What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH18

Chapter 18: The Necessity of Commitment

Pei Xiqing’s mind spun into a state of total confusion.

Her vision blurred slightly. She couldn’t read the dark, intense eyes hidden behind his gold-rimmed glasses, but she felt an overwhelming illusion that she was being completely seen through. Every layer of her defenses felt stripped bare.

Some things in the apocalypse were far more complicated than they appeared.

This man was one of them.

Pei Xiqing parted her lips, desperately trying to maintain a facade of calm. “If you don’t tell me what you want, how can I know if I can afford the price?”

Duan Xiaolin lowered his gaze. It was entirely unclear whether he was mocking her sheer recklessness or her naive ignorance of her own limitations.

After a heavy silence, a low, magnetic, and dangerously seductive chuckle resonated from his chest. The sound sent a violent shiver down her spine, making half her body go entirely numb.

“Remember that you offered.”

Pei Xiqing subconsciously shrank back, tucking her chin into her collar.

Duan Xiaolin grabbed her arm. “Get up.”

Her legs were completely like jelly. She couldn’t bear her own weight, and the moment she tried to stand, her entire body collapsed forward directly into his chest. He didn’t miss a beat; wrapping a strong arm around her waist, he effortlessly hoisted her up and deposited her onto the edge of the large bed behind them.

He leaned in close, his towering frame casting a heavy shadow over her. For a second, it looked as though he was going to press her down against the mattress. But just as quickly, he withdrew his arm, straightened his posture, and took a step back.

“Put your clothes on,” he ordered flatly.

Still reeling from the dizzying tension of their conversation, she sat frozen for a long moment.

Duan Xiaolin’s cold voice cut through her daze. “Are you completely immune to the cold now that you’re a zombie?”

Is he calling me thick-skinned? He’s the thick-skinned one!

Pei Xiqing’s face burned bright red. She quickly scrambled to grab her heavy tactical coat and pull it on. Once she was fully dressed, she saw the man already standing by the open door, waiting for her.

She hurried after him, keeping her voice to a nervous whisper as they walked down the dim corridor. “Brother Duan… I’m a zombie. Are you really going to protect me like this? The operatives of Franlun are notorious for showing absolutely no mercy to the infected. Won’t you face severe punishment for keeping me around?”

She genuinely wanted to know—was her so-called “research value” really worth the immense risk he was taking?

But the way this man had just looked at her in the dark room implied his motives ran far deeper than simple scientific curiosity, even if he refused to show his hand. In the wasteland, when a person was deemed special, the moment they lost that unique value, they became entirely worthless.

“If that were still something you needed to worry about,” he said, walking ahead of her and slowly descending the stairs, “I wouldn’t have made you that promise just now.”

“Can I actually trust your promise?”

“Yes,” he answered with absolute, unyielding certainty.

Hearing that single syllable, Pei Xiqing felt an inexplicable wave of profound peace wash over her.

She stole a quiet glance at his broad back.

The man’s profile was carved from stone—serious, imposing, and entirely calm. He moved with the terrifying precision of a man who knew his absolute limits and the limits of the world around him. She couldn’t help but wonder what he would do if she actually lost control and bit his neck. Would he fly into a rage and strangle her? Given his current demeanor, a scene like that seemed… highly unlikely.

I don’t want to bite him, she thought, rubbing her jaw. But the more I think about it, the more my teeth itch.

Is this man seriously not afraid of a zombie biting him?

As she reached the ground floor, she was still lost in her bizarre internal monologue when a figure suddenly stepped out of the shadows, making her jump.

She blinked, coming face-to-face with Ling Lang’s highly irritated expression. “Why… are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here?” Ling Lang scowled, crossing his arms. “You’re quite the track star, aren’t you? You really know how to enjoy yourself. My brother and I have been tearing this wasteland apart looking for you all night, and you’re just casually sleeping in a luxury hotel suite? Are you seriously not afraid of the undead?”

“What else was I supposed to do?” she shot back. “Die on the streets? Hide in a corner and cry?”

“Isn’t that exactly what you used to do?”

“I am not like that! Last time was an accident, and I didn’t cry!” Pei Xiqing retorted defensively. “And I’m not afraid of zombies.”

“Tch. Is that so?”

Ling Lang leaned in close, his sharp eyes scrutinizing her face. Suddenly, his brow furrowed. “Were you crying?”

