What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH154-156

Chapter 154| Chapter 155 | Chapter 156

Chapter 154: Distorted Psychology

Two hours later, Pei Xiqing took the man’s arm, and the two of them stepped into the underground auction house.

The black market’s auction venue was far more spectacular than any legitimate establishment topside. Beneath its extravagant splendor lay the most corrupt transactions and the cruelest methods, all housed within an incredibly luxurious hall filled with rare, illicit treasures. Located in the deepest recesses of the cavern, it required taking a secure elevator down three massive subterranean levels just to reach the entrance.

The most eye-catching features upon arrival were the two pure gold dragon statues flanking the double doors. They bared their fangs and claws, looking like divine beasts guarding the gates of the abyss. In the apocalypse, gold was practically worthless compared to high-level crystal cores, yet here it was used for sheer, arrogant ostentation.

The attendees brushing past them possessed an entirely different status from the desperate rabble in the outer market. Dressed in lavish clothing or concealing their faces with ornate masks, they were flanked by bodyguards who radiated the intense energy of high-tier ability users. Among them were likely numerous high-ranking officials from the official bases—men who wore stern, righteous faces in the daylight, only to hide beneath masks in the dark to indulge their vices. Here, anonymity was the rule, making illicit transactions much more convenient.

When Pei Xiqing entered the main hall, it was already packed. Looking down the grand corridor, she could see the bidding was well underway, with patrons calling out exorbitant prices and eagerly raising their paddles.

As soon as she walked in, several couples naturally turned their heads. She wore an elegant black evening gown with delicate French-style single-sided straps, the bodice tastefully adorned with sparkling diamonds. The black fabric wasn’t flashy, but its quiet, noble elegance was more than enough to capture everyone’s attention.

The man beside her was even more striking. With his refined features, gentlemanly demeanor, and calm composure, he looked entirely out of place in this den of sin. Yet, one look at his cold eyes was enough to warn anyone that he was not someone to be trifled with. Very few people dared to enter this place without a mask unless they were completely unafraid of death. The staring men and women quickly averted their gazes.

The auction on stage was currently fetching prices in the range of several high-level crystal cores. Pei Xiqing was just looking for a place to sit when the man gently caught her arm.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Let’s go up to a private VIP room. The view is better, and it’s… cleaner.”

At first, Pei Xiqing didn’t understand what he meant. But a few moments later, when living creatures were dragged onto the stage and blood began to splatter across the floorboards, she finally realized why he said the upper floors were ‘cleaner.’

Humans and heavily mutated monsters were being treated as mere guinea pigs, paraded around to satisfy the audience’s twisted curiosity and sick psychology. The captives were stripped of their dignity, their most private and vulnerable parts exposed, put on naked display for the highest bidder.

Pei Xiqing couldn’t bear to watch. She felt she would rather be out in the desolate wilderness fighting a horde of zombies than stay here. For the first time, she truly realized that humans could be far more terrifying than the infected. She accidentally caught sight of the audience’s faces below—their expressions twisted with excitement, anticipation, and eagerness. A chilling sickness settled heavily in her stomach.

Feeling nauseous, Pei Xiqing covered her chest and silently backed away from the viewing window. Turning around, she saw Duan Xiaolin sitting in the main leather chair, meticulously wiping the barrel of his handgun as he listened to the horrors below with total indifference.

Yet, Pei Xiqing had never seen such a chilling, suppressed coldness in his eyes.

Was he restraining his fury on behalf of the victims below?

She moved closer to him, reaching out to gently touch his arm. “Brother Duan.”

“Hmm?”

“Actually… I saw a video clip from Pei Yanting a while ago. It was hidden footage of your black market auction house.”

The man looked up, the sharp, dangerous coldness in his eyes softening slightly. “What did you see?”

“I saw you… down there, at the auction.”

“Pei Yanting…” he murmured calmly. “That video was something I intentionally leaked. I remember that incident. The rat who secretly filmed it had his arms and legs chopped off. I made him crawl out of here and hand the footage over to the people waiting outside.”

“Why would you intentionally implicate yourself like that? Why hand them evidence?”

