The fluffy little bundle poked directly at Sheng Xia’s inner softness. Carefully, she flipped over the thing beneath her foot, revealing its true form.
It was actually a palm-sized baby monkey. Its entire body was covered in golden fur without a single stray strand, but faint streaks of blood stained its body.
A gash ran across its abdomen, a horrifying wound that cut through its entire torso. The blood had already dried, and the torn flesh looked gruesome.
The injury resembled a claw mark from the earlier adult mutated monkey. It seemed this little one had some connection with that creature.
If not for its faint breathing, Sheng Xia would have thought it was already dead.
She could not bear to watch such a cute creature die.
Seeing that it was still alive, she quickly took out a first aid kit and needles from her spatial storage and began treating its wound.
Beads of fine sweat rolled down her temples one after another. The surroundings were silent, and although a faint breeze passed through, it could not dispel the summer heat.
Sheng Xia carefully controlled her strength. Without anesthesia, she could only suture the little monkey’s wound directly.
For a full half hour, she maintained the bent-over posture, stitching continuously. Only when the final stitch was done did she quickly tie off the thread.
The uneven stitches looked crooked and messy across the wound, yet Sheng Xia did not notice that the little monkey had opened its eyes at some point during her focused treatment.
Those eyes were golden, beautiful and dazzling.
It observed her for a long while, its delicate ears twitching slightly.
Its tiny claw rested near her neck. With a single swipe, its sharp nails could have easily slit her carotid artery.
But it sensed no malice, only a strong intent to heal it. The little monkey relaxed and could no longer hold on, closing its eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Sheng Xia quickly wrapped it in bandages and carefully placed it into her backpack before standing up to stretch.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, she did not dare to rest further. She hugged her backpack tightly and hurried down the mountain.
After slipping out of the mountain gate, she boarded the last bus back to Kangcheng and finally let out a sigh of relief.
She adjusted her tired body, shifted her posture, and soon drifted into a hazy sleep.
When the bus arrived at the station, Sheng Xia woke up from the jolts. Exhausted and starving, she found a small restaurant after getting off and devoured a full meal before feeling alive again.
Covered in sweat, she returned home, quickly made a nest out of a shoebox, and placed the little monkey inside. Only then did she rush off to shower and change.
That night she slept peacefully without dreams.
However, she woke up to a noisy commotion.
Drowsily, she opened the window and saw the streets below filled with hurried pedestrians carrying large bags and packages. The supermarket across the street had long queues stretching out the door, with more people constantly joining.
Sheng Xia checked her phone and realized that in just two days, news of locust disasters devouring crops had already spread across the world. Everyone was frantically buying up grain and food supplies.
She sighed softly. The arrival of the Apocalypse could no longer be avoided. At this point, the only thing she could do was become stronger in order to survive longer.
After her routine call to Su Mei to report that she was safe, Sheng Xia began preparing breakfast.
Two fried eggs, two slices of bread, and a cup of hot milk. While eating, she could not help thinking how many more times she might get to enjoy such simple, nutritious meals.
After finishing a slice of bread and one egg, she reached for the second egg, only to find the plate empty.
At some point, the little monkey had awakened.
No one knew how it climbed onto the dining table, which was over a meter high.
It was now sitting there, holding a fried egg as large as its face and devouring it in big bites. After finishing it, it grabbed the bread, but after taking one bite, it spat it out in disgust.
Then its golden eyes fixed on the half-finished milk in Sheng Xia’s cup, its mouth making a suspicious swallowing sound.
The moment those golden eyes looked over, Sheng Xia immediately understood. She very cooperatively poured the remaining half cup of milk into a plate and pushed it toward it.
The little thing had quite an appetite, finishing it all in one gulp. Sheng Xia watched without blinking, afraid its stomach might burst.
That half cup of milk weighed almost as much as its entire body. Yet the monkey was completely fine, even sitting calmly on the table to digest.
Seeing that it was not afraid of her, Sheng Xia carefully picked it up. The little monkey even found a comfortable position and lay down, making her laugh helplessly.
She gently removed its bandages to check the wound.
To her shock, the wound had already begun to heal and scab over overnight. That level of self-healing ability was practically cheating.
Even if she had not saved it, with such abnormal regeneration, it probably would not have died. It was simply too overpowered.
She felt both envy and amazement as she finished unwrapping it and said patiently, “Little monkey, your wound has healed. I’m going to remove the stitches. The threads might not dissolve properly inside your body, so it’s better to take them out.”
She instinctively felt it understood her words. After speaking, she took out surgical scissors from her spatial storage and carefully removed the stitches bit by bit.
Her gentle, warm fingers brushed over its body repeatedly, and the little monkey seemed to find it quite comfortable.
After finishing the cleanup, Sheng Xia let it play on its own and began her training and martial practice.
During the morning call, Su Mei had told her not to leave Kangcheng. Old Master Gu had specially arranged for a helicopter to pick her up that night.
Naturally, Sheng Xia would not waste such kindness. In a time when helicopters were extremely precious, Old Master Gu still sent one for her. That favor was significant.
She stayed home all day without going out. All three meals were prepared at home, and the little monkey turned out to be a complete foodie, though it only ate meat, not vegetables, which left her helpless.
The window remained open all day. The little thing could leave whenever it wanted, yet it acted as if it had attached itself to her, wandering around every room before eventually curling up in its nest.
During her training, it sat on her shoulder and followed her everywhere.
Even when she practiced powerful boxing movements, it remained perfectly steady on her shoulder, unaffected by the motion as if gravity did not exist for it.
Sheng Xia could only suppress her laughter and enjoy the peaceful day.
At seven in the evening, the sky, which had still held a faint light, suddenly changed.
It was as if a dark curtain had been pulled across the heavens. The sky instantly turned dim, thick black clouds gathered rapidly, and strong winds began to rise.
Within minutes, heavy rain poured down.
The helicopter scheduled for eleven at night was expected to arrive as planned. During the day, all aircraft had been requisitioned by the government for missions and were only available for private use at night.
But with such sudden weather changes, its arrival would likely be delayed.
Shutting the windows, Sheng Xia felt a faint unease.
In the book, Kangcheng was overrun by beasts breaking out of the Jinding Mountain domain under similar torrential rain conditions.
Her expression turned serious as she stored everything in her house back into her spatial storage and sat quietly on the sofa waiting.
She only hoped things would not go as she feared.
But in this world, many things followed Murphy’s Law. The more you feared something, the more likely it was to come true.