Chapter 21 (021) is now available for purchase!
Chi Yingdong never imagined that his lazy cat would be someone's pet.
Ever since that day when Qian Ruanruan patrolled the building and knocked on her door.
The girl with orange hair became a regular visitor to her doorstep.
"Thump thump thump—thump thump—"
Unsurprisingly, it's Qian Ruanruan knocking on the door again.
Her knocking was very rhythmic, consisting of three long knocks followed by two short knocks each time.
Meng Qinghe, who also heard the knocking, twitched his ears and buried his entire cat face in his front paws.
She could tell who it was from the rhythm of the knocking, and thinking about the conflict that was about to happen, she wished she were a real cat who couldn't understand human speech.
Chi Yingdong flung open the door, her movements revealing her impatience.
Outside the door, Qian Ruanruan's bangs were damp with sweat and stuck to her flushed cheeks. She was also carrying a bulging little bag in her arms like a precious treasure.
Without even thinking, Chi Yingdong knew what was in that bag.
Chi Yingdong looked at Qian Ruanruan coldly and said impatiently, "If you like cats so much, why don't you raise one yourself?"
Before the words were even finished, the two of them froze in shock.
The sound of water splashing against the walls came from outside the window, and the hoarse roars of zombies could be faintly heard in the distance.
In this apocalyptic world where even humans are struggling to find enough food to eat, where would there be any extra food to feed pets?
The stray cats and dogs that used to roam the neighborhood gradually disappeared within a month, leaving no trace.
The air suddenly became so quiet it felt somewhat oppressive.
The two silently skipped over the topic and did not discuss it in depth.
"Where's the kitten? I brought her something."
Qian Ruanruan was the first to break the silence.
She took three handicrafts out of the bag.
Two bibs with very different styles and a small hair clip.
Two bibs, one of which is crocheted.
The base color is dark blue, and it is decorated with a large, three-dimensional red cherry, giving it a Snow White feel.
One is a mini maid outfit made primarily of light pink plaid fabric.
The hair clip was paired with the second bib and was a lace design.
Her family used to forbid her from keeping pets, but now that they're all gone, no one is stopping her.
Qian Ruanruan enjoys dressing up her kitten immensely, and even harbors a sense of "revenge" in it.
There were eyes watching her from outside the door. Meng Qinghe lazily got up and slowly strolled to the door.
Seeing what Qian Ruanruan was holding, the kitten had an "I knew it" look on its face.
The day Meng Qinghe received these exquisite little items for the first time, her joy was palpable.
After all, whether it's a cat or a human, as long as you're a girl at heart, you can't resist a pretty new outfit.
But perhaps her excessive happiness aroused Chi Yingdong's competitive spirit or desire to keep up with others.
In front of outsiders, Chi Yingdong always appears calm and collected.
After Qian Ruanruan left, it was just the two of them.
For every few items Qian Ruanruan gives her today, she insists on taking out double the amount from her spatial storage and giving them to Meng Qinghe to change into one by one.
That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Chi Yingdong let her choose between the two on the spot.
This multiple-choice question is like asking Xu Chuyao to choose between her mother and her mother, whom she loves more.
That's incredibly childish.
Fortunately, Chi Yingdong has excellent taste.
Meng Qinghe doesn't need to lie and say that her choice was better than Qian Ruanruan's.
Meng Qinghe, feeling utterly hopeless, was being manipulated by Qian Ruanruan.
She just couldn't understand it.
Qian Ruanruan is busy every day distributing supplies, mediating disputes, and organizing patrols.
How can you still find the time to make these exquisite little items?
A cheer suddenly erupted from downstairs.
You can vaguely hear phrases like "the water level has dropped again" and "the sun is out."
Qian Ruanruan paused for a moment, then quickly continued adjusting the position of the hair clip.
In this life, with the addition of Qian Ruanruan dedicated to maintaining world peace, the world seems to have truly become much more peaceful.
At least in their building, order has not completely collapsed.
