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

Chapter 307: It Has Nothing to Do with Us

The base leader was still chattering away, clearly hoping to secure headquarters’ protection without having to put in any real effort.

“This place used to be connected directly to the black market,” he pleaded, his tone desperate. “Those syndicate thugs know exactly where this tunnel leads. We’re the only ones who use it right now, but I’m terrified that uninvited guests will start pouring in soon.”

He leaned forward across the table. “Lord Duan! You have to save us! Our base is filled with the old, the weak, and the sick. We don’t have the combat power to fend them off. If those vicious black market thugs come, how will we survive?”

“It’s not entirely hopeless,” Duan Xiaolin replied calmly.

“Tell me what to do! We’ll do anything you ask, as long as it’s within our power!”

“I can authorize headquarters to install a high-grade protective wall for your base.”

The leader’s face lit up with absolute elation. “That would be incredible, Lord Duan! If we had a protective wall, we could finally control the flow of people in and out. Our security would be entirely in our own hands!”

Duan Xiaolin went to set down his teacup, but his grip inexplicably faltered. The porcelain slipped, hitting the edge of the table and shattering into pieces on the floor.

The base leader immediately waved his hands in a panic. “No harm done, Lord Duan! It’s just a cheap teacup! Please, don’t worry about it!”

Duan Xiaolin bent down to help clean up the shards. “My apologies.”

“We are just so grateful to have you here!” The leader turned around to fetch a fresh tea set and some leaves. But as he turned back to hand them over, he froze.

Thick, dark blood was seeping steadily through Duan Xiaolin’s fingers.

“Lord Duan! I’ll call for the medical staff immediately!”

The man remained completely unhurried. “Do you have a first-aid kit?”

“Yes, right away.” The leader quickly retrieved a medical box and set it on the table.

Duan Xiaolin opened it, politely but firmly refusing the man’s offers to help. As he efficiently cleaned the wound and wrapped it in fresh bandages, he said flatly, “Do not mention this to anyone.”

The base leader couldn’t help but stare at the horrific lacerations on the man’s palm. It looked as though his flesh had been brutally torn away by immense, burning friction. The deepest cut went straight to the bone.

Sweating nervously, the leader stammered, “Lord Duan, a wound like that needs specialized treatment. You might need regenerative injections to help it heal properly… This simple bandaging really isn’t enough…”

“It’s fine,” Duan Xiaolin interrupted, having already finished wrapping his hand. “Just keep your mouth shut.”

The leader hesitated. “Ah… does that include Miss Pei? Should I not say anything to her, either?”

“Yes.”

With that single word, Duan Xiaolin stood up. By the time the leader fully processed the command, the man was already walking out the door.

The leader let out a heavy sigh, deeply confused. That didn’t look like a bite mark from a parasite. What on earth did Lord Duan go through? Rumor had it that the Chief Judge possessed no supernatural abilities. Surviving in this apocalyptic world without powers was incredibly difficult, yet he had somehow endured that.

Back in their room, Pei Xiqing was half-asleep. She subconsciously reached out to the empty space beside her. The sheets were ice-cold.

She shivered, completely woken up by the chill. She hadn’t expected it to be so freezing sleeping this deep underground, even with the base’s protective insulation running. It seemed the surface temperature was only going to drop further.

There was no sign of Duan Xiaolin; he hadn’t returned yet. She sat up, pulled her heavy coat tightly over her shoulders, slipped on her shoes, and headed for the door.

Just as she reached the entryway, the door opened from the outside. Duan Xiaolin stepped in, holding a large plastic bag. He raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s wrong? You woke up already?”

“What time is it?”

He glanced at his wrist. “You’ve been asleep for seven hours.”

“Did you sleep at all?”

“I just got back from outside.” He lifted the bag. “I brought snacks.”

Pei Xiqing happily took the bag from him. “Where did you get all this?”

“There’s a small supply store downstairs in the base. I picked up a few things—some snacks, instant noodles, essential oils, and shower gel.”

“That’s quite the haul,” she remarked. No wonder the bag was so heavy; it was packed with daily necessities. She began unpacking the items onto the table.

Duan Xiaolin had bought a bit of everything, including women’s sanitary products. Staring at the pack of pads, Pei Xiqing froze. She turned her head slowly, her eyes wide.

“Brother Duan… I just realized something I forgot to tell you…”

It wasn’t that she had merely forgotten to tell him; she had genuinely forgotten about it herself. Ever since her fake pregnancy incident ended, she hadn’t had a period in almost two months. Between the chaos at headquarters, battling the apocalypse, and taking care of Xiao Xiao and Xiao Yu, she had been so overwhelmed that she had completely lost track of her cycle.

