Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Yu Miao screamed, startling Wang Yu back to his senses. He quickly gripped the steering wheel—narrowly avoiding a crash into the curb.

Qi Mo looked at the shaken Yu Miao and Wang Yu with a chuckle. "Don’t freak out."

Yu Miao patted her chest, mind racing with questions. "You just said the apocalypse’s coming—the power’s gonna be gone for good?"

Qi Mo nodded. "I can’t say it’s gone forever, but I do know this—no electricity for the next seven months."

"You’re reborn—you came back from seven months after the end of the world, right?" Yu Miao pressed urgently.

Wang Yu was anxious too. "What kind of end-of-the-world scenario? What happens? No power alone doesn’t mean total collapse."

Before the blackout, life was rough—but even if chaos broke out, it shouldn’t reach apocalyptic levels. Daxia had survived five thousand years of war and disaster, but nothing like this.

Qi Mo glanced at Wang Yu, then at the long-haired girl staring at him wide-eyed. "It’s not just the power that vanishes—it’s water too."

That last sentence made both Wang Yu and Yu Miao gasp in horror.

No electricity? People could manage.

But no water? That’s when shit hits the fan. Water was life itself.

"Is the water gonna run out by five?" Yu Miao asked anxiously.

Qi Mo shook his head. "Nah. It’ll dry up bit by bit. Starting today, there won’t be a single drop of rain anywhere on Earth for the next seven months."

"Why seven months? Wait—you died. How? Dehydration?"

Qi Mo picked up his baby and turned to Yu Miao. "Cute kid, huh?"

"Total angel—doesn’t cry, just hums when he wakes up or wants milk. So sweet and adorable." Yu Miao really loved Qi Mo’s little one, but the baby was shy and wouldn't let her cuddle or kiss 'em.

Qi Mo sighed. "Seven months later, they cooked my baby. Then me."

Yu Miao gasped. "Holy shit! They ate you? That’s horrifying!"

"I didn’t see it. My baby was almost gone by then. After I died... I don’t know what happened. Everything just... cuts off. When I opened my eyes again, I was back."

Wang Yu tightened his grip on the wheel. "After five o’clock—no power. Water dries up. Crops die. Can’t grow anything. That’s how the apocalypse starts."

"Exactly. Get your folks on the phone now. Have ’em grab big sealed water tanks. Or dig a damn well. There’s still time—it’s a slow process. If you move fast, you might make it."

Yu Miao grabbed her phone. "Right! Call around, hoard bottled water, stock up on food, fruits, veggies..."

Wang Yu kept driving while connecting via Bluetooth to call his family.

At the same time, he floored it toward Yuncheng.

Yu Miao was from Yuncheng. Qi Mo too. Wang Yu was from Qingzhou—if they made it to Yuncheng, he could buy a bike and get home in a day.

Qi Mo put on a mask.

Lucky for them, everything was chaotic. After leaving Lin County, the warrant was just online chatter—no roadblocks.

The SUV booked it straight to Yuncheng.

Down to the last ten minutes, Qi Mo pulled out his phone and shot a text to Huo Liangzhou.

Tell Huo Liangzhou he’ll take good care of Baby Yan, so Huo Liangzhou shouldn’t worry.

Also let Huo Liangzhou know that he’s been reborn, and his enemies in the last life were his aunt’s family, his uncle’s family, and Chen Feng’s family. Both he and Baby Yan were killed and their bodies disposed of seven months later.

Huo Liangzhou stared at the text message from Qi Mo and immediately called back.

The young master’s phone was off again.

Huo Liangzhou clenched his jaw in fury. Once he found him, he’d definitely spank the young master—such disobedience, completely defiant. But knowing that the young master and Baby Yan had been killed in their past life made Huo Liangzhou even angrier. Had he been a fool? How could he have failed to protect the young master and allowed his beloved and child to be murdered?

At that moment, his phone rang—an unknown number, oddly labeled: “Answer or regret it.”

Huo Liangzhou picked up.

“Hello, who is this?” His voice was icy.

Chou Yun gave a low laugh at the frosty response. “Hello, I’m Chou Yun.”

Huo Liangzhou mentally scanned his memories—he didn’t recognize the name, but he knew of someone named Chou Yun. They’d never crossed paths before.

“What do you want?” Huo Liangzhou asked.