No one took over someone else's home because they had nowhere else to go, and no neighbors turned against each other over a cookie.
The people living in this building are still trying to abide by the most basic social rules.
The issue of food unexpectedly took a turn for the better on the day the food in the building ran out.
Fuzhou is located by the sea. The flood caused by the heavy rain caused the river water and seawater to back up, and the number of fish and shrimp in the water gradually increased.
At first, some people worried that these fish had eaten zombie corpses and might carry germs, fearing that they would turn into zombies the moment they ate them.
As food became scarce, some people, unable to bear the hunger any longer, turned their attention to the fish and shrimp in the water.
Everyone watched with anticipation as these people who had eaten the fish and shrimp from the water survived unharmed and did not turn into zombies.
Fish from the water are becoming more widely accepted, which has largely solved the problem of food shortages.
In Meng Qinghe's concept, high-temperature cooking can indeed kill most of the bacteria in the bodies of fish and shrimp, but there are still trace amounts of contaminants remaining inside.
If consumed long-term, the body will eventually be unable to withstand it and it will erupt.
I wonder if the plot will continue to develop the way she envisioned.
But given the current situation, who isn't living one day at a time with the mindset of just getting through each day?
As for the future, whether there is a future or not is another matter.
The problem of water scarcity.
This time, the people in the building did not sit idly by and wait for their doom.
A professor couple stepped forward; one was a chemistry expert, and the other a physicist.
Led by them, a research team was formed, consisting of several high school students who knew a little about experiments.
With time running out and under immense pressure, the research team produced two rudimentary water purification devices in just a few days.
Although the rudimentary device could not produce drinking water, it could at least be used for washing clothes and bathing, meeting some of people's daily needs.
The drinking water comes from the few water-based ability users in the building.
Every day, they use their special abilities to condense water and distribute it equally among the residents of the building in front of everyone.
The amount of water allocated to each person was pitifully small, but it was enough to maintain basic survival.
This morning, those in charge of water level monitoring announced that the water level had stopped rising and was dropping rapidly.
The disaster seems to be over.
"This one is quite nice."
Chi Yingdong suddenly spoke, his fingertips lightly brushing against the lace trim of the bib.
Her voice brought Meng Qinghe back to her senses, and she looked down at the apron in front of her.
From her angle, you can only see a tiny bit of the bib, the pink plaid one.
Besides that, there are mostly hairy breasts.
Meng Qinghe raised her head and looked at Chi Yingdong, unexpectedly catching the lingering admiration in the other's eyes.
The gifts Qian Ruanruan gave Chi Yingdong rarely received praise; instead, they were mostly met with disdain, and he would stuff them into the closet to keep them out of sight.
This bib must be incredibly beautiful to have won Chi Yingdong's approval.
Qian Ruanruan proudly straightened her back, her orange-red hair swaying gently with her movements.
"I also think the kitten suits this outfit perfectly, and it looks so cute with this hair clip."
She took two steps back to admire her masterpiece, her eyes filled with satisfaction.
Meng Qinghe felt embarrassed by the stares and didn't know where to look.
Chi Yingdong naturally noticed the kitten's discomfort. Recalling the kitten's interactions with her over the past few days, she noticed its increasingly domineering behavior, which was a kind of unceremonious familiarity.
This kind of trust is unique to her.
Just thinking about it like that, Chi Yingdong immediately lost his sour feeling towards Qian Ruanruan.
Qian Ruanruan had many things to deal with and didn't have time to slowly admire the kitten, so she quickly said goodbye.
Qian Ruanruan: "I'm leaving now. Goodbye, little kitten. I'll come find you to play again tomorrow."
After Qian Ruanruan left, Chi Yingdong took out his camera to take pictures of the kitten.
Then I heard the outdoor thermometer suddenly sound an alarm.
Chi Yingdong's gaze swept over the thermometer, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
In just one morning, the mercury column suddenly rose from 11 degrees to 32 degrees.
In previous years, at this time, although it wouldn't snow in Fuzhou, there would be gusts of cold wind that made people shiver.
