Zhang Fei, the one who always conformed to the norms of society, was the first to be awakened by the cold.

He slept on the bottom bunk ¹ , and when he woke up, the water had completely soaked his back. With a gasp, he sat upright and realized the water was already at mid-calf level. He lifted his head to see a continuous, pearl-necklace-like trickling of water dripping from the ceiling.

“HEY! Wake up, guys! There’s a leak in the ceiling! Elder! Come and take a look at this! How did this happen?!” Zhang Fei shouted while running outside with his things carried in his hands.

Bai Wu did a kip-up looked and around in a daze. The dripping became increasingly intense as if spurred by the just awakened Bai Wu. It was pouring down in a continuous stream!

“Everyone! Wake up! Leave this place now! Something’s not right!” Bai Wu urged as he tried to wake the others up.

For some reason, Bai Wu’s bed was completely dry and seemed completely unaffected. Unaware of what was happening, Xu Lan was woken up by all that noise. Puzzled, he got up and saw people rushing for the exit.

“Bai Wu, what’s going on?” Xu Lan asked.

“No time to explain. Papa, come down from the bed. We have to get out of here!”

Bai Wu replied whilst carrying stuff out of the house. At that point, water started dripping on Xu Lan’s head. Moments ago, the blanket was warm and cozy, but it had become so saturated that water could be wrung out of it. Xu Lan, who was confused and soaked like a drowned rat, got down from the bed in a flurry.

“F*ck this!”

The worn-out iron bed frame became wobbly and wet after a whole night of soaking. In Xu Lan’s moment of anxiousness, he slipped, causing both bed and person to collapse.

With one hand, Bai Wu held the bed; with the other he caught Xu Lan. “Are you okay?” Bai Wu asked.

Fortunately for Xu Lan, Bai Wu reacted quickly. If not for his nimbleness, the bed would have crashed onto Xu Lan. When Bai Wu thought about that, his thick eyebrows were knit in a frown as he gave Xu Lan a deathly stare.

“I’m okay. I’m okay. F*ck! What kind of sick f*cking joke is this?!” Xu Lan struggled for a bit and stood in the knee-deep water and with a thud, he bumped onto the leg of the iron bed frame.

“Mm, let’s go. We’ve got most of the things. Everyone, go out together and don’t get left behind!” Finally, it was Bai Wu’s turn to take his own bag from the bed, as he urged the rest of them to head out quickly.

As if things were not odd enough, the outside of the house was tranquil and silent, with the round moon high up in the sky. It was a far cry from the knee-deep water inside. More than twenty people stood outside the hostel. They were all afraid to even let out a sigh of relief after seeing what happened.

“Check if anyone’s not down here yet and whether anything’s missing!” Bai Wu ordered as he did a headcount.

“Sheng Ya’s still at the third floor. I’ll go take a look.” Xu Lan began to panic and could not help but exclaim when he noticed the absence of the sole diminutive damsel of their group.

“Sheng…”

“KYAAAA!” A dreadful scream resonated from the third floor. Who else could it be except for Sheng Ya?

Xu Lan began running without the slightest hesitation. Saving lives was his duty as a cop and it was etched in his bones. It did not require much thought since it was pure instinct.

“Stay where you are!” Bai Wu ran over and held him. “You stay here. I’ll go!”

Bai Wu’s once languid and sensual voice became firmly resolute as he grabbed Xu Lan’s hand. His steeliness was expressed even in the grasping. After finishing his words, he left before Xu Lan could respond, and rushed up to the building.

“Bai Wu! Save me!”

Sheng Ya’s flirtatious yet frightful voice rang through the silent night. Knowing absolutely nothing of what was happening inside, Xu Lan paced back and forth outside the hostel.

Why did such a thing happen that night? Niu Si never mentioned anything like that! Xu Lan placed his hands in his pants pocket and the little details of Darkwater Town floated through his mind like a whirlwind.

“Elder, are you alright?” Someone asked suddenly.

Xu Lan stopped pacing and looked at the hostel; his hands grasped tight at the handkerchief inside his pants pocket.