If he hadn’t bought these supplies just now, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed until next month. Even when she had been infected with the zombie virus, her cycle had remained somewhat normal. And the fake pregnancy had completely purged that virus from her system, so that couldn’t be the cause.

Pei Xiqing stared at Duan Xiaolin, utterly dazed.

Duan Xiaolin didn’t look particularly surprised. “Let’s go get it checked out, then.”

“Where can we even go for a checkup down here?”

“The base has a medical staff.”

“Oh. That’s good.”

Pei Xiqing remained rooted to the spot for a moment before she started pacing back and forth in a panic, nervously twiddling her fingers. Her mind was a chaotic mess.

Am I really pregnant?

Over the past few weeks, she hadn’t felt any physical discomfort or classic pregnancy symptoms… It didn’t feel like she was pregnant, but the reality of her missed cycle was staring her right in the face. She was rarely this flustered. Her thoughts spun out of control, drifting off into outer space.

Duan Xiaolin pursed his lips, suppressing a chuckle. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, grounding her. “What are you so afraid of? If you’re pregnant, we’ll have the baby and raise it. I told you before that I didn’t want you getting pregnant yet because the timing wasn’t right. But now, you don’t have to worry.”

“But we’re in the middle of a catastrophic natural disaster!” she protested. “Everyone is struggling just to survive. How can we possibly have the energy to welcome a new little life into this world?”

“That is their struggle,” he said bluntly. “It has nothing to do with us.” He looked at her directly. “Do you want to stay here, or do you want to leave?”

He asked because she had friends here—the people from her old village. Who knew, maybe Shadow and Ma Mengxiang would eventually arrive here too. With her friends around, she might be happier staying.

Pei Xiqing paused, thinking it over. “Does the new base you mentioned really exist? Will everyone actually be safe if they go there?”

“It exists. As for absolute safety, I can’t guarantee that anywhere in this world.”

“I’m worried about Xiao Xiao and the others.”

“You don’t need to worry about them,” he reassured her. “San She and Ling Lang have already contacted me. Xiao Xiao’s injuries have been treated, and the entire fleet arrived safely. They’re currently rebuilding the new base, though it will take some time to get it fully operational.”

“That’s a relief,” she sighed, her shoulders relaxing slightly as she sat down. “Let’s go see the doctor first. I’m just so anxious…”

She didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified. She was afraid that she really was pregnant, but simultaneously afraid that it was just a false alarm or a misunderstanding.

Duan Xiaolin nodded, taking her hand.

The two of them headed to the base’s medical sector.

The medical staff here were also ability users. While their healing powers weren’t as formidable as the elite doctors at headquarters, they were more than capable of diagnosing and treating standard medical conditions.

After running a thorough series of examinations, the attending doctor pulled down her medical mask. Her eyes crinkled with a warm, joyful smile.

“Your intuition was correct, Miss Pei. Congratulations, you are indeed about two weeks pregnant.”

Chapter 308: Need to Calm Down

Zhang Tian carefully supported a few of the elderly villagers as they hurried down the corridor. Pointing toward a door up ahead, she said, “It’s just up there. Grandma Liu, don’t be too anxious. Watch your step. The corridor is very narrow here, so take it slow…”

“Oh, Miss Pei is here! How could we not be happy?”

“That’s right! It’s been so long since I last saw Xiao Pei. We only managed to settle down here safely because of her and Xiao Zhang. If she hadn’t taken us in back then, we would have been washed away by the flood.”

“Hurry up, let’s go see Miss Pei.”

“By the way, didn’t you just say that she and Mr. Duan had good news? What good news?”

Zhang Tian beamed with a bright smile. “My friend from the medical sector just told me that Xiqing is pregnant.”

“Good news! Absolutely wonderful news! It’s been so long since we’ve had a new baby born around here. Everyone’s been so lifeless and gloomy lately. It’s incredibly rare to hear such happy news. Quick, quick, Xiao Zhang, take us over to see her!”

A large group of villagers crowded into the narrow underground passage, each one more eager and anxious than the last.

After navigating the winding corridors, they finally arrived at the duplex door. Just as Zhang Tian raised her hand to knock, the door opened from the inside.

Duan Xiaolin stood in the doorway, holding a thermos cup. He glanced over the crowd. “You’re here.”

Zhang Tian didn’t know why, but she always felt a little overwhelmed whenever she met his deep gaze. No one in their group knew the true identity of this intimidating man. Besides having obvious connections to the central headquarters, it seemed he had other, far more powerful identities… but she had no idea what they were.

