Chapter 386: Aisha

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and came up with the best suggestion. Lets ask him directly later.

Jiang Baimian deliberated for a few seconds. Lets forget it. What if its a secret religion that cant be known by others? We have to respect the privacy of others.

Shang Jianyaos train of thought had already run off in an unknown direction. He continued, That religions ritual is to whip oneself, drip oneself with candle wax, prick oneself with a needle, and cut oneself with a knife?

Jiang Baimian felt that something was amiss the further he went. Why does it feel strange

Could this be the legendary masochism religion?

She dragged out a long sound and came up with another explanation. Maybe Ugo uses such pain to suppress his biological instincts?

I wonder where he learned these methods

As the two of them discussed, Ugos door creaked open.

Ugo had changed into a linen shirt. His blond hair was very wet, and his face was slightly pale.

The vomit and all kinds of junk on the cement floor in the room had been cleaned up.

Shang Jianyao was just about to speak when Jiang Baimian glared at him, so he forcefully changed the topic. Boss, have you seen a cat that looks like a ghost?

Ugo looked up and coldly replied, Ive never seen a ghost.

Jiang Baimian exhaled silently. Its a mutated creature that has infiltrated the city. We took on a mission and are searching for it and its companions

She roughly described the appearance characteristics of the Slumber Cat and Nightmare Horse.

Ugo shook his head. If I encounter such an obvious aberration, Ill try hunting it.

Then, have you seen a child? He likes to play games and wears tomato scrambled eggs. Oh, you dont know what tomato scrambled eggs are. Its a set of clothes that match red and yellow, Shang Jianyao said.

Ugo looked at him and asked, Is that also a mutated creature?

No, hes my friend. He shouldve come to First City, Shang Jianyao explained sincerely.

Ugo thought for a moment and said, Ive never seen him.

He then answered a few of Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimians questions and didnt mention a word about what had happened in the room.

Jiang Baimian knew when to stop and led Shang Jianyao out of the hotel.

She looked back at the surveillance camera at the door. Ill get Old Ge to flip through the surveillance footage during this period. Itd be good if it captured Slumber Cat, Nightmare Horse, or Xiaochong. Yes, hes the most efficient.

What should we do then? Shang Jianyao asked.

Jiang Baimian pointed in a direction. Go to Patient Zeros home for the recent Heartless epidemic. Patient Zero is always the most special; it often reveals something.

Patient Zero in the recent Heartless disease epidemic was Aisha. She lived on the fourth floor of an apartment at 19 Bar Street.

Her husband was a dockworker, and she didnt have a fixed job. She did clothes, accessories, and certain components to cover some of her familys expenses while taking care of her two children.

In the Green Olive Zone, there were many such non full-time female workers. They were mainly concentrated in the garment industry. As a large number of factories had relatively old production lines and hadnt been modified, many small accessories for clothessuch as flowers of different parts and special buttonsrequired workers to use their hands to complete them.

This wasnt complicated, but the quantity needed was tremendous. For a factory, it wasnt worth it to hire a large group of people just for this. On the one hand, they would receive a fixed salary every month. On the other hand, the next batch of clothes didnt necessarily need such processing. Maybe four to five people could complete it with a machine.

Therefore, the owners of small and medium-sized clothing factories chose to find contractors. The contractors would distribute and pay for the flowers, buttons, and other accessories that needed to be processed per piece, allowing women like Aishawho didnt have a fixed jobto complete them at home.

There were only two things a contractor needed to do. The first was to find a skilled worker to train Aisha and the others before distributing the materials. The second was to pay the gangs a certain fee. Not only could they prevent any damage, but they could also use them to deter the non full-time female employees from selling the materials they had received. The money couldnt be recouped and could only be made up with their lives.

Bar Street wasnt far from Ugo Hotel. Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao only took five minutes to reach their destination and enter Apartment 19.

This place was very humid. Winter was bone-chilling, and it was like a large steamer summer. Fortunately, it wasnt the hottest months yet, so it only made Jiang Baimian feel a little stuffy.

The two of them walked up the mottled stairs to the fourth floor and knocked on Aishas door.

Who is it? A young boys voice sounded from behind the dark-red wooden door with many scratches and peeling spots. His tone revealed undisguised vigilance.

Shang Jianyao replied in all seriousness, Would you believe me if I said that Im here to make friends with you?

No, replied the boy behind the door without hesitation.

Jiang Baimian had already thought of an excuse and smiled gently. We are Ruin Hunters, just like adventurers in stories. We are investigating a strange cat and want to ask if youve seen it.