This kind of weather is very unusual.
However, everyone was so caught up in the joy of the receding floodwaters that no one noticed the change in temperature.
She opened the window; the rain had stopped, and the dark clouds were dissipating at a visible speed.
Before long, the long-awaited sun will reappear.
However, the torrential rain was followed by extreme heat.
The corpses of the zombies that died in the floodwaters were exposed to the air one by one after the water receded.
The high temperature greatly accelerates the decomposition of these corpses, which will lead to another large-scale spread of germs.
Chi Yingdong took stock of the protective suits in the space.
Although she had stockpiled a large number of protective suits in her space, the quantity was limited and not enough for everyone in Rongcheng to use.
But if someone is willing to wear protective clothing and dispose of the zombie corpses first, there might be a chance for things to turn around.
Chi Yingdong had planned to discuss the protective suits with Qian Ruanruan when she came up tomorrow.
But for the next few days, the orange-haired anime character didn't knock on the door.
Meng Qinghe also looked worried.
When they parted that day, Qian Ruanruan promised her to come again the next day, but several days have passed since then.
Even Xu Chuyao, she hadn't seen her come up to play for several days.
Meng Qinghe couldn't help but worry, wondering if something bad had happened.
Meng Qinghe pawed at Chi Yingdong's hand, then pointed to the pink plaid bib on her chest, her emerald green eyes filled with worry.
Chi Yingdong lowered his gaze to the bib on the kitten's chest, trying to guess what the kitten was thinking.
"Are you looking for Qian Ruanruan?"
Meng Qinghe nodded the fluffy cat's head.
Chi Yingdong couldn't help but rub the kitten's head. "Okay."
She had originally planned that if Qian Ruanruan didn't come up in the next couple of days, she would go to find her.
Since the kitten suggested it first, they took it with them when they went out, as they hadn't been out for a long time.
Chi Yingdong first took the kitten down to the 19th floor to find Xu Luo, but Bao Chunjuan opened the door.
Bao Chunjuan had dark circles under her eyes, her brows and eyes were full of worry, and her face looked haggard.
Seeing her like this, Chi Yingdong frowned slightly.
Chi Yingdong's gaze quickly swept over Bao Chunjuan, noticing the lucky rope made from Xu Luo's sweater that she was wearing on her left wrist.
She is a well-protected Omega.
Even in the apocalypse, Bao Chunjuan's life was still much better than many others.
Although Xu Luo is an ordinary person, he is very hardworking and never wants Bao Chunjuan to go out and risk her life to find food.
Even though Xu Luo didn't find much food in the first few days, it was enough to keep his family from going hungry.
Later, they took Jiang Yun in, and their home was able to store food even when they were full.
From the outbreak of the apocalypse until today, Bao Chunjuan has never had to worry about food.
People without worries are always in a good state.
What could have made her look so haggard?
Upon seeing Chi Yingdong, Bao Chunjuan seemed to see a glimmer of hope and hurriedly said, "Xu Luo isn't home; she's been out for two days."
Bao Chunjuan was born into a well-off family, and she was the only child in the family. Her family did not have the idea that O was inferior to A, and they wanted to have a second child.
From girl to mother, she has never suffered a bit of hardship.
Her lover hasn't come home for two days now, and it's hard for her not to worry.
But with her daughter beside her, she didn't even dare to show any worry, for fear of frightening the child.
Chi Yingdong asked, "Did they say where they were going?"
Bao Chunjuan shook her head. "That day, Thor was originally looking for Jiang Yun. I don't know what they talked about, but Xu Luo went out with them."
Recalling how Qian Ruanruan looked like she had just escaped death when she came to find them that day, Bao Chunjuan was extremely annoyed, blaming herself for not stopping her at the time.
Bao Chunjuan looked distressed. "They were in a hurry. They just told me they would be back soon and then they left."
Xu Luo hadn't been home for two days, and Bao Chunjuan had considered asking Chi Yingdong for help.
