At first, I had intended to follow them and check things out, but seeing how flustered and panicked they were as they left, I knew that even if I did follow, I wouldn't get the chance to see the baby anyway.
So I simply stopped in my tracks.
After standing there thinking for a while, I turned and walked toward Building No. 6.
I can't even handle my own problems right now—what business do I have meddling in someone else's?
That said, the reason I was able to sense something was off just now was really because that young couple was far too clumsy.
If we had simply passed each other with just a glance and a polite smile, I definitely wouldn't have noticed anything.
But the problem started there.
Maybe they mistook the way I looked at them earlier as suspicion, so the girl purposely came over to chat, trying to act familiar and divert my attention away from the baby.
Many clever people end up outsmarting themselves—let alone these two foolishly naive young parents.
What's more… that child didn't move even once the entire time.
Not even a single sound.
And it was wrapped up so tightly, its head was practically buried under the blanket.
If you ask me whether I think that child is fine, there's absolutely no way I'd believe it.
I ended up chatting with Uncle Gazi for quite a while, and by the time I returned to the stairwell, the entire building was eerily quiet.
It seemed I had completely missed lunch.
But it didn't really matter—I'd just find something to eat later.
Ever since the world turned into this mess and we left home, we hadn't had a proper meal anyway.
As I entered the lobby, the first thing I saw were the two elevators.
As mentioned before, they no longer worked—there was no electricity here.
I figured the power had probably already been cut while we were still wandering outside.
I passed the elevators and headed for the staircase in the corner.
As I walked up the stairs, my mind was still preoccupied with that young couple and their baby.
What exactly had happened to the child that made them wrap it up so tightly, not wanting anyone to see?
I suddenly stopped mid-step.
Something wasn't right!
If something had happened to the baby, and they didn't want anyone to see it, then why bring the child outside at all?
If they really wanted to hide it, why risk carrying it around, only to wrap it up completely?
That didn't make sense—it was contradictory.
I turned around and glanced back at the lobby beyond the stairwell.
A bold guess slowly began to take shape in my mind…
They must have had a reason—something urgent enough to risk danger just to bring the baby out.
It definitely wasn't just for a casual stroll in the park.
And the direction they were headed in… there wasn't anything special over there.
Which could only mean one thing—
They were going to see someone.
Someone who lived in that direction.
The only person in the entire shelter who lived alone over in that direction...
Just as I was completely absorbed in my own speculation, a sudden loud banging on a door from the second floor jolted me out of my drifting thoughts and snapped me back to my senses.
Realizing what it was, I quickly looked up toward the staircase.
The sound had come from the second floor!
Rongrong?!
My heart tightened, and I immediately rushed up the stairs.
Rongrong was locked in the room at the very end of the second floor.
When I reached the floor, I saw that the two people guarding her had already been switched out.
Unlike earlier, when they had stood calmly by the door, they were now both holding guns and aiming them at the tightly shut door, whispering to each other urgently as if preparing to notify someone about the situation.
The pounding on the door inside continued, mixed with faint sobbing.
All the apartments in this building had reinforced security doors with fairly good sound insulation.
So the fact that I could hear Rongrong crying from outside meant she had to be screaming at the top of her lungs.
The two guards must have heard my footsteps, because they both turned around and looked at me.
When I saw one of them, I paused slightly in surprise, then gave a small smile and a nod—Nan An...
Nan An nodded back at me as well, then leaned over to whisper something to his companion.
The other man nodded in response and turned to head toward the staircase, presumably to report what was going on.
But I reached out and blocked his path.
"What is it?" the guard asked, clearly confused about why I had suddenly stopped him.
Nan An also looked at me with a puzzled expression.
For a moment, I didn't even know how to explain myself—just had a sudden instinct not to let anyone else see Rongrong in her current state.
I'd heard about Zhao Qiuting's situation later from Shen Feng and the others.
They said she regained some of her sanity that same night and clearly remembered mauling her classmate to death.
Once she became aware of it all, she couldn't handle the truth and immediately fell into an even deeper state of terror.
I figured Rongrong might also start remembering things.
