Her body was unbearably heavy, and she couldn’t summon any strength.
The moment she stirred, someone called her name beside her ear.
“Mumu.”
The voice was terribly hoarse.
What happened to Ah Qi?
She struggled to open her eyes, but darkness swallowed her again.
…Had she died?
It felt just like her previous life.
She had fought desperately to look at him one last time—just once—but in the end, her fading life had won.
She had always known she would die sooner or later.
Perhaps it was better this way.
At least she wouldn’t keep burdening Ah Qi.
Yet she couldn’t bear to let go.
People were contradictory creatures.
Part of them wanted to release what they loved.
Another part wanted to cling to it forever.
“Mumu.”
She could still hear his voice.
She could still feel someone holding her hand.
Gathering every ounce of strength she had, Shen Muyan finally forced her eyes open.
“…Ah Qi…”
Her voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.
She stared at him in confusion.
Why did he look so exhausted?
Dark stubble covered his jaw.
His hair was unkempt.
Deep shadows lingered beneath his eyes.
He looked utterly worn out.
“Mumu, be good. Don’t talk.”
Shang Qi tightened his grip on her hand.
His eyes were filled with panic and fear.
He couldn’t bear to look away from her even for a second.
“If you’re sleepy, go back to sleep.”
“I’ll stay right here.”
She looked at him quietly for a long moment before slowly closing her eyes again.
The moment Xie Rao heard she had awakened, he sprinted upstairs from the first floor.
He checked her temperature, then felt her pulse.
“There’s still a slight fever.”
“It’s much better than yesterday.”
Looking toward Shang Qi, he added,
“Brother Qi, keep making sure Sister-in-law stays hydrated.”
He wasn’t the only one outside.
Du Ming.
Jiang Hao.
Even Zhou Mo.
All of them stood waiting in the hallway.
For three straight days, Shang Qi had barely eaten or slept.
Compared to Shen Muyan…
They were more worried about him.
Jiang Hao and Xie Rao had arrived at Qinglan Mountain shortly before eleven o’clock on the night of the eleventh.
Zhou Mo showed up half an hour later.
As for why he had come…
According to him, he merely wanted to see where Shang Qi planned to hide away so he could occasionally come mock him.
Unfortunately…
At one o’clock in the morning on the twelfth, the rain began.
And it hadn’t stopped since.
Two full days of relentless torrential rain.
The roads at the foot of the mountain had already been closed.
Everyone still on Qinglan Mountain was trapped.
They could only remain inside the mountain lodges and wait for either the storm to end or rescue teams to arrive.
Because there had been no official emergency warning beforehand, many people had rushed out at the last minute to buy supplies.
Ironically, the tourists stranded on the mountain weren’t especially anxious.
Most simply sat indoors watching the rain.
Qinglan Mountain wasn’t one of the country’s most famous tourist destinations.
There were only two lodges on the entire mountain—one to the north and one to the south.
Shang Qi and the others occupied the southern lodge.
Long before coming to Qinglan Mountain, Shang Qi had quietly purchased it and invested heavily in reinforcing the building against every type of emergency.
The lodge itself stood on relatively level ground.
Even the previous owner had anticipated the possibility of flooding when it was first built.
The construction materials had been of the highest quality, ensuring the building could withstand disasters for an extended period.
In their previous life, nothing had happened to the lodge itself.
This time, Shang Qi wasn’t worried about the building.
The only thing he feared…
Was Shen Muyan’s condition.
Perhaps because she had slept for so long, Shen Muyan woke again before dawn.
Shang Qi was still sitting beside the bed.
He was truly terrified.
Every few moments he found himself checking whether she was still breathing.
His fingers never loosened from her hand.
Even he hadn’t realized that Qinglan Mountain had become the source of his deepest trauma.
During the final days of their previous life, he had spent countless nights keeping watch beside her bed.
He had experienced too many mornings when she refused to wake.
Until the final one…
When she never opened her eyes again.
He could no longer escape that fear.
Sometimes, even now, this happiness felt like a dream.
And he was terrified that the moment he woke…
Everything would shatter.
“Mumu…”
“Does anything still hurt?”
When he had found her collapsed outside the bedroom door that day…
Especially after seeing the blood staining her lips…
His soul had nearly left his body.
He had been terrified history was repeating itself.
Terrified she would fall asleep…
And never wake again.
Shen Muyan shook her head.
She lifted her arms, silently asking him to hold her.
The moment he did, she wrapped them tightly around his waist and refused to let go.
