Chapter Summaries

Jiang Nian and his team took Xiao Ya in while she recovered from the trauma of helping her mother kill people, and Huang Qian helped Jiang Nian come to terms with sparing her. As Cheng Jing’s team joined Qingyun City’s official rescue guild, the group prepared to face the jealousy and hostility their new status might bring.

• Xiao Ya broke down in Jiang Nian’s arms, confessed her guilt, and fell asleep after Huang Qian gave her warm water with a sedative.
• Huang Qian told Jiang Nian that killing Xiao Ya would have left him with lasting regret, and the team agreed to take the girl in temporarily.
• Huang Qian completed Xiao Ya’s guardianship paperwork, while Xiao Ya gradually settled in but avoided using her ability and kept her hands covered with gloves.
• Cheng Jing’s team accepted an invitation to join the Qingyun City Apocalypse Ability User Rescue Guild as Team 017, with the option to leave at any time.
• At a gathering in Cheng Jing’s safe house, the team brushed off the prospect of resentment from other ability users and agreed to fight back against anyone who challenged them.

Cheng Jing rejected Jiang Wenwen when she asked to join his team, and Jiang Nian made clear that he was married when she showed interest in him. After their teammates left, Cheng Jing confronted Jiang Nian for attracting attention, and Jiang Nian teased him for being jealous.

• Cheng Jing refused Jiang Wenwen's request to join his team, but she introduced herself to the others anyway.
• Jiang Wenwen asked Jiang Nian whether he had a girlfriend, and Jiang Nian showed her his wedding ring and said he was married.
• Jiang Nian suggested that Jiang Wenwen consider his single teammates, but she said she preferred someone well-behaved and declined.
• Jiang Wenwen told Cheng Jing she would be interested in working together if his team recruited later, then left.
• Cheng Jing declined to consider Jiang Wenwen because Liao Yu's ice ability could provide water for the team.
• After their teammates went home, Cheng Jing pinned Jiang Nian on the sofa and told him not to attract attention, while Jiang Nian teased him for getting jealous.

Jiang Nian coaxed Cheng Jing through a jealous complaint about their reduced intimacy, then the group learned that apocalypse bases were ready to receive survivors. They began planning which nearby base to travel to once the extreme cold eased.

• Cheng Jing pinned Jiang Nian down and complained that Jiang Nian had been limiting their time together, so Jiang Nian promised to change and they reconciled with kisses.
• During dinner, Jiang Nian asked Cheng Jing to speak directly when something bothered him, and Cheng Jing agreed while feeding him.
• Satellite broadcasts announced that apocalypse bases across the country were ready to rescue survivors and accept those who could reach them.
• Jiang Nian told Cheng Jing that the weather should warm in early March and that rescue teams would likely set out around mid-March.
• Jiang Nian marked the nearby bases on a map, and the group discussed traveling to L Base, K Base, or South City Base once conditions allowed.

Jiang Nian chose South City Base for its safety and military management, and his squad agreed to follow his lead. He revealed his Purification ability and demonstrated that it could free people from mental illusions, then the team continued its plans and began taking night patrol shifts.

• Jiang Nian explained the pros and cons of the candidate bases and chose South City Base, citing its safety and orderly military management.
• The squad agreed to Jiang Nian’s choice and discussed setting out in early March to reach the base by early April.
• After Liao Yu asked whether he had awakened an ability, Jiang Nian revealed his Purification ability and asked everyone to keep it and Xiao Ya’s ability secret.
• Zhou Rongbin cast a mental illusion of zombies over the squad, and Jiang Nian used Purification to free everyone, causing a mental rebound for Zhou Rongbin.
• Cheng Jing and the others began taking turns on night patrol as part of the official rescue team, while Zhou Li allowed Zhou Rongbin to substitute for Huang Qian so she could care for Xiao Ya.

During a peaceful patrol, Cheng Jing's team joked about romance and Lu Ningzhou revealed his intention to pursue Huang Qian. After a week of help from the team, Lu Ningzhou and Huang Qian became a couple, and he moved into her safe house to help raise her child.

• Xiao Ya brought Cheng Jing and the others steamed buns during their night patrol, and the team joked about the sounds they heard from a neighboring apartment.
• Liao Yu asked whether Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian behaved like the couple in the apartment, prompting his teammates to tease and warn him.
• Lu Ningzhou announced that he planned to pursue Huang Qian, and the team encouraged his effort.
• After a week of pursuit, Huang Qian and Lu Ningzhou became a couple, and she invited him to help raise her child.
• Lu Ningzhou moved his belongings into Huang Qian's safe house while Zhao Lei and Liao Yu complained about being left behind.

Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian left Qingyun City for South City Base as the weather warmed and zombies grew more dangerous. On the road, their convoy rescued three wounded ability users from a zombie horde and swiftly destroyed the attackers.

• Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian prepared to leave, registered their departure with Zhou Li, and received his recommendation for South City Base.
• On March 10, Cheng Jing's group quietly left Qingyun City in two snowplows and two vehicles.
• As they traveled, evolved zombies with crystal cores appeared, and one of the group's snowplows was wrecked.
• Jian Cheng spotted three wounded ability users trapped by a zombie horde, and they ran toward the convoy for help.
• The older survivor shoved the two younger ones out of danger, and Zhao Lei blocked the zombie's stone barrage while a vine pulled the man back.
• Cheng Jing's group attacked with earthen barriers, iron walls, ice spikes, vines, lightning, and fire, killing the zombie horde.

After helping Li Kaiyun and his children survive a zombie attack, Jiang Nian agreed to let the family travel with them to South City Base. Seeing Li Kaiyun care for his children stirred Jiang Nian’s grief over having been rejected by his own father.

• Huang Qian collected three zombie crystal cores, and Jiang Nian explained where different kinds of zombies’ cores could be found.
• Li Kaiyun asked to travel with Cheng Jing’s group, and Jiang Nian agreed after learning they were both headed to South City Base, where Li Kaiyun’s nephew was stationed.
• Li Kaiyun, Li Liang, and Li Shuhui buried their neighbors and asked Cheng Jing to cremate Li Kaiyun’s wife.
• Jiang Nian gave the family meals, snacks, and medical supplies after seeing how little food they had, and told Li Kaiyun they did not need to repay him.
• Li Kaiyun’s devotion to his children reminded Jiang Nian of the father who had rejected him before he was born.

Jiang Nian’s group traveled with Li Kaiyun and his children toward South City Base, building trust and sharing duties along the way. Near the base, an earthquake collapsed a bridge and trapped survivors, and Cheng Jing’s team joined the rescue as zombies emerged from the rubble.

• Jiang Nian’s group camped in an open plaza, and Cheng Jing spoke with Li Kaiyun about their military backgrounds and the team’s plans.
• Li Kaiyun’s family shared their crystal cores with Cheng Jing and helped with cooking and camp chores as the groups traveled together for nearly a week.
• An earthquake struck as the group approached a bridge, collapsing it and opening cracks that swallowed several rescue trucks carrying survivors.
• Cheng Jing left Huang Qian, Xiao Ya, and Li Shuhui to guard the vehicles while he and the others went to help the rescue team.
• Zhao Lei pulled a concrete slab away from a trapped family of three, and the frightened daughter asked Cheng Jing to carry her.

During the rescue beneath the collapsed bridge, Jiang Nian saved an injured woman who then tried to pressure him into taking responsibility for her, but he and Cheng Jing rejected her demands and returned to their group. The woman was left resentful, while the others recognized how fortunate they had been to receive Jiang Nian’s help.

• Cheng Jing and Zhao Lei helped rescue a girl and her father as the team searched the bridge ruins for survivors and supplies.
• Jiang Nian rescued an injured young woman, purified the wound on her leg, and handed her over to medical staff.
• The woman demanded that Jiang Nian take responsibility for her and become her boyfriend, but he refused and called out her attempt to manipulate him.
• When bystanders urged Jiang Nian to help her, he challenged them to take responsibility themselves and mocked the woman’s threats to harm herself.
• Cheng Jing arrived, threatened the woman if she kept pestering Jiang Nian, and led him back to the group.
• Liao Yu warned the woman before leaving, while Li Kaiyun and his son reflected on their good fortune and the woman watched the group depart resentfully.

After choosing to travel with Cheng Jing's group rather than the rescue team, Li Kaiyun and his companions set out for South City Base. Jiang Nian's group reached the base safely in early April as zombies spread and disease outbreaks worsened.

• Li Kaiyun declined the rescue team leader's invitation to travel with them, choosing to stay with Cheng Jing's group.
• Jiang Nian's group camped near the rescue team, then refused a family of three who asked to join them; Jiang Nian challenged them to serve as zombie bait, and they returned to the rescue team.
• Jiang Nian's group traveled by national highway, fought zombies, collected ability crystal cores, and directed survivors toward the rescue team following behind.
• The group reached South City Base safely in early April as the thaw brought out more zombies and radio reports warned of plague and deadly viral infections.