Chapter 1: Drain My Blood? Back to Three Months Before the Cataclysm!
Cold.
The bone-piercing, extreme cold, accompanied by the convulsing pain of a thick needle piercing her carotid artery.
Her blood was being sucked away frantically, like a pump.
"Ah!"
Lin Xingwan opened her eyes abruptly.
Like a fish deprived of oxygen, she bolted upright from the bed.
She clutched her neck tightly with both hands, gasping for air, filling her lungs with big gulps of breath.
There were no needles, no gushing blood.
Only warm sunlight shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a bright glow on the expensive Persian rug.
Lin Xingwan stiffly moved her eyes.
A spacious and bright bedroom, a soft and comfortable large bed, and a humidifier still running, spraying fine white mist.
This was not the basement that reeked of foul odors and had walls covered in thick ice.
"I didn't die?"
She muttered to herself, her voice as hoarse as if she had swallowed a handful of sand.
She grabbed the phone beside her pillow, and the screen lit up.
May 1, 2050.
Ten o'clock in the morning sharp.
The phone slipped, landing on the quilt with a "thud."
Lin Xingwan stared fixedly at the date, the blood vessels in her eyes bursting one by one, instantly turning blood-red.
Three months before The Apocalypse!
She had really returned.
She had returned to the world before she was skinned and deboned by the scum man and the despicable woman!
Her chest heaved violently as the scenes from before her death in her previous life flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
That years-long series of natural disasters—extreme heat, torrential rain, and extreme cold—had appeared one after another.
Official order had completely collapsed.
Relying on the family heirloom God-level Space left by her mother, she had hoarded supplies and happily protected her fiancé, Gu Zichen, and her stepsister, Lin Chuchu.
But what did she get in return?
It was Gu Zichen pinning her onto an icy iron bed.
The man smiled both gently and cruelly.
"Wanwan, Chuchu is physically weak and needs fresh blood plasma to survive the extreme cold."
"You love me so much, so drawing your blood for her is the same thing, right?"
Then, there was Lin Chuchu's pure and innocent, "green tea" face.
She held a blood-stained scalpel, sliced open Lin Xingwan's chest while she was still alive, and took the necklace that had fused into her flesh.
"Big sister, keeping this kind of God-level Space on you is truly a waste."
"Rest assured and go die; I will take good care of Brother Zichen for you."
Thinking of this, Lin Xingwan felt a wave of nausea.
She rolled out of bed abruptly, stumbling toward the vanity.
With a "bang," the bottom drawer was violently pulled open by her and smashed onto the floor.
Expensive jewelry rolled all over the ground.
She didn't even look at them, searching through the wreckage like a madwoman.
"Where is it..."
"Where the hell did I put it!"
Finally, her hand felt an inconspicuous, dark black wooden box under a pile of miscellaneous items.
Her fingertips trembled as she flipped open the metal clasp.
A silver necklace with an archaic, even slightly blackened design, lay quietly on the red velvet cushion.
Lin Xingwan grabbed it into her palm.
The sharp metal edge pierced the skin of her palm, bringing a real, slight stinging sensation.
It was still there.
The heirloom left by her mother was still there.
That God-level Space, which could contain mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas in The Apocalypse, and possessed the attribute of absolute stasis, had not yet been swindled away by Lin Chuchu!
Lin Xingwan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them again, the madness in her eyes had been replaced by cold killing intent.
"Gu Zichen, Lin Chuchu."
She read these two names word by word, the corners of her mouth pulling into a hair-raising arc.
"In this life, we will settle our accounts with your lives."
Just then, the phone that had fallen onto the bed suddenly started vibrating.
The urgent ringtone broke the dead silence in the room.
Lin Xingwan walked over, her gaze sweeping across the screen.
Caller ID: Gu Zichen.
Seeing these three words, her stomach churned with nausea again.
She pressed the answer button and casually turned on the speakerphone.
"Wanwan, what kind of temper are you throwing?"
As soon as the call connected, Gu Zichen's baritone voice, carrying three parts reproach and seven parts helplessness, came through.
"I sent you over a dozen WeChat messages, and you didn't reply to a single one."
"Wasn't it just that I didn't accompany you for our anniversary yesterday? Chuchu suddenly had a fever, and as her future brother-in-law, I couldn't just leave her alone, could I?"
These manipulative tactics were simply second nature to him.
If the Lin Xingwan of her previous life had heard such words, she would have long since turned red-eyed with anxiety, desperately reflecting on whether she hadn't been sensible enough.
But now.
Lin Xingwan pulled over a leather swivel chair and sat down lazily.
She toyed with the silver necklace in her hand and spoke carelessly.
"A fever? How high? Did it cook your brain stem?"