“Ah Qi…”
Still weak, she rested her head against his shoulder.
“How long did I sleep?”
“…Three days.”
No wonder.
She had no strength at all.
Even lifting a hand felt exhausting.
“Ah Qi…”
“You should rest.”
She tried to push him away.
The instant her hand moved, Shang Qi gently pressed it back down.
“Let me hold you a little longer.”
His voice remained painfully hoarse.
His embrace was almost suffocatingly tight.
She could easily imagine how frightened he must have been after she suddenly collapsed.
“Ah Qi…”
“Did you eat dinner?”
Before he could answer, she felt along his back.
“You’ve lost weight.”
“You definitely haven’t been eating properly.”
The very first time Shang Qi had stayed awake all night taking care of her, she had made him promise not to neglect himself.
She had told him to eat properly.
To sleep properly.
He always agreed.
Then ignored every promise the next time.
She never wanted him treating her like a helpless infant.
Yet Shang Qi refused to listen.
Like an overprotective father, he worried about every tiny detail.
Over the years, she had gradually become completely dependent on him.
Whenever anything happened…
Her first instinct was always to call,
“Ah Qi.”
Boom—
Thunder exploded outside.
Lightning flashed across the sky.
Shen Muyan instinctively shivered.
Only then did she realize it was raining.
“Don’t be afraid, Mumu.”
She pulled herself out of his embrace.
Despite her pale, fragile appearance, she tried to put on a stern expression.
“Ah Qi.”
“You need to eat.”
“But don’t eat too much all at once.”
“And after that…”
“You have to get some sleep.”
Shang Qi smiled.
Instead of eating first, he handed her a cup of water.
“Have some water.”
“Then I’ll feed you some porridge.”
A steaming bowl suddenly appeared in his hand from his storage space.
Seeing it appear out of nowhere made Shen Muyan laugh.
“You really are like a walking cupboard.”
She managed only three spoonfuls.
After that, she stubbornly watched until Shang Qi finished the rest.
When they were done eating, she wanted to take a shower.
He flatly refused.
Her fever had only just broken.
Her body temperature still hadn’t fully stabilized.
Left with no choice, Shen Muyan returned to bed while Shang Qi went to wash up.
Outside, thunder continued rolling through the mountains.
The rain seemed determined to unleash every ounce of pent-up fury.
Heavy drops pounded endlessly against the windows.
She picked up her phone and opened the trending news.
After weeks of relentless heat, most people were celebrating the rain.
The sudden drop in temperature had relieved the unbearable summer heat.
Many people were happily working or attending classes from home.
To them, it was a blessing.
Among her messages were several from Aunt Jiang.
She thanked Shen Muyan repeatedly for both the warning and the apartment.
The home Shen Muyan had given her was on the twenty-first floor, spacious and luxuriously renovated.
The interior decoration alone had cost over ten million yuan.
Although the rain had continued for three days, almost no one believed it posed any real danger.
Shen Muyan wanted to subtly remind people.
But after searching online…
She found countless posts predicting the apocalypse.
Every one of them claimed to have convincing evidence that the end of the world would arrive within days.
In the end, she gave up.
After all, she herself had never experienced the apocalypse.
Everything she knew had come from Shang Qi’s brief descriptions.
And most of it wasn’t much different from what people online were already saying.
Shang Qi finished washing quickly.
After drying his hair, he climbed into bed and held Shen Muyan as they fell asleep.
When he woke again…
The space beside him was empty.
His expression instantly turned cold.
“Mumu.”
Silence.
There was no answer from the bedroom.
He hurriedly threw on his clothes and rushed downstairs.
Halfway down the stairs, he met Shen Muyan carrying a bowl of porridge upstairs.
Her complexion had improved considerably.
Smiling brightly, she looked up at him.
“You’re awake.”
“Try the porridge I made.”
“Were they the ones who asked you to cook?”
The warmth in Shang Qi’s eyes disappeared immediately.
He stored the bowl inside his storage space before grabbing both of her hands and checking them carefully.
Shen Muyan shook her head proudly.
“I learned it myself.”
“Pretty impressive, right?”
“Very impressive.”
Shang Qi bent down and lifted her effortlessly into his arms as he carried her back toward the third floor.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“No.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lightly brushed her lips against his.
“Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”
Using one foot, Shang Qi nudged the bedroom door open.
“I was worried about you.”
“Next time you leave the room…”
“You have to tell me.”
To Shang Qi, anywhere that wasn’t by his side counted as “going out.”