Hedong City seemed to have turned into a stagnant pool, with the atmosphere becoming more oppressive by the day.

Early the next morning, Father Chen and Mrs. Chen finally couldn't hold back any longer. They called upon Chen Shouyi, borrowed a tricycle, and went to the market to continue their purchasing.

Upon arriving, they found soldiers stationed everywhere outside the market, creating a solemn atmosphere.

Inside the market, the stalls were pitifully few, and aside from one government-supplied grain and oil store where prices hadn't risen, all the vegetables and meat were outrageously priced, several times more than before the transformation.

"Why is everything so expensive? Who can afford this? And it doesn't even look fresh," Mrs. Chen picked up a cabbage, and upon asking the price, found it was nine yuan per jin, leading her to exclaim in shock.

"I say, this really isn't expensive, sister-in-law. Even I didn't get it much cheaper wholesale, just earning some hard money," said the vendor.

"But it's never been this expensive, it's almost as expensive as meat used to be," Mrs. Chen argued.

A vendor, slightly impatient, responded, "If you want it cheaper, then go buy in the suburbs; it's much cheaper there. In the countryside, it's almost like free."

Chen Shouyi frowned slightly, city living wasn't easy, especially given the current situation.

The transformation hadn't had much impact on agriculture or maybe not much impact in the short term.

However, with Hedong City's population exceeding ten million, such a mega-city was originally established on the basis of efficient modern logistics. Before the transformation, vegetables and meat from nearby bases could reach the city center in a few hours, so there wasn't much price difference between the suburbs and the city center.

But now, the logistics level has regressed worse than even the feudal era; from car transportation back to tricycles, increasing logistics costs tens or even hundreds of times. No matter how cheap things are, once logistics costs are added, their prices soar.

Though Mrs. Chen looked distressed, after some bargaining, she ended up buying a large pile of cabbage for eight yuan, a cut of meat, over ten jin of eggs, two barrels of oil, and five 25-kilogram bags of grain before leaving the market.

"This little bit of stuff cost over three thousand yuan!" Mrs. Chen lamented, sitting in the tricycle, "Next time, we must buy in the countryside."

"Mom, let it be, expensive is expensive." Chen Shouyi said while pedaling the tricycle, "With soldiers enforcing martial law in the city, it's still relatively safe. We don't know how things are in the countryside. In a few days, I'll get my salary; it should be enough to get by."

Mrs. Chen frowned, just about to speak, but noticed a few passersby on the roadside glancing at them occasionally, eyes filled with undisguised greed and covetousness, making her swallow her words.

Seeing this, Chen Shouyi coldly swept his gaze a few times. It was lucky that soldiers and police could be seen occasionally on the road, so no one without sense dared to rob them.

In times of chaos, strict laws were enforced. Except for the first day after the transformation, some took advantage of the chaos to loot and kill, but once soldiers took to the streets and enforced martial law, especially after executing some troublemakers on the spot, it deterred others from committing evil openly.

Of course, those crimes hiding in the shadows couldn't be stopped.

With such an oppressive atmosphere, life became harder day by day, and many were filled with fear and confusion about the future.

Moreover, communication had become blocked; instead of knowing world affairs without leaving home, now information from beyond a few kilometers was inaccessible. Living in the city felt like being stranded on an isolated island.

No one knew what was happening outside.

Had the war already started, or was it still peaceful?

Restlessness, panic, and unease pushed people to the brink, so even someone previously gentle and elegant could unleash their inner demon in an instant. In these days, one could hear of killings everywhere.

...

Chen Shouyi pedaled the tricycle, returning to the neighborhood, and saw a few police officers carrying a body in a corpse bag to a specially modified large tricycle. Two bodies had already been placed there.

One was small enough to be a child; this was clearly a family of three.

Groups of neighborhood residents whispered and pointed from a distance, no one daring to approach.

"Stop looking, it's bad luck, let's go!" Mrs. Chen urged uneasily.

Chen Shouyi acknowledged, retracting his gaze, and continued pedaling. Before long, they arrived downstairs.

He hoisted five bags of grain onto his shoulder and grabbed a cut of pork and two barrels of cooking oil with both hands, then walked up the stairs with Mrs. Chen.

...

"Mom, brother, you're back. Where's Dad?" Chen Xingyue asked.

"Your dad went to return the tricycle!" Mrs. Chen said, appearing a bit anxious.

"I have something to tell you. The police just came by, someone died on the ninth floor," Chen Xingyue said.

"I saw it on the way home. It was someone from our building?" Chen Shouyi asked in surprise.

Ten minutes later, Chen Dawei returned. Upon hearing the news, he couldn't help but sigh, "Do you think it might have been someone from our building?"

He wasn't too worried, not only because his son was a Martial Artist but his daughter was also a Martial Artist Apprentice. Regular thugs were no match for his family.

"I don't think so. People here seem very friendly," Mrs. Chen said.

"Mom, you can never truly know someone's heart," Chen Xingyue said, curling her lips.

...

After lunch, Chen Shouyi stayed at home for a while but quickly grew restless. Being cooped up at home every day was driving him crazy.

As he walked, he unknowingly ended up near the Haunted House.

Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation, something seemed off. Though he was over a hundred meters from the Haunted House, he already sensed a faint eerie aura. He looked toward the Haunted House's direction, feeling as if even the light was dimming.

Unexpectedly, it had become this severe!

This Natural Spirit was growing increasingly powerful.

He noticed that the alley's cement road was covered in thick snow. Apart from a few sporadic footprints, there were no other traces, clearly showing that this area had seen little foot traffic recently.

Chen Shouyi hesitated briefly, intending to walk into the alley to check out the Haunted House, but after a few steps, he was stopped by soldiers patrolling:

"Entry is banned."

He felt a chill in his heart, took out his Martial Artist Certificate, and asked, "What happened inside?"

Upon inspection, the soldier's expression turned solemn, replying, "It's haunted in there; many people have died. Nearby residents have been moved elsewhere uniformly. To prevent panic among nearby residents, please don't spread rumors."

"Isn't anyone handling this?" Chen Shouyi asked, puzzled.

"The Bureau of Paranormal Investigation came by two days ago, but they were unsuccessful, so for now, it's isolated, waiting for final resolution."

Though they said unsuccessful, when the two returned, one was ashen-faced as if severely frightened, while the other was completely mad.

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