chapter 29
When Xia Xiaoqiang saw Jiang Li get up, she thought she saw hope.
She thanked her repeatedly in excitement, “Sis, thank you! Thank you for helping me!”
But to her surprise, Jiang Li only got up to twist her neck, then turned over and continued lying down.
“No,” Jiang Li said coldly, her back to them.
Jiang Li’s words were something Xia Xiaoqiang had never expected.
Seeing Jiang Li’s “none of my business” attitude, Xia Xiaoqiang’s heart turned completely cold.
She knew she couldn’t rely on Jiang Li, so she turned back and looked pleadingly at the Vendor.
Xia Xiaoqiang’s legs were trembling like chaff, almost kneeling before the Vendor.
“Please… I-I only took one sip! Please don’t cut off my fingers… please!”
Xia Xiaoqiang’s voice was thick with sobs.
But the Vendor didn’t listen to any of that.
He turned around directly and fetched the bone-chopping knife from the Trolley.
Then he forcefully pressed Xia Xiaoqiang’s hand onto the table, baring his teeth as he chopped down!
…
Outside the Live Streaming Room.
Xia Guofeng watched the scene of his daughter’s fingers about to be chopped off, his nose tingling, tears almost falling.
On one side was his long-lost daughter.
On the other was the fate of over a billion people in Huaguo!
He could understand why Jiang Li wouldn’t save Xia Xiaoqiang.
Because if anything happened to Jiang Li, all the people of Huaguo would face the arrival of the horror tale.
Although a few netizens thought Jiang Li was cold and ruthless, even these scattered viewers knew deep down that Jiang Li’s fate was their own fate.
When it came to their own safety, almost everyone stood on Jiang Li’s side.
Not helping was the best choice!
The entire Bullet Screen in the Live Streaming Room was filled with comments like “Well done! She shouldn’t help her!” and similar sentiments.
Seeing these blood-red words, Xia Guofeng held back his tears.
At this moment, he was no longer just a father, but a leader.
He couldn’t force Jiang Li to risk her life just for his daughter.
Jiang Li was carrying the future of Huaguo on her shoulders.
Once Xia Guofeng figured this out, he resisted the urge to contact Jiang Li.
If he had to choose between his daughter and Huaguo, Xia Guofeng could only choose Huaguo-there was no other option!
Just then, Xia Guofeng’s wife came to bring him food.
When she saw the scene on the big screen of the live broadcast, she was so shocked that the lunchbox fell straight to the ground.
She covered her mouth, her legs giving out, collapsing to the floor.
“Xiaxia, my Xiaxia!…” his wife sobbed.
She turned her head and saw the cold-hearted Xia Guofeng beside her.
Tears gushed from her eyes instantly.
“Xia Guofeng, you have no heart!! She’s your daughter!”
“Didn’t you just transfer her two hundred thousand? Didn’t you feel so sorry for your daughter? Why aren’t you saying anything now?! Say something!”
His wife rushed over, grabbing Xia Guofeng’s clothes and pushing him repeatedly.
“Contact that woman, tell her to save our Xiaxia!! Hurry, it’s almost too late, wuwu…”
Seeing his wife in tears, Xia Guofeng felt terrible inside as well.
But he had no other choice. He could only suppress his grief, pry his wife’s hands off him, and turn to the security guard: “Take her away.”
The security guards immediately stepped in and pulled the emotional wife away.
His wife screamed several times in a row that she wanted a divorce.
But Xia Guofeng gritted his teeth and refused to give in.
He turned to look at the big screen of the live broadcast, silently praying: Jiang Li, it’s up to you now. I hope you… won’t make me regret today’s decision!
With that, Xia Guofeng turned his face away, forcing himself not to look at the cruel scene.
In the Live Streaming Room.
With the sound of the knife falling-“thud, thud, thud”-Xia Xiaoqiang let out shrill screams.
Each one was filled with endless despair…
The Vendor put away three fingers, then angrily picked up the knife and pushed the Trolley away.
Blood dripped from the knife, pooling on the ground.
As soon as the Vendor left, Xia Xiaoqiang’s voice, full of resentment, rang out.
“Jiang Li, I really regret helping you! You’re a cold-blooded animal, you’re truly terrifying!”
“I curse you, people like you should go to hell! Even if I die, I won’t let you go!!”
The venomous voice echoed eerily behind Jiang Li.
Jiang Li showed no reaction at all.
After more than ten seconds, a familiar voice sounded from behind “Xia Xiaoqiang.”
“Who are you?” the person behind asked.
The real Xia Xiaoqiang had just come out of the Toilet, still holding a tissue in her hand.
She stepped forward and poked the fake “Xia Xiaoqiang” on the back.
The impostor “Xia Xiaoqiang” turned around, and two identical faces met each other’s gaze.
“Ah! Sister Jiang! She looks just like me, ahhh!!”