What kind of cat An even younger girls voice sounded.

The boy quickly interrupted her. Dont talk to strangers. Daddy said that there are bad people outside and that they will sell us! We can only open the door when he returns.

The little girl no longer made a sound.

Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to ask, What about your mother? Isnt she home?

At this moment, she suddenly felt a little guilty and felt that she was digging into the childs wound.

The two children behind the door fell silent for a while before the boy replied, Daddy said that Mommy is sick and went far away. She can only come back after she recovers.

Phew

Jiang Baimian exhaled and prepared to inquire.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao asked on her behalf, Did you see how Mommy became sick?

The boys tone became very depressed. I saw it

Did she fall sick at home? Shang Jianyao asked.

The boy sobbed. No. That day, she went to Auntie Annas house to get flowers for work. She wasnt back by noon, and Sia and I kept waiting for her. We were so hungry Later, we heard voices on the street, so we went to the window and looked out. We then saw Mom. Her eyes were red, and she kept shouting. She was very sick

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao knew of the subsequent developments. Aisha had hurt a few people, avoided the sheriffs pursuit, and was shot to death near Labe Street.

Shang Jianyao asked, Were there those flowers around her?

No, the boy replied before emphasizing, I cant talk to you anymore!

Shang Jianyao took out a few Ralph candies and placed them in the gap at the bottom of the door. Thank you for your answers; this is your payment. This kind of candy will make you have diarrhea. You cant eat too many, or youll get sick.

As he spoke, Jiang Baimian also squatted down and picked up three of the Ralph candies. She shook her head at Shang Jianyao and suppressed her voice. The children here have no resistance to sweets. They will definitely eat too much.

She then smiled at the tightly shut door. Each person only gets one. Dont fight for it.

She stuffed the two Ralph candies in one after another and confirmed that they had been obtained by the boy and girl.

I wont get diarrhea if I lick it a few times, right? the little girl asked innocently.

Im not sure either. Why dont you ask your father when he returns? Jiang Baimian maintained her tone used to speak to children.

The boy acknowledged it a little loudly.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao stood up one after another and left Aishas house.

Jiang Baimian analyzed as she walked down the stairs. From the answer of Aishas son, she shouldve obtained the batch of handmade flowers she needed to make before her illness acted up

This was because Aishas house wasnt far from the subcontractor, Annas house. She didnt walk for more than 15 minutes. Even if one counted the training time, she definitely walked back before her illness acted up. This was also the result of the sheriffs investigation. From the fact that the batch of handmade flowers didnt scatter around her, it was highly likely that she had suddenly contracted the Heartless disease on her return journey.

The sheriff in charge of this matter didnt investigate this clearly. It seemed like he couldnt determine the exact location of Aishas Heartless attack because the batch of handmade flowers had been picked up by passersby.

At this point, Jiang Baimian suddenly turned around and glanced at Aishas door. She sighed and said, After the Heartless disease acted up and turned her into a beast, she still made it all the way here

Shang Jianyao didnt respond.

Jiang Baimian quickly composed herself. Well simulate Aishas route later and see where well pass on the way. Well first visit the residents on the floors below. These were the people Aisha mightve encountered when she left.

Its also possible that its someone from above. They happened to encounter Aisha in the corridor. Shang Jianyao helped perfect the details like he usually did in team discussions.

This time, his thoughts werent that jumpy.

Yes. Jiang Baimian exhaled again. Well pay them a visit as well.

For the next half an hour, they knocked on doors one after another and saw all kinds of residents.

There were Ruin Hunters who had risked their lives in the North Shore wastelands and were injured; a family with a husband who was busy at the factory with his wife and part-time street girl; a temporarily empty room; a couple who had painstakingly entered First City after saving up a sum of supplies and had yet to obtain citizenship while living very arduously; a middle-aged couple who had been sick and had lost their loved ones because they had been drinking untreated water and eating Red River Fish for a long time

Finally, the two things fixed in Jiang Baimians mind were: Narrow, dark stairs; nobody above the age of 50.

Lets go. Jiang Baimian left the apartment first.

She and Shang Jianyao followed Aishas possible route to the subcontractor, Annas home. Along the way, they questioned the residents on both sides like official sheriffs, wanting to completely determine where Aisha contracted the disease.

After a patient investigation, the two of them roughly locked onto an area. There were seven to eight-story condominiums here that lined together, making the street cramped.

Jiang Baimian looked up and casually asked Shang Jianyao, What do you have in mind?

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, Wait for a power outage.