"Jin Ge, Chen Ying is moving."

Even without Xu Jing saying it, I could hear Chen Ying lightly walking on the floor as if she had taken off her shoes.

One step, two steps...

She tiptoed, afraid to wake me up.

I pretended to stretch lazily, but my hand slowly reached for the knife handle.

"But she doesn't know you're awake yet."

As Chen Ying lunged at me, I abruptly flipped up from my seat, swinging the butcher knife quickly, leaving a faint scent of blood in the air.

Chen Ying quickly used her right hand to shield her head.

It's a basic instinctive reaction when encountering danger. People often use their right hand to protect their most vulnerable parts, but Chen Ying wouldn't know that what I wanted was her right hand.

"Ah—"

The hand wrapped in black threads was sliced off along with flesh and skin, and black worms crawled out from the blood vessels, making one's scalp tingle.

Chen Ying's scream woke up Ding Zhen, who complained as she walked over. Just then, the black worms that had just left Chen Ying's body swiftly crawled into Ding Zhen's body.

Ding Zhen's face turned terrified: "Help me."

"It hurts so much, please help me!"

No one wanted to step forward. Chen Ying covered her right hand and took a step back, and Wang Wanyuan didn't move either.

Ding Zhen's expression turned ferocious, and she dashed towards me: "If no one is willing to save me, then all of us can go to hell together!"

Everything happened in just a few moments. The black worms were noticeably faster than Ding Zhen. Two of them eagerly jumped out from her wrist and headed towards me.

I cut one in half, and the other slowly entered my calf.

Instantly, a sharp pain came from my wrist. A black line was faintly visible under my skin, but after a few seconds, it calmed down again.

I frowned and aimed the knife tip at Ding Zhen.

Ding Zhen stared blankly at me: "Why are you fine..."

"Ask me that in your next life."

Without hesitation, I ended Ding Zhen's life. When the knife fell, her beautiful face still held a trace of confusion.

Even in her last moments of life, she couldn't bear to harm her friends and loved one, directing the heaviest malice towards ordinary people with no ties to her.

But the ones she cared about didn't even bother to look at her.

Wang Wanyuan was already scared senseless, collapsing like a pile of mush. Chen Ying's face was pale, probably from excessive blood loss, but she still looked at me calmly.

Her expression was complex but she still stood straight.

"Do you want to avenge her?"

"I'm not that overestimating." Chen Ying shook her head, "I never intended to harm you, just wanted to observe closely, hoping you could show mercy."

"Hand over the food you've hidden."

Chen Ying paused: "What food?"

"Yesterday you pretended to show weakness to make me lower my guard, but you didn't eat that food at all, instead hiding it somewhere. Give me the food you hid, and I won't hurt you."

"I didn't hide anything." Chen Ying looked a bit troubled, "That's because I can't eat food, but I can tell you everything I know."

I signaled for Chen Ying to come closer. With her right hand gone, she posed no threat to me. I took off my headset and listened to her whisper a few words.

Finally, I asked her, "If you don't eat, how do you plan to sustain yourself?"

Chen Ying glanced at Wang Wanyuan, who shuddered, "What do you mean by that?"

"Jiang Jin!" Wang Wanyuan stumbled towards me, "Please take me with you. I'll give you any amount of money once I get out."

"Back in high school, we didn't mean to treat you like that. We were young and naive."

"I've always thought you were the prettiest, much prettier than Ding Zhen. Just take me with you, you women need a man to protect you..."

Looking at Wang Wanyuan's pleading face, I just said one word.

"Scram."

As I left the classroom, the sky was already starting to lighten.

Writing sounds began downstairs again. It was still early, and those students were starting their morning study session.

"What did Chen Ying tell you?"

To not disturb the students, I whispered, "She said she knows the safest place to survive now."

"Can we trust what she said?"

"She isn’t trustworthy, but her information should be accurate. I have my judgment basis."

Xu Jing didn't say more: "Hmm, I'll stay with you."

I arrived at the cafeteria window, felt around the iron railing, and found a rusty key. Then, I circled to an alley and pushed open the door of an abandoned warehouse.

The warehouse was very safe, with large boxes of instant noodles and snacks and drinks, seemingly the stock from the small shop next to the cafeteria. I locked the iron door from inside and leaned against it.

Only at this moment did I truly relax, breathing deeply the air in the warehouse. With enough supplies and careful rationing, I could maintain for a long time.

The space was very dark, but it gave an extraordinary sense of security.

"I never knew there was a warehouse here, how did you find it?"

"I used to work here part-time. After they passed away, I liked to daze off in the dark here. In the future, as a child with no protection, I had to get used to living alone."

Xu Jing was silent for a moment: "Jiang Jin, if you're willing, actually I..."

"I've gotten used to it over the years."

"Are you planning to stay here forever?"

"I won't stay here forever."

I took out the little bunny, rubbed its dirty cheek, and looked into its shiny eyes.

