It was sunset by the time they returned to the villa grounds inside the space.
Yuan Tao stopped by the warehouse. Seeing the vast assortment of supplies eased some of her fear of the approaching apocalypse.
She was afraid. In her previous life, she had been an ordinary person born in peacetime. Killing and bloodshed had always been far removed from her life. She had never experienced anything like that. How could she not be scared?
Only the space, the lottery system, Xiao Jiu, and her abundant supplies gave her enough confidence to keep that fear and unease at bay.
That night, she slept in the villa inside the space.
On December 1, Yuan Tao got up early. Once she finished training, she and Zhou Yunxi sat in the living room.
The latest news played on the television, the presenter still urging everyone to avoid going out unless necessary.
Yuan Tao watched distractedly.
The apocalypse was almost here. In the novel, a mist invisible to the human eye would appear at noon today. Every breathing creature would inhale it without realizing. It could also enter through the skin, making it impossible to keep out.
Some of the people who inhaled it would become zombies. A lucky few would awaken abilities, but most would remain ordinary people, unchanged.
The earlier someone awakened an ability, the stronger it would be.
Both Zhou Yunxi and Gu Nan had awakened their abilities on the first day of the apocalypse. Zhou Yunxi had two, psychic and wind, while Gu Nan possessed a highly destructive lightning ability. The female lead, Sheng Wanwan, had awakened a healing ability on the fifth day.
Yuan Tao felt uneasy. She didn’t know whether she would awaken an ability at all. After all, her character had been dead by the third day.
At precisely noon, she felt something enter her body with her breath. Unnoticed by her, the withered peach tree in the space slowly unfurled its first leaf.
She hurriedly looked at Zhou Yunxi beside her. His face was flushed. He was clearly developing a fever.
Those who turned into zombies would collapse soon after inhaling the mist, then rise a minute later and attack anyone nearby, tearing into them with their teeth. Those bitten would become zombies two minutes afterward.
People awakening abilities, on the other hand, would develop a fever. It would start low, then climb until they lost consciousness. Once the fever broke, they would have their abilities. That meant they needed to find somewhere safe as soon as the fever began. If they collapsed outside, zombies could easily bite them to death.
Yuan Tao helped Zhou Yunxi to his bedroom and gave him a glass of spirit spring water.
Watching her bustle around, he cautioned her, “Yuan Tao, don’t go outside before I wake up. Whatever happens, wait until then.”
“Don’t worry, Yunxi-ge. I won’t go wandering off,” she readily promised.
She wasn’t stupid. With chaos breaking out everywhere, going outside would be asking to die. Her current skills were more than enough to handle newly turned zombies, but there was no need to take the risk.
Once Zhou Yunxi was settled, Yuan Tao returned to the living room, picked up her tablet, and went online to see what was happening.
Horrific scenes of zombies attacking people were unfolding around the world. Countless people collapsed without warning, then rose with twisted limbs and lunged at the crowds. Screams and curses rang out one after another.
Thanks to its advance preparations, Huaguo was not as chaotic as other countries. Most people were at home or at work, so the situation was a little better.
The government should be able to respond quickly and launch rescue efforts.
Yuan Tao alternated between checking the news and looking in on Zhou Yunxi. His temperature kept climbing until it was alarmingly high, and he began to speak deliriously.
Standing beside him, she heard him mumbling, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. All she caught was “Tao.”
She thought he might be worrying about her. He was like an older brother. Though he could seem stern and distant, he had always looked after the original Yuan Tao with meticulous care, and she had respected him.
Their time together had only made Yuan Tao trust and rely on him more.
Even knowing that he was awakening his abilities, she couldn’t help worrying as his temperature continued to rise. Every so often, she gave him another glass of spirit spring water. It didn’t break his fever, but he stopped speaking deliriously after drinking it.
Before she knew it, it was late at night.
When Zhou Yunxi emerged from his room, he found Yuan Tao asleep on the sofa, her head tilted to one side. The tablet was still in her hand, its screen lit. She clearly hadn’t been asleep for long.
He walked over, bent down, and called softly, “Yuan Tao, go to bed.”
She had only been dozing. Her eyes opened blearily, heavy with exhaustion, and she looked up at him.
Noticing the flush in her cheeks, Zhou Yunxi reached out to check her forehead. The moment his hand touched her skin, he felt the warmth.
“You have a fever?” His voice was much gentler than usual, his eyes full of concern.
“Mmm…” Yuan Tao murmured sleepily. She touched her own forehead, and the warmth against her palm slowly brought her to her senses.
“I think I have a slight fever.”
Suddenly wide awake, she sat up in delighted surprise.
Am I about to awaken an ability?
The original Yuan Tao hadn’t developed a fever at this point. Perhaps her arrival had changed things. Excitement rose in her as she wondered what ability she might awaken.
“Go back to your room and rest,” Zhou Yunxi urged.
“It’s fine. It’s only a slight fever. I don’t feel ill.” She waved off his concern.
Then she remembered that she still hadn’t asked about his abilities.
“Oh, Yunxi-ge, what abilities did you awaken?”
She looked up at him, her bright eyes curving into smiling crescents.
Zhou Yunxi could feel two strange forces within him. He tried drawing on one, and a blue-green ball of wind the size of an egg appeared in his palm. With a flick of his hand, he sent it toward a nearby table, which collapsed with a crash, reduced to a pile of splinters.
“A wind ability! Yunxi-ge, you’re amazing!”
Yuan Tao was envious.
Other ability users could barely produce a spark or a trickle of water when they first awakened. Yet Zhou Yunxi could already unleash such a powerful attack. No wonder he could hold his own as the male lead’s sworn enemy.
“There’s another one, but I’m not sure what it is. I seem to be able to sense what’s happening far away.”
He drew on the other force within him. It was as though he could see all the way to the foot of the hill, where one or two zombies were wandering aimlessly.
“That’s a psychic ability! Yunxi-ge, you’re incredible. Two abilities, and both of them are powerful in combat!”
Yuan Tao was generous with her praise. Though she had known about his abilities from the novel, witnessing them firsthand was still astonishing.
She was even more envious now.
Even the villain gets a better deal than a bit of cannon fodder like me.