Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Tang Qiu quickly scanned every word on the interface, raising an eyebrow slightly. This world... seemed more interesting than she had imagined.

Tang Qiu didn't care about Ding Yuchen or Ji Shulan, who only had two more days to live. All her attention was on those five characters: basic attribute points.

Tang Qiu couldn't help pondering, what was this? Based on her slight gaming experience from her youth, did this mean it could make her stronger?

Guessing this possibility, Tang Qiu's heart abruptly raced, and her breath quickened.

Becoming stronger – it was a huge temptation. Wasn't her final death caused by not being strong enough?

Tang Qiu didn't care what this suddenly appearing interface wanted her to do. All she knew was that it could make her stronger, and that was enough.

Having made her decision, Tang Qiu quickly re-read all the information on the interface and easily figured out the cause and effect.

She had received 1 basic attribute point because she had rescued this child and significantly influenced his fate. By that reasoning, if she did the same for Ji Shulan and changed her fate of dying, she would receive the attribute points mentioned on the interface again.

Having confirmed this, Tang Qiu had only one question left: who was Ji Shulan?

Tang Qiu's eyes quickly swept around, then she turned and fixed her gaze on the young woman who was still holding the child and coaxing him.

Now it was late at night and quiet; besides the child, the only other person near Tang Qiu was this young woman, so it was obvious who Ji Shulan was.

Noticing Tang Qiu's gaze, Ji Shulan looked at her with a hint of confusion, looking puzzled, as if wondering why this person, who was about to leave, had turned back.

However, compared to Tang Qiu's awkward social behavior, Ji Shulan was much more outgoing. She didn't press Tang Qiu about it but politely met her gaze and said, "I didn't get a chance to thank you earlier. Thank you so much. Without you, who knows where this little guy might have wandered off to."

Facing Ji Shulan's sincerity and warmth, Tang Qiu felt very uncomfortable. After some effort, she could only force out flatly, "You're welcome."

Ji Shulan didn't mind. She bounced the child a bit, coaxed him, and struggled to wrap her unzipped jacket more snugly around him before looking at Tang Qiu again with a smile. "I remember you well. I've been working late recently and keep seeing you jog around the block at night. But I don't think I've seen you before. Did you just move in?"

Tang Qiu's face stiffened even more. She forced out, "No."

Noticing Tang Qiu was socially awkward, Ji Shulan kindly dropped the small talk and simply said, "By the way, my name is Ji Shulan. I work nearby. And you? What's your name?"

Finally confirming her guess, Tang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and said curtly, "Tang Qiu. See you."

Ignoring Ji Shulan's somewhat bewildered expression, Tang Qiu finally couldn't help turning and walking away fast, as if she was afraid Ji Shulan would chase after her.

Rushing home, Tang Qiu couldn't wait to figure out what the basic attribute point was.

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, the interface that had appeared earlier showed up again, and a line of text quickly popped up: "Would you like to use the 1 basic attribute point you obtained now?"

Tang Qiu mentally said yes, and the interface flashed, and lines of text and data appeared.

Host: Tang Qiu

Physical Attributes

Strength: 27/100 (You're too weak to kill a chicken)

Agility: 21/100 (In the animal kingdom, you'd only beat a turtle in a race)

Constitution: 32/100 (Barely healthy—a light rain could easily give you a cold)

Note: Physical stats can be increased through proper exercise, but the upper limit can only be increased with basic attribute points.

Tang Qiu glanced over the specific stats of this body, but her eyes lingered on the last line, especially the final part.

"The upper limit can only be increased with basic attribute points." Tang Qiu turned these words over in her mind again and again. Incredulous but extremely excited, she confirmed one fact: if the latter part of the physical stats referred to the limit of human physical capabilities, then did these words mean that Tang Qiu could possibly break that limit?

Breaking the limit—that meant she'd become super strong, strong enough to reach the pinnacle of human combat power. No one could kill her easily. She could live a long, long time, until this body aged and she calmly accepted death.

Yep, the gut decision she'd made earlier was right.

Tang Qiu let out a breath, calmed her churning emotions, and began to think about which stat she should add the 1 basic attribute point to.

The importance of strength was obvious. If it was high enough, even unarmed, she could easily knock down any enemy.

Compared to strength, agility and constitution seemed slightly inferior. But Tang Qiu, with some combat experience, believed that among the three stats, strength was actually the least important. If you have enough strength but not enough agility, you'll be clumsy and an easier target.

If strength was low but agility was high, it meant greater flexibility and mobility. In combat, one could use the terrain to restrain the enemy, whether through flanking or direct retreat, with plenty of room for error.

