The little girl in her arms was not actually her biological daughter.

She was the daughter of Yan Cijin’s younger sister and her sister’s wife.

Two and a half years ago, a tragic car accident had taken both of their lives in an instant, leaving only this small child behind.

At that time, LiLi was barely over a year old.

Yan Cijin had not hesitated for even a second before taking custody of the child.

She raised her as her own daughter.

LiLi was still very young now, only three years old. She had no real understanding of the complicated past. Yan Cijin never intended to hide the truth forever, but she believed there was no need to tell her such things now. When the child grew older and could understand properly, she would explain everything.

For now, the little dumpling only needed to grow up happily.

Yan Cijin shifted LiLi slightly in her arms and called out toward the living room.

"Mom, I’m back."

A moment later, footsteps came from the kitchen.

A woman nearing fifty walked out with a warm expression on her face. Her hair had already begun showing streaks of gray, but her posture remained straight and energetic.

The moment she saw the two of them, her expression brightened.

"Oh, my LiLi baby," she said with a smile as she opened her arms. "Come here to Grandma."

The little dumpling turned her head and immediately stretched out her chubby arms.

"Grandma!"

Yan Cijin passed the little girl over.

Yan Laojin gently took the child and adjusted the little kitten hood that had slipped sideways.

"Your mother just came back from work," she said softly. "Let her change clothes first. Dinner will be ready soon."

LiLi nodded obediently while still sucking on her candy.

"Okay!"

Yan Cijin watched the two of them for a moment before heading toward her room to change out of her work clothes.

The apartment felt warm and peaceful.

For now, the world outside was still calm.

But Yan Cijin knew very well that this peaceful life would soon be torn apart.

And when that day came, she would make sure that the two people she loved most would never suffer again.

..

..

By the time Bai Li returned to the apartment after everything for the day had mostly settled down, the sky outside had already turned darker, and the lights inside the duplex made the whole place look even stranger than before. The storage room on the second floor was now packed so full that even the doorway looked crowded. Cases of bottled water were stacked one over another in neat rows, cartons of canned food filled one side of the wall, and instant noodles, vacuum packed food, dried supplies, and all kinds of long shelf life food had been arranged into piles that almost reached her shoulder. Another room beside it had also been partly filled because the first one was already close to full. Just standing there and looking at everything gave her a quiet sense of satisfaction that she could not deny. In her previous life, supplies had always meant survival. Food, water, medicine, fuel, ammunition, every extra day of stored resources meant another chance to stay alive when the world outside became uncertain. Even though she was no longer standing in a battlefield, that instinct had not changed. The sight of visible preparation calmed her far more than expensive furniture or luxury ever could. For a moment she simply stood there with her hands in her pockets, slowly looking over the stacked boxes as if confirming that this part of her plan had finally become real.

But that calm only lasted until she turned around and looked at the rest of the duplex properly. The moment her eyes fell on the current state of the house, her expression froze for a second. The living room no longer looked like a home. Thick reinforced glass panels wrapped in protective material leaned against one wall, metal plates were stacked nearby, electric tools were spread over the floor, wires ran along corners, ladders stood open in several places, and workers were moving back and forth in different directions while discussing measurements and installation details. Some were checking the balcony structure, some were dismantling parts of the original fittings, and others were carrying heavy materials upstairs. It was not exactly disorder because everyone clearly knew what they were doing, but to Bai Li’s eyes, it still looked like too many unfinished things happening at once. Her mind paused for a brief moment, almost like her thoughts had hit a wall.

She knew very well that this kind of reaction had always existed inside her. Back when she was still in the army in her previous life, there had been no room for discomfort. Whether she was standing in destroyed buildings, crossing muddy ground after bombardment, or stepping through scenes where blood and fire mixed together, she had forced herself to remain absolutely steady because hesitation meant failure and failure often meant death. But only she herself knew how much effort it had taken over the years to suppress certain parts of her own mind. Noise, visual clutter, too many unfinished details all happening together, these things always pressed against her nerves in ways she never showed to anyone else. On missions she could force it down because she had to. But now she was no longer in a place where she needed to tolerate everything simply because duty demanded it. Looking at the half destroyed and half rebuilt home in front of her, she immediately understood one thing very clearly. She could not stay here tonight.

She found Shen Kyao near the staircase, speaking with two senior workers while holding a digital floor plan in hand. Bai Li walked over and waited until the conversation paused before speaking calmly, "I’ll leave for tonight. If anything urgent comes up, call me immediately." Shen Kyao turned at once and nodded. "Miss Bai, don’t worry. By tomorrow most of the lower floor structure should already be finished. The balcony doors and reinforced window installation will continue through the night." Bai Li gave a small nod and added, "The storage rooms upstairs remain locked. No one touches anything there." Shen Kyao understood immediately and replied, "Understood. We already informed everyone." After hearing that, Bai Li did not stay any longer. She simply turned around, took the elevator down, and walked out of the building.

