The next morning, the sunlight was just right.
After washing up, Wu Xiaolan prepared to head out.
Li Daqiang hadn’t returned all night. Standing at the doorway were the landlady and an old man dressed in a Taoist priest’s robe.
Seeing Wu Xiaolan, the old man immediately furrowed his brow, muttering incantations Wu Xiaolan couldn’t understand.
Too lazy to bother with the two of them, Wu Xiaolan squeezed past them and stepped into the elevator.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Wu Xiaolan caught the conversation between the Taoist priest and the landlady outside.
Taoist Priest: “This woman’s destiny is entangled with yin and malevolent energy. The black aura lingering around her body is extremely heavy, making her someone who attracts evil and misfortune.”
The landlady’s voice was full of certainty, even revealing a hint of lingering fear: “Daoist master, I knew it was this little slut! Otherwise, why would that Li Daqiang always target only her door?”
A calculating look flashed across the Taoist priest’s face, though his tone remained feigned and profound: “If you let her stay long-term, the feng shui of the entire building will be ruined, which might affect property values. Why don’t I help you perform a ritual…”
The elevator doors slowly closed, completely cutting off the conversation outside.
Wu Xiaolan just gave a calm roll of her eyes.
Some people were seriously sick in the head.
When Wu Xiaolan arrived at the real estate registry office, the family of four—Chen Tao, Lin Yue’e, Chen Chen, and Chen Yue—was already standing neatly at the entrance.
Lin Yue’e was still trying hard to maintain the posture of a wealthy lady, wearing an expensive silk dress, a complete set of sapphire necklaces refracting dazzling light under the sunlight.
The moment she laid eyes on Wu Xiaolan, all her disguise instantly shattered, and her mean, petty face was completely exposed.
“Wu Xiaolan! You ungrateful wolf with a conscience! I raised you for so long, and not only are you completely ungrateful, but you even want to take away the dowry I prepared for Yue’e. That is all the blood and sweat of your father and me! An outsider who’s going to get married off sooner or later—what gives you the right?”
Her venomous curses drew side-eyed glances from passersby.
Just as Wu Xiaolan was about to strike back, a clear, furious roar exploded!
“You old witch! Don’t you dare yell at my sister!”
Before anyone could react, a figure in blue-and-white striped hospital pajamas darted out like a cheetah from behind the side greenery, holding a half-person-tall green large trash can high in the air!
Crash! Splat!
The movement was fast, accurate, and ruthless!
With the trash can mouth facing down, it squarely covered Lin Yue’e’s elaborately coiled hair bun!
The leftover slop, rotten vegetable leaves, and unknown sticky substances inside the bin instantly poured down, coating her head and face completely!
“Ah!!!”
Lin Yue’e let out a piercing scream.
Supporting the heavy trash can on her head, her body struggled and twisted wildly.
Her expensive dress was filthy beyond recognition, and a trembling piece of instant noodle debris hung off that sapphire necklace.
“Who?! Who is the damn bastard?! I’m going to make you die!!” She was hysterical and an absolute mess.
Seeing this, the surrounding crowd grew larger and larger, full of onlookers who loved the chaos.
Meanwhile, Wu Xiaolan kept her eyes fixed entirely on this “righteous” hero.
It was Gu Gu.
The mysterious alien who had crawled out of the “egg” last night and called her sister!
At the moment, wearing a psychiatric hospital’s patient uniform and shuffling barefoot in plastic slippers, he stood there with amber pupils filled with intense excitement.
Warning bells clanged wildly in Wu Xiaolan’s heart.
Why was he here? Did he escape from the hospital? And why of all times, right at this time and place?
She completely refused to believe such a coincidence existed.
Screaming in panic, Chen Chen and Chen Yue scrambled to help Lin Yue’e clean up the trash.
After a long scuffle, they finally revealed her face, which was distorted with rage and smeared with filth.
The makeup she had meticulously applied this morning was thoroughly ruined.
Not only had she lost all her dignity, but passersby had also recorded it all and posted it online.
“Hahaha! Old witch! Bleeeh-bleeeh-bleeeh~”
A few steps away, Gu Gu bounced up and down, making faces at Lin Yue’e like a monkey on Mount Emei.
