When Wen Xian woke up, her face was buried in Da Bai’s belly, warm and comforting. She nuzzled him a little, then sat up, just as Da Bai turned his head. His cold gray eyes held a trace of innocent doubt, as if he didn’t understand what she was doing.
Wen Xian couldn’t help but pounce, hugging his big head and planting a kiss. Da Bai froze, staring at her without blinking. One massive paw lifted up cluelessly, incredibly cute. Wen Xian rubbed him a couple more times before finally letting go.
Looking outside, she noticed everything was blanketed in white. She hurried to the window and realized it was snowing. Large flakes drifted like willow catkins in the air, already covering the ground, green plants, and buildings beneath.
Her warm breath fogged up the glass, and she inhaled the cold air, feeling a twinge of unease.
The temperature had already dropped sharply. The bright sun hanging in the sky did nothing, and though this place was called Spring City, where snow in winter was rare, it now resembled her hometown.
What about other places…?
She silently cooked a bowl of noodles for breakfast, boiled some water, and filled every kettle she had.
Before leaving, she told Da Bai, “Winter’s coming. You need to store more food and hand it all over to me for safekeeping.”
Da Bai let out a couple of soft whines in agreement, nudging her face.
Outside the office was the warehouse of the building materials factory. Some plants had broken through the windows, but the damage was minimal. Inside was spacious, neatly stacked with lumber, steel, bricks, cement, and other building materials. Wen Xian collected a few common items to have on hand.
Near the back door, Da Bai suddenly stopped, lowering his head slightly, his throat issuing a low ‘woo woo’ warning.
Wen Xian froze, gripping the machete she had found in the town. She strained her ears but heard nothing. As she considered whether to hide, a deafening “BOOM” rang out. A massive stone had smashed against the two chained back doors, swinging them open violently. The doors hit the walls with a sharp, cracking “crackle.”
“Damn it, Kaizi! Could you give a heads-up next time before throwing a rock? You scared me to death!”
“Yeah! What if someone inside got hit?”
“This is a building materials warehouse. Who’s even inside without food or water?—Oh my God! A horse! A huge white horse!”
“Shit! It’s a wolf! A mutated white wolf! Watch out!”
“Quick! Where’s the gun? Someone grab a gun!”
Da Bai’s attention was fully captured. Wen Xian spoke up, “Stop shouting. Da Bai won’t hurt you, but if you keep making noise and scare him…”
Everyone only realized her presence when they saw this person standing right in front of the snarling Da Bai, her head exactly within biting range of the wolf’s jaws.
Just as panic gripped them, Da Bai nuzzled her cheek affectionately, while his almost human, disdainful gaze pinned the men to the spot.
Unanimously, all of them thought: Is this what “Beauty and the Beast” looks like in the real world…?
……
Lishi is a world-famous tourist destination. To protect its ancient town and allow for scenic views of the surrounding snowy mountains, buildings in Lishi are generally not very tall, mostly six or seven stories. This made the twenty-plus-story Jinpan Grand Hotel stand out like a crane among chickens.
Over half a month had passed since the apocalypse. Lishi is surrounded by mountains, and the area overtaken by mutated plants was expanding daily. The Jinpan Grand Hotel, located in the city center, became a gathering place for many survivors, eventually developing into the Lishi base.
Within a 500-meter radius of the hotel, nothing grew; the bare hotel archways towered, with two men lazily standing guard at the entrance.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps rang out. The two men looked over to see seven or eight people crawling and rolling through the snow. One laughed: “Kaizi, Wang Jun, what are you doing? Got ghosts chasing you?”
Kaizi was short and dark-skinned, yet a superpowered individual. He had opened the back door of the building materials factory by hurling a massive stone.
Hearing the mockery, he cursed, “Chasing your ghosts!”
Then, full of pride, he added, “We ran into someone insanely powerful!” and rushed inside like a whirlwind with the others.
The two guards exchanged a glance. The taller one sneered: “Powerful? Could they be stronger than Boss Ba and the three of them, or stronger than Brother Lian’s squad?”
