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

Chapter 313: I Don’t Like Her

Pei Xiqing opened her mouth, but words failed her.

A heavy silence fell over the line.

“Did I scare you?” Qiu Chao finally asked. “But honestly, when we extracted those crystal cores, we were already prepared for the worst. No matter what comes our way, we’ll fight it out to the bitter end.”

He sighed. “Still, there’s definitely something fishy about Xiao Yue. The fact that he managed to leave residual memories on so many high-grade cores… Tsk, tsk. I suspect he must have physically interacted with all of them at some point. It’s completely outrageous.”

Pei Xiqing murmured, “It is outrageous… but it’s also within expectations.”

“Hmm? Does that mean you knew about this all along?” Qiu Chao asked sharply.

It wasn’t that she had known about the cores specifically, but as someone who knew the original plot, she had been mentally prepared for the world’s order to break down from the very beginning. It was exactly as she had expected.

Unfazed by his suspicion, she simply asked, “Does this mean that as long as these natural disasters continue, Brother Duan won’t be able to use his supernatural abilities freely? And if he does, he’ll suffer massive rebounding pain?”

“You could say that,” Qiu Chao replied.

“And these natural disasters are directly linked to the crystal cores currently in my body?”

“That’s my working theory, yes.”

Pei Xiqing fell silent. After a long moment, she finally let out a soft breath. “I see. Thank you.”

“What do you mean, ‘you see’?” Qiu Chao grumbled. “I haven’t even finished yet! Let me tell you, when we were studying those cores, we could distinctly feel the memories trapped inside. But no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t decipher what those memories actually said or meant. I only knew they belonged to Xiao Yue. Do you… happen to know something about this?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” Qiu Chao said, sitting up straighter on his end. “I remember you had some sort of relationship with Xiao Yue in the past. He was your brother-in-law, wasn’t he? Do you have any clues? Can you shed some light on what those memories might contain?”

“I’m really not sure about that,” Pei Xiqing replied smoothly.

“Really?” Qiu Chao’s tone dripped with suspicion. “Why do I get the feeling you know exactly what they are?”

No normal person would remain so calm after hearing his world-shattering theory. There was definitely a secret Pei Xiqing was keeping from him.

Pei Xiqing continued to play dumb for a bit longer before letting out a helpless laugh. “I really don’t know. Think about it—if I knew the answer, I would have come to you with it immediately. Why would I be asking you for information?”

“Really?” Qiu Chao snorted in disbelief. “Well, Xiao Yue said some very interesting things right before he died. Do you want to know what they were?”

“What did he say?”

“Hmph. If you don’t tell me your secrets, I’m not telling you mine.”

Pei Xiqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Brother Qiu Chao~” she coaxed playfully.

“Save it! That won’t work on me!” Qiu Chao declared, practically jumping out of his seat. “Don’t try those tactics on me; women terrify me the most.”

Nearby, Ling Lang kicked the leg of Qiu Chao’s chair. “So, you’re terrified of women now? That’s funny, considering how much you seem to like Miss Xia. You could barely save yourself out there, yet you still dove headfirst into a pile of zombies just to rescue her. True love really is profound.”

Catching the gossip, Pei Xiqing immediately perked up. “Miss Xia? Wait, do you mean Xia Jingyu?”

“That’s exactly who I mean,” Ling Lang confirmed.

“She’s still alive?!”

“She’s alive, though her mental state is a little unstable. Our dear Qiu Chao here personally pulled her out of a zombie horde, and he’s been meticulously nursing her back to health every single day since!”

Ling Lang completely ignored Qiu Chao’s frantic glares, a wicked, unrestrained smirk spreading across his face.

“Then you really must take good care of Miss Xia, Brother Qiu Chao,” Pei Xiqing advised warmly. “She’s been missing for so long; she must have been through hell. It’s completely natural for her mental state to be fragile right now. She desperately needs someone patient to guide and support her.”

“Don’t start with that,” Qiu Chao grumbled. “I’ve never harbored those kinds of feelings for her.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you about this? I, Qiu Chao, absolutely do not like her.”

