Since Annan was protecting Chu Peipei, Wai Wenbin knew he couldn't touch her anymore.
It would be a real headache if Annan sought revenge!
Wai Wenbin woke Qian Ying'er, who was lying on the floor.
"Stay here and don't wander off. I'm going out for a bit."
With that, he left the house alone.
Qian Ying'er tilted her head, staring at his lonely figure as he walked away in a dejected manner.
…
After dealing with Wai Wenbin and Qian Ying'er, Annan was in high spirits.
But due to inhaling a potent sleeping drug that day, there was still some residual poison in her body, making her feel dizzy from time to time.
The perfectionist Annan would never tolerate any flaw in her otherwise strong body.
Dizziness, of all things!
If she couldn't fix it, what would be the difference between her and that foolish Qian Ying'er?
Chu Peipei, hearing her logic, had a black line across her face.
There was a huge difference, though!
Who knew that Annan, who had fought so fiercely, would actually be so precious about her life?
After examining her, Chu Peipei believed the best treatment would be acupuncture to adjust the body's qi and blood circulation, slowly removing the toxins from her system.
However, as a Western medical surgeon, though Chu Peipei had an interest in traditional Chinese medicine and had studied it, she was still a beginner at acupuncture.
Thus, she needed to study more medical books, refine her skills, and then proceed with acupuncture on Annan.
In the meantime, Annan could only take calming and detoxifying medicine while waiting for Chu Peipei to figure things out.
Chu Peipei, on the other hand, spent her days devouring medical books at home, using herself as a test subject, repeatedly practicing acupuncture techniques and pressure points.
Fortunately, Annan's body was strong. She practiced Ba Duan Jin and the Eight Parts of the Vajra technique daily to strengthen her health, so her life wasn't greatly affected by the poison.
As the days passed, the number of people dying from hunger increased.
In less than three months, human lifestyles and worldviews had changed drastically.
People had begun to get used to death.
When they occasionally heard the wailing of someone losing a loved one, they simply walked by in numb silence.
Seeing floating corpses in the water was no longer a surprise. People would use paddles or just push them aside with their hands to clear the way for their boats.
Long-term hunger and the harsh living conditions had made people increasingly indifferent. Nearly everyone's life had undergone a dramatic transformation.
The only one unaffected was Annan, who continued to stay at home, tending to her health and working on her planting.
One day, just as usual, she went to the space to carefully tend to the Isatis Root in her experimental field, channeling water from the pond behind her villa to irrigate it.
When she was finished, she came out with her well-fed pet, Fugui, her belly round with satisfaction.
Just as she landed, a chorus of screams reached her ears from outside the window.
"Crocodiles! There are crocodiles!!"
"Ahhh! Help, the boat's flipped over!"
"Husband, quick! Get up here!"
Curious, Annan walked over to the window. Below, the water was in chaos as several groups of people, out searching for supplies, scrambled in panic.
Some fell into the water, others reached out to help, some frantically paddled their kayaks to escape, while others had their boats completely capsized…
A few crocodiles were floating in the water, the source of their terror.
One of them had a woman floating nearby, missing her left arm and leg.
The crocodiles circled her, biting into her body. The blood spread through the water, dyeing it red, as the crocs feasted on her.
More crocodiles were attracted by the smell of blood.
In the chaos, one crocodile began to approach a man who had fallen into the water. With a sudden snap, it bit into his right leg.
The man screamed in pain and struggled desperately to break free.
But once a crocodile grabs its prey, it never lets go.
Sensing the man's resistance, the crocodile, which had only been holding onto him, suddenly twisted in a violent 180-degree turn, executing a death roll.
It rolled again, and then again, ripping off the man's right leg in the process.
Satisfied, the crocodile began to chew on the leg.
Soon, more crocodiles arrived. Some latched onto his other leg, others grabbed his arms or head.
They all competed to take part in the deadly roll.
Before long, the man was completely devoured by the beasts.
It wasn't just him—others in the water met the same grisly fate.
Even those who tried to help from their boats were grabbed by their arms, pulled into the water with a violent twist.
Some, quick to react, managed to escape in their kayaks, but the slower ones were flipped over by the crocodiles or had their kayaks bitten through, falling into the water.
The screams from below soon attracted the attention of the residents of the various buildings.
Everyone stood at their windows, horrified by the gruesome sight unfolding in the water.
Heaven, are we not allowed to live anymore?
Surviving in the flood was already torturous enough, and now these terrifying creatures are in the water—who would dare go out for food?
Before long, the water settled, and the bloodstained surface was left with the crocodiles feasting on severed limbs.
Annan closed the curtains, no longer watching.
In her past life, crocodiles had appeared at this time, injuring many people.
Over time, other dangerous aquatic creatures would emerge.
The prolonged flooding had caused rivers and lakes to overflow, allowing animals to roam freely through the waters, more unrestrained than humans.
But danger often comes with opportunity.
The people who were initially terrified of the crocodiles would soon realize their potential and begin to hunt them in large numbers.
These predators wouldn't even be enough to feed everyone.
The title of top of the food chain belonged to humans for a reason.
Before long, the starving people would hunt the crocodiles to near extinction.
In her previous life, it was by eating crocodile meat that Annan managed to survive when she almost starved to death.
But in this life, she wouldn't risk her life to hunt crocodiles with the others.
With the various meats of chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep in her space, she had more than enough to live out her days without the need for that stinky meat.
The water was filled with not only people's trash, feces, and urine but also the rotting corpses of the dead.
She had no intention of eating anything that came from such polluted waters.
Better not to take others' survival resources…
She wouldn't fight for it—she'd leave it all to them!
Just like Annan, Chu Peipei had also thought about how the crocodiles could be eaten.
She had been resting at home lately, not looking for food. Most of her time was spent studying acupuncture and practicing her shooting skills.
Although her skills in both had improved, the food Annan had given her was slowly running out.
It was time to go out and find some food.
One day, just as she was about to leave, she saw the horrifying scene outside her window.
She felt a wave of relief: thank goodness she hadn't rushed out, or she'd be floating in the water too.
Then, as she watched the crocodiles feast, an idea suddenly popped into her mind:
What if it's not them eating me, but me eating them?