Chapter 37: Retribution Is Coming!

“Ugh—”

Even through the screen, the stench of rotting corpses in the sweltering heat seemed to seep through. Jiang Yan couldn’t help but gag.

Those bloodsucking mosquitoes in the footage looked as if they were swarming her own body, sending chills down her spine and making her skin crawl.

From a scientific perspective, it takes about 24 hours after death for all the blood in a human body to fully coagulate.

Of course, depending on temperature, illness, and other factors, the time it takes for blood to clot can vary.

But around the heads of those dried-out corpses, there were clearly pools of dried blood.

This meant that when these bodies were thrown out of their homes, they had been dead for less than 24 hours!

And that corpse crawling with blood mosquitoes, whose blood hadn’t even been fully drained yet, was obviously a recent addition.

The person who posted the photos was from Unit 1104 in Building E, with a profile picture of a vast, open landscape.

Most likely a mature and steady man.

[E-1104: Everyone, come look! Is this the distortion of human nature or the collapse of morality?! Damn, how can anyone do this?! Absolutely inhuman!!!]

[E-1605: The police line is still busy, but I’ll keep calling!!! Those heartless bastards, you’ll get what’s coming to you sooner or later!! Fuck!]

[C-2303: Ahem, bro upstairs, you’re too naive…]

[D-703: Shit! I’ve seen people throw stuff out of windows, but now they’re tossing corpses?! How are we supposed to keep living in this neighborhood?! Angry.jpg]

[A-702: Seriously?! It’s only been a few days of extreme heat, it’s not even the apocalypse yet! How did things get this bad already?!]

[C-602: Oh my god! This is insane—how are we supposed to survive after this?!]

[B-101: Fuck, which sons of bitches did this!! How are us ground-floor residents supposed to live?! I curse your family to have children without assholes!!!]

[C-104: Once Pandora’s box is opened… *looks up, deep in thought.jpg*]

[…]

The rest were all curses and furious rants.

According to the group chat, not long after sunrise, once the blood mosquitoes had returned to their nests, the property management braved the scorching sun and unbearable heat to clear away all the corpses.

They piled them up in the square-dancing area at the entrance of the complex, doused them in gasoline, and burned them all together.

Jiang Yan’s heart sank after reading this.

It was truly beyond comprehension.

Sure, with temperatures hitting sixty degrees, it was hard to deal with the bodies.

But no matter what, letting the dead retain a shred of dignity should be the bottom line for any family.

And this was just the beginning.

The seventy-degree heat hadn’t even arrived yet!

The torrential rains that would flood up to the twentieth floor hadn’t come yet!!

If people were already tossing their deceased family members out like garbage—

Then when things got even worse, when everyone was truly desperate, the scene would be unimaginable.

But this also revealed something: despite the authorities’ constant reassurance and propaganda, many people already believed the apocalypse had arrived.

Jiang Yan took a deep breath, pulled herself together, downed her coffee, and checked the messages from Zhang Qiming.

Zhang Qiming: [Boss Jiang, are you awake? Hi.jpg]

Zhang Qiming: [I accidentally went to the property management’s surveillance room yesterday and found this. But don’t worry, I’ve already deleted the footage from their system, so it won’t affect you. Plus, the power’s out in the complex now, so no one else can check even if they want to! Smile.jpg]

Zhang Qiming: [32F-No.7-SurveillanceClip.avi]

Jiang Yan: “…”

She opened it. It was the footage of her stepping out of the elevator with a chainsaw, and He Chunmei bolting for home.

Zhang Qiming: [Boss Jiang, you were so cool! I wanted to add a soundtrack to your entrance—you looked just like Wonder Woman!

By the way, you look way better in person than on social media! Even with sunglasses on, I recognized you right away!

I’m a huge fan!! PS: When I added you on WeChat before, you were so bundled up I didn’t recognize you. Sorry about that!]

Zhang Qiming: [Back to business: There’s way too much info in the owners’ group chat, and I figured you wouldn’t have time to read it all, so here’s the gist:

The authorities and property management are setting up a temporary shelter in the underground parking garage. Starting tonight, residents will be moved in. They’ll provide a small amount of drinking water and canned food, but once the supply trucks arrive later, we’ll have to collect the supplies ourselves.

I noticed you hadn’t signed up, so I registered you privately. I’ll also pick up your supplies for you. After all, you live on the top floor, and the temperature’s going to hit seventy degrees soon! I doubt you’ll be able to stand it!]

Zhang Qiming: [Boss Jiang, when you see this, please reply or give me a call. The underground garage will be open-plan, but I’ll try to get you a spot in the corner, and ideally, you’ll have it all to yourself for privacy! Hehe.jpg]

Zhang Qiming: [Boss Jiang, are you awake? Stare.jpg]

He kept calling her “Boss Jiang” and “you” so formally that Jiang Yan’s eyelids twitched, and goosebumps broke out all over her arms.

What exactly was this guy up to?

But whether he was being overly attentive or had some ulterior motive, she couldn’t be bothered to care right now.

Besides, just as she expected, the underground parking lot was indeed being converted into a temporary shelter.

With over five hundred parking spaces for over five hundred households, that meant about ten square meters per family.

For someone single like her, that was more than enough.

But for families with elderly and children, it would clearly be cramped.

Some would inevitably spill over into other people’s spaces.

Assuming an average of three people per household, that’s about fifteen hundred people.

Even if some apartments were vacant, once you added in the property staff and others, the number wouldn’t be much different.

So many people crammed into one area, eating, drinking, sleeping, and using the bathroom—it was hard to imagine.

And with no water or electricity, using the restroom would be a major problem.

But if you didn’t move down, it was basically waiting to die.

Upstairs was a steamer.

Downstairs was a prison.

But at least the temperature would be lower, with electricity, water, and food.

Given the choice between two evils, the underground was clearly the lesser one.

Also, although the heatwave had struck suddenly, the authorities’ emergency response had been fairly quick.

As for what would happen later—

Well, that wasn’t Jiang Yan’s problem to worry about.

She’d spent all this time watching surveillance footage and checking her phone, and hadn’t done any of her training.

Jiang Yan put her phone away, got up, and headed to the gym on the second floor.

*

Meanwhile—

Going downstairs was much easier than climbing up. Zhang Qiming quickly made it back to the 28th floor.

Just as he turned from the stairwell into the hallway—having been turned away on the 32nd floor—he spotted a familiar figure in the distance:

It was Zhang Qiqi, the pretty supporting actress from the surveillance footage he’d sent to Jiang Yan.

But now, she’d chopped her hair into a bob and was wearing an even skimpier floral dress than yesterday.

Even with her face covered in sweat, she still looked stunning.

When she’d first moved in, she’d come to him a few times to sort out some issues.

Darlings, the book might be up for a second round of PK today (I’ll only know after 1 a.m., so I’m sleepy ⊙﹏⊙). So I’m asking for your votes and continued reading in advance! Good night (*^o^*)"