31: Chapter 31 Why are you pointing at me? There's no one behind me!

Who knew how much time had passed.

The moon set and the sun rose.

The first ray of morning sunlight shone mercilessly onto Jiang You's face through the roofless ceiling beams.

"Ugh..."

Jiang You frowned and let out a painful groan.

His head felt like it was splitting open, and his throat was so dry it felt like it was smoking.

This was the price of last night's hangover.

He opened his eyes groggily. His vision was still a bit blurry, and he felt like the whole world was spinning.

"Ouch... My head hurts so much..."

"That kid Zhao Tai... he definitely gave me fake alcohol! What '82 Lafite? It must have been mixed with industrial alcohol! I'm going to report him!"

Jiang You grumbled as he propped himself up.

However, as his vision gradually cleared and he took in his surroundings, he froze instantly.

The once magnificent and luxurious Zhao family banquet hall was gone.

In its place was a wasteland that looked as if it had been hit by a nuclear strike.

Broken walls, exposed rebar, shattered glass, and rotten wood littered the ground. Even the ceiling had half-collapsed, revealing the blue sky and white clouds.

If one didn't look closely, they would think it had just been struck by a magnitude ten earthquake and a tornado.

"Holy shit?!"

Jiang You shuddered in fright, instantly sobering up quite a bit.

He rubbed his eyes and looked around in disbelief:

"Where... where is this?"

"Wasn't I having a feast at Zhao Tai's place? How did I wake up from a nap only to find myself thrown into a waste treatment plant?"

"That cheapskate Zhao Tai! Just because I ate a few more of his chickens, did he really have to throw me into a pile of ruins?"

Furious, Jiang You wanted to stand up and demand an explanation.

But as soon as he took a step, his foot tripped over something soft and slightly warm.

Jiang You looked down.

His scalp instantly went numb.

It was a burly man wearing a black tank top, his face covered in blood, eyes rolling back as he foamed at the mouth.

And there was more than one!

Looking around, the ruins were strewn with bodies lying every which way!

Some were hanging off broken walls, some had their heads stuffed in flowerpots, and others were piled on top of each other like a human pyramid.

"Hiss—!!!"

Jiang You gasped, covering his mouth, his pupils shaking in shock.

"Is... is this a murder scene?"

"A gang war? A terrorist attack?"

"This is too cruel! Too bloody! How is public security so terrible these days?"

Just as Jiang You was imagining a grand drama of 'terrorists launching a surprise attack on the Zhao family'...

Suddenly, a faint groan came from the pile of ruins not far away.

"Help... help..."

Jiang You followed the sound.

Following the sound, he spotted a trembling hand beneath a pile of broken tables and chairs.

The hand was wearing a familiar luxury watch, though it was now smashed beyond recognition.

"Zhao Tai?"

Jiang You was shocked, a sudden surge of justice bursting within him.

He rushed over and painstakingly moved the wooden boards and bricks out of the way.

Zhao Tai was covered in dirt, his face swollen like a steamed bun. His good leg also seemed to be broken, and he lay in the ruins, breathing his last breaths.

"Brother Zhao Tai! Zhao Tai, are you okay?"

With a face full of concern, Jiang You propped up Zhao Tai's head and shouted:

"Good heavens! Who did this?"

"Who was so insanely cruel to beat you like this?"

"Weren't we drinking just fine last night? How is it that your house got demolished the moment I woke up?"

"Is this divine retribution... no, was it a terrorist attack?"

Zhao Tai struggled to open his eyes, which were swollen shut into tiny slits.

Looking at Jiang You, who stood before him with an innocent face, looking deeply pained and full of righteousness, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Who?"

"How the fuck do you have the face to ask who?!"

"You tore down every single brick here! You beat up every single person!"

"You demolished my home, knocked my dad unconscious, threw me around like a sandbag, and now you're asking me who did it?!"

A powerful surge of resentment brought Zhao Tai a sudden burst of energy.

Trembling, he raised his half-broken finger.

Using the last ounce of strength in his body, filled with venomous resentment, fear, and accusation, he slowly but firmly pointed right at Jiang You's nose.

"It's... it's..."

Jiang You was taken aback.

Looking at the finger pointing at the tip of his nose, he instinctively dodged to the left.

However, as if equipped with an auto-tracking system, Zhao Tai's finger stubbornly turned left with Jiang You's movement, pointing at his nose once again.

