【Author's Note: This is my first story. I started writing it on a whim because I ran out of books to read, so it might not be very good.】

......................

Rumble!

The torrential rain poured down, and raindrops the size of beans smashed violently against him. Every drop seemed to carry a thousand pounds of force, causing a piercing pain.

Rainwater mixed with blood, creating a pungent, metallic stench that flowed across the ground, making one gag.

The vicious curses of several robbers rang in his ears. They were brazenly dividing the loot, as if the person they had thrown on the ground was nothing more than trash.

He had been stabbed over a dozen times. Every wound continuously seeped blood, staining the muddy water beneath him a deep red. He could clearly feel his life force slipping away from his body bit by bit, like sand in an hourglass that could not be grasped.

Gradually, his limbs became heavy and weak, and his fingers slowly lost sensation. Finally, this numbness spread throughout his entire body. The approach of death caused a surge of despair to rise in his heart.

The jade pendant he had been clutching tightly was also snatched away by the murderer.

At this moment, he felt so small and powerless.

He struggled to snatch it back, but he didn't even have the strength to make a sound.

In the end, he could only sink into the darkness with a heart full of resentment...

"Damn it, this crappy pendant looks like a piece of plastic. He fought so hard for it, I thought it was something valuable. What a jinx!"

A short, thin Middle-aged Man finished rummaging through Zhou Yang's small, worn-out bag. Hopping mad, he gave the lifeless corpse on the ground a vicious kick and casually tossed the stolen pendant back onto it.

"He doesn't have a drop of water on him, just half a bag of biscuit crumbs and one peanut candy. What a poor loser!"

"Isn't that your own fault? I told you to slit his throat, but you insisted on stabbing him. Fine, go ahead and stab him, but you even missed the mark!" another man with a large beard and a scar on his face sneered, mocking his accomplice.

"Who knew he'd be so alert? He dodged the first blow! And he resisted so fiercely—he even had a small knife hidden on him. I almost got stabbed by him instead."

"Alright, alright, hurry up, pack the stuff and let's go. There's too much blood; the Zombies will smell it and be here in a moment."

A Tattooed Man who looked like the leader glanced sideways at Zhou Yang's corpse, spat on the ground, and urged the others before turning to leave.

"Pah, a waste of effort. This little bit of stuff isn't even enough to trade for a cigarette, and I got blood all over me, wasting a set of clothes. Let's go, let's head back and find a woman to blow off some steam."

The short, thin man wiped his knife on the corpse's clothes before putting it away and following the Tattooed Man.

The others also packed their things and followed, discussing which beautiful new women had arrived in the Base's Red-Light District.

No one noticed that the jade pendant thrown onto the corpse was gradually emitting a faint glow, growing brighter and brighter until it swallowed Zhou Yang's entire body.

"Cough, cough!"

Zhou Yang was awakened by thirst. His throat felt as if it had been scraped by a knife, making him feel extremely uncomfortable and forcing him to wake from his slumber.

With his eyes half-open, he vaguely felt his body, but he couldn't feel any wounds or a single trace of pain. Zhou Yang's eyes instantly widened in surprise as he fully regained consciousness.

Wasn't he dead?

Hadn't he been stabbed dozens of times by those bandits and died?

How could there be no sensation and no wounds?

Zhou Yang suddenly sprang up from the bed, staring blankly and intently at the familiar yet strange starry sky ceiling above him. At this moment, his heart felt as if a storm had swept through it, creating turbulent waves.

Wasn't this his own room?

This starry sky ceiling was a starry totem his mother had specially designed for him. There was only one like it in the world; there was absolutely no mistaking it!

Zhou Yang stared blankly at his surroundings, his mind unable to process it for a moment.

His hand unconsciously felt around beside him, and his fingertips touched a hint of coolness. Looking down, it was the Yin-Yang talisman-shaped jade pendant his mother had given him, which had been stolen.

At this moment, it was also resting safely by his pillow.

He carefully put the jade pendant back around his neck, then picked up the phone on the nightstand to check the time.

4:19 AM, April 5, 2030—the Qingming Festival.

