What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH13

Chapter 13: Did You Really Sleep with Him?

After finishing the meal, Pei Xiqing took the empty bowls back to the scavenger camp.

The moment she stepped near the fire, the few women in the rogue team immediately surrounded her, their eyes wide with envy. They practically dragged her into one of the larger canvas tents. “Oh my god, girl! What kind of skincare routine do you use?! How is your skin still so flawless out here? You have to give us some tips!”

“Seriously! I saw you a few days ago but didn’t dare say anything! Your complexion is insane!”

Three or four women crowded around her, enthusiastically shoving hoarded snacks into her hands. The sudden barrage of aggressive friendliness made her deeply uncomfortable.

“Life is just getting harder and harder,” one of the older women sighed. “We used to have decent skincare. Every time we raided a ruined city, we’d hit the department stores and grab whatever serums and lotions we could find. But now, all the good stuff has been scavenged or expired.”

Pei Xiqing could only offer a few polite, perfunctory smiles.

She had navigated this exact social dynamic her entire career in the entertainment industry. The original owner’s face was practically identical to her real-world appearance, so dealing with the envy of other women was second nature to her. She slipped into her polite, unbothered persona effortlessly.

“Hey,” a younger girl whispered, leaning in close with a conspiratorial smirk. “What’s the deal with you and that guy in the suit? Are you two actually sleeping together?”

“I want to know too! Oh my god, do you realize he is easily the most handsome man any of us have seen in years? What woman wouldn’t throw herself at him?”

Just as the gossip reached a fever pitch, Duan Xiaolin and Zhao Shunyan walked past the tents. As a Tier-Three ability user, Zhao Shunyan had a commanding presence, but standing next to Duan Xiaolin, he looked completely insignificant. Duan Xiaolin walked with perfect, terrifying posture, his entire being radiating a severe, freezing aura that explicitly warned everyone to stay away.

As he passed, he casually raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the open flap of the tent and locking flawlessly onto Pei Xiqing, who was trapped in the center of the gossip circle.

The intense eye contact lasted only a fraction of a second before he looked away, continuing toward the vehicles.

Pei Xiqing felt a flutter of confusion as she watched him climb into a heavily modified off-road vehicle with Zhao Shunyan.

A scavenger jogged over to the tent. “Hey! The Captain and Brother Duan are heading out to scout the road ahead. Sounds like there’s an anomaly on the highway. The Captain said you’re supposed to stay here in the camp until they get back. We’ll keep a perimeter guard up, so just keep quiet and you’ll be fine.”

Pei Xiqing nodded. “Understood.”

The moment the scavenger left, the gossiping women pounced again. “Come on, spill it! You two are definitely a couple, right?”

“Little sister, you seriously struck gold! He definitely has a high-tier ability, which means his physical stamina must be absolutely insane in bed! High-tier users always are. But honestly… I have a strong feeling about him. Have you seen his build under that suit? Tsk, tsk… it’s guaranteed to be mind-blowing!”

“Stop being so stingy! Give us the details!”

Realizing the conversation was spiraling wildly out of control, Pei Xiqing coughed awkwardly, her face burning. “No, really. You guys are completely misunderstanding the situation.”

“How is that possible? You seriously aren’t sleeping with him?!”

“No…”

“Then why the hell haven’t you locked him down yet?! Don’t you know you have to seize opportunities like that in the apocalypse?!”

Pei Xiqing let out two dry, hollow laughs.

She lowered her eyes.

Unbidden, the image of Duan Xiaolin flooded her mind—his sharp, deep-set eyes, his freezing, unyielding expression, and the terrifying, absolute self-discipline in every movement he made.

Lock him down? I’d be lucky if he didn’t shoot me.

That night, the women refused to let her sleep in the G-Class. They practically dragged her into a large tent shared with a woman named Zhang Tian, who had short hair and a sharp, high-bridged nose.

“Hey, don’t be like that. Your guy is already allied with our Captain, so there’s no need to be so distant with us,” Zhang Tian said, tossing a heavy sleeping bag onto the ground. “You have no idea how dangerous it is to wander the camp alone at night. Just sleep in here with me. It’s my private tent, and Zhao Shunyan won’t be coming back tonight anyway, so there’s plenty of space.”

Zhang Tian forcefully shoved a thick quilt into Pei Xiqing’s arms and zipped the tent flap shut, completely isolating them from the dark camp outside. “You’re a pretty girl. It’s incredibly dangerous for you to be alone out there. The wasteland is full of starving wolves in human skin.”

