Last night, when she had been holding the card full of hope and presenting it to Wang Yongchao, before she could even speak, she was slapped flying.
Her thin body crashed to the ground, reopening old wounds. Bruises and purple marks covered her entire body.
“You stink. Stay away from me. Just give me the money.”
Only then did the girl understand—tomorrow might be Children’s Day, but her father would never love her. Not even a little…
Wang Yongchao narrowed his eyes. Being woken up early in the morning had already put him in a bad mood. Seeing that the girl ignored his shouting and continued walking toward him, he raised his hand to slap her again.
Suddenly, the girl lunged forward without warning—jumping directly onto him.
With a sharp crack, Wang Yongchao’s arm was violently broken. He screamed in pain and was about to retaliate—
—but his eyes met the girl’s.
Her eyeballs were bloodshot and protruding. Deep, hollow eye sockets were surrounded by blackened skin. Half of her pale, bluish face had peeled away, revealing dark red flesh and exposed bone beneath. Her mouth split unnaturally wide, revealing black-yellow sharp teeth. From her throat came a wet, gurgling “heh… heh…” sound.
Wang Yongchao nearly fainted from terror.
Before he could even cry for help, the “girl” bit straight into his neck, severing the artery.
His chest skin seemed to tear open as internal organs shifted and ruptured, mixing together in a grotesque mess… his life slowly fading away.
He became a pile of human-shaped rotten flesh.
At the same time, screams filled the streets one after another. Roars of zombies and desperate human cries echoed everywhere. Traffic jammed into long queues, with drivers honking wildly behind them—until something suddenly crawled out of the front car.
A “person” slammed onto the windshield, smashing it frantically.
Only then did they realize what they had encountered.
People scrambled out of their cars in panic, only to be immediately knocked down and bitten, struggling helplessly on the ground.
Panicked crowds rushed into roadside shops, slamming doors shut in haste. Outside, zombie howls never stopped.
“We’re safe now, right?” someone asked in a trembling voice.
The only answer was chaotic breathing and frantic heartbeats.
It was as if they were drifting in an endless sea and had suddenly grabbed onto a piece of floating wood—grateful beyond belief, thinking they had been chosen by fate.
But in a corner no one noticed, the shop owner’s originally kind face had twisted grotesquely. His eyes glowed an eerie red as he sat on the ground.
His mouth stretched into an unnatural grin, saliva dripping continuously down his chin. Slowly, he crawled toward the crowd, then suddenly lunged at an exposed leg and tore off a chunk of flesh.
“Ahhh!!”
A scream erupted inside the shop. Everyone turned—and saw that twisted, blood-covered face slowly lifting, smiling eerily at them.
Fear surged like a tidal wave, drowning them completely. Despair spread wildly in their hearts.
There was no escape in the cramped shop. They had walked straight into the devil’s mouth, becoming his offering… his companions…
Children’s Day continued outside, and the zombies were happily “having fun.”
Shi Ran woke up at nine in the morning. The streets outside were already in chaos, and occasional screams could still be heard even from the apartment.
She checked her body and realized her spatial ability had expanded by about 50 square meters.
There was also a strange current inside her body. Following the same method she used to control her space, she tried to manipulate it—and sure enough, a small lightning ball condensed in her hand.
It was very small and its level couldn’t be determined, but it was enough to make her excited.
Previously, she had only awakened spatial ability. She had thought she would likely remain an ordinary person with a low chance of turning into a zombie.
She didn’t expect to awaken another ability—this time, a powerful lightning-type one.
As expected, fortunes change. No suffering is ever wasted.
Shi Ran nervously opened the door. The living room was empty, and Ye Shuyao’s door was still tightly shut.
Her excitement faded instantly. She sat anxiously on the sofa, nails almost digging into her skin, silently praying over and over.
Suddenly—click.
The door opened.
A gust of wind followed as Ye Shuyao stepped out.
“Yao Yao! I knew you could do it! You scared me to death—why did it take so long…”
Shi Ran rushed forward, no longer caring about appearances, tears almost spilling out.
“Hehe, I’m the queen after all. Of course I’m fine. You worried for nothing.”
Ye Shuyao had already returned to her rich young lady attitude, as if she hadn’t been the one anxious these past few days.
“Ran Ran, look—I think I can control wind now.”
She raised a finger. A tiny whirlwind spun at her fingertip and flew toward Shi Ran, while soft gusts surrounded her body.
“How is it? Cool, right?”
“Haha… it’s pretty refreshing.”
“Shi Ran! I’m very powerful! Don’t call it ‘refreshing’!”
Both girls felt relieved after surviving a disaster. As long as the people they cared about were alive, the apocalypse didn’t seem so terrifying.
That day, they didn’t go out. Instead, they used binoculars to observe the streets. Both were shaken by how bloody and brutal everything was.
Downstairs, a couple was being chased by zombies.
The boy ran fast and had already let go of the girl’s hand. When she was about to be caught, he suddenly came back.
She thought he had returned to save her.
But another zombie was chasing him from behind.
As both zombies closed in, the boy shoved the girl forcefully—using the momentum to escape the encirclement and run away in another direction.
The girl fell to the ground and was torn apart by the two zombies.
“Bastard!” Ye Shuyao gritted her teeth in rage and threw the binoculars aside. “Does he even have a conscience?!”
“Human nature is like this. Only by becoming stronger can we protect ourselves. We can never rely on others,” Shi Ran said, her determination strengthening.
“That’s not true,” Ye Shuyao replied. “We are each other’s support. Before we can protect ourselves, I’ll only soften toward you. As for others… sorry, do we know them?”
“Tch, why are you being so cheesy? It’s like we’re not even close.”
The two girls observed the situation outside and then began practicing their abilities at home.
They had agreed to meet Zhou Nuocheng’s team at 9 a.m. the next day outside Yuning City. Before that, they needed to ensure they could survive on their own in case anything went wrong.
Shi Ran’s lightning ability was straightforward—instant kill power that already surpassed most early-stage abilities.
Ye Shuyao’s wind ability, however, was weaker at first. Gentle breezes had little offensive power, but higher-level wind abilities could create tornadoes and even wind blades as ranged weapons.
After hearing this explanation, Ye Shuyao reluctantly accepted it.
She focused on practicing small wind blades to break a glass cup—but the cup didn’t even move.
Completely crushed by Shi Ran’s blackened, shattered glass demonstration… ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