"Brother, why are you pulling me? I haven't given him the key yet." As soon as she entered the house, Jian Ning broke free from Jian Anping's hand that was holding her arm and pouted unhappily.

"Where is it? I'll take it to him. This kid looks like a pretty boy, you should stay away from him in the future."

"Brother, you really are something," Jian Ning stamped his foot, then took the keys out of the drawer by the door and gave one to Jian Anping. He told him to take the other one to Xiao Lingfeng.

Also, tell him that the last door will be electrified every day from now on, and if he is going to take the stairs, it would be best to notify him in advance via walkie-talkie.

Jian Anping tapped Jian Ning's forehead with his finger, then took the keys and went out, making sure to close all the doors tightly behind him.

Looking at the continuous heavy rain outside, Jian Ning simply took out a fried chicken set meal from her spatial storage, sat by the window, drank cola, watched the rain, and began to eat heartily.

One bite, and the chicken wings were crispy and delicious. Absolutely delicious! These days we've been eating stews and stir-fries, so this occasional treat is incredibly satisfying.

As night fell, the city's electrical circuits finally couldn't handle the load, causing widespread power outages, followed shortly by the water supply being cut off. Only natural gas remained operational.

The internet connection started to drop intermittently. Jian Ning didn't turn on her own generator, and told Jian Anping that he could turn on the air conditioner, but should try not to turn on the lights.

After all, the whole city was pitch black, and their house was the only one with its lights on, which was quite conspicuous.

The floodwaters continued to rise, and the stairwells were now filled with arguments. In the sweltering heat, it was difficult for people to remain calm. Before long, Jian Ning could hear the shouting and cursing coming from the stairwell outside her apartment.

"Who installed this fence gate? Isn't that incredibly inconsiderate? I want to go to the rooftop to take a look."

"What's the meaning of you residents on the 16th floor locking your doors? Open them now, this hallway isn't your own home!" a shrill female voice kept shouting.

Jian Ning pretended not to hear. She regretted not installing a soundproof door; she was still unprepared. With the power outage and the elevators out of service, these people must have been trying to climb to the top floor because they saw the water level rising higher and higher downstairs.

Just then, the intercom on the table rang, and Xiao Lingfeng's pleasant voice came through: "Miss Jian, tell your brother to try not to sleep tonight and to be more alert."

"Okay, thanks for reminding me, I understand."

Jian Ning glanced at the dark rain outside the window and estimated the time in her mind. She figured the flash floods caused by the heavy rain would probably start tonight or tomorrow morning.

He picked up the yellow paper he had bought and began drawing talismans. This building had withstood the test of a flood in his past life, but this time it was hard to say. Just to be on the safe side...

She still drew dozens of talismans to reinforce the house and posted them on the walls of the stairwell. She also pasted many talismans on all four walls of her own house before she felt at ease.

He stopped cultivating and took a big watermelon to play Go with Jian Anping's family to pass the time. Although the lights were off, several candles were lit in the room.

With the blackout curtains drawn, no light can be seen from inside the room.

Around 9 p.m., I suddenly heard a loud crashing sound outside, like the wall was hitting something, and the whole building shook twice.

"What's wrong? Is this an earthquake?" Jian Anping jumped up and grabbed Li Mengyao's hand, trying to run outside.

"It wasn't an earthquake; it must have been a flash flood." Jian Ning spoke calmly.

The people inside crowded to the window and looked down.

The rain outside has lessened considerably by now, and with the help of the moonlight,

They could see the enormous waves crashing in from outside. They were as high as eight or nine stories. Even from their sixteenth floor, they felt incredibly close to the water's surface.

The water was filled with countless vehicles, trees, and many other obscure objects, which were violently crashing against the buildings on both sides of the road.

"Good heavens, will this water flood our building too?" Aunt Li was so scared that her hands and feet started to tremble.

She collapsed to the ground, completely overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the flood she had ever witnessed in her entire life. The entire building was shaking violently, and screams and cries for help echoed from below.

Jian Anping's face was also deathly pale. He held Li Mengyao's hand tightly and didn't dare to let go for a moment.

"Dad, Mom, take some food and put on your life jackets. Let's go up to the attic. I bought a lifeboat. If this building falls apart, we'll have to find a way to survive."

Jian Anping is, after all, a man, and quite responsible; he remains calm in the face of adversity.

"Yes, yes, the food, I'll go get it right away. Let's go up to the attic together, old man, can you help me? My legs are too weak to walk right now."

Aunt Li kept muttering to herself. With the help of Uncle Li and Jian Ning, she finally made it to the attic.

Everyone put on life jackets, and each person carried a large bag of biscuits, bread, sausages, and several bottles of mineral water—all life-saving items. Jian Anping used large plastic bags to tie the items in several layers, securing them firmly to the people.

Then the whole family sat on the lifeboat, quietly waiting for the flood to rush in.

Jian Ning actually wanted to say that it was completely unnecessary; with her there, the house wouldn't be flooded. But she couldn't bring herself to say it, and decided to let it go, thinking it would be good to make them a little more aware of the danger.

The first to give up were the two elderly people; they were so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open after 11 p.m.

He lay down on the lifeboat and dozed off for a while.

Jian Ning sat directly on the lifeboat, closed her eyes, and began to cultivate. She knew that Jian Anping would definitely not agree to her going back to her own home, so she did not bring it up.

Outside, the wind howled fiercely, its piercing sound sending shivers down one's spine. The building swayed intermittently, but thankfully, it showed no signs of tilting or collapsing. It seems the building's construction quality is up to standard.

Jian Anping stayed awake until dawn. Seeing the sun rise and the wind and rain showing signs of stopping, he finally got up and went to the window to look out.

The outermost pane of glass in the attic was shattered by something, cracking like a spider web.

Thanks to Jian Ning for adding three layers of bulletproof and blast-proof glass inside, which is much sturdier than the original glass in the house. The money was well spent; there was absolutely no problem. It completely blocked the floodwaters.

The water downstairs had calmed down by now, but it had still reached about six or seven stories. The water was very murky, and floating on it were human corpses. Not just one, but many.

This made Jian Anping shudder involuntarily. Human life was so fragile. At this moment, he was extremely grateful to his sister.

If it weren't for her decisive sale of her old house and renting this place, the repair shop where he used to live would have perished in the flood long ago.