“If I didn’t leave any ‘evidence’ behind, how could the black market bosses ever believe I was truly one of them?” He casually spun a slender bullet between his long fingers. “In this kind of business, both sides have to pay a price and hand over a weakness to establish trust.”

“That’s too risky.”

The man chuckled softly. “There is no risk.” He paused, looking at her intently. “How can you be so sure I don’t genuinely enjoy these transactions? With enough crystal cores, you can buy anything here, indulge in any twisted fantasy. Countless people yearn for the power this place offers.”

Pei Xiqing gently placed her palm against his cheek. “I’m sure because, even if you have to pretend to fit in here, I know you want to tear it all down.”

Duan Xiaolin fell silent, simply staring at her. Pei Xiqing blinked, her eyes clear and unwavering.

The man smiled, a hint of fond helplessness in his expression. He had never needed anyone to understand the dark, brutal things he did. But having her understand him now… it was more than enough.

Down below, the auction was in full swing, with bidders shouting prices in an absolute frenzy. Pei Xiqing stood back by the floor-to-ceiling window, trying to shift her attention away from the grotesque items on stage by scanning the packed auditorium.

She took a quick glance across the crowd. Wait.

There was a familiar silhouette near the back. Pei Xiqing squinted, taking a closer look at the two figures huddled in the shadows of the last row. The more she looked, the more certain she became.

She immediately turned around. “Brother Duan, I think I see them.”

They had to be here for the medicine. She absolutely could not let Xiao Yue get his hands on the cure and recover his strength.

Duan Xiaolin smoothly loaded the magazine into his gun and handed it to her. “Take this.”

“Right.” Xiao Yue was severely injured and posed little physical threat to her right now. Even if he tried to attack, the strange energy from her Qiong Snake would easily neutralize him. Still, it was always better to be armed.

Knowing Duan Xiaolin had more important negotiations to attend to in the VIP room, Pei Xiqing signaled for Shadow to follow her downstairs. Having pinpointed their approximate location, she headed straight for the back of the auditorium.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting could no longer stomach the horrifying “items” being auctioned on stage. Whispering quietly, they discussed a plan to bypass the auction entirely and sneak into the rear warehouse to steal the medicine.

“Xiao Yue, your health is deteriorating rapidly,” Pei Yanting whispered urgently. “We need to find that medicine so you can heal. Then we can finally study that new supernatural power you awakened a few days ago. Let’s go. It’s not safe for us to stay in this crowd much longer.”

After all, they had sneaked in without proper credentials or invitations. If they were discovered by the guards, they would be in grave danger.

However, just as they slipped out of the main hall and began creeping toward the warehouse corridor, a figure silently blocked their path.

It was Shadow, clad in a pitch-black cloak and his featureless mask. Only a pair of cold, dead eyes were visible, staring them down.

Xiao Yue frowned, instantly recognizing the attire. “You’re not just Duan Xiaolin’s lackey… You’re an enforcer from Franlun. How could Franlun agents be operating down here? So the rumors were true… Franlun really has infiltrated the black market.”

Pei Yanting stepped protectively in front of him, her body tense. “What do you want?”

Chapter 155: Good Care

Shadow remained silent. Pei Yanting and Xiao Yue looked at him warily, only then noticing the figure standing behind him.

After a moment of careful scrutiny, Pei Yanting realized it was Pei Xiqing. She stared, slightly dazed. It felt as though a massive, insurmountable gap had opened between them. This was the first time in years she had seen Pei Xiqing dressed so elegantly. It was obvious she had been living very well recently.

Blinking slowly, Pei Yanting said, “It seems someone has been taking very good care of you lately.” To be able to provide such luxury and protection within the black market, her backer had to be incredibly powerful.

Xiao Yue coughed weakly. “Pei Xiqing, why are you here?”

The underground corridor was dark and freezing. Even wrapped in the warm coat Duan Xiaolin had just given her, Pei Xiqing couldn’t help but sneeze. Ignoring their questions entirely, she walked right past the two of them toward the warehouse.

