124: Xiang Mei Awakens

She longed to cleave the door open with a single strike, but she held back.

She didn't want to push these people to the point of desperation.

She waited for someone to dare to come out and respond, but no one showed their face for a long time.

Bai Wanning gave a cold laugh, then raised her foot and kicked the door hard again.

"Cowards! Where's that courage you had just now? Come on! If you have the guts, come out and fight me! Didn't you say you wanted to share supplies? Didn't you say I was too overbearing? Why are you hiding now?!"

She paced in front of the door, exuding an oppressive aura of battle, but inside the room, it was silent, as if everyone inside had died.

Bai Wanning grew increasingly disappointed. She stared at the door, her eyes like a tiger trapped in a cage, filled with intense killing intent but nowhere to vent it.

She suddenly raised her hand and slammed it against the door again: "Come out and fight me one-on-one! You cowards, only daring to scheme behind my back, you truly disgust me!"

But no matter how she roared and raged, no one in the room responded.

She sneered, this was human nature, using the name of "justice" to snatch her supplies, but once they failed, they would play dead, each one scurrying back to their corner as if scared out of their wits.

She was too lazy to waste any more time.

She dropped the heads, kicked the one that had rolled in front of the door to the side, and turned to leave.

In a small room deep within the attic, Bai Xue was curled up in the corner of the bathroom, hugging her knees, her face buried deep between her legs.

She had, of course, heard Bai Wanning's roar, but she didn't dare to go out; she was ice cold all over, a chill penetrating her to the bone.

She knew that after today's commotion, the survivors would surely be displeased with her, but she didn't feel she had done anything wrong.

She just wanted everyone to have enough to eat.

As long as she distributed some food and controlled the allocation, she could keep these people alive, and as long as these people were alive, she herself would have hope of survival.

But Bai Wanning had publicly slapped her, shattering all the rules she had painstakingly maintained.

Now, who would listen to her?

She finally started to panic.

No one was willing to listen to her anymore, so how could she maintain "order"? How could she control the Bai family? Wasn't the situation of "everyone turning against her" what she feared most?

She understood that the family would soon be out of control.

"Xue Xue, come out, we need to talk to you about something."

Brother Hu knocked on the bathroom door, his tone gentle but tinged with unease.

A rustling sound came from the small bathroom, followed by a "click" as the door opened.

Bai Xue stood at the doorway, her eyes red, her face filled with deep regret and grievance, and she threw herself into Brother Hu's arms, crying like a child who had suffered immense injustice.

"Brother Hu... I know I was wrong... I truly was wrong..." she sobbed, her voice delicate and trembling, "I shouldn't have snatched you away from Sister Wanning, but I loved you too much, I really couldn't control myself... But did she have to be so heartless? What did I do wrong? I just wanted everyone to survive..."

The more she cried, the more innocent she felt; the more she spoke, the more she felt that Bai Wanning was the truly heartless and cold person.

Gradually, she completely immersed herself in the logic she had created, as if the world had failed her, and she was merely a victim of the era and fate.

Yes, she had indeed "snatched" Brother Hu from Bai Wanning, but she hadn't truly managed to keep Brother Hu; that wasn't her fault, it was Bai Wanning's incompetence, her not knowing how to obey a man, not knowing how to be an obedient woman.

If Bai Wanning had been gentle and considerate enough, how could she have lost her man? Since she lost him, she deserved it!

Brother Hu had originally been seething with anger, wanting to question Bai Xue about why she had acted on her own initiative and unilaterally changed the distribution strategy, but when he heard Bai Xue crying and saying "I love you" and "she's not kind," his heart softened.

What Bai Xue said seemed to make sense too; in the Apocalypse, survival inherently meant listening to whoever was stronger.

If Bai Wanning was willing to give out just a little bit of supplies, everyone could get by, and it wasn't like they weren't going to repay her; when Bai Minghe returned, he would naturally return the supplies to her.

As for how those supplies came to be, he didn't ask, nor did he want to ask.

Just then, a scream suddenly came from the first floor: "Ahhh! What is that?!"

The sound seemed to tear through everyone's taut nerves, and Bai Xue and Brother Hu's expressions changed dramatically; they immediately rushed downstairs.

In the center of the hall, Xiang Mei stood with a shocked expression, holding a glowing green seed in her hand.

The seed trembled gently in her palm, and within seconds, it broke open, transforming into a tender sprout, radiating a palpable sense of life.

Everyone present collectively gasped.

"Th-this is a superpower? The kind people talk about?" someone exclaimed.

Bai Xue froze. She stared at the tender green sprout, an unconcealed flicker of jealousy quickly passing through her eyes; she also wanted to possess this power!

But she quickly composed her expression, clapped demurely, and smiled gently: "Mei Mei, that's wonderful! With this ability, your body will definitely recover faster, and you'll be able to protect yourself in the future."

As she spoke, she looked at Xiang Mei with eyes full of "concern," yet her gaze was like someone appraising a freshly minted treasure.

As long as she could firmly control Xiang Mei, she could contend with Bai Wanning; even if it wasn't possible now, it would definitely be possible in the future.

She turned her head to look at Brother Hu, her gaze subtly shifting, and she sweetly pouted: "Brother Hu, what are you standing there for? Go help Mei Mei up! She's just recovered, what if she falls?"

Brother Hu hesitated for a moment, as he and Xiang Mei weren't close, but Bai Xue's series of pushes and "concerns" made it difficult for him to refuse.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and go forward to support Xiang Mei.

Xiang Mei blushed, awkwardly being helped by Brother Hu to sit on the sofa; her heart skipped a beat, and she felt a strange shyness.

And Brother Hu, although he was still embracing Bai Xue, maintained a subtle distance from her.

What he didn't realize was that Bai Xue didn't care about his feelings at all.

On the contrary, she had already made her calculations; as long as she could use Brother Hu to restrain Xiang Mei, she could leverage that to control the situation and stabilize the out-of-control survivors.

Today's chaos made her realize that her prestige had collapsed, but if she could control Xiang Mei and use Brother Hu's influence to re-establish "rules and authority," she still had a chance to turn things around.

Moreover, as long as Xiang Mei had extraordinary abilities, she wouldn't go hungry; even if others starved, she would be safe and sound, as Brother Hu wouldn't let her starve.

Bai Xue was already too engrossed in controlling power, so much so that she completely failed to notice Xiang Mei's blushing face next to Brother Hu, like a young girl experiencing her first love.

But even if she had seen it, she wouldn't have cared.

She lowered her head and hugged herself tightly, her face full of resentment and unwillingness. Why could others awaken, but she couldn't? She was clearly smarter, more hardworking, and more valuable, so why didn't heaven choose her?

She never wanted to reflect on what she had done wrong, only to constantly blame others and fate.

She didn't understand that Xiang Mei's awakening was bought with blood and wounds, while she had merely stood in the shadows, scheming against others.

A faint, imperceptible sneer curled on Bai Xue's lips; she had already figured out how to use Xiang Mei's awakening to navigate this chaos.

Just as Bai Xue was immersed in her own fantasies, repeatedly calculating how to survive, Bai Wanning had already returned home with her blade.

She walked calmly down the corridor, the butcher knife in her hand still stained with blood.

She first cleared away the several corpses on the ground, then quickly slaughtered a few zombies that had been drawn by the smell of blood.

After collecting the crystal cores, she pushed open the door and entered the house.