Chapter 51
The four of them rushed back to the building. Song Xun was in the lead, her eyes sharp and cold.
She took the stairs three at a time. The crowds of people, seeing her, squeezed back to create a path.
Song Xun didn’t bother with them. The higher she ran, the louder the sounds from above became.
Curses and dog barks, a chaotic mess.
The two dogs were barking, the main fighting force against the intruders on the 16th floor. They were huge, abnormally strong, with sharp teeth. A single swipe of a paw could leave a deep, bleeding gash.
But the people on the other side were no pushovers either. Not only were there a lot of them, but the weapons they were using were beyond Song Xun’s expectations.
They weren’t the usual household kitchen knives or fruit knives. They were machetes, long-handled choppers. And looking at these people, they were all strangers.
Mostly Alphas or Betas. Not from this complex.
At least not from this building.
They had come from outside.
Sure enough, as soon as the rain stopped, all sorts of monsters came out to play.
The three doors on the 16th floor, the space was already small. With so many people squeezed in, plus two huge dogs, even Song Xun couldn’t get through.
But she wasn’t polite. They had come to her door. What was there to be polite about?
At a time like this, what was the point of being virtuous? Just start chopping.
She held her long blade and stepped onto the 16th-floor landing, slashing at anyone she saw.
With her fighting ability, no one was a match for her.
Ji Tang and the others arrived shortly after. Seeing that Song Xun had already started fighting, Shi Tou and Ji Chao rushed up to help.
Only Ji Tang, knowing she would be more of a hindrance than a help, stayed at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes full of worry as she watched the battle unfold.
As if smelling Song Xun’s scent amidst the bloodshed, the two dogs became even more excited, pouncing even more fiercely.
No ability users, no ancient martial artists. No matter how strong, they were just ordinary people. Attacked from both front and back, the dozen or so people were quickly dealt with.
Severed limbs and blood were scattered across the small space of the 16th floor.
Once it was all over, the dogs excitedly pounced on her, covered in blood and bits of flesh from who-knows-who, rubbing against her.
Fortunately, Song Xun was also covered in blood and a mess, so she didn’t mind and just patted their heads.
Chang Fei stood in front of the door, the glasses on his nose half-shattered, his body covered in cuts. He was panting heavily, looking pitiful.
The electric fence on the third outer door had been cut, and even the third door itself had been broken down. Not so much broken as… drilled. The marks on the door were clearly from an electric drill, and the lock had been completely destroyed.
It had been so long since the disaster began, and this was the first time something like this had happened on the 16th floor. Song Xun’s brow furrowed.
But at least they had come back in time.
Otherwise, even with the two dogs, they wouldn’t have been able to take them all down. But who were these people?
Song Xun looked up at Chang Fei. “How are you?”
“Fine, just a scratch.”
Chang Fei was still panting heavily, but he tried to stand up straight. But the wounds on his face seemed to be a bit more serious, and he winced in pain, his voice trembling slightly.
It was as if to say, even if I can’t beat them, I won’t back down.
Song Xun smiled helplessly.
“Alright, stop pretending. Go back and rest. The rest of us will take care of this.”
So many bodies piled up here, it was a nauseating sight. And if they didn’t deal with them quickly, they would start to stink in a few days.
Chang Fei nodded but didn’t move.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go back. Alright, his legs were just too weak to move.
Song Xun didn’t bother with him. She pushed aside Ru Hai’s bloody head as he nuzzled her and went down a few flights of stairs to get Ji Tang. With the 16th floor in such a state, the people in the hallways below didn’t dare to come up, but even so, she was still worried.
It wasn’t until she had sent Ji Tang inside that Chang Fei, trembling, also followed.
Song Xun turned her head and saw Ji Chao squatting in front of a male Alpha, lost in thought. Shi Tou stood next to him, looking puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
He didn’t understand, but Song Xun looked down and, after a few glances, seemed to have noticed something. She also squatted down.
These people, on any exposed skin, in different places, all had the same tattoo.
Two crossed moons.
Ji Chao looked up at Song Xun. “If I’m not mistaken, they’re from Huayue.”
“What?” Shi Tou also squatted down.
