Chapter 41

The waiting felt endless. Between Zheng Feifei’s apartment in 1005 and apartment 1009, there were still three households in between. Shu Fu had no idea how Cheng Yu would alert his teammates or get the other residents back into their apartments without arousing suspicion.

Zheng Feifei was equally tense. She stood behind the door with Shu Fu, clutching her hand tightly, listening intently for any sounds from outside.

After what felt like an eternity, a woman’s panicked voice suddenly rang out from the direction of 1009: “It’s really just me and my husband! … Wait, what are you doing now?! … Ah—no, don’t open that! Stop—”

Her frightened voice quickly turned sharp and terrified, accompanied by the sounds of objects crashing and another man’s panicked shouting.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

Someone shouted, “Watch out for the knife!”

Another voice yelled, “Stop him!”

Then, the sounds of a struggle broke out.

Gunshots followed soon after, and Shu Fu heard a man screaming in agony.

Did they already catch him?

Shu Fu was debating whether to step out when there was a knock at the door: “Open up, it’s me.”

Cheng Yu stood outside, his gun now holstered. Maybe because of the recent confrontation, the scent of gunpowder clung to him more heavily, and his breathing was slightly labored.

“He’s not the person on the wanted list,” he said, his expression dark. “You mentioned earlier that you knew the two people living in 1009—they used to live in the same neighborhood as you in Suicheng?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the other two people who used to live with them?” Cheng Yu paused before continuing, “A man and a woman, about the same age.”

The first people Shu Fu thought of were Fang Xiwen and her husband, but according to Zheng’s mother, they had supposedly left over ten days ago after a fight with Zhong Li and her husband.

Cheng Yu turned to Zheng Feifei’s mother and asked, “Did you see them leave with your own eyes?”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head in confusion. “I remember… the argument happened really late that night. It wasn’t the first time they’d fought, so no one wanted to get involved… We only heard from Zhong Li and her husband the next day that they’d left…”

Cheng Yu nodded. “That explains it.”

Looking at his expression, Shu Fu suddenly realized something. A chill crept down her arms and legs.

“They never left,” Cheng Yu said, stepping aside to clear the doorway. “Shu Fu, you need to prepare yourself…”

---

Downstairs at Building 4, the teammates stationed outside quickly opened the back of the van, grabbing a medical kit and a makeshift stretcher before rushing inside.

On the 10th floor of Building 4, a man and woman were left struggling, their hair and clothes disheveled, hands cuffed behind their backs, dumped near the door of apartment 1009. The man had been shot in the shoulder and lay on the floor groaning in pain. The woman was still resisting weakly, insisting it wasn’t them—that it was the rioters who entered the community that night. She claimed they were innocent.

Nearby, one team member was helping another treat a slash wound on his arm. He turned and kicked the man on the floor. “If it wasn’t you, why the hell were you attacking people with a kitchen knife? Shut up!”

Among the arriving team members was a female officer. Having already been briefed on the situation, she rushed into the apartment first. She emerged moments later, cradling a woman who had been curled up inside a suitcase. The woman was barely alive, wearing thin, filthy clothes, her body soaked in excrement.

The officer carefully and quickly cut away the dirty clothes, then opened the wardrobe to find a clean, large blanket. After fully covering the woman, she called her teammates inside.

They gently lifted the woman onto the stretcher.

The female officer double-checked the blanket, making sure the woman was completely covered, then grabbed some clean clothes from the wardrobe and placed them on the stretcher before signaling her teammates to continue.

In the corridor, other residents were clueless about what had happened. They were being held back at the entrance by other team members. They craned their necks, trying to see what was going on, but all they caught was a glimpse of the stretcher being rushed past.

Soon after, several team members came out of the apartment carrying large black garbage bags.

Their faces were grim. The black bags emitted a cold, frozen air, looking heavy and ominous. No one could tell what was inside.

Shu Fu had already guessed. Cheng Yu’s expression earlier had said it all.

