Chapter One: Let’s Descend into Hell Together

Qin Sheng’s consciousness drifted back with a faint clarity. The moment she tried to open her eyes, a splitting headache forced her brows into a deep frown. Hadn’t she gone out to deal with the rampaging horde of zombies? How had she ended up unconscious?

Instinctively, she raised a hand to rub her temples, only to find herself utterly devoid of strength. In that instant, Qin Sheng’s eyes flew open, darting warily around the room. Her gaze finally halted, fixated on a familiar silhouette by the laboratory window, and for a moment, her mind went blank.

“Well, big sister, you’re finally awake. You certainly made me wait.” The girl standing by the window in a pristine pink princess dress had at some point turned around. Her delicate, fair face was twisted in mockery.

Qin Sheng wanted to ask if Qin Mengchun was hurt, but her throat felt blocked, not a single sound could escape her lips. Memories flashed through her mind like scenes from a film, every detail surfacing one by one. A sudden zombie riot, and Qin Mengchun just happened to be outside the base?

Could it really be coincidence?

Qin Mengchun played with her carefully curled hair, her gaze mocking as she watched the shock slowly dawn in Qin Sheng’s eyes.

“You caused the zombie riot?” Qin Sheng didn’t know where the strength came from, but she managed to turn her head and fix Qin Mengchun with a piercing glare. Her weary eyes were shot through with blood.

Qin Mengchun sneered, strolling over to where Qin Sheng lay helpless on the lab table, her eyes roaming up and down as if in answer to Qin Sheng’s unspoken question.

“Why?” Qin Sheng’s voice was thick with disappointment, her head turning away in stiff resignation.

“Why?” Qin Mengchun scoffed, proclaiming her intent as if claiming a throne. “Because the one in charge of the base should be me! Only I deserve the title of eldest daughter of the Qin family!”

A heavy sigh slipped from Qin Sheng’s lips. She remembered the past years of the apocalypse, when she had fought herself to exhaustion in zombie hordes just to secure supplies so Qin Mengchun could eat her fill. Now, it all seemed nothing but a bitter joke.

“You’re insane,” Qin Sheng said quietly.

But in Qin Mengchun’s eyes, even this came across as condescension. She loathed the way Qin Sheng always appeared so calm, so noble, as if every kindness was nothing but pity or charity. Qin Mengchun had longed for the day she could see her proud sister kneel, begging at her feet.

“Do you think that’s all, dear sister?” Qin Mengchun straightened and pressed her hand to a machine at her side.

In an instant, spirit-lock restraints snapped onto the lab table, binding Qin Sheng fast. Powerless as she already was, she was now utterly immobilized. Then, a surge of energy invaded her body, piercing her heart with a thousand arrows, tormenting her as if by death of a thousand cuts. Qin Sheng gritted her teeth, enduring the agony that wracked her limbs and soul, cold sweat beading on her brow. The pain was so intense she nearly fainted.

Qin Mengchun turned the white jade bangle on her wrist, eyes gleaming with excitement as she watched Qin Sheng suffer. Casually, she increased the speed of the spirit core extraction device.

The redoubled agony finally tore a scream from Qin Sheng’s throat—a sound so raw and desperate it could have moved even the most callous heart. But Qin Mengchun was not such a person.

Qin Sheng marshaled her last reserves of power, trying to summon her wood-type ability, but the energy was stripped from her, piece by piece. She was nothing but a fish on the chopping block, hope slipping away with each passing second.

When the extraction was complete, Qin Mengchun gazed with greedy delight at the brilliant green core spinning above Qin Sheng’s chest. “A spirit core from the daughter of a family of healers—how pure it is.”

Drained of her core, Qin Sheng was a broken shell, her once-bright eyes now dull and lifeless.

“Since you’ve been so cooperative, I’ll grant you a little more truth. That way, you can die without regrets.” Qin Sheng slowly closed her eyes, bitterly regretting how she had nursed a viper in her bosom, blinded by the illusion of kinship.

“You’ve always been searching for Qin Nuo, haven’t you?” The moment the name was mentioned, Qin Sheng’s fists clenched, her eyes opening wide, voice hoarse with desperation. “What did you do to Xiao Nuo?!”

Qin Mengchun had anticipated this reaction; she knew that mentioning Qin Nuo would break her strong sister’s last defenses.

“Don’t get so agitated, dear sister. Let me finish.” Qin Mengchun admired her freshly painted nails, her tone light and careless.

“It’s nothing much, really. I just had him skinned and bled, then tossed him to the zombies outside. They ate him clean.” She recounted the grisly details as if discussing the weather.

Rage filled Qin Sheng’s mind. If not for these spirit-locks, she would have torn out Qin Mengchun’s throat with her teeth.

She had searched for her brother for ten long years. Everyone said Qin Nuo was dead, but she never gave up. She survived the living hell of the apocalypse just for the hope of finding him one day!

Her brother was her blood, yet she had never neglected her half-sister, Qin Mengchun. In fact, she had loved her just as much, if not more.

And in the end, the sister she had fought so hard to protect had crushed her last hope with her own hands.

She had delivered her brother to the wolf’s jaws herself. She was the greatest sinner.

“Qin Mengchun! Xiao Nuo was only thirteen!” Qin Sheng’s bloodless lips barely moved, her words a futile plea to a heartless soul.

A cold laugh escaped Qin Mengchun. “So what if he was thirteen? He was just as worthless as you—never begged for mercy, not even at the end.”

“You—” Qin Sheng felt as if her heart were being ripped from her chest. She could hardly breathe, every breath a fresh wave of pain for her lost kin. Tears streamed down her blood-stained face—tears, not of water, but of blood.

“Xiao Nuo, I’m sorry...” she murmured, glancing once at the smug, immaculate Qin Mengchun, then down at her own blood-soaked, zombie-torn clothing. A wild, uncontrollable laughter burst from her lips.

Qin Mengchun frowned at the sight of Qin Sheng’s manic laughter, then pressed the infernal machine’s button again. Bolts of metallic lightning crashed down on Qin Sheng, now as defenseless as an ordinary human.

Strike after strike left its mark, but Qin Sheng showed no reaction, no expression.

Qin Mengchun’s brows drew together. A sense of dread crept over her.

To her horror, the thunderous energy seemed to be drawn irresistibly into Qin Sheng. Qin Mengchun tried to approach and shut down the machine, but she couldn’t even get close.

Impossible! Qin Sheng had no powers left!

A surge of overwhelming energy exploded from Qin Sheng, and as Qin Mengchun watched in terror, she ran for the door. Before she could reach it, a blinding flash and a thunderous roar engulfed her, pinning her to a corner. She looked toward the hellish figure leaning against the lab table—Qin Sheng, transformed.

“Then let’s go to hell together...”