Building 8, Unit 2, Apartnt 801.
Xue E sat on a small stool. In front of her was a simple stove made of stones, a pot of water boiling on top.
She heard a bloodcurdling scream from the hallway outside.
A flash of satisfaction crossed her eyes.
She had t Gao Qiang on a "ssage in a bottle" app.
They weren’t very close, but they had t up privately a few tis. She didn’t know what Gao Qiang did for a living, but it probably wasn’t a legitimate, stable job.
The result of their first eting had left her rather dissatisfied. In bed, Gao Qiang was the complete opposite of his na, which ant "High and Strong." He was even worse than Liu Changgen. She wondered if n liked to na themselves after the very things they lacked.
After that, she wanted nothing more to do with him, but it turned out Gao Qiang had secretly taken photos of her during their first encounter.
He used the photos to blackmail her into eting him a few more tis.
She was clever enough to realize this couldn’t last. Figuring it was only a matter of ti before sothing went terribly wrong, she threatened to call the police on him, and that finally made him stop contacting her.
After her husband’s death, left a widow with a child, she wanted revenge on Qin Ziwen and had no choice but to contact Gao Qiang again.
In her heart, she hated both Gao Qiang and Qin Ziwen. She even resented Deng Guang.
She believed that if Deng Guang hadn’t insisted on associating with Qin Ziwen, things would never have reached this point.
As far as she was concerned, she’d be happy to see any of them die.
BEEP—
The door lock chid.
The lock cylinder turned, and the living room doorknob was pushed down.
Xue E whipped her head around and looked at the door. "Who’s there?!"
The door swung open.
Gao Qiang, wearing a baseball cap, stood outside, looking at Xue E with a complicated expression.
A sense of foreboding rose in Xue E’s heart. "You... What are you doing here?"
If Gao Qiang had co to see her under normal circumstances, he would have just knocked.
"I’m here to see you about sothing," Gao Qiang said, striding quickly toward her.
His right hand was in his pocket. The mont he was close, he whipped it out, gripping a small knife, and lunged forward.
The blade sank into Xue E’s chest, but a thick layer of fat stopped it from reaching her heart.
Xue E staggered back two steps, grabbed the pot of boiling water, and viciously threw it in Gao Qiang’s face.
Gao Qiang threw up an arm to shield his face. The scalding water splashed onto his arm and cheek.
He hopped around in agony from the burn.
Xue E used the opportunity to run toward the kitchen for a knife, but after just two steps, a sharp pain flared in her chest.
Gao Qiang’s stab hadn’t been fatal, but it had damaged her blood vessels and muscles.
Gritting her teeth against the tearing pain, she staggered forward a few more steps.
However, the wound in her chest slowed her down.
Behind her, Gao Qiang’s heavy breathing was getting closer.
Xue E grabbed the kitchen knife from the cutting board. At almost the sa instant, a large hand clamped down on her shoulder.
"You bitch!" Gao Qiang’s voice was seething with rage. "This is all your fault! All your fault!"
He stabbed her from behind, plunging the knife into her lower back.
Xue E’s vision went black, and she nearly passed out.
The cold blade ground and twisted inside her kidney.
All the strength drained from her body like a receding tide.
Her mouth fell open, her legs gave way, and she crumpled to the floor.
"Ah—Don’t touch my mom!" a voice roared from behind him.
BANG!!!
Gao Qiang staggered violently.
Liu Zhuang stood there, holding a small stool with both hands. His eyes were red, the terror still etched on his face.
Gao Qiang touched the back of his head. His fingertips ca away red. He turned to look at the boy, who was about his height, and his expression twisted into a savage snarl.
"You little shit, you’re really asking for it."
Gao Qiang rushed over, grabbed Liu Zhuang by the collar, and slamd him hard against the wall.
Although they were about the sa height, Gao Qiang was clearly a lot burlier than Liu Zhuang.
In a contest of strength, Liu Zhuang was at a clear disadvantage.
’Might as well kill two as one.’
Gao Qiang’s eyes turned bloodshot.
He repeatedly stabbed the small knife into Liu Zhuang’s stomach.
