Chapter 2 – Awakening
She didn’t even have time to scream. Shao Leyan fainted on the spot, her body tipping backward and collapsing straight into Le An’s arms.
Le An hurried to catch her while fumbling with the ability device to escape. In his panic, he pressed the wrong button.
A flash of white light swept past. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer with Shao Leyan.
Just like that, he had abandoned his host and escaped alone.
On the other side—
The unconscious Shao Leyan was being torn apart by zombies ravenous with hunger. There was not a single intact patch of flesh left on her body.
A pain even more unbearable than having her eyes gouged out or her heart ripped open surged through every nerve. Shao Leyan cried out and woke from the agony.
The moment she opened her eyes, three zombies were crouched over her, gnawing on her limbs, ripping her skin and flesh apart. She was covered in blood, and her chest and abdomen had been dug open so they could eat her organs more easily.
Not far away, a convoy of vehicles approached slowly—but none of the zombies reacted to attack them.
Old Li, using his farsight ability, clearly saw Shao Leyan’s miserable state and felt a wave of pity.
“Director, this girl is too pitiful… should we save her?”
Fu Xingyan withdrew his gaze and replied decisively, leaving no room for debate.
“We can’t save her.”
Old Li felt regret, but he understood the Director’s reasoning.
She’d already been bitten like that. Even if they rescued her, she would turn into a zombie. She would die in the end anyway.
Old Li sighed.
“Rather than getting taken back to the underground city for dissection, she might as well wander outside as a mindless zombie. At least that’s more carefree.”
Fu Xingyan chuckled and shoved Old Li hard.
“You saying that actually reminded me—she’s a ready-made experimental subject, isn’t she? Go ahead. I permit you to save her.”
“Don’t! Your experiments aren’t short of one low-level zombie. Look how pitiful she—”
Before he finished, he saw a tall, sharp-featured figure moving out of the corner of his eye. Old Li froze.
“Eh? Why did Lu Chuchen get out of the car?”
Fu Xingyan followed Old Li’s gaze.
With just a casual gesture from Lu Chuchen, the three well-fed zombies turned into ash in an instant.
As the weight on her body suddenly disappeared, Shao Leyan opened her tear-filled eyes.
A handsome man, appearing like a god descending from the heavens, was looking down at her. Surviving death itself made her feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude toward her savior.
She was just about to thank him when a sharp dagger sliced her throat cleanly in two. Blood sprayed, splattering all over her savior.
The man who had just rescued her from mortal danger had become the executioner who slit her throat.
They had no grudges. Why was he killing her?
Lu Chuchen wiped the blood from his dagger, his expression calm—so calm it was as if he hadn’t just murdered someone.
“No need to thank me. I’ll make sure you have an intact corpse and bury you properly.”
Shao Leyan was in agonizing pain, her life draining away rapidly. But strangely, she could hear Lu Chuchen’s words clearly. She could even see him crouch down, about to lift her up.
At that moment, a cold, unfamiliar male voice suddenly sounded out of nowhere.
“Lu Chuchen, if you keep wasting time on meaningless things, I’ll request Central City to assign someone else to accompany me for sample collection.”
Shao Leyan didn’t know where the voice came from, but thanks to this unseen speaker, she finally learned the name of the kind-hearted executioner.
Lu Chuchen.
Hearing the threat in Fu Xingyan’s tone, Lu Chuchen let his raised hands fall helplessly. He whispered a soft “Sorry” to Shao Leyan and left without looking back.
Leaving her half-dead and alone.
She had suffered fatal injuries, yet she still had a breath left.
Le An was nowhere to be seen, and even the seemingly kind Lu Chuchen had abandoned her.
Didn’t Le An say this world was an extremely sweet, fluffy romance?
How come she hadn’t even been here five minutes and she was already dying?
Shao Leyan stared blankly at the sky with no desire to live, lying there waiting for death.
Her blood attracted even more zombies, who began feasting on what little remained of her broken body.
As time dragged on, she actually grew accustomed to the ripping and tearing of flesh. She even found a strange sense of release in the numb pain.
She didn’t know how long had passed before the zombies, stuffed to satisfaction, simply walked away.
Shao Leyan blinked in confusion.
Did she not have any meat left for them to eat?
She tried wiggle her intact pinky finger—and froze in shock.
Her right hand, which had previously been stripped to bare bone, was now fully restored, smooth and white as if it had never been touched by zombies at all.
This bizarre bodily change was witnessed by a pair of bored, expressionless eyes.
“So you awakened a resurrection-type ability right before dying? How interesting.”
Shao Leyan felt her frayed nerves snap again. She looked toward the voice and saw a tall man with sickly pale skin standing just five steps away—yet she had no idea when he had appeared.
“You’re nearly healed already. Why are you still lying there?”
Shao Leyan pressed her lips together, too afraid to speak.
The man didn’t care if she responded. He continued talking to himself.
“What a pity. If you had successfully turned into a zombie, it would be perfect. A zombie with resurrection abilities… Central City and the Underground City idiots would lose their minds! Just imagining the chaos is thrilling.”
Shao Leyan felt a mix of fear and panic as a violent gust of wind blew against her face, forcing her eyes shut.
“My impressive young lady, I’ll allow you to know my name.”
Shao Leyan snapped, annoyed, “I don’t want to know it. Don’t tell me.”
“I’m Shi Huai,” the man said. “Your master.”
Shao Leyan glared at him fiercely.
“Are you insane?!”
Shi Huai ignored her insult. He grabbed her shoulder and lifted her like a chick.
“Come with me to Zombie City. I want to study the secrets of your ability.”
Before he could move, someone appeared within the eye of the windstorm.
Le An.
He looked at Shi Huai holding the back of Shao Leyan’s neck and felt awkward.
“Uh… could you please put my sister down? If you have something to say, you can talk to me.”
Shi Huai narrowed his eyes, examining the newcomer who had appeared out of thin air.
“You’re a space-type ability user?”
Le An swallowed nervously.
“Put my sister down first, then I’ll tell you what my ability is.”
Shi Huai snorted.
“No way. Your sister’s ability is far more interesting than yours.”
Le An had felt guilty for abandoning Shao Leyan to face zombies alone. But now that he heard she had awakened an ability, he suddenly felt it might have been a blessing in disguise.
“I don’t want to offend you, but that doesn’t mean I fear you. If you return my sister, we can even be friends.”
Shi Huai sneered.
“You? Fit to be my friend?”
Shao Leyan could only watch helplessly. She didn’t know what Le An had been doing in the ten minutes he’d disappeared, but compared to this unpredictable Shi Huai, she definitely preferred sticking with him.
“Shi Huai, don’t you want to know the secret behind my ability?”
Shi Huai tilted his head, eyeing her sideways.
“You’re willing to tell me?”
Shao Leyan nodded.
“I’m in a hurry to go home with my brother. If I tell you, you have to let us go.”
