“Over here… over here…”
As soon as they arrived at Building 1, they saw a familiar-looking young man lurking furtively by the entrance, waving them over.
Qin Sang recognized him—he was the young man from the family of eight spanning four generations.
When he saw them, he waved excitedly.
“Is it true that something happened on your floor?” Team Leader Lin asked directly.
“Yes, yes, yes. It’s Sister Hu on our floor. Oh, right. Sister Hu is the one who argued with you and didn’t stock up on supplies.”
As soon as he said this, everyone understood immediately.
Shen Zhu, the middle-aged man who came along, said bluntly, “That woman again! Is she causing more trouble?”
Because the task was urgent, only three of them had come this time: Team Leader Lin Feng, the middle-aged man Shen Zhu, and Qin Sang. The others continued their work in Building 2.
The young man shook his head, then nodded. “It’s not exactly Sister Hu causing trouble. After you left, she started slamming things around at home. Not long after, her husband came back. When he saw the supplies were still there, they started arguing.”
“No way! Why are you calling us over for a married couple’s fight?” Shen Zhu waved his hand impatiently. “Captain, maybe we should just leave. You never know with these domestic disputes. If we get involved, we’ll almost certainly end up being blamed by both sides.”
Qin Sang remained silent. She felt it couldn’t be that simple. Otherwise, why would the young man have put out the call in the owners’ group?
Sure enough, the young man said, “No, they were arguing, and then suddenly it went quiet. My mom said something felt off—she said Sister Hu isn’t the type to stop arguing that easily…”
As he spoke, the young man’s expression turned strange.
Qin Sang understood. But was that even possible? She looked at Team Leader Lin to see what he thought.
Team Leader Lin frowned. Technically, domestic matters like this weren’t their responsibility. But since they were already here, they might as well take a look. It was also a chance to check on the remaining 13 households in Building 1—see if they had changed their minds. The buses were coming to pick people up that night. It would be best to clear out the whole building at once.
——
When they reached the floor, the young man quietly slipped back into his apartment. But he didn’t fully retreat inside. Instead, he closed the outer steel door and kept watching them through the grille. Qin Sang admired his love for drama. And it wasn’t just him—his whole family, except for the two babies, was packed by the door.
Seeing this, Qin Sang thought to herself, No wonder they know that middle-aged woman so well—this whole family loves to gossip.
By then, Team Leader Lin was already knocking on the door. The person who opened it wasn’t the middle-aged woman, Sister Hu, but a bald, unfamiliar middle-aged man. This must be Sister Hu’s husband.
“Is something wrong?” Even through the steel door’s grille, you could see the bald man’s impatience.
“Someone reported that something happened in your home. We’re here to check it out. Here are my credentials,” Team Leader Lin said matter-of-factly, showing his ID.
The bald man’s expression darkened. “No need. Nothing’s wrong. And if something were wrong, I’d handle it myself. By the way, you’re from that relocation team, aren’t you? What, you refused to store our supplies before, and now you’ve changed your mind?”
So arrogant!
Qin Sang raised an eyebrow, remembering that Lin Feng had mentioned this family had someone with a spatial ability. Could it be the bald man in front of her?
Sure enough, the man sneered, “If my storage space weren’t already full, why would I need your relocation team’s space? Who knows if you’d just pocket our supplies?”
“Hey, what’s wrong with you? We’re offering to transport your supplies for free out of goodwill, and you’re still running your mouth,” Shen Zhu shot back fearlessly.
Qin Sang smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. Tough enough! No wonder Team Leader Lin brought him. If he brought me, he’d probably just use me as a mobile warehouse.
She quietly shifted her position, trying to peer through the steel grille to see what was happening inside. It was indeed strange that Sister Hu still hadn’t appeared, even with all the commotion.
Just then, Qin Sang caught a faint smell of blood in the air. She frowned and sniffed again. She was sure of it. Had something really happened to Sister Hu?
Thinking this, Qin Sang made a hand signal to Team Leader Lin, indicating that something was definitely wrong.
——
He nodded and was about to say something when both elevators on the floor suddenly dinged open. Nearly twenty people poured out of the two cars and swarmed straight toward Team Leader Lin.
In less than a minute, the entire hallway became livelier than a marketplace.
These were all from the 13 troublesome households in Building 1. They surrounded Team Leader Lin, demanding better arrangements.
Seeing this, a glint of smugness flashed in the bald man’s eyes. With a bang, he closed the second wooden door.
“Well, this is…” Shen Zhu was so angry he wanted to kick the door. Qin Sang quickly stopped him. They were all wearing body cameras. A complaint would be troublesome.