There were still three months left until the day the Apocalypse arrived in his memory.

Was he... reborn?

Zhou Yang was a bit unsure of the current situation.

The matter of rebirth was indeed a bit far-fetched... and how did he even get reborn? He didn't have any of those golden fingers from novels.

Could it be his ancestors showing their power? Or his parents in heaven protecting him?

It couldn't be because of this crappy jade around his neck, right? Hahaha... Sigh, maybe he just had a nightmare.

It was just that this dream felt a bit too real.

The Apocalypse descended, and the entire world fell into darkness and despair. The once prosperous and bustling cities had all become a playground for Zombies, with ruins and devastation everywhere. Every place was filled with the aura of death and decay, as if telling the tale of the end of human civilization.

Even more hair-raising was that those people who should have died "resurrected" in another terrifying way. Their faces were hideous, their bodies twisted and rotting, and they transformed into Zombies that fed on living people, frantically hunting and devouring other humans who were still alive.

The figures of Zombies and those nauseating, bloody images constantly appeared in his mind. Those bloody and cruel scenes, and the fear that penetrated his very marrow, kept haunting his heart, refusing to dissipate for a long time.

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Zhou Yang simply got up, turned on his computer, and recorded the major events that had happened in his mind up until his death in the Apocalypse one by one.

Whether it was a dream or reality, he would record it first. If it were true, he could also take precautions.

However, the answer would soon be revealed.

He clearly remembered that on the Qingming Festival in his dream—which was today—a sensational event occurred in S City.

At 7:00 AM on this morning, a lonely old woman in her sixties, seeking justice for her dead family, went to the house of a rich second-generation heir. The heir had struck and killed her son's family of three but had a driver take the fall, ultimately paying only a few hundred thousand and walking free. There, she burned herself to death.

A little over an hour after it happened, the event went straight to the top of the social news and major websites, attracting everyone's attention. This forced the higher-ups to re-examine the case, eventually leading to the rich heir being sentenced to ten years in prison. But the family of four who died could never come back.

He wrote without realizing that dawn had broken, filling over a dozen pages of documentation.

When he sighingly typed the final paragraph about his own tragic death and saved the document, he realized it was already bright outside.

Zhou Yang made a copy of the document and transferred it to his phone. Then, he rubbed his stiff neck, stretched, and stood up.

Feeling his empty stomach, Zhou Yang washed up and then went to the kitchen to find something to eat and make breakfast.

Walking into the kitchen and looking at the familiar yet strange utensils, Zhou Yang dithered for a moment.

They should have been the most familiar things, yet it felt as if they hadn't been used in many years. Just like him in his memories, he hadn't touched kitchen utensils for over three years... Shaking his head to stop thinking about these things, Zhou Yang opened the refrigerator and first took a piece of toast to line his stomach. After checking the ingredients inside, he took out two eggs, two tomatoes, and a handful of green vegetables, then took a small pack of dried noodles from the cabinet.

He planned to make Tomato and Egg Noodles.

Since his parents died unexpectedly when he was seventeen, he had gradually learned to do housework himself. Now, he was very skilled at laundry and cooking.

Although a few relatives had popped up wanting to adopt him, he had refused them all. They weren't close to begin with, and it was all too clear why they wanted to adopt him. Besides, he was only a year away from being an adult, so there was really no need.

He first prepared the tomato and egg sauce, then started the pot to boil the noodles. Once the noodles were cooked, he drained them and rinsed them with cold water, then poured the tomato and egg sauce over them and sprinkled on a handful of chopped green onions.

A steaming bowl of Tomato and Egg Noodles was ready.

Just as he brought the noodles to the dining table and sat down, Zhou Yang couldn't help but take a large mouthful. As the hot noodles went down, his stomach was instantly warmed.

Perhaps influenced by the sense of hunger in his dream, he couldn't help but devour them as he ate. In a few minutes, he had finished the large bowl of noodles.

But he still didn't feel satisfied, so he had to go make another bowl. This time, he kept it simple and used ready-made scallion oil sauce to make scallion oil noodles, finishing them in just a few large bites.

This time, he was finally full.

