(From the author’s weibo)
It was an overcast day, and zombies had besieged the city.
Su Su fell toward death with her eyes open. Countless bluish-purple arms swarmed toward her, and the leading zombie viciously tore into her flesh.
In the final moments of her life, she only heard a familiar, soft sigh.
“The apocalypse has no place for the weak.”
A powerful Tier 6 couple stood atop the nearby wall, gazing at the explosion of blood mist with pity.
The handsome man shook his head. “This is the fate of the overconfident.”
This couple, revered by the base, left behind that insignificant lament before turning away to fight side by side.
The zombie horde finally retreated.
Cheers resounded throughout the entire base.
The blood-soaked pair standing on the wall exchanged a sudden smile.
Victory became a crown of glory, while death faded into mere embellishment.
— — —
When she opened her eyes again, she was inside a dimly lit convenience store.
The surroundings were in complete disarray. Her fair and delicate palm was tightly clutching two small, dust-covered packs of dried tofu.
Su Su blinked with difficulty, just barely managing to read the labels—pickled pepper flavor, expired for a month.
“Hand it over!”
A rough arm reached out and forcibly snatched the only two packs of pickled pepper dried tofu from her hands.
Wu Zhi tossed the snacks in his palm, unimpressed but not entirely dissatisfied.
“Your little frame is pretty useful for scavenging.”
His disgusting gaze raked over Su Su from head to toe. Wu Zhi licked his lips, a heat stirring within him, but since everyone was still searching for supplies, he merely squinted at her with a sinister leer.
“Feeding you would be a waste—might as well offer them up to me.”
Su Su didn’t react. She hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of dying, only staring blankly as Wu Zhi snatched away the food and strode off.
She had died.
And then she had lived again.
This familiar scene… it seemed to have happened four years ago, before she reached the Southern Base. At that time, she had still been traveling south with a group.
“There’s nothing left! Get in the car, now!”
At the urgent shout, the people scavenging for supplies scattered in all directions, scrambling to escape before they got left behind in this godforsaken rest stop.
Having survived the apocalypse for four years, Su Su’s instinct for survival kicked in. She rushed forward with the others and squeezed into a crowded van.
“Did you find anything?”
A hushed voice sounded nearby. The person being questioned clutched their pocket tightly and shook their head with a bitter expression.
“Nothing at all. This rest stop has probably been looted countless times.”
The familiar scene, the familiar conversation—it finally made Su Su feel a sense of reality.
Not only had she avoided being bitten to death by zombies, but she had also returned to four years ago.
It should have been an incredibly lucky event, yet Su Su clenched her teeth tightly, her wide eyes unconsciously shedding a stream of tears.
“Su Su, what about you? Did you find anything?”
Someone bumped into her and leaned in, only to realize she was crying.
“Why are you crying? What happened?”
That single question made everyone in the van turn their heads toward her. Those who had witnessed the scene in the convenience store understood and quietly explained.
“She found food, but Wu Zhi took it from her.”
The van instantly fell silent. After a long pause, someone muttered a low curse.
“Bastard.”
It had only been six months since the apocalypse began, and people still had some sense of sympathy. By the fourth year, when food was stolen, all they would say was, “Serves you right.”
Su Su wiped her tears and spoke her first words since being reborn.
“I’m fine.”
Soft and gentle—just like her. One look and anyone could tell—she was easy to bully.
She was also exceptionally beautiful. Even wrapped in tattered rags, she was still beautiful.
No wonder Wu Zhi had fixated on her all this time, targeting only her.
“This isn’t a solution. You might as well just give in to Wu Zhi,” the woman in the driver’s seat suddenly said. “He’s ugly, sure, but at least he’s a strength-type ability user—one of the rare Tier 2 ones in the group.”
Su Su didn’t respond, and the others held back their words as well.
The woman glanced at Su Su through the rearview mirror and said meaningfully, “You refuse now, but sooner or later, he’ll find a way to make you agree. You might as well suffer less.”
In the medium-sized van, eight women sat together. Some agreed, some disagreed.
“At this point, dignity can’t be eaten as food.”
“That’s true, but Wu Zhi… he’s still…”
The real issue was that Wu Zhi was an uneducated thug—ugly, ill-tempered, and absolutely unreliable.
But he had set his sights on Su Su, and with only a handful of Tier 2 ability users in the group, no one dared to fight him over her.
Su Su listened numbly to the voices persuading her.
In her past life, the driver’s words had quickly come true.
That night, when the group stopped to rest, Wu Zhi had dragged her into the woods in front of everyone.
What was the point of being reborn?
To go through it all again?
Su Su’s body began to tremble. She still remembered that night in the forest—how she had lifted a rock and smashed it against the back of Wu Zhi’s head. How, after just a few slaps, she had been unable to move.
