She had to keep her life—so she could take a blade for Baby Qiao Qiao.
She was the kind of person who feared death and clung to life. Without Baby Qiao Qiao, at her most desperate moments, she truly might have done something like betraying herself just to exchange for food.
Working hard to grow her superpower was also because she hoped she could lend her a hand.
Because she was similar to Baby Qiao Qiao—sometimes preferring to stay quietly at home alone, except when going out to play with Qiao Bao—she often stocked up on food at home, and all of it was what she liked to eat.
There were roughly two large bags of rice. In the refrigerator’s fresh section, there were three bags of cabbage, four tomatoes, two cucumbers, twenty eggs, green peppers, scallions, garlic, and ginger, along with fermented chili bought from the offline market, and oil chili stir-fried by Baby Qiao Qiao.
In the freezer section, there were two packs of frozen dumplings and two packs of sesame tangyuan, three packs of steak (each pack containing a large slab), five big chicken drumsticks, and one pack of frozen chicken wings (about eight pieces).
Aside from these foods, Wen Jiuya also had a cabinet full of snacks—various spicy strips, biscuits, chocolate bars, fries, drinks, and candy.
There was no fruit, because fruits were usually bought when the two of them went out and saw something they liked, so none were stored at home.
It had only just become the apocalypse. Order had not yet collapsed, and water and electricity were still functioning. Most people were still watching to see whether the government would take action.
Water and electricity probably would not last long—at most a week—due to all kinds of destruction and the lack of workers to repair things.
Fortunately, cooking could still be done with a gas stove. Appliances like induction cookers, ovens, and air fryers would become unusable after the power went out.
Her residential community apartment was designed as one unit per elevator. Without a key card, the elevator doors could not be opened, so she could cook without worry.
Even if someone came up through the emergency stairwell into the corridor, they still could not get in. When Qiao Qiao had renovated the apartment, under Xue Qi’s recommendation, both of them had replaced their doors with anti-theft doors as strong as bank vaults.
At that moment, her stomach growled. She should get up and cook—otherwise, if she got too thin from hunger, Baby Qiao Qiao would feel distressed.
On the other side, Wen Qiao was hurrying along. As she ran, she suddenly sneezed. She rubbed her nose and muttered softly, “Who’s thinking about me?”
She had moved away from the houses, lightly running and leaping along the middle of the road. Suddenly, she heard a sound ahead and looked in its direction.
It was the small convenience store Xiao Jiu had mentioned. The glass door was tightly locked, and inside, a thin, greasy man was frantically waving at her.
“Little girl, where are you going? Save me! I can share all this food with you. Take me with you!”
Wen Qiao ignored him and went straight past the convenience store. The greasy man was the store owner. Because he spoke unpleasantly and sold things at outrageously high prices, business had been bad, so at this moment, he was the only one in the shop.
Seeing that she had no intention of responding, he angrily threw things at her through the small window. The clattering noises attracted some zombies.
Wen Qiao turned back. “I have no obligation to save you.”
She had actually wanted to kill the man directly, but she thought about how the power had not yet completely failed. Surveillance cameras might still record her actions. She could not let Xiao Jiu know she had killed someone, nor did she want to stain herself with unnecessary bloodshed.
Wen Qiao directly used her wind-type ability to surround herself with a barrier. The zombies could not smell her and instead followed the human scent coming from the convenience store window.
Low-level zombies had no superpower and no intelligence—they could not open the glass door. They slammed against it again and again. Wen Qiao watched until the glass door was covered in cracks like a spiderweb, then finally shattered. Amid the man’s faint screams, she left.
She paid no attention to the zombies hiding in the shadows or the people secretly watching from behind curtains. Everyone had their own way of surviving, but one should not harm others for selfish reasons.
People like that greasy man—who, when they could not survive themselves, tried to drag others down with them—deserved to die the most. What made the apocalypse terrifying was not just the harsh living conditions, the zombies, or the mutated animals and plants, but also the human heart.
Wen Qiao no longer concerned herself with anything else and focused only on rushing toward Wen Jiuya’s home. Along the way, she cut down anything that blocked her path, until she reached the gate of her residential community.
Although she had an access card, she had not brought it. She directly used her superpower to leap over the gate, rushed all the way to Wen Jiuya’s building, then climbed the stairs and unlocked the main door with her fingerprint.
“Baby Qiao Qiao?” Wen Jiuya’s voice came from the bedroom. From the moment she heard noise at the entrance, she had immediately shut the bedroom door.
Wen Qiao used her mental power to open the all-purpose wardrobe and directly selected a white dress called 【Warehouse】. She removed the matching accessories and shoes, instead putting on her exclusive slippers from Xiao Jiu’s home (every time she changed clothes, her whole body would be cleaned, like a cleansing spell in cultivation novels).
【Warehouse】: superpower space max, half static space, half storage space.
Defense ability: Max
As she walked, she said toward the bedroom door, “It’s me, Xiao Jiu. What are you doing?”
Turning her head, Wen Jiuya saw Wen Qiao at the bedroom door. She smiled slightly, lazily lying on the sofa, and replied, “Basking in the blood moon!”
“Have you eaten?”
“I just ate not long ago. Baby Qiao Qiao, do you want to bask with me?”
“I don’t need it.”
Wen Jiuya nodded and did not ask why, because she knew Wen Qiao had her own plans. Although Wen Qiao was lazy, she was someone very good at planning. In contrast, she herself was lazy, greedy, and incapable of much—she only needed to obediently listen.
Wen Qiao lay down on Wen Jiuya’s bed, staying in the bedroom with her. As she grew drowsy, Wen Jiuya suddenly asked, “Baby Qiao Qiao, what are we going to do in the future?”
She was startled awake by the question and turned her head toward her. “Before the apocalypse, we enjoyed life. After the apocalypse, we can still do the same.”
“Ah……”
“Trust me. I won’t let you go hungry. Also, I told Xue Qi to come find you. He’s probably on his way to your house now. I’m an all-around superpower user, with maxed-out defense. Don’t worry.”
“Mm… hmm? Really all-around?”
“Really all-around.”
“Damn, sis, you’re amazing.” Wen Jiuya was so shocked that she sat up, though she quickly lay back down again.
“For the next few days before he arrives, let’s just rest well here. After he gets here, we’ll see what he says—whether to keep living here or move somewhere else. He’s more thorough in his thinking. Since he’s coming from another place, he should understand the changing situations in different areas better than we do.”
“Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
“What do you want to eat tonight?”
“Can I have whatever I want?” Wen Qiao joked.
“Of course.”
……
Amid their soft rustling conversation, the bedroom gradually fell silent. Wen Jiuya fell asleep. Before Wen Qiao drifted off, she used her spatial superpower to add a protective barrier to the room, essentially carving out a space of her own.
A gentle breeze passed by, and the curtains swayed slightly. The room was quiet, filled only with soft breathing—like an ordinary afternoon, peaceful and safe.
Wen Qiao lay on her side, gazing at the blood moon outside the window. Her eyes then shifted to Wen Jiuya. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she slowly closed them.