Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 352 Bloodbath

Her fingers unconsciously tightened, her fingertips pressing against the plastic film on the bottle, making a soft crunching sound.

Seeing that she remained silent, the man didn't get angry. He simply put his hands in his pockets, softened his tone, and spoke with the patience of someone who had been through it all.

"Don't worry, I only asked you out of kindness." He paused, glanced into the residential area, gestured with his chin in a certain direction, and then continued:

"There was a bloody incident at Building 3. The military is investigating there. If you live at Building 3, don't go there yet, or you might get taken in for questioning."

Bloodshed! She was completely stunned.

The military is investigating, which means this is not an ordinary fight or petty theft; it's a serious matter involving bloodshed.

She doesn't live in Building 3, but Building 3 is right in front of her building, separated by a row of flower beds and a path less than ten meters wide.

If Building 3 is sealed off, her building won't be much better off; she might be stopped and questioned whenever she tries to enter or leave.

She looked up at the man, then looked into the neighborhood. From this angle, she could only see the exterior walls and balconies of the first few buildings; Building 3 was blocked in the back, and she couldn't see anything at all.

She suddenly realized that the people gathered at the door were probably not all just watching the commotion; some of them were probably really stuck outside and couldn't get home.

"I'm not from Building 3," she finally spoke, her voice low and cautious, "but I'm not far away."

The man nodded, his expression relaxing slightly. He stepped aside to make room for her, but added a sentence:

"That's fine, but be careful when you go back. There might still be people guarding downstairs. Just answer whatever they ask you. Don't argue with them. Those soldiers are just going through the motions. They'll leave once they've checked everything. If you stammer, you'll only cause trouble."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, thanking him for the reminder, and quickly walked past him with her water bottle in her arms.

She could have sat down on a step like the people at the door and waited for the army to finish their investigation, but the thought flashed through her mind for a moment before she quickly dismissed it.

She can't.

The people at the gate all have families, neighbors, and old friends. They can squat together in groups of three or five, exchanging information and encouraging each other. When it gets dark, they go home and close the door as if nothing had happened.

But she was different; she was isolated and helpless here, and what's more, the crime scene was near her home.

The distance between Building 3 and her building is such that, to put it nicely, they are neighbors; to put it bluntly, if something happens over there, she won't even have time to escape, and she would have to go and find out what's going on.

It wasn't driven by curiosity or a desire to join in the fun, but rather by the most primal survival instinct: if danger is right next to you, you need to know if it might turn a corner and come knocking on your door.

She remembered a saying she had heard before: in this world, the people who die the fastest are not the most daring, but those who know nothing.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't want to be someone who knew nothing.

She tilted the water bottle in her arms upwards; she needed to know what had happened.

Was it a robbery? Was it revenge? Did someone break into someone's house? Or was it a conflict between neighbors that escalated into a knife fight?

She also needed to see the army's reaction clearly: were they really investigating the case, or were they just going through the motions?

Will they search house to house, or just ask a few questions downstairs? Will they leave after the search, or will they leave someone to keep watch in the area?

These details will determine the safety level of this area in the next few days. Where there is an army, at least overt robberies will be less frequent.

But if the army just makes a quick round and leaves, then as soon as they leave, more people will be eyeing this "inspected" place, because it means that something happened here, there was chaos, and there are far more opportunities to take advantage of the chaos than elsewhere.

She even considered that if the situation became really dangerous, she wouldn't mind moving to another place to live.

She's not afraid of moving; what she's afraid of is not moving when she should, and then when trouble comes knocking, she won't be able to leave even if she wants to.

If what happened in Building 3 was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with her, then she would go back, lock the door, and spend the night peacefully; if the situation was really bad, then she would pack her things before it got dark and find another safe place.

Safety first, no matter what.

After passing the withered flower bed, the view suddenly opened up, and she could see the figures standing at the entrance of Building 3. Several people in dark uniforms were talking to some residents with their backs to her.

Xu Xiaoyan slowed down and stopped at the edge of the flower bed, finding a spot that wasn't too conspicuous but still allowed her to see the situation clearly.

She couldn't hear what was being said, so she tilted her ear slightly and unconsciously took a half-step forward, then another half-step, trying to piece together some useful information from the fragments.

Then, a woman's voice suddenly rose, "Comrades of the People's Liberation Army, please help me move to another building!" The voice trembled with an almost collapsing quality, as if it was using all her strength to squeeze the words out of her throat.

Xu Xiaoyan saw a middle-aged woman standing at the entrance of the building, wearing a drab gray long-sleeved shirt, her hair tied haphazardly behind her head, her hands twisted together, her fingers turning white from the twisting.

Two people in dark uniforms stood opposite her, their backs to Xu Xiaoyan, so her expressions were obscured. However, the woman's face was turned towards her, and Xu Xiaoyan could see that her eyes were terribly red, her lips were trembling, and the muscles on her entire face were twitching uncontrollably.

"I really don't want to live here anymore..." The woman's voice rose a few decibels, trembling with sobs, "I'm afraid that when I open my eyes I'll see a room full of blood, and I'll have nightmares every night..."

At this point, her voice suddenly dropped to a low level, almost inaudible, but her shoulders began to heave violently, clearly indicating that she was crying.

Another resident standing next to her reached out to help her up and whispered something, but she just kept shaking her head.

Xu Xiaoyan stood by the flower bed, her fingers unconsciously tightening.

The words "the room is full of blood" startled her. She subconsciously glanced into the unit door of Building 3. From this angle, she could only see a row of dark door panels and a dusty cement staircase. She couldn't see anything else.

She shivered and was about to take a few more steps forward to try and hear more, but was interrupted by another voice.

"Who is it? What are you doing there?" The voice wasn't loud, but it was steady, with a trained crispness.

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