What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH121-123

Chapter 121| Chapter 122 | Chapter 123

Chapter 121: Paying Attention to Her

Tang Yitong pouted. “Sister, don’t you have a favor to ask me? You wanted me to contact your friends and pass on a message. If you don’t come back with me, what if I can’t find you after I meet up with my brothers?”

“It’s okay. You can just pass the message on for me,” Pei Xiqing said. She thought for half a second before speaking again. “Pass it to a commander surnamed Duan at the capital headquarters. He’s operating within Franlun. Just tell him that I’m safe, and not to worry about me.”

“Wait, isn’t your surname Duan, Sister Qing? Is he your family member?”

Pei Xiqing smiled. “I guess you could say that.”

“Wow, you have friends and family in Franlun? That’s amazing.”

“Franlun is made up of human beings too. They also need family and friends.”

Tang Yitong shuddered slightly. “But those people from Franlun are pretty scary. Their reputation out here isn’t very good at all. My brothers explicitly told me never to have any contact with them, and that if I see them, I should stay far, far away.”

Pei Xiqing offered a mild defense. “They’re just working for the base, just like you.”

“Are you really confident leaving such an important message to me?”

“Of course,” Pei Xiqing replied. “If I didn’t believe you, why would I have come all this way with you?”

Tang Yitong smiled brightly. “Okay! Once I meet up with my teammates and get access to the comms, I’ll definitely pass this message on for you.”

“Good.”

“Then I’ll just rest here for a little while. See you again if we’re lucky!”

Tang Yitong’s eyes were filled with reluctance as she added, “I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

Pei Xiqing smiled. “That’s up to you. Let’s just focus on cooking some more delicious food tonight.”

“Uh-huh!”

The structural damage to this part of the city wasn’t actually too severe.

They soon found a residential building that was in relatively good condition. The items inside had been preserved remarkably well. Aside from the ransacked refrigerator and the empty kitchen cabinets, the walls and surrounding furniture were perfectly intact.

In the abandoned cities of the wasteland, no one cared if you occupied someone else’s home. No one even knew who was still alive and who was dead. As long as you had the courage to survive in the wild, these urban properties—which used to be worth small fortunes—could become yours for the taking.

But with the world hopelessly polluted, ‘owning’ land and houses in the dead zones was functionally useless. Claiming ten luxury villas out in the wild wasn’t worth a single square meter of safe space inside a fortified base.

Pei Xiqing randomly selected a house that looked secure. The ground floor had been scorched black by fire, so she walked up the external iron staircase to the second level.

The layout was unusual—the bottom floor resembled a large garage, while the living space was situated upstairs. The front door faced a man-made lake. The water wasn’t exactly crystal clear, but it wasn’t a toxic, foul-smelling black sludge either.

If they cleared the garbage and the scattered corpses near the lake, they could probably restore the house’s pleasant waterfront view.

She didn’t know who had lived here before, but there were practically no living humans left in this city anyway.

Opening the heavy door, she found a compact living space of about seventy square meters. The natural lighting was excellent.

Surprisingly, the interior wasn’t a trashed mess. There was a sofa, a sturdy table, and an intact bathroom. The space had an open-concept layout facing north and south, and aside from a thick layer of dust, it was remarkably clean.

The only issue was the complete absence of human life; it felt like a house that had simply been locked up and left idle. It was highly likely that whoever had lived here had vanished five months ago during the initial outbreak, and the house had sat untouched ever since.

She immediately set to work cleaning up the space. There weren’t many personal belongings lying around; perhaps the previous owner had just used it as a lounge or a utility room.

After some light tidying, the room became much neater and far more pleasing to the eye.

Tang Yitong came upstairs to help, looking around excitedly. “Wow, this place looks great! Sister Qing, it’s quite secluded too. Is this going to be our secret base?”

“You could call it that.”

“Then the next time I’m on a mission in the wild and get separated from my brothers, I’ll know to come here to find you!”

“Sure, you’re welcome anytime.”

Two hours later, Pei Xiqing and Tang Yitong finally finished cleaning the house. There was no actual bed inside, so they scavenged local materials, gathering sturdy branches and some unused wooden boards from the burnt-out ground floor, successfully constructing a makeshift frame.

