Volume One Chapter 1 Selfless Devotion Was All for Nothing

"Wu Xingxue! All you lost is your ability, but Mianmian has lost her face!"
"You've already taken twenty years of Mianmian's life, and now you won't even give her a source core? You're too selfish!"
"I don't have a cousin like you!"
Shen Chi pointed at Wu Xingxue's nose, cursing her furiously.
Wu Xingxue rolled her eyes, rather mildly, then nodded vigorously. "I think you're right! She really does have no shame."
"Oh, oh~"
Wu Xingxue mimicked his tone in a mocking falsetto, "I don't have a cousin like you~~~"
She spat hard. "I don't have a fool of a cousin like you either! What makes you think you're anything special?!"
Wu Xingxue watched Shen Chi coldly as he fumed with anger.
When she was eleven, upperclassmen would give her trouble. Shen Chi, only a year older, wasn't even taller than her then, but he'd rush in to fight, ending up bruised and with a broken arm.
She felt so sorry for him, but Shen Chi, with his split, swollen lips, would smile and say, "You're my cousin. If I don't protect you, who will? When I grow up, no one will dare bully you!"
The childish face overlapped with the contemptuous expression of the young man before her.
She could never have imagined that the sunny, cheerful boy who promised to protect her for life would become so unfamiliar now.
Shen Chi said, "Wu Xingxue, what right do you have to compete with Mianmian? Don't forget your identity!"
Twenty-three years ago, two baby girls were accidentally switched. Wu Xingxue, an orphan, grew up as the heiress of the Wu family, until a year before the apocalypse.
The real heiress, Wu Yumian, returned to the Wu family.
Wu Xingxue never rejected Wu Yumian's presence, even actively helping her integrate into the family.
Wu Xingxue believed that even without blood ties, the bond with her parents and brothers could not be severed, and Wu Yumian's return would change nothing.
Reality proved her wrong.
"Cousin! Even if Sister Axue has lost her ability, she's still a girl. How can you talk to her like that?"
Wu Yumian, slender and delicate, blinked her gentle eyes like a deer in the woods, sweet and pleasing.
Wu Xingxue narrowed her gaze slightly. Wu Yumian wielded a skillful knife—every cut invisible, but each one sharp.
She naturally aligned Shen Chi with herself against Wu Xingxue, all while constantly reminding Wu Xingxue of her lost power, poking at her wound.
Shen Chi sighed helplessly, "Mianmian, she's trying to take your things, and yet you speak up for her? Ah! You're just too kind!"
"The source core Big Brother brought back is from a high-level healing zombie—those are extremely rare, one in ten thousand. If we miss this, we may never find another!"
Wu Yumian widened her eyes in surprise, looking at the silent Wu Xunan. "Big Brother, you must have worked very hard for this source core?"
Wu Xunan, always steady as the eldest brother, saw her concern and smiled gently.
"Yes, it took two months and luck to find it, but unfortunately, there's only one."
Wu Yumian's eyes flickered. "Then give it to Sister. Though a healing source core might not repair a damaged ability core, what if it does?"
Wu Xingxue had no time for verbal sparring with Wu Yumian; her gaze was fixed on the healing source core.
"Big Brother, I need it."
Wu Xunan was stunned. Wu Xingxue hadn't asked him for anything in a long time.
He remembered how, as a child, Wu Xingxue was always attached to him. When she was losing her baby teeth, their mother only allowed her one piece of candy a day. For a second piece, Wu Xingxue would look at him with bright, longing eyes.
He would always give in to that gaze.
Wu Xunan instinctively started to hand her the source core, "Then I'll give—"
Wu Yumian's expression tightened, a flash of malice in her eyes.
Shen Chi suddenly stopped him, "I disagree! Why should she get it?"
He pointed to Wu Yumian's face, where near her ear was a half-finger-long blue scar.
"This zombie scratch—even a healer can't remove it completely. Only a healing source core can restore it!"
"Don't forget, Mianmian was hurt because of Wu Xingxue!"
Wu Xunan's hand tightened, withdrawing the source core.
Wu Xingxue saw his action and felt nothing but irony.
A month ago, zombies attacked the safe zone again. Wu Yumian, a normal person, insisted on going to the front lines instead of staying in logistics, and even rushed out to save a severely injured man.
With everyone watching, Wu Xingxue couldn't ignore her, so she went in herself.
It was a level six zombie—enough to make anyone tremble.
Wu Yumian clung to the corpse, insisting he could be saved, but Wu Xingxue knew he was long dead.
With the situation urgent, Wu Xingxue dragged Wu Yumian away, but Wu Yumian resisted.
That delay cost them dearly.
The high-level zombie shattered Wu Xingxue's ability core.
When she woke after fainting, she had gone from a high-level ability user to a weak invalid, now accused of abandoning her companion and harming Wu Yumian.
Wu Yumian's facial scratch was from trying to save the dead man, but it became evidence of Wu Xingxue's supposed malice.
They claimed that if the healer hadn't arrived with the serum in time, Wu Yumian would have died from viral infection.
Wu Xingxue, who saved others, became the villain, unable to defend herself.
By the time she woke, the verdict was already set; even her family didn't believe her, let alone outsiders.
Shen Chi said, "Shattering her ability core was her own fault!"
Wu Xingxue felt as if her whole body was frozen in winter, answering only with a cold laugh.
Wu Xunan looked at Wu Xingxue, who showed no guilt or regret, and felt disappointed.
He made his decision, "Mianmian gets it this time. Axue, consider this your punishment. If you reflect on yourself, I'll find you another one to repair your core."
