When Rong Yuxuan opened his eyes, it felt as if nails were being hammered into his temples.
He pushed himself upright, his palm landing on an open textbook. A faint streak of drool still stained the page where he’d fallen asleep while studying.
The dorm smelled of instant noodles and everything that came with a boys’ dormitory. In the corner, Li An’s mechanical keyboard clacked away.
“Finally awake?” Li An didn’t even turn around. “You slept an entire day. I thought you’d died.”
Rong Yuxuan didn’t answer.
He lowered his head and stared at his hands.
His fingers were whole.
There was no dried blood beneath his nails.
No thick calluses across his palms.
He turned his wrist over.
The veins beneath his pale skin were only the result of too many sleepless nights.
Then he reached behind his head.
His hair was still black.
Not the lifeless white hair he’d been left with after that final battle.
His fingers trembled.
He remembered dying.
He could still feel lightning ripping through every organ in his body.
The pain lingered in the deepest corners of his nerves.
Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw Lin Qingtang’s blood-soaked sneaker.
The little rabbit embroidered on it looked as though it were crying.
He heard Long Juanli’s screams as she was tied to a lamp post.
He heard Zhao Hongbin begging for mercy.
He heard zombies chewing flesh.
Then…
White light.
Where is she?
The thought pierced through his heart like a red-hot iron hook.
Is she alive?
Where is she?
Am I still in time?
“…What day is it?”
His voice sounded like sandpaper scraping across rusted metal.
“March 29th. Saturday.” Li An finally glanced back. “You seriously slept through an entire day…”
Rong Yuxuan snatched up his phone.
March 29th.
There were only two days until the apocalypse.
Two days.
Last time…
By the time he’d found her…
It had already been too late.
This time, he would find her before the apocalypse began.
He would stay beside her.
Protect her.
No matter what.
He jumped off the bed so quickly that his knee slammed into the bed frame with a loud bang.
Li An nearly dropped his keyboard.
“Holy—what are you doing?”
Rong Yuxuan was already pulling on his shoes.
His hands shook so badly that he had to tie his shoelaces three times before getting them right.
“I’m going out.”
The dorm door slammed shut behind him before Li An could say another word.
…
He searched the teaching buildings first.
Then the library.
She always liked studying on the third floor by the window.
She once said that the sunlight there was perfect around two in the afternoon.
In his previous life…
Sometimes he’d pretend to come study.
In reality…
He only wanted to sit a few rows away and secretly look at her.
She always chose the third table beside the window.
A cup of red bean milk tea rested on her left.
Whenever she grew tired of reading, she’d prop up her chin and quietly stare outside.
Back then…
He only dared stay for ten minutes before leaving.
He was afraid she’d notice him.
Afraid she’d think this poor college student was stalking her.
The cafeteria.
The sports field.
The café.
The snack street behind campus that she loved visiting.
He searched everywhere.
She wasn’t there.
…
Next, he went to the faculty offices.
Her academic advisor’s office door was open.
A woman in her forties was grading papers.
“Hello, Professor.”
“I’m Lin Qingtang’s friend.”
“Her family asked me to find her, but I can’t reach her.”
“Did she come to school today?”
The professor looked up at him over her glasses.
“Lin Qingtang?”
“She applied for a long leave three weeks ago.”
“What are you to her?”
“…A friend.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Her family asked me to contact her.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“The leave request came directly from her father.”
“He didn’t say where they were going.”
“Just that the family had other arrangements.”
“If you can’t reach her, contact her father.”
She paused before adding,
“She’s been gone quite a while now. I do wonder how she’s planning to deal with this semester.”
…
As he walked out of the administration building, a realization slowly formed in his mind.
The Lin family estate.
North City’s luxury villa district.
He climbed over the wall and circled around to the back.
The curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows were tightly shut.
The garage door stood open.
Inside…
Nothing.
A thin layer of dust coated the empty floor.
Silent.
Undisturbed.
Like frost.
No one had lived there for at least half a month.
He leaned against the cold garage wall.
A complicated emotion churned inside his chest.
…
Lin Group Headquarters.
The revolving doors still turned endlessly.
The receptionist greeted him with a professional smile.
“I’m here to see President Lin Shaoan.”
She searched the company directory.
“I’m sorry.”