In her ear, Cheng Yu’s voice continued quietly, “…their mouths were taped shut, hands and feet bound, hidden in a suitcase… It was a perfect hiding spot. If we hadn’t been suspicious from the start, we wouldn’t have searched so thoroughly… After all, a grown man wouldn’t normally fit in there, and regular residents wouldn’t hide strangers. We only carefully inspect for extra non-residents, not missing ones. If they had slipped through this inspection, the lockdown on Building 4 would be lifted, and they could’ve escaped tonight… But maybe they wouldn’t have escaped. If they really wanted to, they’d have left long ago…”

She stood there, watching the team members carry the stretcher away. It wasn’t until she felt her wristband vibrate that she realized her entire body had gone cold.

Seeing the pale look on Shu Fu’s face, Cheng Yu felt a pang of guilt. He gently patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her. “It’s thanks to you we managed to save one. If we’d been a few days later, we wouldn’t have saved anyone…”

When she didn’t respond, he asked, “Do you want to come with us?”

Shu Fu met Cheng Yu’s gaze. “Now?”

Cheng Yu nodded. “Some teammates will cover for me temporarily. I can take you along in the car.”

“Okay.” Shu Fu turned back, grabbed her backpack from the room, gave a few brief instructions to Zheng Feifei and the others, and then followed Cheng Yu into the elevator.

---

The mission was over.

But clearly, Zhong Li wasn’t the person connected to this case.

As Shu Fu sat in the military jeep, fragments of memories kept flashing through her mind: the first power outage at Ping’an Community, the young couple next door knocking on her door for the first time, their faces anxious and worried; that night when she woke up to the task, hearing the commotion downstairs and the voices next door, but she didn’t step out; Fang Xiwen’s expression when she first introduced herself; the soft “sorry” she heard outside her door when she left Ping’an Community.

And that dim, rainy evening when Zhong Li hid behind Fang Xiwen, secretly taking photos of her…

She had lived in Ping’an Community for so long, and that was the only time she clearly saw Zhong Li’s face up close.

At the time, she didn’t know how important that glance would become.

It was precisely because of that one look that she remembered and mentioned Zhong Li’s name yesterday, which led her to gather some information from Zheng’s mother and Zheng Feifei, and eventually, those pieces of information made her suspicious of apartment 1009.

All these details were fragmented, seemingly random and meaningless. But when pieced together, they formed countless connections.

Zhong Li wasn’t the person connected to this mission—Fang Xiwen was.

She followed the team to a hospital in the eastern part of the city. The hospital had good medical facilities, but scorch marks, like those from a fire, were visible at the entrance and outside the emergency room. The doors and walls had been freshly patched up, their colors mismatched with the original. But in this weather, as long as it provided shelter from wind and rain, no one cared about aesthetics.

Shu Fu instinctively felt that this was one of the buildings targeted by the refugee rioters to divert attention that night.

Fang Xiwen slowly regained consciousness after receiving half a bag of IV fluids. She wasn’t seriously injured, and being stuffed into the suitcase had only happened that morning. But she’d been trapped in that room for over ten days, without regular meals, and had relieved herself where she lay. Betrayed by a close friend she’d taken care of, she was deeply traumatized and mentally dazed.

After waking up in the emergency room, she kept asking about her husband, Wang Qian. She only remembered that night—she had another argument with Zhong Li and Huang Jun. Wang Qian, who had endured for so long, finally snapped and demanded Zhong Li and Huang Jun leave. After all, it was his house, and he was covering their living expenses. He had every right to kick them out.

In desperation, Zhong Li blurted out that she had slept with Wang Qian. She claimed it happened when she pretended to be drunk and seduced him, but afterward, she acted like nothing had occurred, telling Wang Qian it was just an accident and not to tell Fang Xiwen or Huang Jun because it would hurt them.

But in reality, it had all been part of her plan. Wang Qian had a good job and had saved up a lot of money before the disaster, while her own man, Huang Jun, was useless. She needed a safety net.

