Chapter 134: Not That Dirty

Usually, the residents downstairs had to be sent out in shifts, braving the pouring rain and cold to scavenge for supplies and fish for mutated leeches.

But today was different—Ma Longbiao’s gang had taken all the rubber boats and life rings with them.

For once, everyone got a rare day of rest.

“Neighbors, may I ask what’s going on here?” Sun Jingtao spoke gently as he saw the crowd blocking the doorway.

Among the residents looking up at them from downstairs, some were old tenants from Building A—faces he was fairly familiar with.

Before the apocalypse, they were the kind of neighbors you’d see every day.

“Sun Jingtao, did you guys kill all of Ma-ge’s people?!” A middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses questioned him in disbelief from the crowd.

Ma-ge?

Hearing this, Jiang Yan’s cold eyes flickered as she glanced at him.

Like the others, the man’s hair and face were filthy. His expensive-looking glasses had a broken arm, now held together with thread and clear tape.

“Brother Zhang, what’s the matter?” Sun Jingtao replied, scanning the crowd with a probing look.

He immediately sensed something was off.

Logically, since they’d killed the bad guys, the crowd shouldn’t be reacting like this.

“Uncle Zhang, they did kill them! I saw the bodies just now—it was that woman from the 32nd floor, Jiang-something, who did it!” A younger man pointed at Jiang Yan as he spoke, then quickly ducked behind a tall man in front of him.

Jiang Yan’s gun had a silencer today.

It wasn’t completely silent, but at least those outside wouldn’t have heard the shots.

As soon as the young man finished, a wave of commotion swept through the crowd.

Everyone’s gaze snapped to Jiang Yan, but the moment they met her icy eyes, they all shrank back and looked away.

In their minds, Jiang Yan, who could kill without batting an eye, was no different from the ruthless, inhuman Ma Longbiao.

“We don’t know the others, but Sun Jingtao, we’ve been neighbors for years—we only know you! So today, we have to come to you! You owe everyone an explanation!” The man with the black-rimmed glasses pressed on, emboldened by some unknown courage.

“That’s right, we need an explanation!” Others echoed, their eyes glued to Sun Jingtao’s face.

“What kind of explanation?” Sun Jingtao exchanged a confused glance with Su Dai.

They’d killed the bad guys—why did it feel like they were the ones on trial?

Were these people crazy?

Sun Jingtao was starting to lose his temper, but Su Dai tugged at his sleeve, so he clenched his fists and held it in.

“You killed Ma-ge’s men—what if he comes back for revenge?!”

“Yeah! My son is still in their hands. If anything happens to him, I won’t go on living either!”

“That’s right! As long as we behaved and worked hard, they promised to give our sons and daughters back to us. Now look! It’s all ruined!!!”

A chorus of complaints rose from the crowd.

“All right, everyone quiet down! Let me speak!” Brother Zhang with the glasses waved his hands to silence them, then said:

“Sun Jingtao, do you realize what a disaster you’ve brought on us?! You dared to touch Ma Longbiao’s people—do you know what they’re capable of?!

Do you know how many people have died in our building lately?!

Now you’ve killed his men. When they come back, we’ll be the first ones they come after! Don’t forget, our wives and children are still being held by them!!!”

When he finished, he pounded his chest in frustration, then pointed at Jiang Yan and the others, gnashing his teeth:

“So if my son doesn’t come back, I’ll make you pay with your life!!!!”

Another person shouted angrily, “That’s right! If my daughter or son doesn’t come back, I’ll make you pay too!!”

“And my wife as well!!” added a greasy man with a little ponytail, waving his fists.

But despite their anger, no one dared to take a step forward.

Jiang Yan listened quietly, observing.

Dao Yinping, who was completely powerless, was standing right next to them, yet not a single resident dared to accuse him.

She’d kept silent and still, just to see what these residents—so thoroughly controlled by Ma Longbiao—were really thinking.

Now, after hearing and seeing it all, she’d made up her mind.

“Brother Liu, isn’t that your wife over there? Why haven’t you helped her up all this time?” Su Dai, having figured out why the crowd was hostile, recognized the greasy man with the ponytail.

She pointed at the woman they’d just helped down from the table and addressed him.

That woman was also from Building A.

Su Dai had seen her a few times before.

She was a dance teacher at a studio next to the Qianshuiwan complex.

The man with the ponytail, Liu-ge, was a painter with a private studio at home.

Both of them had an artistic flair—good-looking, stylish, and trendy.

Before the apocalypse, they were seen as a golden couple in the community.

Now, the woman was crouched by the fire door, head bowed low.

When Su Dai and the others helped her out earlier, everyone downstairs had clearly seen it.

But no one dared approach.

Everyone knew she was one of the women Ma Longbiao’s gang had their eyes on.

They weren’t ignorant of what went on in the hallway.

But most chose to turn a blind eye and pretend not to know.

“How could she be my wife?! My wife would never be that filthy!!”

Liu-ge glanced at the woman, a flash of contempt in his eyes as he sneered.

The woman on the ground bit her lip at his double-edged words.

Her head, which had been hanging low, slowly lifted.

She braced herself on her legs and stood up, swaying unsteadily.

Her dull, lifeless eyes swept over the crowd, her swollen eyes filling with hatred as she glared at the ponytailed man and spat out:

“Liu Xing, you’re calling me dirty now? Wasn’t it you who knocked me out and handed me over to that animal Dao Yinping?!”

Her words sent another ripple of shock through the crowd.

“You gave me to someone else just for your own safety and a little food, and now you stand here making righteous speeches. Liu Xing, the biggest mistake of my life was being blind enough to marry you!”

“Zhao Xiaolei, you think you’re so pure? You know damn well how many men you were with before you married me!”

“Oh, come on! Liu Xing, Zhao Xiaolei, if you two want to air your dirty laundry, do it at home—don’t waste everyone’s time!” Another man stepped in to stop their argument, then turned to Sun Jingtao, cursing:

“And you, Sun Jingtao! You killed Ma-ge’s men—do you realize what you’ve done?

If our daughters and sons who were taken by them end up dead, can you live with that?!”"