Zhang Ping was clearly emotionally unstable. This was a common occurrence, and the academy taught that when facing a Scavenger on the verge of a breakdown, the most important thing was to keep them calm.
"How about this, everyone head back first."
Lu Li glanced at the others. "Nan Yue and Luo Feifei will stay."
Pu Kun was visibly annoyed, as this was a good opportunity to gather clues.
"Why do only the women get to stay!"
Lu Li gave him a warning look. "Anything we find, we'll share in the group chat."
Pu Kun wanted to argue further, but Gu Xiang Kai had already pushed through the crowd to press the elevator button to leave. Seeing this, the others could only follow suit.
Perhaps because those who remained were all women, Zhang Ping's emotions stabilized slightly. After a long silence, she finally opened her door.
"Come in and see for yourselves."
After entering the room, the three of them carefully scanned their surroundings before heading to the bathroom.
The bathroom was now very clean, with the tiles scrubbed to a sparkling shine, but Nan Yue could still faintly smell blood.
"It took me all night to scrub it clean. Who would dare live in there otherwise?"
Zhang Ping sat down in frustration. "Why am I the only one unlucky enough to get a room like this?"
Nan Yue picked up the slip of paper on the coffee table. Once she confirmed that their Tenant Rules were identical, she asked, "Did you encounter your neighbor yesterday?"
Zhang Ping kept rubbing her hands, her face full of complaints. "Yeah, a small, thin woman. I don't even know when she appeared. She kept pestering me, telling me not to touch anything in the room."
"I hadn't seen the Tenant Rules at the time, but she looked crazy. She even said this place was uninhabitable and told me to get out."
Zhang Ping irritably threw down her rag. "Like I didn't know that? But if I don't stay here, where else can I go?"
Nan Yue frowned slightly. "What else happened?"
Zhang Ping gave a cold laugh. "She told me to change rooms and stay next door, saying I absolutely must not stay in this room."
"She's a lunatic."
"Later, seeing that I was ignoring her, she said again that I shouldn't move anything in the room."
Zhang Ping had been busy all night, and she leaned back with exhaustion.
"Leaving aside whether we must listen to every neighbor, I couldn't have followed her advice even if I wanted to."
Nan Yue pondered in silence. Without a doubt, Zhang Ping was the first among them to encounter a problem. This was likely related to her floor choice—in other words, luck.
But Zhang Ping was right. Under yesterday's circumstances, without having seen the Tenant Rules yet, it would have been impossible to follow a neighbor to another room.
"Did you encounter anything in the house?"
Lu Li's words brought Nan Yue back to the present. Zhang Ping's anger hadn't subsided. "I didn't encounter anything at all! The house was just filthy. The previous tenant didn't clean at all before leaving, and everything was a mess. I spent the whole night tidying up."
She didn't encounter anything?
The three exchanged looks. They had assumed Zhang Ping would face some punishment for defying the neighbor's words.
If this was the case, the Scavengers had a high degree of freedom in this mission.
"We already made your portion. Do you want to go get something to eat?"
Seeing that there was nothing more to ask, Nan Yue thought about letting Zhang Ping out for a change of scenery.
Zhang Ping touched her stomach and realized she was indeed hungry. She nodded and left with them.
Nan Yue walked at the back. While the others waited for the elevator, she wandered through the hallway.
The others knew they had to handle their own neighbors, so they didn't want to meddle in other people's business. However, Nan Yue felt that since the clues were likely similar, she might learn more by looking around.
The layout of the 6th floor was similar to the 8th, but two of the rooms were boarded up with wood, looking eerie and ominous.
The remaining one should be Zhang Ping's neighbor's house. Nan Yue saw a thick layer of dust on the floor. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, appearing much filthier than the door next to it.
It certainly fit the personality of the woman who told her not to clean anything...
The elevator arrived, and the four of them filed in. It stopped on the 4th floor, and a man wearing glasses who looked quite timid stepped inside.
"Feifei!"
Upon seeing Luo Feifei among the four, the man greeted her excitedly. Luo Feifei glanced at his disheveled clothes with a hint of disdain, but she still managed a smile.
"We meet again. Off to work?"
Zhao Ming nodded excitedly and stood next to Luo Feifei. He seemed to want to say something to her, but Luo Feifei kept pulling Nan Yue into idle chatter, making it difficult for him to interrupt.
It wasn't until the elevator reached the 1st floor that Zhao Ming regretfully bid farewell to Luo Feifei.
"See you tonight!"
Once Zhao Ming left the apartment, Luo Feifei began to complain.
"What is he? A shut-in? Why does he act like a mouse seeing a cat every time he sees me?"
Nan Yue also felt that the way Zhao Ming looked at Luo Feifei was too direct. It was clearly romantic interest.
In the real world, he might just be a suitor, but in a mission—especially one where they were supposed to satisfy the other party's requests—this boundary was difficult to manage.
"Whatever, he's just a man. I can handle him."
Luo Feifei complained for a while. Thinking that the others' neighbors were even creepier, she felt quite satisfied with Zhao Ming.
"Don't let him in the door tonight," Nan Yue reminded her. Luo Feifei gave a smile. "I know."
Whether she actually took it to heart was another matter.
They all knew that in missions with a countdown, the later it got, the more dangerous it became.
Perhaps the NPCs were restricted by the mission at first, but as time passed, they might start killing.
Therefore, seizing the initial opportunity to explore was almost the first lesson every Scavenger learned at the academy.
When Nan Yue and the others went down, they found that the four male Scavengers were not on the first floor. Lu Li messaged the group about Zhang Ping, and they replied that they had already left the apartment to scout the map.
Nan Yue had the same idea. More importantly, she needed to buy insecticide.
Leaving the apartment, Nan Yue found that the mission map wasn't small. Although this area was remote, there was a small supermarket nearby.
There was even a bus stop five hundred meters across the road. The four men were gone, likely having taken the previous bus.
Nan Yue thought for a moment and walked into the supermarket. The person guarding the store was a plump middle-aged man sitting in a chair, eating potato chips while watching TV.
"Feel free to look around."
He didn't move when a customer arrived, speaking unenthusiastically before continuing to eat.
Nan Yue circled the store, picked up a bottle of insecticide, and placed it on the counter.
"Uncle, I'm ready to pay."
The man's expression improved slightly at the prospect of business. Nan Yue took the opportunity to flash a polite smile. "Uncle, I just moved into Everpeace Apartments. I'll be a frequent customer from now on."
The man's movement to scan the code paused. He looked Nan Yue up and down. "Why did you move there? That building is very ominous."
The man's eyelids twitched. "The people living there are not to be trifled with."
Rate on N.U.