The man’s expression was calm, as always. His emotional fluctuations could only be deciphered from the most subtle shifts in his demeanor.

Xiqing is pregnant… Zhang Tian thought. He should be incredibly happy.

Zhang Tian cleared her throat. “A few of the elders really wanted to come over and see Xiqing, and we couldn’t stop them… I hope we aren’t disturbing your rest.”

Duan Xiaolin smiled faintly. “Not at all. I was actually just about to head out to get her some warm water. She’s inside; you can go right in and see her.”

“Warm water? We have some here, I can pour it for you…”

“No, it’s fine,” he said politely but firmly. “I’ve checked the water filtration system at the base. The local water is still moderately contaminated with residual elements. It’s not suitable for her in her current condition. I’m going to go find a cleaner water source.”

Zhang Tian hesitated. “We’d have to go outside the base to look for that. Brother Duan, let me come with you. I’m familiar with the surrounding terrain, and I know a spot where the water isn’t as polluted, but it’s quite dangerous to reach. I’ll guide you, and we can bring a few more people to carry back extra water. We can use the base’s advanced equipment to thoroughly filter and disinfect it.”

“Alright.” Duan Xiaolin nodded. “Thank you for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Let’s head out now,” she said. “Right now, almost everything outside is either flooded or buried in snow, but there are still some resources to be found… Let’s see if we can catch some wild game and breed them so we can make some nutritious meat broth for Xiqing later.”

In the apocalyptic world, natural resources were almost entirely exhausted. At the beginning of the disasters, it was standard protocol to stockpile emergency war reserves in every established base. With those foundational materials, regenerating agriculture was technically only a matter of time. However, regenerating those resources quickly was incredibly difficult; it required massive dedication, strict rationing, and professional expertise.

Currently, most of the recycled materials in the Sixth Base were barely usable.

Zhang Tian and Duan Xiaolin headed up to the surface, leaving the bunker behind.

Back in the room, Pei Xiqing hadn’t even fully processed the news of her pregnancy when a large group of people suddenly arrived at her door. An old lady she hadn’t seen in months stood somewhat stiffly at the bedroom entrance, waving at her with a warm, wrinkled smile.

“Miss Pei.”

Pei Xiqing jumped in surprise. “Grandma Liu?!”

“Yes, it’s us! Were you resting? Did we disturb you?”

“No, not at all!” Pei Xiqing quickly stood up and invited everyone inside.

The living room was decently sized, but it was a tight squeeze for so many people. She hurried to pour tea for everyone, but before she could even reach the pot, she was stopped by a woman stepping up beside her.

“You’re the one who needs to be the most careful right now! We’ve been living in this base for almost four months; we know how to take care of ourselves.”

Not everyone in the group was elderly. There were also a few middle-aged women who used to manage the trivial, day-to-day affairs back in the village. One of them, a woman in her forties, quickly took over, expertly brewing and pouring the tea for the guests.

“Don’t worry about this, let your auntie handle it.” The woman smiled, gently taking Pei Xiqing’s hands and looking her up and down. “You’ve lost a little weight, but don’t worry, you’ll gain some back soon enough. It’s much healthier to have a little flesh on your bones. Being too thin isn’t good for the baby.”

Pei Xiqing couldn’t help but glance down at her arms and waist. “I don’t feel like I’ve lost weight. Actually, I think I’ve gained a couple of kilograms.”

Whenever Duan Xiaolin wasn’t overwhelmed with work, he meticulously managed her diet and daily routine, especially during the period when she was recovering from the fake pregnancy.

“You still look so pretty and slim,” the woman praised.

“We haven’t heard a single word from you since you left the village,” Grandma Liu chimed in. “We’ve been so worried about you! How are things going back there?”

Pei Xiqing gestured for everyone to sit down. “The place is a bit cramped, so please squeeze in. I’ll tell you everything about the village…”

The group stared at her intently, hanging onto every word.

“The villagers who chose not to follow you were taken care of by Ma Mengxiang,” Pei Xiqing explained. “Everyone has been doing quite well lately. When the catastrophic floods hit, Mengxiang organized an emergency evacuation, moving everyone up into the mountains for shelter overnight. Headquarters has also airdropped supplies to them several times and even dispatched some highly capable ability users to protect the settlement.”

“That’s wonderful!” Grandma Liu clapped her hands. “We’ve been so incredibly worried all these months, and now we can finally put this huge stone down.”

Pei Xiqing handed the old woman a teacup. “Grandma, have some hot tea.”

