When the doorbell rang, Shuxin had just changed into her workout clothes and was about to head out. Mu Qimai was waiting for her in the training room, preparing for their scheduled combat training.

The power had just gone out, and the doorbell’s battery would last for a few more days. Upon hearing the doorbell, Mu Qimai stepped out of the training room and made eye contact with Shuxin as she came down from upstairs. Both of them saw the wariness in each other’s eyes.

It hadn’t been long since Yan Mo and Bo Xiangwen had left, and now someone was pressing the doorbell. They couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Shuxin and Mu Qimai opened the visual doorbell, and saw one man standing outside. They didn’t rush to open the door. Shuxin quickly walked over to the computer in the living room, pulled up the outside surveillance footage, and indeed, another man was hiding in the blind spot of the doorbell.

Since Mu Qimai moved here, he rarely went out during the day. He typically only left the house in the middle of the night, so the residents of the complex probably only knew that two men and one woman lived in apartment 2401 and 2501, but they didn’t know there was a fourth person.

The two men outside must have assumed that since both men were out, the woman was alone at home. They thought it would be an easy opportunity. If they could trick her into opening the door, surely they could overpower her and take what they wanted. They might even do worse, seeing that Shuxin was pretty.

Shuxin could almost feel their thoughts from behind the door. The two men outside had no idea that their plans had already been exposed. When no one responded to the doorbell, they switched to banging on the door forcefully, intent on breaking it open.

Shuxin quickly figured out the situation, but Mu Qimai, who had been involved in the darker side of things for years, realized it even faster. His face immediately darkened. He waved Shuxin back and went to open the door himself.

The men outside probably hadn’t expected the door to open so suddenly. They stumbled back, almost falling into Mu Qimai.

“You motherfucker…”

Fang Cang managed to steady himself, frustrated that after banging on the door for so long, he almost made a fool of himself. He was eager to regain some face, so he immediately opened his mouth to curse.

“Why the hell are you knocking on the door?” Mu Qimai’s voice was deep and imposing, with a scar on his left eyebrow that gave him a hard, unapproachable look. His presence exuded an aura that made people want to back off immediately.

Fang Cang’s words got stuck in his throat when he heard the cold tone. He looked up at Mu Qimai, his eyes widening in surprise.

Mu Qimai’s dark glare made Fang Cang take two steps back instinctively, and he looked around for the other person who was supposed to be with him, but the corner was empty. The moment Mu Qimai stepped out, his companion had quietly slipped away, leaving Fang Cang behind without a word.

Fang Cang’s legs trembled, and a terrible, forced smile appeared on his face. “N-nothing… I just wanted to ask if you needed to go out and buy something?”

“No need. Get lost, and keep your little schemes to yourself. If you show up again, it won’t be as easy for you or your partner next time.”

Mu Qimai stepped forward, grabbed Fang Cang by the collar, and lifted him off the ground. He lowered his head to stare him down with eyes full of menace, making sure Fang Cang understood that he wasn’t to be messed with.

With a casual toss, he threw Fang Cang to the ground. Under Mu Qimai’s cold gaze, Fang Cang scrambled to his feet and fled the 24th floor, rolling as he went.

Fang Cang made it back to his current place, only to see that his partner, Xiong Zhengyang, was too weak to even hit him. His hands and feet were still trembling from the intimidation he’d faced. He had no idea how he even made it down from the 24th floor—Mu Qimai’s aura had been far too strong.

Normal people wouldn’t have that kind of killing intent. They had intended to pick an easy target, but instead, they had come across the hardest, most intimidating man in the building, nearly breaking their hands in the process. It was a disaster from the start.

This incident made Shuxin even more focused and determined in her training. She realized that she still hadn’t fully adjusted her mindset from the peaceful era. Although she had been preparing for the apocalypse mentally, she still hadn’t completely immersed herself in this new world.

From the moment she knew she had crossed over into a book, to now with the natural disasters descending upon them, she had still viewed herself as an outsider—a mere spectator. Even though she had actively prepared supplies, renovated the house, and even tried to form a strategy with Yan Mo, she had yet to fully embrace the world she was now in.

Yan Mo was the first person who made her feel like this world was real, someone who made her connect with the world. And today, the two men who came knocking brought with them a sense of danger that made her realize just how real this world was—not just a book.

She was living in this world, where she could feel pain, get hurt, bleed, die, and face the brutality and challenges of the apocalypse. Even with Yan Mo’s protection and sufficient supplies, it wasn’t enough. She needed to be strong on her own to truly survive in this new world.

Shuxin had learned about the apocalypse from novels, movies, and TV shows. Unlike the female protagonist in the original book, Ye Yuyan, who had been reborn from the apocalypse and had firsthand experience with its dangers and human cruelty, Shuxin had no such experiences. She hadn’t trained herself to have deadly skills like Ye Yuyan, who fought and crawled her way to survival.

All Shuxin could do now was train seriously, improving herself bit by bit, so she wouldn’t become a burden to Yan Mo and the others, and so she could stand on her own in the apocalypse.

Yan Mo and the others returned to the community without incident. Zhang Song and the others had kept their promise and handed over the 10% of supplies. Afterward, they quickly left, avoiding the curious gazes of others.

When people saw that Zhang Song and the others had returned unharmed, those who had been observing began to stir. They thought Yan Mo and Bo Xiangwen were easy to approach, so they rushed to ask if they could borrow the rubber boat to go out, surrounding the two men.

It had been more than five hours since they left, and Yan Mo was worried about the situation at home. He didn’t want to stay out too long, especially with the noisy crowd. He pulled out the long blade strapped to his back, and the crowd immediately fell silent.

The cold light from the blade reflected off the metal, and the people who had surrounded them scattered quickly, wary of Yan Mo’s weapon and the menacing look in his eyes.

Yan Mo and Bo Xiangwen packed up the rubber boat, took the supplies they had looted from the supermarket, and headed upstairs.

At this time, Shuxin was probably napping. Yan Mo casually dropped the supplies on the floor and hurried upstairs. He just wanted to confirm that Shuxin was still there.