Li Xinyi's boots hit the pavement with a sharp sound that echoed in the quiet of the early morning. The city looked normal at a glance. People bustled about, cars honked, vendors argued over prices. No one had any idea what was coming. They didn't see the red tint in the clouds or feel the strange heaviness in the air the way she did. They had not read the story. They didn't know the countdown had begun.
Her fingers brushed the jade bangle as she walked. The cold metal grounded her, a reminder that this was real. She wasn't dreaming. This wasn't a nightmare. It was a second chance.
She moved fast through the streets, blending into the crowd. Her first stop was a small weapons shop she remembered from the novel. In the original plot, the heroine had come here a few days into the chaos, crying and begging for help. The owner had taken pity on her and handed over everything. This time, Xinyi would get there first.
The bell over the shop door jingled as she stepped inside. The smell of gun oil and leather filled the air. A man in his forties looked up from behind the counter. His expression was bored, polite at best.
"Can I help you?" he asked, glancing at her like she was wasting his time.
"I want to buy as much as I can carry," Xinyi said. Her voice was steady. She pulled out a wad of cash, thick enough to make his eyes widen. "And I need it fast."
He hesitated, then shrugged. Money talked. He started pulling items from the shelves. Knives, batons, even a small crossbow. She took them all, stuffing them into an old backpack. The heavier weapons she slipped into the space inside the jade bangle where no one would see.
When she left the shop, the sun was higher in the sky. The heat pressed down, making her sweat as she hurried through the city. Next stop was a pharmacy. Then a hardware store. She grabbed antibiotics, painkillers, antiseptics. Tools, rope, batteries. Every item she picked had a purpose. Every second counted.
By noon, her space bangle was filling up. Her body ached, but she didn't stop. She knew what was coming. The first wave would hit the city hard. People would panic. Stores would be looted. Roads would be blocked. She had to stay ahead of the chaos.
She ducked into a grocery store and grabbed canned goods, rice, oil, salt. Anything with a long shelf life. She ignored the strange looks from the cashier. The woman muttered something about hoarders, but Xinyi didn't care. Let them judge. Soon they would all wish they had done the same.
Outside, she paused to catch her breath. Her heart raced, not just from the running but from the weight of it all. Seven days. She had read about it. The strange storm that would roll in. The first cases of infection. The panic that would follow. The betrayal. The death.
Her stomach clenched as she thought of Zhang Yumi. The white lotus heroine. Sweet on the outside, rotten at the core. Xinyi could almost see her smile, hear her soft voice as she plotted behind everyone's backs. In the original story, Yumi had charmed her way into safety, stepping over corpses to build her empire. Tang Shuang had been one of those corpses. But this time, Xinyi would not be the stepping stone.
She wiped sweat from her brow and kept moving. The next few days would be critical. She needed to find a base. Somewhere safe. Somewhere she could control.
The sound of shouting snapped her out of her thoughts. Ahead, a crowd had gathered. Xinyi pushed through to see what was happening. A man lay on the ground, convulsing, his eyes rolled back. Foam dripped from his lips. People screamed for help, but no one dared get too close.
Xinyi felt the blood drain from her face. She knew this scene. The first case. It was happening sooner than she expected. In the novel, this man had been patient zero, the first to fall to the infection that would spread through the city like wildfire.
People began backing away, fear in their eyes. Someone called for an ambulance. Xinyi didn't wait to see what happened next. She turned and ran. The timeline was shifting. Her actions were already changing things.
She needed to move faster.
She took a shortcut through a narrow alley, her mind racing. If patient zero had already appeared, then the city would fall into chaos even sooner. Supplies would become harder to find. Trust would be harder to earn. Danger would be everywhere.
And she still hadn't met him. The general. Xie Yan. The man who had once died trying to save Tang Shuang. The man who had haunted her even after she closed the book. She had to find him before it was too late.
Xinyi burst out of the alley and onto a quieter street. Her chest rose and fell as she fought to catch her breath. She looked around, trying to remember the details from the novel. Where had Xie Yan been at this point in the story? Where would she find him before the storm broke?
A car pulled up beside her. The window rolled down and a man inside gave her a sharp, assessing look. He was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in dark clothes that hinted at military roots. His gaze was cold but curious.
"You look lost," he said.
Xinyi froze. Her heart pounded so loud she could barely hear anything else. That face. That voice. She knew him.
It was him. Xie Yan.
But in the novel, they weren't supposed to meet like this. Not yet.
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
The man's eyes narrowed as he studied her.
And then the first distant scream of terror echoed down the street.