Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“All the awakened in the West District have registered their abilities. I’ll check tomorrow…”

Cheng Jing interlocked his fingers and rested them against his chin as he spoke, his expression much more relaxed now.

The unknown is what’s most terrifying. Now that they had a lead, the inexplicable pressure on his chest had lifted. His biggest worry was acting without fully understanding the situation—especially with Jiang Nian at his side.

“Doubt you’ll find anything,” Jiang Nian said lazily, shaking his head as he grabbed the leftover snacks and munched while speaking.

“Abilities can be hidden—like mine. Of course, it’s also possible the suspect only declared one power to confuse us… But I bet they’re just blending in as a regular person, and doing it well.”

Jing rubbed his temples.

“Either way, I’ll go to the command center tomorrow and brief Zhou Li and the team. We’ll investigate discreetly, no commotion.”

“Fine, but if we get a lead, I’m tagging along.”

Jiang Nian stared at his boyfriend, dead serious. If Jing dared refuse again, he’d take matters into his own hands—those abs wouldn’t survive; he’d rub them raw!

“…Yeah.”

Third time’s the charm. Even if he wanted to, Jing didn’t dare refuse.

Jiang Nian knew he was conflicted but played dumb. Eventually, Brother Jing would get used to them working together.

Half an hour later, the serious talk ended, making way for some cuddle time.

His pent-up frustration from worry had to come out somehow—and for Jing, that meant taking it to the bedroom.

Jiang Nian could clearly feel the intensity these past few nights—fierce, almost rough—but not that he minded. Calling him out after would be lame.

Ah well. A sore back was worth it.

...

The next morning, Jing headed straight to the command center. He only shared their suspicions with Zhou Li and a few others in the office, warning them to keep it quiet.

Zhou Li understood the stakes. After going over everything thoroughly, he agreed their theory was probably right.

He suggested handing the case to their squad, with others providing backup, and promised first dibs on all West District resources moving forward.

Jing agreed. But after combing through the entire registry of awakened individuals in the West District, just as Jiang Nian predicted, they found nothing useful.

A whole day down the drain.

At least the nights had been quiet.

Now stuck again, Jing barely touched his meals, sure they were missing something obvious.

Then Huang Qian called, reporting that aside from the mother and daughter in Unit 1805 of Building 13, all remaining unchecked residents at Jiahe Residence had been cleared—and nothing stood out.

“Why couldn’t you check 1805? It’s been two days.”

As Jing recalled the mother and daughter and their brief encounter, it hit him.

"Why else? Of course, it's because that woman drags her daughter downstairs early in the morning to play the waiting game. When we went in the morning, she was already downstairs; when we went in the evening, she hadn’t come back. We even confirmed the door was locked from the outside… I swear, it’s ridiculous!"

Huang Qian couldn’t help but vent, then sighed:

"I’m just reporting to you. I’ll wait for her by the command room entrance this afternoon and follow her home."

"It’s just a mother and daughter—let it go…"

Since the phone was on speaker, Jiang Nian instinctively chimed in from the side. But halfway through, he frowned thoughtfully before taking the phone and saying to Huang Qian:

"Sister Qian, you rest and don’t worry about it. Brother Jing and I will handle it later. You’ve already made several trips—you must be tired."

"Wow! Nian Nian, you’re truly my little sweetheart, mwah! Then I’ll hang up now—see you!"

"..."

The dial tone sounded before Jiang Nian could recover from her flirty tone. He sighed:

"Indeed, the prettier the woman, the better at sweet-talking..."

He tossed the phone aside and turned to Cheng Jing, whose expression was priceless:

"I just got this gut feeling—we should check Xiao Ya’s house..."

He couldn’t explain it—it was a sudden intuition.

The mother and daughter clearly knew the rescue team was doing a door-to-door search, yet they were conveniently absent every time staff came knocking. It was obviously deliberate.

Even if emotionally unstable, they shouldn’t be pulling this stunt.

Cheng Jing considered it, then agreed bluntly:

"I think Xiao Ya and her mother are hiding something."

They seemed so vulnerable, but that didn’t rule out suspicion.

"..."

Jiang Nian didn’t object—he shared the doubt. Yet recalling their last meeting with Xiao Ya and her mother, he hadn’t spotted any red flags.

If not for Huang Qian’s call, he wouldn’t have even thought of them.

Seeing his confusion, Cheng Jing carefully voiced his thoughts:

"Maybe your sympathy for Xiao Ya got in the way of noticing. Their reactions that day looked normal, but Xiao Ya’s plea and telling you not to come back struck me as off."

"...What Xiao Ya said to me?"

Jiang Nian pondered. She had only spoken two sentences to him:

"Big brother, can you save my dad?"

Then later: "Then don’t come back, big brother…"

The first was a desperate kid’s question; the second, a pretty cold comeback after he said he couldn’t help.

Cheng Jing continued:

"Xiao Ya is registered as 12 years old. She might look fragile, but she’s likely a fifth- or sixth-grader. A kid that age should have solid reasoning and social skills."

"Her asking if you could 'cure' her dad was oddly worded. She knew her father went out and went missing. Normally, one would say 'bring back' or 'find' when seeking help. After all, you gave her a candy—she was just shy at the time, not so nervous or scared as to be incoherent."

"...That does make sense. Xiao Ya's clearly a smart kid."

Jiang Nian's face changed slightly. Thinking about it now, it did seem strange.

Kids usually say what they want straight out. Xiao Ya's phrasing was somewhat... weirdly indirect.

Cheng Jing analyzed further:

"After you refused, she told you not to come again. At the time, it just seemed like a child being upset and lashing out, but now it makes me wonder if she was hinting at something. For example, her father didn’t just go out and not return—she knew his condition, which is why she asked if you could 'save' him."

"Exactly!"

Jiang Nian suddenly understood and picked up the thread:

"Because I couldn’t save her father, she told me not to come anymore... Maybe her father got turned into a zombie during one of his outings, and she and her mother are killing people to feed him. To avoid detection, they deliberately stay out whenever inspectors come by..."

That would explain everything!

Even their act of playing the 'grieving widows' could just be an act to mislead others.

"Or perhaps their going out is just an illusion. With teleportation as their superpower, like you said, within a certain range they can teleport anywhere they know, without needing to use the door. They could lock it from the outside anytime to keep people from suspecting."

After finishing, Cheng Jing met Jiang Nian’s gaze, both seeing the same shocked realization in each other’s eyes.

The main issue was that though the mother and daughter had been around them, they were way too easy to miss.

If Huang Qian or others had slacked off a little, taken pity on them after a few failed attempts to check in, and not reported it—who would have suspected them?