Tang Yitong flopped down onto the new bed, rolling around happily. “It’s so comfortable! I’ve been sleeping in a cramped tent every day; I haven’t slept on a proper bed in ages!”

“You rest up, then,” Pei Xiqing smiled. “I’ll go forage for dinner.”

“Okay!”

Pei Xiqing opened a window to let some fresh air circulate. Carrying a small, improvised basket she had just woven, she headed back downstairs.

The ground floor still needed a massive cleaning; it was far too dirty and chaotic. She felt a little uncomfortable just looking at it. However… it might be a good idea to leave it as a deceptive cover. It would be a shame if the property looked too clean and invited unwanted attention from scavengers.

The city had been deserted for so long that thick weeds were sprouting right through the cracked asphalt roads. It no longer resembled the bustling metropolis it once was. With every two steps she took, she found massive clumps of grass. It was actually difficult to spot any specific wild vegetables.

Suddenly, she heard the loud, unmistakable roar of heavy engines.

She raised her head, peering down the street.

Several off-road vehicles rumbled into view.

The people who stepped out were Pei Yanting, Xiao Yue, and the rest of the S1 squad.

Pei Xiqing: …

Why on earth do I have to keep running into them everywhere I go?

She silently crouched back down behind a concrete barrier, keeping her head low, and continued digging for wild vegetables.

She stayed hidden until their voices drifted over.

The S1 members were shouting in excitement.

“Oh my god! There are practically no zombies here! It’s so much cleaner than any other city we’ve passed through. If the perimeter is secure, Captain, let’s just make camp here!”

“How did you guys even find this place? It’s barely damaged! Look what I just found on the ground! A completely unopened pack of clothes. Oh man, there are even unworn shoes over here. And look at this radio and TV… damn, they both still work!”

“This place is amazing! Let’s stay here forever; no one can chase us away from this!”

The group of scavengers eyed the luxury villas lining the road, swaggering inside like they owned the place. Some of the men even started hauling untouched furniture out onto the street, dragging out pristine sofas and other valuable items.

Pei Yanting supported Xiao Yue’s weight. “Be a little more restrained,” she scolded the men. “This place is indeed nice and livable, but aren’t you taking things a bit too far? Just secure a place to rest, don’t start looting everything in sight.”

“Oh, what’s the big deal, Vice-Captain? Even if we don’t take this stuff, it’s just going to rot here. No one else is coming for it. It doesn’t matter.”

“Exactly. It was perfectly fine for us to take whatever we wanted during the base raids, so why can’t we take things here? Right, Captain?”

Xiao Yue’s face was deathly pale. He covered his mouth, coughing violently twice before he slowly spoke. “You… cough, cough… put it back. Anyone caught looting from innocent civilian homes will have their hands chopped off.”

“Captain!”

“If the members of S1 can’t even maintain basic human decency, then get the hell out of my unit.”

“Captain! What are you talking about?! Fine, we won’t take them. Put them all… put them all back!” the men grumbled, dropping the furniture.

Xiao Yue suddenly coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Pei Yanting quickly helped him sit down on a nearby stone bench. She patted his back gently and quickly produced a vial of medicine. “Take this, hurry.”

She was an expert in physics and computational research, not medicine, so she was completely helpless when it came to neutralizing the complex toxins currently ravaging his system.

After swallowing the medicine, Xiao Yue’s breathing eased slightly. “This poison… it was definitely concocted by that bastard named Qiu Chao. He’s the chief medical officer for Franlun. He has the blood of countless zombies and human test subjects on his hands. It’s no surprise he engineered a poison this lethal.”

“Is there any known cure?”

“I don’t know,” Xiao Yue said, shaking his pale head. “Perhaps the only way to find the antidote is to infiltrate the capital headquarters and confront him directly, or try to steal the formula.”

“Then let’s head to headquarters.”

“It’s not the right time for a direct assault. Let’s just follow the original plan—we’ll rest here for a few days before making our next move. As for the capital, I’ve already secured the latest intelligence. When the time is right, we’ll head straight for Base Two.”