She herself didn't know where Xu Luo had gone, so what was the point of going to find Chi Yingdong?
Bao Chunjuan had originally planned to wait a little longer; if Xu Luo hadn't returned by today, she would ask Chi Yingdong for help.
Upon learning from Bao Chunjuan that Xu Luo had gone out with Qian Ruanruan and had been gone for two days, Chi Yingdong frowned.
Given Xu Luo's past behavior, he would definitely have told her if things hadn't happened so suddenly.
Chi Yingdong immediately deduced that something had happened to them and that they were no longer in the building.
Looking for them outside was too much of a search area, and Chi Yingdong felt a slight headache coming on.
"Mom, I want to go find Mother with Sister Chi."
Xu Chuyao suddenly ran out of the house. The little girl's eyes were red, but her face was stubborn.
Bao Chunjuan glanced at Xu Chuyao in surprise and pushed her into the house, saying, "Children shouldn't interrupt when adults are talking."
Xu Chuyao struggled and refused to go inside. "Mom, don't always think of me as a child who doesn't understand anything. I want to go find my mother."
Bao Chunjuan silently withdrew her hand. She had been trying not to reveal anything to her daughter these past two days, but she hadn't expected her daughter to find out anyway.
Xu Chuyao ran up to Chi Yingdong and said, "Sister, I can communicate with the little fish in the water. I can ask them where Mother went."
She watched her mother leave home and knew that her mother had been gone for two days. She knew that her mother didn't want her to know, so she pretended not to know.
Chi Yingdong looked at Bao Chunjuan for her opinion.
Bao Chunjuan nodded.
My daughter can communicate with the fish, so she should be able to help.
Furthermore, she trusted Chi Yingdong's abilities, and with her daughter's safety guaranteed, Chi Yingdong would be able to take her out.
Meng Qinghe noticed the anxiety in Xu Chuyao's eyes, jumped off Chi Yingdong's shoulder, and coaxed Xu Chuyao to hug her.
Xu Chuyao picked up the kitten. The kitten had grown so fast; it used to be a tiny ball in her arms, but now it could take up her entire embrace.
Meng Qinghe nuzzled the girl's cheek and noticed that Xu Chuyao still had teardrops clinging to her eyelashes.
This usually chatterbox is now so quiet it's heartbreaking.
Xu Chuyao hugged the kitten tightly.
The kitten's warm body temperature seeped through the fabric, gradually bringing sensation back to her cold body.
"Qinghe Cat..." Xu Chuyao buried her face in the soft cat fur, her voice muffled.
Jiang Yun and Thor are both superhumans, while her mother is an ordinary person. Xu Chuyao is afraid because it's so dangerous outside.
Do you think my mother might…?
"Meow."
Meng Qinghe raised her paw and gently pressed her paw pad against Xu Chuyao's lips, stopping her from continuing.
Meng Qinghe was unsure whether Xu Luo was in danger, but there was no need to make the child worry too much.
Meng Qinghe: "Meow meow."
No, it won't.
Xu Chuyao stopped thinking about it and stopped scaring herself.
As you descend from the 19th floor to the 15th, the lower you go, the stronger the musty smell in the hallway becomes, and the air is so sticky it's almost as if you could wring water out of it.
Chi Yingdong shone his flashlight on the wall, and the mold on the wall seemed to spread like some kind of living thing, with the gray-green mycelium gleaming eerily in the flashlight beam.
Even more disgusting were the leeches clinging to the walls, each as long as an adult's palm.
Its obese body writhed slowly, constantly secreting mucus that left sticky trails on the wall.
The sight before her made Meng Qinghe's stomach churn, and her small body trembled slightly.
Don't look.
Chi Yingdong sensed the kitten's discomfort on his shoulder and gently reminded it.
Meng Qinghe obediently closed his eyes, but after closing his eyes, his hearing became even more acute.
She heard Chi Yingdong's military boots land on the ground, each step steady and powerful.
And the sticky, squeezing sound of shoes pressing against the ground as they walked.
