Chapter 10

“Oh no, I said it wrong out of habit.”

Bo Ting immediately corrected himself. “It’s Doudou.”

“Ahem, how has Doudou been today?”

An awkward silence spread across the center of the screen. Sister Han pretended to ignore the slip-up from before and resumed her tone.

“Doudou’s doing great.”

“It even gained three jin this morning.”

Bo Ting: …

Huh?

Gained three jin in one morning?

For a pet dog, was that… normal?

He hesitated for a moment, feeling that something was off, but seeing Sister Han across from him act like it was completely normal—in fact, looking rather proud—he didn’t voice it. Still, out of responsibility for having taken care of the dog for a day, Bo Ting spoke up. “Um, Sister Han, could I video call with Doudou?”

Upstairs in the opposite building, the middle-aged woman with permed pear-blossom hair turned to look at the massive bone dog on the balcony. She hesitated for a moment.

Doudou barked “Woof woof” in confusion, the sound echoing through the hallway. Before anyone could react, Sister Han opened the video call the next second.

A familiar cool guy’s face appeared on the screen.

Doudou, who had just been fierce and menacing, froze stiffly. It immediately adjusted its posture, tilted its head toward the camera, and let out an obedient “Awoo.”

Bo Ting: “It does look a bit fatter.”

He leaned in closer for a look.

The lighting in the video was a bit blurry, but in his eyes, the big black dog with sleek fur across from him seemed fine aside from its fawning expression and a rounder face—nothing wrong at all.

Bo Ting felt relieved and praised Sister Han a couple of times.

“Sister Han, you really know how to take care of it.”

“I’ve never seen such a large dog in the neighborhood.”

“Aiya, Little Bo, you sure know how to talk.”

“I told you our Doudou is amazing.”

Sister Han beamed at the sudden praise, shaking the camera a couple of times with her laughter.

Doudou kept its dog face rigid until Bo Ting finished his greeting. Then it quietly shifted backward before continuing to listen to the chit-chat.

“By the way, Sister Han, did you check the neighborhood group chat? It seems like the complex has been targeted by some weird people today.”

“You should add an extra lock when you sleep tonight. Don’t let Doudou go out alone anymore, in case something happens.”

Bo Ting had actually called partly to remind her. Sister Han hadn’t appeared in the group all day, so he wasn’t sure if she’d seen the messages about the neighborhood chat.

Thinking of the red text in the group earlier.

Sister Han nodded, her voice hoarse. “I know about that, Little Bo.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on Doudou tonight.”

The bone dog in the shadows wagged its tail obediently to show it wouldn’t run around. Bo Ting glanced at it across the way before hanging up the video call with peace of mind.

It wasn’t until the young man’s face disappeared from the screen that Doudou changed expressions in a second.

Sister Han patted her chest and couldn’t help but frown to herself.

“Strange, your feeling was right. Talking to him did feel pretty nerve-wracking.”

“For some reason just now, I felt a bit scared too.”

Sister Han’s usual brash style hadn’t even come out before the call ended.

One person and one dog stared at each other, falling silent.

…

Late at night, a group of people at the Resurgence Management Office sat together, staring blankly at one another, unsure what to do.

The higher-up who had just given orders moments ago looked strange. After thinking for a long time, he turned to his assistant.

“What did we just send the Sixth Squad to do?”

The assistant opened his mouth, about to say something, then shook his head in confusion.

The entire Resurgence Management Office had a weird atmosphere.

It wasn’t until Yin Liao, the first to snap out of it, spoke up.

“Investigate that extra neighborhood.”

“Pin down its location.”

Yin Liao realized that perhaps due to the uniqueness of his own ability awakening, he was more sensitive to his memories being wiped. Amid the constant forgetting, he was almost the first to remember.

At the previous meeting, everyone had been somewhat skeptical, but now, facing their memories being repeatedly interrupted, even the higher-ups had no choice but to believe.

—There was something right in front of them in Wenhua District that they simply couldn’t recognize.

“Where’s the Sixth Squad?”

“Did they take photos?”

Higher-up Zheng Shangyun asked.

Yin Liao checked the receiver. “No.”

“All instruments malfunction the moment they get within five hundred meters of Yunhe Convenience Store.”

“Now everyone has forgotten the mission except Sixth Squad Captain Si Ning.”

