Chapter 27: Infinite Flow (2)

“Yes, Sister Zhang,” Jiang Jiang glanced at the time — 6:30 PM. She needed to leave herself enough time to find her “home.”

“My family is pretty strict, I need to get home early,” she explained.

Zhang Juan’s eyes lit up. She took a few steps forward and walked beside Jiang Jiang. “What a coincidence, I need to head back too. Let’s go together.”

Xi Meng also came over and chimed in, “Yeah, we’re all colleagues from the same company, getting to know each other is good.”

As she spoke, she gave the two men a look — signaling that they would handle this NPC and dig for intel, while the men should go search elsewhere.

Jiang Jiang was also curious about the players’ capabilities, so she smiled and agreed.

From the outside, Happiness Community looked like an ordinary residential neighborhood. The only eerie thing was that even though it was only 6:30 PM, there wasn’t a single soul walking around.

Jiang Jiang thought for a moment and decided to try her luck at the security office first. She knocked on the door.

Xi Meng and Zhang Juan instinctively took a step back.

“Who is it?” came a hoarse voice from within. The door creaked open, revealing the guard’s face — bluish-purple and corpse-like, with bloodshot eyes bulging like overfilled blood bags.

He looked terrifying.

Jiang Jiang had to summon all her willpower not to react — but to the two women watching, this only confirmed one thing:

She clearly knew this security guard well!

“It’s me,” Jiang Jiang glanced at the name tag on his chest and smiled. “It’s me, Uncle Zhang.”

“Oh! Isn’t this the little girl from Unit 1636? Why are you getting home so late today? Go on, hurry home — don’t make your parents worry.”

Though he looked horrifying, his words were unexpectedly kind — and gave her a clear hint.

Unit 1636?

Seeing how smoothly Jiang Jiang got information, Xi Meng and Zhang Juan quickly stepped up to greet him too.

But the guard only responded to them coldly. When they asked where they lived, he grew angry:

“Ungrateful daughters! If you didn’t want to go home, just say so. Asking me where your house is? Have you forgotten the home you’ve lived in for decades?”

Realizing this method wouldn’t work, the two women gave up and began looking for clues elsewhere.

Jiang Jiang started searching for Unit 1636. Maybe 16 was the building number, 3 the floor, and 6 the apartment?

“Meow—”

A small cat’s cry came from a bush nearby.

Jiang Jiang paused.

This seemed to be the first non-player, non-NPC creature she’d encountered in this entire instance.

She loved animals—but in a horror game, could a cat really be just a cat?

“Meow-AH!”

The soft mew suddenly turned sharp and panicked, like the cat had been badly startled.

Following the sound, Jiang Jiang saw a huge, fat cat biting down hard on the back of a tiny black kitten’s neck.

At first glance, it looked like a typical mother-cat gesture—but then Jiang Jiang saw blood dripping from the larger cat’s teeth. Its eyes were fierce—it was going in for the kill.

The kitten dangled limply, its eyes hollow.

Jiang Jiang couldn’t stand it and stepped forward to chase the big cat away. It dropped the kitten like trash onto the grass.

She immediately rushed over to examine the kitten’s wounds. It wasn’t just the neck—its belly, face, tail, and limbs were covered in bruises and gashes, some deep, some shallow.

And the injuries… looked like they came from different sources.

She even found a burn mark on its ear — clearly from a cigarette.

This poor kitten — how much cruelty had it endured in this twisted world?

Jiang Jiang gently cleaned its wounds and used her healing skill. A soft glow surrounded the kitten, and finally, it stirred.

Prompt 5 had told her to “raise a black cat,” right?

She tucked the kitten into her arms, gently squeezing its soft white paw.

“Alright. Hello, little one.”

Healing the kitten took a while, so by the time she reached Building 16, it was already 7:30 PM.

This community was strange. In front of every apartment was a family photo.

…Was this meant to help players find their “assigned” families?

No — something felt off.

Jiang Jiang stared at the photos. There was something subtly wrong with them, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

A banner hung on the stairwell:

“Congratulations to Building 16 for being voted the Happiest Floor of the Year! Loving couples, filial children — a result of everyone’s hard work!”

She walked up to the third floor. Outside Unit 1636 was a photo of her and her “parents.”
They didn’t look exactly like her real parents—but there was some resemblance.

Jiang Jiang studied the photo for a while, then seemed to realize something. She quickly put the kitten into her backpack, then knocked on the door.

“Ah! Jiang Jiang’s home!” A woman’s head poked out first — her “mother” in this instance.

Unlike the blue-faced guard, this woman looked completely normal — pale-skinned, pretty, and pleasant.

Jiang Jiang remembered the players’ prompt:

“Beautiful, gentle NPCs are safe and trustworthy. Please treat them kindly.”

So… was this home base safe?

But the moment Jiang Jiang entered, and the woman’s full body came into view, she changed her mind.

This “mother’s” head and body were completely disconnected — connected only by a long, tube-like neck, stretched like a hose.

Her head stayed in the living room, asking Jiang Jiang about work — while her body was in the distant kitchen cooking.

“Why are you home so late today?” came a low male voice.

Jiang Jiang turned — a giant man, at least three meters tall, approached.

But his height wasn’t the most disturbing thing — it was how his entire body looked like it had been stretched vertically.
He was rail-thin, his width compressed unnaturally, like someone had dragged him out using Photoshop.

These “parents” were clearly not human.

Jiang Jiang glanced at the clock. It matched the time on her phone.

7:45 PM. She wasn’t late.

She exhaled slightly and explained:

“I ran into a few coworkers on the way. They seemed confused about where their homes were, so I helped them search for a bit.”

The two… things squinted at her for several seconds — then slowly morphed into their photo-perfect versions, just like the one at the door.

The “mother” brought out the food and complained:

“Ah, those troublesome coworkers again. Don’t bother with them in the future. Their families aren’t happy at all. No wonder they can’t find their way home.”

The “father” seemed to think that wasn’t quite right but only added:

“Kids will be kids. A little disobedience is normal. Once they’re properly educated, everything will be fine. Poor parents, though. Must be tough on them.”

After they finished griping, they warmly invited Jiang Jiang to eat.

Jiang Jiang excused herself to go put down her bag. She slipped into her room, gently tucked the unconscious kitten into the wardrobe, and laid some clothes down to make it comfortable.

Only then did she return for dinner.

Then her “mother” casually said:

“By the way… I heard that black cat isn’t dead yet.”

It sounded like an offhand comment.

But Jiang Jiang felt the hairs on her neck stand on end.

What… does that mean?

The “father” responded:

“That creature’s not so easy to kill.”

Then, he slowly turned his head toward Jiang Jiang and grinned — his gums fully exposed in a horrifying smile:

“How many times has Jiang Jiang saved it… recently?”