Chapter 44、Trusting Only This

Yi Bai remained on the rooftop, his eyes following Jiang Xiaoci as she led the women downstairs, heading toward the perimeter wall.

Though Yi Bai's neighborhood was old and run-down, it was spacious, with large gaps between each building. The surrounding wall enclosed the area, creating a secluded space that was free from disturbances.

For convenience, however, there were simple iron gates on all four sides of the wall, which could only be opened from the inside.

Jiang Xiaoci moved without hesitation, heading straight to the spot where the three women were. She unlocked the gate and led a few women outside.

"Xiao Chen! Xiao Chen!"

At Jiang Xiaoci's signal, Li Jie called out loudly, ensuring the three women heard her from a distance. They turned in unison.

"My God, it really is you three!"

Li Jie's face lit up with surprise as she rushed forward, grabbing one of the women by the hand. "Where have you been? After that night, we searched everywhere for you."

"Thank God! It's a miracle you're all back alive."

Li Jie didn't give them a chance to refuse and pulled them toward Jiang Xiaoci.

"Miss Jiang, these three are the ones I told you about—the ones who disappeared at the subway station."

"I'm so relieved they've come back alive!" Li Jie exclaimed.

Jiang Xiaoci appraised them coolly.

The three girls were in tattered clothes, their bodies marked with bruises from abuse. Fear was etched across their faces, and they reeked of a sour, unpleasant odor.

Li Jie gestured toward them. "Go on, greet Miss Jiang."

The three girls lowered their heads, speaking in unison, "Hello, Miss Jiang."

"Mm."

Jiang Xiaoci nodded, her voice indifferent. "I'm glad you're back, but I'm curious… why did you disappear at the subway station?"

"We… we were really hungry, so we went out to find something to eat," one of the girls explained, her eyes downcast. She didn't seem to be lying.

"Is that so?" Jiang Xiaoci's smile didn't quite reach her eyes as she studied them. "Li Jie mentioned you left with food, enough for two days. Did you really run out after just one night?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you a big eater?"

"Ah… yes, yes, I have a big appetite," the girl stammered, clearly nervous. She quickly added, "I'm sorry, Miss Jiang. I got a bit anxious there."

At this point, even Li Jie and the other women could sense something was off with the three girls.

Li Jie looked helpless, but said nothing, glancing nervously at Jiang Xiaoci.

"Mm."

Jiang Xiaoci nodded and asked bluntly, "Since you're back, I assume you don't plan on leaving again?"

"No… no, we don't plan to," the girl replied, her head still lowered, avoiding Jiang Xiaoci's gaze.

"Open the gate."

Without another word, Jiang Xiaoci waved for the women inside to open the iron gate. "New friends have arrived."

The iron gate creaked open slowly, and Jiang Xiaoci led the women inside.

Outside, near the bushes between two buildings, two men crouched, holding kitchen knives. They squinted as they watched the women return to the shelter.

"They're in. Looks like there's something good in there."

One of the men licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with a predatory hunger. "This place is full of women. That one in the cheongsam… she's stunning. If I could just touch her… even if it shortens my life, it'd be worth it."

"I don't know… this place seems a bit odd. Does this old neighborhood usually have such walls?"

The other man muttered, unease in his voice. "This place looks like a fortress. Could be more trouble than it's worth."

"What should we do? Those three women are already out. Should we just let them go?"

The first man hesitated, then clenched his teeth. "The three women said the leader of this place was killed by another guy. That killer probably earned a lot of points and used them to build these walls."

"We should report back to the boss. If we bring more people and gear, we won't be at a disadvantage. Besides, we have three insiders inside."

"As long as we can take this place, we'll not only have those women, but the walls, too. Everything will be ours."

The two men exchanged a look and decided to retreat, leaving the area to prepare for their next move.

Inside Yi Bai's shelter, the three women entered the building, immediately feeling a rush of cool air that made them shiver.

It was so cold!