He had repeated this sentiment countless times, yet Xia Jingyu continued to tail him everywhere he went, almost causing him to miss important deadlines on several occasions.

“What a pity,” Pei Xiqing teased gently.

“I don’t feel sorry about it at all,” Qiu Chao retorted. “It’s not written in stone that certain people have to end up together. If you don’t like someone, you don’t like them. There’s no point in forcing something that isn’t meant to be.”

Pei Xiqing smiled. “You’re absolutely right.”

“Anyway, enough about my nonexistent love life. Xiao Yue shouted a bunch of nonsense at Brother Duan right before he died. I didn’t really understand most of it. If you’re so curious, you can just ask Brother Duan yourself. Look, I’ve got things to do. We’ll talk next time we’re free.”

“Sounds good. Thank you for answering my questions, Brother Qiu Chao. I owe you a delicious meal the next time we see each other. Alright, I’m hanging up now.”

With a soft click, the encrypted communication line disconnected.

Qiu Chao immediately spun around, jabbing an accusing finger at Ling Lang. “Just you wait, kid!”

Ling Lang looked completely unbothered. “What are you going to do about it? Can’t we just have an open conversation? If you really don’t like her, then why did you insist on bringing her all the way back to the base?”

“Do you think I would dare bring an outsider here without Brother Duan’s explicit orders?!” Qiu Chao snapped.

“Fair point,” Ling Lang conceded with a careless shrug.

Qiu Chao was fuming. The longer he looked at Ling Lang’s smug face, the angrier he got. Spinning on his heel, he stomped toward the door. Just as he was about to step out of the room, he deliberately slowed his pace. Without looking back, he casually dropped a bomb.

“By the way, Pei Xiqing is pregnant. I guess she hasn’t told you yet.”

Ling Lang’s entire body stiffened instantly.

Along with the sudden rigidity, an indescribable, suffocating emotion surged within his chest, leaving a deeply bitter taste in his mouth.

Qiu Chao turned his head, feigning dramatic surprise. “Oh, my! You really didn’t know? Tsk, tsk, tsk. She was just on the comms with you; I can’t believe she didn’t mention it. She’s not even a month along yet. But you know how time flies! By the time the base is fully repaired and we finally see her again, her belly might already be showing.”

Ling Lang clenched his hands into tight fists. His knuckles turned white, trembling slightly under the strain.

He tilted his head, his voice dropping to a dangerously low register. “If you don’t know when to shut up, I can gladly help you.”

Qiu Chao maintained a look of absolute indifference. “Look, I might not have any desire for romance or dating, but at least I know when to fold. Some people are just out here pining for something they will never, ever get.”

“Get the hell out of here,” Ling Lang growled.

Qiu Chao laughed, utterly delighted by the reaction. “I’m going, I’m going! Honestly, I don’t even know if it’ll be a boy or a girl yet. If it’s a boy, he’ll be my precious nephew. All the elites in Franlun will definitely do their absolute best to train him, and I’ll personally pass down all my medical knowledge to him. And if it’s a little niece? Even better! It would be perfect for her to follow in my footsteps.”

With that final, devastating blow, Qiu Chao stepped out and pulled the door shut behind him.

It was a flawless execution—a strike meant to absolutely destroy a person’s heart. And the victim left bleeding was Ling Lang.

Chapter 314: I’d Rather Kill Someone by Mistake Than Let Them Go

Pei Xiqing had just disconnected the encrypted line when the door of the supply store pushed open.

A man walked in holding a large, fat rabbit by the scruff of its neck. Pei Xiqing’s eyes immediately lit up. “Where did you get that?”

The store clerk was equally astonished. “Fat rabbits like that can only be found in the base’s main administrative supply depot. They are incredibly valuable! No ordinary resident can afford them. Honestly, even the basic chickens, ducks, fish, and meat sold there are completely out of reach for most people.”

“Is there a second supply store in the base?” Pei Xiqing asked.

