Chapter 65 – Crying in the Dead of Night

After that little incident, Su Lifeng immediately grew even more cautious. He had Cheng Xiaomei drive them around the still-bustling downtown area for a while, and even went through the ordeal of squeezing into a packed snack street to buy some late-night food. Only after he was sure they had muddied the waters enough did he return home.

As Su Lifeng saw it, compared with the power of the state, an individual’s strength was still insignificant for now. Absolute caution came before everything else. Still, even if a professional really had been tailing him, after this whole detour, they should have shaken them off.

When they passed the first floor, Su Lifeng hesitated, then rang the doorbell again. Normally, at this hour, that neighbor of his would definitely be home. He might even have gone to bed already.

“Strange. Why is there still no one?” Su Lifeng was a little speechless.

“Lifeng, do you need something from this family? Why don’t you leave him a note? That way, even if you miss each other, he’ll take the initiative to contact you. It’d be best to leave your cell number. More convenient that way,” Cheng Xiaomei suggested.

“Mm. Good point.” Su Lifeng nodded. He had kept thinking that since the other party lived downstairs and followed such a fixed daily routine, he had actually overlooked the simplest method. It seemed that sometimes, one person’s thinking really could be limited. A girl like Cheng Xiaomei was actually more attentive when it came to things like this.

But thinking about it again, perhaps this was also because Su Lifeng’s state of mind had changed. Now, something like buying and selling a house with another person had already become a trivial matter he could handle in passing, so naturally, he was putting far less thought into it.

“Now that I think about it, it isn’t just Xie Yu and Cheng Feiwen whose mindsets changed drastically after gaining power. I’m the same. No, it should be said that everyone has changed to some extent.” As he reflected on this, Su Lifeng had already finished writing the note and was about to slip it through the crack of the door.

However, the instant he crouched down, a faint stench drifted into his nose.

Su Lifeng froze, then suddenly stood up. “I’m going in to take a look.”

“How are you going to get in…” Before Cheng Xiaomei could finish speaking, a flash of red light flickered before her eyes. The next moment, Su Lifeng’s Bone Wings had already withdrawn.

With a soft click, the door opened.

Su Lifeng turned his head and said, “It’s nothing difficult. His lock is the same as mine. I just had to recall the structure a little.”

Although he said it very simply, Cheng Xiaomei was left staring in stunned disbelief…

Who was he trying to fool with such a straight face?

But as Su Lifeng opened the door, she started to get a little excited again.

“This is breaking and entering…” Cheng Xiaomei followed behind Su Lifeng and said in a lowered voice.

“You don’t have to whisper like that. There are only two households on this floor. The one across the hall is an old man. He’s been in poor health lately, so his children took him in for the time being,” Su Lifeng said, giving her an annoyed look.

“Huh?” Cheng Xiaomei finally returned to normal, but then she asked in confusion, “But how do you know that? I feel like you shouldn’t be interested in this kind of gossip. And Xiaolian doesn’t seem like the type to pay attention to it either…”

A rare trace of discomfort flashed across Su Lifeng’s face. “Auntie Li from the building across the way really wants to introduce me to someone. Every time she sees me, she drags me into endless conversation…”

“Pfft!” Cheng Xiaomei froze for a second, then could not hold it in anymore. Covering her mouth, she started laughing. “Hahahaha… Sorry, I really… hahahaha… All right, stop looking so dark. What did you notice just now? Why did you come in… Hmm? It stinks!”

Before Su Lifeng could answer, Cheng Xiaomei covered her nose as well.

After Su Lifeng looked around, he walked straight into the living room using the faint light filtering in from outside the window.

He lifted the mesh food cover on the table and glanced inside.

“Leftover breakfast, and meat left here to thaw,” Su Lifeng read out.

“Ew. Why didn’t this person clean up after himself…” Cheng Xiaomei said with some disgust.

“No. He was planning to leave it here and make dinner with it tonight. In other words, when he went out, he was still expecting to come back.” Su Lifeng turned around, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a box of business cards on the cabinet beside him.

“Zelong Trading Company clerk… Hmm, got it. A phone number.” Su Lifeng thought for only a second before dialing the number.

“Beep, beep, beep…” The phone began to ring.

Inside Zelong Trading Company…

It was not exactly a luxurious building. In one of its conference rooms, an ear-piercing ringtone was now cutting through the air.

The sound shattered the silence. On any other day, the owner of that phone would have drawn everyone’s stares by now.

In fact, the only reason he had forgotten to turn it off today was that he had been too happy.

But now, all he could do was stare helplessly at the phone as its screen kept flashing. If he could, he would rather be scolded, rather be fired, if it meant he could answer that call…

The light illuminated his withered, despairing face, and his empty, bulging eyes.

Crack!

A high heel suddenly came down from above and crushed the phone beneath it.

The owner of the heel was a young girl. She looked indifferently at the shattered pieces underfoot, then turned her head toward the middle-aged man sitting frozen at the head of the table.

“Dad, I’ve absorbed all of them. Hire some more. Then hold another meeting like this,” the girl said, her voice utterly flat.

The man froze. It was only when the girl was about to pass him that his whole body jolted, and he asked, “You… What… what are you?”

He was not asking his daughter. He was asking the figure standing by the door.

The figure wore a white dress, was barefoot, and had her hair hanging loose. At first glance, she looked rather eerie.

But when she raised her head, that pale face and those uncanny eyes gave her an indescribable aura.

It was as if there was more to her than terror alone… All those things combined into a deadly, blood-soaked impression.

“Me? Of course I’m your daughter’s friend.” The figure spoke softly. “Remember what your daughter said. We’ll be back.”

Faced with a floor full of corpses, the man somehow found the courage to whip around and ask in a trembling voice, “If she absorbs more, will my daughter go back to normal?”

The figure looked at him in surprise. “Did I ever say that? Whatever. If you want to believe it, go ahead. I’m only doing this to replenish my F-class Soldier.”

The figure led the girl to the door, then suddenly turned back and revealed a faint smile. “Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ren Xiaoying. Goodbye.”

“Good… goodbye,” the man replied instinctively. He did not know how much time passed before a gust of cold wind swept in from outside, and only then did all the strength suddenly leave him. He collapsed to the floor.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a withered corpse. Then he clutched his head in both hands, his entire body shaking violently. “I only did it for my daughter. I only did it for her… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Ah! Ugh, sob…”

Among the pile of corpses, the middle-aged man’s suppressed sobs mingled with the howling wind, drifted out through the door, and then dissolved into the night.

Viewed from outside, this building seemed no different from any of the others nearby…

…

“Why did it hang up?” Su Lifeng frowned at his phone, then dialed the number again.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off. Sorry…” Listening to the cold female voice on the line, then looking at the spoiled dishes and pieces of meat on the table, Su Lifeng suddenly had a bad feeling…

“Zelong Trading, huh…” Su Lifeng lowered his head and glanced once more at the company name on the business card.