Chapter 363: Heath Hale! Something’s Happened

Chapter 363: Chapter 363: Heath Hale! Something’s Happened

’I wonder if they saw anything unusual on their way up.’

They needed to pinpoint the source of the explosion to formulate an investigation plan.

A few of the firefighters who had gone in to rescue people exchanged confused glances. One of them spoke up hesitantly, "I think I smelled gas on the 15th floor?"

If it was a gas explosion, they would need to take precautions to prevent a secondary collapse or another blast.

The firefighter had barely finished speaking when a victim with relatively minor injuries spoke up from nearby. "A gas explosion? I thought it was my range hood short-circuiting that caused it."

As she said this, her tone held a trace of relief.

’Thank goodness it wasn’t a problem with my place. Otherwise, I’d be on the hook for everyone’s medical bills and the damages to the surrounding buildings. I could never afford all that!’

"Oh? Ma’am, do you have a lead for us?" The captain nearby heard her and turned to face the victim who had just spoken.

"Well, I was thinking about how my granddaughter would be getting out of school soon, and I needed to start making lunch.

But less than a minute after I turned on the range hood, the machine started making all sorts of sputtering noises, and then the whole building exploded." The woman patted her curly hair with a relieved expression. "Thank goodness my grandchild wasn’t home yet. I can’t imagine what might have happened to her."

She had been lucky this time, escaping without serious injury.

’If it had been my sweet granddaughter who got hurt, my heart would have absolutely shattered!’

Soon, police officers arrived at the scene. They cordoned off the area with tape and began taking statements from people nearby.

The residents of the building had also returned, and when questioned by the police, they shared what they had observed.

"Nothing seemed out of place, and I didn’t see any suspicious people coming or going." A resident being questioned looked puzzled. He hadn’t heard anything from his wife or kids, nor had he seen anyone suspicious himself.

"Besides, security in our complex is pretty good. They even log delivery people coming in and out. There’s no way a stranger could’ve snuck in without anyone noticing!"

"Officer, I think this building is haunted!" a young couple said, clutching their cat and looking mysterious.

The officer questioning them felt his brow twitch. ’What kind of theory is this now?’

But since they’d brought it up, he had to ask. "And what makes you say that?"

The woman in the couple stroked the head of the Ragdoll cat in her arms as she explained. "I noticed that starting a few months ago, our Mibao would suddenly get really tense and restless at home for no reason. He wouldn’t eat when we fed him and was just anxious every day.

He’d be up all night, just howling constantly.

But then we’d take him outside, and he’d be fine again! He’d eat normally, he’d be willing to play on the ground, and all that tension and anxiety would disappear!

They say cats can see things people can’t. If that’s not a haunting, what is?!"

After speaking, the woman looked relieved and buried her face in the cat’s fur, nuzzling it affectionately.

’It’s a good thing our two cats were making a fuss today, scratching at the door nonstop. My husband and I felt bad for them, so we took them out.’

’Otherwise, we might have been among the ones lying on the ground right now.’

"Alright, ma’am, we’ve noted what you said." The questioning officer jotted down her words, offered a few reassuring phrases, and then turned his attention elsewhere.

But what happened next was a bit strange.

The families with pets didn’t say it outright, but their words implicitly supported the haunting theory.

After all, their pets had been acting the same way—agitated all day, as if desperate to escape.

Others also felt that things in the building had been strange lately.

They mentioned a tingling numbness in their hands and feet whenever they touched things and wondered if there was some kind of toxic, volatile gas hidden in the building. Why else would so many people feel that numbness?

Survivors clung to their family members, crying tears of joy, grateful to have made it through the disaster alive.

Meanwhile, the families of the five deceased were utterly devastated.

One of the mothers stumbled and fell not far from two of the bodies, her agonized wails drawing the attention of everyone around.

"Give me my child! I don’t believe she’s gone! I just went to work... How could I come back to find my child and my mother both gone?" The woman’s voice was filled with anguish as she tried to crawl toward her child on all fours.

But before she could reach the body, she was held back by a nearby firefighter.

"Please accept my condolences, ma’am. You have to take care of yourself!" a young firefighter said, his expression tense and his lips pressed into a thin line.

Onlookers nearby, who seemed to know her situation, couldn’t help but whisper amongst themselves. "It’s so tragic. Her husband died saving someone. They were a loving couple. If it weren’t for the baby on the way and his elderly mother, she probably wouldn’t have been able to carry on.

Things were finally looking up for them. The child was growing up, they had hope for the future... and then this happens. How is she supposed to live now?"

Standing behind a door, Zoe Sawyer heard this and instinctively shifted her gaze to the wailing woman.

Sure enough, the woman’s face was deathly still, her eyes vacant and lifeless, like a stagnant pool of water without a single ripple. Her face showed no sign of life, like an abandoned, barren wasteland.

Just as Zoe Sawyer tried to look closer, she was repelled by the door.

"Evan! Heath! Something’s happened!"