“What’s the latest situation over there?”

“Cough…” Xiao Yue wheezed. “There’s going to be a massive underground auction there soon… cough… If we want to bring down those corrupt nobles ruling the base, we have to strike there. Then… we can expose all of their atrocities to the public…”

Pei Yanting pressed her lips together. “Those elites running the bases… it seems highly unlikely we can bring them down all by ourselves, right?”

“I’m not afraid.” Xiao Yue offered a bitter, self-righteous smile. “I can’t just stand by and watch humanity sink deeper into depravity while doing absolutely nothing.”

“If you’re determined to go, then I will accompany you to the bitter end.”

“Thank you, Yanting.”

“This is exactly why I joined your team from the very beginning. Otherwise, I never would have followed you.”

Xiao Yue smiled weakly. “It’s a pity I failed to protect your sister. First, I allowed her to be turned into a zombie, and then she was killed right under our noses during the siege.”

“She…” Pei Yanting paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ve already accepted that she’s dead.”

“But she’s still very much alive,” Xiao Yue murmured. Even he couldn’t figure out the logic behind it. Pei Xiqing had been viciously bitten by a zombie right in front of everyone, so how was she still walking around? Aside from assuming she had been fed some classified, shameful drugs back at Base Three, he really couldn’t come up with any other explanation.

“Don’t mention her anymore,” Pei Yanting said coldly. “I don’t even know when it started, but you have been paying far too much attention to her lately.”

Chapter 122: Not at All Like Your Original Master

As she spoke, Pei Yanting couldn’t help but sneer, her voice dropping into a slow, mocking drawl. “Or, were you also deceived by her just like the rest of them? It’s that face of hers that makes all of you unable to forget her, right? It’s bad enough that the whole team was fooled, but you had to be fooled too? If that’s the case, then why did you reject her when she tried to climb into your bed?”

That pristine, flawless face didn’t belong in this apocalypse at all. Who could possibly look like that after surviving five brutal years in the wasteland?

Xiao Yue looked stunned. He immediately scrambled to defend himself. “I didn’t! I just think there is something completely abnormal about her.”

“Abnormal?” Pei Yanting scoffed. “Even though we were apart for five years, I could tell exactly what was going on in her head and what she was trying to pull the moment I saw her. She hasn’t changed. That desperate aura of wanting to be a celebrity and an internet influencer hasn’t faded one bit.”

A short distance away, Pei Xiqing—who was currently crouched in a patch of tall grass digging for wild vegetables—paused.

Well, she isn’t exactly wrong, she thought. After all, she had been a struggling, C-list celebrity before she transmigrated into this novel. Who didn’t want to be famous?

She silently yanked a cluster of wild vegetables from the dirt and stuffed them into her basket. The rustling noise instantly alerted the two dual-ability users standing not far away.

“Who’s there?”

Pei Yanting snapped to attention. She unholstered the gun at her waist, racked the slide, and slowly approached the tall grass. “Come out!”

Xiao Yue frowned deeply, gesturing to his subordinates. “Fan out and check. If it’s a zombie, kill it immediately.”

The S1 operatives began to encircle the patch of grass from all sides.

Suddenly, a crisp rustle echoed from the underbrush. Pei Yanting and the others instantly raised their weapons. A moment later, Pei Xiqing calmly stood up from the tall grass, a small gardening hoe resting at her feet.

A wisp of pale green energy flickered to life in the palm of her hand.

“Baby, I’ll leave the rest of the foraging to you,” she murmured softly.

The Qiong Snake: …

The supernatural energy reluctantly sank into the earth, slithering away to hunt for the wild vegetables its host loved so much.

Pei Xiqing picked up her small hoe, tossed it into her woven basket, and turned to walk away without sparing the group a single glance. A few of the men wanted to step forward to stop her, but Pei Yanting held up a hand, her expression incredibly ugly.

The operatives muttered among themselves in confusion.

“Why… why is that monster here? She really is a freak. Even after getting bitten by a zombie, she can still just walk around in broad daylight…”

“Hey! Did you see the corpse spots on her arms? That’s so creepy… I wonder when her flesh is going to start rotting off. Tsk, tsk.”

