"I can't get in touch with her, and I don't know where she is."

Jian Anping sighed. This girl was a cultivation fanatic. He decided to ask Brother Xiao instead. So he went downstairs, grabbed a walkie-talkie, and called Xiao Lingfeng.

The other end answered quickly.

"Brother Jian, is something the matter?"

"Hey bro, do you have any insecticide at home? There are a lot of flies and mosquitoes coming in upstairs, and even some flying cockroaches. They're really hard to catch."

"Yes, I'll send it over to you right away."

Xiao Lingfeng hung up the phone and went to the storage room to get a box of insecticide. He had bought quite a few of these; he had probably stockpiled five or six hundred boxes at home.

Because he knew that in the apocalypse, these creatures carrying bacteria and viruses were the greater threat to humanity.

At first, it's fine. But it won't be long before they mutate. At that point, while pesticides might still have some effect, it will be virtually impossible to completely eradicate them.

As soon as he opened the door, a foul stench of fish and rot almost made him vomit.

The air outside is truly awful. And there are a lot of mosquitoes in the corridor, which is unavoidable.

After all, the stairs connect to the ground floor, and there are gaps in the doors.

He quickly closed the door to his house.

Then he carried the suitcase to Jian Anping. He had only taken a few steps when Jian Anping rushed out of the house, covering her nose with a towel.

"Brother Xiao, thank you. You're much more reliable than my sister. She's been quiet again, I wonder what she's up to."

"Make sure to get rid of all the mosquitoes in the house. Spray plenty of insecticide. Try to keep the door closed as much as possible. You can go back now; I'll clean up the mosquitoes in the hallway too."

Xiao Lingfeng first took out a bottle from the box, and then handed him the box of insecticide he was holding.

"Thanks for your hard work, brother. I won't stand on ceremony. You've got so much; I'll make it up to you with a hen later!"

Jian Anping had no intention of taking Xiao Lingfeng's supplies for free. Even the best of friends have to keep clear accounts.

Money is practically nonexistent right now. Let's just barter; we can't let them lose out.

"Brother Jian, you're being too polite. No need. Go back quickly, I need to spray the medicine." Xiao Lingfeng watched as Jian Anping picked up his suitcase and ran back into the house.

Then he sprayed the entire corridor with insecticide and stuffed the gaps in the stairwell door with cotton, hoping it would do some good. After finishing, he covered his nose and went home.

"Lingfeng, let's spray some insecticide at home too. These mosquitoes are everywhere, and they always make me feel uneasy," said Aunt Wang as she saw Xiao Lingfeng return with the insecticide.

"Okay, let Tian Tian and the others come to the living room first. I'll spray some medicine in the bedroom. Although it's odorless, it's still toxic. It's best if you wear masks."

Xiao Lingfeng also thoroughly disinfected his own home.

He didn't dare open the windows for ventilation, as the smell outside was much worse than inside. He had just witnessed the corpses gathered downstairs suddenly explode on their own.

The yellowish-green worms that flew out of the corpse were particularly disgusting.

Even though he was used to seeing dead people, he couldn't accept it for a while.

So I simply drew all the curtains. That way I could block out the scorching sun. With the air conditioning on, it didn't feel stuffy at all.

Tian Tian was very curious, wondering why the curtains were drawn in broad daylight. She had just walked to the window when Xiao Lingfeng pulled her back.

"There are so many disgusting bugs in the water outside, don't look. Uncle will play checkers with you."

“Okay,” Tian Tian said, being exceptionally sensible. Since her uncle wouldn’t allow it, she wouldn’t watch. She went back inside, took out a checkers set made of glass marbles, and lay down on the kang (heated brick bed) to play with Xiao Lingfeng.

Two days later, Jian Ning came out of the immortal mansion and found that the temperature had risen to forty-three degrees.

It was only a little past seven in the morning, and the sun was already high in the sky. The only good news was that the water level below had clearly begun to drop.

He picked up the walkie-talkie and started calling Xiao Lingfeng: "Are you there? Shall we go up the mountain to mine?"

"Sure, but aren't you afraid of the heat? The air outside isn't very good either."

Xiao Lingfeng had no objections; he was also eager to go out and see the world, even though he was cooped up at home. It's just that the smell outside wasn't very pleasant.

Jian Ning walked to the window and looked down again.

Corpses and all sorts of garbage floated on the surface of the water, which was a murky yellow. Even driving a speedboat, it felt disgusting; it was so dirty.

"I have a way. I have to go up the mountain during the day because visibility is poor at night. Just hang in there, and it will be fine once I get to the top."

She had to dig out all these jade stones rich in spiritual energy; not only for herself, but Xiao Lingfeng also needed to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. Being stuck at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining wasn't a good thing.

"Okay, let's go then. Put your clothes on properly, there are too many mosquitoes outside. Meet at the entrance in five minutes." Seeing that Jian Ning insisted, Xiao Lingfeng agreed.

Jian Ning didn't have much to tidy up, so she cast a spiritual energy shield on herself, preventing any mosquitoes from getting in and biting her.

But wearing a skirt wasn't appropriate for going out mining, so I wore sneakers, cropped shorts, and a white T-shirt. Simple and stylish. I also wore a sun hat to shield my head.

She came out through the wall. She was afraid that outside air would come into the house when she opened the door.

Xiao Lingfeng was already waiting at the door, dressed all in black, seemingly unfazed by the heat. He was just slightly frowning, probably overwhelmed by the stench outside. Jian Ning went over and taught him the breath-holding technique.

He immediately learned how to use it.

"Such a useful spell, Master, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Xiao Lingfeng's usually aloof tone carried a hint of coquettishness. Jian Ning almost thought she had misheard.

"I just remembered, this way you won't smell the stench. Let's go downstairs."

The two walked down the stairs. Each floor was quiet. It seemed deserted. Although they couldn't smell anything, the air became increasingly humid and the moisture levels rose as they went down.

The water level has dropped below the second floor.

When she reached the stairwell on the third floor, she could see all sorts of trash left behind after the water receded, and swarms of flies covered in it. Jian Ning stopped.

"Go out the window, there's really no place to step down here."

"Okay." Xiao Lingfeng had no objections whatsoever. Jian Ning took out an assault boat from her spatial storage, and just as she poked her head out to throw it down, she suddenly stopped.

There was a living person in the water below, struggling and swimming towards her building. Because of the distance, she couldn't see what he looked like, but she knew he was a lean man.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that Jian Ning had stopped, Xiao Lingfeng also walked to the window and looked down.

"Look, isn't that a living person? To be able to swim in such dirty water, that's tough!" Jian Ning was filled with admiration.