Chapter 18

Chapter 18

After finishing the sandwich and milk, Qi Mo felt much better.

Still a bit hungry, Qi Mo sensed the nutrition wasn’t enough—he hadn’t eaten enough vegetables today and needed to take a folic acid supplement.

He hastily grabbed the prepped meds and swallowed a folic acid pill.

Then, Qi Mo grabbed a fruit snack box. He’d seen the shop owner pack it earlier—there were boxes with cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes, as well as mixes with watermelon, cantaloupe, dragon fruit, pineapple, and other fruits.

Qi Mo took out the cherry fruit box. Blueberries and cherry tomatoes weren’t suitable for Baby Yan—if he choked, it’d be deadly. There was no way to call an ambulance now.

After eating a few cherry tomatoes and feeling better, Qi Mo noticed Baby Yan opening his mouth and begging for a bite, so he handed him a strawberry.

It was too big for Baby Yan to stuff into his mouth all at once—he could only clutch it in his little hands.

Seeing the little one squeeze it tightly, juice squishing out everywhere, Qi Mo hurriedly grabbed a wet wipe to mop up his hands and the drool running down his chin.

“Too sour for ya? Look at that little frown. If you don’t like it, hand it over to Daddy, ‘kay?” Qi Mo opened his mouth toward Baby Yan.

Unfortunately, Baby Yan was a bit of a food hog. Even though his tiny face puckered from the tartness, he still liked the tangy taste and refused to share with Daddy.

Watching Baby Yan chomp down stubbornly, Qi Mo sighed. “Nobody’s stealing it, kiddo. Take your time—you can have two berries.”

A good half-pound of fruit, and Qi Mo gave Baby Yan two strawberries.

By the time Qi Mo finished eating, his little one was still munching away at his strawberry.

Well, with only three tiny teeth, Baby Yan was destined to eat super slow…

After finishing the fruit, feeling nice and refreshed, Qi Mo took out a fan and fanned them both.

One hand held the fan, the other a wet wipe.

Once Baby Yan finally finished the strawberry, Qi Mo tossed away the stem, wiped his neck, chin, and mouth clean, and replaced his drool bib.

“Feeling better now?” Qi Mo smiled at the now-peppy kiddo.

Chubby Baby Yan cheered “Da-da!” at his daddy, swinging his little feet, clearly delighted…

Afternoon was usually nap time for Qi Mo and Baby Yan.

After days of tension, the moment the apocalypse arrived today, everything finally eased.

Qi Mo leaned against the cart, dozing off next to Baby Yan, who’d worn himself out…

Suddenly, someone on the nearby highway screamed, “Run! Run! A plane—the plane’s going to crash!”

Baby Yan woke up, blinking his big eyes at the dark shadow rapidly descending from the sky.

“Da-da…!” Baby Yan called out.

Startled, Qi Mo looked up to see what had caught his child’s attention—something that seemed to excite him.

Following Baby Yan’s gaze, Qi Mo’s stomach dropped. He tossed the folding stool under the cart and immediately pushed it toward the side of the highway.

He booked it like never before—his fastest run of his life.

It felt like the soles of his shoes were about to catch fire.

The people who had been slowly shuffling along the national highway, huddling under the trees on either side to escape the scorching sun, suddenly sprinted frantically away.

The massive shadow kept growing larger… and larger… and larger…

It was a colossal passenger plane. As its nose slammed onto the highway and skidded forward, flashes of fire erupted, and a devastating shockwave ripped outward.

Qi Mo turned just in time to see the flames burst into the sky. Without hesitation, he snatched the stroller and dove into the roadside ditch.

Clutching the baby tightly, he dropped to his knees, shielding the child’s body with his own.

Protecting the little one's head, a series of explosions rocked the air—boom… boom…

Qi Mo froze in place. He could feel the ground trembling beneath him.

The deafening roar sent Baby Yan into hysterical sobs.

Something fell from the sky.

Qi Mo covered the baby’s eyes, but not far away, a severed head lay sprawled on the asphalt, eyes wide in death, staring straight at them.

After a while, the explosions stopped. Qi Mo stood up.

He shook off the mud clinging to Baby Yan and himself, picked up the stroller, gave it a quick dust-off, retrieved the folding stool, and placed it back in the basket beneath the cart.

This place was no longer safe. He gently placed Baby Yan back into the stroller, even though both were still muddy.

Luckily, it was summer, and the ditch had long dried up—the dirt brushed off easily. A small mercy.

Pushing the stroller, he popped a bottle of water into the crying baby’s mouth.

Sure enough, with something to suck on, though Baby Yan’s face was still crumpled in tears, he quieted down.

