Chapter 136: Don’t Make Things Difficult for Me

“Ugh—”

Jiang Yan had already witnessed her fair share of bloody scenes; her endurance and self-control were far beyond the ordinary.

But at this moment, her stomach convulsed, and she couldn’t help but retch.

Those fat, blood-engorged mutant leeches slowly writhing atop the mountain of corpses made her scalp tingle with fear.

It was obvious that these leeches had been deliberately caught and placed here—each one had been well-fed.

Some were nearly as long as her entire arm.

And those naked corpses, mouths open in silent, desperate pleas for help, must have been thrown in alive.

Jiang Yan finally understood what Dao Yinping meant when he said that if the residents in the building didn’t obey, they’d be sent to the 22nd floor to become “living dead.”

A hell on earth that would enrage both gods and men—nothing less than this.

She pinched the web between her thumb and index finger hard, forcing herself to calm down quickly.

Even though she knew Ma Longbiao and his gang were notorious for their crimes, she never imagined they could be so utterly depraved and twisted!

But what was the point of all this? What was the purpose?

Just to feed these mutant leeches?

Everything they’d done recently was strange and illogical.

And lately, there had been more and more bodies floating in the central lake of the compound.

Could those few bodies be just a smokescreen?

Jiang Yan had no answers.

Ye Qing was even angrier than Jiang Yan.

The veins on his forehead and arms bulged with rage.

But he managed to hold back from cursing the entire time.

After sweeping the corners of the living room with his flashlight, he reached out and slammed the door shut with a bang.

The lock was already broken from his earlier blows, so it didn’t close tightly, but it was better than nothing.

At least it could keep those enormous mutant leeches inside for now.

“Jiang Yan, why don’t you go wait by the stairs? I’ll check the other three rooms. If there’s anything unusual, I’ll call you down,” Ye Qing said, turning to her.

Only then did Jiang Yan notice that his eyes were unmistakably red.

Not from the reflection of the bloody water, but from hatred and fury burning inside him.

“Alright.” Jiang Yan backed away, gun in hand, and headed up the stairs.

She was wearing a pair of soft-soled combat boots, but now the icy, bloody water had soaked through, chilling her to the bone.

Soon, the sound of metal banging echoed through the stairwell.

About five or six minutes later, Ye Qing appeared at the fire door, sleeves rolled up and pant legs soaked with blood.

His brows were tightly knit, lips pressed into a thin line, face pale, eyes rimmed red—his whole demeanor was sharp and grave.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, probably from swinging the fire axe to break down doors.

From his expression, Jiang Yan could tell the other three rooms were even worse.

Still, she asked, “What’s it like inside?”

“All four rooms are the same. There are about six or seven hundred corpses, all residents from the compound. Besides the adult leeches, there are tons of leech egg cocoons.

Ma Longbiao and his crew are nothing but demons who devour people whole! I wish I could tear them to pieces right now!” Ye Qing spat out viciously, slamming his fist into the wall with a heavy thud.

He hit so hard that plaster dust rained down from the wall.

This was far beyond his limit of tolerance.

He wouldn’t be satisfied until he killed them with his own hands!

Jiang Yan saw the hatred and frustration in his eyes and tried to calm him down. “Don’t rush. Let’s talk upstairs.”

These weren’t ordinary thugs.

Some things needed careful planning—there was no room for recklessness.

“…Alright.” Ye Qing, affected by Jiang Yan’s composure, realized he’d lost control.

He took several deep breaths of the foul air, forcing himself to calm down.

“Let me carry your bag,” he offered, glancing at the bulging pack on Jiang Yan’s back.

Her backpack was stuffed full and looked heavy.

But the weight was nothing to Jiang Yan.

More importantly, it was her tool for hiding her spatial ability—she had to keep it with her.

“Thanks, but it’s not heavy,” Jiang Yan replied, already heading upstairs.

Ye Qing didn’t insist and quickly followed.

Both wore grim expressions and walked in silence.

There were indeed people living in the upstairs hallway.

Just as Jiang Yan had guessed, these were the higher-level “watcher” residents.

Most eyed them warily as they passed.

A few greeted Ye Qing.

But before Ye Qing could ask anything, those people zipped their lips with a hand gesture and fell silent.

“Xiao Ye, there are too many eyes and ears here. My child is still in their hands. Please don’t make things difficult for me.” That was what most of them said.

Jiang Yan didn’t know them, so she kept her head down and kept walking.

But her mind was racing.

The more she thought, the heavier her doubts became.

Jiang Yan felt that everything that had happened in Qianshui Bay since the torrential rain was premeditated.

But Ma Longbiao’s group alone couldn’t have pulled it off so flawlessly.

There was a key motive missing.

There had to be a bigger secret behind this calculating Ma Longbiao.

And that secret was likely related to the “Young Master Xue” Dao Yinping had mentioned.

Thinking of Xue, Jiang Yan’s frown deepened.

If he was the same person she knew, his methods were dozens of times crueler than this.

And that was back when the world was still normal, before the collapse of order.

Calling him a demon king would be no exaggeration.

But in her last life, that man had died in prison.

Unless…

A trace of uncertainty flickered in Jiang Yan’s eyes. She shook her head, forcing herself not to overcomplicate things.

In just a few minutes, they reached the 32nd floor.

As soon as Jiang Yan and Ye Qing appeared at the fire door, the door to 3203 creaked open.

Zhou Wei, his face deeply wrinkled, stepped out.

He looked around warily, making sure only the two lookouts Sun Jingtao had posted at the stairwell window were nearby. Then he turned to Jiang Yan, lips trembling as he spoke in a low voice:

“Jiang Yan, I have a few words for you. Don’t worry, I won’t take up much of your time.”

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow.

She remembered from the surveillance footage that Zhou Wei and his group had clearly dealt with Ma Longbiao before.

What could he possibly want with her now?

He must have seen through the peephole that Sun Jingtao and the others had brought Dao Yinping upstairs.

And with all the commotion downstairs, the 29th to 32nd floors weren’t far apart—he must know that Dao Yinping’s group had been nearly wiped out.

He was probably hoping that Jiang Yan and Sun Jingtao’s group might have a chance to save his son.

Even so, Jiang Yan just glanced at him coolly. “What is it?”

Zhou Wei didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he glanced cautiously at Ye Qing.

Ye Qing understood at once. “Jiang Yan, I’ll go back inside. Be careful.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yan nodded."