What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH67

Chapter 67: Teach Me

“That’s not convenient to disclose,” Pei Xiqing said smoothly. “But you don’t have to tell me anything either. If I really wanted to, I could look into it myself. I can assure you, I wasn’t sent by the base high command.”

The vendor let out a long breath, his shoulders dropping. “Fine. You don’t seem like a bad person, and you’re clearly still worried about that old woman. Let me tell you, her son used to be a patrol captain down in the water dungeon. A few days ago, he was tricked into smuggling and bought a mutated zombie woman, bringing her straight into his home to raise her. The second the high command found out, the enforcement squads dragged him away. It’s been three or four days now, and he hasn’t returned. He’s likely done for.”

A place like the water dungeon was a notorious black site. Once your name was entered into their registers, you didn’t just walk back out.

Crossing that threshold was practically a death sentence. Even if an asset miraculously cleared the vaults, they would be broken beyond repair.

Pei Xiqing asked quietly, “What exactly happened a few days ago?”

“A supreme director arrived from global headquarters,” the vendor whispered, leaning closer. “Do your processors have a log on that?”

“I know.”

“The base has been hit by heavy rain for the past few shifts, so the bloodstains on the asphalt have mostly been washed away. If your boots had cleared this block two days earlier, you would have seen horrifying streaks of crimson covering the pavement.” The merchant’s face turned pale with lingering fear. “A few nights ago, every single corrupt officer and administrator in this sector was completely replaced. And when I say replaced, I mean permanently erased.”

“You mean they were executed?”

“If only they had been granted a clean execution,” the vendor muttered, lowering his voice to a bare murmur. “They were tortured beyond recognition. My line didn’t audit the cells directly, but a contact of mine did. He hasn’t slept a wink since that shift, trapped in endless nightmares day and night. Tsk, tsk. The families of those executives went out searching for their files, and every single one of them returned completely traumatized.”

“That night, the intelligence logs indicated those officers were organizing a tactical strike, intending to launch an assault against a supreme target. However, their internal communications were intercepted before they could even implement the deployment. You can easily calculate what the execution squads did to them…”

Pei Xiqing’s mind raced. They must be the exact same men I overheard plotting outside the office window before I passed out.

While her thoughts were drifting through the data, the vendor suddenly hissed, “They’re here! The enforcement patrol is clearing the block. Refrain from broadcasting a single word of what my vocal receptors just released to your station. And regarding old Grandma Wang next door—if your line possesses the spare clearance to check on her, execute a visit. She’s old, and her timeline is running critically low.”

The old woman had been missing from her stall for days, entirely clueless on how to extract her son from the flooded vaults. If the rescue failed, her volatile husband would likely lose his mind and beat her to death in their quarters.

The vendor knew he lacked the leverage to protect his neighbors, and this civilian girl was the singular asset who had shown any interest in the old woman’s welfare over the past week. If she could save the youngest member of that cell, it would count as a successful intervention.

If she failed… it could only be left to the erratic laws of fate.

With that final warning, the vendor rapidly packed his remaining inventory and hurriedly pushed his cargo cart down the alley.

Sensing the approach of the base patrol, dozens of merchants and shopkeepers along the boulevard quickly pulled down their iron security shutters, locking their storefronts down.

Pei Xiqing rapidly adjusted the brim of her hat, firmly pulling Xiaobai’s lead to blend into the retreating crowd of laborers.

The armored patrol unit marched onto the street, their boots ticking loudly against the pavement. For some unknown reason, they initialized a sudden sweep of the sector, though it was impossible to deduce what specific target their scanners were tracking.

She audited their movements from the edge of her vision, maintaining a fast, steady stride away from the cordon.

The patrol commander caught sight of a slender silhouette slipping into the dark corner of the avenue. He raised his hand, halting his subordinates before they could deploy a pursuit script. “Belay the chase. Maintain your current coordinates.”

The soldier next to him scratched his helmet in confusion. “Why, Captain?”

“Did your memory cells completely dump the directive Commander Ying broadcasted to our division?”

The soldier froze, his jaw dropping. “Ah… affirmative, I almost caused a critical violation. He explicitly ordered our units to completely ignore any female civilian walking a dressed Husky through the transit lanes.”