After breakfast, Zhou Yang put the dishes into the dishwasher, then took the grave-sweeping supplies he had prepared in advance and headed out.

Although it was not yet 7:00 AM, there were already many vehicles on the road, most of them heading toward the cemetery.

This year's Qingming Festival was gloomy again, as if shrouded by a thick gray curtain, making one feel oppressed and dull. Fortunately, it wasn't raining.

Zhou Yang drove, following the flow of traffic.

It wasn't very congested, but it still took over 30 minutes to reach the suburban cemetery.

The cemetery was built on an entire small hill. Those visiting the graves could only walk up the mountain, so all cars were parked in the lot at the foot of the entrance.

After parking the car, Zhou Yang carried several bags and followed the crowd up the mountain.

The grounds were vast, but they couldn't withstand the large number of visitors. The air was already thick with the scent of incense and quite murky, but no one complained. Every face bore a solemn expression, and even the children were not crying or making a fuss.

Zhou Yang followed the route in his memory to the gravestone where his parents were buried together.

A black-and-white photo was embedded in the cold stone tablet. Due to long-term exposure to sun and rain, the photo had long since lost its former luster and appeared dim.

Despite this, one could still vaguely distinguish the appearance of the couple in the photo. The man was handsome, cheerful, and loved to smile; the woman was graceful, quiet, and gentle. Their faces were frozen on this stone tablet, forever staying in that most beautiful moment.

“Dad, Mom, I've come to see you again.”

He first took out a pot of small chrysanthemums and a pot of Baby's Breath from his bag and placed them before the tablet. Baby's Breath was his mother's favorite flower.

“The chrysanthemums are for Dad. Anyway, Dad, you were never picky, so it shouldn't matter, right? The Baby's Breath is for Mom; it's your favorite.”

After speaking, he pulled out a rag and carefully wiped the gravestone. Then, he cleared away the scattered branches around the base and the few weeds growing in the crevices.

Having finished this, Zhou Yang returned to the front of the grave and laid out several of his parents' favorite foods one by one.

“Mom, your favorite red bean sticky rice cakes! And peanuts and beer to satisfy Dad's cravings.”

“Mom, Dad, Yang Yang misses you very much.”

Zhou Yang's eyes suddenly felt a bit stinging.

“I seemed to have a dream last night, but it didn't quite feel like a dream. Several hours have passed since I woke up, and I can still remember it clearly. Tell me... was it really a dream?”

“The Apocalypse... it's just too ridiculous... it's not like we're filming a movie...”

“Right? It really is too ridiculous...”

Zhou Yang whispered his complaints to his parents' gravestone while placing the prepared Paper Ingots and Spirit Money into the nearby incinerator bin to burn. These were specially provided by the cemetery for visitors.

He continued to chatter with his parents for a long time until his legs went numb from squatting. Only then did he realize he had unknowingly spent over an hour at the cemetery.

“Mom, Dad, it's about time. I'll head back now. I'll come see you again during the next long holiday.”

Zhou Yang rubbed his legs and stood up unsteadily.

After tidying up the trash, he took one last look at his parents' portraits on the gravestone before turning to leave.

Back in the car, while waiting for the engine to warm up, Zhou Yang opened his phone to check the news online. The homepages of major websites were still filled with Qingming greetings. The occasional news items were just trivial matters; there were no major events.

He checked the time again; it wasn't even 8:00 AM yet.

Putting down his phone, Zhou Yang drove home.

The road was smooth at first, but as he neared the city center on his way back, he hit a traffic jam.

Never mind the scooters nearby; even bicycles were moving faster than they were.

Seeing that he wouldn't even make it through the next two red lights, Zhou Yang boredly opened his phone to scroll through the news. After just a few swipes, a headline popped up—'Elderly Woman Living Alone Commits Self-Immolation at the Entrance of a Luxury Mansion in S City, Dies on the Spot!'

Exposed along with the self-immolation incident was the dispute over a car accident between the elderly woman and the owner of the mansion, exactly the same as in his dream memories.

Looking at the news, Zhou Yang's hand holding the phone couldn't help but tremble.