She wasn’t here to explain herself. She was here for a quick, decisive victory.

With a gesture, she signaled Shadow to open the heavy doors, and she strode inside.

Confused and anxious, Pei Yanting and Xiao Yue hurried in after her. When they saw her head straight for a specific storage room and place her hand on the wooden crates, realization suddenly dawned on them.

“Are you trying to steal this medicine?” Pei Yanting called out sharply.

“I don’t just want to steal it,” Pei Xiqing replied calmly, gazing at the mountain of illicit drugs. “I want to destroy it.”

She flicked open a lighter and tossed it toward the crates.

Xiao Yue desperately lunged forward, catching the burning lighter in his bare hand mid-air. Even as the flame scorched his skin, he refused to let go. “You’re trying to burn the medicine?!” he gritted out.

“These drugs have been strictly banned from the very beginning,” Pei Xiqing sneered. “Don’t you always claim to be the most righteous and selfless hero? Burning these harmful substances—isn’t that exactly what someone like you should be doing?”

Xiao Yue froze, momentarily stunned by her words.

Taking advantage of his hesitation, Pei Xiqing pulled out a second lighter and tossed it directly onto the highly flammable crates.

As she watched the flames rapidly take hold, a glimmer of deep satisfaction reflected in her eyes. These weren’t miracle cures meant to save lives. They were vile concoctions developed by corrupt elites to control ordinary survivors. The serum could forcefully reanimate the dead, and it could mutate healthy, normal people into horrific, disfigured monsters. The grotesque mutant zombies imprisoned in the cages lining the base’s roads were all created by these exact drugs.

Xiao Yue stumbled back two steps, his face completely pale.

Desperate, Pei Yanting rushed forward, trying to smother the growing fire. Shadow instantly stepped into her path, and a brief clash erupted between them. Pei Yanting was a peerless genius in physics and mathematics, but physical combat against a high-tier ability user was a completely different story. In a matter of seconds, she was effortlessly swatted away by Shadow’s supernatural power, her body slamming hard against the concrete wall.

The auction outside was still in full swing. With the roar of the bidding crowd, no one noticed the chaos unfolding in the back warehouse.

Once she was certain the medicine was burning beyond salvage, Pei Xiqing turned and walked toward the exit.

Furious, Xiao Yue reached out to grab her, but his fingers only brushed the hem of her coat. With no other choice, he rushed over to help Pei Yanting up from the floor. Seeing the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, he glared at Pei Xiqing.

“Pei Xiqing, this is your sister! Do you really have to be so ruthless? Even if there were misunderstandings in the past, she still saved your life! She is your family, and blood ties can’t just be erased!”

“I know,” Pei Xiqing said, pausing to look back at them. “But I can also clearly tell who genuinely treats me well and who wants to hurt me.”

It was true that Pei Yanting had saved her once in the wilderness. Because of that debt, she had endured their presence for a long time. The fact that she hadn’t actively attacked Pei Yanting today was her final act of kindness. Besides, she wasn’t the original host; to her, this ‘sister’ was virtually a stranger.

And as for Xiao Yue… she would never forget what he had done to her outside Base Three. Since she was already forced to stand on the side of the ‘villain,’ she might as well play the part to the very end. For example: completely burning the male lead’s last sliver of hope to ashes, forcing him into a desperate corner where he’d have to rely on his plot armor once again.

Xiao Yue lowered his eyes, his voice trembling with suppressed anger. “You will regret this, Pei Xiqing. I will use my own actions to prove that you chose the wrong path.”

Pei Xiqing glanced at him coldly. “Focus on surviving today first.”

Less than a few seconds after she spoke, Xiao Yue’s face turned completely ashen, and he violently coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

Pei Xiqing stopped in her tracks. She stared at him in silence.

Slowly, she raised her hand, leveling her newly acquired gun directly at his head.

Both Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting froze in shock. They clearly never expected her to go this far.

Pei Xiqing was fully aware that her behavior right now perfectly mirrored the vicious female antagonist of the novel. But if these two protagonists didn’t die, the predetermined plot of this world would never shatter, and she and Duan Xiaolin were destined to end up dead.

