Alright, now let's begin the translation. The source text "91" is not provided as a translatable content, and there is no novel text to render into English. Therefore, I cannot produce a translation for this request without the actual source material.

Situ Fei shamelessly lingered around Ye Yin's place until she had her fill of snacks before taking her leave. Ye Yin's words were sharp, but seeing how the girl wolfed everything down, she still felt a little sorry for her and had Pi pack up a large basket of goodies for her to take home.

"Thanks!" Situ Fei accepted it generously, grinning as she said, "I won't say much else—after all, we're family."

"Less with the cheeky talk. Take care on the way back."

"Got it!"

The campaign that Ye Yu had originally launched against the Ability Users Association's recall order had received support from most bases, including the capital base. Nobody was willing to hand over the elite members of their own military forces without a fight—only a fool would do something like that.

The Ability Users Association seemed to have anticipated this outcome well in advance. Their reaction was remarkably calm; after announcing the withdrawal of the recall order, they made no further moves at all. This left the various bases riddled with suspicion, wondering just what game they were playing.

Just as Ye Yin was gradually stepping away from the center of power in Base 3, Qiao Xinran was thriving in Base 1, her reputation even spreading all the way to Base 3. A woman with no background there and a less-than-stellar name managing to climb to a high position in a new circle in such a short time—the stories behind it invited endless speculation. Some said she had latched onto the president of the Ability Users Association; others claimed she had successfully seduced the son of the military district commander. For a while, theories flew thick and fast.

Ye Yin didn't join in the gossip. She knew better than anyone the real reason for Qiao Xinran's rise, and she also knew that from here on, Qiao Xinran would only grow more dazzling—so dazzling it would sting the eyes of everyone who disliked her.

One thing was true: Qiao Xinran knew how to have fun. But before the apocalypse, she had been someone who won scholarships every single year. That showed she had a knack for balancing pleasure and study, so running a harem didn't hinder her from improving her abilities at all. As for cultivation, aside from the green path Yixiantian had opened for her, her rapid advancement was also inseparable from her own hard work. All things considered, setting aside her lifestyle issues, Qiao Xinran hadn't completely wasted what Yixiantian had given her.

After Qiao Xinran left, Ye Yin had been too busy handling matters at Base 3 to follow the developments of that storyline. Now, putting both sides together, she felt more and more that she needed to pick up the pace.

"I'll be away for a while—not sure when I'll be back. Take good care of yourself at home, and don't make me worry."

"Mmm..." Ye Hua looked groggily at her sister, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she couldn't hold on and drifted back to sleep.

"The medicine you gave her isn't going to cause problems, right?" Ye Yin tucked the blanket around Ye Hua and asked Pi with concern.

"I swear on my life there's absolutely no problem." Pi patted Ye Hua's head. "She got hurt during her advancement—the energy clashed too violently inside her. Once the fever breaks, she'll be fine."

"This girl is too earnest. That day Feifei just made a few careless remarks, and now she's been pushing herself to break through again without telling us. Nobody ever said she was slow." Ye Yin sighed and shook her head. "I'm off. You look after the house well."

"Sure thing, mistress. Go slowly—no need to rush back." Pi waved a little handkerchief, his expression one of seeing off a troublesome boss, so much that Ye Yin wanted to punch him.

Now that she had advanced to Earth Witch, she could use many high-level and top-tier secret arts. No more exhausting transformations into an eagle or a leopard for travel. She simply cast out a square spirit silk as a mount, and in the night, light as a feather, she rode the wind straight toward Base 4.

Perhaps because of the cold-water sheep, the people of Base 4 had adopted a way of life increasingly close to that of nomadic herders. Whether in dress, diet, or dwelling, everything reminded Ye Yin of the sights she'd seen traveling somewhere long ago—a unique charm all its own.

There were no volcano frogs here to ward off the cold spell, so snow fell thick and heavy both inside and outside the base, and the bitter wind stung so hard it was hard to keep one's eyes open. Ye Yin crouched atop the tallest building in the base, looking down at the streets below. There were very few people out—probably all holed up indoors keeping warm. She judged her bearings, vanished in a flash, and disappeared into the vast swirling snow.

Base 4 had no A-B-C-D districts, and most of the buildings were in the antique style—brick-built bowl shapes turned upside down on the ground, resembling tombs. A few high-rises stood out conspicuously among these big and little bowls, clearly the offices for the base's leadership.

In a shabby little house on the far edge of Base 4, Fu Cuicui was shivering from the cold. She picked up a large basin of dirty water, carried it, swaying, dozens of steps away, and tossed the water out with a splash, then trotted back home.

"Grandma, I threw it really far this time. Now you don't have to worry about slipping again."

The old woman grunted a couple of times, then rolled over. "Chilies..."

"These days, where am I supposed to find you chilies?" Fu Cuicui grumbled as she sorted the sheep dung in her basket. "If we have anything to eat at all, that's already good. You meet those people who don't take care of their elders—they'd just toss you out the door and let you rot!"

The old woman said nothing.

