What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH163-165

Chapter 163| Chapter 164| Chapter 165

Chapter 163: Exactly the Same as Him

Three hours later, the survivors in the camp began to stir.

The freezing temperatures of the artificial night gradually receded, though the suffocating darkness of the cavern remained unchanged. No one seemed to notice that a certain someone had visited the camp last night. Even Xiao Yue merely swept his gaze across the area before hurrying to check on his teammates’ injuries.

Two people had frozen to death during the night. Counting the seven or eight killed by the insect swarm the day before, their numbers had dwindled, leaving only about thirty survivors.

Pei Xiqing let out a soft sneeze. Looking down, she noticed that she was now wrapped in a clean, heavy coat. It was still one of that man’s tailored suit jackets, but her pockets were now stuffed with the specialized hydro-bullets and a few small snacks he had left for her.

She buttoned the jacket tightly, stood up, and tried to dust herself off. Water was far too scarce to waste on washing. It was almost their third day trapped down here; she would just have to tolerate being a little dirty.

The others slowly began packing up to move out. Based on Xiao Yue’s estimations, it didn’t seem like they would reach the Ghost Market today. Not that anyone actually knew what kind of “ghosts” they would find there anyway.

Moreover, she figured that the plot’s mandated ‘golden fingers’ and experience boosts would be dropping right into the protagonists’ laps soon. She just wasn’t sure if Xiao Yue’s battered body could even withstand the miraculous power-ups dictated by the original storyline.

Team S1 did a quick headcount and began distributing spare ammunition to the civilian survivors. When it was Pei Xiqing’s turn, the soldier handing out the bullets couldn’t help but stare at her.

Pei Xiqing smiled faintly. “What are you looking at?”

The young man flushed and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “N-nothing… I just thought you looked really pretty today, and I couldn’t help but want to take a closer look.”

Enduring this gloomy cavern was incredibly dull, so it was actually somewhat refreshing to see someone acting so silly. The soldier looked quite young, probably no older than fifteen.

Pei Xiqing decided to chat with him for a moment. “Are you a regular member of S1?”

“Yeah! That’s why I recognized you. I’ve known you for a long time since I always follow my older brother around. But back at the base, when I wanted to hang out with you, you called me childish and told me to get lost.”

Pei Xiqing couldn’t help but feel amused. It turned out this was just a kid the original host used to bully. The original Pei Xiqing loved to provoke people, but clearly had no patience for children.

“Well, you aren’t very old. You’re practically still a kid.”

“I’ll be eighteen soon!” he protested defensively.

“Still just a little brat.”

“Hmph. I’m not talking to you anymore.” The boy shoved the bullets into her hand and quickly scurried back to the rest of Team S1.

Seeing the boy return, the older members of S1 glanced over at her, their expressions twisting in disgust. “Don’t pay any attention to that jinx,” one of them whispered harshly. “I heard she brought disaster to Base Three, and the whole place was wiped out. Then she came here to the black market to cause trouble, and now the black market is completely gone too!”

Pei Xiqing was actually amused by the ridiculous accusation. When she thought about it, it did seem to be true: everywhere she went, the location ended up destroyed. However, Base Three and the black market had actually been ruined by Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting’s protagonist aura.

She narrowed her eyes, shooting the gossiping soldiers a chilling glare.

The men instantly shuddered and snapped their mouths shut, not daring to utter another word.

Pei Yanting, who had just finished treating one of the insect-bite victims, overheard the exchange. She stood up, shot Pei Xiqing a cold, dismissive snort, and walked to the other side of the camp with her notebook to record the injuries.

Xiao Yue saw her approaching and asked, “What’s wrong? Is the patient’s condition deteriorating?”

“No,” Pei Yanting replied quietly. “But I’ve been calculating the cavern’s atmospheric data. There are highly abnormal electromagnetic and lightning-like phenomena occurring near the Ghost Market’s epicenter. The closer we get to the center, the stronger the fluctuations in supernatural energy will be. Your newly awakened third ability might be able to rapidly evolve there. You have to seize this opportunity.”

“How long until we reach the Ghost Market?” he asked.

“We should reach the outskirts within a day,” Pei Yanting confirmed. “When we get there, your first priority must be improving your ability level. You need to break through and push your third power to its absolute peak, or else you won’t stand a chance against him. Furthermore, there’s clearly an unknown species inhabiting the Ghost Market—likely the source of these parasites. If we can find a way to harness or research them, it could trigger a massive, rapid increase in both of our strengths.”