This was the first time she had ever pointed a loaded gun at another human being. Despite the nervous pounding of her heart, she managed to keep her hand perfectly steady. She looked down at the two people huddled on the floor with chilling indifference.

A dark impulse whispered in the back of her mind.

Kill them. Completely eliminate the root of all future troubles.

Xiao Yue was severely injured, and his lifesaving medicine was currently burning to ash behind them. Pei Yanting had no combat ability whatsoever. There would never be a better chance than this.

Golden finger… what other golden fingers does he have left?

A sudden realization struck Pei Xiqing, and she slowly lowered her gun, tucking it away.

Pei Yanting let out a visible breath of relief. Clutching her bruised chest, she stood up and pulled a strange, mechanical contraption from behind her back. “Pei Xiqing, if you had dared to pull that trigger just now, you would be the one lying dead on the floor. Do you understand?” she threatened, holding the device out. “This is a hidden weapon capable of bypassing any supernatural ability or defense to kill you instantly.”

It was supposedly the only one of its kind in the world, a design she had recently conceptualized after pouring over countless technical documents. According to her, the lethal calculations were accurate to two decimal places with zero room for deviation. If Pei Xiqing had fired, this weapon would have supposedly taken her life simultaneously.

Pei Xiqing completely ignored the threat. She simply looked at them and said cryptically, “You don’t have many chances left.”

Her parting words left both of them deeply unsettled. Without looking back again, she and Shadow quickly exited the warehouse.

Left alone in the smoky room, Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting supported each other’s weight. He wiped the fresh blood from his mouth and grimaced. “You took a massive risk just now. That weapon of yours… it isn’t even loaded.”

Pei Yanting sighed heavily. “Pei Xiqing is completely different from how she used to be. I honestly don’t even know if she’s my sister anymore…”

She had never seen such genuine, chilling murderous intent in Pei Xiqing’s eyes before. She had no idea why Pei Xiqing had suddenly backed down at the last second. If she hadn’t, both she and Xiao Yue would have undoubtedly died right there on the floor.

Lifting the hem of her elegant skirt, Pei Xiqing walked briskly back toward the auction hall.

Shadow walked quietly beside her before finally asking, “Why didn’t you do it? That hidden weapon she held up was clearly a fake.”

“Because we can’t kill them just yet,” she replied calmly.

“Why not?”

Pei Xiqing smiled at him. “Because Brother Duan’s overarching plan requires them to be alive. Besides, Xiao Yue still has a killer move up his sleeve.”

“A killer move?” Shadow echoed, sounding genuinely confused. This was the first time he had ever heard of a man actively coughing up his own blood having a ‘killer move’ hidden away.

“Don’t worry about it,” she reassured him. “Now that the medicine is gone, they’re going to have an incredibly difficult time. We don’t even know if Xiao Yue will survive the backlash of his abilities without it. If he lives, he’ll unknowingly serve as the perfect catalyst for Brother Duan’s plan. And if he dies… well, that’s just his bad luck.”

She and Shadow slipped back into the grand auction house, one after the other.

As they walked up the ornate staircase, Pei Xiqing looked out over the balcony railing. From afar, she could clearly see the center stage, where living humans—both men and women—were currently being paraded and auctioned off like livestock.

The bidding war on the floor had grown even fiercer and more frenzied than before.

But as she scanned the terrified crowd of captives on the stage, her gaze suddenly locked onto several jarringly familiar faces.

Chapter 156: Ghost Market

Seeing Tang Yitong and her team members here was the last thing she wanted.

More than a dozen people were locked inside heavy iron cages. The red velvet cloth was pulled back, and the cages were wheeled out onto the brightly lit platform.

Isn’t that the captain of the Second Base, Tan Yuanxin? He was among them.

But it was Tang Yitong who left the deepest impression on her. Tang Yitong had always loved wearing pretty skirts out in the wasteland, and she had thoroughly enjoyed the wild vegetable soup Pei Xiqing used to make. Back when they first met in the wilderness, Tang Yitong would still find a way to change into a clean skirt right after slaughtering zombies.

