She "recruited" for her three sons, robbing passersby. Pretty and pure girls would become concubines for her sons. She styled herself as "Old Madam," but in reality, she saw herself as an empress.
Her eldest son had always been a useless scumbag. He was crippled by Yu Xiulian's second son-in-law after attempting to harm his own niece. Since then, he had been habitually molesting children.
When the apocalypse arrived, his mother became the "Old Madam," and this "Young Master" began to openly act like a tyrant. Before this, he had already harmed several children.
The one tonight was conceived while Yang Lianyi was away traveling.
They were on the verge of marriage, and Yu Xiulian worried that the southern region would seize the ordinary lane and disrupt it.
Her eldest son had long harbored ill intentions towards children. The family secretly called Yang Lianyi and her child "little bastards" and "little bitches." They hadn't had the opportunity until tonight, when Yang Lianyi was drugged and the child was snatched away.
Without them, the child would have met a terrible fate and been directly killed by him.
Yang Lianyi was also nearly killed but was saved by the man with fire abilities at a critical moment.
Yu Xiulian had experienced awakening abilities, so she threw living people into freezers to freeze them. Those who could gain abilities survived, and those who couldn't froze to death.
The man's abilities came about this way, but unfortunately, his sister-in-law wasn't as lucky and froze to death.
After Yang Lianyi was rescued, she bided her time and, using her own abilities, researched many powerful warriors.
The two plotlines diverged.
In Xue Jingjing's original story, Zhou Shanshan and her group encountered Yu Xiulian. After a great struggle and losing half their people, they finally killed Yu Xiulian's lackeys and Yu Xiulian herself.
Because of this, Yang Lianyi let go of her hatred and joined their team. Later, she developed many drugs to enhance human physique, helping humanity cope better with the apocalypse.
Xue Jingjing entered the picture. She had initially intended to kill Yu Xiulian to establish her authority. However, when it came down to it, she felt she had written Yu Xiulian too powerfully; even if they won, they would suffer too many losses.
So, she bought Yu Xiulian off with supplies and proposed "peaceful coexistence." In reality, she not only sent supplies but also gave the child she had adopted to show her kindness to Yu Xiulian's eldest son, asking him to speak on her behalf.
Later, Yang Lianyi fought to the death to kill Yu Xiulian, only to be intercepted by Xue Jingjing, who claimed she had been deceiving the enemy and was just waiting for an opportunity to kill her.
However, Yang Lianyi's death was not in vain. The different plotlines led to different creations. One time, she created formidable but righteous powerful warriors; another time, mutated zombies that ate people.
These zombies later contributed significantly to Xiao Chongyan's zombie siege.
The Yang family of Shancheng occupied a very large portion in the original book. Later, their crimes were exposed by Zhou Shanshan, and public outrage was immense, leading to the public execution of the three Yang sons.
In Xue Jingjing's version, the youngest Yang son awakened powerful fire abilities and was one of her lovers. With Yu Xiulian dead, they blamed everything on her, claiming that the crimes did not extend to wives and children, and that he was innocent.
In reality, he was not only not innocent but had always enjoyed the spoils of his mother's evil deeds and robbery. He attended the Yang family's cannibal feasts without fail, fully aware of what they entailed.
Yu Xiulian was a typical feudal woman who firmly believed in the legend that a blood馒头 could cure illness.
For the health of their family, the Yang family regularly killed people to eat their flesh and drink their blood.
Zhu Zhu found such twisted humanity horrifying; she wanted to tear their very souls apart. Yu Xiulian being stabbed to death by Zhou Shanshan was an accident.
However, she wouldn't let them off so easily. Therefore, the souls of Yu Xiulian and her eldest son were still wandering aimlessly by her side.
Zhu Zhu planned to wait until they regained consciousness and witnessed the consequences of their evil deeds before sending them to the Underworld to experience the specialties of the eighteen levels of hell!
—
Zhu Zhu woke up early, with two tails, one big and one small, following her. She was having people check names against a list.
Zhou Shanshan walked over and said, "Miss Xiao, Miss Yang is here."
"Mm."
The person taking the roll call stepped forward. "Miss Xiao, except for those who have died, everyone is here. No one is missing."
Zhu Zhu, holding the child, stood up and said to Zhou Shanshan, "Tell someone to call all the people in this town here. Tell them each person who comes will receive one jin of grain."
Zhou Shanshan was confused.
But she had also learned to do as Song Qi did and ask fewer questions: "Yes, Miss Xiao."
Zhu Zhu, holding the child, went to meet Yang Lianyi.
She was in a terrible state, her face pale. Upon seeing the child in Zhu Zhu's arms, she rushed over.
"Ranran!"
"Ranran, I'm sorry. It's my fault, Mom didn't protect you. I'm sorry, Ranran..."
Zhu Zhu recalled what she had done in the original plot and her potential role. For now, she returned the child to her.
"Find a psychologist to see him. It's best if he forgets last night."
Yang Lianyi's face was deathly pale. Clutching her child tightly, she repeatedly thanked Zhu Zhu after a moment, "I understand. Thank you for saving my child..."