Note: Telling you in advance in order to avoid confusion (hope this won't spoil anything, hehehe...) The four mysterious people are: heavy-makeup woman/Sister Qing; yellow-haired man; a young man/Brother Trump Card; and Fourth Brother. There are no proper names given, just nicknames, because these characters appear only in this chapter and some chapter in the far future...

Also, be warned, lots of violence in this chapter...

The young man exclaimed loudly and strode into the greenery to pick up the bundle of banknotes. However, he couldn't help but shiver for some reason when his fingertips touched the money. At that moment, an extremely strong chill rapidly invaded his body; it happened in an instant, and it was too quick to be noticed-almost like an illusion.

The woman in heavy-makeup and the yellow-haired man also gathered around to stare at the money in the young man's hand. Only the man called 'Fourth Brother' wasn't impressed, and appeared indifferent as he just toyed with the various kidnapping tools that had fallen.

"Such a thick pile of money? Quick, count how much there is!"

"One, two, three, four... Oh my god! Sister Qing, there's two thousand yuan here!"

"So much! Sure enough, this is a community where only the rich can afford to live in. You can casually pick up money even when just on a stroll!"

"Everyone has a share! Everyone has a share! Two thousand yuan, split between four people, that's exactly five hundred yuan each!"

"Come, this is yours. Ha ha ha ha, it just happens that I've been short of money recently. I haven't even been able to eat rice. I didn't expect to be able to find so much money just by lowering my head! Such good luck today!"

"Brother Trump Card, you are always lucky. You are worthy of being our mascot! Thank you, Brother!"

"Hey? Hey, do you suddenly feel really cold?"

"Achoo! Yes, me too!"

"This community is a bit strange!"

"No kidding! If it wasn't strange, then would all the surveillance cameras be broken? You asked me to destroy the surveillance cameras when I came here the other day. Then, after chatting with the security guard for a while, I found out that the surveillance system had been broken for a long time. And no matter how many times the developer repaired it or changed the entire system, it would still end up breaking within two days!"

"Perhaps there's radiation or the interference of a magnetic field?"

"What fucking magnetic field? It's just evil spirits!"

"Don't argue. Give the money to Fourth Brother. Not handing over his share, do you want to swallow it up alone?"

"That's not it! I just want to count it again. Fourth Brother, here, this is your share."

The man, who was using a cloth to wipe a saber knife, finally glanced up at the young man and said coldly, "I don't want it, just take it and divide it among yourselves."

"Really? Fourth Brother is really generous!" The young man withdrew his hand happily, but the money was quickly snached away by Sister Qing.

The women spoke with a red face, "Fourth Brother, if you want it, you can take it, we are not that sort of money-grubbers. Didn't you say this before -to enjoy happiness and wealth together?If you haven't given us this idea, we wouldn't have discovered such a way money." Her hands moved to put the money into Fourth Brother's trouser pockets.

Even though there was a layer of cloth separating the money from his body, Fourth Brother was still momentarily shocked by the sudden chilly air that seemed to be radiating from it. His heart jumped and he hurriedly spoke, "Okay, don't dawdle any more, pick up the backpack, then let's go to Building 1 again."

"Didn't you see it just now? The light on the 18th floor isn't on. Fan Jialuo shouldn't have come back yet," The yellow-haired man grumbled unwillingly.

"If he still hasn't come back, let's just break down the door and wait for him inside. Besides, it's better if we get inside the house." Fourth Brother revealed a vicious smile.

The other three had never done such dirty work before, and simply followed his arrangements without complaint. Sister Qing threw the backpack over to the yellow-haired man while complaining, "It's your turn to carry this bag. Fortunately, this old lady didn't get crushed by it just now! Shit, why is it even so heavy!"

The yellow-haired man flung the backpack onto his back. Not long after, the sound of something pulling and tearing apart was heard. One of the bag's zippers had broken, and so the items inside spilled out, falling all over the ground once again.

"How can you be so careless?" Fourth Brother frowned ferociously.

The yellow-haired man repeatedly apologized as he picked up the fallen items in a panic. He wasn't sure why but, even though Fourth Brother was bold, forthright and liked to joke around, he still felt afraid of the other.

Sister Qing and the others rushed to help him gather the items. One of the coils of rope had not been tied up properly, and so was now messily sprawled out. The more they tried to clean up, the more disorderly everything became.

Fourth Brother couldn't stand to watch the farce any longer.

Kicking aside the yellow-haired man, he said impatiently, "Get lost! I'll do it." He untangled the length of rope from beginning to end, then looped it around his wrist.

Sister Qing picked up the saber knife and was about to put it back into the backpack, but suddenly, as if the demons and gods were at work, she instead pulled it out from its scabbard to play with it.

Another man, the one named Brother Trump Card, diligently put back the flashlight, pliers, screwdriver and other items one by one into the backpack, and then rubbing his hands, he whispered, "Is there water in the bag? Why are my hands wet all over?"

"Huh?"

At first, Fourth Brother just glanced at him carelessly when he heard him speak. Then, as if struck by an epiphany, he immediately wanted to straighten up and stand, but his limbs wouldn't obey him and he stumbled dizzily onto Sister Qing. He immediately warned, "No! The bottle containing the ether is broken! We need to leave quickly!"

It was a pity that Fourth Brother had already inhaled so much ether that he no longer had the strength to raise his voice.

Sister Qing couldn't hear what he was saying. She was standing at the spot stupidly while holding the knife, and the sharp point just happened to be pointing right at Fourth Brother's chest, who by then had stumbled into her.

Stab!

With a slight hiss, the knife smoothly entered the flesh.

"Ah... Mmh mmh..." Sister Qing's scream was muffled under Fourth Brother's palm.

"No, this isn't good. The electric baton is broken. It's broken!" Brother Trump Card picked up the black stick, but then his body suddenly shook, as if he was shuddering after being blown by a harsh wind.

"What's the matter with you?" The yellow-haired man went to pat his shoulder and he also shuddered like a fallen leaf assaulted by the wind.

In this dark corner of the rockery, four people fell down in an instant. The woman was scared to tears, but she had to obey Fourth Brother's orders and drag the three men to a place far away from the broken bottle of ether.

One moment, her teeth would be clattering while the next, her mouth would be whimpering-it was like she was experiencing a bout of hysteria. She didn't dare to touch Brother Trump Card and the yellow-haired man, both of whom had been electrocuted.

She could only smash stones at them to avoid direct contact. She didn't know how many times she had pounded the stone on the hand holding the electric baton until its grip finally loosened.

After managing to execute this task, she slumped to the ground. She stared dazedly at her bloodstained hands; then at Fourth Brother who had fainted with a knife sticking out of his chest; and lastly, at the badly injured Brother Trump Card and the yellow-haired man who seemed to show no trace of breathing. She felt extremely scared and desperate.

"I-I killed someone! I won't do it! I'm going home! Wu wu wu..." She held her head as she cried. It was only after wailing for some time that she thought to block her mouth with a clenched fist, because she finally remembered that she had come here to kidnap Fan Jialuo, and could not be discovered by the security guards!

She huddled in the corner and shivered for a while before eventually crawling out from the greenery and returning to their car. Fortunately, the security guards did not dare to walk around the community after midnight, and so her abnormal behavior was not discovered.

She parked the car by the rockery and moved her companions into the car. The three men weighed four or five hundred kilograms all together, which required her to exert a great deal of effort on her end.

She was tired and felt almost paralyzed from finishing such a strenuous task, so she simply cried on the steering wheel for a while before starting the engine and hastening to leave.

There was no doubt that out of all her life experiences thus far, there had been no night worse than tonight. Those helpless screams and panicked attempts at treatment had become deep-rooted fears-ones that she would remember for a lifetime.