The shorter guard smiled, pulling out a half-smoked cigarette from his pocket and lighting it, analyzing sagely: “You don’t know, before Boss Ba and Brother Lian arrived, Boss Wen favored Kaizi and Wang Jun. But then stronger people came, so naturally Kaizi and the others stepped back. Those two brothers always joke around, but deep down they’re not satisfied. Whenever something happens, they report to Boss Wen. Judging by the look on their faces, this time they really did meet someone powerful.”
The tall guard eyed the short one’s cigarette and smirked: “Hah, I still don’t believe anyone could be stronger than Boss Ba and the others.”
The short guard slowly exhaled a smoke ring: “They say Boss Ba and his brothers used to deal in killings. Even though the world’s ended, very few are as ruthless as those three. Who knows what kind of background the person Kaizi and the others ran into has?”
By now, Kaizi and his group had huffed and puffed up to Boss Wen, reporting what they had seen with Wen Xian and Da Bai, looking at him expectantly.
Boss Wen, in his early forties, was not very tall, fair-skinned, with thick black eyebrows, slightly overweight. He wore high-end designer casuals, his hair meticulously combed, a diamond-studded Patek Philippe on his wrist, and a platinum diamond ring on his finger.
Surprised, he asked, “Are you telling the truth? Someone actually tamed a mutated white wolf?”
Kaizi and the others nodded eagerly. Wang Jun said, “Boss, it’s true! We all saw it. That white wolf, pure white, not a single mixed hair. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a white horse. We were terrified, almost got attacked, but then a young woman in her twenties appeared, and the wolf stood behind her.”
“Yes, yes, that wolf was huge, really frightening, but it listened to everything that woman said.”
“Yes, in front of her, it’s like a pet dog.”
Everyone started chattering about what they had seen. One honest-looking man pulled out his phone with both hands, handing it over with a sheepish grin: “Boss Wen, what we’re saying is true. I even have video here.”
He had been standing at the back at the time, actually the safest spot, and was the first to regain his senses, which gave him the chance to record the video. The clip showed the exact moment when Wen Xian stepped out from behind Da Bai to stop them.
The assistant quickly took the phone and handed it to Boss Wen. Skeptical at first, Boss Wen watched, and after just a glance, he sat upright, shocked and then delighted, his eyes fixed on Da Bai acting spoiled in front of Wen Xian.
Since the apocalypse began, most of the mutated animals they’d encountered were highly aggressive toward humans. They never expected that a wolf as ferocious as a white wolf could be tamed.
If they could recruit someone like this along with the white wolf…
A sharp glint appeared in Boss Wen’s eyes as he turned to Kaizi and Wang Jun: “If you can bring that person to me, each of you will get a beautiful woman and a truckload of supplies!”
Kaizi, Wang Jun, and the others exchanged astonished, excited looks.
It should be noted that Boss Wen now held the greatest power in all of Lishi. The houses under his control filled two whole floors of the Jinpan Grand Hotel. More than two thousand people in the Lishi base survived thanks to him, and any attractive women were either monopolized by those above or given as rewards to those deemed worthy, like the Ba Hai three brothers or men from Chen Lian’s squad that had arrived just a few days earlier.
Kaizi and Wang Jun had originally been construction workers under Boss Wen. Because they awakened superpowers, they earned his favor, but their abilities were ordinary, so over time they were gradually pushed to the sidelines. Now, things were about to change, their good days were coming.
They swore that they would bring the person over before the day ended.
After Kaizi and the others left, the assistant cautiously asked, “Boss, what’s the background of that woman? We’ve never heard of her before.”
Boss Wen rubbed his ring and said, “Lishi isn’t particularly big, nor is it small. It’s different from before; communication is difficult. She probably came from some remote corner.”
Then he smiled, confident as ever: “But she looks like a simple young girl. People like her are easy to handle. Once I recruit her, everything I plan will surely work out.”
The assistant laughed in agreement: “You tamed even Boss Ba and his three brothers; a little girl like this will be nothing. I think this time, everything will go as you wish.”
Boss Wen couldn’t help but laugh heartily: “You know how to speak!”
The external power grid had long since collapsed, but the Jinpan Grand Hotel still had plenty of backup power and generators, and after further scavenging, the elevators were still operational.
