6 Beginner's Charmcraft Manual

Day three of the apocalypse. Today the power will go out. Over the past few days, Rong Xianxian has used her spare time from cultivation to prepare some long-lasting food supplies: sausages steamed and dried, rice formed into a few rice balls—though not many, as the weather is hot and excess food would spoil easily.

She also pressed some noodles with a noodle machine and dried them, while the household still had some packaged dried noodles stored. Noodles are convenient for eating on the road. Besides noodles, she made some dried steamed buns—steamed buns baked dry so they won't spoil, ready to be stewed later during travel.

Using a bread machine, she baked some bread. The frozen meat in the refrigerator was marinated, steamed, then dried to make jerky and meat floss. Frozen fish was similarly marinated, steamed, and dried into fish jerky. After several days of preparation, she realized the one thing most in need of replenishment was salt—only one last bag remained.

All the shops and malls had already closed. Since the apocalypse had just begun, most people were waiting for news. So far, there had been no incidents of looting or vandalism in shopping centers.

Three days from now, the household would receive its first visitors. In her past life, Rong Xianxian had been wary of their arrival, but this time she felt a certain anticipation.

Lost in thought, a sudden pounding came at the door.

Who could it be? Rong Xianxian lived in an upscale community with excellent security. The unit door was locked, and without an access card, entry was impossible.

Even accessing the building from the underground garage required swiping a card to reach the desired floor by elevator.

Therefore, aside from security guards delivering water, she rarely heard knocking. Even guests or delivery personnel would ring the unit's doorbell rather than knock directly.

Peering through the peephole, she recognized a familiar face. Her heart stirred with excitement, and she flung open the door.

She greeted the young man, who was about to continue knocking, with an enthusiastic hug. Wang Lin looked utterly bewildered, his face a canvas of confusion. The others with him were equally surprised.

One of the security guards—a short, round-faced man—teased, “Boss, you’re not telling the truth. You just say you know him? You look pretty close.”

Wang Lin was the guard who had just knocked and was later killed while saving Xuan Xuan.

There were four of them in total: one with noticeable acne on his face, another with darker skin.

Most of their clothes bore bloodstains, evidence of recent skirmishes with monsters.

In her previous life, Wang Lin had arrived on day six of the apocalypse. This time, only on day three, they had already come—four of them. Something had clearly changed.

“Rong Jie, we’re here to be your neighbors. Please take care of us,” Wang Lin said shyly, his delicate features betraying a hint of bashfulness.

Because the unit was large and only housed two families, the neighboring unit had remained vacant until now.

With monsters rampant outside and no clear end to the chaos in sight, these security guards, on duty that night, had nowhere to return. They had crammed into the guard room, trembling as they watched and heard monsters attack people. The guard room only had many bottled waters, little food. Most guards were ex-military, young, spirited, and strong.

After some discussion, they armed themselves with electric batons and other weapons and fought their way out.

In her previous life, only Wang Lin and the short guard Xia Kai had come here. At that time, they were battered and bruised, Xia Kai barely surviving and needing over half a month to recover.

According to Wang Lin’s account, many of their comrades had died; only the two of them escaped into the stairwell.

Rong Xianxian had been skeptical of this story before because Wang Lin admitted to never clearly seeing what killed their friends. The creature came and went without a trace. When they stood still, scanning all around, no monster appeared; only when they moved forward did something emerge to attack.

Now, looking back, she suspected that the creature Wang Lin’s group encountered was the cat-like monster she had killed earlier.

Because that monster’s death meant Wang Lin and his group suffered no casualties and managed to reach here safely.

Judging by their condition, perhaps they had already made some gains.

“You need to tend to your wounds. Is the neighboring unit cleaned up?” Rong Xianxian asked. She didn't know the exact nature of Wang Lin’s relationship with his colleagues or how he explained their connection to them. Some things needed to be said privately.