The commander nodded flatly, watching the pair vanish down the lane. “Look at the canine flanking her boots. Isn’t that exactly the dressed idiot Ying highlighted in the brief?”

Pei Xiqing navigated the rest of the transit loop without incident, slipping back into the villa to deposit her fresh vegetables and meat onto the kitchen counter.

The night cycle was rapidly closing in, casting deep shadows across the yard.

Her mind was completely occupied with calculating Grandma Wang’s current danger parameters. Because her focus was divided, her cooking speed dropped significantly.

She was just preparing to initialize the second course when the heavy mechanical click of the master blast door signaled an arrival. “Ah… Brother Duan, my cooking script hasn’t finalized yet. What administrative variable brought your line back so early today…?”

Before she could step away from the counter, the man pushed into the kitchen. He calmly unbuttoned his crisp cuffs, rolling up his sleeves to seamlessly take possession of the half-finished ingredients from her hands. “The timeline is fine,” he murmured, his deep voice smooth. “I cleared my desk early yesterday explicitly to take charge of this kitchen grid. I hadn’t calculated that your line would attempt to plunder my station.”

Pei Xiqing rinsed her fingers under the tap. Piercing a freshly seared braised pork rib with a fork, she raised it to his lips, feeding him a bite. “If your office consistently monopolizes the stove, my own excellent culinary skills will never achieve validation on your ledger.”

Duan Xiaolin bit into the tender meat, chewing slowly as he evaluated the flavor. “The execution is exceptionally refined.”

“What precise score does your palate assign?”

“Maximum value.”

Pei Xiqing’s face lit up with a brilliant smile. “Then I shall gracefully surrender the remaining courses to your overwatch.”

The administrator moved with fluid, hyper-precise efficiency, managing the pans with practiced ease.

Pei Xiqing leaned her back against the sleek frame of the refrigerator, watching his profile. Suddenly, his level voice cut through the sizzling of the oil. “Where did your navigation vector direct your boots this afternoon?”

“I was executing a standard shopping run.”

“What specific logistics did your card secure?”

“Personal supplies tailored for a woman’s profile,” she noted softly, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Sanitary napkins.”

Duan Xiaolin’s hand paused over the spice rack for a split second. “Has your monthly cycle initialized for this calendar block?”

“Mhm. The baseline triggered the exact moment we cleared the trail to return to the villa.”

He executed a smooth turn, his piercing green eyes locking onto her face behind his lenses. “Does your system detect any physical discomfort or neural fatigue?”

“The vitals are stable,” she murmured, waving a hand dismissively. “That variable is irrelevant. The core issue is a separate piece of data I need to synchronize with your board.”

“Vocalize the file.”

Pei Xiqing meticulously mapped out Grandma Wang’s structural crisis for him, carefully omitting any mention of the vegetable vendor to preserve his anonymity. She offered a tentative, searching look. “I hold zero desire to interfere with the judicial files governing her son, nor does my line possess the clearance to alter his sentence. But the data indicates her husband routinely deploys violent physical protocols against her frame. I am deeply concerned that her timeline will hit a critical shutdown, so my mind has formulated a plan to execute a wellness check on her quarters.”

Duan Xiaolin returned his focus to the stove, his tone entirely level and unbothered. “Mm. My office will route the necessary clearance for the intervention.”

Pei Xiqing’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Are you genuinely authorizing the protocol?”

“It represents a low-impact variable,” he noted smoothly. “The old woman has likely already sustained physical trauma under her husband’s hand. You are cleared to escort her coordinates directly to the central medical facility. Check her into one of the specialized recovery sanctuaries situated around the hospital quadrant.”

Pei Xiqing let out a soft laugh, her shoulders relaxing. “Understood. Then I shall respect and execute your administrative command to the letter.”

The administrator finalized the seasoning on the last dish, turning off the thermal induction units. Before she could react, his large hands locked around her waist, effortlessly lifting her frame to sit squarely on the adjacent kitchen counter.

He stepped close, leaning his towering frame over her coordinates as he asked casually, “My historical logs contain zero data regarding this specific biological shift—a girlfriend navigating her monthly cycle. Would your system care to teach my office exactly what protocols to execute?”

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