Liu Zhuang gripped Gao Qiang’s sleeve tightly, his eyes fixed on him.
The stare made Gao Qiang increasingly unnerved.
"You little bastard, stop looking at ! If you want to bla soone, bla your mother for pissing off the wrong people."
Gao Qiang closed his eyes and plunged the knife into Liu Zhuang’s neck.
Liu Zhuang’s body went stiff.
Seeing this from the floor, Xue E’s eyes nearly split with rage. A sudden surge of strength flooded her from an unknown source, and she felt as if the pain in her body had vanished.
She scrambled up from the floor, grabbed the kitchen knife from the cutting board, and swung it down at the back of Gao Qiang’s neck.
Gao Qiang sensed the movent behind him. ’How could I fall into the sa trap twice?’
He twisted to dodge, but Liu Zhuang’s hands were clamped around him like iron hoops.
He only had ti to turn his head slightly before the blade landed on his shoulder. The blow was so painful that Gao Qiang almost fainted.
He turned his head in disbelief. ’She was stabbed that badly, and she can still get up?’
...
The half-closed door was pushed open.
Qin Ziwen walked into Apartnt 801.
Gao Qiang, Xue E, and Liu Zhuang were all lying on the floor.
The floor, the walls—blood was splattered everywhere.
Gao Qiang opened his blood-caked eyes, his lips moving.
"Help... help ... I finished..."
Qin Ziwen crouched down, reached into Gao Qiang’s pocket, and pulled out a small black box.
Gao Qiang tremblingly raised a blood-soaked hand, trying to grab Qin Ziwen’s leg.
The boot moved away, and his fingertips brushed against Qin Ziwen’s pant leg.
Stepping out of the room, which reeked of blood, Qin Ziwen tilted his head back and breathed in the fresh air of the hallway.
’The stench in that room was too much.’
Deng Guang looked at Qin Ziwen with a newfound sense of awe and fear.
In Apartnt 802, Xiao Xuei, who had opened her door upon hearing the commotion, covered Deng Wen’s eyes.
Deng Wen grumbled in protest, "What’s the big deal? It’s just dead people. It’s not like I haven’t seen them before. But who was that man who broke into Liu Zhuang’s apartnt?"
Qin Ziwu hurried out of the room and whispered in Qin Ziwen’s ear, "Brother, it’s all been cleaned up."
Qin Ziwen patted his younger brother’s shoulder.
Deng Guang looked worried. "This whole thing got way too big today. I don’t think we can keep it under wraps."
Qin Ziwen, however, was calm. "We’ve done nothing wrong. What’s there to worry about? If you aren’t ruthless, people will always think you’re an easy target."
"Take this ti, for example. Why didn’t he rob soone else? Why did he co for my family? Is it because Huang Tao has no food? Or Renhe Hall has nothing of value? No, it’s because they thought we were easy prey."
"Since we can’t hide it, we won’t."
Deng Guang took a deep breath. He thought about the person he’d knocked down with the club. The man hadn’t seed to be breathing when they ca upstairs just now. He didn’t know if he was the one who’d killed him, and the thought still made his heart pound with fear.
Qin Ziwen said, "Let’s clean up the scene. But there are a lot of bodies. It’ll be hard for just the few of us to move them."
The hallway was silent. The residents on every floor had either heard the commotion or sensed sothing was wrong and were hiding in their hos.
"Xiaowu, go knock on doors. Ask our neighbors in Unit 2 to co out and help clean up the scene. Sister-in-law, you go to Building 6, Unit 2, Apartnt 201 and get Guo Xiaochun."
Deng Guang whipped his head around. ’Seriously? This arrogant? Calling the neighbors to co clean up a murder scene?’
Qin Ziwen explained, "Brother Deng, I’m thinking about this in two ways. First, we need to get our version of the story out there imdiately. Controlling the narrative is crucial. If we don’t seize it, soone else will. We can’t let people with ulterior motives slander our nas. We are the victims here. Soone tried to break in and rob us, and we were forced to fight back."
"Second, we can use this opportunity to get to know our neighbors in Unit 2. As for the things in Apartnt 801, the neighbors can take whatever they want. Once they’ve taken sothing, they’ll be on our side."
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