He really... had been reborn!

The dream... no, that wasn't a dream; it was his personal experience from his previous life!

“Beep!—”

Suddenly, a piercing horn from behind snapped him out of it.

Zhou Yang forced himself to calm down, steadied his mind, and then set his phone aside for the moment to focus on driving.

He needed to get home first.

After another ten minutes of traffic, Zhou Yang finally returned home safely.

As soon as he arrived, Zhou Yang opened his computer and re-organized the contents of the document he had recorded. Then, he added quite a bit of content that he hadn't written down yet.

By the time he put down his laptop, two hours had passed.

Zhou Yang's heart felt a bit heavy.

The Apocalypse might have had traces to follow long ago.

Unprecedented record-breaking sustained high temperatures, a sudden 9.5 magnitude earthquake in a region clearly not on a fault line, mass migrations of birds and beasts in many places, and a super typhoon that devastated almost all coastal cities from south to north... it's just that no one took these things to heart, not even the government or the state.

By the time that apocalyptic fog arrived, it was too late... without anyone being prepared, the Apocalypse virus broke out.

At first, the government tried to control the spread of the virus and maintain order, but in just half a month, almost all cities fell, and the state machinery was paralyzed.

Zombies roamed every street and alley, and the blood of the living soaked every inch of the city's soil.

The survivors were forced away from the cities, leaving their homes to establish new survival bases and band together for survival.

And more terrifying than natural disasters and Zombies were the man-made calamities.

Thinking of the various incidents of burning, killing, and looting during the Apocalypse, as well as the cause of his own death, Zhou Yang couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Now that he was reborn, he naturally had to make plans early this time. However, he was just an ordinary person who had just graduated and hadn't even finished his internship; he could only look out for himself first.

As for others, or even the state, he would likely be treated as a lunatic if he spoke out. When the time was right, he would post some Apocalypse-related threads online in advance to warn everyone. As for whether they believed it or not, he would leave that to fate.

Zhou Yang began writing a schedule for himself on the computer, making a detailed list of the remaining time, things that must be done, and necessary supplies.

First, he needed to get as much money as possible.

He had used the savings his parents left behind for school, so basically nothing remained. As for other stocks and funds, because he didn't know how to manage them and had no time to follow them, he had withdrawn them directly back then—about 500,000 or so—and deposited them in the bank along with the 3 million plus from the insurance company payout. There was also this three-bedroom apartment he lived in, which his parents had also left him; it was even in a good school district. At current housing prices, it could probably sell for about 5 million. Later, he could get some online loans or something, which could bring in another 1 million or so. Funding shouldn't be a problem.

His home was in a coastal area, which suffered miserably during the early natural disasters and would face threats from the ocean after the Apocalypse began. He needed to go to the inland safety base from his previous life to rent a suitable house and renovate it. The existing decorations could survive the early disasters but wouldn't necessarily withstand the Ability Users and Mutated Beasts of the Apocalypse; it wasn't safe enough.

Finally, and most importantly, supplies.

From water and food to medicine and gasoline, then to outdoor survival gear, Zhou Yang carefully listed several pages of tables.

But even if he had ample funds and could buy everything, such a massive amount of supplies wouldn't fit in even the largest house. He had to find a safe place... but in the Apocalypse, where was there any safe place?

He worried privately, his hand unconsciously fumbling with the Jade Pendant around his neck.

Without paying attention, he felt a sharp pain in his thumb.

Looking down, he saw his thumb had been cut by the metal clasp of the Jade Pendant. Blood immediately seeped out from the cut and even stained the Jade Pendant.

Just as Zhou Yang was about to wipe it with a tissue, he discovered the bloodstain on the Jade Pendant had disappeared, and it was faintly emitting a trace of radiance.

“This...”

Looking at the Jade Pendant in his hand, Zhou Yang couldn't help but be speechless. Before he could figure it out, the Jade Pendant suddenly erupted with brilliant light. He felt a wave of dizziness, and then he vanished from the spot.

When Zhou Yang regained his senses and opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange space.