The old lady stared at her youthful face, grinning from ear to ear. “Miss Pei is going to be a mother, yet you still look like a fresh college graduate! Hahahaha…”

Pei Xiqing’s cheeks flushed pink at the compliment. “How about all of you? How have you been doing lately?”

“We’ve been doing great, really. Xiao Zhang—Zhang Tian—brought us all the way here safely. We were originally housed on the upper levels, but a while ago, a massive blizzard hit, and she quickly arranged for us to evacuate down into the underground bunker.” The old lady’s face tightened with lingering fear. “If we had come down even an hour later, we all would have been swept away by the flood. The wrath of God truly is terrifying!”

Pei Xiqing comforted them for a while. Mindful of her condition, the group didn’t stay to disturb her for too long.

Perhaps the reality of life in the base was vastly different from what they had initially imagined. Looking at the villagers, Pei Xiqing could no longer see the bright excitement and anticipation they had once held for this supposedly safe haven. Instead, that spark had been slowly worn away by the cruel, monotonous reality of underground survival.

Before leaving, a few of the elderly folks couldn’t help but wipe away tears of regret.

“If I had just stayed put… I could still be up on that mountain with my old friends right now, enjoying the fresh air, drinking tea, and chatting from dawn ’til dusk. It might have been tiring, and the conditions might have been tough, but at least we’d be free… I really regret not listening to Xiao Pei back then.”

“Hey, what’s the point of talking about this now? We’ve already left that place.”

“Stop complaining. Let’s go check on the chickens we’re raising and send two more over to Xiao Pei. She’s pregnant; she needs the extra nourishment to build her strength.”

“Right, right.”

…

“Miss Pei, you should get some rest. It’s a tremendous joy that someone in the base is expecting a child. We’ll come visit you again in a few days and bring the chickens over.”

Fresh chicken, duck, fish, and meat were incredibly scarce in the underground base. Offering them up at this critical juncture was a gift more precious than gold.

Pei Xiqing quickly stood up to decline. “Thank you all so much for your kindness, but Brother Duan and I can take care of ourselves and the baby. Those chickens are incredibly precious resources; you should keep them so they can lay more eggs for everyone later. Brother Duan and I absolutely cannot accept them.”

“Oh, you’re being far too reserved…”

Pei Xiqing smiled helplessly. It took a long time and a lot of gentle persuasion to finally get them to abandon the idea. Sending the group off was no easy task.

When the door finally closed, she slumped back into her chair. As soon as her bottom hit the cushion, she let out a heavy, exhausted sigh.

Kicking off her slippers, she practically collapsed onto the bed and pulled the heavy quilt entirely over her head.

She really needed a moment to calm down.

Chapter 309: This Will Not Happen Again

Ever since the fake pregnancy incident, Duan Xiaolin truly hadn’t shown any restraint. On many occasions, he hadn’t bothered with any safety precautions. She had considered the possibility, of course, but she never imagined it would actually happen under such dire circumstances.

Pei Xiqing burrowed deeper into the quilt. The chaotic mess of thoughts in her mind was entirely washed away by the shocking news of her pregnancy.

She subconsciously rested a hand over her lower abdomen, curling up tightly under the covers.

Since the child is already here, I’ll just let nature take its course and take good care of it.

Staring up at the ceiling, Pei Xiqing didn’t even notice the soft, genuine smile that had crept onto her lips.

However, there was still one thing weighing on her mind. Yesterday, she had been far too exhausted—or perhaps it was the early influence of the pregnancy. The moment her head hit the pillow, her brain had simply shut down. But now that she had calmed down and had time to think, she remembered a crucial detail she had forgotten about Duan Xiaolin.

She got out of bed and washed her face. Since Duan Xiaolin hadn’t returned yet, she paced around the room a few times out of boredom before finding a few books to kill time. She curled up in a chair, reading and gently swaying for a while.

About two hours later, Duan Xiaolin, Zhang Tian, and the group from the base finally returned.

It seemed their excursion had been quite fruitful. Initially, Pei Xiqing had planned to just drink the filtered water available at the base, but Duan Xiaolin was overly cautious. He argued that even with filtration, the local groundwater had inevitably been soaked with corpses and decaying matter. He absolutely refused to let her drink it, insisting on finding a cleaner source.

Seeing the man enter the room, she quickly turned up the heater and hurried over to help him out of his heavy coat.

Underneath, he wore a tight-fitting shirt. He reached out and gently touched her cheek. “Do you want to sleep a little longer?”

The freezing temperature outside had left a thin layer of frost on his coat, yet his palms were surprisingly warm. She pressed her hand against his. “No. I have something I need to ask you.”