Chou Yun finally spoke. “You know your young master was reborn. I don’t know if you know how he died, but I have some information—I was reborn too.”

“Except he doesn’t know what happened after his death, while I do. I lingered longer as a ghost and learned more. Want to know?” Chou Yun sounded amused.

“Speak,” Huo Liangzhou said.

“There’s an ability called Red Spider Lily. Flower and leaf never meet—they remain forever apart, only death can break the curse. In your past life, you hunted relentlessly for Qi Mo and your son, Huo Jingyan, but no matter what you did, you couldn’t find them. The curse kept you from seeing each other until after Qi Mo and Baby Yan were dead—that’s when you finally saw them,” Chou Yun explained.

Huo Liangzhou’s ragged breath filled the line. Chou Yun could feel his rage.

“So by the time you found them, both were already dead, but your twin children survived. You massacred everyone there, so I don’t know whose ability it was. This time, keep your young master and his child safe. He saved me once—this intel settles my debt.”

Huo Liangzhou took a deep breath. “Thank you. I will protect my young master and Baby Yan.”

After hanging up, Huo Liangzhou forced himself to calm down.

He checked the text again. Qi Huai, Jiang Nuan—oh, just perfect. To use such an ability to torment him and the young master… Only they’d have the gall to go after him.

Huo Liangzhou was swamped. He had to deal with water storage and company matters, while calling in every favor to get the young master’s arrest warrant lifted.

Then it hit him—Wuli Town, Wuli Village, Lin County. That was the road to Yuncheng.

And Yuncheng wasn’t the young master’s hometown, but it was Huo Liangzhou’s ancestral home.

Huo Village was a fiercely close-knit village. Most villagers shared the surname Huo, all from the same lineage.

So the young master must’ve taken Baby Yan to Huo Village—their ancestral home. How could he have forgotten?

If there was any place safest for someone surnamed Huo, it was Huo Village.

Though the young master wasn’t originally from Huo Village, he was the eldest daughter-in-law of Huo Liangzhou’s branch—a respected figure in the family.

Alone, the young master might’ve been turned away. But with Baby Yan—officially recorded in the family registry as the eldest grandson—and twins growing in the young master’s belly… Huo Liangzhou ground his teeth.

I really want to catch him and teach him a lesson. What a clever kid.

Huo Liangzhou picked up his phone and dialed Huo Village’s Elder Clan Leader.

Before the call connected, his phone screen went black again.

Huo Liangzhou scowled.

Huo Liangchuan barreled into the Huo family security base and barged into his older brother’s office: “Bro! Bro! I might know where Xiao Mo ran off to.”

Huo Liangzhou looked up at his flustered younger brother. “Did you check the old house keys?”

Huo Liangchuan replied, “You thought of that too?”

“Hmm.” Huo Liangzhou gave a nod.

Huo Liangchuan studied his brother’s calm demeanor. “So what do we do now? Should we go get Xiao Mo back?”

Huo Liangzhou glanced at his brother. “No rush. Xiao Mo will be safe in Huo Family Village. Even if he hasn’t arrived yet, he should be close by now. No one messes with the Huo family—Xiao Mo will be safer there. Right now, I’ve got something important for you.”

“Just say the word, bro,” Huo Liangchuan said, seeing the gravity on his brother’s face.

Huo Liangzhou looked at his brother. “Take some guys later and keep an eye on the Qi and Jiang families. Wait for the right moment—I’m taking both families down.”

“Ah, taking out the Qi family makes sense—Qi Huai tried to hurt Xiao Mo multiple times. But the Jiang family… we’ve got no beef with them,” Huo Liangchuan said in surprise.

“And the Chen family too. Watch them closely. Once I wrap things up, I’ll deal with them.”

Huo Liangchuan didn’t ask anything else and went to gather people for the task.

Qi Mo checked the time—two minutes left—and quickly told Wang Yu, who was driving: “Turn into the parking lot, quick! We’re almost out of time—streets aren’t safe.”

At Qi Mo’s words, Wang Yu immediately turned right, and they soon found a spot in the parking lot.

Qi Mo looked around carefully—this was where Yuncheng’s new and old districts met.

The road was wide and had little traffic, hence why it was cleared so fast.

The Yuncheng CDC was nearby—he and Chen Dongming were meeting somewhere close.

Opening the door and stepping out, Qi Mo said, “You two, hurry. Buy bikes and find a way back ASAP.”

