85: Qingyang City Security Office

When Xu Qianyao and Yin Jing arrived at the scene, Director Ning was already there.

The door of a truck carrying supplies was wide open, and there were signs of forced entry on the door.

Two boxes placed near the truck door were empty.

On the ground below the truck door, there were more than thirty frozen, severed hands.

The Comrade responsible for guarding the truck lowered his head in shame: "Just now, a woman anxiously came to me, saying that the pregnant woman in the car was about to give birth and was bleeding a lot. She begged me to find the doctor with the team, and I agreed."

"When I brought the doctor back, the woman was gone, and the truck's compartment door had been violently pried open. I didn't find her in any of the survivors' cars; she must have escaped."

"I'm sorry, Director Ning, I left my post without permission, resulting in the loss of two boxes of supplies. I am willing to accept any punishment."

"Human lives are at stake; your choice was not wrong." Director Ning patted the Comrade's shoulder: "This isn't your fault."

"The Comrades guarding the supplies have all been helping the Rescue Team clear snow and open roads these past few days. It's understandable that you couldn't manage alone."

"The other party could act during the shift change in the rear vehicles, and they were able to pry open the door, steal supplies, and escape unscathed in a short amount of time. Clearly, this was premeditated."

"Qian Yao, has Jiang Fei left the RV at all?"

Xu Qianyao shook his head: "She and the people in her team have been active near the car and haven't had contact with outsiders."

"It seems the culprit was afraid of being caught by us, so they stole the supplies and ran." Director Ning's gaze fell on the severed hands.

If that person ran, why leave the severed hands?

Was it a provocation, or was it indirectly helping Jiang Fei prove that the dead people had nothing to do with her?

Director Ning couldn't understand and had Xu Qianyao lead a search in the vicinity.

At this moment, on a hillside.

Zhou Wanqing held large and small bags of items, looking back at the large group in the distance.

Her gloved hand reached for the empty medicine box in her pocket.

I'm sorry, Benefactor, I wanted to repay you in my own way, but I didn't handle the bodies well and ended up implicating you.

See you at the Safety Shelter.

—

For three consecutive days, Xu Qianyao did not find any trace of the culprit, and the matter was left unresolved.

A total of 3 guns, 3 military daggers, 5 boxes of 50 bullets, 20 bags of bread, and 10 bottles of mineral water were lost.

Director Ning also cleared Jiang Fei's name and sent someone to deliver 5 boxes of self-heating beef hotpot as compensation.

Seeing the small red circle on the self-heating hotpot, Jiang Fei fell silent.

The supplies that had been sent out had returned.

After that day, no one else died in the team, as if the serial killer was just everyone's imagination.

But no one dared to bother Jiang Fei in the RV again.

Many people had seen the tragic corpses and the severed hands frozen like pig trotters.

Who knew when the killer would appear? They didn't want to become the next victims.

The team moved on and off, finally entering Qingyang City on the fourth day.

Qingyang City had no standing water after the flood, and the roads were asphalt, which they hadn't seen in a long time.

The snow and ice on the roads had been cleared in time, making them flat and wide, allowing the large group to quickly reach the Safety Shelter's entrances and exits.

There were a total of 18 entrances and exits, ensuring smooth passage.

Each entrance and exit had four armed soldiers and a small house for identity registration, where staff members were seated.

The official loudspeaker announced: "Everyone, please get out of your vehicles and queue at the registration desk for identity registration and temperature checks; otherwise, you will not be able to enter the Safety Shelter."

"Those who have completed identity registration, please return to your vehicles immediately and wait for everyone to depart together. Do not linger outside."

"If anyone is carrying pets, please also bring them down for temperature checks."

This was to prevent anyone from carrying the influenza virus.

Inside the RV, Jiang Fei put on her down jacket.

The temperature was now minus thirty degrees Celsius, so there was no need to wear extreme cold-weather gear.

Finding the cat carrier in the cabinet, she laid a thick blanket inside and attached a circle of heating pads before Jiang Fei put Big Yellow in, slung her bag over her shoulder, and got out of the car with Xiao Chuxia.

Lu Yu and the others also came over and chose the nearest entrance to queue.

The cat carrier was fully enclosed, but there was a vent at the top, allowing Big Yellow inside to be seen.

"What kind of world is this, people still keep cats? They must be really idle."

"Maybe they're raising them as food; they'll slaughter them and eat the meat once they're fat."

"Miss, do you sell this cat?"

The people in front and behind them looked at the cat carrier with shining eyes, like hungry wolves spotting meat.

"No, I don't." Jiang Fei deliberately revealed the dagger hidden in her sleeve and swept her sharp gaze around.

"I have a mental illness, don't provoke me."

Don't even think about Big Yellow!

Jiang Fei's unapproachable demeanor made the surrounding people give up the idea of eating the cat.

It wasn't worth getting stabbed for a bite of meat.

Identity registration in Qingyang City involved scanning the survivors' identity cards and then filling out some simple information, such as name, age, and ID number.

