A little later, Lin Nuan was dressing up in front of the mirror, muttering to herself as she gazed at her reflection.
"Zhou Yue's life must be saved. As for Wu Mengmeng and Yang Tian, you’re on your own."
She thought of Fang Zhiyi—he must already have taken a liking to her. Who would’ve guessed that this classmate from the next class over was the son of a wealthy businessman? She remembered that in her past life, the Fang family, under the protection of a hastily assembled security team, had established the first survival base. She had caught a distant glimpse of Fang Zhiyi back then, his arrogant demeanor making her seethe. What was so great about being rich? But she’d heard rumors—he possessed a personal pocket dimension. It sounded unbelievable, but if such a thing existed, how useful would that be?
Still, Fang Zhiyi wouldn’t stay smug for long. Their family’s base was breached from the inside by disgruntled individuals, allowing hordes of infected to flood in. It was then that Wu Mengmeng and Yang Tian had pushed her out to buy themselves time.
At this memory, Lin Nuan’s eyes darkened.
The priority now was tomorrow—she needed to borrow money from Fang Zhiyi, as much as possible, then take her people to build a fortress for the apocalypse.
Lost in thought, she hummed a tune while brushing her hair, the scene unsettling even Xiao Hei, who was secretly watching from the side.
Meanwhile, at the Fang residence, Fang's Father drove Fang Zhiyi up the mountain. "Son! This is the mountain your old man bought recently. I was even planning to pick an auspicious day to relocate our ancestral graves here—save us the hassle of running around during tomb-sweeping season."
Fang Zhiyi stared out the window, silently assessing the terrain.
As the SUV came to a stop, Fang's Father leaped out. "This mountain is yours to use!" He gestured grandly, as if he’d conquered the world.
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "No good. The terrain isn’t steep enough—too ordinary. It wouldn’t stop even hikers, let alone the infected."
Fang's Father stumbled, his earlier enthusiasm deflating. "Then what do we do?"
Fang Zhiyi pulled out a map, a red circle marking a location. "North Mountain."
"That North Mountain with the public cemetery?" Fang's Father blinked.
Fang Zhiyi nodded. "Exactly."
North Mountain, due to its rugged terrain, had been designated as a cemetery early on and remained undeveloped since. Only five kilometers from the city, it was largely deserted except for a few bustling days during grave-visiting season.
Back home, Fang Zhiyi began drafting a list—rice, flour, instant noodles, self-heating meals, canned goods, seasonings, survival gear, gasoline, generators, batteries, light bulbs, tools, even water purifiers.
As the list grew longer, even Fang's Father grew uneasy. "Son, are you sure the apocalypse is coming?"
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him, gave a slight nod, and handed over the list.
Fang's Father took a deep breath. "Screw it, let’s do this!" He snatched the list and marched outside. Soon, the sound of multiple vehicles starting up echoed, followed by phone calls.
With the house quiet again, Fang Zhiyi pulled out a bracelet from his bag, examining it. "Who invented this thing? If Lin Nuan can use it, why can’t I?"
Xiao Hei also seemed puzzled. "Host, maybe it requires a blood sacrifice?"
Fang Zhiyi smacked his forehead, but even after nearly bleeding himself dry, the bracelet showed no reaction.
"Wait… is this even the right one?" Fang Zhiyi eyed the bracelet skeptically. Peering through the loop, he saw Xiao Hei’s curious face staring back—large eyes but no nose or mouth.
An idea struck him. "Xiao Hei, this thing is as inexplicable as you are. Try holding it."
Xiao Hei hesitated, then reached out and touched it. Instantly, it lit up. "I can feel it! I can actually touch it!"
Fang Zhiyi was stunned. He’d only said it offhandedly, but Xiao Hei really could interact with the bracelet!
But just as Xiao Hei celebrated, the bracelet suddenly morphed, liquefying and slithering up its finger.
"Hey? Hey?!" Xiao Hei panicked, frantically patting itself, but the bracelet had vanished without a trace, leaving Fang Zhiyi dumbfounded.
"Where’s my bracelet?"
Xiao Hei rubbed its hands nervously. "I don’t know… Wait—" It paused, sensing something. "Host, try handing me that phone." It felt like something new had awakened inside it.
Fang Zhiyi passed over his phone. The moment Xiao Hei touched it, the phone disappeared.
"What the—where’s my phone?!" Fang Zhiyi jumped up.
Xiao Hei shivered slightly, and the phone reappeared in its hand.
Fang Zhiyi’s eyes gleamed. "Now try this lamp."
"This remote."
"The TV."
"The fridge."
"How about this cabinet? Hey—don’t run! I haven’t tested the house yet! Xiao Hei! Xiao Hei!"
The next morning, Fang Zhiyi rubbed his eyes awake to find several unread messages. Two were from Fang's Father, who seemed to have pulled an all-nighter—one photo showed him holding a lease agreement with a thumbs-up, the other featured him posing in front of several heavy-duty trucks, also flashing a thumbs-up.
After a moment’s thought, Fang Zhiyi replied: "Legendary. 666."
Fang's Father responded instantly: "Wake up and come inspect the goods! The first shipment arrives this afternoon!"
Fang Zhiyi then checked the other messages. The first was a cute emoji followed by a photo of legs clad in white stockings.
"Zhiyi, I went to your class, but they said you left in a hurry yesterday. Is everything okay?"
"Let’s have lunch together today."
Fang Zhiyi smirked coldly, ignoring her for now. The last message was a text:
"Listen here, punk—stay away from Lin Nuan, or you’ll regret it." Fang Zhiyi scoffed. "Hotheaded fool. Must be that simp Zhou Yue."
He didn’t reply to either. Right now, preparation was urgent—the coming apocalypse wasn’t just storms or droughts, but infected with rudimentary intelligence. Imagine a horde of them wielding machetes and guns—you think agility alone would save you?
North Mountain was quickly enclosed. With the Fang family’s financial might, construction progressed rapidly. Rumor had it Fang's Father had even sold several profitable ventures and transferred newly acquired land to competitors to fund this.
"What’s Old Fang up to? Developing cemetery tourism?" one rival joked.
"Word is he’s building a mountain villa," another chimed in.
"Madness. The guy’s always been eccentric, but this is next-level."
News of the Fang family’s "madness" didn’t spread far, remaining confined to business circles. At Fang Zhiyi’s request, deliveries were conducted under cover of night.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