“Ask away.” He adjusted his cuffs, took off his watch, and set it on the nightstand.

Pei Xiqing held onto his hand tightly. “That injury on your hand back in the center of the thunderstorm’s magnetic field… how did it heal so quickly?”

The more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt. The lacerations on Duan Xiaolin’s hand had looked terrifying at the time, yet they had seemingly vanished in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, the light had been too dim for her to get a clear look before the wounds disappeared. Looking back on it now, the only logical explanation was that he had used his supernatural abilities.

She stared fixedly at him. Still gripping his hand, she reached out to roll up his sleeve.

Just as she pinched the fabric, the man caught her wrist, stopping her.

“Brother Duan?” she asked, puzzled.

Duan Xiaolin held her delicate wrist firmly. “Xiqing.”

“What’s wrong?” she pressed. “Brother Duan, do you have a secret you can’t show me? Or… are you hiding something from me?”

She desperately wanted to see what lay beneath his sleeve, but Duan Xiaolin clearly didn’t want her to.

“There’s no secret. I’ve already told you everything.”

“I know you did.” Because he had told her, she remembered clearly his strict rule about not using his supernatural powers recklessly.

At the time, they had been trapped in the anomaly. The situation was chaotic, and her survival was hanging by a thread. Between her exhaustion and the overwhelming environment, even if she had lingering suspicions, he could easily brush them off.

But now, standing right in front of him and gripping his sleeve tightly, she wasn’t going to be fooled so easily.

“How did you manage to catch me mid-air while we were in free-fall? And how did you manage to carry me all the way to the center of the magnetic field safely?”

Those were not feats an ordinary human could achieve. Especially since he, just like her, had managed to remain unharmed by the lethal currents. She had the latent energy of the crystal cores protecting her, but what did he have? Apart from his terrifying supernatural powers, there was absolutely no other explanation.

Pei Xiqing was determined to get to the bottom of this and examine the true state of his arm.

Duan Xiaolin didn’t maintain the stalemate for long. He eventually sighed, relaxing his grip. “Calm down. Don’t get too worked up.”

Taking the opportunity, Pei Xiqing swiftly rolled up his sleeve.

Her breath hitched. His forearm was heavily wrapped in thick layers of bandages, yet the wrappings couldn’t cover everything. At the edge of the gauze, she could vaguely see horrific, deep lacerations where the flesh had been torn away, exposing glimpses of bone.

Her fingers trembled as she reached out. She didn’t even dare to touch the actual wound, only lightly brushing her fingertips against the uninjured skin of his arm.

The sheer severity of the injuries was far beyond anything she had expected. He sustained such horrific wounds, she thought, yet if I hadn’t taken the initiative to question him, he would have suffered in absolute silence.

“Does it hurt?” Pei Xiqing asked, her voice tight with concern.

She raised her head, her eyes slightly red as she looked at the man. “Why didn’t you tell me? Who treated this for you? Was it Zhang Tian?”

“I handled it myself.” He gently pulled Pei Xiqing over to sit on the chair, offering her a reassuring smile. “It’s just a minor injury. It’s really nothing serious.”

“But… didn’t I see your wounds heal themselves back in the storm? Why did they suddenly reappear like this?”

She knew she hadn’t been mistaken. She had vividly seen his supernatural power knit his flesh back together. Lacerations this deep could only have been caused by the brutal friction of the tether and the tearing force of the magnetic field. There was nothing inside the base that could inflict such damage. And since no one else had been injured during their recent water excursion, it was impossible for him to have sustained them just now.

“You used your powers to heal yourself back then. You told me before that you couldn’t use them casually. What exactly are the consequences when you do?”

Duan Xiaolin was silent for a long moment before he finally answered, his voice slow and heavy. “These are the consequences.”

He looked down at his bandaged arm. “Every time I forcibly use my powers, any physical damage I bypass or heal will eventually rebound onto my body—doubled.”

“Why does it do that?”

“I don’t know,” he replied simply. “And it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” Pei Xiqing reached up, gently turning his face so he had to look at her directly. Her expression was deadly serious. “This will not happen again. You cannot use your abilities so recklessly in the future. You should have told me this earlier. If I had known, I never would have taken the risk of flying so close to the magnetic field to begin with.”

He smiled softly. “Okay.”

Pei Xiqing opened her mouth to argue further but stopped herself.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that this issue wasn’t nearly as simple as his brief explanation made it seem. She had to find a way to figure out the truth behind his restricted powers and these brutal side effects.

Perhaps, she thought, it has something to do with the crystal cores he placed inside my body.

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