After absorbing the energy from the crystal cores she gathered today, Ruan Ning’s fatigue completely vanished. Though her body was no longer tired, her mind needed relaxation.
At this moment, she needed some comfort—a bit of solace that belonged to being “human,” not just surviving.
What could soothe a tired, cold heart in the apocalypse better than a steaming hot pot?
Once this thought arose, it couldn’t be suppressed. A rare gleam lit up in Ruan Ning’s eyes—a faint light from the ordinary life before the apocalypse.
She entered the living room and switched on a small table lamp. With a thought, she pulled out from her space stash a portable gas stove and a compact gas canister.
Next came a heavy, metallic-looking divided hot pot — one side a fiery red beef tallow base, with densely packed Sichuan peppercorns and chilies visible in the solidified oil; the other side was a milky white mushroom broth, carrying the fresh aroma of fungi.
All of these she had specially ordered from a specialty store before the apocalypse.
Setting the pot on the stove, she lit the gas. Blue flames licked the pot’s bottom.
Soon, the beef tallow began to melt, bubbling out alluring red oil and a potent spicy aroma; the mushroom broth bubbled and steamed, fragrant and inviting. This familiar smell instantly filled the room, almost dispelling the omnipresent scent of disinfectant and blood.
Ruan Ning’s movements quickened. Like a magician, she continuously pulled fresh ingredients from her space:
Thinly sliced fatty beef and lamb rolls, neatly arranged on white porcelain plates;
Tender duck blood and bouncy shrimp paste;
Crunchy tripe and beef aorta;
Frozen tofu and rolled gluten sheets that soak up the broth to perfection;
And a vibrant vegetable platter—lettuce, crown daisy, enoki mushrooms…
Finally, a small bowl of specially mixed fragrant sesame oil with minced garlic!
The ingredients were as fresh as if just taken off supermarket shelves, preserved in absolute stasis inside her space.
Looking at this dazzling hot pot feast—almost no different from pre-apocalypse times—Ruan Ning’s long-silent heart seemed to have a warm stone dropped into it, rippling gentle waves.
She sat cross-legged on the carpet by the coffee table, listening to the happy bubbling of the divided pot, inhaling the spicy and fresh mingled aroma that made her fingers twitch with appetite. She picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a piece of red-and-white marbled beef, and lightly swirled it in the rolling red oil broth a few times.
The meat instantly changed color and curled, soaked with the spicy broth.
She dipped it in the sesame-garlic sauce and put it into her mouth.
In an instant, the spicy, fresh flavor exploded on her taste buds! The beef’s tenderness, the richness of the broth, and the fragrant dipping sauce… The complex, ultimate taste immediately conquered her senses.
So… delicious!
This long-missed feeling of satisfaction and happiness from normal life nearly moved her to tears.
Since the apocalypse, she’d only eaten foods easy to store and quickly replenish energy, long forgetting how food could bring such pure joy.
She dipped another slice of tripe, rolling it up and down—the texture crisp and chewy; drank a small bowl of mushroom broth, a warm current soothing her throat down to her stomach; ate frozen tofu soaked in broth, hot enough to make her blow but too tasty to spit out…
Alone, facing the blood-red moonlight and the silent city outside, she quietly enjoyed her steaming hot pot.
This scene carried an extreme loneliness, yet also a stubborn warmth refusing to yield to despair.
After the satisfying meal, a lazy happiness flowed through her limbs. Ruan Ning leaned back into the soft sofa cushions, her fingertips still seemingly carrying the warmth of the hot pot and the scent of sesame garlic sauce.
This rare pure satisfaction brought by food made the cold lake of her heart ripple with gentle warmth.
However, this tenderness was soon replaced by clearer rationality.
She furrowed her brow slightly, trying to recall fragments of her past life. The army… rescue… The memories were very vague, only that about half a month after the apocalypse began, the army entered the city to rescue survivors.
Which day exactly, from which direction, she couldn’t remember. In her past life, she was just an ordinary struggling person at the bottom, cut off from information and filled with dread.
“Half a month…” Ruan Ning murmured, chewing over this timeline. Today was already the eleventh day; time was running out.
The army’s arrival meant temporary order and relative safety—but also exposure.
She must never reveal the secret of her space and spirit spring!
She could show her water elemental power as a foothold, but the existence of the space was her greatest trump card. Bearing such a precious secret was a double-edged sword in the apocalypse, even more brutal.
More importantly, she needed to use these last few “free” days to level up as fast as possible!
Strength was the foundation for survival in any environment.
Thinking this, a sharp gleam flashed in Ruan Ning’s eyes. The relaxation brought by the hot pot completely vanished, replaced by urgency.
She stood and walked to the window, gazing at the blood-red shrouded, silent world outside.
“Before the army arrives, I must reach level two elemental power!” she set a clear goal for herself.
Level one water elemental power, though already potent, had limited attack methods and energy reserves, and was still insufficient against moderately sized zombie hordes or powerful hostile elemental users.
Only by breaking through to level two would the power, sustained combat ability, and control precision over water elements make a qualitative leap.
Returning to the center of the living room, she sat cross-legged. She didn’t enter her space immediately but first reviewed every detail of her elemental use today—the water arrows’ condensation, the instant construction and shape shifting of the water shield, and the precise counterattack triple shot.
“The energy compression can be more extreme, shape-shifting faster, and mental energy consumption must be further controlled…”
She continuously simulated and analyzed in her mind, searching for optimization points.
She had to seize every second to gain enough power to protect herself and intimidate others before the army’s arrival.
Time waits for no one.
She must run ahead of fate.