Chapter 69: Su Miao Only Wants to Enjoy Her Hotpot in Peace

How many times had she cleaned the room now? Su Miao had lost count.

She had thrown out all the tables, chairs, and sofas that were stained with blood and bits of flesh. After nearly five hours of relentless work, Su Miao and Xia Xiao’an finally managed to clean the living room on the third floor.

Once the cleaning was done, she soaked in a hot bath, and by the time she emerged, it was already ten in the evening.

Because of all that had happened during the day, neither Su Miao nor Xia Xiao’an had much of an appetite. They each ate a slice of cake, calling it dinner.

Xia Xiao’an looked utterly exhausted. Not long after finishing her cake, she fell asleep.

Su Miao scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

She really needed to find Xia Xiao’an some new clothes. Up until now, the girl had been wearing Su Miao’s own things. Although she’d stored plenty of clothes in her magical space, they had all been chosen for herself. The more battles they fought, the more her clothes were ruined by blood and grime. All her old school dresses, JK uniforms, everything she’d once worn to class had already been used by Xia Xiao’an. Even the maid outfit she’d worn for cosplay in high school was gone.

Su Miao recalled how adorable Xia Xiao’an had looked in that maid costume. What a pity.

But back to the main problem: they were in a tourist area, far from the city. Even if she wanted to take advantage of the apocalypse and “shop for free” at the mall, it was simply impossible.

At twelve years old, Xia Xiao’an was light, soft, and sweet.

Su Miao yawned, tucked Xia Xiao’an in, and returned to her own room. Any problems could wait until morning.

The next day, Su Miao was jolted awake by the blaring of a loudspeaker.

“Su Miao, our boss wishes to negotiate with you and restore peace to the Panshan Tourist Area!”

“We can all sit down and talk over the conditions.”

“Too many people have died already. If this continues, no one will survive.”

“Our boss said, ‘No conflict, no acquaintance.’ He hopes we can cooperate and move forward together, surviving this apocalypse as one!”

The noise was unbearable!

Groggy with sleep, Su Miao pulled open the curtains and cautiously peered outside. At some point, the torrential rain had stopped.

In recent days, the downpour would sometimes pause for a few hours. But the temperature was dropping steadily.

A blizzard and deadly cold were not far off.

Su Miao frowned. For the moment, that wasn’t her primary concern.

The real issue was that she’d been rudely awakened.

She retrieved her AK-47 and quickly located the source of the loudspeaker.

Bang!

One shot and the loudspeaker exploded.

It was only because the person manning the loudspeaker was out of her line of sight and well hidden that they survived. Otherwise, she would have taken them out as well.

Su Miao put the gun back into her magical space, glanced at the time—it was only eight o’clock.

She went back to sleep.

…

In a villa in the eastern area, where the ground had sunk into a mudslide, the young man responsible for the announcements looked toward Xu Heng with fear in his eyes. “Leader, the loudspeaker’s been blown up…”

“So moral coercion didn’t work?”

“It would be a miracle if it worked on a killer witch like her,” Xu Heng replied. “We have more loudspeakers. At noon, try again.”

The young man nodded nervously.

Idiot.

Xu Heng shot him a glance and walked away.

He’d just had the loudspeaker fetched from storage that morning, and this fool hadn’t even checked the time before shouting toward Villa 36. Was he mad?

Judging by Su Miao’s response time, she was likely sleeping in.

To be able to sleep so soundly in such a dangerous environment—impressive.

But if anyone actually thought Su Miao was indifferent to danger, the company that had launched multiple assaults on her was truly incompetent.

No matter when they attacked, Su Miao always managed to repel them, inflicting heavy casualties each time.

Xu Heng gazed at Villa 36, feeling a headache forming.

Negotiation had been his suggestion.

But if the talks failed, what would the boss do?

Xu Heng shivered inwardly—he didn’t even need to think about the answer.

…

Near noon, Su Miao woke up again.

This time, she felt refreshed.

“I’m starving!”

She headed to the living room, set up her alcohol stove, and prepared to make a beef hotpot.

She used to only eat hotpot at night, but it always ended badly—either attracting unwelcome trouble, being attacked by the company at dinnertime, or even having mutated animals intrude. She had never once finished a meal in peace.

This time, she’d eat hotpot for lunch instead—surely nothing would go wrong.

Xia Xiao’an was already up and reading in the living room.

“You’re awake, big sister!”

Xia Xiao’an’s excitement was obvious. Her stomach rumbled, betraying her true thoughts.

“Xiao’an, we’re having beef hotpot for lunch.”

Su Miao lit the burner, added water and soup base to the pot.

Xia Xiao’an went to wash some mushrooms and tossed them in.

As the pot came to a boil and the beef slices went in, the delicious aroma began to fill the air.

In the past, the smell of hotpot would draw greedy survivors to Villa 36, hoping to break in.

Now, she didn’t need to worry about that.

Too many had died in front of Villa 36. Even the ruthless company was nearly wiped out by Su Miao. Her reputation as the “killer witch” had become a terror among the survivors. Whether or not anyone caught the scent, no one dared come looking for trouble anymore.

But this time, Su Miao had miscalculated.

Barely had they begun eating when the loudspeaker blared again:

“Su Miao, our boss is here to negotiate sincerely!”

“We hope you’ll consider the many survivors in the tourist area and agree to these talks so we can all survive.”

“You must have seen the huge mutated rats around the area. They can solve our food crisis, but they could also become a disaster. We need to unite to eliminate them before they threaten everyone’s lives.”

“Su Miao, think of all the young students still here—they are our future.”

“With great power comes great responsibility…”

At the dining table, Xia Xiao’an blinked and sensed Su Miao’s growing rage.

Su Miao said nothing. She walked to the window, took out the AK-47, and shot the company’s loudspeaker to pieces.

“Peace at last—let’s eat.”

“Mm.” Xia Xiao’an smiled softly.

In the eastern mudslide zone, Xu Heng cast a wary glance toward Villa 36. “Take a break,” he said.

The announcement team sat on the floor, still shaken.

They’d almost died again.

Su Miao and Xia Xiao’an continued with their hotpot.

She thought they could finally enjoy a quiet meal, but just thirty minutes later, a commotion erupted downstairs.

Was it too much to ask for a peaceful hotpot?

Su Miao grabbed her AK-47, ready to check things out.

“Big sister, it’s the security team—they’re running for their lives…”

Suddenly, Xia Xiao’an’s face was stricken with fear. “There’s something terrifying chasing them.”