Occasionally, there would be the faint popping sound of leeches being crushed by footsteps.
And then, as I lifted my foot again, I heard the sizzling sound of my shoe sole scraping against the leech's body.
Finally, there's the sound of water vapor in the air condensing into droplets on the ceiling and slowly dripping onto the floor.
All sounds were amplified infinitely in the darkness.
These sounds made Meng Qinghe feel even more uncomfortable, so he opened his eyes.
She then noticed that the guards on each floor had disappeared.
Not long ago, when Qian Ruanruan gave her a gift, she mentioned that she had arranged guards on each floor and asked if they should do the same on this floor.
This story begins with Chi Yingdong lending a boat to Qian Ruanruan, and then Qian Ruanruan catching a "water rat" that swam over from the next building.
One night, the doorbell rang frequently, keeping them from sleeping peacefully.
Chi Yingdong opened the door, and Qian Ruanruan stood at their door, completely soaked.
Upon seeing Chi Yingdong, Qian Ruanruan apologized first, her voice dry and lacking its previous liveliness.
"I know you have an inflatable boat, can I borrow it? The water is too deep, I can't swim out."
Perhaps because Qian Ruanruan was so pitiful that night, Chi Yingdong couldn't vent his morning grumpiness and lent her the inflatable boat without asking why.
The next day, Chi Yingdong and Meng Qinghe learned about it through Xu Chuyao.
That night, a child in the building had a high fever and urgently needed fever-reducing medicine.
Qian Ruanruan asked each household, but none of the residents in the entire building had fever reducers.
The child was about to die if she didn't take her medicine, so Qian Ruanruan went to Chi Yingdong to borrow a boat.
After borrowing the boat, Qian Ruanruan rowed it alone, leaving the neighborhood to find the medicine at a pharmacy outside.
Chi Yingdong couldn't understand Qian Ruanruan's behavior—risking her life for someone else's child.
You could say she's cold and selfish; she's simply a person without much love.
All she wanted was to take care of her little corner of the world, protect her kittens, and live out the apocalypse peacefully.
But she also respects people like Qian Ruanruan who have great love, because the world needs people with great love.
Later, Qian Ruanruan wanted to return the inflatable boat to her, but Chi Yingdong refused.
After getting the inflatable boat, Qian Ruanruan would often take people out to paddle the boat to catch fish in the puddles, and each time they had a good catch, so that the people in the building would no longer go hungry.
With her life safety guaranteed, the residents of the building increasingly recognized Qian Ruanruan's abilities.
Qian Ruanruan was originally young, and if it weren't for her strong superpowers, she wouldn't have been given the position of team leader.
The older members of the team, who were more than Qian Ruanruan, had always coveted the captain's position.
However, thanks to this inflatable boat and Qian Ruanruan's wholehearted dedication to everyone.
Gradually, everyone came to accept her, which allowed her to firmly secure her position as captain of the Electromagnetic Team.
The residents of other buildings are unaware of what's happening in their building.
But Qian Ruanruan always brought back a huge amount of fish and shrimp. They had seen it many times and were increasingly eager for Qian Ruanruan's inflatable boat.
This also led to someone swimming over from the next building to steal an inflatable boat.
Meng Qinghe still remembers the day he caught the "rat".
Qian Ruanruan shook the key on her waist, and the key rattled loudly when she tapped it.
This set of keys belongs to Qian Ruanruan's safe, but what's inside the safe now isn't money, but an inflatable boat that Chi Yingdong gave her.
She clipped the key to her waist, like a knight pinning on her medal.
Qian Ruanruan: "Now there are sentries guarding every floor, so it's very safe."
The majority of people in the building are ordinary people who are not superpowered. With the appearance of these "water rats", Qian Ruanruan is worried that the safety of ordinary people cannot be guaranteed.
Since the sentries started guarding each floor, they have caught several more people swimming over from the next building who wanted to steal food.
Qian Ruanruan always felt that having someone guard each floor was the best decision she ever made.
Now she has removed these people, or rather, taken them away.
