Chapter 31: Don't Let Me Find You

【System Notification: Day 2 of the Apocalypse. Current conditions: Continuous blizzard, outdoor temperature -25°C. Faint abnormal biological activity signals detected. Urban communication signals weakening.】

At 1:00 AM, Lin Chen took over the night watch from Xia Nuan. Just as he leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes, a faint "click" echoed from the terrace—the sound of metal striking metal.

He snapped his eyes open, grabbed his pistol, and ran toward the terrace, with Xia Nuan following close behind, holding a flashlight.

On the snow-covered terrace lay a small metal shard, and beside it, the edge of the solar panel bore a fresh scratch.

Lin Chen crouched to pick up the shard, his fingertips brushing the cold metal. He looked up at the building opposite—pitch black, with only the snow reflecting a faint glimmer; nothing else was visible.

"Was it the wind?" Xia Nuan's voice tightened.

Lin Chen said nothing, shining his flashlight in the direction the shard had come from, the beam scattering through the snowy mist. He recalled the hand that had emerged from the snow downstairs last night, and his heart sank. "Not the wind. Someone is watching us."

Neither dared linger. They locked the terrace door and returned to the living room. Lin Chen checked his phone; only one bar of signal remained. He tried calling property management, but no one answered.

"Communications are about to fail. Try not to make phone calls from now on." He switched his phone to airplane mode, keeping only the Wi-Fi connection active for the safe house's internal surveillance.

At 3:00 AM, the surveillance monitor suddenly flickered. In the feed from the entrance of the B2 parking garage, a black shadow flashed by quickly.

Lin Chen immediately stood up. "I'm going to check the garage." When Xia Nuan tried to follow, he held her back. "Stay here and guard the place. Lock the door. I'll be back in ten minutes."

Carrying a steel pipe and a flashlight, Lin Chen headed downstairs. As the elevator reached the B1 level, it suddenly shook; the lights dimmed, then brightened again.

Upon arriving at B2, the electromagnetic lock on the garage door showed no anomalies. He entered the code, opened the door, and found the pickup truck still in its original spot, the snow on its protective plating undisturbed.

However, one of the emergency lights in the corner of the garage was out, and on the floor lay a footprint in the snow that hadn't been cleaned up in time.

"Come out," Lin Chen gripped the steel pipe tightly, his voice echoing through the empty garage.

No one responded. Only snowflakes drifted in through the ventilation shaft, landing on the floor with a soft rustling sound. After inspecting the supply racks and the generator and confirming nothing was missing, he locked the garage door and returned to the 45th floor.

"How was it?" Xia Nuan approached him.

"There were footprints, but I didn't find anyone." Lin Chen wiped the snow from the soles of his shoes. "They're testing us. We need to increase the sensitivity of the infrared alarms in the garage."

At 7:00 AM, the snow still hadn't stopped, and visibility outside was less than five meters. Lin Chen cooked two packs of compressed biscuits. Just as he took a bite, his phone suddenly rang—it was Su Qing.

He stared at the screen for a few seconds before answering, saying nothing.

"I just saw you downstairs clearing snow off the pickup with a shovel. The protective plating is welded quite solidly," Su Qing said in a flat tone, as if discussing the weather.

Lin Chen's grip on the phone tightened, his knuckles turning white. "Where are you?"

"Where I am doesn't matter." Su Qing paused for two seconds. "But in our previous life, you also installed steel plates for our temporary safe house just like this. In the end, didn't it still fail to protect Xiaoya? When she was shivering from the cold, you also said, 'Just wait a little longer; it'll be safe once the snow stops.'"

Lin Chen's breath hitched sharply. Xiaoya's face flashed through his mind—in the previous life, Xiaoya had developed a fever from the cold inside that temporary safe house and ultimately failed to survive that snowstorm.

Gritting his teeth, he demanded, "Su Qing, what exactly do you want?"

"Nothing much. I just think you seem quite relaxed right now." Su Qing's voice remained devoid of emotion. "No matter how tightly you seal the 45th floor this time, are you sure you can protect the people you want to protect?"

"Damn it! Don't let me find the two of you, or you will die very uglily!" Lin Chen roared, his chest heaving violently.

There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by a "click" as Su Qing hung up.

Lin Chen stared at the blacked-out screen, then hurled the phone onto the sofa with force, cracking the screen.

