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The doorbell rang just as Shu Xin finished changing into her workout gear. Mu Qimai was waiting for her in the training room, ready to begin their combat training for the day.
Despite the power outage, the doorbell’s backup power could still last for a few days. Hearing the chime, Mu Qimai stepped out of the training room and exchanged a glance with Shu Xin, who had just come downstairs. Both of them saw the same wariness in each other’s eyes.
Yan Mo and Bu Xiangwen had just left not long ago, and now someone was already at the door. It was hard not to be suspicious.
Shu Xin and Mu Qimai checked the video intercom. There was only one man standing outside. They didn’t open the door immediately. Instead, Shu Xin quickly walked over to the computer in the living room and pulled up the surveillance footage. As expected, another man was hiding in the blind spot of the video intercom.
Since moving here, Mu Qimai rarely went out during the day, usually leaving only in the early hours of the morning. The people in the community likely only knew that Apartments 2401 and 2501 housed two men and one woman, unaware that there was a fourth person.
The two men outside probably assumed that both men had gone out, leaving only a woman home alone. They must have thought this was their chance—if they could lure her out, surely two grown men could easily overpower a single woman.
Then, with no one to stop them, they could take whatever they wanted from the apartment. Or worse—seeing how attractive Shu Xin was, they might have had other sinister intentions.
Even through the door, Shu Xin could practically hear their scheming calculations falling apart. The two men outside, oblivious to the fact that their plan had already been exposed, switched from pressing the doorbell to pounding on the door aggressively, as if they wouldn’t stop until it opened.
If Shu Xin could figure this out, Mu Qimai, who had spent years navigating the gray areas of society, understood it even faster. His expression darkened instantly. He motioned for Shu Xin to step back before striding over to open the door.
The men outside clearly hadn’t expected the door to be flung open so suddenly. The one in front stumbled forward, almost falling onto Mu Qimai.
“You—damn it—”
Fang Cang barely managed to regain his balance. After knocking for so long, the door had finally opened, but the unexpected stumble had embarrassed him. Wanting to save face, he didn’t even look up before opening his mouth to curse.
“What do you want?”
Mu Qimai’s features were sharp and rugged, with a scar over his left brow that made him look particularly intimidating. His entire presence radiated an air of danger, enough to make most people instinctively back away.
Hearing his voice, Fang Cang’s words got stuck in his throat. He looked up in shock, and the sight of Mu Qimai’s dark expression made him subconsciously take two steps back.
Panicked, he turned to look at his accomplice hiding around the corner—only to find the spot empty. The man had already abandoned him the moment Mu Qimai appeared, slipping away without a word.
Fang Cang’s legs trembled as he forced an awkward smile. “No… nothing. I just wanted to ask if you guys wanted to go shopping together.”
“Not interested. Get lost.”
Mu Qimai stepped forward, grabbed Fang Cang by the collar, and lifted him off the ground. He lowered his head and stared into the man’s eyes, making sure he saw the unfiltered menace within them.
“If you come back again, I won’t let you or your cowardly friend off so easily.”
With that, he casually tossed Fang Cang to the ground. Under Mu Qimai’s cold gaze, the man scrambled to his feet and bolted, practically rolling down the stairs in his haste to flee the twenty-fourth floor.
When he finally reached the entrance of the building, Fang Cang spotted Xiong Zhengyang—the so-called friend who had abandoned him—standing there. He was so shaken that he didn’t even have the energy to punch him. His limbs were still weak, and he had no idea how he had even managed to get down all those floors.
Mu Qimai’s presence was simply too terrifying.
That kind of killing intent wasn’t something a normal person could possess. They had thought they were picking an easy target, only to find themselves messing with the most dangerous man in the entire building. It was a complete disaster.
After that encounter, Shu Xin trained harder than ever. She realized that, mentally, she still hadn’t fully adjusted from a peaceful world to an apocalyptic one.
Even though she had mentally prepared for a doomsday scenario, she hadn’t truly placed herself in that reality.
From the moment she discovered she had transmigrated into a novel, even after the first disasters struck, she still felt like an outsider—an observer rather than a participant. Even as she stockpiled supplies, modified the apartment, and deliberately tried to win over Yan Mo, she hadn’t truly changed her mindset.
Yan Mo was the first person who made this world feel real to her, anchoring her to it. And now, these two men who had targeted her had cemented that reality with a visceral sense of danger. This was not just a book.
She was living in this world.
She could feel pain, bleed, and die. She would have to face the cruelty and challenges of the apocalypse head-on. Having Yan Mo’s protection and an abundance of supplies wasn’t enough—she needed to grow stronger herself if she wanted to truly survive.
Her knowledge of the apocalypse came from novels, movies, and TV shows. Unlike the original protagonist, Ye Yu’an, who had been reborn from the end of the world and had firsthand experience of humanity’s darkest sides, Shu Xin had never lived through such brutality. She didn’t have Ye Yu’an’s lethal combat skills honed through years of survival.
The only thing she could do was train seriously, growing stronger bit by bit. She had to make sure she wouldn’t drag Yan Mo and the others down. She refused to be a burden.
Meanwhile, Yan Mo and his group had safely returned to the apartment complex. Zhang Song and his people had upheld their end of the deal, handing over a tenth of their supplies before quickly leaving, avoiding the curious gazes of others.
Seeing Zhang Song’s group return unscathed, other residents who had been watching from the sidelines grew restless. Thinking that Yan Mo and Bu Xiangwen were easy to negotiate with, they rushed forward, surrounding them and clamoring to borrow the rubber raft to escape.
They had already been out for over an hour. Yan Mo was growing concerned about the situation at home and didn’t want to linger any longer. The noisy crowd irritated him.
With a swift motion, he unsheathed the Tang sword strapped to his back.
Instantly, the crowd fell silent.
The cold gleam of the blade reflected in their widened eyes, and they instinctively stepped back, making way. No one dared to push their luck, afraid that a single wrong word would provoke the blade’s swift descent.
They could only watch as Yan Mo and Bu Xiangwen stowed the rubber raft, gathered their supplies, and headed upstairs.
By now, Shu Xin was probably napping.
Dumping the supplies on the floor without a second thought, Yan Mo didn’t bother organizing them. He strode towards the staircase, his only concern being to see Shu Xin with his own eyes—to confirm that she was still there.