Those with acceptable temperatures could return to their cars.

Those with fever or high temperatures were taken away for centralized isolation and treatment.

The queue Jiang Fei was in wasn't long, and it was her turn in nearly two hours.

Big Yellow obediently cooperated with the temperature check, even rubbing her head against the staff member's hand to act cute.

The staff member couldn't help but rub Big Yellow's face and reminded Jiang Fei: "Once you enter the Safety Shelter, don't bring your cat out casually."

Plump little cats were easily caught and eaten.

Few cats and dogs were seen in Qingyang City anymore.

"Thank you." Jiang Fei's temperature was acceptable, so she put Big Yellow back in the carrier and left the queue.

Lu Yu and the others were behind her and completed their registration in a few minutes.

Just then, Xu Qianyao ran over: "Director Ning asked me to take you to the resettlement housing."

"Get in your cars and follow me. You don't need to wait for the main group to depart."

Jiang Fei and the others got into their respective cars and followed Xu Qianyao's off-road vehicle, driving into the Safety Shelter through an entrance marked "Special Passage."

The previously damaged houses had all been repaired. Although large areas of the exterior wall paint had peeled off, making them uneven and affecting their appearance, they could still provide shelter from wind and rain.

On both sides of the road, several shops, small restaurants, Western restaurants, and other establishments could be seen with their doors open.

Some individual stores had generators connected and were lit up.

Some pedestrians even carried bags of wilted green vegetables.

Patrol Teams wearing uniform attire were visible everywhere.

If it weren't for the buildings being covered in frost, Jiang Fei would have almost thought that the apocalypse had not arrived.

In her previous life, she hadn't had the chance to come here, only hearing from survivors who had been how good Qingyang City's Safety Shelter was.

In this life, she also had the opportunity to see it with her own eyes.

Xu Qianyao stopped the car at the entrance of the Mingshang Apartment Complex, got the keys from the community office, and went up to Jiang Fei's RV.

"Director Ning gave you 5 resettlement apartments, specifically 301, 302, 303, 304, and 305 in Building 2 of the Mingshang Apartment Complex. He deliberately arranged you on the same floor to make it easier to look after each other."

"Here's the Safety Shelter map and regulation handbook. You can look at them when you have time. I still have things to do, so I won't take you inside."

"My grandmother and I will be living in 201 of Building 5, so if you need anything, you can find me there."

After giving the items to Jiang Fei, Xu Qianyao got down and drove away.

Jiang Fei didn't rush to look at the map and handbook. Instead, she first drove with her teammates to Building 2.

The Mingshang Apartment Complex was an old building with no elevators, and each building had 8 floors.

The group moved their luggage and Big Yellow into 301, the apartment closest to the stairs, then split up to find places to hide their cars.

Lu Yu was responsible for the MPV, Su Liuyuan for the pickup truck, and Jiang Fei for the RV.

Confirming that no one was around, Jiang Fei directly stored the RV in the Supermarket warehouse and walked back to the Apartment Complex.

The heavy-duty off-road RV was too conspicuous; it had to be put into the Supermarket to be safe.

Jiang Fei was the first to return to 301.

The apartment was about 70 square meters, with one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, and one kitchen. It had basic furniture and a kerosene lamp, the walls had been freshly painted white, looking very clean, and the windows had foam strips for windproofing. It was enough for one person to live in.

The kitchen also had a charcoal stove and ceramic pot, allowing for charcoal cooking.

A sign hung on the living room wall—

"[Water supplied daily from 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM, and 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM]"

Jiang Fei glanced at the other rooms; they were basically the same layout, completely unlike houses that had been soaked by a flood, which showed how well Qingyang City's administrators had done.

However, if one sniffed carefully, there was still a faint damp smell in the air.

Jiang Fei couldn't help but take out a mint candy and put it in her mouth to dispel the smell.

Returning to 301, Lu Yu and Su Liuyuan had also finished hiding their cars and came up.

"Miss, how are we distributing the housing?"

The apartments were basically the same layout, so Jiang Fei randomly distributed the keys.

The room numbers were attached to the keys.

She got 302, Lu Yu got 301, Xiao Chuxia got 303, Ling Zhaorui got 304, and Su Liuyuan got 305.

"Everyone, go home and unpack your luggage first. We'll come to 302 for dinner later and look at the regulation handbook."

After speaking, Jiang Fei carried her belongings to the adjacent 302, tidied the room simply, and used the gas stove and cookware she brought from the RV to cook a pot of egg noodles.

Soon after, Lu Yu and the others arrived.

Everyone sat around the table, eating noodles and reading the Safety Shelter's regulation handbook.

Ling Zhaorui: "The Safety Shelter is managed very strictly. Survivors are prohibited from fighting, brawling, or robbing others of their supplies. Whether active or passive, if caught three times by the official Patrol Team, they will be expelled from the Safety Shelter."

"Then what if someone comes looking for trouble? Can't we even fight back?"