Chapter 23: New Neighbors Again

Professional boxers have strong hands.

Wen Jianfeng’s biggest hobby besides boxing practice was playing darts—this was his first time using a real knife on a real person.

The throwing knife flew out and hit the target square in the thigh.

A blood-curdling scream pierced the air, and everyone who had been inching closer suddenly froze.

Wen Jianfeng swept a cold gaze over them. “Take one more step forward, and next time the knife won’t hit your leg—it’ll go straight into your head.”

Faced with overwhelming strength, no one dared to move again.

But they didn’t leave either. Instead, like earlier with the assault boat, they began to surround Wen Jianfeng.

By then, the makeshift raft and kayaks were nearly fully loaded with supplies. Xia Xiaoman surfaced and paused for a second when she saw the crowd. Seeing Wen Jianfeng looking calm, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

A teammate who didn’t drag you down was a perfect teammate.

Just as she was about to climb onto the kayak, Wen Jianfeng suddenly pulled out a small knife and threw it behind her.

A scream erupted behind her. Xia Xiaoman turned her head and saw a man fall off a raft into the water, a splash of vivid red blooming in the water around him.

The man had tried to ambush her with a wooden stick, assuming Wen Jianfeng would panic if he saw her under attack, giving the man a chance to steal their supplies.

But just as he raised the stick, a knife had pierced his chest, sending him into the water.

Anyone else who had been plotting to make a move gave up after witnessing that scene. They shrank back into the crowd, waiting for a better opportunity.

Xia Xiaoman climbed aboard the kayak, stripped off her diving gear, and grabbed the speargun with a cocky sneer. “Back off, all of you! A bunch of freeloading trash. There’s a ton of supplies underwater and none of you are diving for them—just waiting around to steal ours?”

“Get lost, or I’ll personally send you to the afterlife!”

The crowd looked around at each other. Everyone wanted someone else to back off first so they could follow without losing face.

Xia Xiaoman lost her patience and raised the speargun, aiming it at the nearest raft.

The man on that raft saw she was targeting him and immediately paddled backward, muttering frantically, “Don’t shoot! I’m leaving right now!”

With someone taking the lead, the others deflated and backed away obediently. After all, there were still plenty of kayaks and an assault boat further behind. Compared to Xia Xiaoman’s group, those boats probably had more loot.

Once the onlookers were a safe distance away, Xia Xiaoman lowered her speargun and signaled Wen Jianfeng to hurry and row away.

…

It had taken just over an hour to get there, but the return trip took nearly three to four hours.

They were ambushed five times along the way, but it was always just one or two rafts with a few people. One round of Wen Jianfeng’s knife-throwing was enough to scare them off.

Xia Xiaoman watched his throwing skills and made a mental note to ask him for lessons—this was a life-saving skill.

Back at their residential building, the floodwaters had receded to about halfway up the sixth floor—an awkward height, neither here nor there.

Wen Jianfeng had to lift Xia Xiaoman up so she could grab the seventh-floor balcony railing and climb over.

They carried the supplies inside. Xia Xiaoman stayed behind to guard the haul while Wen Jianfeng transported it all up to the 13th floor.

Not long after he left with a bag, Xia Xiaoman heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

She assumed it was Sun Qing coming down to help and looked toward the door—only to see two unfamiliar faces.

Her right hand moved toward her lower back as she watched them warily. “Who are you?”

“Hi, sis. I’m Xiao Zheyu, and this is my friend Su Ran. We just moved in today,” said the boy with silver-gray hair and a smile. “You’re moving a lot of stuff upstairs. Want some help from me and Su Ran?”

Xia Xiaoman’s expression turned cold. “Scram.”

They were skinny as chicks. Help her carry stuff? More like steal it.

Xiao Zheyu’s smile froze. “Really, sis, we mean no harm. Just want to help you out.”

“Don’t call me sis. I don’t have a brother this weak.”

Seeing her disgusted expression, Xiao Zheyu’s smile twitched. “Well then… since you don’t need help, we’ll just head back.”

He turned away with a dejected look, as if Xia Xiaoman had deeply wronged him.

Wen Jianfeng came down the stairs and saw Xiao Zheyu’s slumped shoulders but didn’t say anything. He just nodded slightly in greeting and quickly passed by.

Once out of sight, Xiao Zheyu kicked the wall in frustration and glared at Su Ran. “Why didn’t you say anything just now?”

“Didn’t you see how much stuff they had? If you’d backed me up, maybe we could’ve joined their group and stopped worrying about finding food every day.”

A trace of mockery flickered in Su Ran’s eyes. “You think people are idiots? Say a few nice words and they’ll let you join?”

Xiao Zheyu scoffed. “Still better than standing there like a mute!”

Su Ran didn’t bother replying to the brainless fool and slowly walked back to his room.

Elsewhere, Xia Xiaoman turned to Wen Jianfeng as he came down. “Coach, did you see two guys on your way down?”

Wen Jianfeng nodded. “Yeah. Ah Qing said they moved in right after we left. They’re on the floor below ours.”

“Slick talkers. Don’t seem like good people.” Xia Xiaoman thought for a moment. “We should figure out a way to change the fire door lock—replace it with one of our own. That way no one else can get onto the 13th floor.”

“Got it. I’ll see what I can do this afternoon,” Wen Jianfeng replied.

They had brought back a huge haul of supplies. Wen Jianfeng had to make over ten trips to move everything upstairs.

Since only Xia Xiaoman and Wen Jianfeng had gone on this run, and Xia Xiaoman had done most of the work, they split the loot 60-40. She got 60%, he got 40%.

Additionally, each of them set aside a small share to give to Sun Qing’s group as a “house-sitting fee”—a rule they had all silently agreed on.

After dividing the supplies, Xia Xiaoman ate something simple, took a bath, and went to bed.

Diving had drained her stamina, and hauling supplies back left her totally exhausted. She was in a deep sleep within five minutes of hitting the bed.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already getting dark.

She groggily remembered the lock and jolted upright.

“Ow—owowow!”

Her whole body ached, especially her thighs and arms—sore, swollen, and painful.

Only now did she realize she’d forgotten to apply medicinal oil or stick on any pain relief patches before sleeping.

Just as she was about to get up, a blood-curdling scream rang out from outside her room.

Xia Xiaoman froze for a second, then quickly stood and dashed out of the bedroom…