Chapter 1: Back to the Days Before the Apocalypse

Halfway up the mountain, in a dimly lit basement of a villa.

Curled up on a single wire-frame bed in the corner was a thin, frail girl.

Her hair was a tangled mess, her skin deathly pale. One hand, caked with dried blood, was shackled with an iron chain. It was impossible to tell if she was alive or dead.

CLANG!

The heavy iron door was pushed open, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed as two people entered, one after the other.

“Brother Song, isn’t it risky just keeping her locked up like this? I mean, what if she still refuses to give up the bank card password and the inheritance? Maybe we should just—” The speaker was a young man in his early twenties, making a throat-slitting gesture as he spoke.

“She? She’s just a little flower that could be crushed in my hand. Nothing to worry about! Besides, it’s only the first day. It’s normal for her to resist at first. Let’s give it three months and see what happens!” sneered a middle-aged man in his forties.

His hands and face were wrapped in bandages, making his already sinister features look even more menacing.

“Oh right, Brother Song, what about that jade bangle on her wrist? Why not take it off and give it to my sister? I heard it was auctioned at Christie’s by Li Meizhen back in the day—top-grade old mine jade, a real antique. It’s worth at least a small fortune!”

“She’s been wearing that bangle for years. Her wrist has grown, and we’ve tried everything—soap, water, you name it. It just won’t come off.”

A crazed look flashed in the young man’s eyes. “That’s easy—just cut it off. Then you can take it!”

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then said, “It’s not impossible. I just gave her a sedative. Even if you killed her now, she wouldn’t react. Here’s what we’ll do: go to the kitchen and get the cleaver, and bring the thickest wooden chopping board. I’ll go run the water in the bathroom and be right back.”

“Got it!”

With another loud clang, the iron door slammed shut.

Listening to the vicious conversation between her stepfather Song Deming and Zhang Kai, Jiang Yan instinctively shrank back, but then her heart skipped a beat.

Wasn’t this exactly the scene from May 9th, three months before the apocalypse, when Song Deming and his mistress’s younger brother Zhang Kai locked her in the villa’s basement?!

But she clearly remembered that after losing a hand, she had already died in the apocalypse at Song Deming’s hands, becoming nothing more than food for Song Deming and his mistress’s family...

So, had she been reborn?!

Jiang Yan’s parents, Jiang Yukang and Li Meizhen, were both orphans.

They started out delivering packages, building their business from scratch, and eventually founded the largest courier company in Quan’anming City, amassing a fortune worth over a billion yuan.

Song Deming had been the company’s youngest and most promising vice president, ten years younger than Jiang’s mother, and had coveted their wealth for years.

After Jiang’s father died in a car accident, Song Deming did everything he could to win Li Meizhen’s trust, eventually marrying into the family.

Under his influence, Jiang’s mother soon sold the company at a bargain price to the country’s leading courier giant, despite its multi-billion valuation.

But even after all that, the self-made Li Meizhen only gave him this villa and a few million in stocks.

One night, after a few drinks, she let slip that all her assets had already been willed and notarized in advance, with her beloved daughter Jiang Yan as the sole heir.

From that moment, Song Deming’s resentment only deepened.

A week ago, using their wedding anniversary as an excuse, Song Deming lured Jiang’s mother to Country L and killed her, later reporting to the police that she had been attacked by sharks while they were deep-sea diving, and had died in the ocean.

By the time the police arrived, there was no trace of Li Meizhen’s body. Song Deming, covered in wounds himself, was released after an investigation.

After returning to China, he tricked the naïve Jiang Yan into coming to the villa to collect her mother’s belongings, then, with Zhang Kai’s help, knocked her out and locked her in the basement.

At the time, Jiang Yan had been out of college for over a year, living a carefree life as a travel and food blogger, flying all over the world.

When she heard the news of her mother’s death, she rushed back from abroad.

Her mother’s mysterious death was a devastating blow, and in her desperation, she fell right into Song Deming’s trap, ending up locked away in the basement, never to see the light of day again.

But even after Song Deming and Zhang Kai cut off her hand, they never got the declaration relinquishing her inheritance.

Three months later, the apocalypse arrived.

It came without warning.

Some said it was due to global climate change and humanity’s relentless destruction of the environment.

Others blamed it on a certain island nation recklessly dumping nuclear waste into the ocean.

Whatever the reason, nature’s revenge was swift and merciless.

On August 8th, it began with a heatwave.

Then came torrential rain, extreme cold, floods, droughts, earthquakes, plagues of insects—disaster after disaster.

After the apocalypse began, Song Deming naturally turned this remote mountainside villa into his personal safehouse, brazenly bringing his mistress Zhang Qiqi and their illegitimate son Song Xiaofei to live with him.

It was only then that Jiang Yan learned Song Deming and Zhang Qiqi had been having an affair for years, and that Zhang Qiqi had been behind all the plotting and murder.

Song Deming thought that once he survived the extreme heat, he’d be able to inherit Li Meizhen’s fortune.

But he never expected disaster after disaster—floods, freezing cold, and more.

Trapped in the villa and running out of food, he and his mistress’s family eventually turned their knives—and their hunger—on the dying Jiang Yan.

Memories of her past life flashed through Jiang Yan’s mind like a film reel. After reliving the pain, she took a deep breath.

The hatred for her mother’s murder, the agony of losing her hand and being eaten alive—no punishment would be enough for Song Deming and Zhang Qiqi.

Jiang Yan wanted nothing more than to eat their flesh, drink their blood, and tear them limb from limb!

And now, there were still three months left before the apocalypse.

Since she’d been given a second chance, she wasn’t just going to take revenge on Song Deming and his accomplices—she was going to prepare, for her dead mother, for her once-dead self, and live well!

Really, truly live!

But first, she had to escape this man-made prison.

She remembered from her previous life that this basement had been specially reinforced by Song Deming—steel plates and giant stones lined the walls, with no windows.

The only way out was the iron door, sealed tight, not even a window in it.

So unless she managed to kill Song Deming and get the key, escape was impossible.

[Ding! You have activated the All-System Ability: Vines. Man-Eating Flower!]

A clear, mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Jiang Yan’s ear.

She frowned, thinking she was hallucinating.

But then a warm sensation spread through her palm, and lines of text appeared before her eyes:

[Ability Name: Vines. Man-Eating Flower]

[Current Level: Level 0. Number of Man-Eating Flowers: 1. Vines: 1 (main vine) + 2 (side vines) = 3]

[Currently Unlocked Skill 1: Devour. (Other skills unlock with level up.)]

[Functions and Uses: