The twin sisters awakened unique abilities during the zombie apocalypse. During their final showdown with the Zombie King, an energy explosion triggered a temporal distortion, causing their souls to transmigrate into the bodies of two sisters facing imminent famine in a minor world beneath the cultivation realm. Armed with their post-apocalyptic abilities and supplies from their spatial storage, they struggled to survive in this cultivation sub-world. However, the younger sister's healing ability gradually drew the attention of local authorities and evil cultivators, ultimately leading to her betrayal and murder by her husband. After avenging her sister, the older sister entered the true cultivation realm by chance while possessing her sister's ability core. Through a special opportunity, she successfully resurrected her sister and transformed their abilities into spiritual roots, embarking on the authentic path of cultivation.
Chapter 1: The Sudden Onslaught of the
Under the gloomy sky, the city buzzed with its usual chaos.
Linyue sat at her desk, fingers flying across the keyboard as words streamed across the screen. Outside, the afternoon sun had been swallowed by layers of dark clouds, the air thick with the oppressive calm before a storm.
"On the third day of the apocalypse, the survivors discovered the monsters were evolving..."
She paused, rubbing her temples. As a mystery novelist, depicting end-of-world scenarios was her specialty, yet today, an inexplicable unease lingered in her chest.
Her phone buzzed, the screen flashing "Yaoyao."
"Sis! Guess what?" Linyao's cheerful voice crackled through the speaker, the background noise punctuated by subway station announcements. "The professor canceled lab class! I'm almost at the apartment. I'll make you DangGui bass soup tonight—practicing my new herbal recipe."
Linyue moved to the window just in time to see her sister stride into the apartment complex, a grocery bag swinging in one hand, her ponytail bouncing with each step. As an exemplary intern at the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Linyao was obsessed with medicinal cuisine.
"I'll gladly be your lab rat," Linyue replied. The moment the words left her lips, the screech of brakes shattered the afternoon quiet.
A deafening crash and screams erupted from the call. "Yaoyao? What's happening?"
Linyao's voice turned frantic: "Oh god, there's a car accident at the intersection… Wait, those people… their movements are so weird…"
Linyue's heart plunged. From her vantage point, she spotted a black sedan flipped at the crossroads, smoke billowing. Several oddly moving figures lunged at onlookers, their jerky yet unnervingly swift motions accompanied by eyes clouded with an unnatural haze.
"Yaoyao, get home! Now!" Linyue shouted into the phone, her palm slick with cold sweat.
The line crackled with her sister's ragged breaths and the sound of running. Linyue watched, frozen, as Linyao sprinted toward the building entrance, the grocery bag abandoned. Ten meters from safety, a bloodied, contorted man lunged from behind a bush.
"Watch your right!"
Linyao pivoted sharply, dodging the attack. She whipped out her acupuncture pen from her pocket, jabbing it into her assailant's eye. As he reeled back, she snapped a kick to his knee, the sickening crack of bone echoing.
But more grotesque figures swarmed from all directions. Backed against the apartment door, Linyao fought with surgical precision, her acupuncture pen striking vital points with the expertise of a medical student.
"Sis! The door lock's dead!" Linyao cried, the card reader unresponsive.
"Use the fire axe! It's in the wall cabinet!"
Linyao shattered the glass and seized the axe. Just then, a失控 car rammed into the complex wall, the explosion deafening. The blast threw Linyao against the doorframe, her left arm snapping with a grotesque crunch.
"Yaoyao!"
Ignoring the agony, Linyao staggered up and hacked at the lock. Once. Twice. The door finally gave way.
The elevator doors slid open, and Linyue yanked her sister inside. Gray, mottled hands clawed at the closing doors, nails screeching against metal. Linyue mashed the button, and the elevator lurched upward.
Inside their apartment, Linyue deadbolted the door and drew all the curtains. Linyao's left arm was grotesquely swollen—undoubtedly fractured.
"Radius fracture, maybe…" Linyao gritted her teeth, guiding her sister through emergency splinting. "Use those magazines as a brace. Bandages are in the first aid kit…"
As a medical student, she forced herself to stay rational, but a mishap during the process nearly made her faint. Over the next few hours, her condition deteriorated. Symptoms of traumatic shock set in: pallor, chills, and drifting in and out of consciousness.
"Sis… so cold…" Linyao's teeth chattered uncontrollably, even under layers of blankets.
By midnight, her fever spiked to 40.2°C. She alternated between lucidity and delirium, murmuring in her fevered dreams.
"The ocean… I'm in the sea… the water is calling…" Linyao's hands clawed at the air, "Green vines… growing…"
Linyue stayed awake all night, replacing cold compresses and sponging her sister with alcohol. But the fever raged on, Linyao's breathing growing shallower, her occasional twitches more pronounced. Linyue ransacked the medicine cabinet only to find all painkillers and fever reducers expired.
On the third morning, Linyao fell into a deep coma. Her pulse weakened, her face ashen, her vital signs fading. Linyue clasped her sister's cold hand, silent tears streaming down. Despair washed over her—she'd never felt so helpless.
Just as hope dwindled, the world spun. Linyue collapsed.
In the haze, she dreamed of an ancient forest where she could converse with every plant, sensing their vitality. Lightning crackled in the sky, yet the bolts curled around her like gentle serpents. When she reached into the void, the air rippled like water…
She awoke to find herself in bed, a cold towel on her forehead. Linyao sat beside her, pale but visibly improved.
"Sis, you're finally awake," Linyao whispered, exhaustion lacing her voice. "You were out for a day and night. Your fever hit 41°C at its worst."
Linyue realized they'd both endured the same ordeal. To her shock, her sister's left arm had mostly healed, only faint bruises remaining.
"I feel… strange," Linyue sat up, instinctively gesturing toward the windowsill. The potted pothos responded instantly, vines slithering like living creatures toward her. A faint blue spark crackled between her fingers, and the room's space seemed to warp subtly.
Linyao lifted her hand too. Water molecules in the air coalesced into a glowing orb in her palm: "Me too. In my coma, I dreamed I swam through the ocean, controlling every drop, feeling their life energy."
To test her ability, Linyao focused, transforming the orb into a pale blue glow that enveloped her sister's fever-weary face. Linyue felt an instant coolness, her exhaustion melting away.
"It's incredible!" The sisters smiled at each other—until the sound of frenzied pounding downstairs shattered the moment. They hadn't left.
Linyue clenched her fists. Plants on the windowsill stirred without wind, electricity crackling between her fingers. "Whatever's out there, we're going to survive."
Night fell again, the city's roars rising like a hellish chorus. But in their tiny apartment, new powers awakened—after the baptism of fever and unconsciousness, Linyue sensed plants' life force flowing in her veins, the secrets of space unfolding in her mind; Linyao commanded water's rhythm, healing light dancing at her fingertips.
The apocalypse had arrived, but they were no longer defenseless.