Chapter 644: Trust
As the victim struggled, his intestines slipped out from the wound, blood spilling everywhere.
“Mom!!!”
Someone picked up his own intestines, pointing at his mother in disbelief—because the one who had stabbed him was his own mother.
Some died on the spot. Others were stabbed in the neck, arterial blood spraying across the floor and walls.
Some were attacked by their own brothers. When they didn’t die immediately, they struck back, stabbing their brothers in turn, and chaos descended into mutual slaughter.
Inside the tearoom, Zhan Lian shielded An Ran and Doll tightly. His brows never relaxed as he watched the chaos unraveling outside.
He turned to Luo Feifan and said, “Feifan, Chen Chaofa started from the edge of the crowd. We’ll regroup later.”
After that, Zhan Lian protected An Ran and Doll, bringing Little Mint with him through the emergency stairwell up to the fourth floor to find Zhao Ru and Liu Shasha, keeping the women together.
“The situation’s too messy. After I leave, don’t open the door for anyone except me.” Zhan Lian gave his warning seriously.
An Ran sat on the bed holding Doll while he crouched in front of her, resting one knee against the floor. In the fifth-floor hotel room, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, then kissed Doll’s forehead before looking at her gravely again.
“Once I walk out that door, remember—don’t open it for anyone. You’re all women here; no one will need your help.”
An Ran nodded and placed a small green leaf in his palm.
Zhan Lian looked down, understood her meaning, and closed his hand around it with a faint smile before standing up and leaving the room.
The fifth-floor corridor was covered with green vines. Some people hid inside their rooms, too afraid to come out. On the fourth floor, several injured survivors lay in the conference room.
Liu Shasha had saved them using her healing-type ability, but they too had locked their doors tight, unwilling to open them for anyone again.
Once Zhan Lian left, An Ran gently laid Doll on the bed and covered her with a blanket. Then she rose and locked the door.
When she turned around, Zhao Ru stood there, worry written all over her face. “An Ran, what’s happening downstairs?”
“It’s chaos,” An Ran said quietly.
She knew exactly how bad it was. People were killing each other—friends, neighbors, even family. Some were under Chen Chaofa’s control, but others… others were simply taking the opportunity to settle old grudges.
Petty conflicts and long-held resentment—all bursting out at once. They could always blame Chen Chaofa afterward, say they’d been controlled by the invisible man.
At times like this, human hearts were the most frightening thing of all.
“It’s horrible, just horrible…” Liu Shasha said, face pale as she hugged her arms and sat on the edge of the bed. “Can’t they show each other even a little trust? What if those people really were being controlled by Chen Chaofa?”
Zhao Ru sat at the vanity, her face clouded with sorrow. “Trust,” she said quietly, “is far too precious in human hearts. Especially in the apocalypse—no one can truly trust anyone.”