chapter 15

I didn’t keep asking him how he knew there was someone lying at my door with a knife.

Anyway, right now he’s stuck in the same boat as me.

Compared to 502, I felt the person at the door posed a greater threat.

[Can you see who it is? Is it Uncle Wang? I just got in touch with Uncle Wang-he said he was coming over to check things out.]

[It’s too dark, I can’t see. I’ll call the police right away. Hide in your room and don’t come out, lock the door tight. Block it with tables and chairs if you can. He knows you’re at home-the light is leaking from the crack and the peephole.]

Sure enough.

I had just taken a step inside.

Suddenly, there was banging at the door.

The person outside clearly already knew I’d found him out.

I stopped pretending.

Hurriedly dragged chairs and a table to block the door as best I could.

The door was pounded violently.

Each heavy blow landed like a thump on my heart.

My heart thudded so hard it felt like it would leap out of my chest the next second.

The apartment’s front door is a security door, and now I’d barricaded it thoroughly.

I let out a faint sigh of relief.

I didn’t know if the person outside was Uncle Wang.

He was making such a racket, the hallway’s motion-sensor lights had been triggered by his banging.

But I didn’t dare look outside.

The lady in 301 still hadn’t accepted my friend request.

The girl in 401 said she was sleeping.

That left only Xiao Zhao in 402, whom I hadn’t contacted yet.

I quickly added him through the residents’ group chat.

Note: [Don’t go outside, it’s dangerous. Please accept my friend request.]

Very soon,

He accepted my request.

[What’s going on? What happened? I was about to sleep and you woke me up again.]

God.

Finally, someone replied.

Xiao Zhao in 402 isn’t very old, about twenty-five or twenty-six, usually goes running and works out.

Thankfully there’s still a strong young guy around.

Even though the enemy is in the dark and we’re out in the open,

our odds are a bit better now.

I briefly told him what happened tonight.

I told him I couldn’t reach 301 or 401.

And I told him the person at my door might be Uncle Wang.

I told him not to go out and to be careful.

As long as we don’t leave,

and wait for the police,

we’ll be fine.

But 402 replied at a leisurely pace:

[Uncle Wang? Didn’t he just come to my place to check the doors and windows? I’ll come up and have a look.]

I was sure I’d told him the person at my door had a knife.

I said the person at the door was holding a knife and it was dangerous.

[Bro, don’t come up, he’s got a knife. Go check the trending news, there was a murder at Chengxi Market tonight-the killer still hasn’t been caught. It’s probably the person at my door.]

[That’s kind of exciting-like trying to win a medal just by walking around. Don’t worry, girl, I’ve trained. He’s got a knife? So do I! Besides, it’d be legitimate self-defense. Don’t be scared. Didn’t you say 502 is also at home? Have him help distract the guy, I’ll definitely take him down.]

After that, he sent me a photo.

[Look, this is my homemade pepper spray. One squirt and he’ll be sent packing.]

I always thought Xiao Zhao from 402 was an energetic guy.

Never expected he’d actually be a bit crazy.

At a time like this,

he was actually thinking about going up to take the guy on solo.

How can there be people with such weird logic in this world?

I kept trying to persuade him:

[Don’t come up and make things worse, bro. Right now his target is me-just stay at home. You’re not going to beat him, you’ll just get yourself involved.]

But there was no more reply from him.

This guy-could he already be getting ready to come up?

I hurriedly told 502 about this.

502, just like me, sent three question marks in a row out of frustration.