Chapter 121: Jade Pendant for Medicine

While Jiang Yan had been shutting herself off from the world, paying no attention to what was happening outside her window, beneath the calm surface of the apartment complex and within Building A, undercurrents were surging.

Just as she had feared, the torrential rain didn’t stop even after the floodwaters reached the 20th floor.

The water level kept rising, and it looked like it would soon reach the 22nd floor.

Over the past few days, residents from the other four buildings had been desperately moving into Building A.

Logically, with more people moving in, everyone could just squeeze together and make do for the time being.

Conflicts breaking out would be expected.

But the reality was far worse than that.

With the secret backing of Ma Longbiao’s group, some people had started openly robbing others.

Those with strength, good looks, supplies, or who were young and obedient became the favored ones supported by Ma Longbiao’s gang.

Meanwhile, those who had already handed over their supplies, the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, or anyone with their own ideas, became the ones despised and abandoned.

Within just a few days, the thousands of residents in Qianshui Bay Community were experiencing a bloody, man-made reshuffling.

Jiang Yan, who hadn’t set foot outside her door, knew nothing about any of this.

All she saw was that every morning, when she checked the water level, there were more fresh corpses floating in the central garden.

The 32nd floor had been noisy for a while these past few days, but she spent most of her days inside her space, so she didn’t really know what was going on.

As for the nights, by the time she came out, it was already very late.

It was pitch black outside, and she couldn’t see anything.

She hadn’t checked the surveillance cameras lately either.

After all, all she ever saw on them were scenes of human suffering—nothing but the same misery, over and over.

It only added to her gloom.

Su Dai and Sun Jingtao hadn’t come looking for her, either.

Or maybe they had, but she just didn’t know about it.

Jiang Yan had successfully retreated into a world of her own.

She was patiently waiting.

Waiting for the day the rain would finally stop.

*

That morning, Jiang Yan got up, watered the cabbage seeds she’d sown on the balcony, cleaned out the ashes from the fireplace, and was about to enter her space to train as usual when she suddenly heard Su Dai’s anxious voice calling from outside the door.

“Jiang Yan!”

“Jiang Yan, are you home?”

“Jiang Yan, wake up!”

Not sure if there was electricity running through Jiang Yan’s front door, Su Dai didn’t dare knock, so she could only shout at the top of her lungs.

Jiang Yan frowned.

From her tone, it sounded like something serious had happened.

And this early in the morning, too.

She grabbed a super-warm thick coat, threw it on, ran her fingers through her hair, and headed for the door.

As usual, she closed the inner door first before opening the outer one.

Su Dai was standing alone in the dark hallway.

After just a few days, she looked noticeably more haggard.

Her hair was messy, dark circles hung under her eyes, and her clothes were wrinkled.

“Sorry for waking you up so early,” Su Dai said with an awkward smile, then added worriedly, “But you gave me a scare just now. I thought something had happened to you—you didn’t answer no matter how long I called.”

“Oh, I’ve been sleeping late lately, so I didn’t really hear you at first,” Jiang Yan replied apologetically. “Su Dai, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

She could clearly see the panic in Su Dai’s eyes.

And even after seeing Jiang Yan, that panic hadn’t completely faded.

Su Dai glanced nervously at the apartment next door before saying, “We just found out something happened downstairs. I wanted to warn you not to sleep too soundly these next few days.”

“Oh? What happened?” Jiang Yan covered her mouth and yawned.

Seeing how nonchalant and unconcerned Jiang Yan was, Su Dai couldn’t help but feel a little dazed.

“These past few days, Sun Jingtao, Xiao Ye, and I have all been holed up at home. We hadn’t heard anything until just now, when Tian Jiliang told us that residents from the other four buildings have joined forces and are coming to Building A to fight for territory.”

“Fighting for territory?” Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow.

She’d expected as much.

If the water kept rising, the other buildings would soon be completely submerged.

But Building A would still have eight or nine floors above water, at least for now.

The key was, the other four buildings had way more residents than Building A.

There was no way all those people would just sit and wait to die—they’d definitely try to move in.

“Yeah. The water’s been rising nonstop, and the residents from the other buildings have gone crazy. It’s been chaos downstairs these past two days—bloody and violent. Most of the people living in their apartments have been replaced,” Su Dai recalled, her pupils shrinking as she remembered the bloodshed she’d seen downstairs.

Jiang Yan’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean, ‘replaced’?”

“Some of the original residents of Building A were driven out, and people from the other buildings moved in,” Su Dai explained, sighing.

That’s when Jiang Yan noticed fresh bloodstains on Su Dai’s sleeve. “Su Dai, are you hurt?”

“No, Tian Jiliang is. He got slashed on the thigh and arm by two men from Building C—deep enough to see the bone. I must’ve gotten his blood on me when I was helping him just now.”

After saying this, Su Dai seemed to realize something and looked a little embarrassed.

“Jiang Yan, do you have any hemostatic or anti-inflammatory medicine at home? If you do, I’d like to trade for some. We used up all ours last time when Sun Jingtao got hurt, and we couldn’t find any more medicine when we went out searching for supplies.”

As she spoke, she opened her palm to reveal a jade pendant, deep green and shaped like a step.

The jade was clear and lustrous, smooth as water, and strung on a brown, gold-threaded cord.

It looked like a man’s chest ornament.

The quality was excellent—it looked expensive.

Right now, what Jiang Yan needed most to upgrade her space was gold, silver, and jewelry.

By her calculations, her space should finish upgrading later today.

But the more, the better—she could always use more.

Besides, even though she had plenty of medicine in her space, she couldn’t just give it away for free.

Now that Su Dai was offering a trade, it suited her perfectly.

It didn’t really matter what was being traded.

What mattered was that Su Dai understood the need for boundaries—this way, they could continue to get along in the future.

Even so, Jiang Yan frowned slightly. “This is—?”

“This is Tian Jiliang’s family heirloom, a piece of old-mine icy jade,” Su Dai said hesitantly.

She guessed that Jiang Yan probably had medicine.

After all, Jiang Yan used to be a travel blogger, sometimes going to places like wilderness survival shows.

She would definitely have carried basic medical supplies with her.

Those medicines wouldn’t have been bought at the last minute—they’d be kept at home, too.

But Su Dai was worried Jiang Yan might not want to trade, since medicine was a rare commodity.

Even if someone didn’t need it now, who knew what might happen in the future? So she made sure to mention the pendant’s value up front.

To her, the jade pendant was worthless now—it couldn’t be eaten. But maybe Jiang Yan would like it.

Still, she wasn’t sure, so her tone was uncertain.

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