The TV broadcast was still going: “…according to XX News, botanists have recently discovered several new mutated plant varieties near Xige Town, possibly related to the meteor shower three years ago… Their size and fruit far exceed those of normal plants, and experts say they may be able to replace existing edible vegetables and fruits…”
Yao Tao stared at the TV screen, dazed.
Had she… been reborn?
She checked the date on her phone.
That’s right, this wasn’t a dream.
She had been reborn, back into the past.
No doubt plenty of foodies watching those mutated vegetables and fruits on TV would be thrilled, they had no idea that behind those mutated plants lay a cruel apocalypse waiting for them, an age when humanity would fight for survival against all kinds of mutated plant life.
Humankind would slide from the top of the food chain straight down into the mud.
Just like the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, humanity would end up living inside a terrifying “forest” formed by mutated plants.
Before the apocalypse began, only plants mutated, but afterward the insects that fed on the mutated plants began to mutate too, followed by animals, and then humans. Mutated plants and animals grew to enormous size and their temperaments changed drastically, and humans became their prey. Humans, however, only mutated in the form of various illnesses, after mutating, they’d develop all sorts of symptoms until they died.
Still, there was a small number of people who weren’t affected by the mutation, even after eating mutated plants or mutated animals, they wouldn’t be infected.
Yao Tao was one of them.
She didn’t know why eating mutated food didn’t affect her, was it because of her spatial ability?
She counted the days. There was still a month left before the apocalypse.
There was still time for everything.
She quickly turned off the TV, picked up her phone, and called a loan company. “I’d like to inquire about a home mortgage loan… yes, I’d like it as soon as possible…”
Having lived through one apocalypse already, she knew all too well the importance of stockpiling supplies.
She wasn’t rich. Her parents had died young, and she herself had undergone a liver transplant after a serious illness. Right now the only thing of value in her hands was the less-than-forty-square-meter apartment her parents had left her.
Once the apocalypse began, the mutated plants would grow wildly, their massive root systems wrapping around buildings and hoisting them into the air. Some buildings would be torn from their very foundations by the sheer force of the plants breaking through the ground…
By then the apartment would be the most worthless asset there was, better to turn it into cash now.
Loan approval usually took at least fifteen days. She couldn’t afford to waste time; she had to start gathering supplies as soon as possible.
But before that, there was one important thing she had to do.
She had to find the person who had given her her “spatial” ability.
In her previous life, her boyfriend Zhu Hua had gone with her to the hospital to pick up medicine, and they’d run into a mysterious young man there. He had given her the “spatial” ability.
Unfortunately, back then she’d trusted Zhu Hua far too much, and had told him this secret without holding anything back.
Zhu Hua had used her ability to hoard massive amounts of supplies during the apocalypse, and had even built up his own team.
She’d thought Zhu Hua loved her, that he was “carefully” protecting her, every time she went out to search for supplies, he’d send someone to stay by her side.
Looking back on it now, she couldn’t help laughing bitterly at herself, laughing until tears streamed down her face.
He hadn’t been protecting her at all, he’d clearly been having her watched, guarding against her secretly keeping supplies for herself.
How laughable, she’d devoted herself heart and soul to Zhu Hua and his team, only to have him frame her in the end for embezzling the team’s supplies.
After she’d handed over everything she had to prove her innocence, Zhu Hua had still thrown her into a den of mutated rabbits, where she’d been eaten alive.
Feeling the pain and hatred well up inside her, Yao Tao only smiled more brilliantly, her eyes full of madness.
This time, without her spatial ability to help him, she’d love to see how Zhu Hua managed to survive the apocalypse.
She went to a small supermarket first, bought some bread, sausages, and drinks, then headed to the hospital.
She’d had a liver transplant, and had to go to the hospital every month to get her medication.
This time she didn’t call Zhu Hua to come with her. Instead she went alone, relying on memory to find the corridor where she’d met the young man before.
The benches on both sides were packed with patients and their families. She spotted the young man right away, wearing a hospital gown, his thin body curled up like a skeleton, leaning against the bench at the far end.
His head was turned to one side; Yao Tao could only see half his face. His skin was pale, without a trace of color, and through it she could even see the blue veins beneath.
In her past life, she hadn’t gotten a proper look at him, the young man had said something strange, but she’d been too scared, curled up in Zhu Hua’s arms, and hadn’t really heard what he’d said.
This time, she didn’t want to miss anything.
Carrying her bags, she walked over and sat down beside the young man.
The young man’s eyes snapped open instantly, a pair of eyes appearing beneath his long, messy bangs.
That sharp, cold gaze made Yao Tao’s heart skip a beat.
He didn’t look at all like someone who’d just woken up, his eyes were full of wariness.
Once the boy got a good look at Yao Tao’s face, a smile spread across his lips, the curve of it like a blade dipped in poison.
Dangerous, and alluring.
For a moment Yao Tao didn’t know what to say.
The young man suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Yao Tao’s breath caught.
A stream of heat flowed from his hand into her body, leaving her dizzy.
She knew this feeling, it was her “spatial” ability being activated.
She fought to stay conscious, refusing to let herself pass out.
In her previous life, she’d fainted, and by the time she woke up the young man had already left. Zhu Hua had told her the boy was a lunatic who, after she’d fainted, had stolen the half a piece of bread she’d been holding.
“You’re the last one still alive. Don’t die…” The young man let go of her hand, brazenly snatched the bag from her, tore open the bread, and stuffed it into his mouth.
“What you just said… what did you mean?” Yao Tao asked carefully.
His mouth was stuffed full; he mumbled something she couldn’t catch. “What?”
“I’m leaving.” The young man, bread still hanging from his mouth, suddenly jumped off the bench.
“Where are you going? You still haven’t told me who you are…” Yao Tao chased after him, unwilling to let it go.
“Bai Lin…”
The young man tossed out those two words and quickly vanished into the crowd.
Yao Tao stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning.
Bai Lin?
He was Bai Lin?
The mad, ruthless legend of the apocalypse, a man of unmatched combat strength. Rumor had it he could strangle a pack of mutated wolves bare-handed, alone. Countless teams had tried to recruit him, but his temperament was strange, nearly impossible to get close to…
No, “strange” wasn’t even the right word for Bai Lin’s personality anymore. He was moody and unpredictable, and he killed without so much as blinking.
Bai Lin never allied with anyone, never joined any base or team. In the apocalypse he went his own way, without even a single friend.
In her past life, Yao Tao had never had the chance to meet Bai Lin in person, but she’d heard plenty of legends about him from Zhu Hua and the team members: once, a team had tried to form an alliance with him, and their leader had gone to make nice, Bai Lin had smiled and snapped his neck on the spot…
Yao Tao instinctively reached up and touched her own neck.
Good. Her head was still attached.