He completely ignored Chen Tao, whose face was dark with anger and who wanted to charge forward to grab him but held back due to his status and image.
In Chen Tao’s eyes, compared to his wife making a public spectacle of herself, he cared far more about his own face.
Standing in place with clenched fists, his dark gaze dripping with venom, he could only offer a toothless, useless threat: “Brat, dare to touch my people, and I’ll make you pay the price!”
Seeing that her husband was only capable of impotent rage, Lin Yue’e was on the verge of fainting from anger, pointing at the security guards in front of the real estate office nearby and shouting: “Catch him! Quickly catch that lunatic! Something happened to me here, you guys are responsible too.”
The security guards, who had originally intended to step in, immediately stopped in their tracks. What did something happening outside the front gates have to do with them?
Just as Lin Yue’e was completely helpless against Gu Gu, a few panting figures in white lab coats came running from afar: “Stop right there! Number 137! Don’t run!”
Seeing this, Gu Gu threw an extremely fierce throat-slitting gesture at Lin Yue’e, his tone carrying an innocent cruelty: “If you dare bully my sister again, next time it won’t just be a trash can covering your head!”
With that, he turned around and bolted.
His feet in cheap slippers moved at an astonishing speed, and in a few quick flashes, he darted into the nearby alley and vanished.
Before leaving, as if unintentionally, he cast an extremely quick glance in Wu Xiaolan’s direction.
That look was extremely complex.
It held reliance, stubbornness, and a hint of… an emotion Wu Xiaolan couldn’t quite decipher.
He didn’t seem like a bad person.
Her heart tightening, Wu Xiaolan stared at the direction where Gu Gu had disappeared, her lips moving, but ultimately she said nothing.
Gratitude? A little. But suspicion and guardedness outweighed it all.
Overly bizarre “fates” are often wrapped in fatal chains of cause and effect.
She didn’t dare trust him easily.
Having finally managed to clean her head and face, Lin Yue’e heard that madman shouting “sister” and instantly redirected her towering rage toward Wu Xiaolan.
Clawing and scratching, she lunged forward, reeking of sour garbage.
“Wu Xiaolan! Was it you who orchestrated this?! You jinx! You dare find helpers—are you tired of living?”
Wu Xiaolan nimbly stepped back two paces, pinching her nose, her cold gaze carrying unmasked disgust: “Aunt Lin, I see your forehead is dark and your energy is fouled with bad luck. Your bad fortune probably started long ago—otherwise, why has the company kept losing money ever since my dad married you? Stay away from me, you bring bad luck.”
Hearing Wu Xiaolan’s words, Chen Tao nearby actually stopped to seriously ponder them.
Seeing this, Lin Yue’e shook with furious fat all over her body. She pulled out her phone and threatened loudly, “Little slut, you dare curse me! Police! I’m calling the police right now to have both of you dog-and-pony show freaks arrested!”
“Fine, you call, I’ll call too.”
Calmly pulling out her phone as well, Wu Xiaolan’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it clearly pierced through the clamor and struck straight at Chen Tao’s eardrums: “Right on cue, I’ve had a recurring dream lately. I dream of my mother struggling and crying for help in the cold, pitch-black sea water, while my good father sits on a speedboat, watching coldly until the surface of the water goes completely still…”
“Enough!!”
Chen Tao’s face turned instantly as pale as paper, interrupting her in a sharp shout, unable to hide the shock and panic deep in his eyes.
He glared fiercely at Lin Yue’e, practically roaring, “Haven’t you made enough of a public disgrace?! What are you bickering with a mentally unstable lunatic for?! Shut your mouth right now!”
Startled by the roar, Lin Yue’e shrank back. Though unwilling, her long-standing fear of Chen Tao made her subconsciously clamp her mouth shut, though she still glared viciously at Wu Xiaolan, muttering under her breath.
“Clearly that dead girl bullied me first.”
Ignoring her, Chen Tao forcefully suppressed his pounding heart and walked over to Wu Xiaolan, trying to force out his usual hypocritical “kind father” smile, though the coldness and murderous intent in his gaze had almost condensed into substance.
“Xiaolan, Dad was muddle-headed yesterday. That villa was, after all, something your aunt always set aside as Yue’e’s dowry. How about this: you take the 50 million, and forget about the villa. We’re family—why drag things to court over a bit of money and make ourselves a laughingstock?”