“It’s a very famous club in Jingbei City.”
Ji Chao pondered. “I heard they have ties to the underworld.”
No wonder they were all so well-fed, clearly not having starved much. And they had machetes, chainsaws, and insulated pliers.
So it was a place with a criminal background.
It seemed they were also trying to take advantage of the disaster to control a group of people or forcibly collect supplies and had come to their door.
But who had leaked the situation on the 16th floor?
But Song Xun had no intention of investigating.
What could she find out from dead people? And besides, the building had been sealed off before. It couldn’t have been them. It had to be the people downstairs.
There were too many people with excuses. She couldn’t just kill them all one by one. She wasn’t that crazy.
But more than that, Song Xun was thinking about this place called “Huayue.” She didn’t know if these people had come here by accident or on purpose.
But Song Xun was more inclined to believe the former.
“Let’s deal with the bodies first.”
But “dealing with them” just meant opening the window and throwing them out. With all this water, it was hard to find a place to properly dispose of them.
So they could only throw them out.
As for what happened after, they would deal with it later.
After throwing them out, Song Xun brought out a few barrels of secondary-use water from her space and washed the blood off the floor and walls. Although it wasn’t perfectly clean, and a faint red still remained, it was much better than before.
By the time they had finished cleaning up, it was almost 7 PM, and dark.
Shi Tou tugged at the broken door. “Big Sis, what about this door and the electric fence?”
Song Xun rubbed her temples. “It’s late. We’ll fix it tomorrow morning.”
She had spares of these, so she wasn’t worried about one set being broken. And besides, once the plants and animals mutated and abilities awakened, the electric fence and door probably wouldn’t be of much use anyway.
The three of them opened the door and went in.
There was a bag by the door, full of bloody clothes and towels. It was probably Chang Fei’s outer clothes and the towels he had used to wash the dogs. There was even some dog hair on them.
They couldn’t be washed clean, and it was a waste of water. So they just threw them away. The three of them took off their bloody jackets and threw them into the bag. Their clothes underneath were still clean.
Chang Wan had apparently just finished treating Chang Fei’s wounds. Ji Tang and Wang Qingyao were comforting the children. The commotion had scared the two cubs.
They had almost been calmed down by Ji Tang, and were lying on her shoulder with red eyes, not saying a word.
But when they saw Song Xun, they burst into tears again, hiccupping as they cried, reaching out for a hug.
Song Xun’s heart ached.
She didn’t even have time to change her clothes and wash off the blood. She held one in each arm, and it took a long time to comfort them.
No matter what, they were still just under three years old. Even the more mature Ji Jinning would be scared, let alone Ji Jinyu. It was normal.
In the end, they stopped crying and just lay on her shoulder, hugging her neck, not making a sound.
They had been out for three days, a full three days. Although the harvest was plentiful, they were injured, their home had been broken into, and the cubs were scared. For a moment, she didn’t know if it was worth it.
It wasn’t until the cubs’ emotions had stabilized and they had been handed over to Chang Wan and Wang Qingyao that Song Xun and the others were able to go back to their rooms to take a shower and change.
The hot water was from the space. They didn’t have time to boil it now.
After another busy day, and with Song Xun having not slept the night before, and Ji Tang also not having slept well, they were all exhausted. After showering and changing, they quickly came out.
This time, even Song Xun didn’t tease Ji Tang.
It was 8:30 PM when they came out. The food was from the space. The group ate ravenously, barely speaking.
It wasn’t until they were almost done, with food in their stomachs and their fatigue lessened, that they slowed down.
Song Xun took a big gulp of Coke, let out a long, satisfied sigh, and then asked Chang Fei, “What happened?”
Chang Fei had a bandage on one side of his face, and the other side was bruised and swollen. “They were all strangers. They probably came into the complex from outside.”
His glasses were broken, so he had switched to a pair of black-framed ones, which made him look a lot more mature. But the injuries on his face were a bit comical. “I saw them coming out of building 10 before. Someone probably told them we had food here, and then they came to our door.”
