Chapter 38: Louyun City

Chapter 38: Louyun City

Although Buildings 3 and 4 in Jixing Neighborhood are connected, they face different directions. In the apartment rented by Zheng Feifei, there is a north-facing window that overlooks the open area inside the neighborhood, providing a clear view of Buildings 1 and 2.

After several reminders from Shu Fu, Zheng Feifei decided not to sleep and stay vigilant throughout the night. To get a better view, she even used a telescope.

Unexpectedly, she actually saw people.

"Did you call the police?"

"The line is busy."

"What about the rescue team's phone?"

"Unreachable."

Shu Fu fell silent.

It seemed the situation was quite dire. These people were likely refugees fleeing the flooded cities. Compared to Zheng Feifei and her family, their situation must be much more desperate. After all, not every city can organize a large-scale evacuation as orderly as Sui City when disaster strikes.

Especially for coastal cities hit by tsunamis, many people woke up to find their homes destroyed, left with nothing, facing the devastation and displacement caused by the tsunami.

These people had experienced life and death, lost loved ones, and gone through extreme emotions. Traveling from the disaster area to Louyun City, it was as if they had entered a peaceful world from a war-torn one.

Although they were all human, their experiences were vastly different, making it hard not to feel a sense of disparity.

They were not inherently evil, but over time, even a small matter, an intense emotion, or some inciting words could trigger a massive upheaval.

And now, that upheaval had arrived at Jixing Neighborhood.

They must have done their research, knowing that most of the residents in this neighborhood were locals. They came to loot these people.

The photo taken in the emergency room made Shu Fu realize that these people had become desperate criminals. They might have all seen blood, and they would not be merciful or hesitate in their actions.

Shu Fu understood these people. She had once been involved in writing a similar script and had collected a lot of information and videos for several scenes.

The vast majority of residents in the building had probably experienced nothing as shocking as the water spout debris incident from the day before. Their experiences were unequal, and the residents stood no chance against them.

If you can't fight them, your only option is to hide and wait for rescue.

Zheng Feifei's apartment was on the 10th floor, which was a relatively safe height. As long as the main door could be defended, they would be safe.

Holding her phone, Shu Fu spoke clearly and slowly to her: "Don't be afraid. Rescue will come, but it might not be until dawn, or even tomorrow noon, or even later. Don't think about taking the elevator to the underground garage to get the car and leave before they come up. Don't be silly, there will definitely be people waiting at the garage elevator to catch you.

Listen closely, don't turn on the lights, open the windows, respond, or make any noise. It's 3 a.m. now, the time when normal people are most tired and vulnerable. They came at night to take advantage of your vulnerability.

At first, they might try to deceive you, saying that if you hand over some food or water, they will leave and promise not to harm anyone in the house. They will claim to be pitiful, saying their children have been hungry for a long time or that someone in their family is seriously ill and they can't even afford medicine.

Later, they might start threatening you. For example, if you don't open the door within a certain time limit, they will break in. They will boast about their experience in breaking down doors and having weapons. If they break down the door, they will kill those who refuse to open the door and might even torture and kill them. They might also drag a few people—possibly women or children—from the apartments they've already broken into, and torture them outside your door, making them scream, beg, and cry, pleading for you to open the door.

But do not be soft-hearted, and do not respond. This is psychological warfare and a defensive battle. Remember, you are only safe if they cannot enter your apartment. With so many households in the neighborhood, they cannot focus on just one. Time efficiency won't allow it.

Defend the door, block the entire door panel solidly from top to bottom, and use everything you can move in your home to reinforce it. If they break into your neighbor's apartment and try to climb over through the windows, use a long stick or a drying rod with a knife attached to push them down before they pry open your security windows! It's the 10th floor, it's raining outside, and the window sills are slippery. Even if they don't die from the fall, they'll be seriously injured. Remember, if you don't want to die, don't let your sympathy overwhelm you, don't be soft-hearted, and don't hold back.

Finally, if they become enraged, they might set fire. But don't panic. It's raining heavily outside, and they can only set fire in the corridor. Once the fire starts, they will have to retreat. If your main door catches fire, put it out with water from inside, or tip over the water buckets so that the water flows out along the door gap. Given the heavy rain and high humidity, any fire in the corridor won't last long on the damp ground.

This time, Zheng Feifei not only listened herself but also put the phone on speaker for her parents to hear.

Last time, they didn't trust her warnings, and their family had a hard time before the large-scale evacuation. She had even experienced something terrible.