“So Pei Xiqing really did turn into a zombie? Serves her right!”

Pei Yanting frowned deeply. As she turned around, her subordinates immediately fell silent. She holstered her gun, watching Pei Xiqing’s retreating figure. When Pei Xiqing had rolled up her sleeves to dig in the dirt, the dark corpse spots mottling her arms had been impossible to ignore. Pei Yanting was certain she hadn’t seen them the last time she bandaged her sister’s wound.

“Her good days are officially numbered,” one of the men sneered. “What’s the point of surviving as a zombie? Once the skin all over her body festers and starts sloughing off piece by piece, she’ll cry her eyes out at her own reflection.”

“Let’s see how she compares to Vice-Captain Pei then. She’s going to lose that precious face of hers.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Pei Yanting snapped, unable to stomach their vicious gossip any longer. “Why are you all standing around spewing nonsense? Hurry up and sweep the perimeter for any suspicious activity. Rotate the guard shifts and set up camp immediately!”

Further down the road, Pei Xiqing had managed to forage a few more wild greens by the roadside. Only then did the Qiong Snake finally return, slithering back into her palm.

She was just starting to wonder if the Qiong Snake had failed to find anything when she noticed a massive bundle of wild vegetables floating in the air behind her.

Yes, an entire bundle. At a quick glance, there had to be at least three or four hundred of them wrapped tightly together.

Pei Xiqing’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise. “My dear, did you just dig up enough wild vegetables to feed me for the next month?”

The invisible serpent reluctantly circled her palm before affectionately nuzzling her pinky finger and wrapping itself around it.

Pei Xiqing giggled. “You are so cute. You act absolutely nothing like your original master.”

The Qiong Snake: …

If that were the case, she might give it the cold shoulder again.

“Hey, why are you being shy? I’m praising you!”

Instantly, the entity vanished in a puff of embarrassment. The massive bundle of wild vegetables crashed heavily to the ground.

Pei Xiqing sighed. “Baby Qiong Snake, come back out and carry this back to the house for me.”

Just as the Qiong Snake was about to manifest again, Tang Yitong came running down the road, waving excitedly. “Sister Qing, let me do it!”

Seeing her, Pei Xiqing smiled. “Can you actually lift all this?”

“Of course! No problem at all. When I was training at the base, I carried weights way heavier than this.”

True to her word, Tang Yitong bent down, hoisted the massive bundle of vegetables onto her shoulders with ease, and confidently marched back down the road.

Seeing that the Qiong Snake had fully emerged from her palm again, Pei Xiqing deliberately poked its invisible form. “Can you somehow contact Brother Duan?” she asked curiously. “I want to know how he’s doing and how his recovery is going.”

The Qiong Snake’s physical manifestation was nothing more than shifting shades of green light; it possessed no true physical body. It spun lazily in a circle above her palm before sinking directly into her skin.

A moment later, Pei Xiqing felt a profound, hidden force surge within her body—a powerful, looming presence.

Is this… Brother Duan’s supernatural ability connecting?

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away at the capital headquarters, Long Yan was staring intently at the rapidly scrolling data on a monitoring screen. Her eyes suddenly widened in absolute shock.

“Qiu Chao!” she yelled excitedly. “Hurry! Inject Brother Duan with the final dose of medicine right now!”

Chapter 123: The End of the World

Early the next morning, Tang Yitong strapped on her tactical backpack and prepared to leave.

Pei Xiqing forced herself up around seven o’clock to share a quick breakfast with her. After walking the girl downstairs to see her off, Pei Xiqing trudged right back upstairs and collapsed into bed, falling deeply asleep once more.

She slept straight through until noon. When she finally woke up and stretched vigorously, she felt completely rejuvenated. She had managed to recover all the sleep she had lost over the chaotic past few days, as well as the physical stamina drained by her desperate trek through the wilderness.

She threw together a simple meal, sat down in a chair, and gently rubbed her still-sore ankle.