With a ‘ding’, the elevator doors opened. Kaizi, Zhang Jun, and the others quickly stepped inside, their excited expressions vanishing the moment they saw who was already there.
Silence fell for a moment. Kaizi was the first to speak: “Brother Lian, you all coming out?”
It was Chen Lian and his group, accompanied by Ding Wei, Shao Qingqing, Cai Cai, Qi Hao, Fan Yaohui, and Xiao Tong, but the Shouzi Guy, Zhang Jun, Cai Xin, and the Landladywere nowhere in sight. Each person wore a somber expression.
Especially Ding Wei, three deep scars ran from her left eye down to her jaw, as if clawed by some sharp talon. The wounds were pink and wriggling like live worms, making anyone who saw them instinctively look away.
Her temperament had changed drastically as well. Her bright red lips were tightly pressed, the outer corners of her eyes drooped, and when she looked at people, her eyes rolled coldly, giving off a chilling, sinister glare. Standing with her arms crossed, she still let her gaze drift toward Kaizi and the others.
Chen Lian nodded lightly: “On a mission.” The others paid no attention.
Kaizi and his group had long been accustomed to such things, but now with a major accomplishment laid out before them, it wasn’t impossible for the two groups to be considered equal from here on. They couldn’t just swallow the insult.
Zhang Jun watched the elevator numbers descend and casually asked, “Brother Lian, I heard that before you came to the base, you had dealt with many mutated animals. Do you know how to handle a white wolf?”
“Dealt with mutated animals?”
Chen Lian and the others immediately focused on him, their expressions darkening. Wang Jun smiled, Kaizi grinned, his dark face making his teeth look startlingly white and glaring.
Finally, Ding Wei spoke, her words dripping with hostility: “What do you mean? Are you mocking us?”
As she finished, she lifted her hand. The wooden stick in her grasp instantly catalyzed into a thirty-centimeter-long wooden spike, which she hurled straight toward Wang Jun’s eyes without hesitation.
Who didn’t know that this group had once fled to Lishi in disgrace? After their arrival, Zhang Jun and Kaizi had lost status, and both sides maintained a polite but resentful distance. Kaizi and his group had always kept silent, only feeling discontent inside. And now they dared to be so arrogant?
Ding Wei’s strike was fast, and the elevator was narrow. Although Wang Jun had a speed ability, he had nowhere to evade. Her wooden power was aggressively offensive, likely amplified by her impulsive temperament. While others were still catalyzing whip-like vines, she had produced sharp wooden spikes and nails.
The pointed spike shot straight toward him; Wang Jun couldn’t avoid it and instantly went pale.
Kaizi grabbed Wang Jun and pulled him back, laughing as if nothing happened: “Miss Ding, you’ve got it wrong. My brother was just asking you a question. Not long ago, we met a young girl with a white wolf. Boss Wen wanted to recruit her into the base, but that white wolf was huge. We’d never encountered anything like it. Since you are experienced, we were just asking for advice.”
Seeing Ding Wei’s face darken as she raised her hand again, Kaizi hurriedly grabbed the phone from the honest-looking man, opened the video, and handed it to her: “If you don’t believe us, watch this. We just filmed it. See how big that white wolf is? Yet it obeys this girl.”
Chen Lian and the others instinctively looked at the phone. At the same time, a voice came from the video: “Stop shouting. Da Bai won’t do anything to you…”
Ding Wei’s face went pale. Chen Lian and the others also looked incredulous. They snatched the phone from Kaizi and stared intensely at the familiar figure on screen.
Qi Hao murmured from the back: “It’s her… she’s… she’s not dead?”
“Slap!”
Ding Wei violently hurled the wooden spike, which slammed against the elevator wall with a piercing clang. Kaizi, Wang Jun, and the others jumped in fright, while Chen Lian’s group was unsurprised, though their expressions were tense.
Ding Wei touched her disfigured face, eyes filled with a terrifying hatred: “Wen Xian! This time… I will make sure you die!”
At that moment, Xiao Tong, standing quietly in the corner, suddenly raised his head. Although he was not even ten years old, his expression was utterly blank.