Outside, the evening air felt much easier to breathe than the inside of the duplex. She booked a cab and chose the nearest five star hotel without much thought. Since she still had enough money left, there was no reason to force herself to sleep inside what currently looked like an active construction zone. About half an hour later she arrived at a luxury hotel near the city center. The lobby was bright, quiet, and polished in the way expensive places always were, with soft lighting, marble floors, and the faint scent of flowers in the air. The check in process was quick. Soon she was inside a high floor room with a wide city view through large glass windows.

The first thing she did after entering was take a long bath. Warm water washed away the dust and heaviness of the day, and by the time she came out wearing loose hotel clothes, her shoulders finally relaxed. She lay down on the bed, ordered dinner through a food delivery app, and opened her phone while waiting. At first she scrolled casually through Weibo. The usual things appeared one after another. Celebrity gossip, relationship scandals, influencers showing expensive purchases, random arguments between fan groups, short clips of pets doing ridiculous things. Then her thumb paused over a small post with almost no engagement. It was an overseas article reposted by a niche account. The title roughly said that a strange violent illness had begun appearing in some remote parts of southern Africa. Bai Li opened it immediately.

The translated article was rough, clearly reposted several times before reaching this small account, and some parts of the wording were awkward enough that an ordinary person would probably stop reading halfway. But Bai Li still understood the meaning without difficulty. Several isolated places had reportedly begun seeing strange cases where people suddenly lost control, attacked others without warning, and showed extreme aggression that did not match any known illness. Some reports said those people kept moving even after being injured. Others mentioned that they no longer responded normally when spoken to, as if their minds had become disconnected from reason entirely. The official explanation in the article was vague, only saying that local authorities were investigating a possible viral outbreak, but no confirmed details had been released yet.

The comment section below, however, looked exactly like what Bai Li expected.

Most people were laughing.

"Every year there is some new apocalypse rumor. Last year it was mutated mosquitoes, this year it’s crazy people."

"Why does every foreign article sound like the beginning of a bad zombie movie?"

"Maybe they just drank something weird."

"Look at the source before panicking, this site posts nonsense every month."

"Another conspiracy account farming views."

Someone even wrote, "So now people sneezing becomes world ending news too?"

A few users argued seriously, but their comments were quickly drowned under jokes and sarcasm.

Bai Li kept scrolling quietly, her expression calm, though inwardly she already knew these reactions would not last forever. People always laughed first when danger still looked distant. It was easier to mock than to imagine the world truly breaking apart.

Then another related post caught her attention.

This one had even fewer likes, almost buried under unrelated tags. It was a short overseas video uploaded by someone whose account looked newly made. She opened it.

The footage was shaky and unclear, filmed from high above as if by a drone. At first glance it looked like an ordinary road somewhere outside a town. A few people were running, their figures small because of the distance. Behind them, several others chased after them in a strange way, not quite running normally, more like stumbling fast while still somehow keeping up.

Then suddenly, the people behind lunged forward all at once.

The camera shook.

One figure tackled another to the ground.

Another body dropped near the roadside.

Because the drone was too high, details could not be seen clearly. It was impossible to tell whether they were fighting, filming something, or simply causing trouble.

The comments were even more dismissive here.

"This looks like students shooting a horror short film."

"Why is every proof of world disaster filmed on ancient potatoes?"

"Bro zoom in please, are you allergic to clear footage?"

"Fake. If it was real, the uploader would show the full clip."

One comment with many likes said, "Probably drunk people fighting over something stupid."

Another wrote, "The way they move is creepy though."

Someone replied immediately, "Creepy because bad acting."

Bai Li watched the short clip twice.

Her thumb stopped moving.

She knew it was not fake.

Even blurry, the body movements looked too familiar. That stiff sudden burst when the attackers threw themselves forward. That lack of hesitation. That unnatural single minded aggression.

From her own experience in wars, she knew that situations like this can and will happen.

Not everywhere at once.

Not in dramatic waves.

Just scattered incidents in forgotten corners where nobody important paid attention.

A village somewhere losing contact.

A hospital quietly sealing off a floor.

An unexplained violent case in a foreign town.

A family disappearing and neighbors assuming they moved away.

The signs always appeared quietly before the world understood anything.

And by the time most people accepted something was wrong, it was already too late.

She opened another repost linked under the same topic. This one was not even a news article, just a discussion thread where a few users argued with each other.

One person wrote, "My cousin abroad said there are strange emergency restrictions in one district and nobody explains why."

Someone answered, "Your cousin also probably says aliens are real."

.

.

.

To be continued.