The sprain on her leg and the gruesome zombie bite on her shoulder were mostly healed by now, but constantly running around the wasteland over the past few days had aggravated them. She probably needed to rest for a solid stretch of time before she could consider herself fully recovered.

She had plenty of time.

For Pei Xiqing, a diet without meat was perfectly acceptable, as long as she had some basic staple foods. Back in her old world, when she was a C-list celebrity, maintaining strict body management was a constant, exhausting requirement. Eating plain vegetable salads had been her daily routine for years, so she wasn’t in any rush to hunt down meat right now.

Eating some cooked wild greens with a little seasoning was more than enough for her.

After finishing her quick meal, Pei Xiqing decided to organize the house. The empty room was sorely lacking in furniture, so she commanded the Qiong Snake to haul up some scrap wood and scavenge for useful tools.

The serpent returned holding a massive, heavy-duty axe.

It was nearly a meter long.

Pei Xiqing eagerly took it, but was instantly discouraged by its sheer weight. The thing had to weigh at least fifty kilograms.

Scratching her head, she stared at the massive axe and the pile of splintered wood in front of her, feeling incredibly troubled.

She had originally wanted to build herself a simple storage cabinet.

Before Tang Yitong left, she had generously gifted Pei Xiqing several sets of clean clothes and some essential feminine hygiene products. Some of it the girl had looted from the safe house, while the rest she had brought from her own supplies.

In short, it made Pei Xiqing’s life significantly more convenient.

Who would have thought that a half-zombie would still get her period?

She really felt that her unique physiology was far too absurd.

Between the scattered supplies she had brought from the military safe house, the gifts from Tang Yitong, and the eventual need to scavenge more items for long-term outdoor survival, she desperately needed a cabinet to store things properly.

However, since she possessed zero carpentry experience, she could only stare blankly at the wood.

She gave up halfway through her first attempt.

Carpentry was absolutely not as easy as it looked on TV. Instead of wasting her time and energy, it would be much faster and more convenient to just scavenge one from an abandoned house, or search the roadsides for something usable.

Having reasoned herself out of doing manual labor, Pei Xiqing gave up on the project entirely.

She took a comfortable, cold shower, changed into her new clothes, lay back down on her makeshift bed, and rested for two full days before finally deciding to venture outside again.

The injury on her ankle had almost completely recovered, but the spot on her shoulder where she had been bitten still ached slightly.

The zombies that night had been truly feral. Driven completely mad by the scent of Duan Xiaolin’s blood, the one that had latched onto her had bitten down with terrifying force.

Even she, who was completely immune to the zombie virus, had been in pain for days. She couldn’t even imagine the agony Brother Duan and Ling Lang had endured while being completely swarmed by that horrific horde.

Pei Xiqing had just stepped out and was wandering down the ruined street when she bumped straight into the S1 squad again.

Spotting her from a distance, a few of the operatives stepped forward, looking like they wanted to say something. But then, clearly recalling their Vice-Captain’s strict orders, they stopped in their tracks, opting to keep a safe distance from her instead.

None of them knew whether Pei Xiqing was a living human or a walking corpse. It was highly likely she was a sentient zombie. Without knowing if she was hostile, no one dared to approach her rashly.

Pei Xiqing didn’t pay them any mind, casually ignoring their stares as she went about her business.

She hadn’t expected the scenery around this part of the city to be so genuinely beautiful.

If you ignored the rotting corpses littered along the roadsides—which definitely made the place look like a horror movie set at night—the daytime view was stunning. When the weather was nice and the sun was shining, it really did look like an abandoned tourist attraction.

There was actually a large grove of peach trees planted along the edge of the man-made lake. The blossoms were blooming sparsely, adding a rare, vibrant splash of color to the otherwise bleak apocalyptic world.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine how beautiful this place must have been before the outbreak.

She walked slowly, taking in the scenery.

She remembered reading about the history of this world back in the archives at Base Three.

Before the apocalypse hit five years ago, this society had been highly developed—technologically several years ahead of the modern world she originally came from. Much of the architectural style and culture leaned heavily European. For example, churches could be seen practically everywhere. No matter how small a city was, grand cathedrals and chapels were woven into the urban planning.

