Tang Xiaoman realized it almost instantly—

The flash flood had begun.

The water churned violently, thick and muddy. Beneath the surface, visibility dropped to nothing; even something right in front of you vanished into the murk.

Thank heaven she’d had the foresight to tie herself and Zhou Yichen together with a rope. Otherwise, they would have been swept apart long ago, each carried who knew where.

Gripping the rope tightly, she made a split-second decision and pulled them both into her space.

*

In her previous life, the flash flood had struck during the day, destroying a third of Lincheng and leaving countless casualties in its wake.

This time, it came earlier—and under cover of night.

The rain had only just stopped for a couple of days. People had poured out in droves, scavenging for food and supplies. Even at night, many were still out on the water.

No one could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, the calm would shatter—earth trembling, water surging like a collapsing mountain.

Before such a catastrophic force, humanity was no more than drifting weeds or crawling ants, utterly powerless to resist.

A thunderous roar echoed across the sky. Those floating on the water thought it was just thunder.

But the sky was eerily dark, like an iron lid sealed over the world—no light, not even a sliver.

Then the water began to heave.

Waves rose where there should have been none.

People on kayaks, makeshift rafts, and assault boats were nearly thrown overboard. Clinging to whatever kept them afloat, they swung their flashlights wildly, shouting in fear:

“What’s going on? Why did it suddenly go pitch black?”

“This is a city—how are there waves like this?!”

“Wasn’t it like this during the typhoon? Don’t tell me another one’s coming!”

Realizing something was terribly wrong, they tried to head back.

But in the suffocating darkness, no one could tell direction. Most people ended up circling in place—or colliding into one another.

The strange, muffled rumbling grew louder and louder, like some colossal beast rising from the depths, ready to unleash destruction.

The water surged and rolled.

It felt as though they were no longer in a flooded city, but adrift in the open sea—on the verge of a storm.

*

The two bodyguards Gu Heng had sent out were still in their inflatable kayak, sweeping the area with powerful flashlights, searching for any sign of Tang Xiaoman—or her corpse.

Every so often, they fired a shot into the water, more to appease Gu Heng than out of any real expectation of hitting something.

They saw nothing.

The sky darkened further—until the last trace of light vanished.

Even their high-powered flashlights seemed swallowed by the darkness. They couldn’t see far… barely even the water beneath their own boat.

Suddenly, the surface convulsed.

The kayak nearly flipped over.

Luckily, both men were heavy enough to steady it in time.

But the waves didn’t subside—if anything, they grew stronger, tossing the kayak violently.

A deep, unnatural rumble rolled from the horizon. Something beneath the water kept surging upward, driving the water level higher and higher.

The two men panicked, waving their flashlights frantically, searching for the hovering helicopter.

But in the blink of an eye, the waves had already pushed them far from where they started.

“Help! We’re over here! Pull us up!” They abandoned the search entirely, shouting at the top of their lungs.

In a world without light, sound traveled farther than ever.

“Idiot! Call Young Master Gu!”

One of them fumbled for his phone, hands trembling, and dialed Gu Heng—

No signal.

*

When the waves first surged, the helicopter hovering just three or four meters above the water took a heavy hit.

The aircraft shook violently. The pilot’s face went pale as death.

With all his strength, he struggled to stabilize it.

“Is it another typhoon? Young Master Gu, we should head back!”

Inside the cabin, Gu Heng stumbled, nearly falling. He grabbed onto something to steady himself and barked, “Contact those two and find out if they’ve located Tang Xiaoman—”

Before he could finish—

A thunderous roar erupted, and towering waves surged upward.

The helicopter was nearly dragged into the swell. Water splashed into the cabin.

The pilot panicked and immediately abandoned the hover, pulling the aircraft up another four or five meters.

“I can’t reach them—no signal!” he reported, voice tight. “All communications are down!”

Gu Heng’s eyelids twitched. “Forget those useless idiots. Gain altitude—now!”

The helicopter wobbled in the turbulent air above the churning water, like a drunk struggling to stand.

Fortunately, they climbed quickly. At around fifty meters, the airflow stabilized, and the aircraft steadied.

The pilot had just begun to relax—

When the strange rumbling grew louder. Closer.

At the edge of the horizon, something rose.

A towering gray wall.

It surged forward with unstoppable force, sweeping across the city.

“Th-that’s… a tsunami!” the pilot stammered, frozen in terror.

Gu Heng snapped, “We’re nowhere near the ocean! What tsunami?! Stop standing there—climb higher!”

The helicopter rose again, past two hundred meters.

The air steadied once more.

Their eyes gradually adjusted to the crushing darkness—and what they saw below made their blood run cold.

That gray wall tore through the city like a force of nature.

The towering buildings—once symbols of strength—looked like brittle twigs in a storm.

The first high-rise collapsed with a deafening crash, swallowed instantly by the raging flood.

Then the second fell.

The third followed, disintegrating under the relentless assault.

“I-it’s a flash flood…” the pilot whispered, teeth chattering.

They had been lucky.

The helicopter had only been hovering—not landed. Otherwise, by the time they realized what was happening, it would have been too late. They’d have been dragged down with everything else.

But the two bodyguards sent down earlier—

Were already gone without a trace.

“Y-Young Master Gu… should we… try to rescue them?” the pilot asked hesitantly.

This city, already drowned in floodwaters, was now being ravaged by a flash flood—a disaster upon disaster.

Gu Heng stared at the collapsing buildings, shock and fear filling his eyes.

Then, slowly—

His expression changed.

A grin spread across his face.

“Ha! I was worried she might not be fully dead,” he said, almost gleeful. “Now I don’t have to worry anymore.”

He had seen Tang Xiaoman dive underwater with his own eyes.

Even if she surfaced, she wouldn’t escape the two bodyguards’ gunfire.

And even if she somehow survived that—

There was no escaping this monstrous flood.

This time—

Tang Xiaoman was as good as dead.