Chapter 1: Rebirth
Mo Xiu, the strongest ability user of Shanhe Base, was dead—killed amid the betrayal of his friends and the curses and attacks of the very people he had once risked his life to save.
The once high-spirited young man now lay on the ground without a sound, nothing left but a broken and incomplete body.
Yet the fury of the people around him seemed far from over. They were still kicking and beating the corpse.
Mo Xiu’s transparent soul floated in the air, watching the scene before him with eyes full of mockery.
Back then, he had been framed and labeled by everyone as a traitor and an accomplice. After hiding and wandering in misery for so long, he had still failed to escape this dead end.
Fortunately, in the final battle, he had chosen to self-destruct his crystal core, dragging quite a few people down to hell with him.
Mo Xiu’s gaze swept across the twisted faces one by one. These were his so-called friends and comrades—these were the people he had worked so hard to protect.
He had never imagined that he could be this foolish, exhausting himself for such a group of people for so many years.
The soul floating in midair wore a completely indifferent expression, as if the brutally treated body did not belong to him at all.
Even if he cared, what could he do? Now he was already powerless.
It was only when a filthy man with messy hair—like a lunatic—suddenly rushed out from a corner and tightly hugged his corpse that Mo Xiu’s expression finally changed.
“How is it him…?”
Frowning deeply, Mo Xiu watched as the man clung tightly to his mangled body, refusing to let anyone come near. It was obvious that he wanted to protect the corpse.
But how could so many people care about someone who posed almost no threat? So the man quickly became their next target.
“Mu Tou, what are you doing? Let go!” Seeing him being punched and kicked, Mo Xiu shouted anxiously.
Mo Xiu had never expected that at a moment like this, the one willing to rush out to defend him regardless of the consequences would actually be a fool.
A fool he had only occasionally helped a few times long ago when he happened to run into him.
Mo Xiu didn’t even know the man’s name. He only knew that the man was always dull and slow to react, so people had given him the nickname “Mu Tou” (Wooden Head).
How could a fool possibly be a match for all these people? The man was soon beaten until his face was bruised and swollen, yet he still stubbornly protected the corpse in his arms.
Seeing this, Mo Xiu’s eyes turned red. He floated beside the man’s ear, shouting again and again:
“Let go! I’m already dead! It’s just a corpse—let them do whatever they want! Don’t let them keep hitting you!”
But he was only a soul now. No one could hear his voice.
After quite a while, the man suddenly went mad like a crazed beast, launching indiscriminate attacks on those trying to damage Mo Xiu’s corpse. He didn’t care whether he would be injured or not. Only then were the others frightened enough to stop.
No one wanted to get hurt because of a crazy fool.
Looking at the deranged man, the crowd soon found the situation boring, and the people gradually dispersed.
Mo Xiu saw the man collapse beside his body, covered in blood and breathing heavily. His long hair covered his face, making it impossible to see his expression.
Cold tears slid down Mo Xiu’s cheeks. He felt as if his heart were bleeding.
For the first time, he realized that even souls could cry.
After resting for a long time, the man finally stood up again. He was thin as a skeleton, yet surprisingly strong. Carefully, he lifted Mo Xiu’s not-so-light corpse and steadily carried it away from Shanhe Base.
Mo Xiu’s soul followed him the entire time, watching the man stagger along for a long distance. Only when they reached a dense forest with beautiful scenery did the man finally collapse from exhaustion, falling unconscious while still clutching the corpse.
Seeing this, Mo Xiu’s heart tightened.
He hurried closer, reaching out to touch the wound on the man’s arm—but his hand passed straight through.
“I’m sorry…”
Looking at his half-transparent palm, Mo Xiu felt a lump in his throat, his chest filled with bitterness.
Compared to the benefits others had received from him, the help he had given this man had been insignificant.
If everything could start over, he would definitely see through those fake affections.
He would never again end up like this for people who were not worth it.
He wanted to repay this man properly and do everything he could for him.
Unfortunately, the only thing he could do now was stay quietly by his side, silently praying that he would be safe.
He didn’t know how much time passed, but the man still had not woken up.
Fear crept into Mo Xiu’s heart. He was afraid something had really happened to him. Yet at the same time, he noticed his own eyelids growing heavier and heavier, and even his consciousness becoming blurry.
Mo Xiu didn’t know whether souls could feel sleepy, or if this was a sign that he was about to disappear.
“I’m sorry. If I could start over, I would definitely repay you…”
Mo Xiu murmured softly.
He felt that he was about to vanish, so with the last bit of strength he had, he gently embraced the unconscious man in front of him.
Then everything fell into darkness.
