Deaths in Cent

@tylee

"Ring, ring, ring~"

At 7 AM, the alarm clock rang.

Qin Yu rubbed his temples. These past few days, the eerie knocking on his door at midnight had caused him to sleep lightly, leaving his head aching.

[Ding! Wang Mengting consumed one jianbing and received 100 in return! They have been placed in the portable space.]

A crisp sound echoed in his mind.

Qin Yu frowned slightly and threw the leftover spicy strips from last night into the trash can. They were covered in green mold, with hyphae extending several centimeters, looking as if they had been there for months. But Qin Yu knew he had only opened the package around 9 PM last night.

Silence.

After a few minutes, he casually summoned a steaming jianbing into his hand.

"Too bad it doesn't return money. Otherwise, if that wretched woman spent thousands on a bag, I, her ex-boyfriend, would be flying high."

After a few bites of the jianbing, he hurried downstairs.

As he reached the second floor, Qin Yu's steps slowed, and his pupils contracted. A faint red mist was floating around, engulfing the entire floor.

"The height of this red mist... has increased again."

Taking a deep breath, he held it and slowly walked into the red mist. His face turned red from holding his breath, but after just three minutes, he couldn't help but open his mouth and take deep breaths.

The red mist seemed to find a new outlet, pouring into Qin Yu's expanding lungs. After adjusting for a moment, he found no other abnormalities except a faint sweet smell at the tip of his nose.

Qin Yu's face remained grim. Without saying a word, he pushed his electric scooter, ready to go to work.

"The plants are growing even more vigorously."

The previously neat lawns in the neighborhood had become unusually chaotic. Qin Yu remembered the property management had just trimmed them three days ago, but now, the resilient weeds had grown to waist height. The visibly rapid growth was both shocking and creepy.

He stopped his scooter, took out his phone, and aimed the camera at a newly sprouted weed, zooming in to capture it. In the lens, the tender new shoot grew as if it were on steroids, gaining a centimeter in just a few minutes.

Qin Yu swallowed hard, a trace of fear in his eyes. "This growth rate!"

He glanced around. The entire Yushui Garden community was enveloped in a sea of green. The once-envied greenery now seemed like a monstrous entity.

"I need to find a new place to rent."

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a loud "Duang~" echoed within the community. Two cars had collided. One was a pricey pink Maserati, the other a silver Wuling Hongguang.

In the past few days, the thickening red mist had obstructed visibility, causing several accidents within the community.

"Stupid beggar, can't you see?"

A shrill voice resounded. A heavily made-up woman, wearing a white sun hat and a low-cut, semi-transparent dress, stepped out of the pink Maserati and kicked the Wuling Hongguang's door hard.

[Feng Yan]

[Looks: 4/10 (with makeup, had surgery), Figure: 5/10 (had surgery)]

[Number of relationships: 98][Status: Moderate cervical erosion.]

[Conclusion: Does not meet minimum requirements]

A line of text appeared before Qin Yu's eyes. His phone's video function was still on, capturing the entire car accident scene.

A burly middle-aged man stepped out of the Wuling Hongguang, his face grim. "Hey, look clearly. You rear-ended me, and you think you're in the right?"

The burly man was a renovation worker, currently helping the owner of the 23rd floor of Qin Yu's building renovate their new home. He often used this old Wuling Hongguang to transport materials. Years of hard labor had made him look both dark and robust.

"Dare to talk back, stupid beggar? Look closely, this is a new Maserati. You could never afford it in your lifetime, you loser." The heavily made-up woman, hands on her hips, pointed her claw-like finger at the man's nose and cursed.

The middle-aged man's face reddened. He raised his hand and knocked the woman's finger away, angrily saying, "Yes, I can't afford it. But now you rear-ended me, so it's your fault..."

"Your fault, my ass! Stupid dog!"

The woman screamed and slapped the man across the face. He was stunned, not expecting her to strike him. Instinctively, he slapped back, his carrot-thick fingers landing hard on her face.

"Smack~"

The crisp sound of the slap echoed, causing ripples even in the red mist.

The woman's sun hat flew off, and she stumbled around, spitting out five or six teeth, her face swollen with a bright red handprint.

"Damn, so fierce. No wonder he works in renovations."

Qin Yu gave the middle-aged man a thumbs up. This vile woman had been wreaking havoc in the Yushui Garden community for years. She parked indiscriminately, blocked traffic, and blatantly occupied other residents' parking spaces without moving her car when asked. Such behavior had long incited public anger. If it weren't for her husband, who worked in earth-moving, the community wouldn't have tolerated her this long.

Seeing the heavily made-up woman get hit, many in the community gathered to watch the commotion, pointing and whispering. Finally, someone had put this vile woman in her place.

"You hit me? How dare you hit me!"

"You've turned the world upside down! Do you know what my husband does?"

"You're dead!"

The woman struggled to stand, spitting out blood, and frantically called her husband, screaming, "Honey, I got hit! Come here with some men, quick!"

"That renovation worker is in for it."

The crowd began to sympathize with the middle-aged man. Qin Yu had an idea and rode off on his scooter.

"Hello, Law Enforcement? There's a violent altercation happening in the Yushui Garden community..."

After reporting the incident and sending the video to the authorities, Qin Yu continued on to work.

"Damn red mist, no one comes to the mall anymore!"

At the Hippo Fresh Supermarket, only a few idle employees remained. Qin Yu took out a steak from the freezer to defrost, cutting it into pieces and placing them in the fridge, waiting for customers to buy them.

He worked at Hippo Fresh, cooking steaks. Nearby were stations for steaming seafood, making sushi, and boiling wontons... The small supermarket was like a fresh food market.

But due to the red mist, fewer people had been coming to eat in the past few days.

With some free time, Qin Yu cut a piece of steak and deliberately left it at room temperature. He activated his phone's stopwatch function and started observing.

"Looks like no one's coming today. Let's close early."

After a whole day with only three steaks sold, the other businesses also had poor sales. The day's earnings couldn't even cover the food costs and employee wages. The supervisor, looking worried, waved his hand, signaling everyone to go home early.

"Boss, I live nearby. You all go ahead. I'll handle these spoiled food items."

Qin Yu threw a few spoiled steaks into the trash, a flash of light flickering deep in his eyes.