Chapter 193

Du-du-du—

The old anti-theft door was knocked on, and the two who had just gotten off work instinctively looked over, staring at each other, seeing bewilderment and confusion in each other's eyes.

They were typical drifters in the capital; they had classmates in the city, but after graduation they had long lost contact, and no one knew their address.

Not friends, perhaps the landlord?

The girl Ting Ting licked her dry lips: "Is the landlord finally conscience-stricken and willing to call a repairman?"

A few days earlier, they discovered the heating in the house was abnormally hot; as soon as it was turned on, the room quickly became sweltering, and if left on too long, it felt like being stuffed into a scorching desert without water, as if they would dry out.

Both girls felt helpless, so they could only inform the landlord, who nodded and said someone would come to fix it after a while.

They waited a few days, but tonight a sudden knock on the door made them instinctively think it was that.

Ting Ting was beside herself with excitement, but as a girl out alone, she first asked a few questions: "Who is it? Who are you looking for?"

Through the crack in the door, a clear female voice came in: "I'm Ling Yue. Are you Li Ting and Liu Ke? I'm here to deliver an animal."

Hearing this, both stared at each other in surprise. Deliver an animal? What did we lose… wait!

Their astonished gazes simultaneously fell on the empty hamster cage, but upon hearing the stranger give her name and even know theirs, they grew wary, one hand gripping their phone, ready to call the police at any moment.

Li Ting opened the door, staring at the visitor in amazement, her eyes fixed, almost glued to Ling Yue—such a beautiful young lady, surely not a bad person?

She pressed her lips together, looking at her cute rabbit pajamas and slippers, wondering if she looked a bit too slovenly.

Immediately, her gaze fell on her companion—Ke Ke was still crouched by the small table, a bottle of 'fat house happy water' beside her; having been parched, she had just drained the cup, and upon seeing Ling Yue, she gasped, eyes wide: 'Burp~~'

The long burp rang out loud as a rooster's crow, and she hastily covered her mouth.

At that moment, Li Ting suddenly relaxed all over, as if someone were even worse off than she was ^O^

Ling Yue brushed off the unmelted snowflakes on her clothes before stepping into this cramped dwelling, as tiny as a pigeon cage.

The modest space held two beds, with cabinets on either side, a simple small table, walls covered in delicate wallpaper, one side a warm-water pipe, the other side a jarringly large hot-water pipe.

At that moment, the small electric pot on the table bubbled, releasing white steam and a rich red-oil aroma, while the purchased enoki mushrooms, meatballs, fish tofu, and other ingredients sat in a bag.

They were preparing to eat hot pot.

A snowy winter indeed pairs well with hot pot.

Ling Yue said nothing; the sugar sugar in her pocket eagerly poked out its little head, squeaking, 'Here! Here!'

The flower rat Tang Tang's bright little eyes fell on the girls, its tiny paws resting on the pocket's edge, then it touched its round red ears: 'Please save them.'

Without it saying so, Ling Yue had already seen the girls' faces; her expression was grave, and from their first meeting she had sensed impending disaster, but now face‑to‑face she perceived even more.

The two met her gaze, hearts pounding with nervousness, thinking they were just overly tense, they curled their fingertips: 'Y‑you… hello.'

Ling Yue pulled the flower rat Tang Tang from her pocket: 'It told me you are its owners.'

The two girls were overjoyed—Tang Tang!

Yesterday Tang Tang suddenly went missing; they spent the whole day listless, even the joy of passing the civil‑service exam was dulled, and though Tang Tang had only been with them a few days, the girls had already placed it in their hearts.

Both thought they would never see Tang Tang again.

The joy of recovering Tang Tang made them ecstatic, but then they realized, looking astonished at Ling Yue, Li Ting stammered: 'Tang Tang told you? Tang Tang can speak?'

No wonder they looked that way—they had been busy reviewing for the civil‑service exam, hadn't touched the internet in ages, and were just working and studying.

That's how modern society is; once you actively shut yourself off, it's like cutting ties with the whole world.

So, upon hearing Ling Yue's words, they simultaneously misunderstood, and had no idea of her other identities.

Ling Yue explained a few sentences, and their eyes lit up instantly, gazing at her fervently: 'You're amazing.'

At this moment, Tang Tang was cradled in Ke Ke's palms, the fluffy little flower rat lying in her hands like a gray‑white dough ball, its paws lightly gripping her fingers while it nervously sniffed.

Danger! Danger!

The mouse's keen nature made it tremble, looking toward Ling Yue pleadingly: 'I feel this place is more dangerous than before; I'm so scared!'

Ling Yue's pocket‑resident treasure‑finding rat Duo Duo was even more perceptive: 'Yue Yue, let's leave quickly!'

Actually, before coming, Tang Tang had already told Ling Yue about the strange spot it had found—inside the hot‑water pipe on one side of the basement, a sound inaudible to humans but audible to it, the pipe continuously emitting odd noises.

Tang Tang covered its ears: 'It's too scary for a mouse; that sound is so weird, it frightens me.'

The scorching heat in the room also made the mouse miserable; it couldn't describe it, feeling as if disaster were about to strike at any moment.

Its alarm radar was maxed out, so these days it has been agitated and uneasy, worrying even more about the two kind‑hearted girls.

Hearing it, Ling Yue frowned slightly, lifted her gaze, met their two astonished eyes, and could not ignore that their brows were darkened as one.

Ling Yue suddenly felt a thought stir.

In the dim room, the light was on, the electric pot on the small table had been tightly sealed, and the food‑packaging bags seen earlier were tossed into the trash.