“What about you?” Yu Miao asked, clearly worried.

With the baby in his arms and a thermos in hand, Qi Mo glanced at the sky. “I’ll grab boiling water first.”

“Alright then. If we cross paths again… I live in Taoli Town,” Yu Miao said.

Wang Yu bid farewell to Qi Mo. He lived in Qingzhou—not too far—but this was probably goodbye for good.

Qi Mo nodded, and the three split up for good.

After leaving the parking lot and turning right, Qi Mo watched as Yu Miao and Wang Yu disappeared from sight. He soon made his way to the agreed café after asking for directions.

Chen Dongming had already been waiting for a few minutes.

He was sitting by the window sipping coffee when his phone beeped several times. The alert warned of no rain for the next seven or eight months, urging everyone to store water.

It also emphasized the need for sealed containers—preferably by building a water storage cellar.

Even the café’s tablet playing a TV show suddenly switched to national news at this moment. The broadcast stated that according to research by the National Meteorological Research Bureau, the next six months to a year would see continuous high temperatures with no rainfall due to excessive evaporation. The public was urged to store large amounts of water in sealed containers, like building water cellars, and to take heatstroke prevention measures...

This broadcast lasted only three minutes before the tablet screen went black, and the café’s overhead lights flickered out—another blackout.

This had happened once yesterday, so it didn’t cause much panic.

Qi Mo entered the café and immediately spotted Chen Dongming sitting by the window, messing with his phone.

"Xiao Ming," Qi Mo called out.

Chen Dongming—who the hell calls him "Xiao Ming"?

"I recall you used to call me 'Xiao Ming-ge,'" Chen Dongming said with a laugh.

Qi Mo raised an eyebrow. "You’re aging yourself now, huh? Fine, I’ll call you 'brother'—you’d dare respond to that?"

Chen Dongming thought: Hell no, I wouldn’t.

"Whatever, ancient history. I’ve got the stuff ready. Do you have the money?" Chen Dongming asked.

Qi Mo nodded. "Don’t worry, I’ve got the money. Wait a sec, I need to buy a thermos of hot water."

Soon, Qi Mo spent a hundred yuan to buy a thermos of hot water.

Thermos in hand, Qi Mo told Chen Dongming to bring the antivenom serum, then led him to the parking lot to retrieve the money from the car’s trunk.

Chen Dongming carried two small briefcases containing the items Qi Mo needed.

Five minutes later, Qi Mo opened the car’s trunk and tossed a canvas sack to Chen Dongming.

Chen Dongming unzipped it—inside was a large bag of cash.

"Count it," Qi Mo said.

Chen Dongming thought: Does he want me to count till my hand cramps? "I trust you. You’re Huo Liangzhou’s better half—you wouldn’t scam me."

"About the antivenom serum—the mixed type still has a year and a half before expiration. The one for the many-banded krait won’t last long; it’ll expire in two months. Just destroy it when it does. Never use expired serum—it’ll kill people," Chen Dongming explained.

Qi Mo acknowledged, "Got it."

"Blackout again. Find a hotel to stay the night. I’ll head out first," Chen Dongming said, lifting the bag. A million bucks wasn’t pocket change, especially with how crazy things were these days.

Qi Mo nodded. "Yeah, see you."

"Oh, and the cooler’s packed with dry ice, but it’ll only last 24 hours. After that, you’ll need to replenish it, or the serum will spoil," Chen Dongming reminded him.

Qi Mo replied, "Understood. If it goes bad, that’s my problem. Won’t blame you."

Only then did Chen Dongming leave with the money.

Qi Mo returned to the car, stashed the antivenom in his storage space—where time stood still.

By now, the sun was setting, and the car quickly became an oven without the air conditioning running.

He hurriedly changed the baby’s diaper and popped a bottle in the baby’s mouth.

With the baby in his arms, Qi Mo walked down the street and soon found a bookstore.

From baby books to picture books, then elementary, middle, and high school textbooks—by the time Qi Mo left, he was pushing a cart full of books.

When night fully fell, blanketing the world in darkness, Qi Mo put his SUV in storage.

Then he booked a room at the nearest decent hotel.

Night travel was asking for trouble—he wasn’t about to get jumped or shanghaied. By tomorrow, he’d definitely be able to get the kid home and crash.