Chi Xin collected her trophy as she ignored the men lying and groaning around her, before leaving the explosion site. Since she had gone out on her own, she had encountered similar incidents but fortunately, she had been mentally prepared; she knew how cruel humans could be in this apocalyptic world. Had she been soft-hearted or unable to make hard decisions, she didn't believe she would have survived so far. Now, she just wanted to be responsible for her own life.

She looked up at the gray sky and sighed softly; it was getting darker. Chi Xin took out a flashlight, shook it slightly, and continued to walk forward. As the night fell, the mountain in the distance looked even more terrifying.

After moving for a while, she could see a faint light on the side of the highway. She quickly increased her pace before leaving the road, only to realize the light seemed to come from a small brick house. It had probably been built by farmers before the end of the world, and the house was surrounded by a big field.

People! Perhaps the farmer had survived?

Chi Xin's eyes were bright and she almost ran to the house. She stopped in front of the door, took her gloves off, and patted the snow on her body, before politely knocking three times.

The room stayed silent.

As she was about to knock again, a rough man's voice came from inside.

"Who is it?"

Ah?

This was somewhat different from the farmer Chi Xin had imagined. Her eyes darkened slightly and she said softly: "Is anyone here?"

The house was silent again but after a while, a rustling sound was heard and the door was suddenly opened. The man inside was much taller than Chi Xin and he looked down at her in amazement. He then raised his head and watched the surrounding, suspicion in his eyes.

"Who are you?" He asked, "Are you alone?"

Chi Xin was too tightly wrapped and had trouble moving her head. She looked up with difficulty and answered: "Yes."

She cleverly avoided the man's first question and added: "My family and I have been separated, I can't find them anymore."

Her small gestures and her pitiful voice made her look like a young and innocent girl, making people relax their vigilance. The man who had just opened the door was no exception.

After he made sure no other people were around the house, his suspicion gradually disappeared and was replaced by a subtle look.

"This is terrible." He said as he held the door open, "Come on in, your family might come to find you soon."

"Thank you, brother. You are so kind." Chi Xin didn't change her expression and the man smiled. She wasn't sure whether he was smiling at her or appreciating her words but she walked in.

She noticed right away the man wasn't the only person inside. There was a round table in the middle of the room with a pot that smelled like cooked rice on it.

Around this table, three other men were sitting and when they saw Chi Xin walk in, they all raised their heads to look at her. Their expressions turned into hungry wolves watching a weak prey and they didn't even bother to cover up their fierce looks.

The man who had opened the door was standing behind Chi Xin and winked at them.

"Little girl, come and sit down." He said to Chi Xin, "Are you hungry? We just made some porridge and were about to have dinner."

Chi Xin retracted her gaze and shrank into her scarf, exaggerating her pretend naivete.

"Can I really have some? You are really good people!"

As soon as she said this, the men looked at each other with smirks.

"Of course, you can." One of the men moved slightly and patted his side, "Come here, little sister. You can sit here, brother will feed you."

Chi Xin took a step back and said somewhat cautiously: "This isn't good, right?"

"Idiot, act like a gentleman." The first man punched the other slightly. He turned around and smiled at Chi Xin: "Don't pay attention to him, he's all bark."

"Oh." Chi Xin hid her suspicious expression under her long eyelashes and sat down obediently.

The man who had opened the door made a bowl of porridge and put it in front of her. In an amiable voice, he said: "Little girl, you don't have to worry. You can take off your hat and scarf and have a good meal first."

Chi Xin tilted her head as she was considering it and replied: "Okay."

The big men's hearts suddenly fluttered. They watched Chi Xin slowly take off her winter gear and looked at the fair face that appeared. Her features were delicate, her cold eyebrows were exquisite, and she looked even softer under her deliberate disguise.

She was a rare beauty even before the end of the world. The men gasped and looked at each other in shock.

The first man asked: "What's your name?"

"Chi Xin." She answered but kept looking at the bowl in front of her.

"I'm Ji You."

"Big brother Ji." She called him obediently, before raising her big eyes to smile at him. Ji You froze for a moment, turned his head, and asked the others: "Why aren't Li Cheng and the others back yet?"

"I don't know, it's been too long."

"If they don't come soon, let's not wait anymore and go back to the base. Forget it."

Chi Xin slowly crushed the rice grains in the bowl, her head lowered as if she wasn't listening. But she had already guessed who these people were.

She had wandered for so long yet was still unable to leave the plot's inevitability; she had come back exactly where she should have been.

Ji You's eyes fell on her. Thinking she was shy, he reached out and pushed the bowl closer to her.

They kept discussing the missing people and no one asked about Chi Xin anymore. It seemed that from the moment she had knocked on the door, her fate had been decided in a tacit understanding, not caring about her own wishes.