I wanted to use this opportunity—if her mind was clear enough—to see if I could get any information about Yangyang from her.
Looking up at the two of them, I forced a smile and said, "Something this minor isn't worth disturbing Suo Tian. He just fell asleep."
The two of them still looked at me with puzzled expressions.
I quickly glanced at the door that Rongrong was pounding on with loud bangs, silently praying that Suo Tian and the others on the sixth floor wouldn't be disturbed—and more importantly, that Shen Feng on the third floor wouldn't hear it.
If anything had happened to Shen Xue, I had no doubt Shen Feng would come up here, knife in hand, and butcher Rongrong in a fit of rage.
"Boss's sleeping right now?" the black-clad guard I'd blocked clearly didn't believe me.
His question sent a sudden chill through me.
Suo Tian was always resting with his eyes closed on and off—how was I supposed to know if he was really sleeping right now?
I could only awkwardly wave my hand and say, "Sure is. Didn't sleep well last night, probably feeling worn out now."
When the black-clad man heard what I said, his face instantly lit up with an expression of "Ah, so that's how it is."
Nodding with a smile, he said, "Back in special training, the boss was a legend—he could wear out our entire squad. Over forty hours of non-stop training and he didn't even look tired. But now, he's suddenly…"
He trailed off mid-sentence, then turned to glance at Nan An with a suggestive grin.
Nan An's face also twitched into a smile that hadn't fully formed yet.
But when he caught sight of my darkened expression, he quickly raised his fist to cover his mouth and coughed a couple of times to play it off.
Just then, the banging from inside the room suddenly stopped.
The three of us immediately froze and exchanged glances, unsure of what had just happened.
After a long pause, Nan An stepped forward and pressed his ear to the reinforced door.
He listened for a while, then turned back to us and shook his head. "No sound."
My chest tightened.
I quickly asked, "No sound at all? How could that be? Did something happen to the child?"
But the moment the words left my mouth, I realized this was a mistake.
If they got spooked and ran off to fetch Suo Tian or Beard-man to come check, then everything I said earlier would have been for nothing.
Thinking quickly, I relaxed my expression and forced a casual tone.
"Probably just got tired. Little kids wear themselves out easily after crying for a while."
The black-clad man looked at me, then turned to Nan An and asked, "A'Nan, should I go inform the captain?"
Panic surged in my heart.
I quickly started thinking of how to stop him again.
In the end, Nan An glanced at me—whether intentionally or not, I couldn't tell—then shook his head at the other man and said, "The boss gave clear orders: only he's allowed to handle this child. Even if the captain comes, it won't change anything."
The black-clad man hesitated and asked, "But… there's no sound now. What if something happened? You saw her in the village earlier today, didn't you? That little girl wasn't acting normal at all. What if she's… started gnawing on herself or something?"
I almost lashed out and cursed at him right then, but just as the words reached my lips, I stopped to think… it was possible.
Rongrong was still so young, and her mind had clearly been pushed past its limits.
She wasn't thinking straight at all.
Now she was locked alone in a room—and if… well, the man's guess might not be so far-fetched.
And even if it wasn't exactly like he said, there were plenty of other things that could've gone wrong in there…
I quickly turned to Nan An and asked anxiously, "Do you have the key to this room? Open the door and check on her!"
Nan An shook his head. "None of us have keys to the rooms. Only the boss can unlock them."
I stomped my foot in frustration.
With the door locked, I couldn't think of any other options.
Alerting Suo Tian was completely out of the question.
If he found out Rongrong's condition had worsened, he'd probably isolate her completely—and then I'd have no chance of getting any information about Yangyang out of her.
So I hurried forward and pressed my ear to the door, listening for a long while.
After confirming that there really wasn't a single sound coming from inside, my mind began racing, frantically searching for a solution.
But after going through every possibility in my head, I was crushed to realize—I didn't even have the means to open this door and get into the room.
No matter what ideas I came up with, it was all useless in the end.
Just then, a sudden set of footsteps echoed from the third floor above.
My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly turned to look toward the stairwell.
Could the commotion just now have alerted someone upstairs?
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