RIACMET chapter 36

 

“Now that all the superpowered individuals in the Western District have reported their abilities, I’ll check them out tomorrow…”

Cheng Jing laced his fingers together, resting his chin on them, as he spoke. He looked much more relaxed now.

The unknown is always the most frightening. Now that he had a lead, however, the inexplicable pressure weighing on his heart had finally lifted. What troubled him most was the fear of not understanding the full situation while moving around with Jiang Nian.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to figure it out.”

Jiang Nian shook his head lazily as he grabbed the rest of his snacks and started eating.

“Superpowers can be hidden—just like mine. Of course, it’s also possible that the person only reported one attribute to mislead others. But I’d prefer to think they’re just a normal person hiding it very well.”

Cheng Jing rubbed his brow.

“Either way, I’ll head to the command room tomorrow to speak with Zhou Li and the others. I’ll investigate quietly so we don’t alert the enemy.”

“Alright. I’ll move with you as soon as we find something.”

Jiang Nian looked serious, his eyes glowing as he gazed at his boyfriend. If he dared to refuse again, Jiang Nian would definitely take action and rub his abs until they were bald!

“Okay.”

Three times was the limit. Cheng Jing didn’t dare say no anymore, even though he wasn’t keen on the idea.

Jiang Nian knew he was wavering but pretended not to notice. They’d be fighting side by side more often in the future anyway—Brother Jing would just have to get used to it.

Half an hour later, the serious talk ended and it was time to unwind.

Cheng Jing had no choice but to release his pent-up stress and worry…in bed.

Jiang Nian could clearly feel that Cheng Jing had been intense—even fierce—these past few days. But he couldn’t find a good reason to blame him for it.

The most important thing was that he was enjoying it. It would have felt strange to complain afterward.

It wasn’t really a big deal, though. It was just a sore waist.

…

The next morning, Cheng Jing went to the command room and told Zhou Li and a few others about the speculation he and Jiang Nian had discussed. He asked them not to make the matter public for now.

Zhou Li naturally understood the pros and cons of the situation. After analyzing it in detail, he too felt that their guess was likely close to the truth.

He proposed that they assign the case exclusively to Cheng Jing’s team, with the rest of the team cooperating as needed. He promised that any future resources in the Western District would be prioritized for their use.

Cheng Jing agreed. However, after searching through the entire list of superpowers in the Western District, he found nothing useful, just as Jiang Nian had said.

A whole day went by with barely any progress.

Fortunately, the last two nights had been peaceful.

Just when they found a clue, they hit another dead end. Cheng Jing had seemed distracted while eating for the past two days, feeling as if they had missed something obvious.

It wasn’t until Huang Qian called to say that, aside from the mother and daughter in Room 1805 of Building 13, all the other residents of Jiaheyuan who had not yet been checked had been visited, and no abnormalities had been found.

“Why hasn’t 1805 been checked? It’s been two days.”

Cheng Jing recalled the mother and daughter and their meeting the other day—and suddenly, he had an idea.

“What else? That woman dragged her daughter downstairs early in the morning to wait for her husband. She came down just as we arrived, but she wasn’t home when we came back in the afternoon. We confirmed the door was locked from the outside. Honestly, I’m sick of her!”

Huang Qian sighed and complained.

“I’ll report to you. I’ll wait for her at the command room entrance this afternoon and go home with her.”

“It’s just a mother and daughter, so let it —”

Jiang Nian responded casually after overhearing the conversation since the hands-free function was on, but he frowned halfway through, as if something had struck him. A few moments later, he picked up the phone and said to Huang Qian,

“Sister Qian, you should take a break. No need to go through the trouble. Brother Jing and I will handle it later. You’ve been running around too much.”

“Waa~ Niannian really is my little cotton-padded jacket. All right, then. I’m hanging up. See you!”

“…”

The busy tone sounded as the call ended. Jiang Nian snapped out of the spell cast by that flirty woman’s voice and let out a helpless sigh.

“Just as expected—beautiful women are even more dangerous when they’re trying to charm someone…”

He set the phone aside and explained to Cheng Jing, who now wore an indescribable expression.

“I have a feeling we need to check out Xiaoya’s home.”

It was hard to explain; it was just a sudden instinct.

The mother and daughter knew the rescue team was searching the entire community, yet they happened to be absent each time the staff came by. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

Even if they were emotionally unstable, this shouldn’t have happened.

Cheng Jing thought for a moment, then said frankly,

“I think something’s wrong with Xiaoya and her mother.”

Though the mother and daughter seemed pitiful and frail, it didn’t stop him from suspecting them.

“…”

Jiang Nian didn’t argue. He had suspicions, too. However, when he recalled the last time he saw them, he couldn’t recall anything overtly strange.

If it hadn’t been for Huang Qian’s call, he might not have thought about them at all.

Seeing his hesitation, Cheng Jing offered his carefully thought-out reasoning.

“You probably felt sympathy for Xiaoya and didn’t realize it. The mother and daughter seemed to react normally that day. But I’ve been thinking about what Xiaoya said to you after she asked for your help and then told you not to come again.”

“…What did Xiaoya say to me?”

Jiang Nian thought back. Xiaoya had only said two things:

“Brother, can you save my dad?”
Then, Brother, please don’t come again.”

The first was when the little girl asked for help. The second was Xiaoya’s cold response when Jiang Nian couldn’t give her the answer she wanted.

Cheng Jing continued:

“Xiaoya’s registration information says she’s 12. Even though she’s skinny, she’s in the fifth or sixth grade, so she should have decent communication and logical skills.”

“She asked if you could save her father? That wording is strange. She knows her father is missing. Normally, someone would say ‘find’ or ‘look for’ him when asking for help. After all, you gave her candy. She wasn’t so scared that she couldn’t think straight.”

“…That makes sense. Xiaoya does seem like a smart kid, but her eyes feel oddly vacant.”

Jiang Nian’s expression shifted as he said that. When looked at from this angle, something was off.

Children tend to speak more directly. Xiaoya’s words were unusual.

Cheng Jing continued his analysis:

“After you refused, she told you not to come again. At the time, I thought she was just a moody kid saying whatever came to mind. But now, it might have been a hint. Her dad didn’t just go missing. She knew what condition he was in. That’s why she asked if you could save him.”

“Yes!”

Jiang Nian lit up suddenly and took over the reasoning.

“Because I couldn’t save her dad, she told me not to come again. Maybe he got infected by a zombie outside, and she and her mom started killing people to feed him. To avoid being discovered, they made sure not to be home whenever the inspection team came.”

It made perfect sense!

Even the “waiting for the husband” routine might have been an act to mislead others.

Or maybe their absence was just an illusion. What if they can teleport? As you said, if they can teleport within familiar areas, they wouldn’t need to use the door. They could lock it from the outside at any time to throw people off.”

After Cheng Jing said that, he met Jiang Nian’s gaze, and they both saw disbelief in each other’s eyes.

The key point was that even though the mother and daughter were right in front of them, they were too easy to overlook.

If Huang Qian or someone else had been just a little lazier—if they had pitied the mother and daughter, checked once or twice, found no response, and moved on without reporting it—who would have suspected them?