What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH33

Chapter 33: Hard-Talk

Pei Xiqing stared at her palm, entirely bewildered. It was the first time she had ever manifested a superpower, and she had absolutely no idea how to wield it.

The bizarre, smoky energy swirling across her skin brought a sharp, stinging friction and a sudden, burning heat. If she wasn’t careful, the raw current felt like it would char her own flesh. Even worse structural consequences could unfold if she channeled it improperly. More importantly, she had no idea where this volatile energy had even originated.

She had a sickening, overwhelming premonition that this power didn’t belong to her at all, and it should never have appeared at her fingertips.

It’s better to be cautious, she thought, closing her fist to forcefully snuff out the spark. I’ll wait until Sister Long Yan and the others return, then find a quiet moment to ask her about it in secret.

Suppressing the strange mutation, she rested her chin in her hands, staring out at the desolate, black mountain peaks and losing herself in a daydream. A while later, her sharp vision caught a localized cloud of dust on the horizon. Several figures were navigating the fractured highway, heading straight for the settlement.

As they drew closer, she instantly locked onto the lead operative—Ling Lang, his stark, shock-white hair impossible to miss.

The rest of the elite vanguard followed closely behind his heels, a battle-worn formation marching into the town limits.

Pei Xiqing scrambled off the concrete block, jumping up and down as she frantically waved her arms. “Over here!”

Ling Lang had spotted her silhouette the second they cleared the ridge. He aggressively broke rank, striding over to her in a matter of seconds. He forcefully gripped her arm, his sharp eyes frantically scanning her from head to toe. “Are you injured?!”

Pei Xiqing froze, slightly stunned by the sudden intensity of his focus. She shook her head quickly. “…No, I’m completely fine.”

His expression was terrifyingly grim, his tactical uniform heavily drenched in the dark, clotted blood of the horde. Deep, jagged lacerations tracked across his cheeks, fresh blood dripping down his jawline. He looked exactly like a feral, young general who had lost his mind to a bloodthirsty killing frenzy on the frontline.

The squad had clearly survived an apocalyptic slaughter.

Her gaze softened, her voice dropping. “Are you alright? Do you need me to help carry your gear or bandage those cuts?”

“…” Aware of the operatives approaching behind him, Ling Lang abruptly released her wrist, violently clearing his throat as he turned his face away. “Hmph. As long as you didn’t sustain any damage, you won’t be a catastrophic drag on our pace later. Besides, you’re not a medic or a high-tier healer. Focus on keeping your own skin intact and stop causing unnecessary complications for me.”

Pei Xiqing narrowed her eyes, her lips twitching as she prepared a sharp retort, but she stopped when she noticed him subtly flinching, his hand gripping his left shoulder with a tight frown.

Long Yan strolled up to them, casually bringing her hand down in a heavy, resounding slap against Ling Lang’s back. “Why do you always have to play the invincible martyr? There were literally thousands of mutants flooding that sector, and you insisted on anchoring the entire line by your damn self…”

Turning her gaze to Pei Xiqing, Long Yan offered a meaningful, teasing smile. “Our illustrious Captain literally vaporized half of City B’s inner ring just to blast a path through the vanguard. He moved so fast the rest of the squad couldn’t even keep pace. I have absolutely no idea why he was in such a frantic, desperate rush to clear the sector… or exactly who he was trying to get back to. I’ve never seen him launch an unhinged assault like that before.”

Sensing the thick implication vibrating beneath Long Yan’s words, Pei Xiqing let out a dry, nervous laugh. “Haha… Wow, that’s incredibly impressive. He must have been… desperate to verify Representative Duan’s safety.”

Long Yan’s eyes lit up, fully prepared to add fuel to the fire, but Ling Lang cut her off with a rough, highly aggressive bark. “Alright, that’s enough, Sister Long Yan! Lead the frontline operatives into the concrete structure and establish the perimeter!”