“And what about your abilities?” Xiao Yue asked gently.

“Don’t worry about me,” she brushed him off coldly. “Why don’t you go see if anyone else needs you to hand-deliver them some water?”

Xiao Yue coughed awkwardly. “You’re misunderstanding my intentions…”

A sudden, blood-curdling roar from behind violently interrupted their conversation.

The survivors who had been bitten by the armored insects the day before were suddenly convulsing. The parasitic infection had taken over, mutating their bodies in real-time. Grotesque, thick, centipede-like limbs violently tore through their flesh and sprouted from their torsos.

“They’re mutating!”

“Ahhh! Run!”

Xiao Yue immediately rushed forward to protect the civilians. “Open fire!” he ordered his squad.

But standard bullets were completely useless against the mutated humans. Even when their grotesque new limbs were blown off, the flesh bubbled and regenerated almost instantly, making the horrifying, centipede-human hybrids nearly invincible to physical damage.

Just as the mutants lunged forward to bite and infect the screaming survivors, a rapid succession of gunshots rang out.

Several specialized bullets embedded themselves perfectly between the mutants’ eyes. In an instant, the highly compressed hydro-energy within the bullets violently exploded outward. The torrential burst of water enveloped the creatures, solidifying into dense, inescapable spheres of heavy liquid that completely bound their thrashing limbs together.

The mutants, trapped inside the massive water bubbles, crashed heavily onto the cavern floor, completely immobilized.

Pei Xiqing calmly lowered her handgun, watching the flailing monsters from a distance.

Xiao Yue stared at the trapped creatures, his face grim. “The infection is too deep. It’s impossible to save them now.”

Pei Yanting refused to accept it. “But they might still be conscious! They haven’t reached the final stage yet. If we can just get them to the Ghost Market, maybe we can find an antidote—”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Pei Yanting looked up in sheer disbelief.

Pei Xiqing had systematically executed the immobilized mutants, putting a final bullet straight through each of their heads. She might not have been a master marksman, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hit a stationary target point-blank.

Taking a clean tissue offered by Shadow, Pei Xiqing casually wiped the splash of dirty liquid off her hands. She looked up at the stunned group. “Are we still leaving, or what?”

How much longer were these people going to dawdle? She didn’t care about scooping up extra experience points from these low-level mobs; she was just waiting for the protagonist to finally stumble upon his actual golden finger.

Pei Yanting stared at the fresh corpses, then back at Pei Xiqing, her eyes filled with cold realization. “You really are exactly like Duan Xiaolin.”

Chapter 164: Like a Female Ghost

Pei Yanting couldn’t fathom it. Pei Xiqing had only been with that man for a short time, yet she had already become so ruthless and indifferent to human life.

She feared the sister she once knew would never come back.

Xiao Yue stopped Pei Yanting from saying anything more. “Alright, let’s prepare to move out. We really had no choice but to execute them. If we didn’t, their mutation would have compromised the entire group.”

The team set off once again.

After trekking for an agonizing distance—nearly ten hours in total—they finally saw flashes of colored lightning illuminating the cavern ceiling ahead.

A violent, localized lightning storm was raging across the path forward. There was absolutely no way for ordinary people to pass through. If anyone without the right supernatural defense touched the erratic current, they would instantly be scorched to ash.

When Pei Xiqing saw the unnatural lightning zone, she instantly knew what it was. This was a classic plot device designed specifically to deliver a massive experience boost to the protagonists.

Sure enough, Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting resolutely prepared themselves to step into the lightning field to undergo a ‘trial’ to refine their abilities.

The ordinary survivors couldn’t risk passing through, so they were forced to take a long, arduous detour around the perimeter of the storm.

Pei Xiqing naturally joined the group taking the detour.

From a safe distance, she watched Xiao Yue and Pei Yanting step into the crackling storm, attempting to absorb the raw energy to drastically improve their supernatural powers.

She kept her hand resting on her gun, ready to act.

But suddenly, she froze.

Just two steps ahead of her, a massive bolt of lightning slammed down, instantly scorching the rocky ground into black charcoal. The boundaries of the supernatural lightning storm had suddenly begun to violently expand, surging outward toward their “safe” detour zone.

“Watch out!”

The crowd of survivors shrieked, scrambling desperately to avoid the erratic strikes.