This time, she was determined to guard the house no matter what.

Zheng Feifei hung up the phone and looked at her panic-stricken parents, saying word by word, "Dad, Mom, did you hear that? Don't let sympathy overwhelm you, don't be soft-hearted, don't show mercy. Otherwise, you'll be sending me to my death with your own hands!"

"But there are so many people in the neighborhood, and right now, many are probably still asleep, unaware that intruders have come in..." Zheng's mom couldn't help but say, but quickly added, "Don't worry, I won't go out in this critical moment, but I'm thinking of ways to alert the others."

Zheng Feifei didn't respond, then reopened WeChat, changed her profile picture and name, and deleted the building and unit numbers she had previously marked in several group chats as required. After that, she quickly wrote down what Shu Fu had just said, including warnings about placing water buckets if furniture wasn't enough, collecting rainwater if drinking water wasn't sufficient, and the fact that rioters had quietly entered the neighborhood. She sent it to several resident groups.

"I'm just doing what I can. That's all I've got." She looked back at her front door and said to her parents, "We don't have enough barricades yet. Keep moving things. I'll make the weapons for the windows."

**

It was a little past 3 a.m., the time when normal people were most exhausted and drowsy.

The occupant of Unit 0806 in the first building was a single man who had come to Louyun City ten years ago to work and live. But at thirty, he was still single.

In Unit 0809 lived a mother and son. The young mother was divorced and had moved to Jixing Neighborhood with her three-year-old son a little over a year ago.

The mother was petite and soft-spoken. Every morning when the man went to work, he would run into the mother in the elevator lobby, sending her son to kindergarten. Over time, they became familiar with each other, occasionally chatting. The man would give the child small snacks and gifts, and the young mother would reciprocate with homemade dishes.

The man had feelings for the young mother but wasn't sure about her thoughts, so he never confessed.

That night, he was dozing off when he suddenly heard cries for help from outside his front door, a voice so familiar that it jolted him awake.

Sitting there, he listened carefully again. This time, besides the young mother's cries for help, he also heard her child's wailing.

Something had happened!

The man immediately got out of bed, not even having time to put on a jacket, only slipping into his slippers before rushing out the door.

He did physical labor and was strong, usually able to take on two people at once. It was the middle of the night, and though he wasn't fully awake, upon hearing the cries for help from someone he cared about, his blood boiled, and his body acted before his mind could catch up.

The door of Unit 0806 opened, and the burly man stormed out, shouting, "Stop it! Who the hell—"

He didn't get to finish. Two men, one tall and one thin, who had been lying in wait on either side of the door, swung iron rods. Thick metal rods struck the back of his head twice. Even if he could usually handle two or three, a surprise attack to the back of his head was enough to bring him down.

He collapsed to the cold floor, unconscious, blood flowing from his head onto the ground.

Nearby, others who had been hiding on the opposite side of the corridor came out. A man holding an axe walked up, grabbing the young mother who was trying to reach her child while crying. With a sinister grin on his dark, gaunt face, he said, "Not bad. You've got some skills. You managed to lure him out!"

The woman didn't respond, struggling until she finally reached her child's hand. He had been pinned to the ground by another man and couldn't get up no matter how much he struggled, crying desperately.

The man seemed to find it amusing and patted the boy's head twice before letting go.

The young mother pulled her child into a tight embrace, shielding him with her body, unable to bear the sight of the man crumpled on the floor, blood pooling beneath his head.

"Brother Xiao!" The two men with iron rods also came over, indicating that women and children were indeed useful and that they should continue using them on other floors.

The woman's face showed despair. "You promised to let me and my child go! You can't do this..."

The men didn't respond, smirking as one of them gagged her and the child with a cloth, while another tied their hands. The others entered the man's apartment to search for valuables, taking all the drinking water, money, and supplies like locusts passing through, their actions smooth and practiced.

Two men dragged the woman and child toward the elevator, passing by other tightly closed doors on their floor where residents refused to come out.

"What about these households?" someone asked.

"Try climbing through the windows of Unit 0806—it's closer. If that doesn't work, leave a mark and come back after we've cleared the building, taking care of these stubborn ones later."

"Damn it! Why does it feel like the people in this neighborhood are much more troublesome than the last one? Many households are like turtles, hiding and not making a sound! Could these people be as slippery as eels, already sneaking into the underground garage?"

"Shut up and keep moving! We've got people watching the garage. They won't get far if they try to escape."

The second building, unit 0302.