“…” Her plan to sleep in the safety of the G-Class entirely thwarted, Pei Xiqing could only clutch the quilt and politely nod. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Zhang Tian replied, waving a hand. “Women have to look out for each other out here. Our lives are hard enough as it is. If we constantly suspect each other, we’ll never survive.”

The wind howled relentlessly against the canvas, but the heavy insulation of the tent kept the worst of the freezing cold at bay.

Zhang Tian even brought over a basin of warm water for her to wash her face.

“Our squad still has over a dozen crates of purified water,” Zhang Tian boasted slightly. “It’s enough to last until we hit the central base, so feel free to use it. Girls need to prioritize hygiene. Getting an infection out here is basically a death sentence.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

After washing up, Pei Xiqing slid under the heavy quilt, listening to Zhang Tian chatter intermittently. “I’ve been with Zhao Shunyan for three years. I’m his ‘girlfriend’ in name, but honestly, he’s a complete hypocrite. He hasn’t visited my tent in over a month. God knows which vixen in the squad he’s been screwing behind my back.”

Lying on her side on the camping mat, Pei Xiqing asked softly, “Sister Tian… do you actually love him?”

“I’m not afraid to admit it: to me, men are just like clothes in the apocalypse,” Zhang Tian sneered. “If one gets worn out or doesn’t fit anymore, I just change into a new one. I absolutely refuse to hang myself on one tree.” She rolled her eyes. “If he wasn’t a lightning-attribute ability user, I would have dumped his ass years ago.”

She let out a harsh laugh. “Men are garbage. If I didn’t need to use him to secure a spot in the central base, I wouldn’t even give him the time of day.”

Pei Xiqing’s lips curved in a small, genuine smile. “I agree.”

She actually found it quite easy to talk to Zhang Tian. They chatted idly until late into the night. Eventually, the camp outside fell dead silent, and Zhang Tian’s breathing evened out as she fell asleep.

Pei Xiqing pulled out the original owner’s phone, tapping the screen.

2:00 AM. Still zero network signal.

Duan Xiaolin still hadn’t returned.

She let out a long yawn. She tried to force herself to stay awake and wait for him, but the exhaustion of the road finally dragged her under, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Sometime in the dead of night, Zhang Tian was violently jolted awake. She unzipped the tent flap slightly, glaring furiously at the group of men whispering loudly outside. “Go to hell,” she hissed venomously.

Several men from the squad leered at her through the gap, their eyes filled with unfiltered lust. “Come on, Sister Tian. The Captain is gone, and he hasn’t visited you in weeks. Why don’t you let us keep you company tonight? Seems like the perfect opportunity.”

“I don’t have the patience to deal with you animals tonight. Get lost!”

One of the men noticed the second, smaller lump under the quilts in the back of the tent. Before he could push the flap wider to see the girl’s face, Zhang Tian aggressively chucked a heavy camp pillow directly at his head. “Zhao Shunyan is going to be back any minute! If you aren’t gone by the time he gets here, do you want him to fry you alive?!”

Hearing the Captain’s name, the men finally hesitated. “Aren’t there hordes on the road ahead? How could the Captain possibly get back this fast?”

“Whatever, just forget it. It’s not worth the risk. The Captain is unhinged with that lightning.”

The men lingered for a second, their greedy eyes locked onto the few strands of dark hair peeking out from beneath Pei Xiqing’s quilt, before finally turning and walking away, their dark desires entirely unsatisfied.

Pei Xiqing slept fitfully for the rest of the night.

She woke up around 6:00 AM.

Zhang Tian was already up, meticulously folding her sleeping bag. Seeing Pei Xiqing sit up, she smirked. “Your handsome man and Zhao Shunyan just pulled back into camp. They brought a massive haul of supplies with them. If you’re worried about him, you better get up and go check.”

Pei Xiqing rubbed her sleep-heavy eyes, pulled her coat on, and mirrored Zhang Tian by folding her quilt. “Sister Tian, you’re up so early.”

“They woke the whole camp up when they rolled in,” Zhang Tian sighed. “Zhao Shunyan is back, which means I have to go put on a show and pretend I care.”

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

“Not yet. The cooks are boiling water outside. Let’s head out and eat together.”

“Okay.”

After a quick wash, Pei Xiqing followed Zhang Tian out of the tent.