Chi Yingdong's eyes grew even darker, and his steps on the steps unconsciously became heavy.
Meng Qinghe's heart also tightened, and her hands unconsciously gripped Chi Yingdong's shoulders.
Chi Yingdong took out a speedboat from his spatial storage; the metal hull gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
Meng Qinghe looked at Chi Yingdong in surprise. After the apocalypse, Chi Yingdong had been hiding his strength, but today he actually took out a speedboat.
It seems that she doesn't care much about Xu Luo and the others on the surface.
In my heart, I still consider them as one of my own.
Chi Yingdong steadied the speedboat and let Xu Chuyao and the kitten board first.
Once Xu Chuyao and the kitten were settled, Chi Yingdong started the speedboat.
The moment the engine roared to life, prying eyes lit up behind every window in the building. Those gazes were so real, so sticky, that they were more unsettling than leeches on a wall.
Now that they have a speedboat that is even more advanced than an inflatable boat, everyone's greed has reached its peak.
Behind them, someone was even shouting something, but they were too far away to hear clearly.
Ignoring the stares of these people, Chi Yingdong steered his yacht away from the residential area.
The water surface shimmered with an oily iridescence, like spilled gasoline spreading out.
Xu Chuyao lay on the edge of the speedboat, her fingertips lightly touching the murky water, creating small ripples.
"Little fish, little fish," Xu Chuyao called softly.
Several small silver fish floated to the surface, curiously observing the unfamiliar human girl.
Seeing that Xiaoyu had responded, Xu Chuyao immediately asked, "Have you seen an aunt with short hair?"
Her voice carried a cautious anticipation.
Unfortunately, fish only have a seven-second memory. They forgot the purpose of the question as soon as they heard it and started spinning around in the water.
The girl's shoulders slumped noticeably, and wisps of hair fell across her forehead, casting fragmented reflections on the water's surface.
Meng Qinghe meowed softly and gently patted the girl's hand with her little paw.
Xu Chuyao sniffed and shook her head at the kitten.
"Let's look around the neighborhood first."
Chi Yingdong suddenly spoke up and gently patted Xu Chuyao's shoulder.
Her voice was softer than usual; she could empathize with Xu Chuyao's feelings at this moment and understand what it felt like to be afraid of losing a loved one.
Meng Qinghe also comforted him, saying, "Meow meow meow."
Yes, let's look around the neighborhood, maybe we'll find it.
Xu Chuyao forced herself to smile at Meng Qinghe and Chi Yingdong.
"Yes, yes, everything will be alright."
But the trembling at the end of her voice betrayed her strength.
The speedboat cut through the water, and the waves rippled outwards to both sides.
The two people and the cat carefully observed their surroundings.
Chi Yingdong's gaze swept over every half-submerged building like a radar.
Meng Qinghe's ears twitched incessantly, trying to catch the subtle sounds around him.
Xu Chuyao stared intently at the water's surface, as if she could see through all the secrets beneath.
However, as they got further and further away from the community, their hope seemed to gradually fade away.
Just as Chi Yingdong was about to search in another direction, Xu Luoyao stared at a window and suddenly exclaimed, "Sister, there was a huge shadow on that window just now."
Chi Yingdong looked in the direction Xu Chuyao was pointing.
It was a gray-blue commercial building.
At a height of 35 stories, a huge dark shadow was slowly moving in front of the window.
The shadowy figure was very large, and Chi Yingdong was certain that it was neither human nor zombie.
They couldn't see what kind of creature it was because the sunlight was too bright.
Although the shadowy figure was large, it moved very quickly.
And it keeps circling around the same spot, as if guarding its territory and driving away outsiders.
Chi Yingdong immediately turned the car around and drove towards the building.
The speedboat paddled through the water, quickly approaching the building.
From a short distance, Chi Yingdong could see a large hole in the building's window, the shattered glass curtain wall gleaming sharply in the sunlight.
The speedboat came to a steady stop at the edge of the building. Chi Yingdong squinted at the breach and noticed a piece of dark blue cotton-linen clothing hanging on the broken glass.
