48 New surroundings

An hour after having left home to go meet Ling Xiao in the hotel, Emilia finally arrived home.

" Mom, you're back!"  Ling Qin's voice sounded from the stairs behind her. Quickly closing the door and turning around, Emilia headed towards Ling Qin. "Qinqin, what are you doing up? it is so late already." She asked.

"I woke up shortly after you left, and I couldn't go back to sleep anymore, so I just decided to wait for you." Ling Qin responded as he watched Emilia approach him.

"Well, I'm back now. Come on, let's go to bed it's late."  Emilia said, taking his hand and leading him back upstairs.

Ling Qin obediently followed behind her back to the room. Only when he was sitting back in his blankets did he speak again. " Did Dad undergo the baptism? How did it go? "

"Mhm, he underwent the baptism. We almost had an accident, but luckily everything is resolved now and he is okay."  Emilia responded as she tucked him in.

"Accident?" he asked, almost sitting back up, but Emilia quickly caught him and placed him back on the bed.

"Yes, it turns out that when the spirit talked about two petal baptisms, it meant one at a time, not two at the same time. " Emilia responded calmly now that the scary events had passed. 

"Is Dad okay, though?"  Ling Qin asked.

"Yes, he's fine, don't worry, I wouldn't have been back so quickly if he wasn't," she said, reassuring him. " Alright, come on, you need to sleep now. we'll talk again tomorrow, OK?"

"OK!"

"Good. Good night, "she said as she turned off the light and left his bedroom.

"Goodnight, Mom." Ling Qin softly responded.

Emilia immediately went straight to her room after settling Ling Qin down. She still remembered Ling Xiao's words clearly, so she decided to undergo the second baptism immediately.

Not wasting any time Emelia immediately put down her things, stood in the middle of the room, and rubbed her fingers around the ring. Just like before, a blur appeared in front of her eyes, and the next thing she knew, she was back by the side of the lake.

Taking a quick look around, Emelia began walking back towards the tree with the petal inscription. Once she arrived, she went over the normal process once again, drawing a circle on the tree trunk and pulling out the petal she headed back to the lake and threw it into the water. once the lake began to react, she then stepped forward directly into it.

Even though this was technically the second time Emilia was undergoing the baptism, this was more like her first since this was the first time she was undergoing it consciously. This time, she was able to experience precisely what Ling Xiao and Ling Qin had experienced.

The feeling was like nothing she'd ever experienced before, the weight of gravity crushing her body, the holes being punctured in her through the veins, the feeling of the blood being drained out of her. Emelia had never undergone anything this painful before. Even her death in her previous life was quick, not experiencing any pain. The only thing she could do to get through that entire process was to grind her teeth, trying not to scream and open her mouth, but even that did not work for her.

The vines that were stabbing her body seemed to have dealt her some form of acid or even an electric shock as the pain was excruciating. She had no choice but to open her mouth and just the same as with Ling Xiao water entered and the transformation began to take place from the inside.

Emelia was going off and on consciousness for about an hour before the Lake spit her out. Even then, it took about 5 minutes before she could stand again. " This is crazy! what kind of process is this?" she complained." Isn't this just human torture?!" she mumbled as she stood up and dusted off the dust on her pants

As she was complaining, the voice of the plumeria spirit came out from the lake, and just like that, Emilia was immediately kicked out. the last thing she heard before she appeared back in her bedroom was "noisy." Snickering to herself Emilia looked at the time and seeing how late it was, she took her pajamas went for a quick shower and came back to bed planning to deal with the rest of the things the next day when she woke up.

At exactly 6 am the next morning, Emilia opened her eyes and sat up. Her body had finally adjusted to waking up early and at random stimuli. Even though it seemed like a pain having to wake up at the slightest sound, Emilia thought the opposite. Having an alert mind was best for the apocalyptic times. One would never know when zombies could strike, especially during trips out of the base. She was slightly surprised that she hadn't woken up at any point during the night, especially because this was their first night at the new house. However, she guessed the most probable reason why it was so peaceful was because the community was still relatively new with fewer people here. Not to mention, the two houses next to this one both belonged to her. 

Now that she was awake, she decided to go out and scope out the area. She wanted to know just how much the community had changed since the last time she was here. Emilia, dressed in her sleek sportswear, stepped out into the crisp morning air. 

The neighborhood is a newly built residential area, with houses that gleam under the rising sun. The streets are wide and lined with young trees, their leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. The houses are spaced evenly, each with its own well-manicured lawn. The neighborhood is quiet, with only the occasional sound of a car passing by or a dog barking in the distance.

 Emilia's heightened senses picked up the faint sounds of life within the houses - the clatter of dishes, the murmur of television, the laughter of children. She made mental notes of the number of people she could hear, the potential escape routes, and spots that could be barricaded in case of danger. Even though it was still early, Emilia could still get a rough idea of how many houses were occupied because most people were getting ready to go out to work and school while others had their cars parked out front. Because of her now advanced hearing due to the baptism, Emilia was able to pick up most of the slightest sounds made in the still-dark houses.