The clerk nodded. “Yes, but they are entirely different. I own this store, which caters to the general public. The other one is strictly controlled by the base leadership and military. Ordinary people aren’t allowed to shop there, so this is the only place most residents can afford.”

Duan Xiaolin walked over, holding the struggling rabbit out to her. “Do you want to raise it?”

“Yes, let’s keep it.” Pei Xiqing rested her chin in her hands, looking at him with a bright smile. “We can raise it and wait for it to have a litter of baby bunnies.”

“To fatten them up before eating them?” he teased.

Pei Xiqing couldn’t help but laugh. “Let it actually give birth to a litter first!”

“Given how things work around here, by the time you give birth, it might not have even had its litter yet.”

“It’s just one rabbit,” she pointed out logically. “It doesn’t have a mate. It would be pretty difficult for it to give birth out of thin air.”

Overhearing their banter, the clerk smiled politely and returned to tidying up the shelves.

Duan Xiaolin turned his attention back to her. “Are you done talking?”

Pei Xiqing blinked in surprise. “How did you know?”

“It wasn’t hard to guess.” A brief flash of helpless affection crossed Duan Xiaolin’s eyes.

Pei Xiqing sighed softly. “Who told you to keep so many secrets from me? You were hiding everything, so I had no choice but to ask the others. But besides getting answers to the questions I wanted to ask, I also learned something else.”

“What did you learn?”

“Miss Xia—Xia Jingyu—is still alive.”

Duan Xiaolin raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Catching the subtle lack of surprise on his face, Pei Xiqing leaned closer, looking him directly in the eyes. “Brother Duan, did you know something about this? Brother Qiu Chao personally dug Miss Xia out of a zombie pile. It’s been so long since she disappeared. With the search capabilities of the old central headquarters, how could they have possibly failed to find her back then? Was her long disappearance related to you?”

Before the man could formulate an excuse, Pei Xiqing reached up and lightly pinched his cheek. “Don’t lie to me. Tell me the truth.”

The more she thought about it, the weirder the situation seemed. Initially, she had believed Xia Jingyu’s disappearance was just a tragic accident. But the fact that Qiu Chao had miraculously found her and brought her back from the brink of death… it was incredibly hard not to suspect that someone had deliberately orchestrated her disappearance. Someone powerful enough to manipulate the search parameters so that even if she were found, the automated systems would ignore her.

Seeing her determination, Duan Xiaolin didn’t intend to keep it a secret any longer. He briefly explained the events leading up to Xia Jingyu’s disappearance.

“You mean… Miss Xia knew the truth about my physical condition?” Her eyes widened slightly in shock.

She had considered many possibilities, but she genuinely hadn’t expected it to be related to that.

Given the strict protocols at headquarters back then, if Xia Jingyu had leaked even a single detail about Pei Xiqing’s infection, Pei Xiqing would have been doomed. If the elites at the base had discovered she was actually a semi-conscious zombie, she would have ended up strapped to an operating table, joining the bloated, dissected corpses in the underground laboratory.

Pei Xiqing shuddered at the thought. No wonder she had never seen Xia Jingyu again.

“Of course, Qiu Chao bears the primary responsibility for the security breach regarding your condition,” Duan Xiaolin said, his face entirely expressionless. “I have already punished him for his negligence. As for Xia Jingyu, I was forced to take certain measures to ensure her silence.”

“I… I can understand why you did it,” Pei Xiqing murmured. If the roles were reversed and it was Duan Xiaolin’s life on the line, she would have done the exact same thing to protect him.

After processing the revelation, she stared at him, unblinking.

Duan Xiaolin met her gaze. “What are you looking at? Are we going home?”

Pei Xiqing stayed silent for a moment before asking softly, “I was just wondering… when exactly did Brother Duan’s scales start tipping toward me?”

The Chief Judge of Franlun was supposed to be the ultimate villain in the original plot. He was a man who would never spare anyone around him who posed even the slightest risk of viral infection. His ruthless methodology was built entirely on the principle: I would rather kill a thousand people by mistake than let a single threat go free.

