#4
The footsteps grew closer, heavy and unhurried—like a hunter confident his prey wouldn't go anywhere. Yu Ruishu held his breath, eyes fixed on the cloth curtain that was their only barrier from the outside.
Xiao Mei reacted faster. With trained movements, she swept the items from the animal hide into a bag, then grabbed Yu Ruishu's arm. "Down," she whispered.
In the dark corner of the shack, beneath a pile of dry straw, was a nearly invisible panel. Xiao Mei opened it, revealing a narrow hole with the pungent smell of earth and mold. A rotting wooden ladder descended into darkness.
The footsteps outside stopped. A rough voice called: "This shack. That strange child is here."
Yu Ruishu pushed Xiao Mei in first, then followed, pulling the panel closed above their heads just as the shack's curtain was drawn aside. They froze on the ladder, listening to the sounds above.
"Who's there?" the voice echoed in the empty space.
Only the hiss of the night wind seeped through the cracks. The Meat Collector—the man with the scar across his cheek—grunted and left. But the footsteps didn't recede. He lingered outside, seemingly waiting.
Underground, Xiao Mei pulled Yu Ruishu further down. They were in a small chamber filled with roots and stones, but a narrow tunnel stretched into the dark distance. The air was cold and damp.
"This tunnel leads to several other shacks, then out of the walls," Xiao Mei whispered in his ear. "But we can't leave now. He's still outside."
Yu Ruishu nodded. They had to wait. In the meantime, he asked more about the network Xiao Mei had mentioned.
"Before my grandmother died, there were more who cared," Xiao Mei said as she led him down the tunnel with practiced familiarity. "But 'they' became more diligent—catching, threatening. Now… only Si Bisu and Grandmother Liu remain."
They stopped in a small junction chamber. Xiao Mei tapped a pattern on the stone wall. Moments later, a stone shifted, and the dim light of a candle seeped through.
The room beyond was larger. A young man, well-built and perhaps in his early twenties, sat on the floor. His face was innocent, but his eyes were calm and deep. He nodded to Xiao Mei, then appraised Yu Ruishu. In a corner, an elderly woman, almost completely white-haired but with sharp eyes, was weaving something from plant fibers.
"This is him," Xiao Mei said. "He's like us. He has a plan."
Si Bisu—the name given to him because he never spoke—extended his hand. The grip was strong, muscular. Yu Ruishu could feel the latent strength within. Not qi, but raw physical power, likely honed through effort or genetics.
Grandmother Liu lifted her gaze. "You're the new one. Your eyes are sharp, but your body is weak. What can you do?"
"I can calculate," Yu Ruishu replied. "I can see patterns. And I know that if we don't act tonight, they'll take at least two of us."
He explained his observations: hunting patterns, their weaknesses (reliance on fear and passivity, coordination with local thugs, scheduled deliveries), and his plan for a distraction.
"We can't fight. But we can keep them busy," Yu Ruishu said. He drew a simple map in the dirt with a stick. "Stone Block and Mud Block are already tense over rations. Tonight, if there's an 'accident'—for example, a fire at the thugs' warehouse in Mud Block—who would they blame?"
Grandmother Liu frowned. "Stone Block thugs. But it's risky. Fire could spread."
"No need for a big fire. Just smoke and commotion. Si Bisu," he said, looking at the young man, "you're strong. Can you make a loud collapse near their warehouse, then disappear?"
Si Bisu nodded, eyes gleaming. He lifted a large stone from the corner and cracked it easily in his hands.
"Good. Meanwhile, we need rumors. Grandmother Liu, you know many people. Can you spread the word that Stone Block thugs will attack tonight to seize control of the rations?"
Grandmother Liu smiled faintly, showing several missing teeth. "Ah, wordplay. I understand."
"Xiao Mei and I will monitor the Meat Collectors. When the chaos happens, they'll be distracted, or at least local thugs will summon them for backup. That gives us time."
"And after that?" Xiao Mei asked.
"After that, we may have one or two days," Yu Ruishu said, staring at them all. "Time to learn more. About who their 'great lord' in the city is. About where they take the people. And perhaps," he added, "time to find a way to not always just react."
The plan was simple but required precision and courage. They agreed. Si Bisu immediately moved through another tunnel. Grandmother Liu wrapped herself in a blanket and went through a different secret passage toward Stone Block.
Yu Ruishu and Xiao Mei returned to the junction near their shack. From a hidden peephole in the wall, they could see outside.
The Scarred Man still stood there, along with two other Meat Collectors. They appeared to be talking to the local thug—Lao Liu, a stocky man with a fierce face.
"We need three tonight," the Scarred Man said. "Fresh. The boss upstairs is in a hurry."
Lao Liu scratched his head. "Hard. People are already wary. The sick were gone this morning."
"We'll pay extra. But it must be tonight."
Their insistence was clear. Time was shrinking.
Then, as planned, a loud rumble shook the ground, followed by shouts and cracking noises from the Rat Nest. Smoke began to rise.
"What's going on?!" Lao Liu shouted.
One of his subordinates ran, face pale. "Boss! Our warehouse… part of it collapsed! Some say an attack from Stone Block!"
Chaos erupted immediately. Lao Liu's thugs scrambled, grabbing sticks and knives. The Scarred Man and his two men frowned, displeased.
"Your problem," the Scarred Man said coldly. "We still need the supply."
"But look at this! I need my men to guard territory!" Lao Liu protested.
As they argued, other shouts began elsewhere. "Stone Block is attacking!" "Protect our rations!"
Those were Grandmother Liu and others spreading panic. The effect was immediate. Some residents, normally passive out of fear of losing their only rations, began arming themselves with wood and stones. The minor uproar escalated into a tense crowd ready to explode at any moment.
The Scarred Man cursed. The situation was out of control. If a major riot broke out, the city guards' attention would be drawn—and that was bad for their covert operations.
"Let's go," he muttered to his men. "Too noisy tonight. We'll return tomorrow. But make sure our targets don't escape."
They glanced once at Xiao Mei's shack, then slipped into the darkness, leaving Lao Liu trying to calm the chaos.
In the tunnel, Yu Ruishu exhaled. The plan had worked—but only for tonight.
"What did he mean by 'make sure our targets don't escape'?" Xiao Mei whispered.
Yu Ruishu sensed something was off. "They'll be watching. Or worse, leaving guards behind."
They waited until the uproar subsided—Lao Liu had calmed the crowd with promises of extra rations, and the Stone Block threat turned out to be just a 'coincidental' collapse. Yet tension still lingered.
As they prepared to leave the tunnel to meet the others, Yu Ruishu noticed something through the peephole. A thin man, unknown to him, sat silently atop a shack across the way. He didn't move, just scanned the area. His clothing was dark, blending with the shadows.
Not a local thug. Nor a usual Meat Collector. A new presence.
"Watch out," Yu Ruishu hissed. "They've left a watcher behind."
Their network had bought them time. But the enemy had adapted. The cat-and-mouse game had grown more complicated. Yu Ruishu began to realize that to truly be safe, they needed not just to hide—but to understand the power they were dealing with, and find a way to cut it off at the source.
That night, in the secret underground chamber, four people who should not have been allied—a transmigrated orphan, a girl who reads signs, a strong silent young man, and an old grandmother who spread rumors—gathered. They survived this night.
But above, a foreign watcher with cold eyes waited. And in the distance, the city tower glowed ever further away, yet ever more threatening.