Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Chapter 31

This instantly aroused Chen Momo’s curiosity. She wanted to test Xu Xiaoka’s true skill level!

"Yay!" Chen Xiaobao clapped his hands from the side. Mommy was going to spar in Taekwondo with Sister Xiao Ka. Xiao Bao had a show to watch!

The tables, chairs, and other items in the living room had already been moved aside. Xu Xiaoka and Chen Momo got into their stances, ready to spar. Before they began, Xu Xiaoka offered plenty of polite pleasantries.

Chen Momo had earned her black belt in Taekwondo back in college. Although her skills had grown rusty over the years following her marriage, self-defense was still not an issue for her.

Chen Xiaobao stood off to the side, looking even more nervous than his mommy and Sister Xiao Ka, who were about to fight.

"Go, Mommy!"

"Go, Sister Xiao Ka!"

After an intense sparring session, Chen Momo smiled. "That’s enough. It’s a tie."

She had used about seventy percent of her Taekwondo skills during the bout. For Xu Xiaoka to fight her to a draw meant the girl’s training was quite solid. It was definitely enough for self-defense in the apocalypse!

Xu Xiaoka wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled. "Sister Momo, you’re better than me. I feel like you were holding back the whole time."

Having tested Xu Xiaoka’s true level, Chen Momo finally felt reassured. The current situation was complex. Only by having a certain degree of self-protection capability could one ensure their own safety. She handed a Swiss Army knife, a paring knife, and a can of pepper spray to Xu Xiaoka. "Keep these. Make sure you carry them with you at all times."

Xu Xiaoka nodded in sheer gratitude. "Got it. Thank you, Sister Momo."

As for Chen Xiaobao, her son was still young, so he could only stay right by the adults’ side without wandering off. However, to prevent any accidents, Chen Momo still gave her son a small Swiss Army knife and taught him how to use it.

At some point, the sound of the door being battered came to a halt. The building also stopped shaking.

Wang Jian Country and Wang Liping went door-to-door, gathering everyone to assemble on the first floor. Chen Momo headed out with her knife. Before leaving, she specifically instructed Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao to stay in the room, not go anywhere, and not open the door no matter who knocked.

Holding Chen Xiaobao’s hand, Xu Xiaoka said, "Don’t worry, Sister Momo. I will definitely take good care of myself and little brother Xiao Bao!"

Chen Momo nodded. Taking both of her knives—one tucked in her pocket, and the Swiss Army knife hidden in her sleeve—she hurried downstairs.

On the first floor, there were only a little over twenty people left. Vigilance and defensiveness were etched on everyone’s faces, and people kept about a meter’s distance from one another.

Wang Liping and Wang Jian Country also carried knives. Chen Momo sharply noticed that Wang Jian Country had a gleaming paring knife tucked into his waistband, completely unsheathed. Meanwhile, Wang Liping held her paring knife in her hand, but it was in a sheath, making it look slightly less intimidating.

After counting heads and waiting for everyone to arrive, Wang Jian Country spoke in a hoarse voice. "A murder occurred in our building today, which I’m sure you all know by now. It happened on the sixteenth floor. The cause was that the families from 1208 and 1603 merged into one household. Both families had three members. When it came to distributing supplies, the residents of 1208 wanted to hoard everything for themselves, leaving the family from 1603 to starve for days. That was what ultimately led to this homicide.

"A total of five people died in this incident. The three members of 1208 were all stabbed to death. The child from 1603 froze to death, and the man also froze to death just now while smashing the building’s entrance door. Only his wife is still alive, but her current physical condition is far from optimistic..."

Chen Momo finally understood the whole story. The male head of household from 1603 was the one who had committed the murders in the hallway—the very same man who had previously wanted to team up with her.

After Chen Momo rejected him, the man from 1603 took his wife and child and formed a new household with the family of three from 1208. At first, the two families agreed to pool all their remaining supplies together, entrusting them to the man from 1208 for unified management and rational distribution. Thus, the man from 1603 handed over all his family’s provisions to the household in 1208.

Who would have thought that upon receiving all the resources, the family from 1208 would go back on their word? Not only did they fail to distribute the supplies evenly as previously agreed, but they also hoarded everything for themselves. Every time they ate, they made the family from 1603 watch from the sidelines, refusing to share a single morsel with them.

The man from 1603 confronted the man from 1208 multiple times to reason with him, only to be met with ruthless mockery and rejection. His child eventually died from starvation and the freezing cold. And so, after enduring abuse for the last time, the man from 1603 finally reached his breaking point. Grabbing a paring knife, he first killed the man from 1208 and his child, then chased the man’s wife out into the hallway and killed her too.

After slaughtering the family of three from 1208, the man from 1603 wielded a hammer and went to the first floor to smash the building’s entrance, hoping to break it open and escape. However, the door was completely sealed shut by the heavy snow. Compounded by the fact that he had been starving for days, he ultimately died of sheer exhaustion while battering the door.

The door didn’t open, but the man had perished. The only survivor was the wife from 1603. But suffering from hunger and cold, and having witnessed her husband commit murder, she was deeply traumatized. She was already in a semi-delirious state and looked as though she wouldn’t last much longer.

After the living quietly listened to Wang Jian Country finish explaining the ins and outs of the incident, someone finally spoke up to ask, "When exactly is the rescue team coming? The blizzard has sealed this building for forty-five days. If this continues, we’re all going to die! Wang Jian Country, you have to give us a definitive answer. Don’t keep stalling!"

With one person taking the lead, the rest suddenly grew agitated.

"That’s right! Wang Jian Country, Wang Liping, as property management, you need to give us an exact time!"

"Are you just going to watch helplessly as we slaughter each other?"

"It’s a dog-eat-dog world now anyway! If the rescue team doesn’t show up, we’ll kill you first! For you to have survived this long, you must have hoarded a lot of supplies in your home!"

The long-suppressed crowd suddenly erupted like a flash flood, screaming themselves hoarse as they directed all their fury at Wang Jian Country and Wang Liping. It was unclear who started the uproar, but they insisted on leading everyone to search Wang Jian Country’s home for goods.

Someone else yelled, "Tie Wang Jian Country up! Make him take us to his place!"

The scene plunged into utter chaos. At this moment, vigilance flickered in everyone’s eyes. It was as if they were no longer fellow survivors facing the blizzard together, but sworn enemies fighting a life-or-death battle.

Seeing this, Wang Jian Country turned pale. He immediately pulled the gleaming paring knife from his waistband and pointed it at the frenzied crowd. "If any of you dare to take a step closer," he bellowed hoarsely, "the knife goes in white and comes out red!"