Chapter 63: Meteorite

Everyone lay on the ground groaning in pain. Waves of scorching heat swept over them. Jiang Si reached out to touch her back—her clothes were almost burning hot, clinging to her skin like molten glue.

Suddenly, a well-defined hand appeared before her eyes. Jiang Si grabbed Qin Shen’s hand and stood up, quickly hurrying over to check on Shen Baoying and the others.

Everyone had suffered varying degrees of burns on their backs. Jiang Si picked up her bag to retrieve some medicine when a few people emerged from deeper within the rock shelter—it was the old man’s sons and daughters-in-law.

Since they had hidden further inside the rock wall in time, they weren’t seriously injured. Seeing their father lying unconscious on the ground, they made no move to help him. Instead, their eyes fixated on the emergency backpacks that Jiang Si and her group carried.

One of the men, short and stocky like a gourd, named Liu Ling, noticed how injured and disheveled Jiang Si’s group looked, sprawled on the ground with seemingly no strength to resist. Narrowing his eyes, he pounced like a firecracker, taking quick steps toward the nearest emergency bag, reaching out to grab it.

But before his hand even touched the bag—
BANG!
Qin Shen delivered a powerful kick that sent Liu Ling flying.

Liu Ling crashed hard into the rock wall. Loose stones fell, and he felt like all his internal organs were about to burst.

His two brothers, Liu Hong and Liu Xuan, though tall and strong-looking, were timid to the core. Seeing Qin Shen’s kick not only send Liu Ling flying but also crack the stone wall, they froze in terror and immediately retracted their feet.

The other people around the cliff face were instantly intimidated, shrinking back in fearful silence.

Liu Ling’s wife was brash. Seeing her husband kicked like that, she charged forward, ready to fight. “You dare hit my man?! I swear I’ll kill you!”

But Liu Ling grabbed her by the hem of her clothes. His gaze landed on his unconscious father, and he weakly ordered his brothers, “Go check on Dad!”

He hadn’t shown the slightest concern for the old man earlier, so his sudden interest surprised Liu Hong and Liu Xuan. Still, they complied and went over to nudge him.
“Dad? Dad? Dad…?”

After calling out several times with no response, Liu Hong reached out to check, then suddenly widened his eyes in panic.
“Brother, Dad’s dead!”

The scheming look in Liu Ling’s eyes deepened. He pointed at Qin Shen and yelled, “Everyone’s fine—so how did my dad end up dead? You clearly used him as a human shield and got him killed! And now you’ve injured me too! You must compensate us for the damages! For my dad’s life!”

Jiang Linhai’s expression darkened as he looked at the old man’s closed eyes. “We were kind enough to carry him in here, and we haven’t even asked you for compensation. Now you want us to pay you? Do you even have any shame?”

It was obvious the old man was frail and elderly—he died from the impact, and it had nothing to do with Qin Shen.

If Liu Ling had any sense of decency, he wouldn’t have abandoned his father in the first place. Forcing himself upright with a cold, sinister look, he growled, “If you hadn’t meddled, my dad wouldn’t have died! You killed him, and you will pay for it! If not, we’ll fight you to the death!”

Outside, molten lava was flowing. Liu Ling was sure Jiang Si’s group wouldn’t risk it all in a fight right now. He was already thinking through his demands—at least four emergency bags.

While Liu Ling was smugly plotting, Jiang Si let out a cold laugh and calmly pulled out a gun from her jacket.
“Still want compensation?”

A gun!
Liu Ling’s eyes widened in disbelief, while the others were completely stunned.

They were suddenly glad they hadn’t messed with Jiang Si’s group.

Normal people shouldn’t have guns!

Liu Ling insisted it was fake and cursed, “A toy gun, huh? Who are you trying to fool? I’m telling you, my dad—”

BANG!

A gunshot echoed. The bullet tore through Liu Ling’s pant leg and embedded itself into the stone wall.

Jiang Si’s eyes were icy as she blew on the smoking muzzle.
“You were saying about your dad?”

Liu Ling trembled uncontrollably, unable to speak. His wife’s knees buckled, and his two brothers looked like they wished the ground would swallow them whole.

Others in the group, who had been waiting for a chance to snatch supplies, gave up the idea completely after witnessing the gunshot.

If not for the blazing magma and fiery ash outside, many would have already bolted in terror.

Jiang Si, holding the gun, couldn’t help with applying medicine. Qin Shen stepped in without a word, expertly treating everyone’s burns and injuries.

Seeing that they even had medicine, the rest of the group looked on enviously—but Jiang Si’s gun kept them rooted in place, not daring to approach.

Shen Baoying helped apply medicine to Jiang Si, while Jiang Chengwu offered to help Qin Shen. But Qin Shen shook his head.
“I’m not injured.”

Jiang Chengwu thought he was just being tough, but when he looked at Qin Shen’s hands, he froze.

His clothes were torn, yet his skin wasn’t injured in the slightest.

That shockwave had been so strong it killed the old man Qin Shen had carried—how could Qin Shen be completely unscathed?

Jiang Si narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Qin Shen’s face, trying to glean any clues. But all she saw were his usual calm, unfathomable eyes.

Jiang Chengwu said in amazement, “Your skin is really something!”

Qin Shen gave a casual nod. “Mm.” As if it were perfectly normal.

Jiang Si turned her gaze away.
Whatever secrets he’s hiding—so long as he doesn’t harm us, that’s enough.

Once everyone had recovered a little, they began assessing their surroundings.

The reed marshes had become a sea of fire from the meteorite strike. The area in front of the cliff was covered in lava, burning debris, and falling embers.

The ground was like a giant furnace. If they tried to leave now, they’d be roasted alive.

They had no choice but to wait—at least until the falling embers stopped and the ground cooled.

There were over thirty people huddled beneath the cliff. Most were able-bodied adults; elderly and children made up less than one-sixth.

Their faces were full of despair, hunger, sorrow, and fear for the future.

Jiang Si’s group didn’t have to worry about food or safety for now, but even they couldn’t feel at ease as they stared out at the ruined world.

They had just gotten the steamship up and running. Life was finally getting back on track—and now, disaster had struck again.

Crowding together like this wasn’t a long-term solution either. These people, desperate and starving, would definitely try something again.

Killing them all would leave a heavy psychological toll.
Besides, who knew if more meteorites might still fall from above?

Jiang Linhai whispered to Jiang Si, “Which direction might be safer?”

In her previous life, the north had been safer.

That’s where the Northern Base had been established. Shen Baoying had died during a mission, betrayed by Sun Xiu and Shen Fu—so Jiang Si had always felt repulsed by the Northern Base.

But now, with the order of disasters completely changed in this life, she wasn’t sure if the base would even exist.

After a moment of thought, she said,
“Let’s get ready. We leave tomorrow morning and head north!”

“Got it.”
They had to choose a direction anyway—and following Jiang Si was never wrong.

To prepare for their departure, they found several flat stones inside the cave. When they encountered dangerous or impassable terrain, they could use the stones to step across safely.

Seeing this, the other survivors quickly followed their lead and also began searching for stones.