107

Just as Ye Yin’s fingertips were about to tear into the Zombie King’s face, the sluggish creature suddenly gave an eerie smile. Its body seemed to have been switched to fast-forward mode. In an unexpected move, it struck at the part of Ye Yin’s body left undefended in that instant, piercing straight through her heart.

The world seemed to suffer a blackout.

Scalding blood gushed from Ye Yin’s mouth, her eye sockets, and the hole blasted through her chest, dripping onto the pristine snow. She clung feebly to the Zombie King’s arm, head bowed and eyes wide, yet she could not make out the color of her own blood. To her, heaven and earth had become nothing but black and white.

She was not yet a High Witch and therefore had not reached the immortal state of life. Once her physical body suffered a devastating injury, if she was not treated in time, she would die just like anyone else. Perhaps, somewhere in her subconscious, she had assumed that zombies were mindless creatures and overlooked the fact that they could employ highly intelligent tactics in battle. Or perhaps she had been too desperate to bring the apocalypse to an end, and the inexplicable murderous aura had disrupted her mind, giving the creature an opening at the final moment. She had failed to kill the zombie and been slaughtered instead, her efforts ending in ruin.

Although she had planted her life-bound puppet beforehand, Ye Yin felt no real sense of security. Quite apart from whether the Zombie King might destroy everything in the surrounding area, even if nothing went wrong and she successfully “revived” through the puppet, she would be no more than a living corpse. Other than not eating humans, she would be little different from a zombie. Worst of all, if she could only possess the puppet from then on, all the years she had spent painstakingly cultivating her Earth Witch body and Five Elements abilities would have been wasted!

With the two great trump cards of the apocalyptic cold wave in her hands, the Hope Base, which had survived only under her protection, was bound to become a target sooner or later. Once Hope Base became the focus of everyone’s hostility, how difficult would it be for her and her friends and family to retreat unscathed after losing their strength?

“You’re very strong. You must be a king as well,” the Zombie King said. “But I’m stronger than you.”

With that, he struck Ye Yin viciously in the head.

Just as Ye Yin closed her eyes in despair, the expected scene of her skull being smashed never came.

After several seconds of silence, Ye Yin opened her eyes in astonishment. The Zombie King had actually withdrawn the arm still lodged inside her and was fleeing westward for his life. Deprived of his support, she collapsed heavily to the ground.

She wanted to sit up and see what had happened, but her severely blood-depleted body no longer obeyed her. After struggling for a long while, Ye Yin finally managed to turn her head. Through blurred vision, she barely saw a vast mass of black clouds gathering above the fleeing Zombie King. Then a shrill, piercing scream rang out.

Who was that expert? Was the Zombie King dead?

Yet Ye Yin understood that she would never live to learn the answer. She smiled faintly, slowly closed her eyes, and sank into boundless darkness.

In that place where she could not see her own hand before her face, Ye Yin’s body drifted weightlessly, rising and falling from time to time. She did not know whether she was dead or still alive. All she knew was that she could not wake up. In a haze, she felt as if something had caught hold of the collar at the back of her clothes. Her entire body gradually lifted into the air, then began moving rapidly. How should she put it? It felt rather like her soul was flying toward heaven...

The bitter wind scraped across the half-congealed blood on her face. More fresh blood came choking up along the way.

Her corpse must look terribly gruesome, she thought.

This was a textbook bad-ending scene. Ye Yin was unwilling to accept it, but she had resigned herself to the outcome. However, the god of transmigration had always been impossible to fathom. He had no intention of sending Ye Yin back to the toilet in her apartment just yet.

And so the story had to continue.

For quite some time afterward, Ye Yin remained dazed. Sometimes she felt as though she were being burned by fire; at other times, she was frozen in ice. No matter how hard she tried, she could not open her eyelids. All she could hear were various familiar and unfamiliar voices.

“Sister-in-law, you’ve been asleep for so long. When are you going to wake up? Forget me—the boss simply can’t bear to watch you die a second time...”

...

“What about that crystal core? How could you ignore something so important?”

...

“Captain, stop coming to see her all the time. Focus on your missions. We’re taking care of her.”

...

“It’s been so many days. With injuries that serious, she isn’t going to wake up again. Why are you deceiving yourself?”

...

So noisy.

The voices made Ye Yin restless and irritated, yet she had no strength to stop them. There was only one person whose voice was warm enough to soothe her every time she heard it.

“Hasn’t she woken up yet?”

“No. She seems uncomfortable. Her complexion is awful.”

In the haze, a large hand gently stroked her cheek. The indescribable care and tenderness in the gesture made it seem as though he were touching the most precious treasure in the world. His fingers were long and slender, and a thin layer of calluses covered his palm and fingertips. The sensation made Ye Yin feel faintly ticklish, yet strangely comforted.

“Boss, the commander wants you.”

“Mm. Keep a good eye on her.”

By then, Ye Yin’s consciousness had almost fully returned. After her body received the synchronized command from her mind, it began repairing itself at full speed, rapidly rebuilding and rejoining its shattered tissues. Until the gaping wound in her chest had completely healed, Ye Yin maintained the pretense of sleep, keeping her eyes tightly shut while listening keenly to every movement around her.

There was a crackling sound... It was probably a fire. Feng Ying seemed to be cooking something over it, accompanied now and then by the clatter of pots, bowls, and pans. Who would have thought? In private, this fellow was quite the househusband.