Gu Zichen on the other end of the line was clearly stunned, his breathing pausing for a beat.
"Lin Xingwan! What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Chuchu is your own sister, how can you use such vicious words to curse her?"
"Own sister?"
Lin Xingwan sneered, her tone full of mockery.
"My mother only gave birth to me; who does she, Lin Chuchu, think she is?"
"An illegitimate daughter who popped up from nowhere, and she thinks she's worthy of being related to me?"
Gu Zichen was choked up and couldn't speak for a long time.
He couldn't figure out for the life of him what had gone wrong with the usually obedient, wealthy young lady who wouldn't even dare say a harsh word to him.
"You are simply unreasonable!"
Gu Zichen raised his volume, trying to suppress her with anger.
"I don't care what kind of madness you're having today; hurry up and get yourself ready."
"Uncle Lin is holding a shareholders' meeting at the company this afternoon; you must sign the share transfer authorization form you have."
"Also, Chuchu said she has her eye on that broken necklace your mother left behind."
"Why would a young lady like you keep such junk? When she goes to your room to get it later, just give it to her without a fuss."
Hearing the words "broken necklace," Lin Xingwan's hand gripping the necklace tightened abruptly.
Her knuckles turned deathly pale.
So, this pair of scumbags had been eyeing her God-level Space this early on.
Lin Xingwan did not lash out, only gently toying with the armrest of the swivel chair.
"What if I don't give it to you?"
"Not give it?"
Gu Zichen sneered, his tone carrying the confidence of someone who had everything under control.
"Wanwan, don't throw a childish tantrum."
"It's just a necklace; at worst, I'll buy you a limited edition Van Cleef & Arpels one tomorrow."
"If you keep being so unreasonable, I don't think there's any need to hold next month's engagement banquet."
Threatening her with the engagement banquet?
Lin Xingwan almost laughed out loud.
"Gu Zichen, are you sick in the head?"
"If your brain is waterlogged, go see a neurosurgeon; don't act up in front of me."
"You... what did you say?!"
Gu Zichen was furious.
"I said, the engagement banquet is canceled, and you will never set foot in the Lin family's door for the rest of your life."
"Did you understand, you gigolo?"
Before Gu Zichen could explode, Lin Xingwan hung up the phone directly.
She casually added the number to her blacklist, her movements smooth and fluid.
The room was finally quiet.
Lin Xingwan looked at the brilliant sunshine outside the window, feeling inexplicably relieved.
But this was just a small appetizer.
Living a new life, she not only had to protect her God-level Space but also, before The Apocalypse arrived, extort every last bit of marrow from that group of vampires in the Lin family.
She stood up, walked to the walk-in closet, and casually picked out a black silk slip dress to change into.
The cool fabric clung to her skin, making her brain increasingly clear.
Three months later, rare, continuous torrential rain would raise the curtain on The Apocalypse.
Extreme heat and extreme cold would follow one after another.
She needed massive amounts of supplies and needed to cash out all the shares in her hands.
Lin Xingwan walked to the mirror.
The woman in the mirror had long hair draped over her shoulders, her eyes slightly upturned, her gaze as sharp as a newly sharpened blade.
She picked up the eyebrow razor on the table and, without hesitation, sliced a cut on her fingertip.
A bead of blood welled up.
She dripped the blood onto the ancient silver necklace.
The blood was instantly absorbed by the metal, and a faint white light appeared on the surface of the necklace.
The next second, a strange sensation appeared in Lin Xingwan's mind.
Space, successfully bound!
She tentatively picked up a ceramic water cup from the table.
With a flash of thought, the cup disappeared into thin air.
With another flash, the cup returned steadily to her palm.
A satisfied arc appeared on the corner of Lin Xingwan's mouth as she put on the necklace close to her skin.
Just then, a very light sound of footsteps came from outside the bedroom door.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door.
Immediately after, the door was knocked on twice.
"Knock, knock."
A delicate, soft, and sweet female voice, so soft it could squeeze water out, drifted in through the door crack.
"Big sister, are you awake?"
Lin Xingwan's movements froze.
She turned around, her gaze fixed tightly on that solid wood door, the coldness in her eyes almost freezing into ice.
Lin Chuchu.
Her green tea stepsister really was right on time to come and seek her own death.
The person outside, seeing no movement, gently twisted the doorknob again.
The door was locked and didn't turn.
"Big sister, Brother Zichen just told me that you promised to lend me that old necklace to wear for a few days."
Lin Chuchu's voice became increasingly sweet and cloying, carrying an air of hypocritical insistence that brooked no refusal.
"Big sister, if you don't speak, I'm going to take the spare key and open the door to come in, okay?"