But here on the auction block, the skirt was gone. She was dressed in nothing but a filthy, torn short-sleeved shirt and ragged shorts, her face completely covered in mud and dried blood. If she hadn’t helped Pei Xiqing dig for wild vegetables back then—getting her face similarly smudged with dirt—Pei Xiqing wouldn’t have even recognized her.

The group of survivors was forced to huddle together in the cramped, degrading cages. Pei Xiqing stood in the shadows while the stage was illuminated. She could clearly see their faces, but they couldn’t see her.

Shadow stood silently beside her. “What’s wrong?”

“The people up there…”

Before she could even finish her sentence, the ground shook violently.

At first, some people assumed it was just a mechanical malfunction with the elevator or the floor systems and muttered annoyed complaints. But two seconds later, a violent series of tremors tore through the room, sending a shower of debris raining down from the ceiling.

Panic instantly erupted across the auction hall. Unable to stay in their seats, the attendees frantically demanded answers from the black market managers.

“What’s going on?! Isn’t this auction house supposed to be the most secure and well-hidden place? How could this happen?!”

“Where’s the manager?! Come out here and explain this!”

“Watch out! He just got crushed by a falling rock! Run!”

The tremors grew increasingly violent, making it nearly impossible to stand. Pei Xiqing grabbed the back of the chair next to her, barely managing to steady herself.

Shadow rushed over and gripped her arm. “It feels like the whole cavern is about to collapse. I need to get you out of here first.”

“Okay.”

But as they turned to flee, Pei Xiqing glanced back at the cages on the stage.

She immediately drew her gun and fired two shots at the heavy iron lock. Her marksmanship wasn’t exactly perfect; the first few bullets missed entirely. Luckily, her final shot grazed the edge of the mechanism, dealing just enough damage.

The lock shattered. Realizing what had happened, the captives inside grew frantic and began throwing their weight against the door. Working together, they finally forced the metal grate open.

Only after seeing them scramble out of the cage did Pei Xiqing feel relieved enough to retreat with Shadow.

They reached the main exit, but the elevator was completely stuck, pinned in place by several massive boulders. It couldn’t go up or down; it wouldn’t even budge. Worse still, there was no emergency communication system down here.

A crowd of panicked guests was trapped in front of the steel doors, frantically pounding against them, only to be crushed by chunks of the ceiling collapsing from above.

Shadow shielded her from the falling rocks and quickly pulled her back into the hall.

“Where’s Brother Duan?” Pei Xiqing asked urgently.

“I don’t know. My only order is to ensure your safety,” Shadow replied. Seeing her worry, he quickly added, “Brother Duan will be fine. His abilities have fully recovered. A little cave-in won’t be enough to hold him back.”

“Right.” She understood their dire situation and nodded. “We’ll just have to climb. This whole place is coming down, we need to hurry.”

“It’s our only option,” Shadow agreed. “Brother Duan mentioned there was an invisible emergency passage built around here.”

Other survivors had the same idea and frantically began trying to scale the crumbling walls. But this location was deep beneath the black market’s main cavern. With the entire structure collapsing, there seemed to be only one way out: death. The cavern was rapidly filling with rubble, sealing off any chance of survival.

Before a man climbing ahead of them could pull himself up, a volley of jagged rocks smashed into him, sending him plummeting from high above.

Shadow grabbed Pei Xiqing, leading her onto the hidden, invisible path Duan Xiaolin had mentioned. A few others noticed and desperately tried to follow. Thanks to Shadow’s supernatural strength, he pulled her up easily, saving her a great deal of effort as he forged ahead to clear the path.

But suddenly, right next to her—barely two inches away—someone lost their footing.

Pei Xiqing didn’t even have time to react. The person’s flailing fingertips just brushed against the hem of her dress before they fell, hitting the ground with a sickening crunch and instantly turning into a bloody pulp.

The agonizing screams echoing through the cavern were endless. It was exactly like the hellish scene depicted in Pei Yanting’s hidden video.