Wang Qian deeply regretted betraying Fang Xiwen. But since they were still in the middle of relocating, he didn’t want to lose her, nor could he afford to. So, he followed Zhong Li’s advice and pretended nothing had happened.

At that moment, Zhong Li exposed everything, even presenting evidence—a photo she had secretly taken of herself with Wang Qian. This revelation not only shocked Fang Xiwen but also drove Huang Jun into a frenzy.

Fang Xiwen packed her things, intending to leave, but Wang Qian tried to stop her. Huang Jun grabbed Wang Qian, and a fight broke out. Amid the chaos, Huang Jun smashed Wang Qian’s head…

Fang Xiwen’s memory of that night ended there. After that, she was knocked unconscious by Zhong Li from behind. When she woke up again, her hands and feet were tied, her mouth was gagged, and she was trapped in the room.

She still didn’t know that Wang Qian was dead.

Not only dead but dismembered by Huang Jun and Zhong Li, stuffed into black garbage bags, and hidden in the large freezer at home…

Upon hearing of Wang Qian’s death, Fang Xiwen lay motionless on the emergency room bed, as if all life had been drained from her.

Meanwhile, the team handling the scene called Cheng Yu to report that the two people in apartment 1009 were indeed connected to the rioters. They knew one of the rioters and had been aware of a big plan long before it unfolded. Huang Jun wanted to join in but lacked the courage, so he ended up becoming an informant.

They had provided the rioters with detailed information about Jixing Community— which households were wealthy with ample supplies, which had no adult men, and which had weaknesses easy to exploit…

This explained why Zhong Li and Huang Jun had hidden people in their apartment for over ten days without leaving. They knew they were in trouble and couldn’t stay in Lou Yuncheng for long. But they weren’t fugitives; they still wanted to live normal lives. So they planned to act as informants in exchange for some benefits before escaping to another city.

However, they didn’t anticipate that the rioters would be met with resistance at every turn in Jixing Community. The rioter they knew even began to suspect that they had tipped off the residents. In the end, they received no benefits, were beaten, and only released after being extorted for money and supplies.

The two of them hadn’t recovered from the beating and were planning to escape when the rescue team arrived. The community was temporarily sealed off, and they couldn’t get out. They had been on edge for days, just hoping to survive the inspections and then flee Lou Yuncheng…

But just as they were about to make it, in the final moment, the rescue team grew suspicious of them hiding rioters, and their secret was completely exposed.

Shu Fu didn’t enter the emergency room. She stood outside for a long time before finally leaving.

Before leaving, she transferred some money to Cheng Yu via WeChat. Under his astonished gaze, she calmly told him it was money she had borrowed from Fang Xiwen a few months ago. However, since she didn’t have Fang Xiwen’s contact information, she hadn’t had a chance to repay it until now.

“Sorry to trouble you, Captain Cheng. You can either transfer it to her directly or give her cash. Also, there will be some hospital expenses—you’ll have to handle those too. No need to mention my name. After all, borrowing that much money and not repaying it isn’t exactly commendable…”

Cheng Yu looked at the six-figure sum on his phone and sighed helplessly. “That’s a lot of money. You trust me with this much?”

“Yeah.” Shu Fu nodded decisively, looking straight at him.

Cheng Yu felt a soft spot in his heart. He noticed the messy strands of hair at her temples still damp from the rain. After a moment of hesitation, he swallowed back the words he wanted to say. He could clearly see she was intentionally trying to help Fang Xiwen, but seeing her give away so much money made him worry about her own situation. “What about you? How will you manage?”

“Me?” Shu Fu smiled. “Captain Cheng, do you know about the profession of online writers?”

“…?” He didn’t quite follow her sudden change of topic.

“Actually, I have another job that no one knows about. I sell electronic text—I’m quite a big deal in that field. As long as the city where the website servers are located doesn’t get flooded and people still have internet access on their phones, I won’t be out of work. In fact, with fewer outdoor activities and entertainment options now, I’m earning more than I did before.” Shu Fu knew many online writers in her world, so these words came naturally. Whether Cheng Yu believed her or not didn’t really matter; that’s what she told him.