Relieved, Qi Mo chugged some water himself and picked up speed, desperate to put distance between them and the carnage behind.

Behind them, the explosion site—where the plane had crashed—triggered a chain reaction, blowing over a dozen cars into twisted wreckage. Those who hadn’t escaped in time were blown to bits.

Even though they were over a hundred meters away, the blast’s fury still licked at them.

Faced with such a close brush with death, his heart hammered against his ribs. Even after pushing the cart several hundred meters away, he was still shaking. Thank fuck he’d run fast—and taken cover in the ditch.

As Qi Mo climbed back onto the highway, he saw several bodies sprawled on the asphalt, flattened by the blast.

Tucking the water bottle into the stroller’s side pouch, he ruffled the baby’s hair as he drank. Everything seemed fine. Though the heat was brutal, as long as they stayed hydrated, heatstroke wouldn’t be an issue.

He checked the baby’s tummy—no discomfort.

In his past life, when the apocalypse struck, Qi Mo had been in the art studio with Baby Yan, painting his portrait.

Unfortunately, the little rascal had squirmed away, trying to crawl through the field of flowers.

He had just set out some toys to distract him when—CRASH!—metal screeched in the distance.

Then the power went out, and he couldn’t get through to Huo Liangzhou.

Luckily, half a day later, Huo Liangchuan arrived on a bicycle, telling him that Huo Liangzhou had stayed at the company to handle the crisis and that they were to stay put and stay calm.

Back then, home was still safe.

After being reborn, I almost messed things up.

Dying right at the start is a bit terrifying.

As Qi Mo walked with his head down, the little one was holding his bottle, noisily drinking his milk. He looked up at his daddy and then at the people around him—he had already gotten over his earlier fright.

Someone nearby, watching Qi Mo hurriedly pushing the stroller forward, called out: "Young man, young man, where are you heading? Is there a village or town nearby?"

Qi Mo kept walking briskly and didn't notice.

"Young man, you must be from around here, right?" an older woman ran over to ask. Someone with a child should be local.

Their car had broken down on the road, with no villages ahead or stores behind. The weather was so hot they were practically being roasted alive.

The car had become unbearable. If before they thought it was just a car problem, now planes were falling from the sky—many people were uneasy. Something bad was happening—was war coming?

Qi Mo was stopped and turned back. "I'm not from around here, but I know there's a small town about five or six kilometers ahead. Keep going and you'll definitely see it."

"Really? That's great! Young man, do you have any water left?" she asked. She was already very thirsty.

Qi Mo shook his head. "I've only got half a bottle left, and I need to save it for Baby Yan. Heatstroke could be dangerous—he's too young."

The woman looked disappointed upon hearing this.

Qi Mo didn’t dare say more, afraid someone might try to take the water. He picked up his pace. Once he reached the town, he needed to buy some supplies, like books.

Tomorrow afternoon, once power was restored and the government announced the news, there would definitely be panic. Being outside might be dangerous—it was a miscalculation on my part.

It was all Qi Huai’s fault. Otherwise, he would already be lounging on the couch in Huo Village by now.

That bastard deserved to be drawn and quartered.

Huo Liangchuan arrived at the villa to find Aunt Zhang filling up the water tanks.

"Aunt Zhang, how many tanks have been filled?" Huo Liangchuan hurried over to ask.

Aunt Zhang had met some scumbags when she was young, but Madam Huo had saved her. Since then, Aunt Zhang remained unmarried, staying at the old house to raise Huo Liangzhou and Huo Liangchuan as her own sons.

So she gave the same devoted care to the youngest master, and both Huo Liangzhou and Huo Liangchuan fully trusted her with running the household.

Aunt Zhang had been in the basement for hours. The power had suddenly gone out, and she tried using her phone flashlight and a regular flashlight, but neither worked. Finally, she lit a candle and continued filling up the tanks.

Hearing footsteps and the second young master’s voice, Aunt Zhang was actually a bit panicked. She didn’t know what was happening. Little Master Xiao Mo wasn’t home, the second young master was gone, and the eldest young master was also away—the house felt empty without them.

"Second Young Master, two tanks are already full. What on earth is going on? The power suddenly went out, my phone broke, and the flashlight won’t turn on—it’s like we’re being haunted." Aunt Zhang said toward the door.

Huo Liangchuan replied, "It's not about the water. A massive solar flare disrupted everything, affecting electrical devices. Aunt Zhang, keep filling up the tanks—make sure they're all full."

"Alright. You and your brother be careful. Young Master Xiao Mo took Baby Yan somewhere—you need to go find them. With the power suddenly out, it's probably chaos out there now," Aunt Zhang reminded him.

