“Take care of yourselves.”
Before they left, Huang An and the woman looked at Song Yue, their expressions tinged with reluctance.
The little girl darted out from behind the woman and threw her arms around Song Yue. “Stay safe, Big Sister! Goodbye!”
Song Yue smiled and ruffled the girl’s hair. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a lollipop and a piece of chocolate, and pressed them into the child’s hand.
“You two stay safe as well,” Song Yue added, fulfilling her final duty of warning. “Keep a close eye on the situation outside.”
With that, she disappeared down the stairwell.
As the group reached the fourth floor, Lin Sheng explained, “I moored the boat outside 311 yesterday. The water has risen since then, so we should be able to jump down onto it from the 411 balcony.”
Song Yue nodded and turned toward the end of the corridor.
When she returned, she was carrying a fire axe.
The others assumed she had found it in a corner and didn’t question it. Without a word, Song Yue raised the axe and smashed through the door with practiced efficiency.
She reached inside, flicked a lever, and pressed a button. The door swung open easily.
“Huh? Where’s the boat?” one of Sister Mei’s roommates asked, staring at the empty balcony.
“Could the current have swept it away?” Sister Mei wondered aloud.
“Or maybe it capsized,” Nannan added.
Their hearts sank. If the boat was gone, they would have to rely on Song Yue’s kayak—and that was far less safe.
But Lin Sheng shook his head. He shouldered his injured wife, Huang Xin, and walked onto the balcony. “Come here. Look.”
Sister Mei and Nannan exchanged wary glances, wondering what he was getting at. But as they stepped outside and looked over the railing, a boat materialized from behind the building’s facade.
“How…?” Nannan’s eyes widened. It was like a magic trick.
Song Yue recalled the layout of the Lakeside Hotel. “It’s the building’s design,” she explained. “The hotel isn’t a simple rectangle. The exterior has indentations. This section of the fourth floor is set back, which is why you can’t see the side balcony until you’re actually standing on it.”
The hotel staff were busy retrieving the trapped boats at the rear. They had no reason to check this area, which was why Lin Sheng hadn’t worried about the sightseeing boat being spotted.
He’s remarkably thorough, even while caring for his injured wife, Song Yue noted, committing his resourcefulness to memory.
One by one, they climbed over the balcony and onto the deck.
The boat was filled with silt and stagnant water from days of torrential rain. They spent the next hour bailing it out.
At first, they tried to scoop out the silt by hand, but Song Yue couldn’t stand the slow progress. Pretending to search the boat, she retrieved two shovels from her space and claimed she’d found them on the second deck.
No one questioned her. They were too exhausted to be suspicious.
The silt was cleared quickly.
Following Song Yue’s suggestion, they stripped Room 411 bare, gathering all the quilts, sheets, pillows, toothbrushes, and towels.
Song Yue and Lin Sheng agreed to take turns piloting the sightseeing boat, with the others learning as they went.
Song Yue took the first shift, steering the boat slowly out of its berth.
“Young lady, where are you heading?” the old man asked, stepping forward.
Song Yue searched her mind, recalling a fragment of the original owner’s memories. “East. I remember there’s a small city called Laocheng east of Thousand Crane Lake. There might be a relief center there.”
The old man nodded, gazing eastward. “I’ll help you navigate. The mountain roads outside the scenic area are winding and confusing. It’s easy to get lost if you don’t know them.”
“Thank you,” Song Yue said with a small smile.
“Don’t mention it, dear. I’m Li,” he said, then sat down on the deck to keep watch.
Inside the cabin, Granny Li and Sister Mei were tending to Huang Xin.
The timely treatment had stopped the wound from festering. Though Huang Xin still had a slight fever that morning, the medication Song Yue provided had stabilized her condition.
Seeing his wife’s fever break, Lin Sheng finally stood and made his way to the bow.
“Need me to do anything?” he asked.
Song Yue had just been about to call for him. “Can you check the fuel levels at the stern?”
The sightseeing boat ran on gasoline, unlike the diesel she stored in her space. She needed to know exactly how much they had left.
Lin Sheng hurried to the stern and returned a moment later. “It’s low. Maybe half a tank. The tank holds thirty-six liters.”
