For all his hesitation, Yu Yao didn’t pay it much mind. With Luo Mei still running a high fever and unconscious, she wouldn’t rashly team up with others—it was too risky.
So she refused outright.
“No. I already have a companion.”
“You can come together,” Ye Zi’ang said.
“Her situation is a bit special. It’s not convenient for her to join you. Thank you for your kindness. And also, thank you for helping me today. If there’s ever anything you need from me in the future, just say the word.”
Her refusal was so decisive that even though Ye Zi’ang had mentally prepared himself, he still froze for a moment.
In the end, he didn’t say anything more.
Instead, it was the usually taciturn Ji Yan who spoke up.
“My name is Ji Yan. We’re temporarily staying in A-2. If you need anything, you can come find us there.”
Yu Yao understood his goodwill and smiled as she nodded.
She then waved to the two of them and turned back toward the villa wall where she was staying.
Activating Cloud-Stepping, she leapt lightly, grabbed and pushed off the wall, and flipped back into the courtyard.
Seeing her ignore the gate and instead vault over the wall, Ye Zi’ang and Ji Yan completely believed her claim that she had snuck in during the chaos.
The two exchanged a glance.
They had things they wanted to say, but didn’t dare linger outside for too long. So, in tacit agreement, they stood back-to-back, keeping watch as they made their way toward Ye Zi’ang’s house.
On the way, thinking about how distant Yu Yao had been, Ye Zi’ang couldn’t help sighing.
“So it really was just a rumor. What a pity.”
Ji Yan remained silent as usual. Ye Zi’ang was clearly used to it and continued,
“When I first heard about it, I even got a little excited.”
Although the original Yu Yao had an ordinary family background and a quiet, withdrawn personality, her looks were truly outstanding.
The moment she entered university, she shocked the entire college town—including Hai University.
It was said that talent scouts had blocked her path again and again, all trying to get her to debut.
Just imagine—a girl that beautiful liking you. Who wouldn’t be excited?
Thinking of this, Ye Zi’ang sighed again.
A few seconds later, he patted his chest with lingering fear and relief.
“But luckily, luckily I didn’t run up to her and get all full of myself. Otherwise, I’d have died of embarrassment!”
Ji Yan: “……”
“Honestly, I always thought I was good at judging people. Who knew I’d be wrong about her twice? Tell me, how did we never realize she was that formidable before?” Ye Zi’ang shook his head in amazement.
He thought Ji Yan would stay silent, but unexpectedly, Ji Yan spoke.
“I’ve seen it.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve seen her teach someone a lesson—someone who tried to bully her.”
Ye Zi’ang let out a long “Ah?” and asked curiously,
“How come you never told me?”
Ji Yan didn’t answer.
Because in his memory, the Yu Yao back then… was somewhat different from the Yu Yao of now.
……
On the other side, Yu Yao flipped back into the courtyard neatly. She casually removed her hood and mask as she pushed the door open and entered the house.
On the sofa, Luo Mei was still unconscious, but the light dot representing her on the map had already stabilized into a purple color—and was growing brighter and brighter.
Yu Yao was certain: she would become a powerful ability user.
After resting for a while, and before the sky had fully darkened, Yu Yao headed out again.
First, she went to shut the large iron gate near the villa district’s security booth.
She then found several cars within the neighborhood and used them to block the gaps, ensuring that zombies wouldn’t be able to get in anytime soon.
After that, she cleared out the remaining few zombies in the villa area, as well as those still trapped inside houses.
She did all this because early the next morning, a tsunami, an earthquake, and a volcanic eruption would arrive simultaneously.
To prevent Ye Zi’ang and the others from panicking and rushing outside—only to get hurt by zombies—she cleaned the area in advance.
It was her way of thanking them for their help.
……
The next day, Yu Yao’s memories were proven right once again.
Just as dawn broke, the ground began to tremble without warning.
The shaking wasn’t especially violent, but it lasted a long time. The sounds of objects falling rang out one after another, followed by screams and curses.
Yu Yao had already moved Luo Mei into the open space of the courtyard. Sitting on the ground, she waited idly for the earthquake to pass while observing the movements of the other residents in the villa district through her mental map.
Thanks to how suddenly the apocalypse had arrived, most people had been too terrified to sleep.
As a result, when the earthquake began, many had enough time to react. The vast majority escaped their houses, and some even ran straight out of their courtyards, terrified of being crushed to death indoors.
Through the iron gate of her courtyard, Yu Yao saw Ji Yan from A-2 leading several other young people out as well.
Yu Yao met his gaze through the iron bars.
After confirming that Yu Yao was safe, Ji Yan gave her a slight nod, then looked away first.
