Opening her eyes, Mu Yining took in the beautiful scenery within her spatial domain, wishing she could spend the rest of her life here.
Even in a normal world, living a life of seclusion was hardly possible, let alone now. If she were to hide away, she would be completely cut off from human society, and what meaning would there be in that?
With only three days left until the end of the world, Mu Yining decided to think about nothing and do nothing during this time. She stayed inside her space, enjoying the final moments of peace while awaiting the arrival of the apocalypse.
Three days was neither too long nor too short. The sword spirit had recovered a portion of its spiritual energy, allowing the Azure Spirit Sword to manifest before Mu Yining. Over those few days, Mu Yining used it for practice; the blade was incredibly sharp, cutting through trees as if they were nothing. As a result, the little sword spirit watched her chop a pile of firewood with it, launching into yet another endless stream of grumbling.
Calculating that it was now the third day outside—since time felt entirely imperceptible within the space—Mu Yining dressed herself in a long-sleeved shirt and trousers. She put on a baseball cap, gloves, and a pair of leather boots, looking completely refreshed. Carrying a hiking backpack lightly packed with a few bottles of water, food, emergency gauze, and medicine, she carefully wrapped the Azure Spirit Sword and slung it at her waist before stepping out with Alan.
The sky was just beginning to brighten. Taking advantage of the fact that most people were not yet out, Mu Yining drove toward her destination at top speed.
She did not know how the virus had broken out in her past life—whether it was connected to some specialized laboratory. But if it were a contagious source, it would have been impossible for it to erupt globally at the exact same time; it was likely related to the atmosphere itself.
Pondering these thoughts felt utterly meaningless. Even if she found the answer, what difference would it make? The apocalypse was bound to break out regardless. Perhaps it was a cleansing sent by the heavens upon the human world to wipe away its sins, and the mutation of plants and animals was simply a massive test for humanity.
Perhaps the end of the world would never truly end, but Mu Yining was already thoroughly accustomed to the laws of apocalyptic survival. She belonged to that world now, and deep down, she even felt a faint trace of anticipation for its arrival—for that was a world where she truly belonged.
What was once a peaceful world had turned into a living hell for unknown reasons.
All those who failed to endure the sudden viral infection turned into zombies, feeding on the flesh and blood of the living. What was even more terrifying was that if a human came into close contact with them and had an open wound infected, they would transform into one of them as well. If they encountered a healing-type ability user, there might still be hope; otherwise, they were not even worthy of death, quickly turning into human-shaped demons within moments and biting the person nearest to them—who was often their closest loved one.
As the first morning rays of sunlight gently swept across the earth, Mu Yining had already arrived in R City, the heart of Province G.
She was not afraid of the high population density in the city center. Early-stage zombies moved sluggishly, and anyone brave enough could easily escape them. Unfortunately, people would be frightened out of their wits by the repulsive appearance of the zombies, thinking only of seeking help from the government—unaware that everyone was struggling just to save themselves, let alone the authorities.
It was currently six-thirty in the morning. Watching the ordinary people outside the car window, Mu Yining’s expression remained entirely unchanged, yet the unease in her heart grew stronger. She was about to witness the beginning of the apocalypse.
Alan was dozing off in the back seat, completely oblivious to the earth-shattering changes about to unfold in the world outside.
Mu Yining pulled into a gas station. Located in a development zone, the station was quite large, with only three to five cars scattered around. Getting out of the car, she led Alan toward the service station. As she pushed the door open, the worker inside was still nodding off, only raising his head numbly at the sound of her entry.
“Need gas? We have self-service pumps,” a young man muttered, looking up briefly before slumping back onto the desk to sleep.
“…” Mu Yining did not care about his attitude. Before long, no one would bother her no matter how much gas she took from this place.
However, the moment she saw the young man’s face, Mu Yining instantly tightened her grip on the sword at her side. His eyes were bruised dark—clearly not from a simple lack of rest. His entire body exuded a heavy, oppressive aura, and he lacked the strength to speak, though he himself seemed entirely unaware of it.