After a long time, Mo Xiu’s consciousness began to recover again.
He felt as if he had fallen into a kind of chaos.
Although he couldn’t see anything, he wasn’t completely unaware either. It felt as if the whole world was rushing past him at incredible speed.
Was this the process of a soul dissipating?
Mo Xiu’s mind felt hazy until, at a certain moment, he suddenly realized that his vision had returned.
In the darkness ahead, he saw points of light appear.
Those lights flickered faster and faster until they gathered into something like a tunnel.
Instinctively, he reached out his hand to touch the passage.
Then he was suddenly sucked into it and lost consciousness once again.
When he opened his eyes again and saw a snow-white ceiling, Mo Xiu froze for several seconds before slowly regaining his senses and looking around at his surroundings somewhat blankly.
Waves of intense dizziness and discomfort hit him, making it impossible to clearly recognize where he was, though everything felt strangely familiar.
However, he couldn’t care about that now.
Like someone who had exhausted himself completely, he only wanted to rest.
So Mo Xiu closed his eyes and drifted into a hazy sleep.
It wasn’t until the knocking outside continued again and again that Mo Xiu finally woke up with difficulty.
His head still hurt, and his entire body felt extremely fatigued.
But the person outside kept knocking, as if they wouldn’t stop until he opened the door.
With no other choice, Mo Xiu dragged his heavy body to the door.
“Mo Xiu, why did you take so long to open the door? Still not up yet? Look at the time—we should already be out searching for supplies!”
After the door opened, the young man outside looked him up and down before speaking unhappily.
Mo Xiu frowned when he heard that. His ears rang, and his mind still felt uncomfortable. After a moment of processing, he finally recognized who the person was.
It was Xi Wenlin, his senior from the fourth year of university.
A hypocritical and selfish man who loved putting on airs.
And one of the followers of the people who had killed him.
But something wasn’t right.
When he had self-destructed his crystal core, although he hadn’t killed everyone surrounding him, the few people closest to him definitely couldn’t have survived.
And Xi Wenlin had been one of the closest.
He should have died.
So how was he standing here perfectly unharmed?
The moment he saw his enemy, killing intent instinctively burst out from Mo Xiu.
The cold look in his eyes made Xi Wenlin’s back turn chilly. He even stepped back subconsciously, swallowing nervously.
“M-Mo Xiu, what’s wrong with you?”
Hearing his words, Mo Xiu finally came back to his senses.
Xi Wenlin’s attitude toward him was clearly different, and his appearance didn’t look like how he had been later in Shanhe Base. In fact, he looked several years younger.
With that thought, Mo Xiu looked around the room again.
The more he looked, the more confused he became.
This place looked exactly like the suburban villa where he had once stayed with the classmates he had rescued and the survivors they had met along the way—only a few months after the apocalypse had begun.
Noisy sounds suddenly came from outside the window.
Ignoring Xi Wenlin at the door, Mo Xiu walked silently to the window.
Through the glass, he saw people he remembered—people who, in his memories, had already died in the jaws of zombies.
Yet now they were alive and well.
Only at this moment did Mo Xiu finally realize something.
He seemed to have been reborn.
“Mo Xiu, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Xi Wenlin walked into the room.
Seeing that Mo Xiu had opened the door but was ignoring him with such an unusual attitude made him feel a little strange.
Hearing the voice again, Mo Xiu took a deep breath.
Considering the current situation and his present strength, he temporarily suppressed his killing intent.
“What do you want from me?” the young man asked coldly.
Xi Wenlin froze for a moment, then said in confusion, “Of course we’re going out to look for supplies. Mo Xiu, what’s wrong with you today?”
“Look for supplies?”
Mo Xiu lowered his eyes and searched through the memories piled in the corner of his mind, finally understanding why the other party had come to find him.
He had never realized before that he had started being treated like a workhorse this early.
What Xi Wenlin called “looking for supplies” didn’t mean everyone going together.
It meant sending him alone into the dangerous apocalypse to gather food and resources for all of them.
And their excuse had always sounded so righteous.
The stronger the ability, the greater the responsibility.
His power was the strongest among them, so naturally he should shoulder the burden.
Everyone helping each other.
Back then, Mo Xiu had vaguely felt that something wasn’t quite right.
After all, at that time his abilities had only just reached the edge of Level 2.
But he had still believed their words.
After all, it was the apocalypse—humans should unite.
But now that he thought about it, what mutual help? These people were clearly just exploiting him one-sidedly.
Mo Xiu didn’t know why he had been reborn.
But he had already died once.
If he still believed this nonsense again, he might as well just die again right now.
