Chapter 13: A Complete Power Outage

“Where should we move it to?”

Sun Jia looked around but couldn’t find a suitable place.

Zhao Weijie thought carefully. “I remember there’s an empty storage room on the first floor. Tomorrow, I’ll inform the property management to open it. For now, Dad will have to endure being there temporarily.”

Song Yujuan nodded. “That’s the only option.”

Otherwise, if this kept dragging on, none of them could get any sleep. Besides, several neighbors had already started complaining openly and behind their backs about them keeping a corpse inside the house.

Zhao Weijie glanced at the locked door and felt a chill run down his spine.

Because of the disturbance in the middle of the night, the three of them had no choice but to make do in the living room for the night.

The next day, the snow still hadn’t stopped. After last night’s rain, the ground was now iced over, making movement even more difficult.

Meng Ran saw the message in the group chat.

Haunted?

She frowned. Since she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wasn’t sure if it was true.

Soon enough, Meng Ran spotted Zhao Weijie and Sun Jia carrying a thick blanket into view from the corner of the curtain.

The window was tightly shut, so she couldn’t hear their conversation, only seeing them meet with the property manager.

The property manager looked troubled. “You want to put the body over there?”

Zhao Weijie was carrying the heavy corpse, his feet trembling from the cold.

“I’ve already moved him here. It’s just temporary. Once the snow stops and the weather improves, we’ll hold the funeral.”

He had no intention of moving the body back. The property manager seemed to understand and took out a key from his waist to open the first-floor door.

The path was covered with ice and snow, making it extremely difficult for Zhao Weijie and Sun Jia to walk.

When they reached the spot, the storage room door opened, releasing a musty smell.

Holding their breath, Zhao Weijie and Sun Jia entered and laid the body inside.

On top of the blanket, Zhao Weijie tied two ropes around it.

He clasped his hands in prayer. “Dad, sorry to trouble you. Once this is all over, I promise to give you a proper burial.”

Sun Jia bowed as well before they both left.

The property manager was visibly uneasy and quickly locked the door again.

“Remember to come back for it once the weather gets better,” he reminded them.

Zhao Weijie nodded repeatedly. “Alright, alright, I’ll remember. By the way, is there still a snow-clearing supply distribution today? I didn’t see you calling people in the group or messaging me privately.”

The property manager sighed helplessly. “The weather’s too bad. Several people who came yesterday are sick today, so fewer want to come.”

Though supplies were promised, everyone still had some left to get by on, so naturally, they would stretch it out as long as possible, likely only thinking about it when truly desperate.

Moreover, they now had an additional task – the property manager was carefully stepping on the icy ground to shovel ice.

News from outside came through the next day: power was still on, but communication was cut off, making it feel as if it weren’t. The situation over there was probably not good.

It was just a natural disaster for now, but there was fear that something worse might happen.

“How many supplies do you have left on your side?”

Zhao Weijie’s eyes darted around as he began inquiring.

The property manager shook his head. “I can’t say.”

Zhao Weijie had no choice but to drop the subject. The cold was deepening day by day; he couldn’t endure even half an hour outside now. He took Sun Jia and headed back.

“This property manager is really sly, refusing to reveal how much food they have. They must be hoarding quite a bit,” Zhao Weijie grumbled as he hurried back.

Sun Jia exhaled. “These days, a cup of instant noodles sells for seventy or eighty yuan. If they have food, they’d definitely keep it for themselves.”

Actually, the property manager was doing fairly well, at least letting them get some supplies through the snow-clearing efforts. If it were someone else, they wouldn’t care whether they lived or died.

Meng Ran prepared breakfast. The water tap was dripping much more slowly, but she wasn’t worried about water storage. The ring’s space contained a well with drinkable water.

So the water outage wasn’t a big threat to her, but a power outage would be more troublesome.

Still, she had stocked up on instant food beforehand, so she could manage for a while.

Aside from that, it was the temperature she worried about. She herself could endure it, but she was concerned for Nian Nian.

Meng Ran watched Nian Nian eating breakfast across from her. Since Nian Nian was young and couldn’t handle the cold well, Meng Ran considered letting her stay inside the ring’s space as much as possible.

“Nian Nian, do you like the house inside the ring?”

Nian Nian nodded in response.

“I like it,” she said.

Meng Ran breathed a sigh of relief. “If things get worse, you can stay there all the time. How do you feel about that?”

Nian Nian understood that Meng Ran was trying to protect her and quietly said okay.

“I’ll come visit you often.”

Meng Ran gently patted her fluffy head.

“Then Mom will keep her word.”

With those words, Nian Nian felt reassured.

After breakfast, Meng Ran stayed behind the curtain to observe outside. No one was out clearing snow today, matching the situation described in the group chat.

Except for the ghost rumors Zhao Weijie mentioned. Meng Ran saw them carry the body somewhere and her eyes flickered with thought about whether she should find time to go check it out.

But before she could, the air conditioner suddenly stopped with a drip—the power had gone out again.

Shortly after the outage, the property manager, as before, went to ask the relevant personnel but still received no reply.

After the power cut, temperatures dropped rapidly, and indoor and outdoor temperatures began to equalize. The property managers complained endlessly in the group but didn’t know what to say and remained silent.

Seeing that neither the property management nor the news had spoken up this time, Meng Ran realized the power was unlikely to be restored soon, if at all—and if it was, it would take a long time.

This period was extremely dangerous for everyone.

Meng Ran put on thick clothes. The water tap no longer dripped; the last drop froze at the spout.

“Looks like we’ll have to make do with the alcohol stove for cooking from now on.”

They didn’t eat much, so Meng Ran wasn’t too worried for the moment.

However, she planned to go out tonight to the place where Zhao Weijie left the body, to verify the ghost rumors.

It had been mentioned repeatedly in the group, making it impossible to ignore.

Meng Ran feared this wasn’t just a natural disaster.

Since the phone call abruptly cut off that day, Xiang Yajing hadn’t contacted her again, and her unease lingered.

After dark, Meng Ran let Nian Nian sleep on the bed inside the ring’s space.

She had prepared it in advance, placing a soft, warm bed there. The temperature inside the space was much better than their current house.

“You sleep here. I’ll come in to keep you company soon.”

Meng Ran didn’t say where she was going but placed a doll next to Nian Nian and turned on a cartoon she had downloaded on her phone.

Nian Nian hugged the phone obediently.

Meng Ran stepped out of the space, touched the ring on her hand, and quietly opened the door in the pitch-black room.