Huo Liangchuan nodded. "Yeah, we'll track them down soon. I still have something else to do. Aunt Zhang, after filling the tanks, make sure to seal them tight, then go to the market and buy potatoes, onions, radishes, pickled vegetables, and stock up on staples."

Aunt Zhang replied, "Got it, Second Young Master."

Huo Liangchuan hurried off to the study.

He found the safe key, opened it, and saw stacks of cash, gold bars, and nearby—weapons: daggers, scimitars, and guns.

There were also many cardboard boxes outside the safe.

Inside were two boxes of cigarettes, one box of liquor, two boxes of mineral water, and two boxes of compressed biscuits.

Looks like Xiao Mo had thought of everything.

Huo Liangchuan searched the villa—art studio, tea room, basement, underground garage, every room. Almost every room had supplies stashed inside.

Compressed biscuits and mineral water were the most abundant. There were several household medical kits, vitamin tablets, and plenty of common medications.

Warm clothes, insulated blankets—every angle had been considered.

Other than worrying about the young master and the child, Huo Liangzhou wasn’t too concerned about the villa since his brother had already gone there.

With the apocalypse here, the young master clearly trusted that place.

The Qi family had always lived in Jiangcheng—didn’t they own property in other provinces?

But if the young master felt safe there, it must be a relatively secure location. Huo Liangzhou brought Wu Di to the Jiang Family Food Processing Plant.

First, they had to secure this location. Only with sufficient strength could they protect the young master.

The Huo family’s security team was stationed at the entrance of the Jiang Family Food Processing Plant.

A few days ago, Huo Liangzhou had transferred or fired all the Jiang family members and senior management of the food processing plant.

Then he replaced them with veteran staff, many of whom were even retired.

They were loyal to the Huo family.

With Huo family security personnel guarding the premises, the factory was now renamed Yan Baobei Food Processing Plant. Earlier that day, the factory was still churning out grains, juices, sodas, and more.

At 1:28 PM, the security department received a call instructing the plant to temporarily shut down operations.

When the power went out, the machines had already been turned off.

Upon hearing they could take a half-day paid break, employees left their posts within five minutes.

Only the security guards remained on duty.

Huo Liangzhou entered the gates of Yan Baobei Food Processing Plant and immediately headed to the security department.

Seeing five or six cows, several mules, and five horses in the security department’s courtyard, his eye twitched. “What exactly is going on here?”

Tie Dong, sweating profusely, looked at Huo Liangzhou and said, “Boss Huo, Master Qi had us buy these yesterday—cost us a bundle.”

“So I even called in my old friend Carpenter Li. We’re making carts. No clue what Master Qi’s up to, but things outside don’t look right—cars were wrecked all over the place.”

Huo Liangzhou knew it—Xiao Mo had prepared for this.

“Also, Boss Huo, Master Qi bought us 200 off-road bikes, 50 foot-pedaled trikes, and a couple of tractors parked in the back,” said Huo Xiao, head of the Huo family’s security team.

Huo Liangzhou nodded. “First, store all the supplies in the warehouse. We’re stopping production for now—something’s about to happen. Tell everyone to keep their guard up.”

“For our security team members with family outside the city, let them get permission to leave… The rest should be ready—we might be hit with chaos any minute.” Huo Liangzhou issued the orders.

Then, he called a meeting with several senior security staff.

A fox has many holes, and you can't fight city hall—Huo Liangzhou had his trusted men move some of the grain supplies.

In Shangjing City, after Chou Yun regained some clarity of mind,

he personally cut Chou Hu’s throat with one swift slash.

Blood sprayed across the ceiling.

He dropped the curved blade and turned to Bai Cheng and his grandfather: "Who put you up to saving me?"

"We don’t know his name. He called us and told us he’d been reborn. In his past life, Bai Bin gave him a piece of chocolate and asked him to make this call for me. After being reborn, he returned the favor for that chocolate and got payback for Chou Hu devouring him," Bai Cheng explained.

Chou Yun said upon hearing this, "I know who he is."

Bai Cheng, Old General Chou.

"How do you know?" Bai Cheng was shocked.

Chou Yun: "I’m like him."

"But I couldn’t escape that cell. I didn’t expect that kid to have been reborn too. Otherwise, getting out would’ve meant going through more hardship." Chou Yun’s lips curled.

After witnessing the horrors of the apocalypse, that time in confinement was nothing to Chou Yun now. Bai Bin was still alive—it was good.

Qi Mo—that kid. He’d have to thank him when the chance came.

Tomorrow, maybe he should give Huo Liangzhou a call. Who would’ve thought there was a power like the red spider lily’s in this world?

Only death undoes it.