As night fell, the leading off-road vehicle finally came to a stop. A few ability users climbed out of the car and headed toward the forest beyond the highway guardrail to relieve themselves.
“We’ll rest here for the night.”
“The people following behind, don’t wander off. If you run into danger or get separated, we don’t have the energy to come looking for you.”
A cold and indifferent warning spread through the entire group. The speaker was one of the only two female ability users in the team—Lin Weiran.
“If I awakened a fire ability like her, would I be able to live more comfortably too?”
The murmured words from beside her had once been Su Su’s own thoughts.
But at this moment, she felt nothing. She was like a walking corpse.
Lin Weiran jumped down from the car roof, and a few teammates shook their heads helplessly.
“Weiran, why do you even care?”
“A bunch of ordinary people with no awakened abilities—they’re bound to die in a zombie horde sooner or later. If they wander off on their own, at least we won’t have such a large group trailing behind us.”
“Exactly. We’re not their bodyguards. Are we really supposed to escort them all the way to the Southern Base?”
The usually silent Si Zhe suddenly spoke up, “Enough. Weiran is just kind-hearted. If they want to follow, let them. When danger comes, they’ll know to run. We don’t have to worry too much.”
With the strongest leader of the team speaking, the others had no more complaints.
Lin Weiran, knowing Si Zhe was helping her out, shot him a charming glance.
That glance was full of endless allure.
Si Zhe’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. “Let’s eat.”
Dinner was plain rice porridge, with a handful of wild greens picked from the forest. Six months into the apocalypse, and having just escaped from a fallen city, even with abilities to clear the way, food was still incredibly scarce.
Even so, they ate far better than the ordinary people following behind them.
Su Su sat among the crowd, her stomach rumbling with hunger, the burning emptiness gnawing at her insides.
Some people had managed to find food at the rest stop and could at least fill their stomachs. But for someone like her, whose food had been stolen… starvation was the only option.
Hugging her knees, Su Su stared blankly ahead.
Directly in front of her, Wu Zhi was gulping down his bowl of porridge. Halfway through, he seemed dissatisfied, so he reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of pickled pepper dried tofu, and dumped it into his porridge, mixing it in.
Even from a distance, Su Su could clearly see it—several pieces of springy, tender tofu being chewed up and swallowed, a single glossy pickled pepper bitten into, its briny juice bursting out imperceptibly before being swallowed whole, blending into the thick porridge as Wu Zhi gulped it down.
A primal hunger ignited in her stomach.
Sensing her gaze, Wu Zhi took a big swig of porridge, then turned his head and flashed her a disgusting grin.
That smile—like he had already decided she was his meal.
Su Su recoiled as if electrocuted, withdrawing her gaze instantly. Her nails dug into her palms, and in the chilly night air, her body began to tremble slightly.
On the other side—
Wu Zhi wiped his mouth and turned to Lin Weiran. “Weiran, your cousin hasn’t awakened an ability. It’s tough for a girl to survive in the apocalypse.”
Lin Weiran lifted her eyes. “What are you trying to say?”
“Heh heh.” Facing a Tier 2 fire ability user, Wu Zhi didn’t act as cocky as usual. “I want to be with her. That way, I can also take care of your cousin. What do you think?”
Lin Weiran pondered for two seconds before speaking. “Are you serious?”
“Of course!”
“Then go tell her yourself.”
“Got it! Let me take a piss first, then I’ll go!”
Lin Weiran watched Wu Zhi disappear into the forest and sighed.
Sitting beside her, Si Zhe turned his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m worried my cousin doesn’t like Wu Zhi.”
“It’s the apocalypse. Whether she likes him or not doesn’t matter,” Si Zhe comforted her. “We agreed when we left—taking your cousin’s off-road vehicle and bringing her south. There have been so many dangers along the way, and we can’t always look after her. If Wu Zhi is serious, it might actually be good for her.”
“Hmm, you’re right.” Lin Weiran was quickly convinced. “I just hope she can accept Wu Zhi’s kindness.”
Su Su had no way of knowing about their conversation.
She only saw Wu Zhi walk into the forest and come back out holding a barely alive black snake in his hand.
“Whoa! Wu Zhi, nice! You caught a snake! Snake meat is delicious whether grilled or stewed!”
Wu Zhi let out a hearty laugh. “Perfect! I’m still not full! Let’s stew it and have some soup!”
Even through the crowd, Su Su could clearly see the snake in Wu Zhi’s hand. Her numb eyes widened instantly.
She remembered very clearly—this never happened in her past life.
That familiar forest… the snake in Wu Zhi’s hand—could it be the very same snake that had killed him last time?
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