“Captain…” Shen Zhu turned to ask Team Leader Lin for instructions, only to find him completely trapped by the crowd.
Seeing this, Qin Sang said directly, “You go help the team leader. I’ll find a way in.”
“Qin Sang, do you really think something happened to that woman?” Although Shen Zhu had come along and was following the team leader’s orders, his impression of Sister Hu was that she was nothing but a troublemaker. In his experience, people like that usually didn’t get pushed around, let alone end up murdered.
Qin Sang shook her head. “I’m not sure. But even their neighbors think something’s off. It’s better to check. And the sudden appearance of all these people is suspicious too.”
The timing was too perfect.
After sending Shen Zhu off to help Team Leader Lin, Qin Sang walked straight to the young man’s door.
Seeing her approach, the family crowded at the entrance looked a bit embarrassed.
“Can I come in?”
The young man quickly nodded and opened the steel door.
“Sorry to intrude. I’ve looked at your building’s layout. Your small balcony faces the bathroom of Sister Hu’s place, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, yes, yes. There’s about half a meter between them,” the young man said promptly.
The young man’s mother was even more direct. She grabbed Qin Sang and pulled her toward the small balcony. “Miss, let me tell you, Little Hu has a vicious tongue. She never stops arguing until she wins. Today, she suddenly went quiet—there’s definitely something wrong.”
Seeing the expectant look in the woman’s eyes, Qin Sang found her quite endearing. She reminded her of the aunties back in her village. She’d only been away from home for two days, but Qin Sang realized she was already starting to miss it.
“Auntie, you did the right thing. It’s good to be suspicious.”
But suspicion alone wasn’t enough. She needed more evidence. Then she could call for backup.
Soon, they reached the small balcony. It was indeed very close. With her naked eye, Qin Sang could see the bathroom window across the gap. The window was open, but the curtain was drawn, blocking any view inside.
That was enough, though.
Qin Sang concentrated, forming fine threads of psychic energy into a net and slowly extending them through the open window.
She could have done this psychic probe from the front door, but it was too noisy there. Plus, she needed a legitimate reason—tangible evidence—to call for help. She couldn’t just make baseless claims.
——
“Stop worrying. Pack up quickly. We leave as soon as the sun sets.”
It was the bald man’s voice, very faint, but easily heard by Qin Sang, whose psychic threads had already extended across. It was nearly 7:00 PM. A sliver of sunset still hung at the horizon. With the rising temperatures, the sun was setting later and later. Qin Sang was genuinely afraid that the coming heat disaster might bring a permanent daylight.
But the bald man’s eagerness to leave as soon as night fell was a bit rushed. He hadn’t even registered with them yet. That meant he must have his own transportation.
Yes, any resident of the relocation zone could travel on their own to whichever safe zone they wished to settle in. But very few had the means to do so—usually only wealthy business owners.
The bald man didn’t look like much, but apparently, he had resources.
Just then, Qin Sang’s psychic threads finished extending. Instantly, a three-dimensional layout of the apartment appeared in her mind—the room arrangements, furniture, appliances, everything. But after scanning the entire place, she found no trace of Sister Hu.
That was even more bizarre.
Because she had never left Building 1.
But also, not much time had passed. Even if the bald man had killed her, he wouldn’t have had time to dispose of the body. And a corpse couldn’t be stored in a spatial ability. So it had to be hidden somewhere. Yes, at this point, Qin Sang was certain that Sister Hu had been harmed.
She hadn’t found the body, but she had seen the bloodstains in the corner of the living room that hadn’t been fully cleaned up.
The problem was, how could she get the bald man to invite them inside?
——
Qin Sang returned to the hallway. Seeing the crowd still surrounding Team Leader Lin, demanding answers, she raised her voice and announced, “There are 13 households in Building 1 that haven’t registered yet. If you want to register, line up right now and start the process for storing supplies. And remember, it’s all or nothing—we’re not making a dozen separate trips back and forth for this!”
Her firm tone silenced the noisy crowd.
When someone seemed about to argue, Qin Sang shot them a glare. “Don’t negotiate with me. I’m a volunteer. I’m not afraid of complaints. Take it or leave it. I don’t get any benefit from storing your supplies anyway.”
As she spoke, she deliberately lifted her chin, putting on a “I-don’t-give-a-damn” attitude.
This unflinching stance made the troublemakers back down.
It just went to show that many conflicts only escalate because the people on the other side can’t act freely.
But Qin Sang, as a volunteer, was perfectly suited to cut through the nonsense.
“Fine, we’ll go back now. You come by right away!” someone in the crowd shouted, then turned to leave.
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