Above him were blue skies and white clouds, and beneath his feet was a lush green lawn. Not far away stood an exquisite Three-story wooden building with a courtyard enclosed by a fence. Further off, a small mountain shrouded in mist loomed indistinctly.

As far as the eye could see, the vast expanse was like a series of stunning paintings.

Is this the space inside the jade pendant?

Zhou Yang looked down at the jade pendant on his chest, which was still glowing faintly. The Phoenix Carving on the half-Yin-Yang Symbol now looked even more lifelike, as if it might come alive at any moment.

After a while, the light slowly faded, and it returned to looking like an ordinary, cheap piece of jade.

Zhou Yang was amazed. For a moment, he couldn't figure out the mystery of the jade pendant passed down from his mother's side, so he had to set it aside for now.

After looking around the space again, Zhou Yang was filled with wild joy.

Great, now I don't have to worry about where to store the supplies.

He wandered around excitedly and found a Cellar beneath the small wooden building. He could feel that it was very large inside and seemed to be in a state of stasis, as he couldn't breathe at all and had to retreat after less than half a minute.

The small mountain on the other side of the space was also a bit peculiar. Although it wasn't high and there was no obvious temperature difference, it was covered in a thick mist.

Zhou Yang tried to walk up, but he couldn't move an inch further once he touched the thick mist, so he eventually gave up.

After getting a general idea of the space's layout, Zhou Yang began to research how to get out. Thinking of how the protagonists in novels could leave just by thinking about it, he tried it, and it actually worked.

Although he felt that the space was now bound to him and the jade pendant was no longer useful, Zhou Yang still carefully tucked it into his clothes. Worried he might lose it, he eventually decided to store it inside the small building in the space.

Now that he had the space, his plan for supplies needed some adjustments. He could now arrange for more large, bulky items that were difficult to carry.

Furthermore, the Cellar in the space was in a state of stasis and could store perishable food. This meant he could prepare some meals in advance or buy ready-made food to put inside, so he could have a hot meal even when it was inconvenient to cook during the Apocalypse.

There were only three months left until the Apocalypse, so Zhou Yang decided to resign after the holidays.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Yang immediately opened the Taobao website. According to his plan, he first bought a batch of essential supplies online, such as the largest size water storage tanks and gasoline drums, as well as various daily necessities, outdoor survival gear, and clothing for all four seasons. He chose installment payments whenever possible, the longer the better. He didn't care about interest now; after all, he basically wouldn't have to pay it back. He did whatever it took to save money.

Then, Zhou Yang went out with his documents to list his house for sale at a real estate agency. Because he was in a hurry to sell, he listed it for only 4.5 million, but it had to be a full payment made all at once. Then he went to the bank to withdraw his fixed-term deposits; the principal plus interest came to a full 4.3 million. After that, he went to the suburbs and rented the most remote warehouse to use as a delivery point.

Next, he went to the agricultural and sideline products wholesale market in the west of the city and purchased a large quantity of ordinary rice, flour, dried noodles, dried vermicelli, and dried rice noodles, as well as various fruits and vegetables, chicken, duck, and goose eggs, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, spices, various dried goods, and frozen foods. It was enough to last him at least fifty or sixty years. After negotiating the price with several bosses, Zhou Yang paid a 50% deposit and asked them to deliver everything to the warehouse, with the balance to be paid upon receipt.

After arranging the delivery time, thinking that the space should be suitable for planting, Zhou Yang rushed to the Flower and Bird Market without stopping. He bought all kinds of vegetable seedlings, fruit tree saplings, and every seed he could find, not even sparing flower seeds. He also bought various tools for planting.

These things weren't too many, so Zhou Yang first loaded them into the trunk and, using the car as cover, put them all directly into the space.

Just as he was about to leave, he saw a stall selling poultry hatchlings in an alley and suddenly had a brainwave.

I wonder if the space can be used for raising animals... Why not give it a try?

No sooner said than done. Zhou Yang immediately ran inside, bought a pair of chicks from the owner, and returned to the car. Then he tried to put the chicks into the space. The two chicks went in smoothly and were jumping around inside, perfectly fine.

