That night, Lin Chu slept in the shelter.

The temperature inside the shelter was a little over ten degrees Celsius. Just wearing a set of hospital clothes and covering oneself with a cotton quilt was enough to sleep comfortably.

Lin Chu was sound asleep in her bed when, just before dawn, she suddenly heard noises outside the shelter.

She immediately put on her thermal clothing and walked out while getting dressed.

The noise was coming from outside her bedroom.

The curly-haired aunt was hacking at Yang Qianqian’s door with a knife, splitting it open. She forcibly broke in, opened the door, and subdued Yang Qianqian, who had no way to escape.

When Lin Chu came out, she saw the woman dragging Yang Qianqian out of the bedroom.

When she looked up and saw Lin Chu, the curly-haired aunt seemed displeased and frowned at her. “Why are you so late? Everyone else has started taking action.”

Everyone? Taking action?

Lin Chu extended her senses and quickly detected similar disturbances happening in all the surrounding apartment buildings.

Doors were being broken down, people were fighting hand-to-hand, and there were screams, cries for help, and begging.

These things were happening between family members. Most residents were completely unprepared for their relatives — even their partners — to suddenly turn on them.

As Lin Chu rapidly processed all this information in her mind, she responded quickly, “Sorry I’m late.”

She saw the woman binding Yang Qianqian with some torn strips of fabric. When Lin Chu tried to approach, the woman evaded her.

“I tied her up myself. If the god descends here, the credit will be all mine. Don’t try to steal it from me.”

Yang Qianqian’s mouth had already been taped shut. She frantically shook her head, making muffled “mmm mmm” sounds.

Seeing that Lin Chu said nothing, the curly-haired aunt glared at her. “Go to the kitchen and make something to eat. There’s still a bit of rice in the cabinet — make them some porridge.”

“The god needs a good body to descend into. It has to be well nourished.”

Lin Chu didn’t argue. She entered the kitchen and found the rice barrel in the cabinet beneath the stove.

The rice was almost gone. Even with just porridge for each meal, it wouldn’t last long.

She measured out half a scoop of rice, scooped in a few ladles of snow from a nearby basin, and started the fire.

As she cooked, she kept her senses tuned to the sounds from the other apartments while contemplating the “descent of the god” the woman had mentioned.

Literally, it meant the descent of a god.

The god of the snow worms… that would be their leader?

Or at least a figure of authority.

In any case, a high-ranking individual among the snow worms.

These parasitized people all acting simultaneously — did that mean their leader had some special way to issue commands directly to all the infected?

Or perhaps they had a secret signal?

Whatever the case, Lin Chu realized that her failure to act in sync with them had already aroused the woman’s suspicion.

The only question now was how long it would take for that walnut-sized brain of hers to realize that Lin Chu hadn’t been infected at all.

While Lin Chu cooked the porridge, the woman busied herself outside. When Lin Chu brought out the porridge, she saw that both Yang Qianqian and Old Yang had been tied to the solid wood sofa.

Yang Qianqian’s eyes were full of hatred and unwillingness, while Old Yang looked dazed and confused. He didn’t even need his mouth taped — he just sat there quietly, not making a fuss.

Occasionally, he would ask the woman, “Wife, what are we doing?”

At this point, she was no longer in the mood to humor him. She merely replied flatly, “We’re waiting for the god to descend.”

When she saw Lin Chu bringing the porridge, the woman strode forward, took a bowl from her, and ordered:

“Hurry up and feed them. The descent will happen soon. Don’t waste time.”

She then brought the bowl over to Old Yang.

Lin Chu walked over to Yang Qianqian and peeled the tape from her mouth.

Yang Qianqian was about to shout, but then saw Lin Chu wink at her.

She quieted down and obediently opened her mouth to accept the porridge.

Old Yang was cooperative from the beginning. He quickly finished his bowl.

The woman went into the kitchen with the empty bowl. When she returned, Lin Chu saw that she was holding two bowls of snow.

One bowl was handed to Lin Chu.

Lin Chu accepted it. Although she didn’t understand, she didn’t let anything show on her face.

She simply looked up at the woman — who was also watching her.

“These past few days feeding them porridge has been so annoying. Snow tastes better anyway.”

With that, she brought the bowl to her face and plunged it in, making loud, frenzied slurping and chewing sounds.

After a while, she looked up and grinned widely at Lin Chu. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m not hungry.”

The moment Lin Chu said that, the woman’s expression darkened.

“You’re not hungry? No — you’re not one of us at all! You deceitful human!”

She growled through gritted teeth and reached for Lin Chu’s head.

But Lin Chu was faster. The woman’s hand barely extended before it was stopped mid-air. With a “crack,” her hand bent at an unnatural angle like a piece of rubber.

Lin Chu’s other hand yanked on the woman’s curly hair.

She slammed the woman’s head against the wall several times. Soon, the woman collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Yang Qianqian’s eyes widened as she watched Lin Chu take down the infected woman in mere moments, and she let out an admiring expletive.

Meanwhile, Old Yang was struggling and shouting in distress, “Wife, wife, what’s wrong?!”

“Dad, Mom is already…” Yang Qianqian paused. “Mom has already been taken by that monster. The soul inside that body isn’t hers anymore.”

Old Yang opened his mouth slightly, looking confused as he turned to Yang Qianqian. He clearly didn’t understand.

Lin Chu bound the unconscious woman and then went over to untie Yang Qianqian.

Seeing that Lin Chu didn’t intend to free Old Yang, Yang Qianqian didn’t dare to either.

Old Yang, seeing his wife bound, started getting agitated again and called out desperately.

Just then, the front door was pounded on loudly.

“Hey, Lao Wu! Are you done yet? Don’t delay the god’s descent!”

Lin Chu immediately stepped forward, covered Old Yang’s mouth, and mimicked the curly-haired aunt’s voice to answer through the door:

“Done, done — don’t worry!”

The noise outside and the door between them helped her bluff successfully.

Once she heard the footsteps fade away, she let go and turned to Yang Qianqian.

“Watch him. Can you do that?”

Lin Chu looked her in the eye, and Yang Qianqian nodded repeatedly. “My dad just loved my mom too much. Trust me — I won’t let him mess up your plan.”

Then, gritting her teeth, she picked up the duct tape the woman had used on her earlier and sealed her father’s mouth.

“Sorry, Dad — please stay quiet for now.”

Meanwhile, Lin Chu crouched down and used a clothes pole to wake the woman on the floor.

“Tell me — what exactly is the ‘descent of the god’?”