**

Inside, it was pitch black. The main door was blocked beyond visibility by various pieces of furniture and heavy objects, yet two girls were still leaning against this makeshift barricade, attempting to use their body weight to add an extra layer of obstacle to the door.

Outside the door, the sound of an axe chopping could be heard, bang! bang! bang!

Each heavy, dull thud was accompanied by the maniacal laughter of the person hacking at the door, growing louder and more wild. The laughter, filled with an extreme malice they had never heard before, seeped through the door, causing the two girls to tremble even more.

At the south-facing window, a young man holding a guitar with a knife strapped to it was nervously standing guard.

He was a university student in Louyun City. The two girls by the door were his sister and his girlfriend. Their parents were in other cities where the situation wasn’t as good as in Louyun City, so both families had decided to move in together in Louyun City.

They had already rented this two-bedroom apartment in Jixing Neighborhood while they were setting up the place and cleaning.

They hadn’t expected the last two nights to be so chaotic. The previous night had brought a violent storm with tornadoes, and tonight, it was a refugee riot.

They were only on the third floor. One of the glass windows near him had a broken latch and couldn’t be locked from the inside. Since there was a sliding security window inside and the glass was still intact, he hadn’t gotten around to fixing it.

The apartment wasn’t fully set up yet, and they lacked many things. They couldn’t even find a clothes-drying rod, and the only knife they had was a foldable fruit knife, taped to the guitar’s neck, looking pitifully small.

But he didn’t dare relax, as he had heard the sound of the neighboring apartment being broken into. The person must have been in a deep sleep, not having seen the messages in the group chat, nor woken up to the noise downstairs. Dazed, they had been tricked into answering the door.

Now, the intruders were ransacking the neighboring apartment and had started chopping at their door, even opening the neighboring window, saying they would climb over.

The rain was heavy outside, and the night was thick and dark. The deafening rain drowned out any sounds from outside, making it impossible to see or hear what was happening.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the scene. Through the balcony window, he saw a shadowy figure crouched outside. Somehow, the person had already climbed over and had found the unlocked window. The long blade in their hand was already wedged into the window frame, slowly prying the glass window open.

The lightning illuminated the man outside and the boy inside. The man outside looked up, saw the boy clutching his guitar and a small fruit knife, and burst into a wild, mocking laugh.

Though blocked by the security bars, the boy instinctively backed away, noticing the bloodstains on the man’s long knife, untouched by the rain.

The man jammed his fingers into the window frame and shoved it open, allowing the heavy rain to pour inside. The man stood on the window sill, one hand gripping the metal rod of the security bars and shaking it violently, while the other hand thrust the long knife through the opening, the blade nearly grazing the boy’s nose.

His face pale, he took another step back, his body frozen in place.

Suddenly, the man’s laughter stopped. He looked down at his chest, where a cold gleam was visible.

A few seconds later, the cold gleam disappeared, and his body fell backward.

In his final moments, he thought, *The knife should be cold, but why did it feel like it was burning my chest?*

The boy in the room put down his guitar and rushed to the open window. On the right side of his balcony, a woman in her thirties was retracting the extendable pole, her face pale and strained.

Fixed at the end of that pole was a sharp sushi knife. It was this sushi knife that had just killed a person—no! It had just killed a thug!

The woman, seeing the boy dazed, wiped the rain from her face and frowned. "What are you standing there for? Can’t you even stab someone through a cage?" she snapped.

This neighbor was known for her short temper and loud mouth. They’d clashed several times over clutter blocking the hallway when they first moved in.

"But... my knife’s too small to do any damage," the boy stammered.

The woman’s lips curled in frustration. "Any knife can hurt. Heat it until it’s red-hot. If anyone tries to break in, stab them. Make sure they don’t leave alive."

The man was scared by the harshness in her voice and kept nodding. He also asked what to do about the main door, as someone was attempting to break it down.

"Move all the furniture to block it! Stack water buckets on top for added weight. Don’t worry; they’re not going to chop at your door all night!" the woman said before turning to close the window as the sound of two children calling for their mother came from inside the room.

The boy knew she was raising two kids and caring for an elderly, sick mother on her own. Now that he thought about it, with a household of the weak and vulnerable, if she weren’t tough or loud, she wouldn’t be able to protect her family at all.

If a woman can protect her family by herself, why couldn’t he, a man, do the same?

From the neighboring apartment, where the window had been shattered, someone poked their head out, saw their dead friend, and immediately yelled that they’d climb over again.

