The person who had jumped was the woman who had once kindly warned Yuan Li, only to be abused until she was covered in injuries.
Just moments ago, before Yuan Li was rescued, she had been alive.
Even with her injuries, she could recover. She could have survived.
Why?
Why did she jump?
Was she forced by someone?
“No one forced her. It was her own choice.” Hong Yuan lowered her head, looking at the dazed Yuan Li, her voice cold. “I don’t know where your fondness for her comes from, but Yuan Li, I’ll warn you just once: in this era, even a father and son or a mother and daughter may not be able to trust each other. You’d better be careful. Otherwise, if you die, don’t expect me to bury you!”
Yuan Li was in a daze. The car door closed, and the vehicle drove off. She didn’t even realize it.
When the vehicle finally stopped and Hong Yuan came to open the door, she couldn’t hold back. She clutched Hong Yuan’s waist—the person she was most familiar with in this strange world—and cried uncontrollably.
“Hong Yuan-sis, why… why did she commit suicide? What kind of world is this?”
The sudden appearance of tentacles on her own body, the abuse she had suffered, the woman who had been rescued but still chose to leap to her death, and the shocking sight of someone she knew, only two meters away, dead and unrecognizable—everything overwhelmed Yuan Li.
Hong Yuan, unaccustomed to being so close to someone, felt a twitch between her eyebrows and lifted her hand to push Yuan Li away.
But just as she raised her hand, she felt the small body against her waist.
Yuan Li was still young.
Her memories were frozen before the apocalypse.
That moment of hesitation caused Hong Yuan to miss the perfect chance to push her away.
Hong Yuan’s eyes softened as she looked at the top of Yuan Li’s fluffy hair. Her hand didn’t reach Yuan Li’s shoulder but instead patted her head.
“Get up. Why are you crying? You’ve soaked my clothes!”
“Waaah… I’m scared.” Yuan Li continued to wail.
The crying was so loud that it had already drawn attention. Hong Yuan, like a dark shadow in a crowd of onlookers, asked ominously, “Do you want me to knock you out or sedate you?”
Yuan Li hiccupped through her tears in fear.
She couldn’t believe it. She looked up at Hong Yuan and saw that she had already taken out a syringe.
“I… I won’t cry anymore.” Yuan Li sobbed and tried to hold back her tears.
But the injustice and sadness were too much, and her eyes became glossy and swollen.
“…If you want to know why she jumped, you’d better swallow your tears.” Hong Yuan said expressionlessly.
Yuan Li forced herself to regain control, taking deep breaths, letting out a few hiccups, and painfully holding back her sobs.
“W-Why did she commit suicide?”
Hong Yuan leaned against the car door, looking down at Yuan Li’s persistent face, and didn’t bother telling her to release the hand clutching her coat.
“Do you know the Zhuang family?”
Yuan Li shook her head.
“Hmph.” Hong Yuan’s tone was casual. “The place I sent you to work is enough to avoid most of the trouble your face might attract, but the Zhuang family… they’re not part of that majority.”
“The one who mutated into a Mutant today was the youngest son of the Zhuang family, the one most favored by the patriarch.”
“Now he’s dead. So his lover at the time becomes the first target of their anger. She jumped herself, at least achieving a clean death. But if she had been caught by the Zhuang family…”
The rest didn’t need saying.
Yuan Li’s voice trembled. “It’s not fair. Why?”
“Because the Zhuang family controls the top-tier cultivation technology. They produce 20% of the entire Hua District’s yield.” Hong Yuan said matter-of-factly. “So, you shouldn’t be sad for her. You should be happy for her.”
Happy for what?
Happy that she chose to jump to her death?
Yuan Li felt absurd. After the wave of absurdity, a thought struck her.
“What about me?”
“There are Mutants in the city. As someone in the Cleaning Department, you’ll go handle them. Any problem with that?”
Hong Yuan spoke lightly, as if it was nothing.
Yuan Li was led home by Hong Yuan, still in a daze. Only when she stepped into the bathroom and felt the cold water hit her did she shiver and finally come back to herself.
In the mirror, the girl’s long hair was wet and stuck to her face. Under her black hair, her complexion seemed paler than yesterday.
She gave herself a smile more awkward than crying.
The woman was dead. The things she had worried about—the woman reporting her—wouldn’t happen. She should be happy.
Yet her chest felt heavy, as if she couldn’t breathe.
The cold water poured from above, and Yuan Li’s mood gradually calmed.
The tentacles along her lower back were a serious danger, and she couldn’t even be sure she was still human.
But for now, she couldn’t leave the Cleaning Department.
Neither the Zhuang family nor the shadowy threats she had sensed over the past two days were things she could resist.
She needed the protection of the Cleaning Department.
The girl in the mirror’s eyes gradually hardened. She carefully cleaned off the Mutants’ blood from her body, put on her clothes, and walked out.
“Hong Yuan-sis, I want to learn how to kill people and Mutants!”
As mentioned before, Hong Yuan worked efficiently.
As soon as Yuan Li said she wanted to learn how to kill, Hong Yuan brought her into the training room.
Yuan Li had been there once before.
It was right after she had woken up. Captain Lin had handed her over to Hong Yuan and brought her to the training room.
Last time she had seen a chaotic brawl.
This time, she also saw people training.
“Yo, Hong Yuan, you’re back? How’s it going? Heard something happened?”
Yuan Li was certain that this youth, with his messy Korean-style hair, wasn’t concerned. He was gloating.
Sure enough, Hong Yuan’s response was to grab a knife from the wall beside her and fling it.
“Go find someone else if you’re itchy. I don’t have time to hit you today.”
“True, you’ve got a kid to take care of~”
The youth’s teasing voice made Hong Yuan’s expression darken.
She turned to Yuan Li. “Go wait in the corner. I’ll come to you after the fight.”
“Eh… someone might get hurt…”
Yuan Li had no chance to stop her. As soon as Hong Yuan spoke, she stomped the ground and charged.
Helpless, Yuan Li backed into a corner, watching Hong Yuan fight nervously.
She didn’t want Hong Yuan to get hurt.
“I heard you killed a Mutant? How did you do it?”
The sudden voice startled Yuan Li. She instinctively stepped back two paces before looking over.
A sunny, doll-like face greeted her.
The doll-faced youth looked barely an adult. Though over 1.8 meters tall, his thin frame and innocent expression made him seem non-threatening.
Still, Yuan Li stepped back two more paces, answering cautiously. “Luck, I guess? I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid of me? I mean no harm.” The doll-faced boy looked disappointed.
For a moment, Yuan Li felt she might have been too defensive, hurting a young boy’s innocent heart.
“I’m not—”
Before she could finish, a knife flew straight at the doll-faced boy.
“Dead fish, you’re twice Yuan Li’s age, and you still act pitiful?”
The doll-faced boy easily dodged the knife. He didn’t get angry; he just smiled wider.
Only two days, and Hong Yuan was already protecting Yuan Li?
The doll-faced boy dropped his innocent act and thrust his face close to Yuan Li’s shocked expression. “What should I do… I think I’m starting to like you too.”