Wu Xingxue replied calmly, "No need."
Wu Xunan frowned.
Wu Yumian spoke softly, "Big Brother, don't worry about me. I've been used to hardships since childhood; it's just a scar, nothing."
Shen Chi and Wu Xunan's eyes showed pity and guilt.
Wu Yumian, pretending innocence, said, "People outside say that with Sister's achievements, she could even take Father's place."
"If not for Sister, we wouldn't have the life we do now. We should thank her."
"Let Sister have the source core!"
Wu Xingxue felt a sinking in her heart at those words.
Troublemaker!
"Our Wu family's current life is earned by ourselves, not the merit of any one person!" a cold, sharp male voice came from the doorway.
"Some people just flaunt their abilities, their tails raised higher every day!"
Wu Xingxue turned—it was her father, Wu Sheng, and her mother, Shen Qian, returning.
Wu Yumian had timed this perfectly, knowing when Wu Sheng would come back.
Originally, Wu Xingxue insisted Wu Sheng merge their Wu base into the official safe zone. Because of that, Wu Sheng gained a high position in the safe zone and a small villa.
But at first, Wu Sheng strongly disagreed, refusing to trust Wu Xingxue's decision. After fierce arguments, he reluctantly agreed.
Reality proved Wu Xingxue was right and Wu Sheng wrong.
His pride and chauvinism couldn't accept it.
With Wu Yumian's manipulation, his resentment towards Wu Xingxue grew deeper.
Wu Sheng asked, "What are you all arguing about?"
Shen Chi quickly explained.
Wu Sheng told Wu Xunan, "Such a precious thing should go to your real sister, so she doesn't get hurt again by someone who's healed and then harms her."
"Those who aren't family will never truly share our hearts."
Wu Xingxue's gaze passed over Wu Sheng's thin, not broad shoulders.
She remembered sitting there as a child, laughing with him in the garden, the scent of flowers still lingering in her memory.
Finally, she looked at her silent mother, Shen Qian, who used to tell her stories every night, braid her hair, and pin a little flower.
Now, she wouldn't speak a word for her.
So, they were never truly family...
Wu Xingxue's gaze was sharp as a blade, aimed at Wu Sheng. "When the apocalypse broke out, I protected you all the way; without me, none of you would have left the Wu estate alive."
"And founding the Wu base—that was mostly my achievement!"
Wu Xingxue gave a cold laugh. "Now that things are calm, you tell me we're not family? Then my years of selfless dedication were wasted on dogs."
Wu Sheng's face flushed with anger. "Who taught you to speak like that!? More and more disrespectful!"
"For your jealousy and harm to Mianmian, I should punish you severely! Without the Wu family, you couldn't even stand here and argue with me!"
"Wretch! Even if I told you to die, you'd have to do as I say!"
Wu Xingxue's shallow bitterness was quickly wiped away by Wu Sheng's fury and the family's contempt.
In her past life, as a mercenary alone in gunfire and rain, she never had a family.
After failing a mission and being killed, she suddenly found herself in this world as an infant, with five doting brothers and loving parents—it was like a dream.
She had fulfilled her longing for family.
But that dream should have ended the moment Wu Yumian returned.
Wu Xingxue spoke slowly, "I've repaid the Wu family's kindness. From now on, we share the same surname but not the same home."
Wu Xunan was startled. "Axue, what do you mean? Are you severing ties with us?"
Wu Xingxue said, "Yes."
Wu Xunan felt an indescribable sadness.
Wu Sheng laughed in fury. "Fine, fine, fine! Let her go! Ungrateful creature!"
Wu Yumian's eyes turned, "Sister, don't upset Father. Even if you're leaving, you shouldn't just go—at least pack some things."
Wu Sheng was reminded, "Pack what! Everything in this house is controlled by me! If she's severing ties, then nothing here belongs to her!"
"You want to leave? Get out! Our Wu family can't afford to keep you anymore!"
Wu Xingxue almost laughed out loud.
Even now, Wu Yumian couldn't stop sowing discord.
The whole family was being played like puppets—truly foolish.
She hadn't planned to take anything, because she didn't have much.
But since they'd pushed her this far,
She couldn't leave without doing something—she owed it to herself.
Wu Xingxue said, "If I can't take anything, at least let me use the bathroom?"
Everyone was stunned.
Before they could react, Wu Xingxue walked to the public restroom on the first floor.
Shen Chi, eager for drama, said, "I'll watch her! Everything in this house belongs to Uncle—don't let this ingrate take anything!"
Wu Yumian wouldn't miss the show, saying, "Cousin, don't be too harsh."
But she followed Shen Chi, eyes blazing, eager to see what happened.
Wu Xingxue went into the bathroom obediently.
Shen Chi said, "She must be stalling for time. Such a clumsy trick can't fool my keen eyes!"
"When she comes out to beg, Mianmian, you'll see how I humiliate her. She's gotten too bold, daring to compete with you!"
Wu Yumian offered a perfunctory warning, but her eyes shone, waiting for the spectacle.
Wu Xingxue closed the door and smiled darkly.
"Just wait and see!"
Her consciousness entered her space; she intended to find a handy tool, but unexpectedly, something new had appeared in her space.
With a thought, an enormous beast tooth, as long as a hand and as thick as a wrist, appeared in Wu Xingxue's hand.
Wu Xingxue was stunned. "What is this? It's not mine!"
But she found the beast tooth surprisingly comfortable to hold.
Outside, Shen Chi kept urging her, but Wu Xingxue had no time to question how the item appeared in her space.
She looked at the tooth. "All right, I'll use you then!"