CHAPTER 59: VILLA TRAP MAKING

Jing Shu had been looking for an excuse to build more traps. Fortunately, Wu You’ai took the initiative and provided one, saving her a lot of trouble.

"Just traps aren’t enough. What if we come across a group of desperadoes or someone with knives and guns?" Wu You’ai asked, her "middle school syndrome" acting up again.

Jing Shu clapped her hands in agreement. "Exactly, Dad! Think about it. If dozens of people stormed our villa to rob us, that would be bad enough, but what if they started killing? It might not happen, but we must be prepared! It’s better to be safe than sorry."

This naturally scared the family. After all, most people still had food for now. But what would happen if starving individuals saw their well-stocked villa? They immediately began discussing what kind of traps to build.

「The next day」

Jing Shu, Mr. Jing, and Mr. Jing began by setting up a fence around the perimeter of the villa. Then, from the inside of the fence to the villa’s walls, they started digging. They planned to dig a trench two meters deep, covered with pressure-sensitive boards. Anyone stepping onto this area would fall straight in.

The logic was simple: with the fence up, anyone not using the main gate and attempting to climb over was clearly up to no good. They deserved to fall into the pit.

The boards were designed to open one way. When pressure was applied from above, they would give way. Fitted with springs, they would snap back into place instantly after someone fell through, meaning those trapped below couldn’t open them.

Jing Shu wanted to lay spikes to cause more serious harm, crippling intruders so they posed no further threat. However, her family, never having faced ruthless killers, failed to understand the inherent desire for murder and robbery that lurked within such felons. They unanimously agreed that merely trapping enemies was sufficient. Killing was out of the question, as that would lead to jail time.

Jing Shu said no more on the matter. Instead, she secretly planned to add her own ’enhancements’ to the traps once they were built. If she didn’t leave any trespassers half-dead, she wouldn’t be Jing Shu. She deeply resented her family’s naivety.

In her previous life, she would constantly browse forums from within her small home, terrified that her own place would be burglarized and that murders might occur. She would read about how invaders wrought havoc in various neighborhoods. These crazed individuals wielded cleavers and steel pipes, killing and robbing indiscriminately, smashing victims with rocks, and devising all sorts of cruel methods for torture and murder.

Then there were reports of entire regions falling under the control of gangs. These gangs not only looted all the food but also enacted grim movie-like scenarios: slaughtering the men, keeping the women like livestock, and establishing their own brutal dominion.

Everyone believed that in the apocalypse, one could act with impunity. The government was seen as impotent, and it was thought that whoever wielded the greatest force could rule the world. Therefore, Jing Shu truly abhorred such people; they had forced her to live in constant fear for half a year in her previous life.

「Meanwhile」

Mr. Jing bought a sufficient number of composite boards from Old Chen, a refurbishment specialist. Each trap door required two boards, so surrounding the villa would take hundreds of them. Fortunately, prices were currently low, so acquiring them didn’t cost much.

They focused their efforts on the main entrance. Jing Shu’s house was securely enclosed by tempered glass. This inverted triangular glass was difficult to break, and even if shattered, removing an entire panel would require considerable effort.

Therefore, the main entrance was the key point of defense. Jing Shu stated her idea clearly: "The best traps are ones that can be activated manually. For safety, they shouldn’t trigger automatically; we should only arm them when necessary."

Considering safety and confidentiality, Jing Shu quietly shared her ideas only with Mr. Jing and Mr. Jing the next day. Although they thought she was making a big deal out of nothing and being overly alarmist, her persistence eventually won them over. They finally agreed to build her a double-layered trap system.

They installed over twenty tripwire traps around the main entrance. These traps were simple, practical, and relatively safe.

Steel hoops were laid in circles in front of and around the main entrance. Normally, these were inactive; stepping on them felt merely like treading on a rope, and with a little care, one wouldn’t trip. However, once connected to a trigger, a spring mechanism would cause the hoops to snap shut, ensnaring the feet of anyone or anything caught within. This would immobilize them, preventing them from damaging the door or moving. They would become sitting ducks, vulnerable to any attack.

The second line of defense was just inside the main door. The villa’s high ceiling allowed Mr. Jing to install a special mechanism. Jing Shu had made another trip to the zoo to procure three large animal capture nets. Made of 304 stainless steel wire, these nets hung high, suspended from four points near the ceiling. At the press of a button, a net would drop, guaranteed to heavily injure anyone beneath. Each corner of the net was weighted with conical spikes designed to dig into the ground upon impact, ensuring that anyone caught beneath couldn’t easily escape.

Jing Shu lured Subject No.1 to the doorway and ran a few tests to find the optimal position. When she pressed the switch, a large net plummeted down, instantly trapping the fat chicken at the doorway and immobilizing it.

The fat chicken flapped its wings frantically, shedding feathers and screeching. Its strength had increased considerably recently, yet it still couldn’t break free. Jing Shu was satisfied with this result; she only needed the trap to hold for a brief moment.

Jing Shu then used the fat chicken to test other traps, and she was very pleased with the results. However, the experience seemed to have traumatized the fat chicken. It now shivered whenever it passed the doorway and stuck closely to Jing Shu’s heels, terrified of being inexplicably trapped again. The chicken had become much more docile.

Shi Zi and chili powder were also placed in the mechanism above. To these, Jing Shu secretly added many shards of glass and even sulfuric acid. When needed, a press of a button would release this concoction, giving intruders a nasty surprise.

As Jing Shu’s house became more fortified each day with various traps, Mr. Jing and Mr. Jing also added an extra layer of reinforcement to the chicken coop. Jing Shu spent nearly all her remaining money on several tons of coal. After they built a small shed behind the villa to store it, the situation in Wu City continued to deteriorate.

Jing Shu had almost lost track of when the widespread killing and robbing would begin. Amidst her hectic preparations in this life, a reminder popped up in the group chat.

Wang Qiqi No.13: "@everyone, it’s best to carry a club when going out these days, and don’t travel alone. Be especially careful after shopping at the supermarket! Our community’s @Wind No.3 was robbed by several people today. He resisted fiercely and was seriously injured. Hospitals are running low on medical supplies, so he can only try to tough it out. In this hot weather, wounds get infected easily, so it’s best to avoid injury or illness."

Wind No.3: "Those sons of bitches! They can’t be bothered to queue for food, so they just lurk outside the supermarket, targeting solitary people like us. They don’t dare rob inside the supermarket because of the police, but as soon as we leave, they rob us in broad daylight! I yelled for help, but it was useless. I reported it to the police, but if there are no casualties, they just log it and do nothing. Damn it! Things are getting more and more out of control!"

Wang Xue Mei No.2: "Luckily, I went to queue at 4 a.m. I didn’t manage to buy anything, so I just came back."

Wang Cuihua (Voice Message): "You think that’s bad? I queued for two days just to buy one kilogram of rice!"