CHAPTER 103: WHERE IS THE PERSON?

"I frickin’ managed to salvage another batch of huge rocks before you guys arrived," Jing Shu said, a headache forming. Unfortunately, one of the massive rocks had shot into the glass of a vehicle. At the time, she couldn’t get close to the raging fire; otherwise, she would have surely gathered that rock into her space as well.

Now, the car was just a burning frame, but the huge rock inside glowed a conspicuous, fiery red. Of course, there were also skeletons charred to ash—a truly gruesome sight.

How was she going to explain this? She hadn’t had time to completely clean up the scene before so many people arrived.

Jing Shu said seriously, "You might not believe me, but back then I’d moved a lot of rocks to block this corner. Who knows? They probably had too many people in their vehicle, lost control while turning, skidded to the other side, and flipped over. Then they just happened to crash onto the rocks. The rocks smashed the glass, and that’s how they ended up inside the car."

Frowning, the old soldier beside Officer Yang Yang said, "So you’re saying it flipped over first, and *then* the rocks smashed into the window? But from a mechanical perspective, it’s clear the rocks must have smashed in first, leading to..."

He was cut off by Officer Yang Yang. "This strong smell of oil at the scene—was that you?"

Jing Shu shook her head. "You still might not believe me, but I think they must have brought their own gasoline. After the car flipped, the fuel leaked out and caused this horrific incident. I only shot a few of them with my repeating crossbow afterward. Don’t cars in movies always catch fire and explode when they flip over? The same thing happened with these two."

How could she explain where so much gasoline came from? The problem was, she had gotten out of her car empty-handed.

Officer Yang Yang wore a teasing expression. "So, you’re saying this was all a coincidence? You just moved a few rocks to block this spot, then both vehicles flipped, caught fire, exploded, and ultimately, no one survived. Is that what you’re telling me?"

Jing Shu nodded eagerly, like a chicken pecking at grain. "Yes, exactly that kind of coincidence."

Like hell I believe you, Officer Yang Yang thought, smiling outwardly while scoffing internally.

Officer Yang Yang then looked suspiciously at the people beside Jing Shu. "And who are these two?"

Jing Shu was holding a box, her foot pinning a man to the ground. A disheveled young man stood beside her.

"This is Zhang Qiang, Zhetian’s number three. He’s an informant I planted in Zhetian ahead of time," Jing Shu said, nonchalantly placing the black box behind her back.

"Don’t worry, we won’t meddle with your spoils of war. However, I am quite interested in Zhang Qiang..."

"My cousin was captured by Shangguan Jun, Zhetian’s number two. I’m afraid we’ll need to use this guy as a hostage to get her back. Also, I’ll have to trouble you to send some men to help guard our villa. I’m worried they might do something desperate now."

Jing Shu explained this because, although she had been in contact with her grandparents and everything seemed normal at the villa, she was still afraid of a retaliatory strike.

"Okay, this outing wasn’t a loss. Lend me Zhang Qiang for a while."

Jing Shu was truly afraid Officer Yang Yang might kill Zhang Qiang. After some thought, she still hauled Zhang Qiang into the patrol car, with Wang Dazhao at her side. Mr. and Mrs. Jing followed the patrol car in their BYD Song, heading to the location Wang Dazhao had mentioned.

Just as Jing Shu had feared, as soon as they were in the car, Officer Yang Yang took out his long needle, filled it with water, and injected it into the unconscious Zhang Qiang. A satisfied look appeared on Officer Yang Yang’s face; he was planning to intimidate Zhang Qiang a little first.

Zhang Qiang was jolted awake by an agonizing pain. His fresh and old wounds combined to make him a ghastly sight. Wang Dazhao turned his head away. The car fell unusually quiet, as if everyone had grown accustomed to Officer Yang Yang’s sadistic behavior.

Zhang Qiang’s large frame began to writhe like a maggot. Jing Shu felt a surge of irritation; Wang Dazhao had just shared some bad news with her.

"Shangguan Jun is the most sadistic person in Zhetian; he enjoys torturing people more than anything. He also likes to torture them while extracting information. But usually, once he gets what he wants to know, he kills them because he finds it boring—it’s lost its novelty for him."

Jing Shu’s heart sank. What about Wu You’ai? Given her calm and detached nature, someone like her wouldn’t fear death. But whether she could withstand torture was another question entirely. If Wu You’ai died, how could she ever face her grandparents and Third Aunt?

With a kick, she sent Zhang Qiang, who was kneeling, sprawling to the floor. "Stay down!"

With a THUD, Zhang Qiang was knocked out cold.

Everyone else in the car swallowed hard again. The force of that kick was astonishing. Even Officer Yang Yang shot Jing Shu a surprised look. This woman is freakishly strong! She manhandles a two-hundred-plus pound man like he’s a toy!

They soon arrived at Zhetian’s second stronghold, an office building whose construction had long been halted, only a few hundred meters from Ai Family Supermarket.

"Mom, Dad, you both wait here. Officer Yang Yang and I will go in first to check things out," Jing Shu said, thinking her parents wouldn’t be able to handle what they might find inside. She had already braced herself for the worst.

But as long as Wu You’ai was still breathing, she knew she had a way to keep her alive!

She just hoped she wasn’t too late!

At this thought, Jing Shu quickened her pace, dragging Zhang Qiang along. Wang Dazhao had to jog just to keep up.

Officer Yang Yang made several hand signals. "Spread out, cover all the exits."

Upon entering the building, Jing Shu climbed the stairs, dragging Zhang Qiang up to the 4th floor. It was quiet here; no one was around.

"Strange. There should have been guards at the entrance, and definitely people inside," Wang Dazhao said with a frown. "Could they have known things went south and cleared out already? No, that can’t be right. The incident happened less than an hour ago."

"If they’ve already left, that’s even more troublesome. We don’t know if they took any hostages," Jing Shu said as she passed the first doorway. Wang Dazhao shone his flashlight inside, revealing a body lying on its side on the floor, covered with countless knife wounds.

"He’s Liu from the residential complex. Wasn’t he supposed to be guarding Qian Duoduo with another guy? How did he end up here?"

Jing Shu hurried to the second doorway. The flashlight beam revealed a person whose limbs had been brutally broken and twisted into a tangled mass. Agony was etched onto their contorted face.

Officer Yang Yang licked his lips, a thrill in his voice. "I never thought I’d find someone even more twisted than I am. I’m really looking forward to meeting this infamous Shangguan Jun."

Reaching the third closed door, Jing Shu kicked it so hard it flew clean off its hinges. The men behind her swallowed hard yet again. The room was empty.

With every empty room they passed, Jing Shu’s heart sank further. Then, she saw an older woman from their residential complex—the same one who had asked her for water during the first distribution. Now, the woman lay submerged in a pool of dark green, polluted water.

When the flashlight beam hit her, they could see countless rotten corpse insects voraciously devouring the body, crawling into her eyes and out of her nostrils. The woman had clearly been soaking for several hours; her body was swollen and had begun to bloat grotesquely.