Pei Xiqing’s skin was naturally delicate and bruised easily. Although the garage was dimly lit, Ling Lang was a high-tier ability user with exceptional night vision. He instantly noticed the faint, distinct red marks blooming on her jawline. His gaze slowly shifted from her flushed cheeks to her slightly swollen lips, taking in her disheveled hair and the hasty, haphazard way her heavy coat was buttoned.

Ling Lang straightened up, his expression darkening. “You idiot.”

…

???

Pei Xiqing glared at him. “Are you sick in the head? Why are you suddenly swearing at me?”

“Your brain must be mush from sleeping too much,” he muttered, pointing a finger at her. “Then why is your face so red? Did someone hit you?”

Pei Xiqing subconsciously reached up and touched her cheek. It still throbbed faintly from Duan Xiaolin’s punishing grip. She quickly turned her head away. “Maybe. Don’t ask.”

Ling Lang was standing way too close, and she was terrified that if he kept staring, he would easily deduce exactly what had happened upstairs.

Ling Lang looked genuinely perplexed. He couldn’t help but cast another suspicious glance at her face. “You…”

Before he could finish his interrogation, Duan Xiaolin opened the driver’s side door of the G-Class. “Let’s go.”

“I’m coming,” Ling Lang replied, snapping out of his thoughts. He turned back to her. “Well? What are you still standing there for?”

Pei Xiqing hurriedly climbed into the vehicle. Actively avoiding Duan Xiaolin’s gaze in the rearview mirror, she tactfully slid into the far corner of the back seat, pulling her hood up and turning her face toward the dark window.

Ling Lang couldn’t shake the feeling that something was incredibly strange, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

The cabin was dead silent, the heavy tension thick enough to cut with a knife. The only sound was the heavy tires crushing debris on the ruined asphalt. Feeling uncharacteristically depressed by the silence, Ling Lang kept glancing at the rearview mirror, only to find Pei Xiqing entirely hidden beneath her hood, fast asleep against the door frame. Annoyed, he curled his lip and pressed down hard on the accelerator.

Over an hour later, the G-Class slowly rolled back into the perimeter of the scavenger camp, the brakes hissing as they decelerated.

Pei Xiqing pulled her hood back and peered out the window.

Dawn was just beginning to break over the horizon. The massive bonfires in the center of the camp had already been extinguished, replaced by the chaotic bustle of survivors breaking down tents.

After tossing and turning all night and enduring a terrifying emotional rollercoaster, she had barely managed three hours of actual sleep.

She couldn’t suppress a massive yawn. The moment the car shifted into park, a sharp knock hit the glass.

Startled, she turned to see Long Yan’s relieved face peering through the window. Pei Xiqing quickly pushed the door open. “Sister Long Yan.”

Long Yan offered a tight, exhausted nod. “Are you okay? You little brat, you vanished for an entire night. You had us absolutely terrified.”

“I’m so sorry…”

“Get out,” Long Yan ordered gently, reaching for her hand. “Come with me. I need to run a full biometric check on your body.”

“Okay.”

She stepped out into the freezing dawn air and followed Long Yan toward a nearby medical tent.

Ling Lang hopped out of the passenger seat, walking around to meet Duan Xiaolin. “Brother, how the hell did you actually find her?”

Ling Lang had scoured the treacherous mountain ridges for hours before moving into the adjacent city grid, practically kicking down doors with zero success. Just as he was about to expand the search radius, he had received a pinged location coordinate from his boss.

When he finally arrived at the hotel, he had been convinced the coordinates were a glitch. The building was incredibly remote and structurally obscured. Finding a single person hiding inside without conducting a room-by-room breach should have been impossible.

“Luck,” Duan Xiaolin replied with pure indifference.

“Am I really just that unlucky?” Ling Lang grumbled.

Duan Xiaolin ignored the rhetorical question entirely. “Get the convoy ready. Don’t waste time.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll give the men a brief rest, and we’ll roll out in an hour.”

Ling Lang took a step, following his brother toward the supply crates, but suddenly paused. He lowered his voice. “Brother… when we finally get back to the central base, what exactly are we going to do with Pei Xiqing?”

It was the elephant in the room. She was still a zombie.

And in the central base, being a zombie was an absolute, non-negotiable death sentence.

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