Pei Xiqing was deeply confused. This specific ‘golden finger’ trial was supposed to belong exclusively to the protagonists. It was meant to temper their bodies and forcibly elevate their supernatural ranks. How could the area of effect suddenly expand to target the innocent bystanders?

Shadow rushed forward, shielding her as they hastily retreated. But in the chaos, a stray bolt of lightning managed to strike his extended arm, instantly scorching his sleeve and turning the fabric black.

“Shadow! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine,” he grunted, shaking off the soot. “My physical enhancement abilities blocked the brunt of it. But since I don’t possess an elemental affinity for lightning, I can’t absorb this raw energy. It won’t do much for me.”

“I remember Sister Longyan is a top-tier lightning-attribute user,” Pei Xiqing murmured. “It would be incredible if she were here.”

If Longyan were present to absorb this pure, supernatural lightning, she couldn’t even imagine how terrifyingly powerful she would become.

But Pei Xiqing was genuinely afraid of getting struck herself. Her Qiong Snake ability had absolutely nothing to do with absorbing elemental lightning.

She hurriedly ducked and wove through the falling strikes, her mind racing. She was desperately trying to figure out a way to sabotage Xiao Yue and prevent him from successfully absorbing the core energy of the storm.

Xiao Yue’s body was already heavily compromised from his previous injuries and ability backlash. Right now, he was a shadow of his former self. Forcing his weakened body to forcefully absorb such chaotic, high-tier energy would likely cause irreversible internal damage rather than grant him a power-up.

She took cover behind a massive boulder and peeked out, watching Xiao Yue and the others struggling against the storm’s expanding perimeter.

The multicolored lightning continued to crash down relentlessly. To an outsider, it looked exactly like a legendary immortal cultivator forcefully undergoing a heavenly tribulation. These pure electrical currents offered immense evolutionary benefits for compatible ability users, but they were fatally destructive to ordinary human bodies.

As she ducked to avoid a particularly close strike, she was inevitably clipped by the edge of a stray bolt.

A sharp jolt of electricity surged into the back of her hand, sending a violent, stinging sensation shooting up her arm. The struck area instantly went completely numb and paralyzed, totally out of her control.

She gripped her trembling hand tightly, gritting her teeth. But suddenly, she felt a completely foreign, surging energy forcibly invading her body through the strike point.

Stunned for half a second, she hesitantly raised her paralyzed arm. The pain had entirely vanished.

By the time she fully regained her composure, the violent storm had largely dissipated, leaving the cavern floor scorched and smoking.

But the sheer, terrifying power of the lightning zone had lived up to its legendary reputation. The sudden, chaotic expansion of the storm had caught Xiao Yue off guard, completely ruining his focus. He had missed the critical window of opportunity to absorb the core energy and forcefully elevate his supernatural tier.

Unable to calm the chaotic energy rampaging through his system, he was forced to abandon the trial and take cover behind the rocks.

Pei Yanting looked furious and deeply frustrated.

Xiao Yue clutched his chest, violently coughing up a large amount of dark blood.

Pei Xiqing remained silent behind her boulder. She couldn’t help but quietly test the new surge of supernatural power flowing through her own veins.

After being struck, she felt incredibly strange, yet undeniably more powerful. She couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly what had changed yet.

The experience boost intended for the male lead had been accidentally intercepted, and no one else had managed to absorb the core energy.

Pei Xiqing was secretly ecstatic, but she knew better than to show it. She simply maintained her neutral expression, silently following the group and rejoicing internally.

That was truly effortless.

After trekking a bit further through the scorched cavern, they finally caught sight of their destination. The shadowy outline of the Ghost Market loomed ahead.

An ancient, sprawling city lay hidden within a hazy, freezing fog.

There were no towering, rapidly constructed steel skyscrapers like those found in the official apocalypse bases. There were no advanced security checkpoints or high-tech defense mechanisms. There was only the thick, black smoke of scattered cooking fires billowing up into the cavern, shrouding a city swaying gently in absolute darkness.

Shadow stared at the eerie skyline, murmuring, “This place… it looks exactly like the layout of City X from five years ago. The exact scene of the first major zombie outbreak.”

“Let’s go in and take a look,” Xiao Yue ordered, still clutching his chest. “Everyone, be on high alert.”

“Understood.”

The group slowly advanced into the city limits.