The rickety van bumped from east to west and exited the gate of the community.

A long figure slowly emerged from the darkness into a circle of dim yellow light cast by a street lamp, and his gaze followed the direction in which this group had fled. His exceedingly gentle and beautiful face was shining in the night, and there was a playful arc on the corner of the lips. Yes-this was Fan Jialuo.

So long as he desired it, he had the ability to completely conceal himself and retreat into the embrace of the shadows, thus becoming an existence that no one could see. Or, if he so chose, he could be as dazzling as a falling star.

The night breeze gently lifted his soft hair and thin clothes as if to remind him that it was time to sleep. Fan Jialuo retracted his gaze and slowly walked to Building 1. He didn't use the elevator and used the stairs to climb up one floor after another.

It was one or two o'clock, well past midnight, but the building seemed as if it was just waking up. If one listened carefully, the sound of painful groans and weeping could be heard echoing throughout the stairwell, and even the building itself.

On the fourth floor two elderly voices, belonging to a man and a woman, were alternately taunting, "This express delivery is yours?"

"My son works hard outside every day to earn money, and you idly stay at home spending the money. Where did this bitch come from? What broken express delivery is this? I'll burn it for you!"

"You should just die! How dare you to talk back to me! Old lady, bring me my belt. Laozi will kill this damn woman today!"

"Whip her! Hit her hard! Especially that mouth, only rotten things come out from it, tsk!"

"Hey, you dare to run!"

"Oh, my grandson. We are just educating your mother. Go back to your room and be careful not to be hurt by mistake!"

"You're fighting again, can't you keep it down? I'm still playing games with Mai here. How bad will it be if my friend overhears all this... You! You're my mother, but so what? You spend my father's money carelessly, and thus deserve this beating! All that money will be mine! Get lost. You haven't even washed your hair for a few days. It stinks! Can't you dress up more like Aunt Li and use some perfume? Last time my classmates saw you pick me up at school, and they laughed at me so hard. It's shameful to have a mother like you!"

The desperate cries of the woman echoed throughout the floor and gradually faded as Fan Jialuo kept climbing up.

On reaching the seventh floor, a woman's cry was clearly heard again. But this voice was different from that he heard on the fourth floor. It seemed lower, more hoarse and helpless. The man who beat the woman on the seventh floor was silent, and there was no verbal abuse used from the beginning to the end. Only-the sound of fists as they punched flesh and the clang of broken furniture showed that the violence being used here was more cruel than that of the fourth floor.

Fan Jialuo remained calm throughout the entire journey, and his pace never slowed down-it was as if all disturbances in the world had nothing to do with him.

On the fourteenth floor, a man in luxurious clothes was waiting in front of the elevator. When he heard footsteps approaching from the stairwell, he looked over and gave Fan Jialuo a friendly smile.

Fan Jialuo nodded politely and smiled back lightly, but the smile did not reach the depths of his eyes.

When Fan Jialuo reached the 17th floor, he finally stopped. He had only done so because he had seen a thin little boy, who was holding his legs tightly, curled up in a dark corner. He had a pair of clear big black eyes, and his skin was as white as porcelain, but it was covered in numerous scars crisscrossing against each other-making him appear ghastly.

He looked up at Fan Jialuo in horror, then curled inward even more, looking as if he feared taking up too much space in the corridor.

Fan Jialuo turned a blind eye to the scars and didn't ask about his circumstances. Instead, he simply retrieved a beautifully packed sandwich from his backpack and said softly, "Eat."

At Fan Jialuo's words, the little boy instinctually reacted by retracting his head into his arms, just like an ostrich avoiding a beast.

Fan Jialuo inexplicably smiled. He simply placed the sandwich on the steps and continued to climb. It was only after his figure had disappeared completely that the little boy quickly picked up the sandwich, and hurriedly peeled off the wrapping paper to gobble it up.

...