26: You can come to the 22nd floor anytime.

Jiang Zixuan suppressed the anger in her heart, pretending to have just noticed her collar was open, and clumsily buttoned it up: "I, I don't know when my buttons came undone..."

"You seem to dislike me a lot. Is it because Fei Fei told you something?"

Seeing Jiang Zixuan still acting, Xiao Chuxia lost her patience, picked up a basin of blood from the corridor, and splashed it over her.

"Ah! What are you doing?!" Jiang Zixuan shrieked and jumped around.

"Fresh rat blood, to help cleanse you of evil."

"Knock on the door again, and I'll chop off your hand!"

Xiao Chuxia finished speaking fiercely, and slammed the apartment door shut.

Jiang Zixuan's face was distorted with rage.

Everyone on the 22nd floor must be crazy!

Smelling the bloody stench emanating from her, Jiang Zixuan walked downstairs in disgust, completely losing the desire to stay.

Meanwhile, on the 14th floor.

Xiao Guan and the property management staff sat on the ground, exhausted, their arms too sore to lift.

"We really can't smash anymore... Please, let us go..."

"I promise I'll never go to the 22nd floor again. Just spare us this one time."

"Going to the 22nd floor was Xiao Guan's idea. He wanted to steal your supplies. It really has nothing to do with us."

The property management staff begged for mercy, but Xiao Guan remained stubborn and silent, still believing he had done nothing wrong.

Jiang Fei took out a few small bread rolls from her other pocket and beckoned to the thugs from earlier:

"Throw them all into the water. The bread is yours."

Their eyes lit up, and they immediately went to do as told.

Xiao Guan was the first to be lifted, and he shouted anxiously: "Jiang Fei, this is intentional murder!"

The water is full of rats! Could he survive if he went in?

Splash—

The thugs threw Xiao Guan out through the open window along the corridor.

The swarm of rats in the water rushed forward, and Xiao Guan screamed as he swam towards the window.

However, because the thugs were throwing other people, Xiao Guan was knocked back into the water.

Clearly feeling the rats' sharp teeth tearing at his flesh, Xiao Guan used the people who fell into the water after him as stepping stones, desperately climbing towards the window.

Noticing that Xiao Guan was almost back, the burliest man among the thugs asked Jiang Fei: "Do you need me to push him down again?"

"No need," Jiang Fei said, word for word:

"Let him climb up himself and live well."

Covered in rat bites and incurring the resentment of his property management colleagues, even if Xiao Guan climbed up and didn't starve to death, he would be retaliated against until he wished he were dead.

The people around naturally understood this, and their gazes towards Jiang Fei held a touch more fear.

What a ruthless method!

Jiang Fei scanned everyone, her lips curving slightly, yet her eyes were as cold as frost:

"If you're tired of living, you're welcome to come to the 22nd floor anytime."

This display today completely crushed certain people's intentions.

Death wasn't terrifying; what was terrifying was slowly waiting for death.

Jiang Fengzi had a gun and knew how to torture people; who would dare to covet the supplies on the 22nd floor again?

They couldn't afford to provoke her, truly they couldn't.

Everyone consciously made way for Jiang Fei.

Jiang Fei carried her axe upstairs.

Upon reaching the 17th floor, she caught sight of a reddish figure quickly ducking into the corridor's storage room.

It was none other than Jiang Zixuan.

Each floor's corridor had a small storage room for cleaning tools, convenient for property management to regularly maintain hygiene, and just large enough to fit one person.

What was Jiang Zixuan hiding from her?

Noticing a red-eyed rat hovering on the windowsill, afraid of the bonfire in the corridor, Jiang Fei smiled maliciously.

Putting away her axe, Jiang Fei retrieved protective gloves from the Supermarket warehouse and put them on. Then, with quick hands, she grabbed the rat and walked towards the storage room.

The people living in the corridor had all gone downstairs to watch the commotion, so no one saw Jiang Fei conjure things out of thin air.

The storage room had an iron door, but no lock.

Jiang Fei pulled open the iron door and threw the rat inside.

Jiang Zixuan, who was hiding inside, instinctively tried to run out but had her fingers caught by the closing door:

"Ah! Jiang Fei, let me out! Open the door quickly!"