Long Yan clamped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter. “Understood, Captain~”

The moment Ling Lang stepped away to check the munitions crates, Pei Xiqing leaned toward him, her voice riddled with guilt. “Brother Duan was injured after we retreated. I’m so sorry… it’s entirely my fault. I was incredibly careless back on the trail…”

“Ling Lang.”

Duan Xiaolin’s deep, icy voice echoed from the threshold of the reinforced building. He stood framed in the shadows, his expression an unreadable mask. “Bring your officers in for the debriefing.”

Ling Lang’s posture instantly snapped into a rigid military salute. “On my way, sir!”

He marshaled the remaining squad leaders, guiding them past the threshold and into the concrete bunker.

Long Yan, however, remained anchored to the asphalt. Her eyes narrowed to sharp slits as she calculated the variables, her gaze shifting thoughtfully from the door back to Pei Xiqing’s anxious face.

“Injured? How exactly did a powerless civilian manage to inflict physical trauma on him?” She looked genuinely astonished. “Representative Duan is an apex entity. He is not someone you can simply get close enough to harm.”

Pei Xiqing felt an intense wave of heat flood her cheeks, her throat locking up in sheer embarrassment.

Long Yan analyzed the flush, a realization instantly clicking in her brilliant mind. “Did your virus flare up? Did you bite him?”

Pei Xiqing lowered her head, her voice a miserable whisper. “Yes.”

Long Yan observed her heavy remorse for a quiet moment. “You truly don’t know how to play the board, do you? You just lay all your cards out in the open.”

“I… I don’t want to spin a web of lies to you, Sister Long Yan,” she murmured.

Long Yan let out a long, heavy sigh. “Listen to me, you foolish girl. From this exact second onward, you tell that absolute truth only to me. Do not utter a single syllable of this to anyone else—especially not to Ling Lang. If the other operatives start digging into his injuries, you play completely dumb. I’m choosing to bury this variable because I know your character; you aren’t a mindless monster. You clearly had a biological reaction, and your cognitive baseline is fundamentally different from a rabid zombie. But the rest of the military assets? They will instantly construct a narrative of treason and execution. Do you understand the weight of what you did?”

She glanced toward the bunker door. “Furthermore, based on Representative Duan’s clinical behavior just now, it’s glaringly obvious he intends to permanently seal the data. If he’s actively hiding the bite, he has a calculation running. Do not disrupt his board.”

She tapped Pei Xiqing’s shoulder. “As far as the Vanguard is concerned, I didn’t hear a single diagnostic update tonight, and you spent the entire night guarding the parameter.”

Pei Xiqing stared at her retreating back, completely stunned by the woman’s lethal intelligence and profound protection.

A short while later, Ling Lang emerged from the bunker, his jaw tight and his expression profoundly irritated. “The entire vehicular transport grid had to be permanently abandoned in the bottleneck at City B. We are still a massive distance from the closest reinforced base corridor, which means we are officially marching the remainder of the transit on foot. All units will hold this position to rest for twenty-four hours. We move out at first light tomorrow.”

Fortunately, Yunli Town was structurally remote and geographically obscured; the migratory swarms wouldn’t trace their biological scent immediately. By nightfall, the operatives had established a roaring campfire in the center of the ruins, roasting dried rations and sharing standard field pots.

“We lost our primary transport, so the survival metrics are going to be a bit grueling. Just bear with it,” Long Yan said gently, walking over to the concrete block where Pei Xiqing sat and handing her a steaming bowl of hot rice porridge. “When the G-Class was online, we could have breached the base perimeter within twelve hours. On foot? We’re looking at a multi-day march through raw wilderness. If your stamina hits critical failure, don’t play the hero. This squad is packed with heavily enhanced men. They can take turns carrying you on their backs to maintain the tactical pace.”

Pei Xiqing’s face flushed with immediate embarrassment. “No, really, that won’t be necessary. I can march.”

“Why are you acting so incredibly formal with us?” Long Yan laughed, gesturing toward the campfire. “When we first forged this unit years ago, Ling Lang’s stamina was so pathetic I had to haul him across the Gobi on my own back.”

