What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH8

Chapter 8: Strong and Irresistible

The aggressive scavenger violently swung his fist, aiming a heavy blow directly at Ling Lang’s face. However, before his fist could even make contact, it was abruptly halted mid-air by an invisible, terrifyingly dense force.

His knuckles cracked against the unseen barrier, the impact sending a violent, burning numbness shooting up his entire arm.

His eyes went wide with shock.

Is this a superpower?

It felt like raw kinetic energy, but it was vastly different from any ability he had ever encountered…

“He is infected,” Duan Xiaolin stated indifferently, his gun still raised.

“Bullshit!” the burly scavenger shouted, veins bulging on his neck. “Our Vice-Captain can still be saved! You murdered him!”

Without a flicker of emotion, Duan Xiaolin lowered his weapon and tossed it back to Ling Lang.

With one hand, he calmly removed his gold-rimmed glasses, pulling a cloth from his pocket to slowly wipe a speck of gunpowder from the lens. He kept his eyes downcast. “I don’t think so.”

His voice lacked even a trace of warmth. It was as freezing and absolute as a Shura judging the damned, sending a violent shiver down the spines of everyone listening.

“Why don’t you feel it for yourself?”

The instant the words left his mouth, the headless corpse of the Vice-Captain hit the dirt. The moment it touched the ground, the body violently spasmed. With a sickening crunch, its limbs twisted backward at an impossible, grotesque angle. The jaw unhinged, revealing a bloody, jagged maw as it completed a rapid, mechanized mutation into a zombie. However, because its brain had already been destroyed, the newly turned mutant was completely immobilized, unable to launch an attack.

Everyone gasped in sheer horror.

If their Vice-Captain had still been alive a second longer, the man supporting his weight would have been instantly bitten and infected. It was only a matter of seconds before the entire team would have been decimated from the inside out.

The looks the scavengers directed at Duan Xiaolin shifted instantly from hatred to unadulterated terror.

A murmur broke out among the rogue team. “Why did we just try to cover that up? The Vice-Captain was obviously infected… Did you guys not realize we were the ones who were going to get eaten?”

“Yeah… you were literally carrying an infected corpse! You and the Vice-Captain might have been close, but do the rest of our lives mean nothing to you?”

“You don’t understand!” the burly leader snapped. “The Vice-Captain is the only one among us who has actually been to the central base! He’s the only one who knew the exact route! With him dead, how are we supposed to find the stronghold and seek refuge?!”

The burly leader coughed awkwardly, his face pale as he turned back to Ling Lang. “I… I apologize for my outburst just now. I was too anxious.”

Ling Lang sneered. “You’re heading to the central base?”

“Yes!”

The leader rubbed the back of his neck. “If we don’t seek refuge at the base soon, we’re basically just waiting to die out here.”

“I thought you independent types didn’t want anything to do with ‘those crappy bases’?”

“At first, sure. Who wants to live under strict military rule? But we’ve heard that the zombie mutations are getting faster and deadlier by the week.” The leader pointed an aggressive thumb back toward the horde of corpses. “Now, whoever doesn’t take the initiative to reach the base is going to end up as mutant chow.”

Ling Lang’s expression was laced with pure disdain.

Useless cowards. Even if these idiots make it to the base, they’ll just be cannon fodder.

“Are you guys heading to the base too?” the leader asked hopefully. “How about we form a convoy? More people means more firepower. Better chances of survival for everyone.”

Ling Lang didn’t even bother looking at him again. Long Yan stepped forward. “Yes, we’re heading in that direction.”

“Great! Then let’s team up! Since we’re all going to the same place, we can cover each other’s backs.”

“No group,” Ling Lang shot down the offer instantly.

His elite squad had zero need to babysit a bunch of arrogant, disorganized amateurs.