Hearing this, Chen Yue’s delicately made-up face displayed a smug look: “Sister, stop arguing. That villa in Songshan District should be mine; Mom and Dad have already agreed to give it to me as my dowry. Look, we’re here today precisely to transfer the title.”
Ever since she was a little kid, whenever Wu Xiaolan had something, she had to have it too. Relying on Lin Yue’e’s doting, she grabbed everything from Wu Xiaolan, and this time was no exception.
There could only be one eldest daughter in the Chen family, and that was her, Chen Yue.
Whether it was the suburban villa or her fiancé, she was determined to win them both.
Wu Xiaolan had long guessed that this family couldn’t be trusted.
That piece of land in the suburban villa area was slated by the state for commercial district development, a Grade-A tertiary hospital, and a key high school, and a subway line would run through it in the future, meaning property values were about to skyrocket.
Although the apocalypse was coming and none of this would materialize, this family had caught wind of the news and smelled money, instantly wanting to go back on their word.
In your dreams!
“The agreement is in black and white, and the transfer records are right there.”
Holding up the document folder, Wu Xiaolan’s voice was clear and firm. “This villa was traded with my shares! You guys have usurped my mother’s estate for so long—do you really want me to push this to court? And incidentally, let the tax bureau audit the company accounts? When that time comes, it won’t just be a matter of one villa.”
Hearing this, Chen Tao forced out a sentence from between his clenched teeth: “We’re family, why talk about suing or not suing?”
His tone was amiable, but a hint of murderous intent leaked through his gaze, visible only to Wu Xiaolan.
Wu Xiaolan knew she had guessed correctly; the scenes stored in her dream memories were entirely real.
She understood clearly in her heart that if Chen Tao hadn’t needed to use the guise of raising her to smoothly obtain company control from her grandfather, he probably would have gotten rid of her long ago.
Yet times had changed; Wu Xiaolan had originally intended to fight this entire family to the death. Now that the end of the world was arriving in less than a month, she had nothing left to fear.
Stepping forward, she closed in on Chen Tao, using a volume audible only to the two of them to finish the words she had left unsaid.
“Guess what—if I were to tell this ‘dream’ in detail to the Lu family, to Wu Zhigang, to all the media, and to the police, what do you think they would make of it?”
Chen Tao’s body swayed imperceptibly, every trace of color draining from his face.
He wasn’t afraid of the police; after all, what he did back then was done seamlessly. But he feared gossip, feared losing the towering tree that was the Lu family, and feared Wu Zhigang making trouble at the company.
Looked at this way, what was a suburban villa that might appreciate in value in the future?
Besides, couldn’t he just steal it back later?
There weren’t many households in that area; causing Wu Xiaolan to quietly meet her end would be very easy.
Struggling in his gaze, Chen Tao’s expression finally melted into a ruthless shade of defeat.
Gritting his teeth, he squeezed out the order through his teeth: “Transfer the title!”
“Chen Tao!” Lin Yue’e was unwilling.
“Shut up! Haven’t you made enough of a mess?!” Chen Tao snarled low, then turned to Wu Xiaolan, his eyes looking like poison-dipped blades: “It’s transferred to you! From this moment on, the bond between father and daughter is completely severed! If you dare come pester us again, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
“Who do you think you guys are, some kind of prized delicacy? A whole family of sickening trash.” Coldly dropping those words, Wu Xiaolan turned around and walked into the real estate registry office first.
The procedures were completed under an extremely oppressive and eerie atmosphere.
Holding the freshly minted property ownership certificate bearing her own name, Wu Xiaolan felt as though a massive boulder crushing her chest had finally landed.
Stepping out of the registry office, Wu Xiaolan suddenly heard Lin Yue’e’s piercing shriek.
“Ah! My necklace!”
Looking back, she saw a figure wearing a dark blue hoodie and a face mask dart out fiercely from beside Lin Yue’e.
Clutched tightly in that person’s hand was a flash of brilliant blue light—it was none other than the sapphire necklace from Lin Yue’e’s neck!
In broad daylight, the panicked robber took a desperate path and bolted straight toward Wu Xiaolan’s direction.