Constitution, on the other hand, meant a lot more. It represented the health and robustness of the body. High constitution allowed faster recovery from injuries, longer survival in extreme weather, resistance to illness, greater energy, and more stamina. It gave a person greater potential.

After hesitating for only a few seconds, Tang Qiu decided to add the 1 basic attribute point to constitution.

As Tang Qiu mentally chanted, the physical stats on the interface changed slightly. The upper limit of constitution, which had been 100, quietly became 101.

Tang Qiu stared at the final digit of the three-digit number, feeling as if her heavy body had suddenly become lighter. Of course, this was an illusion.

Tang Qiu understood in her heart that this new possibility had relieved her psychological survival pressure, given her a stronger desire to become stronger than before, and increased her confidence in living well. That was why she felt lighter and saw the uncertain future more clearly.

Tang Qiu instinctively swung her arm. Even though breaking the constitution cap did not substantially increase her strength, she felt that she had already become stronger.

Tang Qiu glanced at the time. It was already past midnight, now March 18th. She clearly remembered that Ji Shulan's predicted death time was 2:18 AM on March 19th. She had 26 hours. Though it seemed like a short time, for Tang Qiu, it was enough.

She went through her routine, washed up, and went to bed. The next day, Tang Qiu woke up at the time specified in her training plan, went for a morning run, did strength training, ate, and then left the house.

Unlike usual, this time she needed to keep track of the time, so Tang Qiu specially brought a mechanical watch without any electronic functions, securely fastened her dagger, and just in case, put thin, form-fitting rubber gloves in her pocket that would prevent fingerprints at the scene. Only then did she put on her jacket, open the door, enter the elevator, and merge silently into the crowd during the morning rush hour, like an ordinary office worker.

Tang Qiu's timing was perfect. Walking at her normal pace, she turned a corner and arrived at the exercise equipment area she often used for stretching, just in time to see Ji Shulan, who was on the phone and walking quickly with her head down.

Ji Shulan was wearing a very conspicuous red coat today, and the beautiful diamond-studded nail art on her fingers sparkled in the morning sunlight. This pleased Tang Qiu greatly, as she didn't have to worry about losing her trail.

Indeed, it was very easy for Tang Qiu to follow her.

Keeping a cautious distance, she followed Ji Shulan across a main street, into an alley, and finally through the alley into a somewhat old residential area.

At first, Tang Qiu was a bit worried that Ji Shulan might notice she was being followed, but soon she realized she had been overthinking. Most people in this world had always lived in peace, like flowers raised in a greenhouse—beautiful, harmless, and fragile. They might know a lot through electronic devices, but without experience, they lacked imagination, vigilance, and the ability to resist. Thus, they would die easily.

Standing in the shadow of a residential building corner, Tang Qiu watched Ji Shulan enter the complex until she was completely out of sight. Only then did she begin to observe and explore the nearby terrain and crowd.

Although the outer walls of this complex where Ji Shulan worked were peeling and old, its location was actually in a relatively bustling area. It was surrounded by roadside high-rises, with few residents, negligible property management, and no security gate at all. Tang Qiu walked around and found that the roads leading into the complex were quite interconnected.

The main road was in the completely opposite direction of where Ji Shulan was walking. That also explained why the alley she had taken was so narrow—only allowing people and e-bikes to pass, sparsely populated, and littered with garbage that sanitation workers hadn't cleared in time.

Tang Qiu had a certain guess. She then retraced Ji Shulan's route to work. When she walked through that alley again, she observed carefully and, as she had thought, the camera in the alley was broken.

Combining this with the information she had gleaned from her brief conversation with Ji Shulan last night—that she had been working late recently and took this shortcut through the alley on foot—she could deduce that the life-or-death crisis Ji Shulan was facing was most likely to occur in this alley.

To confirm her guess, as Tang Qiu continued walking along Ji Shulan's route toward the complex, she deliberately observed the cameras and surrounding buildings.

Unlike that alley, the cameras there were functioning normally. The buildings along the street had shops on the first floor. As Tang Qiu passed by, she pretended to casually glance at their opening hours. Most closed at 10 PM, but two convenience stores had signs indicating 24-hour operation, and a hotpot restaurant was open until 4 AM. This meant that apart from that alley, other places were basically safe for Ji Shulan.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Ji Shulan could be killed at the office or when leaving the old complex, but compared to that alley, the probability was much lower.

After much deliberation, Tang Qiu decided to focus most of her attention on that alley, which was comparatively extremely dangerous.