She genuinely hadn’t expected that he would break his own absolute rules—and actively silence Xia Jingyu—just to cover up the truth about Pei Xiqing’s identity.

“I don’t know,” the man smiled faintly, a rare softness in his eyes. “Perhaps it happened a long time ago.”

Pei Xiqing felt a mix of disbelief and overwhelming warmth.

He continued smoothly. “However, my actions regarding Xia Jingyu were a personal matter. I wouldn’t let this incident negatively impact Franlun’s overall operational integrity.”

They sat in the store for a while longer. As more residents began trickling in to purchase supplies, they stood up, grabbed the rabbit, and prepared to head back to their duplex.

It wasn’t until she checked the time that she was truly shocked. She knew the underground base lacked a natural day-night cycle, but she hadn’t expected time to fly by so quickly. By the time they returned to their room, it was already midnight.

Pei Xiqing wanted to discuss a few things she had observed around the base, but before she could speak, Duan Xiaolin abruptly swept her up into his arms and carried her straight into the bathroom.

After struggling and splashing around for more than half an hour, she finally emerged in her pajamas, her face flushed a deep, rosy pink. The bathroom had been incredibly steamy, and she had to fan herself continuously to cool down.

Duan Xiaolin emerged shortly after. Though his face remained composed, his aura was noticeably rougher and more intense.

Since she was barely a month pregnant and the fetus wasn’t entirely stable yet, the man didn’t dare do anything truly reckless. However, the lingering tension in the air was undeniably thick and intriguing.

Pei Xiqing could feel her heart beating so frantically she thought it might jump out of her chest.

Finally managing to calm her racing pulse, she towel-dried her hair and collapsed lazily onto her side of the bed.

His silver-rimmed glasses were resting on the nightstand near her pillow. Seeing them, she carefully moved them aside for safekeeping. When he walked into the bedroom after hanging their damp towels on the rack, she patted the empty space beside her. “Brother Duan, come to bed soon.”

The mattress wasn’t particularly large—maybe about 1.6 meters wide—noticeably smaller than the luxurious beds they had shared at headquarters. While she slept comfortably enough, the man’s long arms and legs meant it was a bit cramped for him.

I’ll have to ask the base carpenters to modify the frame tomorrow to make it wider and longer, she thought to herself.

Duan Xiaolin walked over, wearing only a pair of loose sleep shorts. His broad, muscular chest and defined abs were exposed to the cool air, his skin still faintly damp from the shower.

He sat down on the edge of the mattress, resting a warm palm gently against her waist. “Aren’t you sleepy yet? Even pregnant, you still have so much energy.”

Pei Xiqing closed her eyes, her words slightly slurred from exhaustion. “I’ve been sleepy for hours. Do you think everyone is as much of a workaholic as you? You haven’t stopped moving since morning. First, you went outside with Zhang Tian, then you spent hours instructing the base engineers on structural maintenance, and then you somehow found the time to catch a rabbit for me before coming back tonight…”

Even in the bathroom just now, his stamina had been terrifyingly high. Sometimes, this man was simply too tough. It seemed like he never got tired.

His large hand began to slowly caress her waist again. Pei Xiqing squirmed, swatting his hand away blindly. “Stop it… I’m so sleepy…”

Duan Xiaolin’s gaze slowly traced the lines of her body, moving from the soft curve of her waist down to her delicate, slender ankles—ankles so thin he could easily encircle them with one hand.

So far, her body hadn’t shown any significant changes from the pregnancy.

Watching her sleep peacefully beside him, the man fell silent, his expression turning unreadable in the dark.

In his heart, he truly hadn’t wanted Pei Xiqing to become pregnant.

But some primitive instincts and deep-seated emotions were simply too powerful to be entirely controlled. He was no exception to human nature.

Since fate had decreed that they would bring a child into this broken world, the only thing he could do now was protect her with everything he had and ensure the pregnancy didn’t cause any irreversible damage to her body.

Pei Xiqing was genuinely exhausted. The early stages of pregnancy were clearly taking a toll on her energy levels. She fell into a deep, dreamless sleep within seconds of her last sentence, completely unaware that the man beside her remained awake, staring down at her silently in the pitch-black room for a very long time.

