Chapter 22: Scorching Heat and Rat Plague

The walls of the house were riddled with rat holes the size of half a fist. The scorching sunlight pierced through like laser beams.

Jiang Si mixed cement with her father, while her mother and grandmother carried disinfectant, doing a second round of sterilization. Her grandfather stood on a ladder, using wall putty to patch up the rat holes.

Dahei (the dog) nursed Xiaohei (the puppy), a peaceful scene—except for the unbearable heat.

Inside Jiang Si’s space, she had 1,000 boxes of bottled water and 200 large water storage barrels. These had to supply both their domestic needs and irrigate the farmland within her space. But making ice to lower the temperature was rapidly depleting their reserves.

According to the trajectory of her past life, the stored purified water should’ve been enough to last through the “Extreme Heat Days” until rainfall returned.

Then she could stockpile again.

After all, her dimensional space wasn’t frozen in time. Even though the barrels could sterilize water, two years was their max storage life.

But the apocalypse had arrived early, ruining all of her carefully laid plans.

Worried that this heat wave would last longer than it did in her previous life, Jiang Si didn’t dare use water freely anymore.

She would observe a bit longer. If necessary, she’d have to go search for water.

In her past life, Jiang Linhai had found an underground spring in the forest—she still remembered where.

After a full morning of effort, the whole family managed to patch up the rat holes.

Jiang Si’s chives in her space had grown well. She went in and harvested two large handfuls, then grabbed some eggs from the double-door fridge.

Handing the ingredients to Shen Baoying, she said, “Mom, the chives are fresh—let’s make chive pockets.”

Shen Baoying smiled and nodded, “Okay, I’ll get the multigrain porridge started.”

Jiang Si followed her into the kitchen and prepared dog food for Dahei.

There wasn’t much dry firewood left, so she brought out some coal to use instead.

Shen Baoying winced, “Use coal sparingly. Once the rats are gone, let your dad go chop more firewood.”

Jiang Linhai overheard and picked up the washed chives. “I’ll go now. The forest shouldn’t be as hot. Just one tree will give us enough firewood for a few days.”

Jiang Si sighed. “Dad, don’t rush. Look outside—how many people are watching us like hungry wolves? How long can our supplies hold out?”

BANG—!

A rock smashed against the window with a deafening crash.

Dahei barked furiously. Jiang Si bolted upstairs. Jiang Chengwu raised his gun, warning off the crazed crowd gathering outside the yard wall.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots. Two people dead.

But instead of dispersing, more people surged forward, their bloodshot eyes and mottled red faces looking like zombies who’d lost all sense of reason.

Jiang Chengwu looked at Jiang Si, brows furrowed. “Why aren’t they afraid of dying?”

Jiang Si pulled a pack of explosives from her space. “Then let them all die!”

Many of the attackers were familiar faces—distant relatives from the village.

Jiang Chengwu hesitated with the explosives in his hand. Jiang Si had already lit the fuse and hurled the package.

BOOM—!

Screams echoed through clouds of smoke. The bomb injured several people in one go.

Still, more kept coming—climbing over each other like a human pyramid to get over the wall.

Watching the crowd outside the wall—like a city under siege by zombies—Shen Baoying paled and pointed at the eerily grim-looking Li Cui. “Are they mutated?”

Jiang Si handed explosives to the others and said coldly, “No. They ate rats. They’ve got hemorrhagic fever.”

Shen Baoying’s voice trembled, “Then why are they all charging at our house?”

“They probably think we still have medicine. If they don’t get it, they die anyway. Might as well take a shot at robbing us—maybe they’ll live,” Jiang Si said with a deep frown.

The people had lost their human features—covered in blood, yet still charging forward. What on earth was keeping them moving?

Grandma sighed, pained. “Even if they rob us, how much medicine do we have? And hemorrhagic fever isn’t something you cure in a day or two.”

“Everyone thinks they’ll be the lucky one who survives,” Jiang Si replied coldly, hurling several more explosive packs.

The screams never stopped.

Li Cui, supporting her weak body, cast a vicious glare at the whole Jiang family. “Let’s wait until they run out of explosives—then rush in.”

The people in front were all dead anyway. At least now, there’d be no competition.

She waited and waited—watched one wave after another fall back screaming. Yet Jiang Si’s family still had explosives—seemingly endless.

Where the hell did they get so many?

No wonder Jiang Si was so arrogant—she had the capital to be.

Ding Sheng licked his chapped lips and said timidly, “Mom, maybe we should try something else. You can survive hemorrhagic fever… it’s not always fatal.”

Seeing how Jiang Si had even blown up Zhang Mayi and his gang without hesitation, getting near her house was basically a death sentence.

Li Cui glared. “You’re young and strong, maybe you’ll survive. What about me? What about Junjun and Meimei? That family clearly has tons of medicine and food—their faces are shiny with oil! Once we get in, our whole family can be saved!”

A wave of dread surged in Ding Sheng’s chest. He dry-heaved for a while and collapsed, unable to stand.

“But we can’t get in!” he said hoarsely.

“Yeah, Mom, why don’t we try the city?” his sister-in-law added.

Li Cui pointed toward Longquan County. “It’s hours away on foot. No water, no car, and now we’re sick. The temperature’s through the roof—can you hold out? Can the kids?”

“City people are probably raiding this place already. If we go there, we’ll die faster than staying here!”

“If you don’t want to die, then listen to me. We’ll get our chance!”

BOOM—

A section of the courtyard wall finally gave way under the continuous bombing.

Zhang Qingzhi gasped, panicking. “Sisi, what do we do? I broke the wall—they’re coming in!”

With no barrier left, tossing more explosives would only damage their own house.

Jiang Si stayed calm. “Don’t worry. If they get in, we leave. As long as we survive, it’s fine.”

Just then, Li Cui led her family under the broken wall and reached the door of Jiang Si’s home, fiddling with the lock.

It was almost nightfall. Leaving the house would be even more dangerous.

Jiang Chengwu grabbed the nail gun. “I’ll go down and deal with them!”

Jiang Si stopped her grandfather and calmly pulled out an empty medical kit, stuffed it with a half-bag of cement, and said, “I have a way.”

She tossed the kit down from the second floor. Medicine boxes spilled everywhere.

Li Cui’s eyes went wide—she saw fever reducers. She lunged forward, and the others followed in a frenzy.

Li Cui pounced and grabbed a box, but the mob trampled over her.

Crack. Her wrist snapped under the weight. She screamed in pain, the medicine stolen from her hand.

Ding Sheng managed to snatch a box, only to be pinned down and punched twice. His fingers were slowly pried open.

Seeing his wife coughing up blood nearby, a burst of determination surged in him. He bit down on the attacker’s wrist and grabbed his wife, trying to flee.

They hadn’t gone far when his two younger brothers tackled him.

“Junjun needs that medicine!”

“Meimei’s only five! She’s so young—give me the medicine first!”