Zhou Yang was instantly overjoyed; he wouldn't have to worry about eating meat in the future.

So, he hurried back to find that stall owner and bought a cage each of chickens, ducks, and geese. He couldn't tell the males from the females, but he requested the owner to include only one or two males of each kind. Once back in the car, he put them all into the space as before.

It's just that there don't seem to be any piglets for sale here. It looks like he'll have to find time to go to the countryside; how could there be no pork on the dining table?

This market did sell rabbits, but they were all pet rabbits, not meat rabbits. They wouldn't taste good and were hard to raise, so Zhou Yang only took one look before leaving.

After leaving the Flower and Bird Market, Zhou Yang rushed to the Seafood Wholesale Market and purchased a large batch of freshwater and saltwater seafood.

It's a pity there's no fish pond in the space, otherwise he could raise fish. However, buying more aquatic products was fine; they wouldn't spoil in the space's Cellar anyway.

Having bought enough food, the most important thing—water—couldn't be left out either.

Zhou Yang went directly to a local water company and purchased 200 barrels of the cheapest 10L bottled water and 500 cases of 500ml bottled water. Compared to the famous brands on the market, it was both cheap and practical.

This batch of water wasn't a large amount; it was what Zhou Yang prepared for emergencies during the Apocalypse. For more water resources, he planned to go to A certain mountain spring's water source for a "zero-dollar shopping" spree once the large water tanks he ordered online arrived.

By the end of the day, Zhou Yang had spent over 1 million in total, with over 3 million remaining in his card.

On his way back, he happened to pass by a wet market. Realizing there wasn't much food at home, he stopped in to buy 2 catties of ribs, 2 catties of pork belly, and a few vegetables.

By the time he got home, it was already past 5 o'clock.

He changed his clothes and went straight to the kitchen to make dinner.

First, he started the rice, then washed and blanched the ribs before stir-frying them. While the ribs were braising, he took out a handful of green vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, and tomatoes to prep. He also took a box of fatty beef out of the fridge, planning to make another dish and a soup.

A plate of braised ribs, a dish of green vegetables with shiitake mushrooms, a bowl of tomato and fatty beef soup, plus two bowls of white rice.

Zhou Yang actually ate every last bit.

After finishing his meal and tidying up the kitchen, he washed up and lay in bed, then impatiently entered the space.

As soon as he entered, he saw the chicken, duck, and goose hatchlings running all over the place, which gave Zhou Yang a headache.

It looked like he'd have to make a coop for these little guys and fence them in later; having them run around like this was annoying.

Zhou Yang avoided the little ones and walked to where the vegetable and tree seedlings were stored. He untied and categorized the fruit tree saplings. Then he dug several rows of holes and planted a few fruit tree saplings first. Once finished, he looked at the huge pile of vegetable seedlings and felt overwhelmed. Did he need to clear a field first?

Sigh, if only this space could turn over a patch of planting field on its own. It wouldn't even need to be large—one mu would be enough to plant plenty of vegetables.

Just as he finished the thought, a large patch of grass in front of the small building suddenly trembled. In the blink of an eye, it became a patch of tilled black soil.

Hey! The space has this function too? Then could it also directly make a shed for these chicken, duck, and goose hatchlings?

With that thought in mind, three sheds were indeed generated not far outside the courtyard wall.

Zhou Yang beamed with joy and quickly herded the chickens, ducks, and geese into their respective sheds. Now it was finally quiet.

Returning to the edge of the field, he happily thought it would be great if these vegetables could plant themselves, and then... nothing happened.

The seedlings still lay there quietly.

Zhou Yang was silent for three seconds.

It seemed he could only control things inherent to the space; planting still had to be done by himself.

Sighing, Zhou Yang picked up a small hoe and began to diligently plant the vegetable seedlings.

He planted one ridge for each type, a total of seven ridges: cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, chili peppers, beans, green peppers, and okra. After watering each of the seedlings, he finally left the space.

Looking at his phone, less than ten minutes had passed, even though he had been inside for at least half an hour. It seemed the time flow in the space was different from reality.

This was good; otherwise, planting vegetables would take up too much time in the future.