A terrifying, sickly green ambient light permeated the empty streets. It felt as though something unseen and intangible was constantly hovering right over your shoulder. The eerie, suffocating atmosphere was unmistakable.

The houses lining the roadside were completely dilapidated. They appeared to be ancient, traditional structures built centuries ago, mixed with crumbling, single-story concrete bungalows. They were caked in thick layers of dust and debris. Not a single blade of mutated grass grew here. It was overwhelmingly gloomy.

It felt exactly like walking through a massive, life-sized haunted house.

Feeling genuinely unnerved, Pei Xiqing instinctively reached out, wanting to grab Shadow’s sleeve for reassurance. But as she turned around, she suddenly saw a discarded wooden barrel violently shaking on the side of the road.

“Ahhh! There’s a ghost!” one of the survivors screamed in terror. “That barrel is moving on its own! There’s definitely a ghost inside it!”

It wasn’t just the barrel. Strange, muffled noises began echoing intermittently from the dark interiors of the abandoned houses around them. Soon, the rusty wind chimes hanging from the eaves began to sway and ring out wildly, and the clattering noises from inside the nearest house grew louder and more frantic.

Xiao Yue stepped forward, his expression hard. “There are no ghosts here. I suspect someone is just deliberately trying to scare us from the shadows.”

With a swift, decisive motion, he kicked the shaking wooden barrel over.

“Ouch! Hey! Who the hell dares to kick this ghost lady?! Do you have a death wish?!”

A figure tumbled clumsily out of the overturned barrel, rolling across the dusty street.

With long, tangled hair obscuring her face and wearing incredibly filthy, ragged clothes, she genuinely looked the part of a terrifying female ghost. But hearing the loud, indignant voice, Pei Xiqing suddenly felt a strong sense of familiarity.

It wasn’t until the “female ghost” pushed her hair out of her face and looked up that Pei Xiqing recognized her.

“Tang Yitong?” Pei Xiqing asked, stunned.

The “female ghost’s” eyes widened comically. A second later, she squealed in absolute delight. “Sister Qing’er?!”

“Ahhh! It really is you!” Tang Yitong scrambled to her feet, ignoring the dirt. “I knew I didn’t recognize the wrong person back at the black market auction! It was you who shot the lock and saved us!”

Tang Yitong grabbed Pei Xiqing’s arm, shaking it excitedly before turning toward the dark, abandoned houses and shouting at the top of her lungs, “Captain! Stand down! This is my friend, Sister Qing’er! You don’t need to ambush them, come out quickly!”

Two seconds later, Tan Yuanxin and his heavily armed squad slowly emerged from the dense shadows of the surrounding buildings.

He looked mildly startled when he saw Pei Xiqing standing there. Slinging his assault rifle over his back, he stepped forward with a polite nod. “Long time no see, Miss Duan.”

“Captain Tan,” Pei Xiqing nodded in greeting. “Why are you all here…?”

Tan Yuanxin and his team were elite operatives from the Second Base. They had been the ones trapped like rats in the iron cages during the black market auction not too long ago. She genuinely hadn’t expected to run into them all the way down here.

Tan Yuanxin’s squad consisted of at least twenty highly trained soldiers. Just moments ago, they had been flawlessly hiding in the surrounding darkness, completely undetectable, like true ghosts.

“It’s a long story,” Tan Yuanxin sighed heavily. “We were on a classified mission, and things went south. We were captured and accidentally stumbled into the hands of the black market slavers. Later, during the auction, we were desperately trying to break out of our cage, but there were simply too many armed guards in the hall, so we were biding our time. We never expected the entire cavern ceiling to collapse. We somehow survived the fall and ended up here.”

“I see.”

“So, what are Captain Tan’s plans now?” Xiao Yue asked, stepping forward.

“We need to find a way back to the surface.”

“Then our only option is to press deeper into the Ghost Market,” Xiao Yue said.

Tan Yuanxin frowned. “The Ghost Market? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Isn’t this place the Ghost Market?” Xiao Yue asked, gesturing to the ruined city.

“We arrived in this city ruins three days ago,” Tan Yuanxin explained grimly. “We’ve carefully scouted the entire perimeter. Aside from us, there is absolutely no one else here. It’s completely abandoned. If this is the ‘Ghost Market’ you’re looking for, then I have bad news—we haven’t found a single viable exit out of this cavern system yet.”

