Chapter 24 Seeking Asylum

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“Wait!”

Chen Xiaoxiao suddenly screamed, her voice tearing through the stillness of the air.

“I know where that woman lives! I can tell you!”

Chen Si, who had been fleeing for her life, stumbled at the sound of this and nearly fell flat on her face.

She spun around in disbelief and stared toward Chen Xiaoxiao, her voice warped with shock. “What did you say?!”

“She lives on the seventeenth floor of Building Eight!” Chen Xiaoxiao shouted hysterically at Pang Guang and his men, as though she had seized the last straw that might save her life. “I also know that her family has a huge stash of food!”

The cruel smile on Pang Guang’s face deepened. He nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Those who know how to read the situation are the true survivors.”

He lazily waved a hand at his men. “Take her upstairs and give her a proper ‘welcome.’ As for the one who got away…”

His cold gaze swept toward the direction in which Chen Si had vanished. He stuck out his tongue and licked his cracked lips.

“Now that we have the address, do you really think we won’t be able to find her?”

Chen Si ran like a madwoman, tears blurring her entire face until her vision swam.

Chen Xiaoxiao’s betrayal chilled her more deeply than any monster could have. Those words had been like poison-coated steel needles, stabbing viciously into her already shattered heart.

“Why… why would you…”

She sobbed as she staggered onward. Her lungs burned like fire, but the instinct to survive left her too terrified to stop.

Behind her, the shouts of Pang Guang and his beasts drew ever closer.

“Don’t let her get away! Capture the bitch alive!”

Chen Si did not even dare look back. She could only lower her head and run with all her strength.

She had only one destination—Building Three, where Mu Chen lived!

The only person who could save her now was that man rumored to have awakened a supernatural ability.

“Mu Chen… please… you have to be home…”

She repeated the words over and over in her mind until they had become her sole obsession.

She charged into the stairwell of Building Three. She had no time to think about the elevator and rushed straight for the stairs.

Her heavy footsteps echoed through the empty stairwell. She was nearly exhausted, and the back of her throat tasted of blood, but the footsteps of her pursuers beat behind her like drums summoning death, leaving her no chance to relax for even a moment.

Twenty-ninth floor… thirtieth floor… only one more to go!

Just as she was about to reach the thirty-first floor, the pursuers’ shouts rose from below.

“She went into Building Three!”

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“Search floor by floor! This building is tiny!”

Chen Si’s heart lurched. Summoning the last of her strength, she charged up to the thirty-first floor and pounded frantically on the door of Apartment 3001.

“Mu Chen! Mu Chen! Help me!” Her voice broke into desperate sobs. “Please! Open the door! Please, open it!”

Faint footsteps sounded from within. A moment later, the door opened a narrow crack.

Mu Chen’s expressionless face appeared behind it as he regarded her warily. “What happened?”

“They’re trying to kill me!” Chen Si crawled into the apartment on her hands and knees. “It’s Pang Guang! He’s after me!”

Mu Chen’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. He shut the door at once and locked it with a sharp click.

“Pang Guang? How did you cross him?”

“Xiaoxiao and I… we were going to seek refuge with his mutual-aid society…” Chen Si collapsed onto the floor, sobbing so hard she could barely speak. “But then… then we saw him killing someone in Building Nine… and Xiaoxiao… she sold me out…”

“Sold you out?”

Mu Chen’s voice revealed no emotion, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

“She told Pang Guang where I lived…” Chen Si covered her face in despair. “She even told him that our family had lots of food…”

Mu Chen walked to the window and glanced down.

There were indeed quite a few figures moving around near Building Nine. Judging by their direction, they were clearly making their way toward Building Three.

“How many of them are there?”

Mu Chen turned around, his voice calm.

“I saw… seven or eight, probably. There may be more…” Chen Si hastily wiped away her tears. “Mu Chen, what should I do? They’re sure to find this place…”

Before she had finished speaking, chaotic, heavy footsteps echoed through the stairwell, accompanied by the men’s rough voices.

“Search this floor from end to end!”

“Find that little bitch! Brother Guang will reward whoever catches her!”

Chen Si’s face went white with terror. Instinctively, she edged closer to Mu Chen.

“They’re… they’re coming up…”

Mu Chen was silent for several seconds, as though rapidly weighing his options.

Then he spoke.

“You stay here. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Where are you going?” Chen Si seized his arm as though it were a lifeline. “Don’t leave me here alone!”

“I’m going to deal with a little trouble.” Mu Chen gently patted the back of her hand, his tone unconcerned. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he turned and walked into the bedroom.

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A faint sound of metal scraping against metal came from inside.

A moment later, Mu Chen emerged once more.

A military dagger now hung at his waist, while in his hand he held an old-fashioned samurai sword. In the dim light, the blade gleamed with a cold, sinister radiance.

“You… you’re going to fight them?” Chen Si stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. “But there are so many of them…”

“What does numbers matter?”

The faintest curve touched the corners of Mu Chen’s lips. In his calm eyes, a glimmer of deep blue seemed to flicker and vanish.

“Some debts are long overdue.”

The footsteps in the stairwell grew clearer and clearer. They had reached the landing on the thirty-first floor.

“This is the floor!” a hoarse voice shouted. “Brother Guang said the woman went into Apartment 3001!”

Chen Si’s heart pounded so violently it seemed ready to leap from her throat.

“They… they know the apartment number…”

“Of course.”

Mu Chen tightened his grip on the samurai sword, his voice as steady as ever.

“But what they don’t know is…”

Before he could finish, his entire figure suddenly vanished from where he stood.

The next instant, a startled cry rang out beyond the door.

“Who’s there?!”

It was followed by the shrill clash of weapons, then the muffled groans and agonized screams of men.

“There’s a powerful fighter! This one’s tough! Fall back!”

“Damn it! That kid has a supernatural ability!”

The chaotic footsteps retreated with the speed of a receding tide. Soon, the stairwell fell silent once more—silent as death.

The apartment door opened again.

Mu Chen stepped inside. Several dark-red beads of blood slid slowly down the edge of the samurai sword in his hand.

“It’s… over?” Chen Si stared at him, her voice trembling with disbelief at having survived.

“For now.”

Mu Chen returned the samurai sword to its sheath in one smooth motion.

“But Pang Guang won’t let this go. Now that he knows I’m here, he’ll certainly find a way to take revenge.”

Chen Si bit her lower lip, her face filled with guilt.

“I’m sorry… I’ve brought you so much trouble…”

“Trouble has already come knocking. Sooner or later, it had to be dealt with.”

Mu Chen sat down on the sofa opposite her, his expression unchanged.

“The question now is, what are you planning to do next?”

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