Sitting directly across the fire, Ling Lang’s head snapped up, his face darkening. “Who the hell would even volunteer to carry her?”

He took an aggressive gulp of his porridge, glaring into the flames before muttering under his breath, “Though… if you actually swallow your pride and beg me for assistance, I might run the logistics. I have no problem throwing a bone to a weak civilian asset.”

Pei Xiqing let out a sharp scoff. “Who is begging you for anything? I strongly advise you to stop looking down on my capabilities, Captain.”

“I’m not analyzing your capabilities,” he shot back, leaning forward. “I’m analyzing your pathetic physical constitution. You look like you’re going to suffer a medical collapse if you sprint ten yards.”

“I simply haven’t undergone systematic military conditioning!”

“Is that your excuse? It’s been five brutal years since the global outbreak triggered,” Ling Lang countered lazily, his voice thick with arrogance. “What exactly have you been doing with your time while the world was burning? Every survivor out here was frantically trying to elevate their combat tier or construct a fortified stronghold. What was your primary focus?”

“I was entirely consumed by my professional studies,” she stated primly, referencing her past life as an actress mastering her craft.

“What massive, world-saving research project could you possibly be studying?”

Pei Xiqing raised her chin. “None of your business.”

“Hmph. I didn’t care to know anyway.”

“Your face is literally radiating unadulterated curiosity,” Pei Xiqing exposed him ruthlessly, pointing a finger at his twitching brow.

Ling Lang’s cheeks instantly burned hot. Thank God the flickering shadows of the campfire masked the sudden rush of blood to his face. He forced his posture rigid, growling stubbornly, “That is structurally impossible!”

As the two of them continued to bicker relentlessly across the flames, Long Yan shook her head, turning to the operatives sitting beside her. “Look at them. Are we sure we didn’t accidentally recruit two elementary school children into a special ops unit?”

Fu Feng chuckhed, stirring his soup. “Well, since the entire global education system was vaporized five years ago, their regression to absolute childishness is historically accurate.”

Long Yan tapped her chin, a calculating gleam in her eye. “Don’t you think they look bizarrely well-matched?”

Nie Bin crackled a handful of roasted seeds, his expression dead serious. “You know… now that you mention it, the physical symmetry is definitely there.”

Long Yan nodded in absolute agreement. “Exactly my thought.”

Following dinner, Pei Xiqing and Long Yan huddled beneath a heavy canvas lean-to near the vehicles’ salvage pile. Just as Pei Xiqing gathered her courage to quietly probe her about the dark green energy she had manifested earlier, a sudden, violent commotion shattered the quiet perimeter outside the town gates.

Long Yan’s survival instincts flared instantly. She snapped upright, her hand locking onto her assault rifle. “We have contact. I’m moving to intercept.”

Pei Xiqing scrambled up right behind her, grabbing a heavy iron entrenching shovel from the gear pile and sprinting out into the freezing night air.

At the edge of the perimeter, several heavily bruised ability users were fleeing toward the camp lights in a state of total panic. They were stumbling over the rubble, violently pointing back toward the dark highway. “Horde… a localized swarm…! The Captain and the rest of the vanguard… Jesus, help us! Please, dispatch your operatives to extract our Captain and Vice-Captain! They’re completely pinned down in the structural bottleneck, they’re—cough!“

The lead scout violently spewed a mouthful of dark, visceral blood before his eyes rolled back, his body collapsing heavily onto the gravel.

Long Yan dropped to her knees beside him, her fingers pressing into his carotid artery to run a rapid diagnostic. “The host isn’t carrying the viral infection. This isn’t a mutation. This is a severe neural hemorrhage triggered by a total elemental backlash. His core completely fractured from exhausting his superpower.”

Ling Lang crouched down on the opposite side, his eyes locking onto the distinct, high-density tactical insignias scorched into the fabric of their shredded combat uniforms. “Team S1?”

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