Yu Yao didn’t linger on him either, turning her attention back to Luo Mei instead.
Luo Mei woke up amid the shaking.
She was lying on flat ground in the courtyard, beneath her a comfortable Simmons mattress.
Beside her sat Yu Yao, cross-legged on the ground. The air was filled with the pungent, irritating smell of sulfur.
Looking completely confused, Luo Mei glanced around. Propping herself up on the mattress with both hands, she swayed unsteadily as she sat up.
“Th—there’s an earthquake?!” For a moment, she couldn’t tell whether it was really an earthquake or if she’d slept too long and her brain was still groggy.
“Yeah. It’s an earthquake.”
Having received a definite answer, Luo Mei sucked in a shallow breath of cold air. Gritting her teeth, she rubbed her head, which had been shaken dizzy, and cursed, “Damn it! Does this stupid-ass world ever give it a rest?!”
Yu Yao: “……”
“Ugh, I’m so dizzy!”
This continuous, mild earthquake felt exactly like a car driving for a long time over a bumpy road.
It was easy to make someone who had just woken up—whose mind was still foggy—feel dizzy and nauseous.
“……” Yu Yao watched her quietly.
“Yueh~ tsk… I can’t even throw up!”
“……”
What a vivid, nonstop monologue—it left Yu Yao completely stunned.
When Luo Mei first appeared, Yu Yao had thought she was a cool, aloof, and handsome big sister type…
She’d misjudged her.
Though she was silently complaining in her heart, when Yu Yao noticed Luo Mei’s cracked lips, she considerately took advantage of a moment when the shaking wasn’t so intense. She pulled a bottle of mineral water and two buns from her backpack compartment and handed them to her.
She said, “Have some water—and maybe replenish a bit of energy?”
Seeing Yu Yao seemingly conjure items out of thin air, Luo Mei’s enchanting fox-like eyes burst with astonishing brightness.“Eh? Eh??? Y-you—you have special abilities too?!”
Before she was injured, she’d noticed that some people could suddenly unleash special abilities during combat.
She’d already felt something was off, and it wasn’t until she heard Yu Yao mention awakened abilities before she lost consciousness that it all clicked.
Yu Yao blinked her big eyes and nodded. “Yeah. A spatial ability.”
Luo Mei’s expression instantly shifted from shock to admiration and envy. “That’s so convenient, damn…”
As she spoke, her expression slowly stiffened.
“Hiss—why do I… why do I feel like something’s off with me too? Wait a second—what’s this?”
As she spoke, Luo Mei began to focus and sense her surroundings.
Half a minute later, she closed her eyes, then opened them; opened them, then closed them again—repeating this several times. Excitement crept into her voice, making it tremble slightly.
“I can sense everything within a hundred meters around me! Huh? No—something’s not right!”
Her long brows knitted tightly. “Why are all those ugly things lying down? Who did this? Who’s so badass that they knocked all of them flat? Don’t tell me it was you?”
The earthquake was still ongoing. Luo Mei felt dizzy from the shaking, but her spirits were unusually high, and she kept chattering nonstop.
Mm… a bit noisy.
But her strong vitality somehow infected Yu Yao.
Just as Yu Yao was about to explain, a thunderous crash rang out. It turned out that a pillar at the villa entrance had collapsed from the quake, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Cough, cough, cough—ptui!” Luo Mei coughed a few times.
She felt somewhat annoyed and was still thinking about how to deal with all that dust when—
A transparent, hemispherical light shield about three meters in diameter suddenly appeared around Luo Mei and Yu Yao, firmly enclosing them and blocking out the dust.
Luo Mei was dumbfounded.
“I… what the hell?”
Yu Yao stared at the transparent light sphere beside her in amazement, her voice trembling slightly.“This is… a mental-energy shield?”
If nothing unexpected had happened, Luo Mei had awakened a psychic ability.
Not only could she use mental power to detect her surroundings, she could also condense a mental shield.
In the future, if her mental strength became powerful enough, she could even use it to attack other people’s brains—and control them.
And someone like Luo Mei, who had just awakened her ability yet could already extend her mental perception to a hundred meters and even form a mental shield—
Was undoubtedly someone with extraordinary talent, with limitless potential.
“What’s that supposed to be? What shield?” Luo Mei still hadn’t fully processed it.
Yu Yao didn’t explain much. Instead, she took out a tablet from her storage.
She opened a post-apocalyptic novel she’d downloaded in advance and handed it to her, saying, “You can use this as a reference.”
Luo Mei blinked her big eyes, completely confused, her voice winding oddly.
“……Huh~??”