So he simply said, “Not going.”
Then he pushed the man out of the room, shut the door, and lay back down on the bed.
In his previous life, after the apocalypse began, he had slept later than a dog and woken earlier than a rooster, working tirelessly for others.
Now that he had another life, those people shouldn’t even dream about it.
Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, no one would stop him from lying down!
Xi Wenlin stared at the tightly shut door, his eyes filled with disbelief.
In all the years he had known Mo Xiu, he had never seen him act like this.
Unwilling to give up, he knocked again for a while, but there was still no response from inside.
In the living room, an elderly couple came over and asked, “Xiao Lin, what’s going on? Why hasn’t Xiao Mo gone out to work yet at this hour?”
Seeing everyone’s attention focused on him, Xi Wenlin forced a smile.
“Mo Xiu has probably been a bit tired these past couple of days. Let him rest for a day.”
The old woman nodded when she heard that and smiled somewhat ingratiatingly.
“Xiao Mo really has worked hard. Resting for a day is fine.
But just one day is enough—too long won’t do! Xiao Lin, you must talk to him properly. Young people should work more. Our whole team is relying on him.
Xiao Mo listens to you the most. If you tell him, he’ll definitely listen!”
Hearing that made Xi Wenlin even more annoyed.
But he knew clearly that the reason he held such a high status in the group was because he had deliberately led everyone to believe that Mo Xiu obeyed him completely.
So he waved his hand as if it didn’t matter.
“Got it.”
Then he hurried away.
Inside the room, Mo Xiu paid no attention to their conversation and soon fell asleep again.
Everything that had happened in his previous life replayed in his dreams like a movie.
In the dream, Mo Xiu once again saw the day the apocalypse began.
It had originally seemed like an ordinary day.
He had been in the library selecting books while planning his practical assignment.
He had no idea that something terrifying was quietly unfolding on campus.
Zombies appeared from nowhere and began biting passing students.
Chaos. Screams. Fear spreading everywhere.
Forced by the situation, he and the surviving students kept hiding from place to place.
Gradually, some people began awakening supernatural abilities.
Mo Xiu was considered lucky.
He was among the earliest to awaken powers—and he had two abilities: lightning and wind.
Perhaps because he was especially gifted, Mo Xiu quickly mastered his abilities.
Naturally, he became the main combat force of the group, working hard to protect the people around him.
Along the way, he also helped rescue survivors they encountered.
He really had been saintly to the extreme…
Mo Xiu slept until late at night.
Only after the sky had completely darkened did he finally wake up groggily.
Thinking back on the dream, he let out a self-mocking laugh.
Back then, in order to successfully lead everyone to Shanhe Base, he had deliberately stayed here for more than half a month.
All the food and supplies had been gathered through his own hard work.
It had taken them more than a month to reach their destination.
After that, he had stayed in Shanhe Base for several years.
There, he had continued working tirelessly to save people, acting like a beast of burden, hoping to contribute his strength to humanity in this apocalypse.
Yet reality had betrayed him.
Only when he was betrayed and killed did he finally realize how naive he had been.
Those people had always treated him like a fool.
If that was the case, then in this life, whoever wanted to be the workhorse could go ahead.
He would lie flat and live comfortably.
Stretching lazily, Mo Xiu still had no intention of getting out of bed.
Unfortunately, the loud rumbling from his stomach interrupted his plan to continue sleeping.
Mo Xiu sat up and casually grabbed the large backpack beside the bed.
The backpack was stuffed full of supplies. Some of it had originally been intended to distribute to the team today.
But now—he had worked hard to get these things.
Why should he give them to people who did nothing?
In the past, he had even restricted his own food so that everyone could eat.
Now he didn’t care anymore.
These were the fruits of his labor. He would enjoy them himself.
Mo Xiu pulled out a can of luncheon meat, opened it, and scooped a big spoonful into his mouth.
Then he tore open some bread and took a bite.
Vacuum-packed soda crackers, small packets of pickled bamboo shoots with preserved vegetables, and dark braised eggs.
Everything he wanted to eat, he opened and finished completely.
When it tasted a little salty, he even opened two bottles of drinks.
After eating and drinking his fill, he rubbed his bulging stomach and lay back down on the bed, closing his eyes to sleep again.
The exhaustion was difficult to eliminate—not only from his body, but also from everything he had experienced in his previous life.
Mo Xiu felt too tired.
After so many years in this endless apocalypse, his heart had already been riddled with wounds.
How long had it been since he had lain comfortably on a bed like this?
He almost wished he could keep sleeping forever and make up for all the rest he had missed in the past.
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