The people from the Defense Department took the man in the red vest away. Cunning fellow, he actually cut off the front portion of the cloth.

They swiped their cards to activate the staff elevator, and we quickly opened the door. "Shall we go downstairs together?"

A few security guards in yellow clothes exchanged glances. "Residents are not allowed to use the staff elevator."

"Why not? Your staff scared me so much that even my heart hurts. What's wrong with us taking your elevator? Honey, look at them~"

"Sorry, it's troublesome. My wife has mitral valve prolapse, and she can't exert herself too much by taking the stairs."

After some back and forth, we finally managed to get on the staff elevator. As soon as we entered, we discovered that there was actually a dead person in a red shirt lying inside.

His clothes were unevenly dyed and emitted a foul odor.

Help, is that blood?

We couldn't tell when we were inside the room, but it felt truly eerie and terrifying once we got downstairs.

The fog permeated the area like volcanic ash after an eruption, carrying the smell of fish and rotten meat.

"You see, wearing a mask is a good habit," I teased.

He walked on the slippery street with a pale face, looking at the sticky stuff sticking to his shoes in despair. Forgot to mention, this guy has severe cleanliness OCD.

"Guigui, I feel like dying a little bit." Ha, he's such an ignorant man.

I pointed to the low-rise buildings ahead, wrapped in decaying flesh and proliferating tissue. "The security department said that's the nucleic acid collection point."

He quickly grabbed my hand. "You go, Guigui. I hope we can be born in an ordinary family in our next life, ooh-ooh."

I dragged him inside, and indeed, it became even more disgusting up close.

Upon closer inspection, countless closed eyes were swimming beneath the surface of the decaying flesh, making a "chirping" sound. Green moss grew wantonly on the wrinkled rot, like rotten red chrysanthemums covered in green hairy fungi. It even dripped with green secretions and mucus.

I covered Gui Lin's eyes, feeling that the fermented sewage mixed with mud was about to send him into shock.

The lighting was dim. I did my best to avoid the cracked walls and gurgling "water pipes." We clung together, feeling like we were approaching the end of the world. Finally, I saw the sign for the nucleic acid collection point.

I let go of Gui Lin's hand, and he opened his eyes, then closed them again. He took a deep breath and started coughing violently.

Hahaha, it was truly comical and pathetic.

The most painful moment was when we took off our masks. Damn, it felt like a septic tank exploded right in front of my eyes.

We submitted the forms, had our stamps confirmed by the staff, and were given a green ID card each.

"You're very lucky," Da Bai said, looking at us. "You managed to do the nucleic acid test before the deadline. One of the residents today wasn't so lucky—red code."

Deadline? What does that mean?

We arrived at seven o'clock in the evening, didn't we?