Jiang Mingran felt the blood in his entire body instantly turn cold.
He wanted to spring up, but a hand instantly covered his mouth.
It was Shao Lan.
Shao Lan was following right behind the woman.
The woman couldn’t hear his footsteps because every single step he took completely matched hers.
Shao Lan gestured a silent “shh” sign to Jiang Mingran.
The woman had gradually walked to the opposite apartment door and reached out to pull it open—
Now!
Shao Lan abruptly pulled Jiang Mingran, and the two of them turned around and ran back!
At the opposite doorway, the woman extended her foot, stepping onto the spot where the sound kept ringing—
With a crunch, the alarm clock was crushed to pieces, and the noise stopped.
Thus, the sound of running footsteps in the corridor became exceptionally clear.
The woman’s unseeing eyes blinked, then widened fiercely!
She realized she had been tricked!
Jiang Mingran heard a scream echo from behind, followed quickly by a series of huge, rapid, thudding footsteps.
The woman was chasing after them!
“Don’t look back!”
Shao Lan gave Jiang Mingran a fierce shove.
Gritting his teeth, Jiang Mingran rushed into the security door with all his might, followed closely by Shao Lan.
The woman lunged forward shrieking. Shao Lan and Jiang Mingran turned around simultaneously, violently slamming the door shut and hooking the safety chain.
The woman crashed heavily against the door, causing wall dust to flutter down in flurries.
Jiang Mingran and Shao Lan together pressed their full weight against the door.
“Thud!”
“Thud!”
Just as both of them began to wonder whether this security door would be forcefully bashed open, the noise outside suddenly quieted down.
Jiang Mingran panted heavily, looking at Shao Lan with a mix of shock and uncertainty.
Shao Lan leaned close to the peephole and looked outside.
The hallway was dimly lit and completely empty.
The woman was gone.
“Did she go to the opposite apartment?” Jiang Mingran asked, gasping for breath.
Shao Lan shook his head; he couldn’t be certain either.
Turning back to look into the living room, Uncle Bing was gripping the telephone, trembling all over, but still nodded vigorously at the two of them.
Shao Lan let out a slight breath—the emergency call to the police had already been successfully placed.
This was the first time the three of them cooperated, and the plan had been devised by Shao Lan.
Jiang Mingran threw that alarm clock into the opposite apartment to lure the woman away, then quickly returned.
Shao Lan was responsible for rendezvous and backup, and together the two of them closed the security door to block the woman outside.
Uncle Bing was responsible for taking advantage of this window to make the police call.
Based on the information obtained from the previous loop, it took time for the police to arrive—estimated by Uncle Bing to be around 10 minutes—and they had to ensure their survival during this period.
“This security door should be able to hold up for a bit,” Shao Lan checked carefully. After the woman slammed into it twice, the metal latch had suffered slight deformation, but it was still functional.
Even so, to directly deform metal in just two hits—such strength was already that of a pure monster.
“Go into the rooms and gather anything that can serve as a weapon,” Shao Lan said. How long the security door could hold was an unknown, so they had to leave themselves a backup plan.
Jiang Mingran found a mop in the bathroom and bound a sharp kitchen knife to its end, turning it into a makeshift spear.
“Remember the principle: do not confront head-on, prioritize stalling for time,” Shao Lan instructed. “Her strength is terrifyingly monstrous, but her speed isn’t particularly fast. We just need to hold out until the police arrive.”
“Shall we heat a pot of oil?” Uncle Bing suggested softly. “If she breaks through the door, we can pour it on her.”
The older generation has its own wisdom, and Shao Lan nodded, lifting the lid of the pot on the stove.
Inside was a pot of traditional Chinese medicine, bubbling and popping, emitting an indescribable, unpleasant odor.
Uncle Bing, following close behind, happened to see a human finger floating in the dark brown medicinal soup. He was so startled that his body swayed and he almost fell to the ground; luckily, Jiang Mingran caught him with quick reflexes.
“Uncle Bing, go keep an eye on the activity in the hallway,” Jiang Mingran said. “Brother Lan and I are enough here.”
Knowing he would only be a burden if he stayed, Uncle Bing nodded and left the kitchen.
Shao Lan set the wok to heat oil, while Jiang Mingran tied the boning knife to the mop handle.
The flames flickered slightly, and white smoke began to rise from the oil in the pan.
Shao Lan suddenly asked, “Did you hear any sound?”
“No,” Jiang Mingran replied.
Shao Lan frowned. Perhaps it was just an illusion caused by excessive tension, but he truly felt he had just heard the faint sound of a door opening.
“Brother Lan, don’t be so nervous,” Jiang Mingran said. “We locked the security door from the inside. Even with a key, it can’t be opened. If she forced it, it would make a huge commotion and we’d definitely hear it. Besides, Uncle Bing is keeping watch outside.”