The boy quickly shut the window and scanned the room for something to wedge it shut. He also called out to his sister and girlfriend, asking them to turn on the gas stove and place the knife on it to heat it up.

The two girls, who had watched everything unfold, had stopped trembling. They carried a heavy, large recliner from the room and stacked it against the door. Hearing the boy’s instructions, they immediately responded, continuing to fortify their home.

Fourth building, 1005.

**

Zheng Feifei checked the group chat and, seeing new defense tips, immediately headed to the kitchen to turn on the gas stove and place the knife fixed to the end of the metal rod on the flame.

The rioters outside had already tried once, failing to break down the door. After a few hacks, they gave up and moved on to other homes due to the lack of response from inside.

Zheng Feifei gestured for her parents to guard the two windows and call her if they saw any movement. She then stood by the wall on the side facing the corridor, listening intently to the sounds outside.

1006, attempted break-in failed.

1007, attempted break-in failed.

1008, failed to deceive and failed to break in...

As Zheng Feifei listened to the cursing of the rioters outside, her initially tense mood gradually calmed.

They were just ordinary people after all. As Shu Fu said, this was a psychological and defensive battle.

And at home, they had the inherent advantage. As long as they held the doors and windows, they could protect themselves and their loved ones.

Thinking this, she continued to listen to the sounds outside.

1009, break-in... hmm?

Did she just hear the sound of a lock clicking open?

Zheng Feifei tensed up immediately, wondering if the residents had been asleep and hadn’t seen the messages in the group. Holding her breath, she expected to hear screams from a man or woman next, but there were none.

The corridor was quiet, not even the footsteps of the rioters could be heard.

Had they left?

Or had she just misheard? Was that not the sound of the main door opening?

Third building, 2106.

**

Shu Fu heard a shout from the balcony outside. She quickly moved to the right side of the balcony and looked out through the security window and the glass window. Outside the bedroom window of the neighboring unit, a person was actually climbing, seemingly lowered from the floor above with a rope around their waist.

The hammer in his hand had already cracked three corners of the reinforced glass, and now he was smashing the last one.

The people inside the bedroom, separated by the glass, had no way to strike with their weapons. To strike, they would have to open the window, but that would play right into the attacker’s hands.

But if they didn’t open the window, the glass would soon be shattered. Who knows what else he could do to break through the security window once the glass was gone?

At the moment of hesitation inside, the tempered glass was finally shattered, breaking into small fragments that fell downstairs with a clatter.

With the window broken, how were they supposed to respond? Were they going to stab the intruder with a knife?

One of them gritted their teeth and lunged forward with the knife, only to have their wrist grabbed by the intruder, who then pulled them out of the security window.

As the person cried out in surprise, someone else inside the room heard a female voice from the left, sharp and commanding: “Resident of 2105, duck down!”

They were startled and saw a powerful beam of light coming through the slightly opened window on the neighboring balcony. She was holding a device that emitted the powerful beam.

Inside, they froze. Was that a gun!?

The next second, they instinctively ducked down, and the person whose wrist had been grabbed took the opportunity to yank their hand back forcefully.

A faint, rapid series of thuds echoed through the air, like something being fired repeatedly. They could only hear the intruder outside screaming, twisting and writhing as if trying to evade something, but the barrage of thuds was relentless.

The intruder finally lost support and fell from the window ledge, but the rope around his waist held him, leaving him dangling and struggling between the 19th and 18th floors, screaming in pain and cursing, threatening to climb back up.

“Cut the rope now!” The female voice from the neighboring balcony rang out again.

The two inside the room snapped out of it, one of them grabbing the rope and holding it steady, while the other frantically used a knife to saw at it.

Fortunately, these rioters were poorly equipped, using ordinary rope instead of professional climbing ropes. Working frantically, they managed to sever the rope just before the intruder could pull himself back up.

Outside, a scream cut through the air, followed by a heavy thud.

The intruder plummeted to the ground, dead.

Exhausted and trembling, they wanted to thank their neighbor, but when they turned around, the window on the neighboring balcony had already been tightly shut.

Shu Fu re-locked the window, deactivated her Drift Bottle Protection, pulled down her black mask, and switched off the powerful flashlight attached to the nail gun. From her gear, she retrieved a fresh row of straight nails, crouched silently, and began reloading the nail gun.

A row of 30 nails, capable of continuous firing, effective within a range of ten meters.

Her balcony was just three meters from the neighboring bedroom window, well within the nail gun's effective range.