Ignoring the grim tactical discussion, Tang Yitong tightly held Pei Xiqing’s hand, looking at her with pleading eyes. “Sister, do you happen to have any spare clothes I could change into? I really, really want to wear a clean skirt.”

“I do,” Pei Xiqing smiled warmly. She gestured for Shadow to open his massive tactical backpack, from which she pulled a neatly folded, simple dress.

“Wow, wow, wow!” Tang Yitong cheered, practically hugging the fabric. “Ever since I was sold to the black market, I haven’t been able to wear a skirt in forever!”

“You’ve suffered a lot,” Pei Xiqing said softly, gently patting the younger girl’s head. She led Tang Yitong into a relatively clean room in the nearest house to change into the dress, and then used some precious water to carefully wipe the thick layers of blood and grime off her face.

Just as they finished cleaning up, Shadow appeared at the doorway, knocking urgently on the wooden frame.

“There’s a massive swarm of parasitic insects approaching from outside the city limits,” he reported grimly. “And they are heading straight for us.”

Pei Xiqing frowned, opening the door wider. “Why are they attacking again so soon?”

“This swarm is different. There are several highly mutated, massive parasitic variants leading the pack this time,” Shadow warned. “We cannot stay here and fight them in these cramped ruins. Should I evacuate you first?”

“There’s no need to rush just yet,” Pei Xiqing said calmly. She walked up the creaky wooden stairs to the second floor and looked out the shattered window.

Beyond the city limits, a veritable sea of armored insects was surging forward, kicking up clouds of dust. And lagging just behind the main swarm were several colossal, grotesque parasitic variants. They looked incredibly familiar.

It took her a long moment of staring to finally remember where she had read about them.

That massive, wolf-like parasitic monstrosity lingering at the rear of the swarm… that was another one of the legendary ‘cheat codes’ intended for the male protagonist in the original novel! In the original timeline, a few years into the apocalypse, that specific parasite would go on to devour countless other mutants and zombies, harvesting their crystal cores until it evolved into an absolutely invincible, loyal beast under Xiao Yue’s command.

The protagonist truly is the protagonist, Pei Xiqing thought with a sigh. No matter where he went, the plot would continuously throw overpowered equipment, loyal beasts, and massive experience points right into his lap.

But she absolutely could not allow Xiao Yue to easily collect his full set of ‘golden equipment’ like he did in the original story.

She turned on her heel and immediately headed back downstairs.

“What are you going to do?” Shadow asked, following closely behind.

Pei Xiqing flashed him a sharp, confident smile. “I’m going to steal something.”

Chapter 165: The Person Behind You

Xiao Yue’s supernatural energy spread out in all directions, forming a solid barrier that blocked the front line and stopped the swarm of armored parasites flying toward them.

Standing slightly behind him, Pei Yanting gritted her teeth. “I didn’t have time to fully calculate the lightning zone’s output earlier. If you had just been able to absorb that raw energy, it definitely would have elevated your abilities to a much higher level. It’s such a pity you missed that opportunity.”

“If I missed it, then it just means that power and I were not meant to be. It’s better to focus on the situation right in front of us,” Xiao Yue replied, his eyes fixed on the swarm.

Xiao Yue actually saw things quite clearly. He tightened his fists.

Even though he had obtained various overpowered weapons and ‘cheat codes’ through sheer luck and coincidence since the apocalypse began, he was still undeniably vulnerable in the face of absolute, crushing strength. To put it bluntly, without his plot-armor discoveries, he was just a clown struggling to survive.

No matter what external power you desired, it was always better to put in the hard work to improve your own supernatural rank and become genuinely stronger from within. If he truly wanted to accomplish anything meaningful in this five-year-old apocalypse, he couldn’t just rely on heaven-sent blessings.

If we can eliminate these lesser parasites and capture the larger variants alive for research, he thought, we might yield unexpected gains.

Especially the massive, ferocious beasts lingering behind the main swarm.

His gaze slowly locked onto a towering, whitish mutant wolf stalking at the very back of the parasitic horde.

Seeing where he was looking, Pei Yanting opened her mouth to argue, but she simply moved her lips and sighed. “You’re right… but you’re also wrong. If we hadn’t been gifted with abilities and intelligence far superior to normal people, we would have never survived this long.”

As she spoke, she slowly raised her head. The complex algorithms in her mind had already begun to run, accurately calculating the physical positions and structural weaknesses of the attacking parasites.