The overall leader of the scavenger team—a tall, emaciated man who looked more like a skeleton than a survivor—stepped forward. His name was Zhao Shunyan. He had been quietly observing the exchange until now. “I’m incredibly sorry for the disrespect my men showed just now. But truly, our Vice-Captain was the only one who knew the route. If he died, we’d be wandering blind. That’s the only reason we tried to hide his infection.”

Zhao Shunyan offered a polite, apologetic smile. “Thank you immensely for stepping in and saving our lives just now. We are heading to the base, and you are as well. The roads ahead are swarming with the undead, so it never hurts to have allies watch your six.”

“I said, no need,” Ling Lang repeated coldly.

Pei Xiqing secretly gave Ling Lang a thumbs up in her mind.

This rogue team had completely unknown origins. Even if their goal was the central base, who knew what their actual intentions were? Forming a random alliance on the road might help with taking out zombies, but there was a massive risk that these scavengers would turn around and stab them in the back for their gear the second things went south.

“Very well.” Zhao Shunyan didn’t push the issue. He signaled his men to fall back and rest by their vehicles.

As they walked away, a scavenger whispered to Zhao Shunyan. “Captain, those guys are definitely military, probably direct from the base. If we just tail them from a distance, they’ll lead us right to the gates.”

Zhao Shunyan nodded slowly. “Yes. But stay sharp. We have no idea who they really are. For all we know, they could intentionally lead us into a mutant nest to steal our supplies.”

“Understood.”

As he secured his gear, Zhao Shunyan subtly evaluated the elite squad.

Their license plates were completely scoured by sandstorms, rendering them illegible. The two vehicles—a G-Class and a modified off-roader—looked relatively standard for the wasteland. They were likely just a small reconnaissance team from the stronghold.

And as for the terrifyingly precise man who had fired the execution shot? He wasn’t wearing a military uniform or any tactical insignia. He was dressed in a pristine dark suit. Clearly, he wasn’t the commanding officer, so he shouldn’t be much of a threat.

His gaze then drifted to the petite girl standing quietly near the front of their convoy.

This woman looks so familiar.

Where have I seen her before?

After a short break, seeing Ling Lang and his team firing up their engines, Zhao Shunyan immediately ordered his men into their two large transport trucks, tailing them from a safe distance.

Gripping the steering wheel, Ling Lang glanced in the rearview mirror at the two massive trucks aggressively tailing them. “Want me to pull over and drive them off?”

“Don’t bother,” Duan Xiaolin replied evenly, staring at a map on his tablet.

“Copy that. Let’s move.”

The convoy drove relentlessly for eight hours.

The ruined highways were an absolute nightmare, shaking the vehicle violently the entire way.

When the G-Class finally screeched to a halt in a new city, Pei Xiqing was the first one to throw open the door and stumble out.

She clung desperately to the trunk of a dead tree, clutching her chest. She wanted to vomit, but her empty stomach only allowed her to dry heave violently.

Long Yan quickly walked over and handed her a fresh canteen of water. “I know, I know. The road conditions were atrocious. The highways were torn apart by mutant stampedes, and artillery fire left massive craters everywhere. We had to off-road for most of it.”

“Thank you,” Pei Xiqing gasped, taking a sip. “I’ll be fine.”

“Just rest for a minute.”

After her nausea finally subsided, Pei Xiqing looked around. They had entered a new, desolate city. The structural damage here wasn’t as apocalyptic as the last one, but the streets were still completely devoid of life—littered only with decaying corpses and abandoned vehicles.

However, several storefronts lining the street were relatively intact, with only their windows shattered. The goods inside remained largely untouched. The moment the scavenger team’s trucks rolled to a stop behind them, the men flooded out, swarming the stores like locusts, frantically shoving food and supplies into their bags.

“Hey, this stuff isn’t expired yet! This sector must have been evacuated recently!”

“Damn, look at all this prime loot! Come on, boys, pack it in! Grab everything you can carry!”

“Don’t leave a single scrap behind! Hahaha!”

Pei Xiqing frowned, stepping back.

