Chapter 192: Seeking Shelter

Rain poured down on people’s faces, as if they’d been scalded with boiling water—red and burning with pain.

Instinctive screams rang out as they futilely raised their arms to shield themselves, only for their limbs to break out in blisters from the rain.

Everyone began to scramble desperately toward the building.

The rain fell harder and harder, and its corrosiveness seemed to intensify by the second.

Pots and buckets of all kinds began to melt away. Even the cars parked by the roadside visibly changed, their paint slowly eaten away by the acid.

Even the asphalt on the ground started to show honeycomb-like pockmarks.

The crowd shoved and jostled, and soon someone tripped and fell face-first into the puddles, screaming in agony as if a slab of meat had been thrown into a frying pan.

Some struggled to their feet, gritting their teeth through the pain as they continued to run for shelter.

Others, older and less agile, couldn’t stand up after falling and could only lie there, wailing in misery.

Before long, their throats were corroded silent, their clothes burned away by the rain, and their bodies gradually stilled.

Everyone looked like red crabs boiled alive.

The scene was more terrifying than anything in a disaster movie.

Chu Peipei and Zhao Ping’an were both stunned by the carnage, and even the usually composed Gu Zhiyu couldn’t help but clench his fists.

Only An Nan remained calm—after all, she’d lived through this once before, and was mentally prepared this time.

Just then, an old lady who hadn’t gone outside saw what was happening and, frantic with worry, grabbed an umbrella and rushed out to her grandson, who was wailing in the rain.

But the umbrella was useless—within moments, it was corroded down to a skeleton of twisted metal.

In desperation, the old lady hugged her grandson, shielding him with her own body as they staggered back toward the building.

Just as they reached the entrance, she could go no further. With the last of her strength, she pushed her grandson inside, then collapsed and quickly fell silent.

Though the little boy was saved for the moment, his body was covered in severe burns, and with no other family left, in this apocalypse, it was as good as a death sentence.

None of them could bear to watch the hell unfolding below any longer, and they all turned away.

Chu Peipei shuddered at the thought—if Nan Nan hadn’t stopped her just in time, she’d be down there with the rest of them, running desperately for home.

She let out a long sigh. “How is this acid rain? This is basically sulfuric acid!”

She remembered that ordinary acid rain, if washed off quickly, didn’t really harm people. She never imagined it could be as deadly as lab-grade sulfuric acid!

An Nan said, “Normal high temperatures don’t reach over sixty degrees, either. The world’s gone mad.”

Zhao Ping’an nodded. “Regular acid rain would never be like this. When I tested earlier, the pH was 4. Now, judging by what’s happening, it’s probably below 1.”

He warned them, “Glass is corrosion-resistant. Make sure all your windows are tightly shut. Don’t go outside until the rain stops.”

Chu Peipei asked nervously, “The building won’t get corroded and collapse on us, will it?”

An Nan shook her head. “It shouldn’t.”

In her previous life, the building had been battered but still stood.

Zhao Ping’an agreed. “It won’t.”

He explained, “Sulfuric acid can react with cement, but the calcium salts in cement react to form calcium sulfate, which is only slightly soluble and forms a protective layer, stopping further reaction.”

Chu Peipei understood. “So it’ll corrode, but not completely, right?”

Zhao Ping’an nodded. “Exactly. We just need to stay inside until the rain stops.”

At that moment, a commotion rose from the stairwell below.

They exchanged glances.

An Nan reminded them, “Let’s head home. A lot of people are coming in.”

With the chaos outside, people had rushed into any building they could find, not necessarily their own homes—just anywhere to get out of the rain.

Now, their unit was packed with strangers. If they got jostled and touched the acid rain on others, they’d be injured too.

They hurried back to their own apartments. Gu Zhiyu followed An Nan to 1402.

Just before closing her door, Chu Peipei winked at An Nan with a teasing smile.

An Nan chose to ignore her.

Inside, the ever-enthusiastic dog greeted them, with the chicken and rabbit in tow.

Gu Zhiyu crouched down and greeted each of them seriously.

An Nan laughed. “You treat them like people, don’t you?”

Gu Zhiyu patted Fugui’s head. “They understand human speech.”

Then he looked up at her. “And they’re your companions.”

An Nan’s eyelashes fluttered.

He really was a good person.

If Gu Zhiyu didn’t insist on being romantically involved with her, they could’ve been great friends.

But he always tried to cross her boundaries, pushing her to the point where she could only run away in a panic.

Gu Zhiyu saw her spacing out and waved a hand in front of her eyes. “What are you thinking about?”

An Nan snapped back. “Nothing. I was just wondering—what will you do if the rain keeps falling?”

Gu Zhiyu raised an eyebrow. “Obviously, I’ll stay here.”

An Nan’s voice shot up. “Are you crazy?”

This acid rain was going to last, on and off, for over a month! How could he live with her that whole time?

A single man and a single woman, living together—what would people think!

Back at the mountain and the base, they hadn’t crossed any lines, and living upstairs and downstairs was no big deal. But now Gu Zhiyu was coming on strong!

Seeing her bristle, Gu Zhiyu quickly reassured her, “I won’t stay long. I’ll leave as soon as the rain stops.”

An Nan thought to herself, You don’t know how long this rain will last!

Gu Zhiyu, seeing her silence, added, “What, are you going to kick me out into the acid rain?”

He looked so pitiful that An Nan didn’t know what to say.

Then inspiration struck. “You could stay in 1301 downstairs.”

But then she remembered, “Wait, that won’t work…”

Zhang Xiaobao had been holed up there, eating, defecating, and even gnawing on people. That place was probably uninhabitable now.

Maybe 1302, Sun Peng’s place?

No, that wouldn’t do either. Sun Peng’s apartment was the scene of a murder, and later turned into a brothel, with a constant stream of clients.

She didn’t want Gu Zhiyu to catch some unspeakable disease…

What about the 12th floor?

No, both brothers on that floor had been injured by her and died at home after fleeing. Their bones were probably still there.

An Nan frowned.

Thinking it over, she realized nearly every apartment in the building was haunted by some tragedy. There really wasn’t anywhere decent for President Gu to stay.

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. “Why did you have to show up today, of all days?”

Gu Zhiyu smiled, his tone playful. “Yeah, what a coincidence.”

He watched her expression, ready to make his move."