Shu Fu didn’t stay at the hospital any longer. With the task completed, there was no reason for her to remain.

Cheng Yu still had things to handle at the hospital. He originally wanted to have a team member escort her home, but Shu Fu politely declined.

“I can take care of myself.” She was sure Liu Shuang had already mentioned that she lived alone in Jixing Community and had used a nail gun as a weapon to save people.

Sure enough, Cheng Yu didn’t insist. He just reminded her to send him a message when she got home.

Shu Fu didn’t take the bus. Instead, she used a reliable ride-hailing app to book a pricey taxi.

When she stepped out of the hospital, the heavy rain had surprisingly stopped. Behind the gray clouds, faint rays of sunlight began to break through.

People on the street were delighted, removing their raincoats and lifting their faces to enjoy the rare rain-free sky.

On the way home, her mind was flooded with thoughts.

She had written about such events in her scripts before and had read many similar stories from others…

Since the natural disaster began, human-made tragedies like this had been unfolding every moment. Even in peaceful times, news of such horrors appeared daily: a young girl suffering years of abuse from a male relative, seemingly honest men murdering and dismembering their wives, fathers killing their own children after remarrying, obedient schoolboys being bullied to death by classmates, women betrayed by husbands and then throwing their toddlers from high-rises…

There were demons everywhere in this world.

The refugee riot that night had left many dead in the eastern part of the city. Even the luckiest place, Jixing Community, had seen innocent people suffer misfortunes, losing loved ones and even their lives…

Moreover, Fang Xiwen’s ordeal happened over ten days ago—she hadn’t even arrived in Lou Yuncheng at that time…

She tried to make herself calmly accept everything, but at this moment, her chest still felt tight.

There was an emotion she couldn’t vent, a weight pressing down on her heart, suffocating her.

But at the same time, a voice in her mind reminded her: Stay focused!

She couldn’t let herself spiral because the mission wasn’t over yet. This was far from the end.

If she lost her composure now and became biased, it could jeopardize future tasks, leading to even worse outcomes…

So, calm down. Stay focused.

---

When she got back to her rented apartment, it was noon, just past twelve. The rest of the day fell within her Driftwood House usage time.

Including tomorrow’s time, she had twenty-four hours.

She double-locked the door, checked all the windows, pulled the curtains in the living room, released the raft, and returned to her safe house.

It was a secluded paradise, isolated from the world. No matter how stormy, damp, or cold it was outside, it was always warm and spring-like inside.

Shu Fu quickly took a shower, changed into clean pajamas, filled a large glass of water at the drink bar, and downed it in one go. Then she shut both the front and back doors of the cabin, pulled the curtains over the floor-to-ceiling windows, set her phone to silent, and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep instantly.

She hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch, but she wasn’t hungry at all—just exhausted and desperate to sleep.

As her consciousness drifted, she felt like she’d forgotten something, but the overwhelming drowsiness quickly took over, and she fell asleep.

For the first time, she completely let herself go inside the Driftwood House. She didn’t set an alarm, didn’t even put her phone on vibrate, and didn’t want to deal with anything—she just wanted a good, deep sleep.

At some point, she woke up to use the bathroom, keeping her eyes closed the whole time, then quickly crawled back into bed.

She had no idea how long she slept. When she finally woke up, her stomach was growling with hunger. The cabin was peaceful and cozy, and with the curtains drawn over the floor-to-ceiling windows, she couldn’t tell if it was day or night outside.

However, she knew she hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours; otherwise, she wouldn’t still be in the wooden cabin but would have fallen into the living room of her rental apartment.

The whole world remained calm and quiet, not destroyed by her indulgent rest.

This time, Shu Fu felt fully rested, both physically and mentally. She stretched lazily on the soft bed, relaxed her body, rolled over, and finally picked up her phone from the small bedside table.

As expected, there were several missed calls and numerous unread messages.

The time on her phone showed just before six o’clock—not 6 PM, but 6 AM. She had slept for nearly eighteen hours. No wonder she was starving; she hadn’t eaten in over a day.