Suddenly, a burly scavenger carrying a crate of scavenged alcohol “accidentally” bumped hard into her shoulder. “Oh, my bad, little sister. So sorry about that.”

His tone was entirely unapologetic, and the look in his eyes made her skin crawl.

His gaze raked shamelessly over her body. Even though she was tightly bundled in Duan Xiaolin’s massive trench coat, with her limbs securely wrapped in thick medical bandages, leaving only her face exposed, she could feel the predatory intent radiating from him and several others. They looked at her like starving wolves eyeing a defenseless lamb—greedy, vulgar, and completely unrestrained.

The original owner’s reputation as the ultimate siren of the apocalypse genuinely felt wasted on these creeps.

Pei Xiqing said absolutely nothing.

She just stared back at them.

She vaguely ground her teeth together.

I want to bite them.

I want to tear their throats out.

They are so incredibly filthy.

The next hour was designated as free time to scavenge and secure the perimeter. Everyone scattered to explore the city blocks. Since Pei Xiqing was genuinely curious about the state of this post-apocalyptic city, she wandered the immediate area for a bit. When she returned to the vehicles, she was surprised to find Long Yan, Lu Xudong, and Ling Lang fully geared up and looking tense.

Long Yan spotted her and jogged over. “Xiqing, we just intercepted a distress signal from the rest of our squad. Their mission went south, and they need immediate backup. We have to roll out right now. We’ll catch up with you later. For the next two days, you’re staying with Brother Duan.”

The situation had escalated rapidly. They were military operatives, meaning they had to obey direct orders and prioritize the mission over returning to the base.

Ling Lang scoffed as he loaded an extra magazine into his rifle. “We’ll link back up with you in two days, max.”

He fixed her with a deadly glare. “In the meantime, you better put a leash on those little mutant impulses of yours. If you dare bite a single person, you will die a horrific death. The guy I shot in the head earlier today? That’ll be your best-case scenario.”

“Why are you trying to terrify the girl?” Long Yan sighed, shoving him toward their vehicle. “Just get in the car.”

Ling Lang raised his chin arrogantly. “Just behave yourself, zombie. And whatever you do, do not try to bite my brother.”

Pei Xiqing actually found the threat a little funny.

If she tried to bite Duan Xiaolin, she was pretty sure the man would crush her jaw into powder before she could even open her mouth.

“Be careful out there,” she said softly.

“We will. See you in two days,” Long Yan waved, climbing into the driver’s seat of the off-roader.

The second the off-roader sped away into the ruins, the scavenger team noticed the sudden decrease in numbers and started creeping closer, loudly gossiping and probing for information. Unwilling to deal with them, Pei Xiqing sealed her lips and cautiously moved to stand closer to Duan Xiaolin.

He had taken off his suit jacket, folding it neatly before leaning back against the driver’s seat of the G-Class to rest his eyes. Even in repose, his sharp, aristocratic features remained entirely unyielding and cold.

Not wanting to disturb him, Pei Xiqing stood quietly guard near the front bumper.

During the next hour, a few scavengers boldly approached her, trying to strike up a conversation. Annoyed and disgusted, she completely ignored them, eventually retreating into the backseat of the G-Class and falling asleep.

She didn’t know how long she slept, but she was jolted awake by the biting cold. Peering out the window, she saw that night had fallen again. The scavengers had lit roaring bonfires in the middle of the street, sitting around them to keep warm and share their loot.

Pei Xiqing sneezed into her hands. Noticing the driver’s seat was empty, she scanned the perimeter.

She spotted Duan Xiaolin sitting completely upright near a small, solitary campfire near the front of the vehicle.

Shivering violently in the freezing desert wind, she climbed out of the car and hurried over to the warmth of the flames. Without looking up, he said, “There are clothes in the back.”

Pei Xiqing paused. She had only seen his pristine suit jacket in the backseat. Recalling Long Yan’s horrifying anecdote about the incinerated uniform, she hesitated. “Can… can I really wear it?”

“Wear it. You’re freezing.”

