Chương 8: Chapter 6: Danger Strikes Again

Lu Chen dragged Xin Lei's one foot like dragging a corpse to the stairwell, and Su Mo walked out following him with a flashlight turned on.

Under the dim light, her round, large eyes appeared especially clear and bright, gazing at Lu Chen.

He grasped one end of the military cudgel, casually fiddling with it in a way that seemed to impose an invisible psychological pressure on his prisoner.

Xin Lei couldn't speak; he just frantically shook his head and twisted his body in desperate attempts to escape from this Devil's clutches. He glared with bloodshot eyes at Lu Chen, cold sweat continuously dripped from his forehead, the man's gaze devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if enjoying the ugly state before him. The arm, full of muscular strength, slightly lifted the cudgel, and as the sound of the swift strike filled the air, Xin Lei groaned.

The cudgel hit his chest, seemingly splitting it in two, causing so much pain that Xin Lei's face instantly turned the color of liver, tears and snot smeared all over his face, as he continuously emitted whimpering sounds.

"So vicious," Su Mo thought as she held the flashlight and mentally mourned for Xin Lei for three seconds. Not even sustaining a few hits from Lu Chen's cudgel, the man on the ground lay still like a dead fish.

They couldn't really kill someone, she timely interjected, "Enough, enough." Lu Chen stopped his cudgel, rotated his wrist, his joints emitting a crackling sound, his voice deep and haunting, "Waste."

"Compared to you, indeed," Su Mo thought to herself but didn't voice it out loud. She stepped forward, confirmed that the person on the ground was just knocked out, and then with one kick, she sent Xin Lei tumbling down the stairs.

Watching her clean and efficient movements, Lu Chen put away the cudgel and with his long, straight legs was ready to head upstairs. He was not one to meddle, and hadn't Jiang Yulian entrusted him, he wouldn't even have come down to look.

Su Mo stopped him, "Wait."

She picked up the candles she had kept in the corner, handing over a pack, her eyes filled with sincerity and gratitude, "Here's a pack for you; you probably don't have any candles left, right?"

Her hand held the pack of candles, the bag stained with some blood, the sight somewhat chilling.

"You're giving them to me when you might lose your life for them?" Lu Chen raised an eyebrow, a rare ripple stirring in his usually tranquil eyes.

Su Mo nodded, "The flashlight won't last a few days either, you take it."

Batteries were indeed items that decreased as they were used, and with the stores closed, it was impossible to buy new ones. Lu Chen wouldn't waste them needlessly, but he also wasn't lacking.

Seeing his hesitation, she directly grabbed Lu Chen's hand and placed the candles into it. His hands were well-defined, fingers long, with a layer of calluses covering his palms, the touch of his fingertips making her internally muse that they must be from years of training.

Each holding a candle, they returned to their respective rooms. Su Mo figured right; Lu Chen had indeed run out of candles, but his movements were unhindered, relying on his sharp senses to accurately locate every item in his house.

He set the candle on the table, not lighting it, his gaze fixed on the blood-stained transparent packaging bag in the darkness.

Meanwhile, Su Mo secured the front door and checked the packages under her bed to find everything intact; she patted her chest and relaxed completely, knowing the items she had would last at least another week. She wouldn't need to go out for now.

Darkness's 120th hour had arrived.

It had been five days since Xin Lei was disciplined; since then, there had been complete silence downstairs.

The city's communication was still down, just like the electricity, and the streets still looped broadcasts to be cautious when going out. The neighborhood she lived in had already seen several home invasion robberies occur.

Hearing the terrified screams of those whose houses were broken into and the noise of items being plundered, she would huddle on the couch, holding a dagger in one hand and her phone with Lu Chen's number ready in the other, fearing she would be robbed next.

Once, she accidentally dialed a number, and it even connected. After her clumsy explanation and realizing the other person hadn't hung up, Su Mo grew bolder. Under the guise of unintentional slips, she would call Lu Chen whenever she heard any unusual noise, even if he never spoke a word, just her rambling made her feel at ease.

After all, this Buddha's sense of security was overwhelming.

In the past few days, he had grown accustomed to receiving calls that were 'accidentally' dialed.

In the pitch-dark room, the only light was from the mobile phone screen on the table, showing Su Mo's incoming call, and her constant cute chattering voice streamed from the receiver.

Lu Chen, wearing only knee-long sports pants, displayed his muscular upper body adorned with scars of different sizes.

He exercised daily, performing bicep curls with a barbell, lifting and lowering, while droplets of sweat fell from his explosive muscles onto the floor, splashing about. Sometimes, when Su Mo mentioned some funny anecdotes, he would crack a cold smile, his expression mysteriously pleased.

The 168th hour of darkness had descended.

It had been 7 days since darkness fell, and Su Mo had safely passed 6 days. The public security outside was deteriorating, and recently, the sound of radio broadcasts had ceased. With the great Buddha upstairs, she did not feel overly panicked about her personal safety, but the sky that seemed unable to light up increasingly worried her.

The endless darkness could drive people insane, and the entire society could collapse, a situation she did not wish to see.

As usual, she curled up on the couch. The wall clock now showed six in the evening. Some noises downstairs didn't concern her; she assumed it was Xin Lei, too hungry yet afraid to bother her.

She opened a can of food for dinner. The food in the house was well rationed daily, but eventually, she would still end up hungry.

She had barely taken a few bites when a rustling sound arose from outside her home,

Su Mo became alert and immediately set down the can to pick up a dagger, moving to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice low,

The noise stopped, replaced by an elderly woman's voice, "Child, I live in Building Three, right across from you. I haven't eaten in days, please, have some mercy and give me something to eat."

Su Mo was cute and harmless-looking, but she was no fool. Someone from a building away, a stranger, asking her for food—who would believe that?

"I'll ask my husband, please wait." The pressing matter was to stall the person outside; her door was only blocked by a table, which could easily give way to a break-in.

The figure outside was an elderly woman, somewhat hunchbacked, with greying hair, sharp eyes set deep in her sockets, and wrinkled skin marked with spots; she appeared decrepit. Behind her stood two robust men, each clutching a large machete, their expressions menacing.

"Didn't that guy on the third floor say there's just one woman in this house? Why are there a couple?" At the stairwell, two sallow, sleazy men whispered to each other,

"Should be right, most residents here are students from Southern University; that woman probably lied."

The group altogether had five people, the two robust men were the sons of the woman, named Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang, who had just been released from prison for theft. The other two were their accomplices in past crimes. Several robbery cases in the neighborhood were committed by this group.

Today, they had sneakily entered the building Su Mo was in. Unluckily, Xin Lei was the first to be targeted; already injured and starving, he was beaten half to death. With a mindset to drag someone down even in death, he implicated the upstairs Su Mo.

Initially planning to rob just one house, the five men suddenly saw a new opportunity: a female student living alone was prime prey!

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