In the weeks following the confirmation of her pregnancy, Pei Xiqing found herself developing a massive appetite. Although the overall conditions in the underground base were poor, Duan Xiaolin, Zhang Tian, and the elderly villagers always managed to scrounge up plenty of delicious, nutritious food for her.

Deeply moved by their constant care and the warmth in their eyes, she decided to return the favor by baking the traditional cakes they used to make back in the village to share with everyone.

However, sourcing the ingredients proved to be incredibly difficult. Back in the village, the mountains had been bursting with wild, natural ingredients, making baking easy. But down here in the bunker…

She was standing at the entrance to the communal kitchen, hesitating over what substitutes to use, when Zhang Tian suddenly burst through the door, out of breath.

“Xiqing! Guess who just arrived at the base!”

Pei Xiqing blinked in surprise. “Who is it?”

“Guess!” Zhang Tian urged excitedly.

Pei Xiqing thought about it for a few seconds. “A handsome guy with brown hair?”

Chapter 315: Surprise

Zhang Tian gave her a bewildered look. “You don’t mean the captain of the team we met out in the wilderness before, do you? I remember his name was something like… Fei?”

She still had plenty of lingering questions about what had happened out in the wild when she first met Pei Xiqing. Back then, Pei Xiqing had been accompanied by Brother Duan and a bad-tempered man in white wearing a mask. However, after her own team had fallen apart, she had separated from Pei Xiqing’s group and hadn’t interacted much with that masked man since.

“It’s not him?” Pei Xiqing turned around. “Then who is it? The guy with the baby face?”

Zhang Tian huffed, exasperated. “What the hell are you talking about? Stop guessing blindly! I don’t recognize a single name you just mentioned.”

“Oh, right…”

“It’s the other villagers! They’re here!” Zhang Tian blurted out. “Ma Mengxiang is here too, and all the elderly folks who stayed behind are still alive! Mengxiang is right outside, and she’s eager to see you!”

Pei Xiqing immediately set down the dish in her hands. “Take me to them.”

She hurried toward the door, prompting Zhang Tian to anxiously remind her, “Be careful! Walk, don’t run!”

Walking through the narrow corridor outside, Pei Xiqing spotted a large group of people standing in the distance. They all looked thoroughly exhausted, but their faces were alight with emotion.

Ma Mengxiang was supporting an old man, her head bowed as she spoke to him softly. Numerous other elderly villagers were surrounded by their families, hugging each other and crying tears of joy.

“We’re finally reunited… I thought we’d never see each other again in this lifetime!”

“Dad! I shouldn’t have left you in the village just so I could come to the base and see the world… I’m so sorry!”

“As long as we’re alive, just being alive is enough. Let the past stay in the past.”

Shadow—the masked figure—stood quietly behind the group with his arms crossed. He watched the emotional reunion, the usual lethal tension in his posture noticeably relaxed.

When these people had first rushed to the base, they thought they would be stepping into a better life. In reality, they had merely walked into another kind of hell. Yet, they were the lucky ones. The Sixth Base, despite its harsh conditions, was free from the oppressive interference of the black market and the violent power struggles of the larger factions. Compared to those other “man-eating” bases where the vulnerable were ground to dust, they had suffered far less. Here, at least, they hadn’t been gnawed down to the bone.

The moment Pei Xiqing appeared, Ma Mengxiang spotted her. “Miss Pei!” she shouted, running over. She threw her arms open and pulled Pei Xiqing into a massive hug. “I missed you so much!”

“Why didn’t you answer any of my calls?” Pei Xiqing laughed, returning the embrace. “It’s been so long without a word from you. I honestly had no idea what you were so busy with every day.”

“I was busy farming and chopping wood!”

“Huh?”

Ma Mengxiang stepped back, beaming. “You don’t know yet? I’m here to deliver supplies to everyone!”

“You managed all that?” Pei Xiqing asked, impressed.