She didn’t waste another second. She slipped her arms through the sleeves and pulled the heavy material tightly around her. She had no idea what specialized thermal material the coat was made of, but within seconds, the freezing chill was banished entirely.

He casually handed her a wooden skewer.

Skewered on the stick was a perfectly roasted, cleaned rabbit.

She accepted it carefully. “Thank you. Let’s share it.”

“I have already eaten,” he replied calmly.

“I can’t possibly finish an entire rabbit on my own.”

“Then don’t force yourself.”

“Did you catch this out here?”

“They brought it over,” he said, gesturing vaguely toward the scavenger camp.

“Huh?”

Pei Xiqing was genuinely taken aback. Her lips parted in surprise. “They did?”

She turned to look at the massive bonfire where the rogue team was gathered.

A few of the men were watching her. One of them grinned widely and waved. “Enjoy the food, little sister! Take your time! Oh, by the way, we scouted the area and found a relatively intact hotel down the block. We heard on the radio that a massive sandstorm is scheduled to hit tonight, so why don’t you guys take a room to ride it out?”

Pei Xiqing looked down at the man beside her. “Should we go?”

He didn’t say a word. He merely gave a slight nod.

Wanting to maintain a safe, respectful distance, Pei Xiqing stayed a few paces behind him as they walked to the hotel. However, the situation quickly turned awkwardly dramatic. Because they had arrived late, the scavenger team had already claimed nearly every usable room in the only two structurally sound hotels in the city.

There was exactly one room left.

“Ah, what’s the problem? Aren’t you two a couple?” one of the scavengers asked with a sleazy, knowing smirk. “We’re packed to the brim here, and there’s only one room left. Just share it for the night.”

Another scavenger laughed obnoxiously. “Yeah, if you’re a couple, what’s there to be afraid of? Don’t worry, if you guys get ‘busy’ tonight, we won’t interrupt. Just remember that the soundproofing here is complete garbage, so try to keep the noise down, eh?”

Pei Xiqing: …

She shot a nervous, panicked glance at Duan Xiaolin.

He was busy hauling a heavy supply crate from the trunk of the G-Class into the lobby, completely ignoring the crude comments.

Wanting to be helpful, she hurried over to grab the second crate. But the moment she tried to lift it, the sheer weight nearly snapped her spine in half. She couldn’t even budge it an inch.

What the hell is in this? Solid lead?

Duan Xiaolin walked back out and effortlessly hoisted the heavy box from her hands.

As he took the crate, his broad palm brushed against her knuckles. The contact was incredibly brief, but the rough, scorching heat of his skin, combined with the sensation of his strong, defined veins, made her instinctively pull her hand back.

For some inexplicable reason, the brief touch forcefully dragged her mind back to last night—when she was lost in a delirious haze, securely locked against the chest of a man whose grip was terrifyingly powerful and completely irresistible.

“You don’t need to carry anything,” he said in a low, even tone. “Just go inside.”

“What’s in the box?” she asked, intensely curious.

“High-yield explosives.”

Once Duan Xiaolin had finished moving the classified documents and heavy ordnance into the room, Zhao Shunyan, the Captain of the scavenger team, approached him. The two men stepped outside by the vehicles to discuss logistics.

Left alone, Pei Xiqing inspected the room.

Most of the buildings in this sector had been entirely leveled by artillery fire. This hotel was one of the rare, miraculous survivors of the chaotic warzone. Aside from a few structural cracks spiderwebbing across the plaster, the building was largely functional.

It even had a working bathroom.

Pei Xiqing looked down at herself. Over the past few days, she had been coated in mutant blood, her own blood, and thick layers of Gobi Desert sand. She felt absolutely vile. She was practically growing fleas.

She turned the knob in the shower—it actually worked. Hot water sputtered from the showerhead, and there was even a stack of clean towels and bathrobes on the rack.

After hesitating for only a moment, she locked the door, carefully unwrapped the bloody bandages from her limbs, and began to strip off her filthy clothes.