Xia Xiaoqiang was obviously terrified-she kicked off her shoes and dove into Jiang Li’s bed!
Jiang Li hugged her, patting her back. “It’s all right.”
Luckily, both of them were thin, so the bed barely fit the two of them.
That Aberration stood behind Jiang Li, while the real Xia Xiaoqiang shivered in Jiang Li’s arms.
Ever since the Aberration saw the real Xia Xiaoqiang, its expression had become increasingly twisted and vicious.
Then, accompanied by a strange shriek, its features tore open and its body peeled apart like shattered fragments.
At last, it melted into a pool of shadow, scattered across the floor.
Hard Sleeper Rules, Rule Three:
[Don’t trust familiar faces. They will kill you!]
If Jiang Li had really acted just now, she would have been killed!
Who could have thought that the whole terrifying event had actually been a trap set up by two Aberrations working together…
“It imitated you really well-I almost got fooled by it,” Jiang Li said.
Xia Xiaoqiang poked her head out from under the covers. “Really, Sister Jiang? How did you figure it out?”
Jiang Li smirked slightly.
“Intuition.”
Actually, Jiang Li hadn’t told the whole truth-she’d relied on smell.
That Aberration, although it imitated Xia Xiaoqiang almost perfectly, had overlooked the scent on a person!
At that time, Xia Xiaoqiang had taken a big roll of toilet paper and rushed off to the Toilet. Anyone with eyes could tell she was going for a bowel movement.
The Toilet on the train always reeked strongly.
After just a few minutes, even if there wasn’t the stench of excrement, you’d pick up that unique Toilet odor.
But that impostor didn’t have any smell at all.
When it was imitating Xia Xiaoqiang, it had ignored this detail!
And just now, when Jiang Li suddenly sat up, she was actually sniffing for a scent, moving in close to smell.
Her sense of smell had always been sharp.
At that moment, Jiang Li could smell the sweetness of Honey Water, the broth of leftover instant noodles, even the foot odor from someone next door who had taken off their shoes.
But what she couldn’t smell was the faint Toilet odor that should cling to someone who had just done their business.
Fake!
Unlike the Xia Xiaoqiang in her arms, who had a bit of that bathroom stink.
The one with no scent at all was the impostor Aberration disguised as a familiar person!
So back then, Jiang Li had simply thrown out two words, “Not giving,” and turned her back.
But when the real Xia Xiaoqiang returned, Jiang Li instantly felt the scent was right.
The Xia Xiaoqiang before her, carrying a faint Toilet smell, was the real one!
For a moment, Xia Xiaoqiang thought Jiang Li was truly amazing.
Her intuition was really that sharp.
Now that the Ghoul had disappeared, Xia Xiaoqiang carefully crawled out from the covers.
A little embarrassed, she lifted the blanket and thanked Jiang Li, then quickly returned to her own bed.
Xia Xiaoqiang wrapped herself up tightly, leaving only half her head out to breathe.
“Sister Jiang, I’m going to sleep now. Remember to turn off the light before midnight,” Xia Xiaoqiang reminded Jiang Li about the bedside lamp.
If you didn’t turn off the bedside lamp after midnight, the light would attract that thing.
“Okay, go ahead and sleep.” Jiang Li turned off the lamp with a flick.
“Oh, by the way,” Jiang Li took out a cup of hot Honey Water from her Space and handed it to Xia Xiaoqiang, “here, drink this before you sleep.”
Just now, Jiang Li had noticed Xia Xiaoqiang’s arm was already showing signs of abnormality.
She figured Xia Xiaoqiang had been affected, at least a little, by the child’s singing.
Without a second thought, Xia Xiaoqiang took the cup and drank the water.
“Aren’t you afraid I might hurt you?” Jiang Li asked.
Xia Xiaoqiang shook her head. “Not afraid.”
“Why?”
“Intuition.” Xia Xiaoqiang smiled, mimicking Jiang Li’s tone.
The reason Xia Xiaoqiang wasn’t afraid of Jiang Li was largely because of her father.
She trusted her father one hundred percent.
Since her father had told her to follow Jiang Li, that meant Jiang Li would never hurt her.
“It’s still best to be careful-never let your guard down,” Jiang Li reminded her.
“Okay, sis.” Xia Xiaoqiang put down the empty cup. “I’m going to sleep now.”
“Mm.”
Xia Xiaoqiang pulled the blanket completely over her head.
But Jiang Li wasn’t sleepy at all.
Sleeping wasn’t the priority now-what mattered was finding the Pollution Source.
The rules said that after midnight you couldn’t go to the Restroom, that it was dangerous.
Jiang Li knew that rule was fake.
If the rules didn’t want you to go to the Restroom, that meant there must be something unspeakable inside.
Jiang Li glanced at the time and decided to go check it out.