31: Water snake emerges

"There are snakes in the water. If you don't take precautions, you'll be bitten."

The man in the raincoat, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, had proper features and a stern, upright aura between his brows. One of his shoes was missing, having been squeezed off when he went upstairs.

"There are too many people downstairs. I'm not going to salvage supplies," Jiang Fei said, then walked towards 2103, not caring about the man's identity.

Suddenly, the door of 2102 opened.

"Oh, Little Jiang, why are you still here? I just heard the official announcement that there are supplies downstairs. If we don't go down now, we won't get any..."

Old Mrs. Xu's voice paused, and she looked at the man behind Jiang Fei with surprise: "Qian Yao!"

Ignoring Jiang Fei, Old Mrs. Xu walked over and hugged Xu Qianyao: "My good grandson, you finally decided to come back!"

"I couldn't reach you these past few days; I was worried sick."

Xu Qianyao apologized: "I'm sorry, Grandma. The villages and towns below are all flooded. I couldn't call you."

"But now the disasters in various places have stabilized, and the officials have started arranging for the Rescue Team to help Lin City."

"I even became a Rescue Team leader. Director Ning takes good care of me, so you can rest assured, Old Lady."

Old Mrs. Xu pretended to be fierce: "Lao Ning and I have been friends for decades. If he doesn't take good care of you, I'll never let him off the hook."

Hearing this, Jiang Fei withdrew her hand that was about to knock on the door of 2103.

Director Ning was the director of the Lin City police station, an honest and upright man with great foresight.

Lin City's provincial capital was Su Province.

In her previous life, the first Safety Shelter established in Su Province was proposed by Director Ning to the higher-ups.

Unfortunately, the extreme cold destroyed the Safety Shelter.

She hadn't expected Old Mrs. Xu and Director Ning to be old friends.

Jiang Fei turned to look at Xu Qianyao, her eyes welling up with tears, seemingly very emotional.

Having lived two lives, and often dealing with people with ulterior motives, Jiang Fei was naturally good at acting.

"Is it really safe outside now?"

Xu Qianyao nodded: "The officials also predict that the flood will recede soon."

"That's great, but this flood has brought out many unusual rats, insects..."

The girl bit her lip lightly, her voice so low it sounded like she was talking to herself: "In the novels I used to read, they said that when the world shows these signs, it's the apocalypse. Besides giant bugs, there's also extreme cold, high temperatures, viruses, earthquakes. It can't be true, can it?"

With her identity as an ordinary person, she couldn't possibly meet Director Ning, so she could only use this ambiguous method to subtly remind him.

Xu Qianyao could casually talk about his friendship with Director Ning in front of her, an outsider.

This was enough to prove that he couldn't keep a secret.

If he met Director Ning later, Xu Qianyao would definitely mention what he heard today to Director Ning.

Xu Qianyao comforted Jiang Fei: "Don't worry, novels are just stories made up by people."

Jiang Fei hummed, greeted Old Mrs. Xu, then knocked on the door of 2103 and went in.

Xu Qianyao asked Old Mrs. Xu curiously: "Grandma, do you know this girl?"

"She's a resident of the 22nd floor, named Jiang Fei. Thanks to Little Jiang during this time, I've been able to survive until now. Come on, let's go inside and talk."

—

The appearance of the officials gave many people hope.

Everyone was looking forward to the day the flood receded.

But before the cockroaches and centipedes disappeared, water snakes appeared.

Dense swarms of snakes intertwined in the water, writhing their bodies, and even crawling ashore to actively attack humans.

With one bite, sharp snake fangs would pierce through flesh, leaving two gruesome blood holes.

People had to use long sticks to salvage supplies from the water.

Each wooden box contained enough supplies for one person for two days, but some greedy people ignored the officials' warnings and tried to snatch others' belongings.

As soon as they started fighting, some unlucky people were pushed into the water, getting entangled and bitten by thousands of snakes.

Those with better luck were only bitten a few times by snakes.

That night.

The doorbell of the 22nd floor rang urgently.

Along with it, there were loud banging sounds on the door, which woke up all three of them, including Jiang Fei.

Her sweet dream disturbed, Jiang Fei grimly loaded her gun, but then froze after opening the door.

Zhu Zi was kneeling on the ground, snot and tears streaming down his face.

The thin man kneeling beside him was pale and weak, with several snakebite wounds on his arm.

"Sister Jiang! I know you collect cockroaches and centipedes to make medicine! I beg you to lend me some so I can save Hou Zi!"

"I swear! I will definitely return it!"

Xiao Chuxia quietly pulled Jiang Fei and whispered: "Zhu Zi is quite honest. He returned half of the supplies he received for being a bodyguard before, saying he didn't do much and felt bad taking too much."

"And it's my first time making this medicinal powder, I don't know what the effect will be. Why don't we let them try it first?"

"If there's no danger, then we can keep it for ourselves."

Jiang Fei thought for a moment and said to Zhu Zi: "I can give you the medicine, and you don't need to return it, but I'll be blunt: we're using you as a guinea pig."

"We don't know what side effects this medicine might have, or if it's dangerous."

Zhu Zi looked at the man named Hou Zi.

Hou Zi gritted his teeth: "I'm willing to try..."

"If I die... it's my fate... it has nothing to do with you, Sister Jiang..."

Seeing Hou Zi agree readily, Xiao Chuxia quickly fetched two small boxes of medicinal powder and told them how to use it.

Having received the medicine, Zhu Zi helped Hou Zi up and left.

Xiao Chuxia nervously clasped Jiang Fei's hand: "Miss, do you think my medicine will be successful?"

This was her first time making it!

Jiang Fei was as blunt as ever: "I don't know."

Xiao Chuxia was already used to it.

It would be strange if Miss started comforting people.

Fortunately, Xiao Chuxia's anxious heart was relieved on the third day.

Zhu Zi brought the lively Hou Zi to the staircase on the 22nd floor, also bringing two portions of self-heating rice.

Zhu Zi praised generously: "Sister Chu Xia, your medicine is amazing! Hou Zi's wounds not only didn't get inflamed or infected, but they've also started to heal!"

"This is a small token of our appreciation."

"Hou Zi got bitten by snakes precisely because he was trying to guard these supplies from being stolen."

Jiang Fei didn't accept it: "You've already paid the price for the medicine."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zi didn't act coy: "Then I owe you a favor. If you ever need anything from me in the future, just say the word."

Hou Zi patted his chest and said: "Although I'm not as strong as Zhu Zi, I can take a beating! I can take a bullet for you at a critical moment!"

Xiao Chuxia was amused by Hou Zi's words when suddenly several people emerged from the stairs below.

"Miss Jiang, can we exchange some medicine with you?"