Catching Three Thieves

"Could it be that we were spotted when we were keeping watch the other day?" said the gloomy voice from earlier.

"No way! We were very careful. Sigh, whatever, is this the right place?" another person spoke.

"There's a white shoe cabinet on the tenth floor, and an abandoned pillow on top of it. I just checked, everything matches. The floor number is correct too, and look, this door still has axe marks on it, exactly as that man described." It was the gloomy-pacing man who spoke again.

"We're quite lucky this time. The woman in the adjacent tent happened to know she lives in this residential complex, and someone among the survivors here actually recognizes her. Otherwise, how could we report back to our superiors?" The other person's tone was full of relief.

"Stop talking nonsense and pick the lock already." Rong Xianxian recognized this as a third voice.

"Alright, Brother Liu, you've got your gun ready. Picking locks is our specialty, it'll only take a few seconds."

With a "click," the security door lock opened.

They weren't bragging; these two men used to make a living by jimmying doors and picking locks.

Wang Quirui stood up abruptly, ready to speak, but Xia Kai was quick-witted and clamped a hand right over his mouth.

Wang Quirui sat back down, feeling a bit stifled.

"There are two units here, didn't we ask which one is her home?" one of them muttered quietly.

"Here, there are abandoned women's slippers in the shoe cabinet on this side. Pick the lock, and keep the noise down!" This voice was lowered significantly, sounding a bit nervous.

After all, a woman who dared to venture out of the safe zone alone with children couldn't be ordinary. Their advantage lay in a surprise attack, catching her off guard.

"Click." This time the sound was much quieter.

"Sssh."

"What is this..." The voice was extremely panicked.

"Bang, bang, bang." Three heavy thuds echoed as bodies hit the floor.

Over here, Rong Xianxian put away the talisman paper, which had now lost its dim glow.

***

Wang Quirui blurted out anxiously, "What's going on? Sister Rong, were those three people just now coming to cause trouble for us? They even dared to pick our lock—don't let them get away, let's go over there quickly."

Wang Quirui picked up the whip he had set aside earlier and made to rush out.

"Stop right there. Sister Rong hasn't spoken yet, what are you rushing for? Besides, didn't you hear those bangs? Those people must have already been dealt with by Sister Rong, right, Sister Rong?" Xia Kai grabbed Wang Quirui and pulled him back, flashing a wide smile as he directed the last sentence at Rong Xianxian.

"Jiang Jie and I set up a trap at the doorway, I didn't expect it to be triggered so soon," Rong Xianxian explained.

"Those people came for me. I caused this trouble, so I'll go solve it." From their conversation, Rong Xianxian had gathered that these men were mere underlings. She wondered if she could extract any information from them—information that might relate to the villains who killed her and her two sons in her past life, or perhaps even Ning Qingyun.

"How can that do? What if you run into danger? I'm going with you," Wang Lin was the first to step forward in objection.

Cui Lie, Jiang Jie, and the others also wore disapproving expressions.

Although Rong Xianxian didn't believe Ning Qingyun would send people to assassinate them, the words of Yun Shan from her past life had planted a thorn in her heart. Wang Lin was a member of the Ning family; though he had protected them in the previous life, that was only because they hadn't crossed paths with the Ning family members, sparing him from misfortune.

In this life, she had the strength and wouldn't die prematurely as she had before. The attitudes of the Ning family and Ning Qingyun toward her and her sons remained ambiguous. Wang Lin carried a mission from the Ning family, and Rong Xianxian didn't know what choices he would make if it ever conflicted with his assignment.

These men had first secretly watched them and were now picking locks; they definitely meant malicious harm.

Rong Xianxian's mood soured considerably.

However, the intelligence these men received wasn't entirely accurate. It seemed their methods of gathering information weren't very amicable, as the two people on the tenth floor hadn't told them Rong Xianxian had others with her—or perhaps these three were merely a vanguard.

Rong Xianxian felt somewhat uncertain. What if she walked into a trap, falling for the old trick of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?

With this thought, she no longer insisted on investigating alone.

"Then let's all go together." Rong Xianxian produced two fabric stools equipped with two binding straps. She had specially crafted these stools to be tied around the waist with the straps secured over the shoulders, allowing a child to sit on the stool and hold onto the straps or the adult's clothing, imposing no restriction on either child or adult.

Previously, whenever she went out, she left the two little ones at home, but having just moved in, this place wasn't safe yet. Rong Xianxian didn't feel at ease leaving the two young ones behind, nor would she feel comfortable leaving even one or two people behind to watch them.

Might as well have everyone go check out the situation together.

The courtyard gate lock and the house lock had both been forced open, making it difficult to lock them up properly now. Rong Xianxian instructed the others to prop up the front door with a few wooden poles, then pushed a heavy solid-wood sofa over to wedge against the entrance. The large sofa wedged securely right between the front door and the entryway table.

Because it was a lower floor, the windows on all three levels were fitted with anti-theft grilles.

There were marks on the upper grilles from being struck by monsters. The grilles were of good quality, and prying them open would consume a significant amount of time. In a situation where monsters could appear anywhere at any time, forcing a window open was not a wise choice.

Rong Xianxian strapped one stool to her own back and handed the other to Cui Lie. Although Xuanxuan and Xiaoluo could run quite fast on their own, Rong Xianxian decided to take the basement route. For safety's sake, she and Cui Lie would each carry one child on their backs.

After searching around the utility room, she indeed found a small passageway leading to the basement level. This section had been developed by the same builder as the high-rise zone; when touring the properties, Rong Xianxian had been deeply impressed by the ground-floor design leading to the basement, though she had ultimately chosen the top floor with a loft because she disliked the poor natural lighting on the ground floor.

Circling widely through the second basement level, she found the small door leading from the third basement level to the North District.

"This place underneath is practically a labyrinth," Jiang Jie muttered softly.

"Dark creatures are best at sneak attacks, stay alert," Rong Xianxian reminded them.

"Don't worry, Sister Rong, this vigilance formation is the one we've practiced the most," Wang Quirui said with a hint of excitement.

The group possessed high combat capability and smooth coordination. After beating back a few ambushing monsters, they quickly reached the stairwell of the unit where Rong Xianxian's apartment was located.

"Only the third-floor security door is unlocked. A-Lin, you and A-Rui hide behind that third-floor security door. If you hear anyone approaching, notify me with the sound-transmission talisman. This one is already activated, just speak directly into it." Rong Xianxian was most afraid that the enemy had a main force trailing behind.

"Understood." Wang Lin put away the sound-transmission talisman and slipped behind the third-floor security door.

Rong Xianxian, Cui Lie, and Xia Kai ascended to the 17th floor, checking the other floors along the unit to ensure no enemies were lying in ambush, which slightly eased Rong Xianxian's mind.

The 17th-floor security door remained intact, but its lock had been picked. The lock-picking was done with great skill, leaving no external trace that it had been tampered with; she wondered if it could still be locked.

The three adults and two children stepped lightly onto the 17th floor.

The main door to Rong Xianxian's home was opened halfway, and three men lay sprawled across the threshold, stacked one on top of another.