Chapter One: Rebirth
“Oh my god, what’s going on? How did a murderer get into the neighborhood?”
“Security! Where’s security? Help!”
A piercing scream echoed from downstairs.
But less than a second later, the woman’s cry turned into a chilling, bloodcurdling shriek.
The usually lively group chat was in a frenzy, abuzz with heated discussion over the latest video.
“This is terrifying—did this really happen in our neighborhood?”
“Of course. Didn’t you see at twenty-six seconds, when the person filming’s hand shook and accidentally caught the sign for Building 15 of Fengxin Garden? This happened right here.”
“Building 15 of Fengxin Garden? I live there! If this just happened, I need to go check.”
...
Qi Ran’s head throbbed painfully.
The phone by her pillow wouldn’t stop vibrating.
Three seconds later, despite the splitting pain, Qi Ran’s eyes snapped open, sharp and piercing.
The room before her was clean and orderly, making her freeze in disbelief.
Strange—hadn’t Mu Jingchen just slit her throat, and then her own biological mother, Wen Wan’er, dug out her heart? Hadn’t she died completely and utterly?
And when she’d died, it was the tenth year of the apocalypse.
Most pre-apocalypse buildings were long destroyed. Even those left standing, after ten years of neglect, would never have such pristine white walls.
A sense of unfamiliarity flickered through Qi Ran.
Her phone was still buzzing.
She picked it up. On the screen: twenty-five missed calls from “Madam Qi.”
Madam Qi...
A distant, unfamiliar title.
This was her adoptive mother.
The ringtone continued. Qi Ran, almost automatically, answered.
Her mother’s anxious voice burst through: “Qi Ran, your brother isn’t answering his phone—he isn’t in his room playing games, is he?”
The words jolted an old memory awake.
This was exactly what her mother had frantically asked her, finally getting through on the phone when the apocalypse first began—her voice relieved but anxious, launching straight into questions.
And as it happened, just half an hour earlier, her brother Qi Sheng had taken a call from his goddess Chu Yan and rushed out the door.
...
So now... had she been reborn?
“Hiss…”
Qi Ran pinched her arm hard, gasping in pain.
She wasn’t dreaming.
She really was alive again.
While she was still in shock, pinching herself for confirmation, her mother’s anxious voice came again:
“Child, answer me! You’re not saying anything, you’re driving me crazy! Is your brother in his room or not?”
Her mother’s sharp, nagging tone pulled Qi Ran back to reality.
She was the adopted daughter of the Qi family.
Years ago, the Qi family’s company had been embroiled in scandal. Under pressure, and for appearances’ sake, they donated a large sum to the orphanage.
They also adopted her—a ten-year-old girl already blossoming into a beauty, clearly destined to be stunning.
They hadn’t truly wanted to adopt her.
But annual charity donations were costly; adopting a child was far more economical.
Even so, Father and Mother Qi were meticulous, choosing the prettiest, healthiest child most useful to them.
All these years, her father was cold, her mother harsh.
Yet they never let her forget how they’d “rescued” her from the orphanage, always reminding her of their “kindness.”
“Qi Ran, you’re so lucky—if it weren’t for us, you’d never have gone to an elite school costing millions a year, worn nothing but designer labels, or been pursued by so many wealthy heirs.”
“Exactly. Qi Ran, don’t ever be ungrateful. Yes, you’re outstanding, but every beginning has its end, every cause its effect. If we hadn’t brought you out of that orphanage, you’d never have had these chances.”
...
In her previous life, Qi Ran truly remembered their so-called kindness.
So, throughout ten years of apocalypse—even though Qi Sheng was as foolish as a pig and often dragged her down—Qi Ran risked her life for him again and again, never once considering abandoning this burden.
But how did Qi Sheng repay her?
When Mu Jingchen slit her throat, leaving her dying on the ground, Qi Sheng didn’t spare her a glance.
Instead, when Mu Jingchen, furious and disbelieving, questioned him, Qi Sheng replied coldly and matter-of-factly:
“I’ve hated Qi Ran for ten years. She kept me from being by Yan Yan’s side, and Yan Yan died because I couldn’t protect her.”
“Now that you’ve killed Qi Ran, I feel nothing but joy. Why would I avenge her?”
“But Qi Ran was still my sister. My parents adopted her and treated her well. You can go—but the Primordial Spirit Fruit, which Qi Ran risked her life to save from the siege of the Ten Great Bases, is not something you can take from Dawn Base.”
...
For ten years, Qi Ran risked everything to protect Qi Sheng in the apocalypse.
Even Mu Jingchen thought the reason Qi Sheng attacked him after killing Qi Ran was for revenge.
But in truth, Qi Sheng only cared about the coveted Primordial Spirit Fruit.
As Qi Ran lay bleeding out, clutching her throat, Mu Jingchen dropped his guard while searching her for the fruit. Qi Sheng seized the chance, attacking with a poisoned weapon.
As Mu Jingchen lay powerless and dying, Qi Sheng never once looked at Qi Ran, collapsed beside him.
He had not the slightest intention of saving her.
His eyes saw only the priceless treasure that could alter his fate.
At this thought, Qi Ran’s gaze turned icy.
But her voice was calm, just as before, as she replied to her mother:
“I didn’t hear Brother go out. He must still be in his room playing games.”
Hearing this, her mother let out a long sigh of relief and said:
“Good, good. Qi Ran, something big has happened outside. Go tell your brother—don’t let him leave the house these next few days.”
“If anyone knocks, don’t open the door.”
“There’s enough food in the basement to last you two weeks. Take care of your brother—he mustn’t be hurt, not even a little.”
“Qi Ran, if we hadn’t brought you from the orphanage, all these years you’d have fought for food, been cold and hungry—how could you have grown into the famous beauty and top scholar of A University?”
“Remember to be grateful…”
Her mother’s nagging began again, that all-too-familiar litany of guilt and obligation.