At the moment of almost colliding, the robber seemed to instinctively dodge sideways, and the necklace in his hand slipped free, flying out with a crisp “clink” as it rolled right to Wu Xiaolan’s feet.
Seeing this, the robber gave Wu Xiaolan a deep stare, too rushed to pick it up, and sprinted away from the scene.
Lin Yue’e had tripped and fallen to the ground earlier while fighting over the necklace. Now scrambling and crawling, she lunged toward the necklace, covered in filth like a deranged madwoman.
“Ah, my necklace, my necklace, thank goodness it’s not lost.”
Meanwhile, Chen Tao, Chen Yue, and Chen Chen stood a few steps away with faces full of disgust, none of them stepping forward to pull her up.
Wu Xiaolan’s gaze landed on that smudge-stained yet still glowing sapphire necklace. It had once been a keepsake belonging to her late mother, Wu Xuerou.
Originally, her grandfather had made the decision to leave all her mother’s keepsakes to her as a sentimental memory, and Chen Tao had agreed at the time.
Later, after her grandfather passed away, those keepsakes were forcibly snatched and monopolized by Lin Yue’e for years.
A strong impulse urged her to pick it up right now.
But… the timing was wrong.
In full view of everyone, Lin Yue’e was staring right at it.
Suddenly, Wu Xiaolan thought of her spatial dimension.
With a single thought in her mind, in an instant, that sapphire necklace was drawn straight into her space.
By the time Lin Yue’e crawled over, the ground was already completely empty, not even a shadow of the necklace remaining.
Lin Yue’e had seen with her own eyes that the blue light of the necklace had vanished out of thin air, yet Wu Xiaolan hadn’t made any motion of bending down to pick anything up.
“The necklace, my necklace!”
Prostrate on the ground like a madwoman, she crawled around searching everywhere.
“How could it be, how could it be gone? It clearly dropped on the floor.”
“I want to check the surveillance cameras! Quickly take me to check the surveillance!”
With people coming and going at the real estate registry office, and being right by the doorway, everyone was busy with their own business; no one had paid attention to whether a necklace had dropped on the ground.
Having performed immense psychological preparation, Chen Tao finally walked over to Lin Yue’e’s side.
Yet instead of pulling up the disheveled Lin Yue’e off the ground, he pinched his nose with a look of extreme distaste.
“Stop making a scene, the staff have already called the police. Once the police arrive, we can check the surveillance.”
Wu Xiaolan silently distanced herself from these two, otherwise, she’d get tangled up by this couple again shortly.
The necklace was originally her possession; returning it now was simply giving it back to its rightful owner.
At that moment, the system’s notification chime rang out.
[“Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the initial missions. Here are the rewards you have earned:”]
[“1. Space upgrade: Upgraded from the initial space to a micro-space with a total length of 100 meters, a height of 20 meters, and a width of 70 meters.”]
[“2. Item reward: Obtained a pack of purification seeds. Planting them in the soil will yield random plants containing purifying energy.”]
[“3. Functional upgrade: Telekinesis/remote retrieval and remote placement, restricted within the space’s size and range limits.”]
Staring at the small pack of items on the system panel, before she could even start examining them, the system had already begun issuing the next stage of missions.
[“Ding! Now issuing the apocalypse hoarding mission to the host: Before the apocalypse arrives, the host must fill the space with goods to at least 80% capacity.”]
Wu Xiaolan glanced at the time.
Not yet 10:00 AM—just right to drop by the second-hand vehicle dealership.
If she was going to hoard supplies, she still lacked a small cargo truck.
Stepping out from the registry office entrance toward the parking lot, she left behind Lin Yue’e’s shrill, heart-rending curses echoing in the background.
“Little slut, don’t run away! You definitely took my necklace.”
Lin Yue’e had started up her usual unreasonable haranguing routine again.
Pity that Wu Xiaolan didn’t bother with her at all, hopping into her small moped without looking back.
Through the car window, Wu Xiaolan flashed a contemptuous smile at her: “Aunt Lin, maybe the heavens themselves felt you didn’t deserve such a fine piece of jewelry.”
“Little slut, say that one more time…”
The car drove off.
Whatever followed, Wu Xiaolan couldn’t hear anymore.
Nor did she want to.