Xia Nuan didn't dare speak; she simply handed him a cup of hot milk. Lin Chen took the milk, his fingertips still trembling. Su Qing's words were like needles, piercing his most painful spot, especially the mention of Xiaoya, which reminded him of his powerlessness in the previous life.

"Let's reinforce the balcony's bulletproof glass," Lin Chen said after finishing the milk, getting up to find tools.

The two of them brought over metal brackets, fixed them to the outside of the glass with screws, and then applied a layer of explosion-proof film over the glass.

While tightening the screws, Xia Nuan asked, "When Su Qing said 'the two of you,' does that mean there's someone else with her?"

Lin Chen nodded. "In the previous life, there was someone named Ah Kai by Su Qing's side who was very skilled with a gun. The metal shard on the terrace earlier might have been a bullet fragment that bounced off the solar panel."

Suddenly realizing something about the phone he had just smashed, he said, "Su Qing made that call to confirm whether I was on the 45th floor!"

The two immediately inspected the safe house's doors and windows, sealing every gap with sealant. They also installed a vibration sensor at the entrance; if anyone remained outside the door for more than ten seconds, it would trigger an alarm.

Lin Chen also placed a fire axe and a steel pipe by the door for easy access at any time.

At 10:00 AM, Lin Chen wanted to test the pickup's performance in the snow again and check the situation within the residential compound.

He opened the garage door and had just driven the pickup out when a "whoosh" sounded—a bullet struck the bulletproof glass, leaving a white mark but failing to penetrate.

"Get down!" Lin Chen shouted. Xia Nuan immediately ducked under the passenger seat.

He quickly reversed, driving the pickup back into the garage, and locked the door. The sound of the bullet hitting the glass still rang in his ears. Lin Chen panted, sweat beading on his forehead; if he had been even a moment slower, that bullet might have hit Xia Nuan.

【System Notification: Bullet attack detected. Bulletproof glass defense effective. Current danger level increased to 40%. Recommendation: Enhance external surveillance.】

Lin Chen pulled up the surveillance feed from the garage entrance and slowed the playback. The bullet had been fired from the 6th floor of the building opposite; a black shadow flashed past the window, but the face was indistinguishable.

"It's Ah Kai. He's using a sniper rifle," Lin Chen clenched his fist. "Su Qing is with him. They're trying to force us out."

Xia Nuan crawled out from under the seat, her face pale. "What do we do now? They have guns; we only have pistols and steel pipes."

"Don't panic. They can't break in for now." Lin Chen inspected the bulletproof glass; the mark hadn't penetrated. "Let's go check our supplies first to ensure we have enough food and water, then fill up the generator with gasoline."

The two went to the storage room to inventory their supplies: 50 boxes of compressed biscuits remained, along with 30 boxes of freeze-dried meat. There was enough drinking water for four months, and enough gasoline and diesel to run the generator for two months.

Lin Chen also found the bulletproof vests he had bought earlier and helped Xia Nuan put one on. "No matter what happens, do not take it off."

At 12:00 PM, the two ate freeze-dried vegetable porridge with canned beef. Just as they finished, the vibration sensor at the door suddenly triggered—the shrill "beep-beep" alarm sounded especially piercing in the quiet living room.

Lin Chen gripped his pistol, walked to the door, and looked through the peephole. No one was there; only a note lay on the snow by the elevator entrance.

He opened the door, quickly snatched the note, and shut it again. Written on the note in black marker were the words: "Hand over half the supplies from the 45th floor. Leave them downstairs. Otherwise, next time the bullets won't hit the glass."

The handwriting was sloppy, as if deliberately disguised.

"This was written by Su Qing and Ah Kai." Lin Chen crumpled the note into a ball. "They know we have a lot of supplies and want to rob us."

Xia Nuan bit her lip. "We can't give them the supplies. If we do, what will we do afterward?"

"We won't give them anything, but we can set a trap." Lin Chen walked to the window and looked down. The snow was thick, perfect for burying traps. "They want supplies, so we'll use supplies as bait to lure them out, then find a way to deal with them."

At 2:00 PM, Lin Chen and Xia Nuan began preparing the trap. They carried several steel plates from the garage and placed them in the snow downstairs, burying spikes beneath the plates; anyone stepping on them would have the spikes pierce through their shoe soles.

Lin Chen also placed a box of compressed biscuits next to the steel plates as bait.

