Entendendo as vozes das plantas, abro uma loja de bem-estar no ermo.

Damn it!

Who’s pulling at me?!

Don’t they know I haven’t really slept in days?

Gu Xiaomai tried to lift her hand to swat away whatever was disturbing her precious sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, her arm wouldn’t move. Instead, the force tugging at her only grew stronger.

She woke with a start, eyes snapping open to see a thin, dirty-faced boy squatting beside her, his clothes patched atop patches. He was shaking her by the shoulder.

Seeing her awake, the boy grinned, revealing two small, sharp canine teeth. “You’re up! Brother Chen said we’re leaving soon, you’d better get up!”

With that, the boy didn’t wait for her reaction and went to stand beside another youth not far away.

Gu Xiaomai was completely at a loss, having no idea what the boy was talking about.

She had just pulled several all-nighters and, after submitting her thesis at the last possible moment, had gone home to catch up on sleep.

So why was she lying on the ground now?

Her body felt weak and cold, her head was foggy, and there was a stabbing pain where her heart was—but it was still within her tolerance.

She forced herself to sit up. Not far ahead stood a group of people dressed in rags, each clutching a sack tightly. Their faces ranged from numb to frightened, with a faint trace of hope, perhaps?

She looked around. On either side was barren land, dust and dead grass swirling in the wind, with only a few tender green shoots clinging to life. Not far behind her was a wall gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.

A wall of g