In her previous life, when two young men knocked on her door, still shaken, she had found them scarier than the monsters outside. She only gave them some wound and anti-inflammatory medicine, never inquiring about their living conditions. Now she realized the neighboring unit was just an empty room; without bedding, they must have been sleeping on bare boards.

From past experience, Wang Lin had been sent by the Ning family to monitor and protect Ning Qingyun. The day before the apocalypse, the Ning family had urgently summoned Ning Qingyun back to the capital under the pretense of a family meeting. Wang Lin had received no notice. He knew Ning Qingyun wouldn’t abandon her wife and children, so early in the apocalypse, he moved next door to them—for protection and in hopes of returning to the capital together when Ning Qingyun came to rescue them.

Because of Rong Xianxian’s extreme vigilance and mistrust, Wang Lin revealed his identity, but she had thought it was a trick to gain trust.

Despite her doubts and rejection, he silently protected them until he was pulled into the river by an aquatic monster while saving Xuan Xuan, his fate unknown.

“It’s good, it’s good. Rong Jie, do you have any extra blankets?” Wang Lin scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

“Yes, I’ll get some for you.” Rong Xianxian opened the large cabinet by the door, took out several quilts and mattresses, and handed them to Wang Lin along with some gauze and medicine.

“Tend to your wounds. Wang Lin, if you don’t mind, I need to ask when you’ll have time?” Even though Wang Lin was trustworthy, she couldn’t let his colleagues into her home.

The short guard nudged Wang Lin, teasing, “Rong Jie, Brother Lin’s free now! You two chat; we’ll go tidy up.”

The three of them headed toward the neighboring unit.

Rong Xianxian let Wang Lin inside and got straight to the point: “Are you wondering how I know about you? After all, your presence was supposed to be confidential. That night, just minutes before the phone lost signal, Qingyun called and told me about you. He said you could be trusted and that he’d come for us soon.”

Though lying was wrong, she couldn’t explain why she trusted Wang Lin. Shifting the knowledge to Ning Qingyun was her only option.

“In my past life, Wang Lin did me a favor. But this time, since nothing has really started yet, I need to calmly adapt to the new world’s rules. It’s crucial to build capital early and strengthen my companions. Wang Lin is a trustworthy ally,” Rong Xianxian thought to herself.

Revealing his identity was meant to bolster mutual trust so he would understand why she trusted him.

“Rong Jie, did Young Master Ning Qi really say he’d come for you soon? Did he say anything about what’s going on now—why phones, TVs, and computers have no signal, and why so many man-eating monsters have appeared?” Wang Lin asked anxiously, having lost contact with his family.

“Before I answer, can I see what you’ve brought back?” Rong Xianxian tested.

“Here, a book.” Wang Lin hesitated, then produced it.

“A beginner’s talisman-making manual.” Rong Xianxian’s heart leapt, nearly shouting in excitement as she suppressed her emotions and flipped through it. It was indeed a book on talisman crafting.

“Rong Jie, this book is our shared spoils, but none of us understand it,” Wang Lin admitted.

“Wang Lin, what’s your relationship with the other three? Are they trustworthy?” Xia Kai was very close to Wang Lin. Aside from being a bit talkative and playful, he was a good person. She didn’t know much about the other two.

“Xia Kai is the one joking around earlier. The one with acne is Liao Yong; he shares a dorm with me. Both have good character and are close to me. The darker-skinned one is Ren Tian; he hasn’t been here long, so I don’t know him well, but he seems decent. What’s up, sis?”

“I want to rent this book to study. Rent is one day’s worth of meals, and I’ll pay daily. How about it? But I’ll rent it for at most one month; my food supplies won’t last longer. Hopefully, by then, rescue will arrive.” Even if she hadn’t proposed renting the book, Rong Xianxian wouldn’t have let them starve.

“No problem, Rong Jie. They’ll definitely agree. But you haven’t told me what’s going on. When will the monsters disappear? When will communications be restored?” Wang Lin asked anxiously.