Chapter 17 Why are there two men in the house?

A cold wind was blowing in through the open balcony window of Zhang Xinren's house, making a whooshing sound. The wind was already stronger than when Shan Ran first arrived.

The corpse on the ground had its eyes wide open, its death unresolved.

After confirming that the other person had stopped breathing, Shanran waited a while longer, fearing that something might go wrong.

After all, he is one of the main characters.

After more than ten minutes, when nothing changed, Shanran found a towel and wiped the blood off her skin before leaving with peace of mind.

She jumped from the 11th floor, and the brief feeling of weightlessness brought her immense excitement and pleasure.

On the way home, Shanran was in a state of excitement.

The main characters can be eliminated!

Although Aunt Zhang is a member of the main characters, she is not one of Rong Shuyao's men and has no intimate contact with the female lead in the book.

But Zhang Xinren is different; he is one of the 365 Wood Gen.

Shan Ran knew that Zhang Xinren was very marginalized and didn't have much contact with Rong Shuyao, which was why she was able to get rid of him successfully.

But it doesn't matter, she has already taken the first step towards victory.

She'll eventually peel that onion to its bottom.

The wind was stronger on the way back than on the way there, and Shan Ran walked most of the time, so she got home a little later.

It was past 11 p.m. when we landed in the courtyard.

Shan Ran knocked on the door, and Meng Xinye opened it. She went inside and found another person on the sofa.

Why are there two men in the house?

She stared in disbelief, then looked at Meng Xinye who had followed her in, and then at Rhine sitting on the sofa, feeling utterly overwhelmed.

The scene of her gaining the two people's superpowers suddenly flashed into Shan Ran's mind. She coughed lightly, a little embarrassed, walked to the sofa, sat down, and greeted Rhine with a smile.

"Heh, heh heh, Rhine, what brings you here?"

Rhein glanced at Meng Xin, who looked like she was facing a formidable enemy, then looked away and said with a gentle smile, "The clothes are finished. Grandpa sent them over on his own cargo plane, along with a lot of supplies. I thought I'd bring some for you."

There were several boxes next to the sofa, and Rhine took out a few packaged clothes from one of the boxes as she spoke.

"We have both short-sleeved and long-sleeved shirts. Take them up and try them on in a bit to see if the size is right. These are all black, so just wear them for now. We'll make your preferred style and color later."

Shanran took the clothes with a delighted expression.

These clothes came at just the right time.

She had just cut another piece of clothing to go out, but the tears in ordinary clothes tend to get bigger and bigger. Clothing was already scarce in the apocalypse, and if she had to ruin a piece of clothing every time she flew, she wouldn't have enough clothes to make.

"Thank you, Rhine! These are exactly what I need!"

She thought for a moment and asked, "Have you eaten? Would you like something to eat?"

Upon hearing this, Rhine glanced at the man over there out of the corner of her eye, chuckled softly, and then looked at Shan Ran gently, saying, "Yes, I'm actually quite hungry."

Meng Xin returned to the dining table and sat down, listening to their conversation. She picked up a dumpling wrapper, pinched it hard, poked a hole in it, and continued pinching until she had formed the entire wrapper into a ball.

Hearing that the man wanted to stay for dinner, Meng Xin lowered her head, gritted her teeth, and when she looked up again, she was smiling normally.

"Ranran, please wait a moment with the guests. I'll tidy up the place and then make you some food."

After saying that, he turned to Rhine and said with a smile, "Esteemed guest, what would you like to eat? Would you like some freshly made dumplings?"

Rhine frowned slightly.

The word "guest" was very jarring, and he felt somewhat uncomfortable hearing it.

It seemed as if they were treating him as the master.

This person wasn't here a few days ago, where did they come from?

Rhein concealed his discomfort and maintained a polite smile on the surface. He ignored Meng Xinye and turned to Shan Ran instead.

"Ranran, is he your younger brother?"

Shan Ran pursed her lips speechlessly.

So you two have been sitting here for ages without saying a word?

Meng Xin also turned to Shan Ran, staring at her intently with a hint of expectation in her eyes.

Shan Ran shook her head. "He is not my brother."

Meng Xin's lips curled up, her heart leaping with joy.

“His name is Meng Xinye. I am his savior. He is an orphan, so I took him home.”

“Xinye, this is Rhein Lawrence, my neighbor.”

Meng Xinye's lips instantly fell down. He really wanted to say that our relationship was purely physical!

But he knew that Ranran definitely wouldn't want him to say that.

So Meng Xin simply lowered his head and remained silent, tacitly agreeing with Shan Ran's words.

Rhine raised an eyebrow. His good upbringing prevented him from targeting a lone individual, but the other party was clearly hostile towards him, and the source of that hostility was Ranran.

After thinking for a moment, he still reminded her, "Ranran, I know you are kind, but things are getting more and more chaotic outside, so you should be careful in everything you do."

He spoke tactfully, without naming names, but everyone present knew who he was referring to.

Meng Xin laughed in exasperation. He turned his head and chuckled softly, putting down the bowl he was holding and raising his hand towards Rhine.