If she stayed in this city long enough, she could probably spot at least ten different churches just by walking the main roads.

There was even a small church nestled right in the middle of the peach blossom grove.

She strolled through the trees, and before she knew it, she was standing at the entrance of the chapel, peering inside.

If one looked closely into the history of these churches, they would find that they were primarily used as commemorative monuments rather than places of profound religious worship. Some were built to honor specific historical figures, while others were erected to record major societal events, technological advancements, or scientific breakthroughs.

These architectural markers of history had been brutally washed over by the apocalypse. Most were now nothing more than broken walls and crumbling ruins. Standing amidst the darkness of the dead world, they struggled to represent the last, fading embers of human civilization.

The afternoon sunlight gradually deepened into a blood-red hue.

Pei Xiqing narrowed her eyes against the glare.

The brutal high temperatures were returning.

She raised her phone and snapped a photo of the church in front of her. Bathed in the eerie red light, the structure looked like an ancient tomb or a forgotten castle. She wanted to capture its most mysterious, striking moment.

Pei Xiqing had never felt this specific emotion before—a profound sense of the world’s vastness, juxtaposed with the suffocating loneliness of the end of the world.

She sat behind one of the intact stained-glass windows, sheltering from the scorching heat outside, and carefully read the faded inscriptions carved into the chapel walls. When she finally looked up again, night had fallen, and the entire city was once again shrouded in the thick, black smog of severe pollution.

The heavy air pressure made it difficult to breathe.

Pei Xiqing packed up her things and left the church.

She didn’t plan on going back to her safe house tonight. She decided to keep exploring forward.

Because she had been on the fifth floor of the church—the highest point in the immediate area—she had spotted lights flickering in the distance, about two kilometers ahead.

In the apocalyptic wilderness, lights usually meant rogue scavenger teams or military squads out on missions. But the longer she had stared at that specific building, the less it looked like a temporary camp. Curious, she decided to head over and investigate.

She was just sitting around anyway, with nothing better to do.

Besides, what kind of danger could a sentient zombie like her really face?

Pei Xiqing zipped her black jacket all the way up and pulled her face mask high, ensuring that absolutely no part of her skin was exposed. Then, carrying the high-tier saber she had scavenged, she slowly approached the source of the light.

Initially, she had only planned to observe the situation from a safe distance. But as soon as she got close, she saw several modified vehicles parked in front of a brightly lit, two-story building.

Several groups of rough-looking men were walking down from the upper floors and heading inside.

Standing right at the front door were a man and a woman, both wearing aprons. They were enthusiastically greeting the arrivals. “Hey! Brother Chen is here! Come on in, we’ve got great wine and delicious food waiting for you today. Please, come inside!”

A restaurant? In the middle of the apocalypse?

It seemed incredibly unreliable.

Pei Xiqing immediately turned around, preparing to leave.

But the sharp-eyed proprietress spotted her.

The woman trotted over quickly, grabbing Pei Xiqing’s arm. She looked her up and down. “Oh my God!”

The woman stared directly into Pei Xiqing’s exposed eyes for a few seconds. A flash of surprise crossed her face before she smoothly transitioned into an enthusiastic, welcoming smile. “Girl! You’re traveling too, right? Which ability squad are you from? Come on, come on, you must be exhausted from your journey. You definitely need to eat something hot. Come into your sister-in-law’s shop and have a proper meal!”

Pei Xiqing didn’t pull away, but she asked flatly, “Opening a restaurant in the middle of the wilderness during the apocalypse… aren’t you afraid of the zombie hordes?”

“Oh, there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of!” the woman laughed loudly. “Our restaurant is heavily reinforced with thick iron plating, inside and out. If the horde comes, we just lock the doors and seal the windows. Not even a mutant fly can get in!”

As she spoke, the woman forcefully tried to pull Pei Xiqing toward the restaurant doors.

Hearing her confident explanation, Pei Xiqing’s interest was suddenly piqued. She stopped walking, looked at the woman with a half-smile, and asked bluntly, “Sister-in-law, you are certainly skilled and incredibly bold. Tell me… is this a cannibal restaurant?”

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