Inside, the temperature was a comfortable thirty degrees, and the higher they climbed, the cooler it became.

The drastic temperature difference caused goosebumps to rise on their skin, and they shivered uncontrollably.

"There are plenty of air conditioners here. Be careful not to catch a cold," Li Jie said kindly, handing them some clothes with a smile.

One of the girls was astonished. "Li Jie… Isn't the whole city without power? How is there still air conditioning here?"

"There's power here," Jiang Xiaoci answered flatly, cutting off any further explanation from Li Jie.

"Power…?"

The three girls exchanged surprised glances, shocked by the revelation. In the midst of the city-wide blackout and the scorching heat of the apocalypse, how could this building still have air conditioning? It seemed to be completely unaffected by the crisis.

Is this still the place we stayed at not long ago?

The girls felt confused and disoriented, slipping into silence.

Though they were in a familiar environment, it felt strangely unfamiliar.

Jiang Xiaoci broke the silence, her cold gaze appraising the three women. "Tell me, why did you really come back here?"

"Miss Jiang, they… they might just want to go home," Li Jie interjected, but her voice faltered under Jiang Xiaoci's cold stare.

"Yes, yes, we just want to go home," one of the girls hastily nodded, speaking in a low, timid voice. "We used to live here. Li Jie can vouch for us. After we lost contact, we searched everywhere for you."

"We looked everywhere. When we couldn't find you, we came back here, hoping to get lucky. We didn't expect you to be here."

Before she could finish, Xiao Wang, one of Jiang Xiaoci's women, suddenly cut in, "You're lying!"

"After we left the subway station, we've been searching for you. We almost ran into danger."

"If it weren't for Sister Lin Yue saving us, we wouldn't even know where we are now… With so many women together, we still face danger. How were you three able to stay safe?"

Xiao Wang's eyes locked on the three girls, who became visibly uneasy, unable to meet her gaze. They lowered their heads, falling into a tense silence.

Jiang Xiaoci smiled coldly. "Still not willing to tell the truth? Looks like your lips are sealed."

"Take them to the basement."

Jiang Xiaoci turned and walked away. Xiao Wang moved quickly ahead, prodding the girls with a steel spear. "Move."

"Xiao Wang… We all know each other. There's no need for this."

Li Jie tried to intervene, but Xiao Wang shot her a hard glare. "Li Jie, it's because we've been too soft that we've been taken advantage of."

"Miss Jiang told me that women need to be tougher than men to survive in this world."

Xiao Wang turned back, her voice sharp. "Move it!"

With the spear digging into their backs, the three girls hastily moved forward. They couldn't understand why Xiao Wang, once timid and gentle, now seemed like a completely different person.

Everything around them felt familiar—but so alien at the same time.

In the dim, suffocating basement, the shadows were pushed back by the flickering torchlight.

There was no cool air from air conditioning here—just the stifling heat that clung to the room.

The three women were shoved into the basement, where only a solitary iron bed stood against the wall.

Jiang Xiaoci stood by the bed, her fingers lightly tracing the edges of the cold metal. "Last chance. Why did you come back here?"

They stared at her, confused, silent.

"Hmm…"

Jiang Xiaoci sighed, raising her head. She nodded toward the girl guarding the door. Xiao Wang gave a quick nod. "Miss Jiang, Xiao Zheng will be here soon with the items."

Soon, hurried footsteps echoed from above, and another girl with a ponytail entered the basement, carrying a worn cloth bag.

"Miss Jiang, most of the items are here, though Li Ya said some things she didn't want to make…"

Xiao Zheng handed the bag to Jiang Xiaoci, who nodded absentmindedly. "Mm, understood."

With a sharp motion, Jiang Xiaoci emptied the contents of the bag onto the iron bed. The women holding torches gasped as they took in the items.

Inside the bag were an assortment of tools—handcuffs, bamboo skewers, branding irons, pincers, knives… various types of instruments designed for torture.