They were getting closer to the top. Shadow motioned for her to step on his shoulders to reach the next ledge. Just as Pei Xiqing moved closer, a massive boulder detached from the ceiling directly above them.

She shoved Shadow out of the way, narrowly dodging the massive stone herself. But before she could even catch her breath, the entire ceiling above them completely gave way.

Shadow’s eyes widened in horror. “Watch out!”

The structural failure happened impossibly fast. It wasn’t just her; every single person remaining in the auction house was swallowed by the sudden avalanche of stone and debris.

Her vision plunged into absolute darkness. A sharp, agonizing pain exploded across her forehead. The impact knocked her out, plunging her instantly into unconsciousness.

Just like that, the legendary black market auction house was reduced to rubble overnight—a piece of news that would soon send shockwaves throughout the apocalyptic wasteland.

At that very moment, a highly classified meeting regarding the black market was taking place.

It was held in the expansive, enigmatic conference room at the capital headquarters. The Grand Marshal sat on an elevated podium. The room itself was designed as a tiered circular amphitheater, descending endlessly into the shadows below. The surroundings were pitch black, illuminated only by a single spotlight shining down from the highest platform, creating an atmosphere thick with judgment and absolute authority.

Watching the live satellite feed of the black market’s destruction, the Marshal smiled, his expression deeply meaningful.

Now, it’s all up to Chief Judge Duan.

Pei Xiqing lay flat on the cold ground. Her head was spinning, her ears ringing with a loud buzz, and the throbbing pain in her skull was so intense she wished she were dead.

Blinking her eyes open a few seconds later, she saw nothing but mountains of rubble, debris, scattered limbs, and pools of blood surrounding her. It took a moment for her to realize she had actually survived the catastrophic cave-in.

Supernatural energy… It was the Qiong Snake that had protected her.

She groaned, rubbing her aching forehead. She hadn’t been able to completely avoid the falling rocks and had still taken a minor hit to the head. But aside from the localized pain, the rest of her body was entirely unharmed. As she fully regained consciousness, the faint, light-green protective barrier generated by the Qiong Snake slowly dissipated into the air.

Pei Xiqing forced herself to stand up. Remembering that Shadow had been right beside her before she blacked out, she immediately began digging through the jagged ruins.

“Shadow?”

“Shadow! Where are you?!”

She searched frantically for a long time, turning over heavy stones, but found no sign of him—only a few mangled corpses. Panic began to set in. Growing increasingly desperate, she didn’t even notice that her fingers were bleeding from moving the sharp debris. She just kept digging blindly through the rubble.

After what felt like an eternity, a muffled voice suddenly called out from behind her.

“Madam Pei…”

Pei Xiqing spun around. She saw a dusty arm thrusting out from a pile of rocks. A moment later, Shadow struggled against the debris and hoisted himself out of the rubble.

Coughing heavily, he looked at Pei Xiqing’s bloody hands and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Sorry. I heard you calling and wanted to answer, but I choked on a mouthful of rock dust and couldn’t speak.”

Pei Xiqing let out a massive sigh of relief. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“Are you hurt?” he asked, dusting himself off.

“I’m fine.”

Pei Xiqing slumped onto a nearby stone to catch her breath. Her elegant dress was ruined and caked in dirt, but the warm coat Duan Xiaolin had given her was still intact and wearable.

A sudden, biting chill crept up her spine, prompting her to pull the coat tighter around her shoulders. Finally taking a moment to properly look at their surroundings, she murmured, “Where are we…?”

It seemed they had fallen through the floor of the auction house. They were now in a cavern situated completely beneath the black market.

The sprawling expanse around them wasn’t just a cave; it was an unfathomably massive mass grave.

She and Shadow were currently standing at the very peak of a literal mountain of corpses. Beneath their feet lay countless layers of rotting flesh and bleached bones. The horrifying mound had to be nearly a hundred meters tall. The sheer, grotesque scale of it was enough to frighten someone to death just by looking at it.

Pei Xiqing was stunned to her core. She slowly turned to lock eyes with Shadow, a deeply unsettling realization settling over her.

“Could this be… the real black market?”

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