Mysterious Organization

Compared to transmigrating to Prison No. 18, Qing Chen felt that tonight was more like a true crisis.

He had no way of knowing who they were or what they wanted.

They had merely become suspicious of him, yet they had already started tailing and tracking him. The feeling was terrible.

It was as if he had charged headfirst out of the greenhouse that was school and into a world where real beasts roamed.

Or perhaps this was what the world had always truly been like.

The night was pitch-dark. Qing Chen moved through the landscaping, using the towering plane trees lining the road to conceal his movements.

That nerve-racking sensation of adrenaline surging and his heart pounding wildly did not fade until he had circled around for who knew how far.

When he returned to his home on Xingshu Road, Qing Chen even sat in the shadows for half an hour. Only after confirming that no one was following him did he decide to go inside.

The crisp autumn air had grown colder, yet the clothes on his back were already soaked through.

As he walked, Qing Chen took out his phone and searched for the gaming streamer He Xiaoxiao, wanting to see whether he had posted any new guides.

However, He Xiaoxiao, who had said he would give another overview of the "Inner World" tonight, had disappeared.

Fans asked in the comments why he had not gone live yet, but He Xiaoxiao did not respond.

Could this streamer have been taken away by a mysterious organization as well? How many such mysterious organizations were there across the country?

Qing Chen could not be sure.

Suddenly, sirens sounded outside the residential complex, and police cars drove straight inside.

Frowning, Qing Chen followed them. One police car stopped right at the entrance to his building, while a woman's sobs and a man's screams came from the second floor.

By then, all the neighbors had come out. Residents from the other buildings had formed a circle downstairs, and Qing Chen hid among the crowd and watched silently.

"What happened? What's going on?" an old man asked in confusion.

"Isn't there a man in this building who beats his wife all the time?" A middle-aged woman held a child in her arms and swayed as she spoke. "That woman was beaten badly enough to end up in the hospital before, but that man never changed. Later, when she wanted a divorce, he beat her again. He even said that if she dared divorce him, he would kill her whole family."

"So what happened today?" someone asked doubtfully. "Don't tell me that man beat the woman half to death? But why does it sound like the man is the one in trouble?"

"You got it right," the woman said. "I was just about to go upstairs and break up the fight, but I found that this time, the woman was the one beating the man."

"What?" someone exclaimed in shock.

"That man came home drunk again tonight and wanted to beat his wife. But guess what? You all heard about so many people transmigrating today, right? His wife seems to have come back from transmigrating too," the woman said with relish. "At first, she was still getting beaten and did not dare fight back. But later, she was probably pushed over the edge. She struck back and broke that man's leg. The poor little girl in that family is the pitiful one. She's so young, yet she has to suffer through this."

Hearing this, Qing Chen finally relaxed. Honestly, he did not sympathize with that man at all. He even felt a little like laughing.

What could be more pathetic than a man beating his wife?

He could not win.

That family of three lived upstairs from him. Over the past two years, Qing Chen had often seen the woman sitting on the ground downstairs, holding her daughter and crying, whenever he came home after evening self-study.

The woman was nearly thirty and rather pretty. Her husband always believed she was seeing someone else, so he drank heavily and beat her.

Later, Qing Chen learned from the neighbors that whenever the man saw the woman talking to another man, he would go home and beat her.

Now that he had been beaten into uselessness, he had only gotten what he deserved.

By then, the police had already gone upstairs to question them. The man was carried onto the ambulance, his body twisted at odd angles.

Qing Chen took one look and saw that both of the man's arms were bent unnaturally. They were clearly broken.

As the ambulance drove away, the police waved for everyone to disperse.

Qing Chen was about to go home, but as soon as he entered the building, he saw the little girl sitting pitifully outside his door.

"Big brother, my mom told me to come stay at your place for a while, but I knocked and you weren't home," the little girl said tearfully.

The little girl was named Li Tongyun, and this was not the first time she had come to Qing Chen's home to take refuge.

Qing Chen was not the type to meddle in other people's affairs, but once, when the couple upstairs had been arguing, the little girl had been crouching by the stairwell alone and crying.

Qing Chen had just gotten home from evening self-study then. As he was about to walk past her, the man upstairs came out looking for her, and she asked Qing Chen whether she could hide at his home for a while.

In the end, Qing Chen had agreed.

That night, he made soy sauce fried rice for her and played cartoons for her on his phone.

Only after everything had settled down did he send her home.

Later, the woman upstairs learned about it too. Whenever they argued after that, she would send the little girl to Qing Chen's home.

The woman had once felt a little embarrassed and said Qing Chen could send his dirty clothes upstairs for her to wash, but Qing Chen worried that the man upstairs would cause trouble for him, so he did not respond.

At that moment, Qing Chen patted the little girl on the head. "Have you eaten?"

"I had some biscuits, but I'm still a little hungry," Li Tongyun said timidly.

"Come on. I haven't eaten either. I'll make you fried rice." Qing Chen had spent all his savings preparing supplies before, but although he had no money now, his home was overflowing with rice and seasonings. "Once you're full, your mom should be done over there too. Don't be afraid. Your dad won't be able to beat your mom anymore."

"Can I still come to your home?" Li Tongyun suddenly asked.

"Of course..."

Qing Chen was just about to speak when his expression suddenly changed. He quickly pulled out his keys, opened the door, and dragged Li Tongyun inside as well.

Li Tongyun looked at Qing Chen in confusion. "Big brother, what's wrong?"

He swiftly drew the bedroom curtains, then looked outside through a narrow gap.

"It's nothing. Don't say anything yet," Qing Chen said.

As he spoke, an SUV drove up outside the building.

It was unmistakably one of the vehicles he had seen at Yinrun Central Garden tonight!

They had probably heard that a transmigrator had appeared here and rushed over.

Qing Chen's heart lurched. He had not expected them to react so quickly.

At that moment, two young men jumped out of the vehicle. One wore a black hoodie, while the other wore a gray jacket.

They were unmistakably the two who had followed Qing Chen.

Qing Chen's heartbeat began to accelerate. Did this count as enemies meeting on a narrow road?

The next moment, the young man in the black hoodie looked toward the window where Qing Chen was standing. Qing Chen immediately got up and ducked back.

"What is it?" the black-hoodie man's companion asked.

The man in the black hoodie smiled. "Nothing, just looking around. I keep feeling like someone's watching me, but I'm probably overthinking it. Let's go. We have business upstairs."

Qing Chen was somewhat worried about the woman upstairs.

More precisely, he was worried that if the woman upstairs was taken away, little Li Tongyun would be in a terrible situation.

Her father had been beaten into the hospital, and if her mother was taken away by a mysterious organization too, what would she do afterward?

Ten minutes passed. Before Qing Chen could figure out what to do, the two young men had already come back downstairs.

They got into their car and left without hesitation, but they had not taken Li Tongyun's mother away at all.

What was going on? Qing Chen was completely confused now. Were they not trying to capture all transmigrators?

Gradually, the police cars left as well, and a knock sounded outside his door.

Qing Chen went to open it and found Li Tongyun's mother standing outside. Her hair was disheveled, the corner of her mouth was split, and there was blood on her face.

The woman seemed to realize that she looked rather unpresentable, so she hurriedly tucked her messy hair behind her ear.

She softly said to Qing Chen, "Sorry to trouble you again."

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Thanks to Daoist Yiping and Summer's Little River for becoming Alliance Leaders of this book. Generous bosses—may you enjoy blessings as vast as the Eastern Sea and a lifespan as long as the Southern Mountains!