“If you don’t fight ruthlessly to take what you need, you’ll just be eaten by those stronger than you, left just as powerless as you were five years ago.”

Xiao Yue clutched his chest, his breathing unsteady. “I know. But I have my own path to walk. This corrupt, rotting apocalypse will eventually vanish.”

“As long as I draw breath, those with evil intentions will never achieve their goals.”

With a roar, Team S1 and the remaining survivors fully engaged the densely packed swarm of parasites.

Meanwhile, Pei Xiqing had retreated to the outskirts of the ruined city.

She stood at a safe distance, watching the bugs swarm the frontline. Her eyes lingered on the massive, whitish wolf parasite for a few seconds—the very creature destined to massively increase the male lead’s combat strength.

After calmly shooting down several stray parasites that got too close, she reached out to help up a masked man stumbling beside her.

He was one of the wealthy survivors from the auction. He was clearly loaded with high-end tactical gear and possessed strong supernatural abilities. However, after expending his energy non-stop for the past day, he was haggard and exhausted. Just a moment ago, while fighting off a few bugs, his body had violently trembled, unable to stand steady.

Realizing it was Pei Xiqing who had caught his arm, the corners of the man’s lips—hidden beneath his mask—curled into a smirk. “Miss, you clearly come from a very prominent background. You’ve remained completely unscathed these past few days; even the hem of your dress is only slightly dusted. You walk through this hellhole so calmly… There must be a truly terrifying psychic backing you.”

Pei Xiqing chuckled softly. “It doesn’t matter whether such a person exists or not. What matters is that I’ve discovered something very interesting.”

“Oh? Do tell.” The man casually patted the blood off his coat. Turning around, he ruthlessly grabbed the head of another exhausted survivor next to him, forcefully using the man as a human shield to block more than a dozen flying parasites.

The human shield’s body exploded into a bloody mess under the swarm’s attack, dying instantly.

The masked man simply blinked, looking back at Pei Xiqing. “Miss, you should know that if it’s not something that genuinely interests me, you’re only wasting both of our time. I don’t give a damn who’s backing you.”

Things at the black market auction had already gone to hell, and the VIP guest list had likely been completely exposed to the capital’s authorities by now. It really didn’t matter to him whether he made it out of this cavern alive or not.

Pei Xiqing understood his ruthless mentality in a second.

This man was undoubtedly the most stable, cold-blooded, and calculating individual among the surviving auction attendees. She had been keeping a close eye on him along the journey.

Anyone who could afford a seat at that auction was definitely not a good person.

“The Ghost Market,” she said simply.

The man let out a soft, dark laugh. “So, the person backing you is one of the rulers of the Ghost Market.”

“Yes. But I don’t know if he would want you.”

“Just introduce me,” the man countered. “If you can get someone in the Ghost Market to accept me into their ranks, you won’t have to worry about a thing.”

“He has extremely high standards,” she reminded him.

The man just laughed again, brimming with arrogant confidence.

Pei Xiqing turned back to look at the chaotic battlefield swarming with parasites.

“Sir, don’t you see anything unusual about this swarm?”

“Abnormal?” The man narrowed his eyes, carefully scanning the battlefield. He quickly spotted the massive, wandering parasitic beasts lingering at the rear. They took the terrifying form of giant, armored wolves. Their raw, destructive power was clearly not to be underestimated.

“Good stuff,” he muttered greedily. “If I skin those beasts and extract their viral blood, it will surely fetch an astronomical price.”

“It’s indeed a valuable prize,” Pei Xiqing agreed smoothly. “But I’m afraid it will be very difficult for you to claim it.”

“What makes you say that?”

She subtly gestured toward Xiao Yue fighting on the front lines.

“Such a good thing… I think other people want it, too.”

The masked man immediately understood her implication.

“Team S1…” he sneered. “I’ve heard so much about them. Over these past five years of the apocalypse, they’ve been developing at a terrifying rate. People say they accomplish in one year what takes others ten. But honestly? Before all this, I had never even heard of S1. These little brats showing off here are starting to piss me off.”

He looked at Pei Xiqing, his eyes cold. “You distract the others. I’ll take the beasts, and in exchange for introducing me to your backer in the Ghost Market, I will give you half of the harvest.”

“It’s a deal.”

Without another word, the man took several quick steps forward, surging toward the frontline.

Seeing that Xiao Yue was already moving to engage the wolf parasite, the masked man finally stopped hiding his true strength in the crowd. A terrifying surge of dual-elemental supernatural power suddenly erupted from his body.