Fu Cuicui was counting her inventory when suddenly there came a knock at the door. Strange. This area was the worst in the whole base—even thieves normally didn't bother coming around. Who could be looking for the two of them at this hour?

The moment she opened the door, the wind rushed in and filled the entire room, blowing away what little warmth they'd managed to accumulate. This made Fu Cuicui particularly irritated, and she asked the thin-clothed woman in front of her in a rough voice, "Who are you?"

"I'm a descendant of your grandmother's old friend. I've come especially to pay a visit today." Ye Yin said softly. "A small gift, a token of my regard."

She moved slightly to the side, revealing several large burlap sacks with their mouths open behind her. The contents made Fu Cuicui swallow involuntarily. "You... you come on in."

"Thank you."

"Grandma! An old acquaintance of yours is here to see you!" Fu Cuicui eagerly dragged the sacks inside, inspecting their contents while absently calling out to her grandmother. Good heavens—flour and rice, and even pickled vegetables! All these years she'd been eating stewed sheep intestines with red moss until she wanted to throw up. Suddenly seeing these long-missed things, her eyes practically turned green. She'd make some porridge to nourish Grandma—with this, maybe her back injury would heal faster?

The old woman, lying on the blanket, tilted her head to give Ye Yin a glance, then turned away. "What old acquaintance? I don't know you."

"Greetings, senior." Ye Yin sat down cross-legged in front of the old woman without a care, not minding the dirty floor. "I've long heard of your name. Now that I see you in person, you truly have the bearing of a master."

Fu Cuicui was just about to scrub the pot when she heard this and laughed. "Hey, you didn't get the wrong person, did you? My grandma is just a useless old woman—she's no master. But let me say this upfront: these foodstuffs were brought by you of your own accord, so no taking them back."

Ye Yin smiled faintly. "Don't worry, I won't ask for them back. Go ahead and get things ready—I'm hungry too."

Fu Cuicui chuckled, then happily carried the pot out to gather snow water.

"I'm no senior." The old woman spoke with her back to Ye Yin. "Leave."

"Senior." Ye Yin's tone was gentle. "I understand that you feel your days are numbered and don't wish for change. But with such a filial granddaughter, could you bear to let her sit on a golden bowl and beg for food?"

"What do you mean?"

"Base 4 won't hold out for more than a few years. War is coming soon." Ye Yin said. "When that happens, you're old and she's young—where will the two of you flee? To put it bluntly, if something happens on the road, you'll be alone again. Rather than suffering here in bitterness, why not come with me? I can guarantee that she'll have food, clothes, and daily necessities on par with any ordinary girl before the apocalypse."

The old woman's body trembled slightly. Slowly, she sat up, and on her weathered face, that pair of eyes—as if they could see straight through a person's heart—fixed squarely on Ye Yin. "How do you know there's going to be war?"

"My name is Ye Yin. I was the head of the Fifth Division at Base 3." Ye Yin said respectfully. "So it's only natural that I would know such things."

"Why do you know about me...? What's your purpose?"

"The world has fallen into chaos. That old villain Fuyunzi eats and drinks well and does as he pleases, while you have to hide away in grievance—how unfair is that?" Ye Yin said. "Back then, it was that old scum who wronged you. If anyone should be hiding, it should be him. Don't you agree, Senior Nianhua?"

That name—unheard for decades—made Nianhua tremble all over. Murky tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks, one drop after another. She curled up, weeping in low, hoarse sobs.

Ye Yin watched in silence, waiting until she had cried her fill.

This Nianhua was one of the debts Fuyunzi had incurred in his early years.

She had possessed a face as lovely as a flower and profound cultivation, but she had fallen for the fickle Fuyunzi. In their youth, they had fallen in love at first sight, gradually progressing to the point of discussing marriage. Yet on the night before the wedding, Fuyunzi encountered the great love of his life—Qiao Xinran's grandmother—and decisively changed the bride. Thus, at the most important moment of her life, Nianhua was stood up. Shamed beyond measure, she fled into a life of seclusion, altering her appearance into that of a withered old crone, refusing to let anyone near, her heart as still as an ancient well for nearly forty years.

After the apocalypse, her cultivation was sealed for unknown reasons, forcing her to drift from place to place like an ordinary person, living a life of flight. She suffered every hardship along the way, nearly losing her life to the jaws of zombies. When she finally reached a base, the lost old woman encountered the orphaned girl Cuicui, whose kind heart healed her soul. The two lived together, grandmother and granddaughter in name, striving through life. But before they could enjoy even a few years of stability, misfortune struck like rain on a leaking roof—she lost this child who had been her everything in the chaos of war.

The destruction of the last hope in life was a devastating blow, no doubt. In utter despair, Nianhua naturally conceived thoughts of revenge against society. And this extreme darkness was exploited by a mysterious figure behind the scenes, who unlocked her abilities at the worst possible moment, allowing her to avenge her miserable fate.

Like an Asura reborn, Nianhua, in a frenzy of madness, engineered a trap during the campaign to exterminate the Corpse King that nearly annihilated the entire Qingyun Sect. This indirectly led to the failure of the punitive operation, and the massacre of nearly a million innocent lives...