"Because... he can't wait anymore."

At night, there were cat cries outside the warehouse door.

The cries were intermittent, like being mistreated, sounding somewhat eerie in the quiet night.

I lay on the old mattress, chatting casually with Xu Jing.

I fully charged the Bluetooth headset, had opened chips and cola beside me, and felt a sense of unprecedented security.

The next night, there were still cat cries outside the door.

"They are louder than yesterday."

"Unfortunately, cats can't be eaten. If it were a pig squealing, I might consider going out to check."

I took a bite of my chips, expressionless.

On the third day, the cat cries disappeared, replaced by the cries of a baby.

"Quadruple sixes."

My opponent got excited, dousing me with cold water: "Quadruple tens."

"Bomb."

I snickered, and my opponent poured another pitcher of cold water over me.

Xu Jing sighed: "Why did you bomb him; he's your teammate."

"He's just an NPC teammate. I can still win myself."

"But you still have a three and two fives..."

"......"

I finished the game amid Xu Jing's nagging.

"There are babies crying outside." Xu Jing reminded me.

"Yeah, but what can I do? Babies can't be eaten." I blinked.

"Quite calm, what do you think is outside?"

"A trap for the kind-hearted."

I turned over, not bothering to care.

On the seventh day in the warehouse, it seemed the people outside finally lost all patience. The cat cries and baby cries both disappeared.

The night returned to silence. Suddenly, a phone message popped up.

As if the ringtone broke the silence, the world suddenly restored communication, and countless phone messages popped up.

The most noticeable was still the top-pinned message from my mother.

"Jin'er, how are things over there?"

"Don't worry about Mom, Mom is doing well here. I've already reached the shelter."

"Our country's policies are really great. You stay at home, Mom is safe here. The country has been arranging medical check-ups these days, and it looks like we'll be transferred to a safer place soon..."

Hearing this, I opened the news homepage.

At the top was a term called "vacious."

The video hadn't fully loaded, instead forming patchy static images. The powerful voice of the male host began again:

"The virus has been officially named 'vacious' by the health committee. To combat the 'vacious' virus, the state has urgently formed an expert team and dispatched thousands of squads, establishing 126,000 emergency shelters nationwide."

"The emergency shelters are open for free to survivors all over, offering round-the-clock lodging, treatment, and subsequent transfers. As long as you pass the medical examination, you can stay. The locations of the shelters have been sent to citizens' phones. Survivors who hear the notice should check the map immediately and head to the nearest shelter."

"We won't give up on any citizen until the last moment."

I switched back to my chat with my mother. Her familiar tone echoed again:

"Jin'er, if you see the message, don't stay in that shabby rental anymore. Quickly come to the shelter to find Mom."

"Mom is at the shelter in the West Third Ring Road, not far from your school."

I pondered for two seconds and continued checking messages.

Surprisingly, Chen Ying also sent a voice message.

Chen Ying's voice was panicked like never before: "Do not come to the shelter... Do not... I saw..."

This girl, who could kneel without losing her pride and negotiate with me calmly after I had cut off her right hand, now had a voice filled with immense fear.

It was as if someone had suddenly choked her throat. Her voice abruptly stopped, and her subsequent words were inaudible, only the increasingly dreadful screams remained.

After listening to the voice message, Xu Jing's voice turned stiff: "What now."

"Some things aren't as good as they seem, but they might not be as bad either. I can't hide here forever."

I packed the supplies in my backpack, carefully zipped it up, and cleaned the butcher knife.

Organizing the warehoused items, in case something else happens, this will be a good resting spot for me.

Finally, I tightened the shoelaces of my sneakers and put the little bunny in my pocket.

"Are you really going?"

"Some things have to be faced."

As I opened the iron door, a long-missed sunlight spilled in, bringing a fresh, clean scent.

I took a deep breath. The clear directional information meant the other side was running out of patience, urging me to move forward.

Reflecting over these past days, many things had become clear. Too many details indicated something I didn't want to think about.

Maybe I was too focused, and Xu Jing didn't interrupt me. We were both deep in thought, and no one noticed the man squatting behind the iron door.

It was a burly man. If I had looked closely, I could have recognized him as Old Zhang, the guard who smoked heavily every day at the school gate and was fired for harassing female students.

But I was too focused to notice him lurking there. Because of this small oversight, he sprang up like a leopard and lunged at me.

Caught off guard, I dropped the butcher knife. He grabbed my neck with both hands and stepped into the warehouse.

Seeing the wall of supplies, his eyes lit up instantly:

"Damn, so much food. It's worth waiting for you all these days!"

"Good, good, the person is mine... the food too..."

He leaned in and started tearing my clothes, his constant stench of smoke washed over my face.

"Beast, let her go!"

Xu Jing's angry roar almost tore my eardrums apart. I panted heavily, almost losing consciousness from the short period of oxygen deprivation.

"Xu Jing..."