The sound of a curtain being lifted came from nearby. Someone seemed to have entered.

“Why are you here?”

“It’s your shift today. Don’t even think about slacking off.” The newcomer laughed heartily. “I’ll take over for you here.”

“Oh...” Feng Ying sounded reluctant to leave, but he and Zhuo Chenglan had already taken too many days off, and he felt somewhat guilty. He could only say, “Be careful. If anything happens, the captain will tear you apart.”

“As if I need you to tell me. Go on, go on.”

After Feng Ying left, the man sat down on the ground in front of Ye Yin. From the sound of it, he struck a match and lit a cigarette. Before long, the pungent smell of tobacco drifted beneath Ye Yin’s nose, making her uncomfortable.

“No wonder the captain thinks about her every day. She really is a breathtaking beauty.” The man gave a lecherous chuckle. “That foolish girl Huihui still doesn’t believe it. She says he isn’t the kind of man who only cares about appearances. Aren’t all men the same? If I were the captain, I’d choose you too, little beauty.”

Ye Yin’s lips twitched faintly.

Her heart had reached the final and most critical stage of regeneration, so she could not afford to drive this tiresome man away. She had no choice but to continue pretending to be dead.

“The captain really is stubborn. Wouldn’t it be better to have both of you? Huihui has been spoiled by all of us since she was little. She has the temperament of a princess, and this is the first time in her life she’s taken the initiative to pursue a man. She nearly risked her life to save him. How easy do you think that was? If he feels too embarrassed to say no, he can just make Huihui the primary wife and you the secondary one! In this day and age, it’s a joke for a capable man to have only one wife.”

“So, if you weren’t here, everything would be much simpler.”

The man’s voice suddenly dropped, carrying a faint murderous edge.

“Besides, staying alive like this is worse than death. Why don’t I make everyone happy? You can be reborn into a peaceful age and a decent family, while Huihui and the captain live happily ever after. What do you say?”

Who was Huihui?

Just as Ye Yin was clearly focusing on the wrong point, an enraged roar came from outside.

“You bastard! What the hell are you doing?!”

Feng Ying charged inside and kicked away the man who was preparing to use his ability on Ye Yin.

“Damn it! If I hadn’t remembered that I’d left something behind and come back for it, Sister-in-law would have died at your hands! Somebody help! There’s someone trying to kill Sister-in-law!”

The incident was far too explosive to remain secret. Before long, word had spread. Zhuo Chenglan and Commander Hua Shen arrived, followed by Zhe Hui and the others. The tent descended into chaos, while several layers of onlookers gathered outside.

After hearing Feng Ying recount what had happened, Zhuo Chenglan pulled Ye Yin tightly into his arms and stared coldly at the culprit.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“It was a misunderstanding, all of it!” The man looked terrified. “She was running a fever, so I wanted to use my ice ability to cool her down. That’s all. Why would I hurt such a beautiful girl? We have no grudge between us... As a man, I was only trying to show some consideration...”

Zhuo Chenglan was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly turned to Hua Shen, who had been watching the spectacle nearby.

“I request to leave the team.”

“What?”

“Feng Ying, pack our things. We’re leaving.”

“Yes, boss!”

“Wait, wait.” Hua Shen hurriedly stepped in front of them. In a grave and earnest tone, he said, “What’s gotten into you? Everything was going so well—why are you suddenly talking about leaving? Di Kang meant well but handled it badly. He wasn’t deliberately trying to harm your woman. Don’t take your anger out on the entire team. Besides, both you and she owe your lives to Zhe Hui. If you’re going to leave, shouldn’t you at least get her consent?”

“Commander,” Zhuo Chenglan said, “there are so many people in this team. Apart from the captain and vice-captain, how many of them can you actually call by name?”

Hua Shen’s expression changed.

“Some things only need to be said once,” Zhuo Chenglan continued. “What you’ve done has crossed my bottom line. So everything we discussed earlier is void.”

“Captain!” Seeing how terribly pale Zhe Hui had become, Di Kang immediately rushed forward and wrapped both arms around Zhuo Chenglan’s leg, pleading bitterly. “One person should answer for his own actions. I shouldn’t have let a donkey kick my brain and gone looking for trouble. This has nothing to do with anyone else—it was all because I’m an idiot. I deserve to die! Take your anger out on me. Beat me, curse me, even kill me if you want, but please don’t leave! If you go, the brothers of our Fifth Squad will be left without a leader. What will we do during the cleanup operations? And what about Huihui, who risked her life to save you? Weren’t you going to repay her?”

Hidden among the crowd, Zhe Hui bit her lip. Her entire body trembled, yet she still said nothing.

Seeing that the situation had been smoothed over, Hua Shen immediately put on a stern expression.

“Exactly. Don’t assume the worst of people. What did you mean just now by saying I knew his name? I know plenty of people’s names. That brat is always causing trouble, so it would be harder not to remember him. Besides, in weather this cold and snowy, your base is at least several hundred miles away. You may be strong enough to endure the journey, but what about this young woman?”

Zhuo Chenglan did not believe them. But it was also true that he had no way to contact his father for the time being, and Ye Yin had already suffered grave injuries...

“Don’t worry about me.”

Ye Yin opened her eyes in Zhuo Chenglan’s arms like a corpse suddenly come back to life.

“I’m already fine.”