What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH90

Chapter 90: Limit

Pei Xiqing grabbed his arm, opened her mouth, and bit down.

Her sharp teeth pierced his skin, drawing a few drops of blood. Pei Xiqing frowned slightly. His blood tasted bitter and cold, sending a chilling sensation straight through her. She couldn’t help but shudder as she looked up at him. “…How do you feel?”

She was fully aware of how rapidly the zombie virus spread. Moreover, this strain was incredibly vicious. Once infected, without the immediate assistance of a serum and the absolute willpower of an ability user, a person would be entirely devoured, dying a gruesome death.

Duan Xiaolin was no exception.

No ordinary human could coexist with the zombie virus. She might be a special case, but that didn’t apply to him. To normal people and ability users alike, the virus was a devastating plague. The moment they came into contact with it, they would plunge into extreme agony. She even had the sinking feeling that the virus she transmitted this time was far more aggressive than the last.

Duan Xiaolin’s face paled instantly as the veins on the back of his hands bulged. Within seconds, a layer of dark, conspicuous corpse spots surfaced on his neck.

He sat completely motionless on the sofa, his body rigid and silent, looking as though he was on the verge of shattering at any moment.

The corpse spots on his neck began to spread rapidly. His bulging veins throbbed in time with his ragged breathing, spasming slightly as the infection grew increasingly uncontrollable.

The last time Pei Xiqing had bitten him out in the wild, she had been unconscious and completely unaware of the physical toll it took on him. This was her first time witnessing the horrific transformation of a zombie infection up close. A chill ran down her spine, raising goosebumps all over her skin.

The mutation from human to zombie was truly that extreme. In the blink of an eye, all sanity could be stripped away. Even the most powerful ability users weren’t immune to its ravages.

She immediately reached for the serum.

But the man’s large hand caught her wrist, stopping her. Pei Xiqing looked at him in confusion.

Through gritted teeth, he murmured, “Wait a little longer.”

He still hadn’t felt any unusual shifts within his body. His dormant superpower hadn’t reacted at all.

Pei Xiqing noticed the lack of elemental response as well. Holding the serum tightly, she fell into a moment of conflicted hesitation.

She checked with him again, “What about now? Is there still no sign of your powers recovering?”

Duan Xiaolin didn’t say a word. Unwilling to let this experiment fail, he silently endured the agonizing pain for another ten minutes. Finally, with a thick layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead, he rasped, “Wait a little longer. There’s still time.”

By this point, thirty-two minutes had already passed since she had bitten him. There was less than half an hour remaining of the “golden hour”—the critical window for administering the cure.

She shook her head anxiously. “Brother Duan, you can’t keep doing this.”

One hour was the absolute limit. It was always best to inject the serum within ten minutes of exposure. The earlier the injection, the more effective the antibodies. The longer they delayed, the higher the risk of irreversible mutation.

Judging by his stubborn expression, he was fully prepared to wait until the very last second.

Duan Xiaolin possessed a terrifying tolerance for pain. More often than not, no matter how excruciating his suffering, he would endure it in absolute silence. But she couldn’t just sit back and watch him suffer. She knew exactly how agonizing the zombie virus was; she had been tortured by it more than once, and each time, it had nearly claimed her life.

Her heart ached. She squeezed his hand tightly. “It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t work. It’s okay. If the bite isn’t the trigger condition, we still have plenty of time to figure out the real answer. You don’t have to force yourself through this.”

Duan Xiaolin still didn’t speak. He simply lowered his head, continuing to silently endure the violent onslaught of the virus.

The stopwatch kept ticking. Every passing minute and second was pure torture for her to watch.

The initial onset of the virus was incredibly violent, but as it progressed, it acted like a lingering poison—a chronic, grinding torture that left its victim hovering uncertainly between life and death.

Pei Xiqing carefully tracked the time. Seeing that there were only five minutes left on the clock, her composure finally snapped. She forcefully pulled his hand away and grabbed the syringe.

The serum vial was sealed. She tore the protective cap off, gripped Duan Xiaolin’s arm, and prepared to administer the dose. But even now, Duan Xiaolin stubbornly insisted, “Wait. Inject it at the very last minute.”

“If we wait any longer, it will be exactly like last time! Back then, Brother Ying waited until the absolute last moment to deliver the serum to you. Do you really want to endure the agony of having your infected flesh carved out again?”

Even if he was willing to endure it, Pei Xiqing absolutely refused to let that happen. Her heart had ached terribly for him the last time.

Ignoring his protests, she pinned his arm down and swiftly plunged the needle in, injecting the serum into his veins.

The visible marks of the virus didn’t fade immediately, but the injection was already beginning to take effect. Terrified of repeating past mistakes, Pei Xiqing carefully pulled his bathrobe open to inspect the spread of the infection across his torso. She finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she saw that his back hadn’t been severely necrotized by the virus—there would be no need to cut away any dead flesh this time.

She then turned her attention to the assortment of medications and secondary serums resting on the table. After quickly studying the labels to confirm their effects, she popped a stabilizing pill into his mouth.

Slowly, his condition began to stabilize, just as the medical texts had described. Seeing his vitals improve, the heavy stone of anxiety pressing down on her heart finally vanished.

Just as she finished tending to him, the hour-mark alarm rang.

There was still no change in the dormant energy within his body.

It seemed the recovery of his superpower truly had nothing to do with her bite. Perhaps that initial spark had just been a coincidence, or maybe… she was missing some other vital trigger or condition.

Pei Xiqing kept a close eye on his recovery process. Lost in thought, she subconsciously bit her lower lip. By the time she snapped out of her daze, Duan Xiaolin had regained much of his strength. His lips were still pale, but his movements were steady as he adjusted his disheveled bathrobe. Slowly, he raised his heavy eyelids and locked his gaze onto her.

She hurriedly began tidying the medical supplies on the table, looking away in flustered discomfort. The way Duan Xiaolin was looking at her was entirely too intense, entirely too explicit.

“It seems my bite really didn’t trigger anything. We’ll just have to try other methods,” she muttered quickly.

She gathered the remaining serums and medications, securely locking them away in the safe. Just as she was about to stand up, his large hand shot out, catching her wrist. With a gentle but firm tug, he pulled her down, pressing her to sit directly on the edge of the coffee table right in front of him.

Pei Xiqing cleared her throat nervously. “Since the bite was a dead end, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. There are still plenty of other possibilities we haven’t explored yet. Don’t be too discouraged…”

“Like what?” he asked, his voice a low, dangerous murmur.

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