Half of thirty-six was eighteen. A standard one-hundred-twenty-horsepower fishing boat typically consumed twenty liters a day. Eighteen liters should have been enough to keep them moving for a full day, but with all the stopping and starting, and the need to weave around obstacles, the fuel would burn much faster.
They wouldn’t get very far.
Finding more gasoline was now an urgent priority.
Song Yue paused, then made a decision. “Later, we’re going to siphon gas from those cars.”
Lin Sheng blinked, surprised by her suggestion. Then he considered the situation. In this world, abandoned cars were no longer anyone’s property. It was better to use the fuel to save their lives than let it go to waste.
“Alright, I’m with you,” Lin Sheng said.
Song Yue quickly steered the boat toward a red SUV floating ahead. She brought it alongside, cutting off the car’s path, and quickly secured the boat to keep it from drifting.
She pulled two ropes from her backpack and tied one around her waist and the other around Lin Sheng’s. She lashed the loose ends to the boat’s railing to prevent them from slipping into the water.
One after the other, they stepped onto the car’s roof. The vehicle rocked under their weight.
Song Yue lowered her center of gravity, crawling toward the rear. She reached back and pulled out a screwdriver—an item she’d subtly retrieved from her space’s toolbox, making it look as if she’d pulled it from her back pocket.
With a few quick movements, she pried open the rear hatch. As she backed away, Lin Sheng crouched down and heaved the hatch open.
A fuel can sat inside.
He lifted it out and gave it a quick shake. “Not bad. Looks like about half a tank.”
They carefully climbed back onto the boat. After confirming it was the right kind of gasoline, they poured it into their own fuel can.
The can filled quickly.
“One can isn’t enough,” Song Yue said, restarting the engine. “We need to keep looking.”
Lin Sheng didn’t argue. He kept his eyes peeled for any other cars that hadn’t sunk yet.
Working together, they soon collected six full cans of gasoline.
During the process, Song Yue spotted some diesel. She said nothing, simply placing her hand over it. The fuel vanished into her space in a flash.
With their fuel problem solved, the sky began to darken.
Song Yue decided to moor the boat nearby and stop driving. The sightseeing boat’s headlights were too weak, offering a narrow field of vision. More importantly, she didn’t trust the boat’s hull; a single collision with a sharp object could puncture it, and they’d be in serious trouble.
As she tied the boat’s mooring rope to a nearby utility pole, several floating corpses drifted toward the edge of the vessel.
Song Yue glanced at them, then returned to the cabin to grab a wooden pole.
The others noticed and asked what was wrong.
“Nothing,” Song Yue said. “There are three bodies outside. I’m going to push them away so we don’t have to see them tonight.”
Nannan and the others hissed, visibly frightened.
Huang Xin, lying on the deck, sighed softly.
Old Man Li and Granny Li showed the least reaction.
Finally, Lin Sheng stood up. “I’ll help you.”
As the only young man on board, he knew he had to step up.
Song Yue didn’t refuse. She led him to the side of the boat.
Lin Sheng’s expression darkened as he spotted the bodies in the water. A cold smile touched his lips.
“Do you know them?” Song Yue asked.
“Know them?” Lin Sheng sneered. “I have a deep-seated hatred for them.”
He paused, then added, “Did you see the man in blue?”
Song Yue nodded.
“He’s the husband of the woman who stabbed my wife.”
“The two next to him are his parents.”
“When their son was killing people in the Hypermarket, they watched the whole time and said nothing.”
“Those two women died horribly,” Lin Sheng continued. “Old Man Li said they died before they could even scream for help.”
“This man robbed Old Man Li and his wife too.”
“If we hadn’t been lucky enough to find this boat, we’d all have died in that Hypermarket.”
“Heh, it’s good the scum is dead. Now he can’t hurt anyone else.”
Lin Sheng shoved the wooden pole into the water and pushed the corpses away with a few quick thrusts.
As the bodies bobbed away, Song Yue caught a glimpse of the wounds on their chests.
The woman must have stabbed them.
