-jie, could you see if it can come sooner? Tomorrow, or the day after would be great. There are a lot of people in my family, and we’re about to run out of food.”

Xu Yun gave a bitter smile. “Getting scheduled in three days was already cutting in line. I can’t jump ahead of the people before us.”

“I see.” Hu Qiangyong scratched his head and cheerfully prepaid the kayak rental. “Thanks for getting me on board. I owe you one. If anything comes up in the future, you can count on me. We live on the same floor—might as well look out for each other.”

Yun-jie smiled brightly. “You said it, big brother. I’ll spare you a pack of compressed biscuits for now. Once we get to the supermarket, let’s stock up and things will be more manageable.”

She was trying to win Hu Qiangyong over, Yu Xifeng thought silently.

The recent events in the hallway had made Yun-jie sense danger.

Hu Qiangyong clearly wasn’t thinking that deeply. He sighed as he sat on the sofa, “I passed by the supermarket when I got off work. Should’ve bought more back then.”

He had six mouths to feed at home and was barely making ends meet.

Yun-jie spoke with such tact, it was hard to dislike her.

The three of them settled on a departure date. Given the limited space on the kayak, they agreed that Hu Qiangyong would get 40% of the supplies they brought back, while Yun-jie and Yu Xifeng would each get 30%.

Each would pay their own share.

Soon, the departure day arrived.

Yu Xifeng put on a raincoat, waterproof goggles, and carried a small backpack.

All her essentials were stored in her space, and the backpack was just for appearances.

When she stepped out, there were many people gathered at the stairwell entrance.

Though a few had already gone out to buy supplies by kayak, there were fewer than thirty in total. Yun-jie securing a kayak was still impressive and enviable.

Yun-jie remarked, “Nice raincoat you’ve got.”

Yu Xifeng smiled.

Household garbage floated in the water, reeking with stench.

Rain poured heavily, the muddy water reduced visibility to less than three meters.

The outside world no longer looked familiar.

Hu Qiangyong and Yun-jie both tried steering the kayak, but fumbled with it, unable to get it going in the right direction.

Only when Yu Xifeng took over did the kayak smoothly leave the neighborhood.

This was the first time in days that Hu Qiangyong had gone outside the residential complex. He looked around in amazement. “Dear god, look how much this water has swallowed up.”

In the hallway, Hu Qiangyong gave Yu Xifeng a thumbs up. “You’re the real deal. Good thing we had you, otherwise we’d have made fools of ourselves even with a kayak.”

Rain pelted them hard, visibility was poor, but Yu Xifeng’s hands were steady.

Following the directions Yun-jie had given, it took about forty minutes for them to reach the supermarket entrance.

Several kayaks had gathered outside, along with many makeshift floating contraptions. Yu Xifeng saw inner tubes and kayaks bobbing in the water.

“You stay here and watch the kayak,” Yun-jie instructed. “Big Brother Hu and I will swim over. If you want anything, just tell me.”

Yu Xifeng had no objections. “Buy me a few cans of insecticide—cockroaches are getting in the house.”

Yun-jie nodded and used an inner tube to swim into the supermarket.

Yu Xifeng waited outside.

Wearing waterproof goggles, her vision was less impaired. The moment Yun-jie and Hu Qiangyong went in, she sensed several people turning their attention to her.

Not that she saw them—but she felt them.

That sinister sense of being watched with ill intent.

Quietly, Yu Xifeng adjusted her sitting position on the kayak and slipped her right hand into her bag, gripping the dagger she had taken from her space.

A while passed. Yun-jie and the others still hadn’t come back.

Someone was casually steering their kayak closer to Yu Xifeng’s.

Kayaks were ridiculously expensive now—worth as much as gold jewelry had been before the storm.

The place was noisy. If someone stole your stuff and pushed you into the water, you wouldn’t even have time to scream.

Even if someone did hear—so what? With rain this heavy, by the time help arrived, the culprit would be long gone.

Wu Yuan gripped his iron rod, eyes fixed on Yu Xifeng’s slender back. He had made up his mind.

As the rod swung down toward her head, Yu Xifeng, as if she had eyes on her back, bent forward and dodged.

Wu Yuan’s eyes turned vicious. Seeing his first strike fail, he growled, “Get lost! You hear me?!”

Yu Xifeng braced herself with one hand on the boat and delivered a swift kick to his jaw.

Due to the kayak’s flexible material, the impact was cushioned and Wu Yuan’s boat drifted slightly, absorbing part of the force.

Yu Xifeng quickly regained her balance and jumped onto his kayak.

“You bitch, you’re asking for it!” Wu Yuan raised his rod again.

But before he could swing it down, pain exploded in his chest. He looked down in disbelief to find a dagger stabbed into him. Blood seeped out, mixing into the rain.

His eyes widened as he fell. The last thing he saw before he died was Yu Xifeng’s cold, indifferent gaze, looking down at him from above.

There wasn’t a trace of emotion in those eyes—just pure indifference.

Regret and terror pulled Wu Yuan into death’s embrace.

Yu Xifeng gave the body a final kick.

A trail of bubbles surfaced beside the kayak. Just as Wu Yuan’s corpse sank into the water, Yu Xifeng reached into the water.

The body vanished completely.

Through the curtain of rain, her back blocked the scene. No one saw the dagger in the man’s chest.

The water was murky, and the raindrops created constant ripples. Without a close look, no one could tell what had happened underwater.

No one saw Wu Yuan’s body disappear without a trace.

Yu Xifeng returned to Xu Yun’s kayak, holding the rope tethering Wu Yuan’s kayak behind her. She sat down again as if nothing had happened.

Nearly an hour later, Hu Qiangyong finally made his way out of the crowd, panting heavily.

He was carrying two large bags—at a glance, there had to be at least sixty jin (30 kg) of rice, a big sack of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and dried noodles, plus flour and glutinous rice flour. Eggs and vegetables were laid on top.

Yu Xifeng helped move the goods onto the kayak.

“Perfect timing,” Hu Qiangyong said. “The supermarket restocked today, and everything was snatched up the moment it hit the shelves. Xu Yun’s still inside. Not sure if one kayak can carry all this.”

“There’s another one,” Yu Xifeng gestured behind her.

Wu Yuan’s kayak looked completely ordinary—nothing personal about it at all.

Hu Qiangyong froze. “Where did that come from?”

“Ran into a scalper. Bought it off him,” Yu Xifeng lied calmly.

“That’s great!” Hu Qiangyong slapped his thigh. “Xiao Yu, wait here. I’ll go grab more.”

And off he went, squeezing back into the crowd.

Yu Xifeng touched her nose.

Xu Yun also returned. She and Hu Qiangyong had split up to grab supplies, focusing on non-perishables. They brought back a lot.

When she saw the second kayak, she was pleasantly surprised.

Her own kayak had been borrowed. What was borrowed must be returned. With Yu Xifeng now having a kayak of her own, it’d be much more convenient for future supply runs, especially since they lived on the same floor.

She stuffed a bag into Yu Xifeng’s hands.

Inside was the insecticide Yu Xifeng had asked for. Xu Yun had bought two bottles herself as well.

Yu Xifeng took it. The two of them sat on the kayak, waiting for Hu Qiangyong together.

Now that the kayak was loaded with food, even more eyes were watching them.

Xu Yun stood at the bow, gripping a kitchen knife, eyes sharp as she kept watch over their surroundings.