Jiang Fei pulled out a short knife and swiftly chopped at Jiang Zixuan's fingers.

"Ah ah ah ah!!!"

With a scream, the iron door closed tightly, and Jiang Fei took out a wooden stick, wedging it against the doorknob to prevent Jiang Zixuan from coming out.

After doing all this, Jiang Fei kicked the four bloody severed fingers on the ground towards the burning bonfire.

In her previous life, the debt of Jiang Zixuan chopping off her fingers was now half repaid.

Her cousin better not die too quickly.

—

Jiang Fei returned to the 22nd floor. As soon as she opened the apartment door, she saw Xiao Chuxia and Lu Yu roasting rat meat in the corridor.

Beside them, there were also basins of cleaned rat meat piled up.

Xiao Chuxia handed the freshly roasted rat meat to Jiang Fei: "Miss, quickly try my cooking."

"I didn't add any seasoning, so it might not taste very good."

Jiang Fei took a bite.

The rat meat had a strong gamey smell, but the texture was tender. Its main advantage was that it filled the stomach.

"The taste isn't important; being able to fill your stomach is enough."

Xiao Chuxia agreed: "Under these conditions, having any meat to eat is good enough."

"Lu Ge and I just picked up all the dead rats from the stairs and cleaned them."

"Yesterday, I found two bags of salt at the media company. We can dry the rat meat into jerky, which can be preserved for a long time."

Jiang Fei was surprised: "You know how to cook?"

"I learned online before, but I've never actually made it."

Jiang Fei: "..."

Well, another person who couldn't cook.

"I'll go to 2201 to teach you later."

Xiao Chuxia nodded obediently, remembering what had happened earlier, and recounted it to Jiang Fei in detail: "Cousin Jiang tried to act pitiful to seduce Lu Ge, but I splashed her with a basin of rat blood and she left."

Lu Yu, who was cleaning up trash, spoke to state his position: "I'll take care of her today."

His neighbor's relationship with that person was clearly not good.

He didn't want to cause a misunderstanding with his neighbor because of her.

"Her life is mine; don't touch her."

A flicker of inquiry flashed in Lu Yu's eyes, but he didn't press for the reason, changing the subject instead:

"After the typhoon and heavy rain, there was a rat plague. Who knows what other disasters will come next? Should we officially form a team?"

"Now there are disasters everywhere, and the official manpower isn't enough to provide rescue. Forming a team would mean we have each other's backs."

Xiao Chuxia: "I'll listen to Miss."

Jiang Fei was very covetous of Lu Yu's weapons and his family's Big Yellow.

However, what happened at the small shopping mall yesterday made her have to be careful.

Jiang Fei hinted: "Forming a team is fine, but don't bring trouble to the team."

Hearing the implied meaning in Jiang Fei's words, Lu Yu smiled and replied: "If there's trouble, I'll resolve it beforehand."

Did his neighbor... know something?

"Meow!"

Just then, Big Yellow ran out through the slightly ajar door, and, startled by the rat corpses, quickly climbed onto Lu Yu.

My master has so many rat heads staring at me!

It's too scary!

"Don't be afraid, these are all food."

Saying that, Lu Yu tore off a piece of roasted rat meat to feed Big Yellow.

The cat-loving Jiang Fei immediately stopped him: "I still have a few cans of cat food at home. Don't feed Big Yellow unclean things."

Lu Yu & Xiao Chuxia: "???"

You didn't say that yesterday when you made us eat rat meat!

—

Lu Yu also wanted to learn how to make dried rat meat, so Jiang Fei brought him along.

After teaching Lu Yu and Xiao Chuxia, she returned to 2202 to rest, taking out the rice noodles she had stocked up earlier for a late-night snack.

The soup was spicy and appetizing, and the rice noodles were springy and tender. Jiang Fei ate two bowls before going to wash up.

While Xiao Chuxia was engrossed in making jerky, Jiang Fei comfortably spent two days at home being a couch potato.

On the morning of the third day.

A strange, faint scratching sound came from behind the curtains, as if something was rubbing against the glass.

Jiang Fei took out her knife and walked over. She yanked open the curtains, and her pupils suddenly constricted.