She didn’t know what had caused the rift in the family to make the woman turn so vicious against her own flesh and blood.
But it felt like cosmic justice.
A life for a life. They deserved it.
The corpses slowly drifted away with the current.
Night fell completely.
As they discussed the watch schedule, they pulled out the meager rations they had left to eat and regain some strength.
“Song Yue, Brother Lin,” Sister Mei said as she chewed on the food they’d taken from the hotel. “You should rest tonight. Let us take the watch.”
Nannan and the others quickly agreed. “Yeah, we didn’t do much during the day. Let us handle the night shift.”
Old Man Li tried to join in, but the group immediately shot him down.
“Old Man Li, you’re older than us. You need your rest. We’re young—we can pull an all-nighter.”
Outvoted and unable to argue further, Old Man Li relented.
They finalized the plan: two of the roommates would take the first half of the night, followed by Sister Mei and Nannan for the second. Everyone else would sleep in the cabin to conserve their energy.
Their departure from the hotel had been so rushed that they hadn’t’ negotiated for supplies, only grabbing whatever food and water they could find. Now, with their stores running low, everyone ate sparingly.
The only sound in the quiet night was the rustle of them eating.
Once finished, Song Yue and the others settled down to sleep.
The first half of the watch passed without incident.
When the second shift began, the rain had unexpectedly stopped.
Under the pitch-black sky, the only sound was the gentle lapping of waves against the boat.
Nannan sat at the bow, her knees hugged tight against her chest. A wave of bitterness washed over her.
“Sister Mei,” she said softly. “Do you really think we’ll find a rescue point?”
They’d been on the water for days without seeing a single soul, not even a living animal. The feeling of being completely isolated was overwhelming. Nannan, who had always found comfort in the structured life of campus, couldn’t help but wonder: Is there even a way out of this?
Sensing Nannan’s growing despair, Sister Mei reached out and squeezed her hand. “We will. As long as Song Yue is with us, we’ll make it.”
“But she isn’t an expert,” Nannan countered. “What if—I mean, what if—even she can’t find a way? What do we do then?”
Sister Mei shook her head. “That won’t happen. We chose to follow her because we trust her. Think about it, Nannan. When we had nothing, she found us this kayak. When no one else suspected that murderer, she saw right through the woman’s act. And she can treat the sick… she even found all that gasoline today. Could any of us have done that? Only Song Yue could.”
Nannan looked at Sister Mei, her eyes brimming with tears. She sniffled. “I know, Sister Mei. I shouldn’t have doubted Song Yue…”
“Alright, stop crying. Tears are a precious water resource. What a waste!”
Nannan let out a little laugh, wiped her eyes, and stared intently into the darkness.
Suddenly, she sat bolt upright. “Sister Mei, did you hear that?”
Sister Mei pricked up her ears. “Hear what?”
“Water!” Nannan’s voice was sharp with alarm. “Someone’s in the water!”
As the words left her lips, the boat rocked.
“Someone’s boarding!”
Nannan heard footsteps. She reached for her flashlight, but before she could switch it on, two massive shadows loomed over them.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Her body was slammed against the deck, her arms wrenched behind her back.
Rope bound them, gags silenced them. In seconds, Nannan and Sister Mei were completely immobilized.
“And here I thought I was up against two real threats,” a voice sneered. “To think they’d waste a double-decker boat on two little chicks. Hahaha!”
The two burly men loomed over them, their eyes glinting with a ruthless intensity.
Nannan’s heart sank. We’re dead, she thought. They’re going to kill us.
Pinned to the deck beside her, Sister Mei met Nannan’s terrified gaze.
What do we do?!
They had to make some kind of noise. Otherwise, they were all in danger.
Sister Mei thrashed and writhed, trying to create a commotion on the deck.
One of the men saw through her ploy. He clamped a hand over her mouth and nose. “One more move,” he snarled, “and I’ll leave your body in pieces.”
Sister Mei gasped for air, struggling desperately, twisting her body with all her might.
But the harder she fought, the tighter his grip became.
As consciousness slipped away, she saw three dark figures armed with knives approach the cabin door. They yanked back the curtain and slipped inside, grins plastered on their faces.