​​Chapter 11​​

I woke up to Tian Tian urgently telling me:

"They killed someone!"

My heart lurched violently. Things were spiraling in a direction I hadn’t anticipated.

Tian Tian looked deeply shaken. I didn’t immediately check the footage. Instead, I went to the kitchen and made her a bowl of wonton soup.

She’d been on night watch and hadn’t rested properly. Witnessing Xu Ningyu and Yuan Jing kill the fat man had pushed her into shock.

I watched Tian Tian eat the wontons in silence, then urged her to go rest in her room.

I opened the camera feed. Xu Ningyu and Yuan Jing sat at their table eating. The amount of supplies visible in their apartment had clearly increased – lots of instant food and drinks. It wasn’t hard to guess they’d come from the fat man next door.

I fast-forwarded through the footage from last night until now. A sense of unease settled over me.

Because the fat man had brought so little yesterday, Xu Ningyu had immediately unleashed a vicious beating on Yuan Jing once he left. Yuan Jing covered her head with her arms, curling into a ball and pleading.

Just before Xu Ningyu could land another blow, Yuan Jing screamed: "Do you want a lot of food?"

Xu Ningyu paused. Yuan Jing laid out her plan in detail.

"That’s murder! It’s illegal!"

Yuan Jing seemed prepared for this objection: "Look outside! Who cares about illegal now?"

"Besides, only the two of us know. Even if this nightmare ends, no cop will ever come knocking."

Yuan Jing’s argument convinced Xu Ningyu. When the fat man arrived this morning, Xu Ningyu went to the kitchen and returned with a meat cleaver.

He hacked at the naked fat man sprawled over Yuan Jing more than a dozen times, until the man lay completely still, devoid of life.

The bloody, mangled scene was sickening. Xu Ningyu’s state was terrifying – eyes wide, almost unhinged. He stopped Yuan Jing when she tried to drag the corpse outside to dispose of it.

His next actions made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.