Chapter 19: West District Mall

The four people and two dogs descended to the sixth floor, and Lin Buwan noticed that the water level had risen considerably since yesterday. Yesterday, it was only up to their ankles, but today it nearly reached their knees.

There was a silver lining, though: they no longer needed to go to the window and board the inflatable boat—they could simply paddle out directly from inside the building.

“We’ll need to break all the glass later. If the inflatable passes through, it could get scratched, and that wouldn’t be good,” Wei Qu said, pulling a small hammer out of his bag.

“I’ll do it,” Yu Su suddenly spoke, reaching out his hand.

Wei Qu paused for a moment, then handed him the hammer.

All four climbed onto Wei Qu’s inflatable boat, which was larger than Lin Buwan’s. After some deliberation, they decided it was best to all ride together.

They carefully paddled over to the window, and Yu Su knocked away the remaining shards of glass. Wei Qu, ever thorough, rolled up his pant legs and waded into the water, feeling around for any lingering glass below the surface.

It took quite a while before he was sure that all hazards had been eliminated.

Once outside the apartment building, they were surrounded by murky floodwaters. Lin Buwan had ventured out yesterday and was unfazed by the debris bobbing atop the water, but Hua Xiao was wide-eyed with curiosity, gazing everywhere.

Suddenly, she cried out, startling everyone.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Buwan watched her throw herself into Yu Su’s arms, baffled.

“Over there…” Hua Xiao pointed, trembling.

Following her finger, they saw a pale, swollen object undulating with the current.

As it drifted closer, Lin Buwan relaxed, her nerves easing once she realized what it was.

It was just a pig, not a person as she had feared.

“It’s only a dead pig, nothing to worry about,” Lin Buwan reassured her.

“Really?” Hua Xiao, hearing this, lifted her head from her boyfriend’s embrace and cautiously turned to look. She examined it closely, then exhaled deeply.

It had terrified her—she thought it was…

“I wonder how long it’s been dead. Otherwise, we could haul it back and eat it,” Lin Buwan said regretfully.

The other three froze at her words, staring at her in horror.

“That’s a dangerous idea. No matter how long it’s been dead, anything soaked in this water is absolutely unsafe to eat, okay?” Hua Xiao said, nearly losing her composure.

After this brief episode, the mood lightened considerably, and Hua Xiao loosened up.

After paddling for a while, Lin Buwan suddenly remembered something and asked Wei Qu, “Which mall are we heading to, and will there really be supplies?”

“The new one in the west district,” Wei Qu replied, no longer keeping secrets.

“Hasn’t that one still not opened?” Hua Xiao asked in confusion.

It was true—a new mall had been built in the west district, but it hadn’t even begun trial operations.

Would there really be supplies?

“It’s not open, but the facilities are basically complete, and the warehouses are well-stocked. They planned to start trial operations in half a month, but who could have predicted this…”

Lin Buwan’s eyes lit up immediately. If Wei Qu was right, the supplies inside would be untouched.

At the very least, the items in the warehouse wouldn’t have been soaked. If they could make it there, they wouldn’t have to worry about supplies for a long time.

Most importantly, malls like this were never short on jewelry stores, and the stockrooms would have plenty of goods. If she could gather them all, her storage space could expand significantly.

The thought made Lin Buwan a bit excited—she wished she could fly there instantly.

But, unfortunately, they were still drifting atop the water, and even with two people paddling, the boat couldn’t move quickly.

After a long while, they finally caught sight of the faint outline of their destination.

“It’s so far—probably no one else could make it here except us,” Yu Su said, pausing to catch his breath.

“Even if they wanted to, they’d need the right equipment,” Wei Qu replied.

He was right—many people were likely eyeing this place, but few households owned tools like inflatable boats.

As they approached the mall, Lin Buwan discovered a new problem: there was no clear way inside.

The perimeter was ringed with aluminum cladding, like a fortress, and even finding a window to enter was difficult.

“We’ll need to climb up. There should be a skylight at the top—we can enter from there,” Wei Qu said, gazing at the roof of the mall.

“How are we supposed to climb that? Isn’t it a bit much?” Hua Xiao protested, her face pale.

It was enough to drive anyone mad—first the fright upon leaving, then drifting so far, and now having to scale a building?

Was Lin Buwan deliberately tormenting her?

Lin Buwan, unaware of Hua Xiao’s thoughts, remained calm.

This height was nothing. For the sake of supplies, if they couldn’t overcome this obstacle, they might as well give up now.

“I can do it,” Wei Qu said, breaking the heavy atmosphere.

Everyone turned to him. He was serious—“I’ll go up first, find something sturdy to secure a rope, and then pull you all up.”

“Is that safe?” Hua Xiao and Yu Su exchanged worried glances.

“It’s the only option. Let’s try,” Lin Buwan interrupted Hua Xiao’s doubts.

Any further delay would eat up precious time.

They’d already spent a lot getting here; it was nearly midday. If they wasted more time, who knew when they’d get inside.

They couldn’t possibly spend the night here.

With Lin Buwan having made her decision, Hua Xiao couldn’t object any further.

So they watched Wei Qu prepare and begin climbing with his bare hands.

No one knew what Wei Qu did for a living, but he was remarkably agile. He moved quickly, and though he slipped a few times, giving everyone a scare, he made it up without incident.

Soon after, a rope was tossed down from above. Lin Buwan told Hua Xiao to go first, while she brought up the rear.

Hua Xiao wanted to protest, but Lin Buwan shot her a glare.

“Stop complaining—you’re wasting time.” She leaned in and whispered in Hua Xiao’s ear, “Once we’re inside, help me find some gold.”

Hua Xiao stared at her wide-eyed, “Lin Buwan! At a time like this, you’re still thinking about money?”

“Mind your own business. I need it,” Lin Buwan replied, patting her shoulder and urging her to hurry.

Hua Xiao was annoyed by her attitude, but she knew better than to argue further. She clambered up the rope, stumbling along the way.

Next was Yu Su, then the two dogs, and finally Lin Buwan.

Before climbing up, she pried off a piece of aluminum cladding and tied the boat to it with rope, so it wouldn’t drift away.

Once she had climbed up, Hua Xiao and Yu Su had already found an entrance into the mall.

She walked over and peered down—inside was pitch black, and even with flashlights, their visibility was limited.

“Looks like there’s no one inside. Let’s go down, grab supplies, and head back as soon as possible. We shouldn’t waste any more time,” Wei Qu said, stepping down first.