The large bonfires in the center of the camp were smoking heavily, having just been extinguished. The entire scavenger squad was awake and frantically breaking down the camp, preparing to move out.

Duan Xiaolin was sitting casually on a large boulder, while a few feet away, Zhao Shunyan was brutally stomping a dead zombie’s skull into the dirt, using a combat knife to pry out the energy core.

As soon as Pei Xiqing approached, she caught sight of the gory scene. Her stomach immediately lurched, and she clamped a hand over her mouth, averting her eyes. She quickly looked at Duan Xiaolin instead. “What happened out there?”

“We found a mutant carrying a high-tier core,” he replied calmly.

“Really? Is that what you were hunting for last night?”

He gave a curt nod.

High-tier cores contained vastly more concentrated energy and were incredibly valuable in the wasteland economy. Inside the central bases, a single high-tier core could fetch double or triple the price of a standard one.

An hour later, the camp was fully packed. Zhao Shunyan had managed to hotwire a relatively intact SUV from the nearby ruins and offered Pei Xiqing a ride in it. She politely but firmly refused, wrapping her oversized coat tighter around herself before scurrying back to the G-Class to ride with Duan Xiaolin.

Duan Xiaolin crushed his cigarette and watched her slide into the passenger seat like a persistent shadow. “If you actually want to maintain the illusion that you’re a normal survivor, you should try blending in with the rest of the group.”

“I have no desire to blend in with them,” she replied stubbornly.

“What you saw last night was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to human nature in the apocalypse.”

Pei Xiqing bit her lip. “But… I’m a zombie.”

Why lecture a half-dead mutant about the dark depths of human nature?

She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes—incredibly clear and startlingly beautiful.

As she closed the heavy car door, Duan Xiaolin’s gaze darkened almost imperceptibly.

The convoy pushed forward. An hour later, as they were speeding through the decaying streets of an abandoned city, a massive horde of zombies suddenly poured out of the ruins, completely ambushing them.

The mutants swarmed out from shattered high-rise windows, drainage sewers, and dark alleyways. Their faces were rotting, slick with dark blood and yellow pus, their bodies twisted into grotesque, unnatural angles as they relentlessly charged the vehicles.

Chaos erupted. The scavenger team immediately opened fire, engaging the horde. Duan Xiaolin threw his door open, drawing his heavy assault rifle. Pei Xiqing instinctively reached for her door handle to follow him, but the locks instantly engaged with a loud click.

“Stay in the car,” he ordered, slamming the door shut.

In an instant, the desolate street transformed into a warzone, echoing with the deafening roar of gunfire and the crackle of ability users unleashing their powers on the swarm.

Amidst the panic, a terrifyingly disfigured mutant—half of its skull completely blown off—slammed into Pei Xiqing’s window. Its remaining eye fixed directly on her, and it dragged a long, decaying tongue across the reinforced glass in a repulsive display. Its head lolled sideways, hanging by a thread of rotting sinew as it stared at her, preparing to smash its weight against the glass. But just as it reared back, it suddenly stopped.

It pressed its ruined face against the window, its rotting lips curling into what looked like a bizarre, grotesque smile. It playfully stuck its tongue out at her.

Pei Xiqing: …

Any normal human being would have suffered immediate, irreversible psychological trauma from the sight. Pei Xiqing was visibly disturbed, but to her absolute shock, the zombie didn’t attack the glass. Instead, it gently tapped its forehead against the window, gesturing as if asking her to roll it down.

Pei Xiqing stiffened, slowly inching backward in her seat.

The zombie tilted its ruined head, looking genuinely confused. It opened its mangled jaw and let out a series of soft, squeaking clicks, seemingly trying to communicate.

For some inexplicable reason, Pei Xiqing felt absolutely zero hostility from the creature. She stopped moving and leaned slightly closer to the glass.

This particular mutant was a female, her long hair wildly tangled like a vengeful ghost from a horror movie. She continued to tap on the window, though much gentler now.

“What do you want?” Pei Xiqing mouthed slowly, ensuring the mutant could read her lips.

The zombie pointed a rotting finger at Pei Xiqing, and then pointed back at itself.

“I can’t open the door,” Pei Xiqing explained softly. “There are highly classified documents in here. Please, go somewhere else.”

The mutant visibly drooped, looking completely crestfallen.

“I really can’t open it,” Pei Xiqing reiterated sympathetically.

The zombie lowered its arms in defeat. A few seconds later, it limped away, instantly turning its aggression on another scavenger mutant, tearing into its throat.