The residents in this building were all very well-behaved, not even delinquents. The most common weapons they had were kitchen knives or long fruit knives, which were not very useful and couldn’t break through the electric fence and door. But if outsiders had tools, it would be easy.
Chang Fei’s expression grew more serious. “Several of them had the same tattoo. They’re probably from the same place, or an organization. If they go missing and someone comes looking for them, what do we do?”
Chang Fei hadn’t been there when Ji Chao had spoken, but he had figured it out on his own. Song Xun wasn’t surprised.
Now that the torrential rain had stopped, the base in Xifeng City had been established during the extreme cold. But Jingbei City probably wouldn’t take that long.
If the base was established and a perimeter was drawn, the people from Huayue probably wouldn’t dare to openly oppose the officials. And besides…
“If they can really find their way here, then let them come.”
It was just a matter of dealing with them as they came.
But no matter what, the people from today had to be killed.
Because they were so tired, after eating, they all went to their own rooms to sleep. In the living room, the two energetic dogs were left to keep watch.
After tucking the two cubs in, when Song Xun looked back, Ji Tang was already asleep.
Song Xun rubbed her eyes. She didn’t disturb her. She leaned over and kissed her forehead, then quickly fell asleep herself.
At 9 AM the next morning, Song Xun was sound asleep when she was woken by the roar of a chaotic motor.
It was a large assault boat, and on it were official personnel in orange and yellow life jackets.
After more than two months, over 60 days, the light of hope had finally arrived.
The moment they saw the assault boat, Song Xun and the others, who had just gotten up and were standing at the window, could hear the sudden burst of desperate cries.
“The rescue team is here! The country hasn’t given up on us…”
“This is great!”
“…”
The survivors were crying and laughing, sticking their heads out of the windows and shouting.
Although there were only five large assault boats, and only about twenty official personnel, it was already a beacon of hope for all of them.
Soon, amidst the shouts, the sharp sound of a loudspeaker rang out.
“Everyone, don’t panic. The torrential rain has stopped. The country will not give up on anyone who needs help. We will go building by building. This transfer is only for those whose homes have been flooded. Please pack your essentials. We will take you to a shelter safely…”
But for many, the shelter was secondary.
“Comrade, which unit are you from? What should we do if we have no food or drink?”
“Since you’re here, can’t you give us some food?”
“Yeah, how can you come empty-handed?”
“We want food!”
“I haven’t eaten in days, comrade. Please, have a heart and give me something to eat.”
“…”
The more people there were, the more chaotic it became. Especially at the 11th-floor window, where it was so crowded you couldn’t get through.
Shi Tou came back and complained, “These people are crazy. Some of them even got physical, pulling on people’s clothes and hitting them. If it were me, I would have kicked them to death.”
But Song Xun wasn’t surprised. “It’s normal.”
She thought for a moment. “It’s probably a release of pent-up frustration, with a sense of entitlement.”
They were relying on the fact that the government workers couldn’t do anything to them. But they didn’t think about what time it was now.
The government knew this was a natural disaster, an apocalypse, but they hadn’t completely given up on the people yet. But if this continued, and things got out of control, and the government had no energy, ability, or time to manage…
Then it would be the era of the bases, completely.
Although there had been a conflict, the assault boats had indeed taken away many people. Song Xun went downstairs to take a look and, for the first time, noticed how quiet the building was.
With no food or drink here, those who could leave had of course left.
But she didn’t know if they would regret it. After all, with so many people being taken in, the shelter might not be such a good place either.
The next day, it was even more lively outside.
Probably because many official personnel had been dispatched, there were noticeably more assault boats, rubber boats, and other watercraft on the streets than the day before.
Every one of them was full of people.
At noon, as Song Xun was happily playing with the cubs, she suddenly heard the sound of gunshots from far away.
Building 12 was at the very back of the complex. Even with binoculars, they could only see a corner of the outside. Shi Tou and Ji Chao were at the window, but they couldn’t see anything.
Then shouts came from the first few buildings, and they knew.
The soldiers were killing people.
That’s right. After the chaotic scenes of the past two days, the officials had probably realized that times had changed. And they had specially sent out the army to maintain order.
But this situation wouldn’t last long. It was also an inevitability.
