Luo Yunxi was flattened against the front of the iron gate, watching as Feng Moxi charged into the monster horde again and again. The roaring howls of the monsters were terrifying.
She was so nervous her palms began to sweat.
The girls behind her caught a glimpse of Feng Moxi fighting the gutturally roaring monsters. Their eyes turned red with panic, terrified of what would happen to them if she fell.
One of the girls shoved Luo Yunxi down, stepped on her back, and dashed out with her body hunched low.
The other girls followed her lead, swarming over Luo Yunxi and scrambling past the low backyard wall. They couldn't wait around for Feng Moxi to die, only to be surrounded by the monsters themselves.
They were just too terrifying!
And so, without a single glance back, they all took off running. Only a dazed Luo Yunxi was left behind. As she climbed to her feet, she realized the monsters' roars from the great hall within the white walls had stopped.
Trembling, she forced her numb legs forward and slowly headed for the door Feng Moxi had opened, then rushed inside.
Inside was a hall of seventy or eighty square meters, littered with seven or eight rotting monster corpses. The two girls who had been dragged away the previous night lay collapsed between two sets of sofas, their clothes torn and in disarray.
Their bodies had been mauled beyond recognition, and a large pool of black blood stained the floor.
A pang of agony shot through Luo Yunxi's chest, and she leaned against the doorway, dry heaving.
Suddenly, a pair of withered hands shot out and grabbed her ankle.
It was a monster lying on the floor, its body severed in half. Black blood trickled from a wound on its head as it clung to her ankle, barely alive.
"Ah!" Luo Yunxi shrieked in terror. In her panic, she used her free foot to frantically stomp on the monster's wrist.
She screamed and stomped at the same time.
She was on the verge of a breakdown.
Her hands grew sweaty in her panic. A few small droplets of water formed and dripped past the monster's crushed wrist, though she herself was unaware.
She kept stomping relentlessly, letting out a wail that pierced the entire mansion like a demonic shriek. Hearing it, the girls outside ran even faster.
'It wasn't that I wanted to scream. It was just that the creature was too disgusting, too savage, too horrifying. I had never been this close to one before and my mind went blank.'
By now, Feng Moxi had already cleared the second floor. When she heard the shriek, she ran downstairs.
She found Luo Yunxi still jumping about frantically while the upper half of a severed monster raised its head, opened its fanged maw, and lunged for her ankle.
PFFT!
A golden blade flashed by, slicing the newly raised head in two. A spray of black blood splattered onto Luo Yunxi's pant leg.
Luo Yunxi finally snapped out of it. The shock was too much. Gazing at the monster corpse sprawled beside her, she could no longer hold back and began vomiting violently by the door.
Her arms and legs were still trembling.
Tears streamed down her face as she threw up. Finally, exhausted, she collapsed to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably.
Feng Moxi watched the scene with a detached air. Once Luo Yunxi finally calmed down, she said coolly, "This is the Apocalypse. If you keep screaming like that, even ten lives wouldn't be enough. Shut up if you want to live."
With that, she ignored the dumbfounded, tear-streaked Luo Yunxi and turned toward a back room around the corner of the staircase.
She passed through a hallway into a large kitchen. It was surprisingly clean. Inside the neat and tidy room, supplies were piled up, filling half the space.
There were more than ten neatly stacked bags of rice and flour, as well as a good amount of bottled water and other food. Her eyes couldn't help but light up.
'These people weren't so stupid after all.' Feng Moxi's obsession with food stemmed from her previous life. She had been truly terrified of starvation.
So, without a moment's hesitation, she stored all the supplies in her space.
She eagerly opened the refrigerator and was surprised to find some cooked food inside.
Only then did Feng Moxi finally feel at ease. She took out some cooked beef, some cold, dry steamed buns, and a bottle of water, then sat at the counter and began to eat in a slow, deliberate manner.
Ever since the Apocalypse began, she had cherished every last morsel of food. No matter how hungry she was, she would chew slowly, savoring its original taste. Before long, all food, no matter what it was, would become a rarity.
It would become difficult to eat in peace.
The sound of light footsteps reached her ears. In her peripheral vision, she saw Luo Yunxi stagger in. She recalled the moldy steamed bun Luo Yunxi had once given her.
And the sliver of kindness that came with it.
She gave a slight nod and said coolly, "Go on, eat something." Then she lowered her head and resumed her meal.
"Okay," Luo Yunxi replied, her eyes welling with tears. Having survived so much, she cherished the gift of life all the more.
She cautiously approached the refrigerator, grabbed some food, and began to wolf it down.
The two ate in silence. After a while, Feng Moxi finished her food and asked coolly, "What are your plans?"
Hearing the normally aloof Feng Moxi speak, Luo Yunxi quickly finished the last bite of her steamed bun and looked at the girl, who was about her own age.
A sense of security instantly washed over her.
"I want to go with you!"
"I'm afraid not."
Luo Yunxi clearly hadn't expected to be refused. Her expression froze for a moment before she quickly added, "I—I won't slow you down! I won't scream and shout like that anymore when things happen. Look…"
As she spoke, she focused, and a small trickle of water beads materialized at her fingertip. A look of joy spread across her face. "I just discovered that I've awakened a superpower, too! I can protect myself now."
She looked at the girl before her, her eyes filled with absolute trust and hope.
'A girl like me would either die out there or be captured and forced into slavery. I don't want either of those fates.'
"Heh. A Water Ability. In the early stages, it's useless for anything other than keeping yourself from dying of thirst." Feng Moxi wasn't trying to crush her spirit, but in her current state, if she didn't learn to be self-reliant, she would be dead sooner or later.
'In the early stages, a Water Ability User isn't even as useful as my old strength-based mutation. Only after reaching the Third Rank would it gradually grow stronger, allowing one to condense water from the air to attack enemies.'
'And that was assuming she could even survive until the Third Rank.'
'So, I have no intention of taking on a burden!'
Feng Moxi found a plastic bag and packed more than half of the remaining food from the refrigerator, then turned and headed upstairs. She had already found a suitable room while clearing the second floor.
'A room to the side is still clean, and if monsters attack, I can easily escape through the window. Time is short. I need a day of secluded meditation to break through to the Innate Realm.'
'I don't want to think about anything else.'
Luo Yunxi hadn't thought Feng Moxi would be so dismissive of her superpower. The joy she had felt just moments ago completely vanished.
She bit her lip and took a few steps after Feng Moxi, but then turned back. She grabbed another plastic bag, stuffed all the remaining food inside, and dashed toward the second floor.
By the time she reached the second floor, she saw Feng Moxi enter a room and shut the door with a SLAM.