Jiang You jumped to the right.

Zhao Tai's finger trembled as it turned to the right, still locked onto Jiang You, shaking violently from the sheer exertion.

Jiang You was completely baffled.

He whipped his head around to look behind him.

It was completely empty. Aside from a broken wall and a few flies, there wasn't even a ghost.

Jiang You turned back, looking at Zhao Tai in utter disbelief, and pointed to his own nose. "Brother... you don't mean to say... that... I did this, do you?"

Zhao Tai wanted to nod, but his neck hurt too much to move. He could only blink his swollen eyes frantically in heavy insinuation: It was you! It was you, you demon! Only you!

Jiang You looked at Zhao Tai's confirming gaze, then at the ruins and the dozens of burly men whose survival was uncertain.

He fell silent for two seconds.

Then, he wore a look of concern that said 'your brain must have been beaten out of you,' even reaching out to feel Zhao Tai's forehead.

"Brother Zhao, I know you've been through a lot, and your mind is a bit muddled. You're having hallucinations."

Jiang You sighed and said earnestly:

"But I'm just a trash with a blood vitality of 0.8, and I was drunk. I don't even have the strength to truss a chicken."

"If I had this kind of ability, I would have become a captain at the demolition office long ago. Why would I even bother taking college exams?"

"Stop joking. An peerless expert must have passed by last night, or maybe you guys got caught in the crossfire of Ultraman fighting a monster."

Listening to Jiang You's 'heart-to-heart' defense...

Zhao Tai finally couldn't withstand the immense mental blow and physical pain.

"Gack."

His eyes rolled back, and he fainted from anger once again.

Seeing this, Jiang You shook his head helplessly:

"Sigh, his mental fortitude is just too weak."

"Whatever, I'll be a good Samaritan and call the police for you."

After rummaging through the ruins for a long time, he finally found his phone, which had a cracked screen, and dialed the emergency number.

"Hello? Is this 110?"

"I'd like to report an incident. This is Villa No. 9, Zijin Villa."

"Yes, I'm an eyewitness... no, I'm a survivor. It looks like a terrorist attack happened here. The house collapsed, and there are people all over the ground..."

"The culprit? I didn't see anyone. I woke up and it was already like this. But I suspect it might have been aliens."

The operator on the other end was clearly experienced. She calmly asked, "Sir, please remain calm. Please describe the scene. Are there any explosives? How many injured?"

Jiang You looked around, kicked away a piece of broken brick near his foot, and said in a solemn tone, "Injured... probably about a platoon. As for explosives, I don't think so. There's no smell of gunpowder, though there is a very strong smell of Erguotou."

"And the culprit's methods were extremely brutal! All the walls here were violently demolished, and even the pillars were snapped. I suspect the Hulk or King Kong paid a visit."

The operator was silent for two seconds. "Sir, may I ask if you have been drinking?"

Jiang You was furious:

"I had a little! But I'm very sober right now! I'm the future top scorer of the College Entrance Examination, would I make a false police report?"

"Just get here quickly! If you're late, these people are going to end up dead! Especially that guy named Zhao Tai. He was pointing at me just now trying to say his last words, but he fainted before he could finish. It's so tragic!"

...

Hanging up the phone, Jiang You sighed and slipped it back into his pocket.

As the sole 'survivor,' he felt he couldn't just stand by and watch; he had to do something.

"Although Zhao Tai is cheap, his dad is actually a pretty nice uncle."

"Right! Where is that uncle?"

Jiang You suddenly remembered the kind uncle, Patriarch Zhao, who had held him in his arms like a bolster last night.

He looked around the ruins.

Finally, on a precarious section of a broken wall on the second floor, he saw Patriarch Zhao, half of whose body was embedded in the wall.

At this moment, Patriarch Zhao looked like a mural, his eyes closed, his fate unknown.

"Uncle!"

Jiang You was shocked and quickly climbed up along a piece of rebar.

He made his way to Patriarch Zhao and reached out to pat his dust-covered face.

"Slap! Slap!"

Two crisp slapping sounds rang out.

"Uncle! Wake up! You can't sleep! If you sleep, you'll never wake up again!"

Under Jiang You's 'gentle' wake-up service, Patriarch Zhao struggled to open his eyes.

Already as skittish as a startled bird, his vision had barely focused when he saw a zoomed-in face wearing an innocent smile.

It was none other than the demon who had used him as a bowling ball last night!