A thin jet of water shot straight toward Rhine, stopping just before Rhine could use his wings to block it.

The jet of water hovered in the air for a moment, then changed direction and poured into the cup on the coffee table, quickly filling it to the brim.

He looked at Rhine, his tone provocative, "The apocalypse is coming soon, what can you give Ranran?"

With me around, she can drink clean water and take a clean bath every day. I can cook and clean, and if there's any danger, I'll stand in front of Ranran. No monster or person can harm her unless they step over my dead body.

Shanran picked up the cup and took a sip; it was indeed drinkable purified water.

She hadn't seen Meng Xin practice anything, so how come his control over the water is already so strong?

No wonder he's a big shot, as officially acknowledged in the book.

Rhein subconsciously clenched his fist.

He doesn't have water-based superpowers, and he can't cook; at most, he can only fry a few eggs.

However, if there is any danger, he will definitely stand in front of Ranran.

Suddenly, Rhine realized something and looked at Shanran in confusion: "What apocalypse? And what are monsters?"

Yamaran:......

She only said it because Meng Xin also had amnesia, so why is she saying it out loud now?

How is she going to explain this to Rhine?

Before she could speak, the living room lights flickered a few times and then went out.

The power is out.

The room was so messy that none of them noticed their surroundings.

It's almost midnight, and the wind is noticeably stronger than when Shan Ran came back.

Shanran went downstairs and turned on the backup power. Then she turned off all the lights that weren't in use, leaving only the lights in the dining room and kitchen on.

"Xinye, go and make some dumplings first."

The sudden power outage interrupted the tense atmosphere between the two. Meng Xin nodded and said nothing more. She then tidied up the dining table and went to the kitchen.

Rhine and Shanran sat down together at the dining table. He looked at Shanran and continued the previous conversation.

"Ranran, what is this apocalypse you just mentioned?"

Shan Ran thought for a moment and then said, "I had a dream a while ago. In the dream, people first got fevers, then developed superpowers. Ten days later, the temperature dropped and strong winds blew. A day later, a fog appeared, and many monsters came out of it."

So far, everything is on point. The wind will be even stronger tomorrow, and the monster will arrive the day after.

Upon hearing this, Rhine looked into Shanran's eyes, and after a moment nodded, "I understand."

Then he took out his phone and started sending messages to someone, I don't know.

This surprised Shan Ran a little. She asked curiously, "You believe it? Don't you have any other questions for me?"

While sending the message, Rhine replied: "Everything that's happening now is far beyond our previous scientific understanding. If you have superpowers like fatal premonitions, it's not surprising that you have precognitive dreams."

By the time the dumplings were ready, Rhine had already sent out all the messages.

“I have warned the family about the impending danger and told them to prepare for it.”

Rhine picked up the bowl and chopsticks, politely thanked Meng Xin, and then told Shan Ran what she had just done.

"Thank you for trusting me and telling me such important news. My family will be very grateful to you."

Meng Xin sneered, "Anyone can say nice things, but give me some real thanks."

Shan Ran frowned and glanced at Meng Xin, signaling him to say less.

These two should avoid any further conflict, otherwise it would be troublesome if they broke things in the house, as these were all her belongings!

Meng Xin also pouted and turned her head to look elsewhere.

Rhine smiled gently, "Xiao Meng is right, I will have them prepare a thank-you gift."

Meng Xin also suddenly turned his head to look at Rhine, baring his teeth.

Xiao Meng?

Shan Ran gave Rhine an awkward smile in return.

He showered her with gifts—superpowers, clothes, and supplies—and she felt really bad for being rejected before even formally confessing her feelings.

She will remember anything that is bad to her, and she will remember anything that is good to her even more.

"What 'Little Meng'? He's so overly familiar. Are we that close?" Meng Xin muttered to herself as she tidied up the kitchen.

Shanran whispered a reminder to Rhine, "He hit his head when he fainted from a fever before, and now he has amnesia. It's very pitiful."

Rhein suddenly realized.

Turns out he's mentally unstable; no wonder he behaves like that.

He turned and glanced at the back of the young man who had been working hard all day, a hint of pity in his eyes.

Meng Xin was wiping the kitchen when she suddenly felt a chill and shivered involuntarily.

After finishing her dumplings, Rhine conscientiously went to wash the dishes. After washing them, she was about to say goodbye and go home when she suddenly heard a series of cracking sounds.

Shanran glanced at the time; it was already past midnight.

Seeing that the first floor was surrounded by walls, she went up to the third floor to check the situation outside.

The gym on the third floor is about 100 square meters. It originally had two extra-long floor-to-ceiling windows, but Shanran knocked them all down, leaving only two small sliding windows on each side.

The windows are made of the thickest bulletproof glass available on the Third Continent, and are further reinforced with two layers of stainless steel railings.

Even with such a small and highly sealed glass window, there was a whooshing sound of wind whistling in through the gaps.

It was too dark outside, but Shanran and Rhine's eagle-type abilities granted them night vision, and their field of vision was very wide.

They saw that the windows of several houses in the villa area had shattered because they could not withstand the strong winds.