“Too hot… help me…”
Lin Chu was currently lying on a floating wooden door panel, surrounded by foul-smelling yellow-brown floodwater.
This water wasn’t cold—it was boiling hot!
In the third year of the apocalypse, extreme heat swept across the globe, and surface temperatures soared to 70°C. Torrential rains triggered floods that were like a pot of boiling rotten soup. Floating on the surface were swollen corpses and melted trash, emitting a nauseating mix of sulfur and decay.
Lin Chu’s entire body was already severely ulcerated, pus oozing from her skin—this was the result of long-term immersion in the high-temperature flood.
“Gu Yan! Pull me up! Please…”
She struggled to lift her head, her blood-soaked hand reaching toward the only rescue vessel ahead.
On that yacht stood her beloved husband, Gu Yan, and her usually pitiful stepsister, Lin Wan.
Yet Gu Yan did not call her “wife” as he always used to.
He looked down at Lin Chu from above, his eyes cold as if she were nothing but trash. His arm was tightly wrapped around Lin Wan, who was wearing the last thermal protective suit Lin Chu had risked her life to obtain.
“Lin Chu, the boat can’t take any more weight.”
Gu Yan’s voice was as cold as the raging heatwaves around them.
“If we take you with us, all three of us will die. For Wanwan to live, you should sacrifice yourself—for the sake of the bigger picture.”
Lin Chu’s pupils trembled violently as she stared at the man who once swore to love her forever.
“Useless? Gu Yan! For these past three years of the apocalypse, I sold all my shares to support you! I risked my life to find supplies! Even the information about this boat was traded by me! How can you—”
“Shut up!”
Gu Yan frowned in disgust.
“If not for your tens of billions in inheritance and resources, do you think I would have tolerated you this long? Now that everything’s been used up, you’re nothing but trash.”
Nestled in his arms, Lin Wan suddenly let out a soft laugh. Her voice was sweet, but venomous.
“Big sister, don’t make things difficult for my brother-in-law. Look at you now—you’re neither human nor ghost. Your whole body is rotting. If I were him, I’d feel disgusted too.”
Lin Wan crouched down and gently toyed with Lin Chu’s fingers gripping the ship’s edge with her well-manicured hand.
“Sis, just die in peace. Your jewelry, your mansion on the hillside that you never got to live in—I’ll take good care of them for you.”
“Lin Wan! I’m your biological sister! Are you even human?!” Lin Chu roared, blood tears instantly evaporating in the scorching heat.
“Stop wasting time. The rescue team is leaving.”
Gu Yan had clearly lost his patience.
He lifted his heavy hiking boot and stomped hard on Lin Chu’s hand.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking was crisp and clear.
“Aaahhh!!”
Lin Chu let out a piercing scream. The unbearable pain from her crushed fingers made her nearly faint, forcing her grip to loosen.
“Go to hell!”
Gu Yan kicked her shoulder violently.
The immense force sent Lin Chu flying backward. She fell straight into the boiling floodwater.
“Glug… glug…”
Scalding water poured into her nose and throat, her lungs feeling as if they were being burned by molten lava.
In that moment, through the murky water surface, Lin Chu saw the departing yacht one last time.
That pair of dogs and men were embracing, celebrating their survival—never once looking back at her.
It hurts!
So much hatred!
I refuse to accept this!
I was the one who brought wolves into my home. I was blind!
If I could do it all over again—Gu Yan, Lin Wan—I will tear you both to pieces!
Her consciousness sank into darkness amid unbearable pain.
……
“Huff—huff—!”
Lin Chu suddenly shot up from her bed, gasping for air, her chest rising and falling violently.
“No! Too hot… the water is too hot…”
She instinctively clutched her head, her body trembling in extreme fear.
But the expected burning pain did not come.
Instead, a cool breeze gently brushed against her face.
Cool wind?
In the apocalypse, even the air reached 60°C—where would there be cool wind?
Lin Chu froze.
She slowly lifted her head and looked around.
What met her eyes was not a stinking refugee shelter, nor the terrifying yellow floodwater.
It was a spacious, luxurious bedroom.
A retro European chandelier glowed with warm light. Expensive silk curtains covered half of the floor-to-ceiling window. The central air conditioner emitted a faint hum, and the display showed a green number:
26°C
“This is… my home?”
Lin Chu trembled as she raised her hand.
What should have been rotting flesh and missing fingers was now a perfectly intact, fair, delicate hand. The skin was smooth and tender, even painted with the nude nail polish popular before the apocalypse.
It was completely unharmed.
A wild thought exploded in her mind.
She rushed to the bedside table and grabbed her limited-edition phone.
The screen lit up, blinding her slightly.
The date clearly read—
June 15, 20XX, 08:30 AM
Lin Chu stared at it as tears instantly poured out.
She was back.
She really was back!
There was still a full month until the apocalypse that would destroy humanity—until July 15, when hell would descend upon earth!
Barefoot, she jumped out of bed and stepped onto the soft carpet. The real sensation confirmed this was not a dying hallucination.
She rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window and pulled the curtains open.
Outside, sunlight was bright, traffic flowed smoothly, and people were jogging in the park below. The commercial street in the distance was bustling.
The world was still alive.
Order still existed. Law still existed. The hell where a cup of water would later be worth a human life had not yet arrived.
“Hahaha… hahahaha!”
Leaning against the cold glass, Lin Chu laughed uncontrollably, her entire body shaking as tears streamed down her face.
The heavens had eyes!
Since she had been given a second life, everything she lost and everything done to her—she would take it back with interest!
This time, she would never be a self-sacrificing saint again.
She would survive—and live better than anyone else!
At that moment—
The phone on the bed suddenly vibrated, breaking the silence.
Buzz—buzz—
Lin Chu turned around, her gaze falling on the screen.
The caller ID read three words:
[Beloved Husband]
At that instant, her ecstatic expression froze completely. It was replaced by an icy, hell-born killing intent.
In her previous life, this man had whispered sweet words into her ear—only to personally push her into death at the very end.
The sound of breaking bones still echoed in her mind.
Lin Chu walked over and picked up the phone.
It was still ringing.
She neither answered nor hung up—just stared quietly at the flashing name, a bloodthirsty smile slowly forming on her lips.
“Gu Yan, don’t rush.”
“This time… I’ll personally build the most solid tomb for you and Lin Wan.”