It turns out, no matter how heavy a burden one carries in their heart, after a certain amount of time, the body will naturally express hunger and the desire to eat. It’s an instinct for survival.

There were messages from Zheng Feifei and Liu Shuang. When she saw Cheng Yu’s message, she remembered what she had forgotten before falling asleep.

There were also messages from Yao Ruoyun, and even Chen Fa, Wu Shaoshan, and Zhang Tian had sent messages in the group chat.

It felt like the whole world had been looking for her while she slept.

Yao Ruoyun had created a group chat, adding people she had once played poker with in the library or volunteered alongside, who were still in contact with her. There weren’t many people in the group—besides her and Lu Zheng, there were Lu Ce, Li Tong, and Xun Huiming.

Zheng Feifei had sent her many updates about the aftermath of the 1009 incident, including good news: the small gang leader they saw in the photos yesterday had been captured.

Shu Fu quickly learned from Cheng Yu’s messages that the gang leader’s whereabouts had been revealed by Huang Jun. After being beaten up by the gang leader and extorted for supplies and money, Huang Jun knew he was doomed since there was no way out for him, so he decided to turn the gang leader in.

The small gang leader was now under interrogation, and it was likely that more hidden accomplices would be uncovered.

Cheng Yu mentioned that the breakthrough in this case came from the warnings provided by Shu Fu and the Zheng family at 1005. The authorities in Lou Yuncheng took this incident very seriously, with severe punishments and substantial rewards. As a result, both Shu Fu and the Zheng family would be recognized and rewarded.

The word “reward” snapped Shu Fu to attention. This was Zheng Feifei’s third major contribution recently, and something she had been hoping for might finally be within reach.

However, it wasn’t even six o’clock yet. Shu Fu wasn’t in the habit of disturbing others’ sleep, and besides, she hadn’t eaten in over a day and was feeling faint from hunger. She turned on a small lamp, tied up her messy hair, went to the bathroom to wash up with cold water, and then selected a bowl of braised beef noodle soup from the storage shelf in her wristband space.

She was ravenous, and sitting at the small dining table, she finished the hearty bowl of beef noodles completely, not even leaving any broth.

The braised beef noodles were from a noodle shop in Suicheng. The shop wasn’t big but was quite famous—the noodles were chewy, the broth was rich and flavorful, and the beef had a bit of tendon, making each piece tender and melt-in-your-mouth.

After finishing the noodles, she cleaned up the container, planning to throw it out from the raft.

She had placed a large trash can against the wall in the living room of her rental apartment, perfectly aligned with the raft’s position. Since the raft wasn’t on water now, there was no purified water, and waste disposal wasn’t convenient, so she tried to conserve energy by tossing all the trash outside the raft.

The trash can and the raft were so close that she didn’t even need to step outside the roof’s cover—just a quick toss and it was done.

It seemed to be raining again outside, a heavy downpour accompanied by thunder. Shu Fu took a thick, knee-length fleece jacket from the coat rack, wrapped it over her thin loungewear, stepped off the raft, and walked to the balcony to pull back the curtains.

Outside, the sky was overcast, with heavy rain pouring down, occasionally splashing against the glass. The faint sunlight that had peeked through at noon yesterday had completely disappeared.

The downpour reduced visibility, and the distant dam was barely visible through the rain. The waves outside the dam seemed to merge with the oppressive, cloudy sky.

Merge?

Just as she was about to return to the drifting cabin to check her task rewards, Shu Fu turned back. Recent experiences were triggering her sense of caution. She found a high-powered telescope and adjusted it for a while until she could clearly see the situation outside the dam.

It wasn’t her imagination—those were waves!

Waves towering several dozen meters high, like the ones she had seen before.

This storm had once again brought massive waves to Lou Yuncheng!

Soon, from the direction of the distant dam, a familiar tsunami warning siren echoed.

Moments later, as if in response, the alarm sirens within Lou Yuncheng also pierced the sky.