“But…” He paused, zoning out briefly before looking back at the receiver.

“Si Ning says he got a clear look at the neighborhood’s name.”

This was a major discovery for the Resurgence Management Office. After a moment of clarity, Zheng Shangyun sighed, realizing this incident was no small matter and couldn’t be suppressed any longer.

“Have Si Ning send the name over. Make sure to mark it properly in every way.”

“I’ll immediately apply to superiors for ability users with mind-awakening powers to come to the office and help stabilize our memories.”

For the constant memory wipes, there was no other way right now. They could only have relevant ability users influence them with psychological suggestions to try maintaining balance. As for any side effects, they’d deal with those after sorting out the current situation.

Yin Liao nodded.

A few minutes later, Si Ning glanced at his team members—who had no idea why they were there and were looking at him strangely—and fought off his daze as he typed the neighborhood gate sign that had caught his eye and sent it over.

“Taiping Luxury Garden.”

The words appeared on the screen, looking utterly ordinary.

But it was this very neighborhood that none of them had managed to remember?

…

Because of the issue with the neighborhood seemingly being targeted, Bo Ting was extremely vigilant when he went to bed that night.

After closing the windows early, he pushed the shoe cabinet against the door right before getting into bed, just in case someone tried to pick the lock at night.

He wasn’t the only one. All the residents of Taiping Luxury Garden were on high alert.

After shoving the shoe cabinet against the door, Bo Ting heard Aunt Qian loudly calling to her husband next door through the hallway to seal the windows.

Even upstairs at Elder Wen’s place, there was a clanging and banging of unknown activity.

It seemed everyone’s safety awareness was pretty high.

Bo Ting listened for a bit, satisfied, and returned to his bedroom. Just then, a message came from his new friend on the forum.

“Did you buy the new locks?”

The friend who hadn’t been able to help that afternoon kindly asked.

Bo Ting snapped back. “I did.”

“It was recommended by the son of the neighbors next door. Looks pretty good.”

Bo Ting sent over a web link—the online store for the locks he’d just bought.

Xu Qinglai looked down and saw the eerie aura spilling out from the link.

The black text twisted like ants. To an ordinary person, just one glance would bring an inexplicable sense of fear.

But Xu Qinglai was not included in that.

He loosened his tie, undid a button, and looked on with interest.

“Looks good.”

“Right?”

“The positive review rate is pretty high. Should be great once it arrives.”

Bo Ting said as he leaned back on his cushion and asked, “You off work?”

Xu Qinglai: “Yeah, just got off.”

Bo Ting glanced at the time outside—it was past eleven at night. Sure enough, a corporate drone life.

This friend had it rough every day too.

“Then I won’t bother you. Go rest up.”

“Chat tomorrow.”

Bo Ting considerately ended the conversation right away, lest his friend be driving home unsafely.

Xu Qinglai replied with an “Okay.”

Their chat ended there. After putting down his phone, Bo Ting yawned. For some reason, though he hadn’t done much at home all day lately, he got inexplicably sleepy every night, just like during his overtime days.

Bo Ting twitched his mouth, wondering if he was sleepwalking at night.

Meanwhile, outside the neighborhood, after the mental ability users arrived on duty, everyone’s memories finally stabilized somewhat, allowing conversation to continue.

The Management Office higher-up opened the neighborhood name sent by Sixth Squad Captain Si Ning and searched it immediately.

“Taiping Luxury Garden.”

Zheng Shangyun looked at the encrypted data in front of him.

“Mengjia City never had such a neighborhood before.”

“And according to original records, there were no buildings east of Yunhe Convenience Store—just a patch of abandoned wasteland.”

Now, with memories fixed, Si Ning on-site also confirmed the neighborhood’s location.

Zheng Shangyun’s expression grew grave. “This is the first time the Resurgence Management Office has encountered something like this.”

Previous weird incidents had all been items, animals, or humans mutating. Never something appearing out of thin air.

The current scene could only be called bizarre.

The first eyewitness, Yin Liao, stood up. Seeing everyone’s poor expressions, he paused before adding,

“I’ll add one more thing: the dog that killed the Wandering Chef ran out from this neighborhood.”

The moment those words landed, the air fell silent. Every squad member’s impression of this constantly forgotten neighborhood suddenly turned far more dangerous.

—If just a single dog was this terrifying, what about the entire neighborhood?