6 Lin Qiu

With a mission hanging over her head, Li Xiaoxiao moved much faster, unwilling to waste a single second.

The larger the spatial storage, the better, of course.

The Chen family operated on the principle that one should never put all their eggs in one basket. They had several safes hidden throughout the house, filled with gold bars and bullion. While cash would be useless in the apocalypse, gold was a hard currency at any time—it would be foolish not to take it.

Then there were the old hag and Chen Jiaojiao. Their rooms were packed with expensive jewelry, gold, and jade ornaments. Before the apocalypse, they would spend a fortune every month shopping for these items. Li Xiaoxiao swept it all up without hesitation.

"Host, host, collect more jewelry and jade! These things contain energy that can help the system recover faster."

Li Xiaoxiao didn’t respond, but the system knew she had heard, because in the next second, she tucked the jade ornament sitting on the table into her space—an item she had previously dismissed as merely taking up room.

In the basement, Chen Cheng had a collection of fine wines. Li Xiaoxiao cleared out the wine racks entirely. In the apocalypse, these would be luxury goods, and there would be plenty of people in the survivor bases willing to trade for them. If left in the villa, they would likely be destroyed by someone else.

She remembered the dozen boxes of high-end cigars in Chen Zhengdong’s drawer and made sure not to forget those.

The Chen family garage held three cars. Two were sports cars—flashy and cool, though their engines were a bit loud; good for showing off. Li Xiaoxiao tucked the sports cars into her space, leaving behind only the last one: a true vintage car. It was fully electric, originally bought by Chen Cheng for Li Xiaoxiao to use for grocery runs. Right now, however, it was the best means of transport.

The villa district was slightly remote, and there weren't many zombies there. Most people had already fled, leaving many villas empty. Li Xiaoxiao lived in the north suburban villa district, while her mother lived in the eastern suburbs. To save time, she avoided the city roads and took the ring road instead.

She soon found the ring road choked with all sorts of vehicles. Many had broken down, and some still held zombies inside. Li Xiaoxiao got out of the car and looked down from the bridge. The streets were jammed with traffic, and occasionally, a car door would fly open, with humans or zombies spilling out. The city had fallen; cars were completely useless now.

If only she had a motorcycle. Although the engine was loud, it had the advantage of being a small target and fast.

Suddenly, her gaze fell beneath the overpass. A motorcycle lay overturned there. She looked back; reversing the car wasn't realistic. She stowed the car into her space, kicked her long legs into motion, and ran down the overpass, heading straight for the bike.

After running for a while, she reached the accident site. It looked like two cars had rear-ended each other, causing a chain reaction that left the vehicles wrecked and the occupants dead. Li Xiaoxiao’s jacket had a hood; she pulled it up, obscuring most of her face. She moved so fast that no one could get a clear look at her.

Someone was still alive, tapping on a car window and begging for help. Li Xiaoxiao didn't even glance their way as she sped past. In the apocalypse, the first thing to kill is your own saintly compassion.

There was blood on the motorcycle; the owner had likely perished. The key was still in the ignition. Li Xiaoxiao righted the bike, hopped on, started the engine, and roared away before the nearby zombies could reach her.

The sound of the motorcycle was indeed loud, attracting a swarm of zombies along the way. Li Xiaoxiao let them chase her as she raced toward the residential complex where her mother, Lin Qiu, lived.

The main gate was locked tight, but that didn't stop Li Xiaoxiao. She jumped off the bike, sprinted toward the fence, and vaulted over with practiced agility. As she landed, her hands moved to the two short blades at her waist, dispatching the zombies drawn by the engine noise. These were the lowest-level, unevolved zombies—easy to kill.

Lin Qiu lived in Unit 3 of Building 2. This was an older complex, originally housing for employees. When Li Xiaoxiao’s father was alive, the family had lived there. Later, Li Xiaoxiao bought her mother a spacious flat, but Lin Qiu didn't want to live alone in such a large place, finding it too cold and empty, so she stayed in the old apartment.

In her previous life, Li Xiaoxiao had been overwhelmed and failed to reach her mother in time. By the time she finally found her, only a skeleton remained. For her mother’s safety, she had installed hidden cameras in the living room and entryway—a secret only the two of them knew. The footage was saved for six months, so when Li Xiaoxiao saw her mother's remains, she immediately checked the recordings.

She saw a scene that made her eyes bleed with rage. After her daughter, it had been her mother. The bloody scene shattered Li Xiaoxiao, driving her into a state of madness, frenzy, and bloodlust. She killed zombies tirelessly, hunted down her enemies across various bases, and subjected them to slow, agonizing deaths. She became a devil feared by every base, yet also a prize that major factions fought to recruit.

This time, Li Xiaoxiao would ensure her mother lived.

Because it was an older complex, people were concentrated in a smaller area, meaning there were more zombies. Li Xiaoxiao fought her way to the base of Building 2 and cleared the surrounding area. The building had a single entry point with a security gate.

Li Xiaoxiao had a key card and swiped it to open the door. A few zombies were in the lobby, and several bodies lay inside and in front of the elevator. Li Xiaoxiao took care of the zombies and piled the bodies in front of the elevator doors to ensure they couldn't close. In the apocalypse, elevators were far less safe than stairs.

The fire exit was locked. Li Xiaoxiao gripped her blade and struck the lock with force, destroying it. The entrance to the second floor was cluttered with debris that got in her way. Li Xiaoxiao simply swept it all into her space and continued climbing.

Her mother lived on the 18th floor. Her aunt’s family lived on the 12th. Li Xiaoxiao climbed floor by floor. When she reached the 12th floor, she smashed open the fire cabinet, grabbed the hose, and used it to tightly bind the door handle of her aunt’s apartment. Then, she piled all the debris she had collected from the second floor in front of their door. She hoped they would enjoy the gift she had left them.

From the surveillance footage in her past life, Li Xiaoxiao knew they didn't have much food stored. By the seventh day of the apocalypse, they could no longer hold out and had run up to the 18th floor to demand food from Lin Qiu. But Lin Qiu had lived alone, and her supplies were even more meager—hardly enough for a group of people—so they had turned their sights on her.

This time, Li Xiaoxiao had blocked their path. With no food, she hoped they would last a little longer.

***

Lin Qiu was restless and anxious inside her apartment.

From the first day of the apocalypse, everyone had been gripped by fear. Lin Qiu had called Li Xiaoxiao immediately, wanting to go to her, but Li Xiaoxiao had stopped her. Lin Qiu knew the Chen family didn't look kindly upon her; every time she visited, the disdainful expressions and sharp, bitter words from Chen Huiping made it difficult for her daughter to be caught in the middle. Thus, Lin Qiu rarely went there to invite trouble.

After barely surviving two days, the government sent troops to rescue people. Lin Qiu rushed to contact her daughter, but the line rang for a long time without an answer. Just as she was preparing to head out on her own to find her, the call finally went through. Though she didn't fully understand what her daughter meant, she knew how to lock her doors and windows.

As for her sister’s family, they had called earlier, telling Lin Qiu to bring her supplies and join them, but she had no desire to go. She only had one sister, but the way her brother-in-law looked at her always made her uncomfortable. She didn't want to have any more contact with them than necessary.