Shao Lan’s expression did not improve. He picked up the wok of hot oil with one hand and walked out of the kitchen: “Grab your knife.”
Puzzled, Jiang Mingran nevertheless picked up his custom weapon and followed.
They were already very familiar with the layout of this old apartment. The kitchen and the security door were at opposite ends, separated by the living room. Walking from the kitchen through the living room to the security door meant passing two bedrooms and a bathroom in succession.
Shao Lan and Jiang Mingran hurried to the security door and saw that it was still securely locked.
“See, Brother Lan, I told you you were just too nervous,” Jiang Mingran breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet Shao Lan’s face grew paler and paler.
Something was wrong.
An intuition deep inside him was screaming frantically, telling him that something was amiss.
“Uncle Bing?” Shao Lan called out in a low voice.
No response.
Jiang Mingran frowned as well. Weren’t they supposed to have Uncle Bing watch the hallway? By all accounts, he should be guarding right next to the security door.
Could it be that he felt unwell from the fright and went back to his bedroom to lie down?
Jiang Mingran swept his gaze across; both bedroom doors were closed, and the entire house was enveloped in silence.
Yet upon closer inspection, it didn’t feel all that quiet. There was a subtle noise that was easy to overlook, but it was actually much louder than before.
Shao Lan’s eyes widened abruptly!
He realized what was wrong!
The sound of the rain! The sound of the rain was much clearer than before!
“Run!”
Shao Lan grabbed Jiang Mingran, unlocked the security door, and rushed out.
At the same time, the curtains swayed, and a tall, bizarre black figure pounced out.
Jiang Mingran felt the blood in his entire body run backward.
The sound of rain had become clearer because… the window had been opened.
The woman hadn’t used the security door; she had emerged from the window of the opposite apartment and climbed over along the exterior wall.
The sound Shao Lan had heard wasn’t a door opening, but a window being opened!
Jiang Mingran was dragged all the way by Shao Lan, charging toward the opposite apartment.
The woman lunged forward.
She stretched her arms wide, her two hands horizontally blocking the entire corridor, and came rushing straight at them.
“Ahhh!” Jiang Mingran turned back and stabbed wildly with his spear.
However, the woman didn’t dodge at all, charging straight ahead right into the tip of the blade.
At that critical juncture, Shao Lan suddenly raised his voice: “The belly!”
He lifted the iron pot and splashed the hot oil toward the woman’s protruding abdomen.
This time, the woman dodged. She used one hand to protect her belly and the other to violently shove Shao Lan away.
Shao Lan went flying, but the half-pot of hot oil in his hands also splashed onto the woman.
The woman’s tall, slender body lost its balance and she tumbled down the stairs.
Taking advantage of this split second, Shao Lan and Jiang Mingran hurriedly rushed into the opposite apartment.
The opposite unit had an outer iron security door and an inner wooden door. To Jiang Mingran’s despair, the lock on the iron door was already broken.
He could only lock the wooden door first.
“Go… go guard the window…” Shao Lan said through clenched teeth.
Only then did Jiang Mingran notice that the right half of Shao Lan’s body was completely stained red with blood, and his right arm hung limply at a strange angle.
Earlier, when the woman retreated, she had merely pushed Shao Lan with her hand, but it felt to Shao Lan as if a solid lead ball had flown at him and crashed heavily into his shoulder.
His right shoulder was clearly fractured, causing piercing pain, and his entire arm could no longer be lifted.
“Go to the window,” Shao Lan gritted his teeth. “her weakness is her abdomen. If she crawls in through the window again, stab her lower belly with the knife.”
Jiang Mingran nodded and headed toward the window with the makeshift spear, but suddenly, knocking sounded from the door outside.
Shao Lan wanted to go take a look, but the blood loss caused his vision to blacken the moment he stood up.
Jiang Mingran hurried over.
The wooden door didn’t have a peephole, but fortunately, the very top section was a pane of glass. Although it was very dirty, he could still dimly see what was outside.
Jiang Mingran hopped up slightly and peered outward through the glass.
The person outside was Uncle Bing; from Jiang Mingran’s angle, he could see his graying hair.
“It’s Uncle Bing,” Jiang Mingran looked at Shao Lan. “Shouldn’t we let Uncle Bing in quickly?”
Shao Lan stared fixedly at the doorway, and a moment later, shook his head.
Jiang Mingran grew anxious.
“Brother Lan, I know you’re cautious, but the murderer isn’t here right now. If we let Uncle Bing in and lock the door immediately, there’s still time!”
Shao Lan didn’t have the strength to speak. He lowered his fingers and pointed toward the floor.
Jiang Mingran followed his gaze downward.
In an instant, goosebumps exploded all over Jiang Mingran’s body.
At the bottom of the wooden door was a pair of red embroidered shoes.