She heard Li Ting by the door say: 'Let's keep looking tomorrow—Tang Tang is so smart, it must still be nearby!'

Liu Ke half‑sat on the bed by the warm‑water pipe, clacking away at the keyboard, her eyes on the screen yet unfocused.

Hearing her roommate's words, she snapped to attention: 'Yeah, let's keep looking—Tang Tang is so well‑behaved, it will surely wait for us.'

'Maybe it's waiting for us right where we first met; let's go to the trash heap again.'

'Okay.'

This would have been the original course of events if Ling Yue hadn't come.

When they stopped speaking, the room instantly fell silent.

The sluggish atmosphere seemed to solidify.

Li Ting, usually carefree, couldn't stand the mood; hearing the keyboard clatter, she pulled the blanket over her head and turned over: 'Ke Ke, we'd better just sleep—we still have to look for Tang Tang tomorrow.'

The clacking stopped abruptly; Liu Ke gave a muffled reply, then suddenly gave a wry smile: 'I can't sleep.'

She pulled out a book filled with dense data; the volumes that had once made her head swim now became the best soothing tool.

It contained all the effort she had made to pass the exam.

Li Ting lay on the bed, eyes open; not only her roommate, she felt the same—having succeeded in the civil‑service exam, yet losing Tang Tang made it hard to feel happy.

'Tang Tang will be fine,' she murmured.

After a long while, the lights in the room went out.

In the quiet, dark basement, no light could be seen, yet both had grown accustomed, waiting for tomorrow to arrive.

The sleeping women did not hear a strange sound, like water mixed with a gurgling knock, as the old hot‑water pipe by the window suddenly trembled slightly.

At the same time, a man upstairs preparing to bathe turned on the tap, but no water came out.

"What's going on?" he waited a moment, still no drop, he impatiently tapped and then roughly shook it: "Why no hot water? What's the situation?"

At that moment, the gurgling sound in the basement, like the drip of a hospital bedside, suddenly became rapid, as dense as raindrops.

The room with the heating pipe shut off grew hotter and hotter, like a sauna; the two asleep on the bed furrowed their brows as sweat drenched the quilt.

The pipe's trembling suddenly stopped, like the calm before a storm on the sea.

"Bang!"

A tremendous roar exploded downstairs in an instant!

Cracks appeared in the walls, scalding hot water and white steam jetting out together, like a volcanic eruption, boiling lava splashing throughout the room, the sleeping unable to even scream.

The people upstairs were startled, the whole building seeming to sway on the verge of collapse.

"Earthquake! An earthquake!"

Jing Shi lies no earthquake zone, at most being affected by residual **, yet such a violent tremor sent people scrambling for clothes and fleeing in panic.

Only then did they realize there was not a trace of an earthquake.

What was that boom just now?

Amid the bustling discussion, many suddenly caught a whiff of scalding steam and a faint fishy odor, making their noses twitch.

Those from the basement opened the door; the hallway was like a sea of water flooding a golden mountain, mist swirling, as if a fairyland on earth.

"Hiss, this water is scalding!"

"I, I, I I I I—"

"What do you mean 'I'? Pangzi, why are you stuttering all of a sudden? Did the hot water scramble your brains?"

The stout man trembled, pointing in terror at the opposite door: "The water, the water seems to be leaking from inside the door, brother you forgot—this place has a hot‑water pipe thicker than my calf." When they first viewed the apartment, the landlord had mentioned that units with hot‑water pipes were a hundred yuan cheaper than others.

They hesitated a day, then wanted to rent but it was already taken, so they chose the opposite unit instead; Pangzi sighed, a hundred yuan could buy several take‑out fried chicken meals.

At that moment, his cheek twitched as he guessed: "This water……could it be……"

The man shuddered, suddenly hearing others' complaints, a peculiar smell—didn't it resemble the scent when he blanched pork belly before?

"Holy shit! Call the police quick!"

Not long after, police cars wailed as they arrived; professional firefighters in protective gear forced the door open, a blast of steam hot enough to scorch skin surged out, mingling with an indescribable odor.

It was winter; the hallway's hot water had cooled, but only this room kept spewing out a steady stream of scalding water, steam billowing for a while before everyone could see what lay inside—

A scene of utter devastation.

The ceiling showed water‑stained marks; on the damp, scalding surface floated all sorts of debris, furniture askew, and from the burst pipe nearby hot water kept gushing out.

In just a moment it had steamed up to an unbearable degree.

"Urgh!"

No one knew who glanced at the bed; the horrific sight made pupils contract, impossible to describe, and even with eyes closed the image remained.

"Gurgle—" he shuddered, teeth chattering: "People, people..."

"What does that mean?"

"Someone's on the bed!"

As soon as those words were spoken, a deathly silence fell over the surroundings.

The firefighters, holding back grief, covered the victims' heads with a blanket.

Outside, the landlord finally arrived late, face wet with tears, wailing: "Officer, I'm innocent! I didn't know a thing!"

He stared at her with a stern, cold face; this block of renovated flats, for various reasons, the police usually couldn't intervene, but now a life had been lost.

He took one glance and knew the room had been illegally remodeled!

A pungent, irritating smell filled the nostrils; the others began investigating, and the young policewoman, looking at the recovered ID, felt her eyes redden instantly: "The two deceased are both twenty‑three years old."

In the prime of life, like a blossoming flower.

Ling Yue snapped back to attention; the two stood together, prim and proper yet uneasy, feeling that her glance had seen straight through them.

Li Ting's scalp tingled: "What were you looking at just now? \",,.