It took her close to an hour to go around the estate and back, and even there, she wasn't able to explore the deeper areas of the estate completely. She was slightly disappointed but quickly got over it as that area was too far from her house to be an immediate threat no matter the number of houses there. What caught Emilias' attention was the fact that she only started to feel slightly out of breath just shortly before she arrived back home. Her stamina had greatly improved since the baptism, which pleased her greatly.

Drawing closer to the house, Emilia could also hear movement inside, alerting her that little Qin was now awake.

Upon returning home, Emilia found her son, Ling Qin, in the kitchen. He was busy preparing breakfast, his small hands deftly cracking eggs into a bowl.

"Good morning, Mom," he greets her, his eyes sparkling.

"Good morning, Qin," Emilia replies, sitting down at the table. "I didn't expect you to get up so early," she said, taking a bite of an apple on the table. "And what are you doing? Why didn't you just make cereal." She asks him.

Ling Qin just shrugged his shoulders and with a serious face responded. " I was just craving eggs. What were you doing so early in the morning?"

"I've been exploring our new neighborhood. I need to be aware of all the possible dangers, " she says, trying to stop herself from laughing. Her son's serious little face was just so cute.

Qin looks up from his pan, curiosity lighting up his face. "What did you find?"

"There are about twenty-two houses that seem to be occupied at the moment. I wasn't able to go deeper though, so there might be more. It's a lot compared to before when I bought the house, but it's still manageable "she responded as she stood up to take over at the stove from him.

Qin didn't struggle much to give over the spatula, even though he was more mature now due to his experience he was enjoying more the feeling of being pampered by his mom now that he had her back.

Ling Qin nods, understanding the gravity of her words. "We'll be ready, mom. We've prepared more than enough." He says, going to sit down. "We should also go buy more supplies from Grandma and Grandpa's house. Their house is not as secure as ours and stocked. It would be best to have enough of their own for the first days."

Emilia smiles at her son's foresight. "That's a good idea, Qin. We'll go later after packing up. "

After breakfast, they began unpacking all the things they came with. Emilia also packed some bags with essentials that they'll need when traveling out during the apocalypse, each packed with medicine, a single set of clothes and shoes, canned food, and some bottled water.

Once they had finished with the house, they left for the shops to continue stocking up. They stocked up on more canned food, bottled water, medical supplies, and tools. They also bought extra supplies for the two houses next door, where their family will be moving in soon. Emilia also buys additional clothing and toiletries, knowing that these items will quickly run out once the apocalypse begins.

Later in the day, Emilia called her mother, Inviting her and the others over for a housewarming party, her voice cheerful yet steady.

"Mom, it's been too long since we last saw each other. I've missed you all so much. You guys haven't even bothered to visit since the wedding. And Qin... He's been asking about his grandparents. Can you come over for a housewarming party? It would mean the world to us, especially him." Emilia said.

"housewarming? Have you guys moved houses?" Mrs Lu asked, surprised. " Mhm, we moved to a house in S city. it's close to Ling Xiao's base. We figured it would be better plus there's a branch office of my company on this side so I was able to transfer with no worries. " Emilia responded.

"Well, I guess that's fine regarding your work, but what about little Qins' schooling? She asked a bit concerned. " Mom you don't have to worry, everything has been arranged, plus you also know that the education of Scity is much better than Acity anyway so this change will be good for him," she replied. " But enough about that can you guys come, little qin has been busy arranging decorations and he can't wait to see his grandparents and favorite uncle. Can you come?" 

"Well, I'd love to come, but I'm not sure about your father and brother, you know how busy the company can get. " Mrs Lu hesitated, not sure she could convince those two.

"Mom, please also convince them, Scity is much closer to the capital compared to Acity. It is only a two-hour drive and half an hour by plane, huh,  please convince them, ok?" Emilia begged, knowing to add just the right amount of distress to her voice. " And I have a very important announcement I want to make to everyone, so you guys have to be there ok," she continued

"Ok, ok, ha, I'll bring those two with me even if I have to drag them by the ears," her mom said laughing.

"Thanks, Mom" Emilia responded, finally able to relax knowing it was a done deal. No one in that house was able to deny her mother's words, so with her on it she knew her dad and brother were sure to be forced here. 

" no problem, but what's this big announcement you want to make? don't you wanna tell your mom in advance, huh?" She probed

"Nope," Emilia replied. "I can only tell you guys when you are here." 

"Ahh, you cheeky brat" Mrs Lu laughed, "alright, I'll see you in two days, huh, and your announcement better be world-shaking or I won't be able to stop your brother from strangling you" she chuckled.

"Don't worry, it'll rock your world." Emilia responded with a chuckle. "Bye, Mom, see you soon," she said before dropping the call.

Now, Emilia could finally place her focus on the most difficult task. Convincing Old General Ling to come stay in the small villa next door.