"We'll watch from the garage surveillance. As soon as they go to take the biscuits, we'll activate the trap," Lin Chen said, pulling up the surveillance feed to monitor the activity downstairs.

Meanwhile, Xia Nuan installed more emergency lights inside the safe house to ensure they could see their surroundings even during a power outage.

At 4:00 PM, two figures appeared in the surveillance feed—it was Su Qing and Ah Kai.

Su Qing, clad in a black down jacket, and Ah Kai, carrying a sniper rifle on his back, slowly approached the crate, scanning their surroundings.

Su Qing crouched down but did not immediately grab the crate; instead, she used a stick to poke at the snow surrounding it.

"She's very cautious; she didn't step on the steel plate," Lin Chen said, frowning. "Ah Kai is watching our window; they're checking to see if we're observing them."

After poking for a while and finding nothing amiss, Su Qing signaled Ah Kai to lift the crate. The moment Ah Kai hoisted it up, Lin Chen triggered the trap—spikes shot up from beneath the steel plate—but Ah Kai reacted quickly, jumping back just in time to avoid being impaled.

"Damn, missed," Lin Chen cursed. Su Qing and Ah Kai grabbed the crate and sprinted back to the building opposite, disappearing from sight.

At six in the evening, darkness fell while snow continued to drift down. Lin Chen and Xia Nuan ate some snacks, daring not to cook anything, fearing the smell of oil and smoke would drift out through the ventilation shaft and alert Su Qing and Ah Kai.

Lin Chen pulled up the surveillance feed, staring at the windows of the opposite building. Though he saw no figures, he knew Su Qing and Ah Kai were still watching them.

"They might attack again tonight," Lin Chen said, placing his gun beside him. "We'll take turns standing watch; don't fall into a deep sleep."

Xia Nuan nodded, leaning against the sofa with her eyes fixed on the sensor by the door.

Lin Chen walked to the window, gazing out at the heavy snow, thinking to himself: Unless Su Qing and Ah Kai are eliminated, they would never be safe. In his past life, he had failed to protect Xiao Ya; in this life, he was determined to protect Xia Nuan and would not let Su Qing and Ah Kai destroy everything.

At nine in the evening, the door sensor sounded again. This time it was not a vibration but someone knocking—"thump, thump, thump"—the rhythm slow, as if issuing a challenge.

Lin Chen moved to the peephole and saw Ah Kai standing outside, holding a gun aimed directly at the peephole.

"Lin Chen, open the door; let's talk," Ah Kai's voice came through the door. "Su Qing says if you're willing to split the supplies half-and-half with us, we won't cause you any more trouble."

Lin Chen remained silent, merely tightening his grip on his gun. Ah Kai knocked again: "If you don't speak, we'll start shooting. This time at the door; next time, it might be at the person standing beside you."

Xia Nuan tugged Lin Chen's arm, trying to keep him from acting rashly. Lin Chen glanced back at Xia Nuan, then looked toward Ah Kai outside the door, forming a plan. He slowly walked to the sofa, picked up the shattered phone, and shouted toward the entrance: "Su Qing, come out. Let's talk alone; don't let Ah Kai get involved."

There was no sound from outside for a moment, until Su Qing's voice arrived, still flat: "There's nothing to discuss. Either split the supplies, or we keep waiting it out to see who breaks first."

"I'll say this one last time, damn it: Don't let me find the two of you, or you will die in a very ugly way!" Lin Chen roared, his voice brimming with fury.

Silence returned from outside. Lin Chen looked through the peephole and saw that Ah Kai and Su Qing had already left; only two sets of footprints remained in the snow, soon covered by fresh flakes.

Lin Chen leaned against the door, panting. Xia Nuan came over and patted his back: "They're gone; let's not get agitated."

Lin Chen nodded, yet he knew clearly in his heart that Su Qing and Ah Kai would not give up easily. Since they hadn't acted tonight, they might employ even more ruthless tactics tomorrow.

He walked to the surveillance monitor, staring at the windows of the opposite building, silently vowing: Tomorrow, I must eliminate them.

What he failed to notice, however, was a dark figure slowly approaching the garage ventilation shaft in the corner of the surveillance feed, holding a black bag containing a time bomb.

Tomorrow, he would have to face not only Su Qing and Ah Kai but also this hidden threat. Lin Chen tightened his grip on his gun, ready for battle.