The dark blue fabric swayed gently in the breeze, like a distress signal flag.
The fabric is still a dark color, indicating it hasn't been exposed to wind and rain for a long time.
It's obvious that someone went through this hole not long ago and had a piece of clothing torn off by the broken glass.
"It's a fragment of my mother's clothes."
Xu Chuyao's voice choked in her throat, and her small hands gripped the front of her clothes tightly.
After Xu Chuyao's reminder, Meng Qinghe also remembered it.
This garment is dark in color and made of durable cotton and linen; Xu Luo wears it often.
Xu Chuyao carefully removed the scrap of fabric from the glass, her small hands tightly clutching the piece of linen.
Meng Qinghe leaned forward and gently sniffed with her pink nose.
This piece of fabric does indeed have a strong Xu Luo scent.
Meng Qinghe sniffed carefully again, and the kitten's whiskers trembled involuntarily, still tinged with a faint smell of blood.
The moment I stepped into the building, a foul, indescribable stench, even stronger than the smell of mildew, hit me.
Chi Yingdong subconsciously pulled up his collar to cover his mouth and nose.
The companies that have moved into this building are all well-known enterprises in Fuzhou, and each company occupies a large area.
Chi Yingdong suddenly remembered that Qiao Ying had a subsidiary in this building.
The Qiao family is involved in many industries, and she doesn't remember what the subsidiary here does.
The beam of the flashlight pierced the darkness, illuminating the bloodstains on the ground. The blood was dark and had been dried for quite some time.
They searched each floor one by one, and then went upstairs.
Each floor was eerily quiet; not a single zombie's roar could be heard, clearly indicating that someone had deliberately cleared the zombies from the building.
There are no supermarkets or warehouses in this building, and no one lives there.
Cleaning such a building would be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and completely pointless.
Therefore, the eerie cleanliness of the building was more unsettling than the hordes of zombies.
The ascent is like walking on a Möbius strip.
The office cubicles are the same, the corridor layout is the same, and even the angle at which the green plants are tilted is almost the same.
Only the faded floor numbers in the stairwell reminded them that they were indeed moving upwards: "20...27...35".
Chi Yingdong shone his flashlight on the wall of the stairwell, and the reflection of the numbers on the wall refracted back into the flashlight beam.
35th floor.
They have climbed three-quarters of the building.
Chi Yingdong suddenly crouched down, and under the beam of the flashlight, the bloodstains on the steps appeared an eerie dark red.
These were noticeably fresher than the blackened bloodstains downstairs.
Several pools of blood, not yet fully congealed, gleamed eerily under the light.
Meng Qinghe's breathing suddenly became rapid. She gripped Chi Yingdong's shoulders tightly, her fingertips piercing through the fabric and digging into Chi Yingdong's skin.
Meng Qinghe listened intently, holding his breath.
The sound was extremely faint, like the rustling of some creature crawling on the wall.
"What's wrong?"
Chi Yingdong looked around and found nothing unusual.
The kitten shook its head, hoping that she was just making a fuss.
"elder sister."
Xu Chuyao suddenly grabbed Chi Yingdong's clothes.
The little girl remained very quiet throughout the journey and did not cause them any trouble.
Chi Yingdong looked down at Xu Chuyao, whose pupils trembled and fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose.
Small animals and children have the most sensitive senses. When Meng Qinghe and Xu Chuyao sensed something was wrong, Chi Yingdong didn't feel much.
But she immediately felt uneasy, and a chill ran down the back of her neck.
It felt as if countless eyes were watching them through the wall.
Goosebumps crept up my back, and even my breathing became rapid.
This discomfort did not occur when climbing down the floors.
Chi Yingdong took Xu Chuyao's hand. The little girl's palms were sweaty, clearly she had been terrified the whole way.
Her outward composure was all a facade.
Chi Yingdong immediately made a decision, lowering his voice and saying, "Let's leave here first."