“President Lin transferred most of his shares three weeks ago.”
“If you’re here for business, you’ll need to contact the new CEO.”
“…He sold the company?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
Three weeks ago.
His heart lurched.
Lin Shaoan would never abandon the company he’d spent half his life building…
Unless…
Someone had told him he had to.
Unless…
Lin Qingtang had told him.
The apocalypse was coming.
He slowly slid down onto the steps outside the building, elbows resting on his knees as he fought to steady his breathing.
Keep searching.
Even if he had to search every inch of this city.
…
Every lead had disappeared.
Only one person remained.
Long Juanli.
She lived in an aging apartment in a narrow alley just off campus.
Her eyes swept over him.
His face.
His shoulders.
His waist.
Finally returning to his eyes.
A faint smile curled at her lips.
“…Rong Yuxuan?”
“I didn’t expect you.”
“What brings you here?”
“Where is Qingtang?”
Something flickered through her eyes.
Her smile never changed.
She leaned lazily against the doorway, arms folded.
“Qingtang?”
“Why are you looking for her?”
“I don’t know where she is.”
“She suddenly stopped coming to class.”
“She doesn’t answer messages either.”
“Where did she go?”
“I already told you.”
“I don’t know.”
“She’s always been like this.”
“She disappears for no reason.”
“Maybe that’s just rich-girl behavior.”
“I’ve always treated her as a friend.”
“But who knows what she thinks?”
“Why don’t you come inside?”
“We can have some water and chat.”
Rong Yuxuan didn’t move.
Seeing his silence, something changed in her smile.
The warmth disappeared.
Only calculation…
And jealousy remained.
“She’s probably avoiding me on purpose.”
“I didn’t even do anything.”
“I only introduced my little brother to her.”
She acted as though she were talking to herself.
Yet every word was carefully loud enough for him to hear.
Her tone shifted from wounded…
To sarcastic.
“My brother’s perfectly fine.”
“So what if she doesn’t like him?”
“What’s so special about her?”
“She’s not some goddess.”
Each sentence gnawed at his nerves.
She kept talking.
Praising Long Junlong.
Calling Lin Qingtang ungrateful.
Her lips moved endlessly.
Then…
Rong Yuxuan raised his hand.
Smack.
The slap exploded through the narrow hallway.
Long Juanli staggered sideways.
She crashed into the shoe rack by the door.
High heels and worn slippers scattered everywhere.
She collapsed into the pile of shoes, clutching her burning cheek.
A crimson handprint bloomed across half her face.
“Junlong!”
Long Junlong rushed out from inside.
Seeing his sister on the floor, he grabbed the mop handle by the doorway and swung it toward Rong Yuxuan.
Rong Yuxuan sidestepped effortlessly.
He seized Long Junlong’s wrist.
Twisted.
Then drove his knee upward.
He didn’t hold back.
The blow landed squarely between Long Junlong’s legs.
His face instantly turned ghostly white.
His mouth opened soundlessly.
His body folded into itself before collapsing onto the floor, twitching violently.
“Junlong!”
Long Juanli threw herself toward her brother before turning to scream,
“Are you insane?!”
“I’m calling the police!”
“You’re going to prison!”
Rong Yuxuan looked down at her.
The dim hallway lights cast half his face into shadow.
His expression was unreadable.
“I’m leaving your lives intact.”
“For now.”
“I’ll deal with you another day.”
Then he turned and walked down the stairs.
Behind him echoed Long Juanli’s hysterical screams.
But he never looked back.
He had to find her.
…
When he returned to the dormitory…
Li An was still sitting in front of a bowl of cold instant noodles, playing games.
Rong Yuxuan’s face was pale as paper.
His bloodshot eyes looked as though he hadn’t slept in days.
The skin over his knuckles had been scraped raw.
Without a word, he sat before his computer.
Three monitors lit up simultaneously.
“Help me.”
Li An quietly put down his chopsticks.
He had never seen Rong Yuxuan like this before.
“Pull up the city’s traffic surveillance.”
“Start from Lin Group headquarters.”
“Track a black business van.”
His fingers flew across the keyboard.
His voice remained calm.
Fast.
Precise.
“Search from the beginning of the month.”
“I want to know where it went.”
There was only one day left until the acid rain fell.
And he still hadn’t found her.