Chapter 134: Spreading Rumors 2.

It was so childish that it made her feel less angry and more bored. She swiped up and kept reading.

The building manager was there too, of course. He had not learned shame either.

"Everyone should stay away from Bai Li for now. She has violent tendencies and may have a mental problem."

Bai Li looked at the manager’s name and stared at it for a moment. Violent tendencies. Mental problem. This man had really tried to rob her with the others and now wanted to talk like he had been the one in danger. Another resident chimed in, clearly trying to act like a concerned neutral party.

"It was too much. She should not have hit people like that. Even if they had been discussing supplies, that does not mean she can attack others."

Bai Li’s lips curved in a very small smile. So this was the kind of game they were playing now. She had expected it, honestly, but seeing it in real time still made her feel a little amused. Another person added:

"We all need to be careful. Bai Li is not a safe person."

Then another one:

"She probably wanted to murder them. Everyone should remember that."

Bai Li read all of it with the same quiet face. Her first thought was not even anger. It was that these people were very bad at this. If you wanted to smear someone, at least do it with a little consistency. These people had not only failed to steal from her, they had also failed to beat her, and now they were trying to save face by making her into a villain. It would have been almost funny if it were not so pathetic. She scrolled through the whole stream of messages and saw the building manager trying to sound serious again, saying that everyone should keep their distance from Bai Li for safety, and that if they heard anything strange, they should notify him. Bai Li almost rolled her eyes. That man was really committed to pretending he had any control at all.

Someone else, a woman who had been silent during the attack but was now very active in the chat, wrote, "I saw them go upstairs with tools. That was not normal. But Bai Li still should not have used violence." Bai Li paused at that. At least this one had enough honesty to admit what she saw, even if she still wanted to judge Bai Li afterward. Another reply came from one of the opportunists who always liked to talk from the middle ground.

"Both sides were wrong. Bai Li should have been more calm, but the others should not have forced her."

Bai Li read that and could almost hear the fake neutrality dripping off it. Both sides were wrong. That was always the safe little line people used when they did not want to take a real position. She did not care. In a normal world, she might have had to deal with reputation and opinion. In this world, none of that mattered much. The people typing now were mostly food for the apocalypse anyway. The only reason they could still sit there and make noise was because they had not yet met a true shortage or a true monster. Once the supplies ran low and the zombies kept coming, their chat would not save them. Their moral outrage would not save them. Their little rumors would not save them. Bai Li knew that, and because she knew it, their words did not sting much.

Still, she read them carefully, because there was a strange sort of entertainment in watching hypocrisy unfold so openly. Another person wrote:

"She acts like she is strong because she has supplies and weapons. But when it comes to helping others, she is selfish."

Bai Li looked at that and almost wanted to reply, but then decided against it. There was no point. Another message followed:

"She did not even speak properly when we were trying to reason with her. She was very arrogant."

Bai Li almost laughed for real then. Arrogant. The man who had said women should know their place was calling her arrogant. The building manager who had brought a group to pressure her was calling her dangerous. A couple of people who had not lifted a finger when the stair door was being forced were now acting like moral witnesses. It was all too much. She kept scrolling one more time and saw a few people who had clearly not even been present, but who were still joining in because they liked the shape of a scandal. One wrote, "I heard she almost beat them to death." Another added, "That kind of person should stay away from everyone." Bai Li shook her head once. They had no idea how silly they sounded. If these people really thought they could survive by gossiping in a group chat, they were already doomed.

Then the messages got even more shameless. One of the men who had come upstairs typed, "She is trying to scare the residents so no one will ask for supplies again. That is why she attacked us." Another quickly responded, "Yes, she wants to make herself look strong and make everyone afraid of her." Bai Li raised an eyebrow at that. It was almost impressive how fast they could rebuild their lies on top of their embarrassment. She sat there, phone in hand, and read their conversation thread like it was some kind of live comedy show. A few residents asked what had happened. The manager replied with dramatic seriousness, saying Bai Li had attacked people who were just trying to survive. One of the men added that she had no humanity. Another said she had beaten them without warning. Bai Li nearly laughed. Without warning. They had hacked at her stair door with a hacksaw and still wanted to say she attacked without warning. What a joke.

Bai Li leaned back in her chair and finally decided that she was not going to waste any more time on them.

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To be continued.