So, he has dual abilities too.

There were countless powerful individuals hiding in the apocalypse, many of whose true strength and origins remained a complete mystery.

Shadow stepped up beside Pei Xiqing, whispering, “Miss Pei, that man won’t be a match for Xiao Yue. Even though he has dual abilities, he’s exhausted, and his raw output is still slightly lacking compared to the Captain of S1.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied calmly.

“If Xiao Yue doesn’t die, I’m afraid both sides will suffer heavy losses.”

“What I want is for Xiao Yue to get hurt again.”

On the distant battlefield, the brutal clash had already begun.

Several high-tier supernatural powers violently collided in mid-air. The sheer shockwave actually caused the surrounding horde of lesser mutants to freeze in their tracks.

After thirty grueling rounds of rapid-fire power collisions, the massive energy chain reaction finally exploded. Both Xiao Yue and the masked man were sent flying backward. They stumbled, clutching their chests, and simultaneously spat out mouthfuls of dark blood.

“Xiao Yue!” Pei Yanting screamed.

She rushed forward to support him, then turned around to furiously glare at the masked man. “Why are you repaying our kindness with hostility?! If it weren’t for us leading the way these past few days, you would have died in the tunnels long ago!”

“That’s funny,” the masked man wheezed, wiping his mouth with a sneer. “Who asked for your pathetic, charity-like help?”

“You—!”

Xiao Yue gently pushed Pei Yanting behind him. “Step back for now.”

“But this maniac…”

“It’s fine. I’ll handle him,” Xiao Yue ordered grimly. “You lead everyone else to retreat. Find the true entrance to the Ghost Market.”

“Xiao Yue! Are you going to abandon me again?” Pei Yanting’s eyes grew slightly red with panicked tears.

Xiao Yue froze, subconsciously looking over his shoulder.

His eyes found Pei Xiqing, who was standing safely on the sidelines, completely staying out of the conflict.

“I have no intention of abandoning you,” he said softly, turning back to Pei Yanting. “I can kill him, but it’s going to get bloody. You shouldn’t be here to see it.”

Pei Yanting let out a shaky breath of relief. She quickly raised her hands, using her limited healing abilities to superficially treat his bleeding wounds.

“Then I’ll wait for you inside,” she promised fiercely. “Don’t be stubborn. Just finish him.”

“I will.”

Satisfied, Pei Xiqing turned on her heel and walked away.

Xiao Yue, even if I don’t manage to kill you today, I will make sure you lose a layer of skin. As long as she was around, he could forget about effortlessly collecting his overpowered golden fingers.

Those rare parasites that could have evolved to serve him might as well just die right here on the battlefield.

With the frontline engaged in a bloody duel, the rest of the survivors had no choice but to retreat deeper into the eerie, fog-covered city.

“Is this really the Ghost Market?” someone whispered fearfully, looking at the dilapidated buildings. “Why doesn’t it look like a market at all? Why is there absolutely no one here? It looks like a literal ghost town!”

“Yeah, if this is the legendary Ghost Market, how on earth are we supposed to find a way out of here alive?”

“It’s over… are we truly hopeless?”

Suddenly, Tang Yitong flashed over from the shadows, dual-wielding two sharp combat machetes. “Sister Qing’er! My Captain asked me to come over and protect you. Let’s move ahead first.”

“But where exactly is this Ghost Market?” Pei Xiqing murmured, looking around. “Is this abandoned city really it?”

Shadow leaned in close and lowered his voice so only she could hear. “This is a Ghost Market, but it’s not the Ghost Market. This is completely different from the secure route Brother Duan arranged. I’m afraid someone deliberately tampered with the navigation.”

“Pei Yanting.”

“It’s highly likely to be her.”

Pei Xiqing thought back to the suspiciously expanding lightning zone and the sudden, targeted swarm of high-tier parasites.

She guessed Pei Yanting had used her terrifying mathematical and analytical talents to forcefully alter their trajectory. She likely wanted to push Xiao Yue to his absolute limits, forcing him into life-or-death scenarios so he could rapidly level up and claim his ‘cheat codes.’

But Pei Xiqing had completely ruined that plan.

“Miss Pei, be extremely careful in this city,” Shadow warned grimly.

“Understood.”

Like this novel? Read Advance Chapters (PDF & EPUB Format)