“Of course not just by myself!” Ma Mengxiang clarified proudly. “During this whole time, I didn’t just sit around sighing and complaining about the end of the world. Instead, I gathered a few of the uncles, aunts, and sisters, and we opened up the wasteland to cultivate farmland up in the mountains.”

As she spoke, she clapped her hands. Several of the older men stepped forward, pulling sturdy trailers loaded with heavy crates of supplies.

Pei Xiqing walked over and randomly opened one of the crates. Inside were dozens of smaller boxes overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables. Stacked behind those were cages holding live chickens, ducks, and even fresh fish and cuts of meat. She didn’t even recognize some of the animal species.

Ma Mengxiang pointed to the unfamiliar meat and explained, “That’s a new mutated species we hunted in the mountains. It looks weird, but it tastes amazing. Just grill it and sprinkle a little salt on top—I promise you’ll never forget the flavor.”

She gestured to the poultry. “Oh, and these chickens are all the chicks Auntie raised over the last few months. They’ll definitely start laying eggs soon, and those eggs will hatch into more chicks, and those chicks will have their own chicks. As long as we take good care of them, we won’t have to worry about running out of meat in the future.”

“Mengxiang…” Pei Xiqing’s eyes filled with joy. “You really are amazing.”

She had never expected that while staying behind in the village, Ma Mengxiang had quietly accomplished something so monumental, single-handedly solving the urgent food crisis for the survivors at the base.

“Everyone here is going to be so grateful to you,” Pei Xiqing added. “You arrived at the perfect time.”

Ma Mengxiang waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s no big deal. Honestly, it wasn’t just my doing. It was the hard work of everyone who stayed behind. If it weren’t for their help, I could never have accomplished so much. For instance, that whole brood of chicks was entirely taken care of by Auntie Huang.”

She gently pushed a woman to the front of the group. The woman was dressed in simple, practical clothes, with a few loose strands of hair falling across her forehead. Her weather-beaten face crinkled into a warm, deeply lined smile. “Miss Pei, it’s been a long time since we last met.”

“Aunt Huang!” Pei Xiqing exclaimed. “It has been a long time.”

She stepped forward and gave the older woman a gentle hug. “You’ve worked so hard. Now that you’re here, you can finally take a break. There are plenty of people at the base who can help out, so you won’t have to exhaust yourself anymore.”

“Oh, Miss Pei.” Aunt Huang held her hands tightly, her eyes shining with gratitude. “There wasn’t much water up in the mountains, and the wild animals were fierce. If you hadn’t asked that gentleman to send us those daggers and weapons, I wouldn’t be alive standing here today. Thank you so much.”

“I’m just glad I could help.”

Aunt Huang dragged a heavy woven basket over to her. “The vegetables in here are the absolute freshest; I grew them myself. I also packed five fish and two plump chickens just for you. Please, take them.”

Pei Xiqing hesitated. “This is too much…”

“It’s okay, we still have plenty,” Aunt Huang insisted with a warm smile. “The farmland on the mountain hasn’t been touched by the floods, so we can always go back and plant more later.”

“Thank you very much.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Ma Mengxiang chimed in, “Exactly! Don’t be so polite with us, Miss Pei. We’re all family here.”

Pei Xiqing looked at the bountiful food in the basket and let out a soft sigh of awe. “I never expected that, in the end, you would be the ones to save everyone.”

“I told you that staying behind in the village would end up helping,” Ma Mengxiang grinned.

“You were absolutely right,” Pei Xiqing agreed.

Shadow stepped forward from the back of the group and effortlessly lifted the heavy basket. “Miss Pei, allow me to carry this back to your room.”

Pei Xiqing noticed that the usually intimidating Shadow was now dressed in the same simple, rugged clothes as the other villagers. She couldn’t help but tease him, “Have you been out there farming all this time too?”

Shadow cleared his throat awkwardly behind his mask. “Ahem… I wouldn’t call it farming. I was simply taking time to calm my mind, improve myself, and cultivate my character.”

“Oh, really?” she pressed, highly amused.

He quickly added, “That was Brother Duan’s exact phrasing, anyway.”

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