She wanted to send Xu Chuyao and the kitten back first, and then go find someone herself.
Although the child and cat are well-behaved and won't cause her any trouble, the dangers inside are unknown.
There are always people better than you. Chi Yingdong never thought she was the strongest; she was afraid she couldn't protect the two of them.
"don't want."
Xu Chuyao gently shook her head, her eyes pleading.
Everything before her eyes told her that her mother was in danger. How could she know that her mother was in danger and not go to save her?
If Sister Chi were to take her back, it would take up a lot of time both ways.
Who can guarantee what will happen during this time?
Xu Chuyao looked at Chi Yingdong intently and said silently, "I won't cause you any trouble. Let's go upstairs."
Silence spread in the darkness.
The echo of falling water droplets came from afar, like some kind of countdown.
Chi Yingdong looked back at Xu Chuyao.
The little boy's eyes were filled with unwavering determination, unafraid of danger.
Chi Yingdong: "Okay."
She compromised.
The two people and the cat continued to walk up, and after passing the 35th floor, the uncomfortable feeling immediately lessened.
Meng Qinghe leaned on Chi Yingdong's shoulder.
Chi Yingdong walked forward, while she guarded his back, preventing him from being attacked from behind.
She quickly spotted a black line crawling across the wall. The thing moved like a living creature through the cracks in the wall and disappeared into the concrete in the blink of an eye.
The black line moved so fast that Meng Qinghe had the illusion that he was seeing things.
She blinked rapidly, staring intently at the spot where the black line had disappeared.
If I remember correctly, she wrote post-apocalyptic stories, not supernatural ones.
The two people and the cat continued to walk up, and when they reached the 40th floor, the sight before them made them hold their breath.
The floor slab that should have separated the 40th and 41st floors now has a huge wormhole-like gap.
The cross-section of the cave entrance was jagged and glowed with an eerie fluorescence.
These are definitely not traces of violent destruction, but rather the result of slow corrosion by some kind of strong acid.
Chi Yingdong pointed his flashlight at the cave entrance.
Under the light, they could see the cave entrance more clearly.
Secretions from an unknown creature hung from the edge of the cave entrance, and the entire nest resembled the abdominal cavity of some giant creature.
The translucent, sticky substance stretched slowly with the airflow, forming thin threads in the air until it broke and fell, corroding tiny pits in the cement floor.
Chi Yingdong raised his arm, letting the flashlight beam shine into the hole.
The cave contains countless tiny crystals that reflect a rainbow of colors when illuminated by a flashlight.
Besides these crystals, the cave has a network of interconnected passages.
The walls of the passageway were covered with a glaze formed from dried slime, making the entire space resemble an ant nest magnified millions of times.
Meng Qinghe's ears twitched, and she turned to look at the passage on the right. She heard a series of faint sounds coming from afar.
Meng Qinghe hurriedly patted Chi Yingdong's shoulder, "Meow meow meow."
Before Chi Yingdong could ask what was wrong...
Xu Chuyao translated first: "Sister, the cat said something is coming this way."
The environment was perfect for hiding, so Chi Yingdong hugged the kitten tightly and led Xu Chuyao to hide behind a pillar.
Just as the three of them took cover, the ground began to tremble slightly.
Soon, a swarm of mutated ants, many times larger than before the apocalypse, crawled past them. The soldier ants at the front were each the size of a human infant.
These ants have jet-black shells and maintain a perfect formation as they advance, like a well-trained army.
The front row of soldier ants held their sharp mandibles high, the middle row of worker ants carried unidentified objects, and there were even smaller ants in the back row maintaining order.
Meng Qinghe's hair stood on end, and she buried her head in Chi Yingdong's arms.
She was already afraid of insects, and insects that grew many times larger only made her more afraid.
Furthermore, having an overly sensitive nose isn't a good thing either; she could smell the pungent formic acid odor permeating the air, mixed with some unfamiliar pheromones.
The three held their breath until the last line of ants disappeared at the end of the passage before emerging from behind the wall.
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