Pei Xiqing let out a long breath.

She watched the brutal, bloody carnage unfolding outside the tinted windows.

Slowly, terrifyingly, she realized that her own blood was beginning to boil.

Half an hour later, the sheer volume of gunfire and raw elemental power had reduced the horde to twitching piles of gore.

Pei Xiqing unlocked the door and stepped out into the chaotic aftermath. A few yards away, Zhao Shunyan was practically vibrating with adrenaline as he pitched an idea to Duan Xiaolin. “Brother Duan! My scouts spotted a massive cluster of mutants just a few miles up the road! Let’s hit them! We can wipe them out and farm the crystal cores. It’s getting late anyway, so we can have the rest of the squad set up camp right here while we clear the zone. If we stay surrounded by these corpses, no one’s going to get any sleep tonight.”

Duan Xiaolin walked slowly through the sea of mangled bodies, pulling a pristine white handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the mutant blood from the barrel of his rifle.

He glanced over at Pei Xiqing.

Noticing her pale complexion, he walked over. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just feel a little dizzy.”

The distant, guttural shrieks of more mutants echoed down the street. Pei Xiqing forced herself to calm down, offering him a strained smile. “Maybe it’s just the shock of seeing the horde up close. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

To someone from the modern, civilized world, the visceral horror of a real zombie attack was infinitely worse than any censored movie scene. Today was the first time she had truly witnessed the absolute, repulsive reality of the apocalypse.

“Keep an eye on her,” Duan Xiaolin said to Zhao Shunyan.

Zhao Shunyan nodded eagerly. “Absolutely. I’ll have Zhang Tian come over and keep her company while we sweep the area. We’ll be back before dark.”

Pei Xiqing watched Duan Xiaolin’s imposing figure disappear down the ruined street. It took her several minutes to fully regain her composure. She only snapped out of her daze when Zhang Tian gently tapped her shoulder. “Hey, Xiqing. You okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine, Sister Tian.”

“Come on, help us clean up the perimeter. We’re popping open the canned beef tonight.”

“Okay.”

Only about a dozen scavengers remained at the camp—mostly those without abilities or with low-tier powers completely unsuited for frontline combat.

Pei Xiqing helped them drag the rotting corpses away from the immediate camp perimeter, while Zhang Tian led a small team to crack open skulls and harvest the crystal cores.

Noticing Pei Xiqing approaching, Zhang Tian grinned and proudly held up a freshly extracted, blood-soaked crystal core right in front of her face.

The overwhelming, pungent stench of rotting flesh and oxidized blood hit Pei Xiqing like a physical blow. Her eyes immediately began to water and sting.

Zhang Tian didn’t notice her distress, completely mesmerized by the glowing stone in her hand. “If we haul these to the central base, we’ll make an absolute fortune. We can trade them for top-tier gear, pure water, and fresh food. Hell, we might even have enough to hire a veteran trainer to help us upgrade our abilities!”

Pei Xiqing squeezed her eyes shut, fighting down a wave of intense nausea. She didn’t say a word.

By the time night fully fell, she was sitting completely alone by one of the smaller campfires, deliberately keeping her distance from the rest of the squad.

Her body temperature was plummeting. She felt freezing cold one second, only to be consumed by an uncontrollable, feverish heat the next. The agonizing sensation of being torn apart from the inside out had returned with a vengeance.

The pain was radiating violently from the bite mark on her arm.

Noticing her isolation, Zhang Tian walked over. Seeing the girl’s ghastly pale, sweat-slicked face, panic set in. “Xiqing! Are you sick?!”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and yelled across the camp. “Xiaoyue! Get over here! She needs a healer! Something is seriously wrong with her!”

Pei Xiqing forced herself to stand up, stumbling backward. “No… no, really, I’m fine! I just have severe anemia. Please don’t worry about me. I just need to rest it off.”

As she turned to flee into the darkness, Zhang Tian lunged forward, grabbing her wrist tightly. “Don’t be an idiot! If you’re sick, the healers can fix you in seconds!”

In the struggle, the heavy sleeve of Pei Xiqing’s coat rode up, exposing the venomous, pulsing green veins snaking up her forearm.

The young healer, who had just rushed over, took one look at the exposed skin, slapped her hands over her mouth, and let out a blood-curdling scream.

“Ahhhhh! Sister Tian! She… she’s infected! She’s a zombie!”

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