Lu Yunfei pulled a knife from his inner pocket and cleanly severed the head of the nearest zombie.
The others stepped forward, dealing swiftly with the frozen ones.
Halfway through his sweep, Gu Chi paused. He suddenly remembered the overly soft-hearted Chi Ying standing behind him. Last time, she cried just watching zombies get killed—now they were knee-deep in this bloody mess. Wouldn’t it be too much for her?
He turned toward her. “You…”
Can stay away, he wanted to say.
But the words caught in his throat.
Chi Ying was standing nearby, holding up a zombie’s head and staring intently into its eyes.
Gu Chi was momentarily speechless.
When he looked down again, he spotted a headless zombie—its severed neck uneven and rough. From the looks of it, the head had been ripped off by hand.
And the girl holding it was clearly the culprit.
Gu Chi: “…”
He turned back silently and resumed chopping zombies like he was slicing vegetables. But after only two more kills, he couldn’t help himself. He glanced over at Chi Ying again.
She was shaking the severed head up and down.
Slap.
An unidentified, red-ice-covered object dropped from the head’s neck.
Chi Ying immediately crouched down, clamped the head under one arm, and picked up the fallen item with the other. With no trace of hesitation, she wiped off the bloodstained ice with her fingers, revealing a scarlet crystal nucleus underneath.
She held it up to the light, studying it with calm fascination.
Under the light, the crystal’s interior shimmered like a jewel. Before the outbreak, no one would’ve imagined that something so beautiful could be found inside something so foul.
As she lowered her hand, she sensed someone watching her. She turned to find Gu Chi staring.
“…”
What?
Gu Chi quickly looked away, clearing his throat.
Deep breath. Nothing surprising.
He clenched his jaw, looked again—and nearly lost it.
The harmless-looking girl was trying to reattach the zombie’s head to its body. Because she’d torn it off by hand and then shaken it vigorously, the neck was uneven, and now the head was perched at an odd angle—tilted back, nearly facing the ceiling.
Then she reached into her pocket, pulled out a car-cut metal cross, and gently placed it between the zombie’s eyebrows.
She clasped her hands into a circle, closed her eyes, and prayed.
Under the light, her delicate face glowed softly. Her long lashes fell like feathers, her expression serene and beautiful—she looked like a saint descended from heaven.
Anyone seeing this scene would believe, without a doubt, that the girl was an angel sent to bless the dead.
Anyone—except Gu Chi, who had witnessed the whole grotesque process.
“…”
Cracks formed in his stoic expression. He quickly turned his head.
One more second of that, and he felt like he might lose his mind.
“Captain, the area’s clear.”
“Same here.”
Gu Chi nodded. “Thanks for your work.”
“We need to adjust our mission. First, send Professor Lin and the student back to Alliance Headquarters.”
No one objected.
“Let’s regroup first. Then wait for me in the car.”
After the others left, Gu Chi gave the lab a final sweep to ensure nothing was overlooked.
Just before walking away, he glanced once more at the zombie Chi Ying had “blessed.”
As if on cue, the metal cross wobbled and slid from its green forehead to the floor.
“…”
Gu Chi picked it up, placed it back reverently, and turned away.
Amitabha.
Two days later.
Since their return route passed by a C-class safe zone, Gu Chi honored his earlier promise and dropped Chi Ying off there.
Fewer than forty people lived in the zone—mostly men. There were only ten or so women, two of whom had children.
Most residents barely reacted to Gu Chi’s team, continuing their routines with indifference. Only a few muscular men stole glances at them.
The team planned to stay one night. They hadn’t rested properly since the lab incident, and this brief reprieve was welcome.
Lu Yunfei, however, looked uneasy as he glanced at Chi Ying.
“If only you had powers,” he muttered. “Then you could’ve stayed with us…”
Even a minor ability would’ve been enough—for protection, if nothing else. At the very least, she could be a sort of mascot.
Chi Ying held the supplies they’d given her and forced a smile, her mind clearly elsewhere.
She was watching a group of women huddled in the farthest corner of the compound. Emaciated, bruised, and ragged. Two of them clutched small children.
There was no conversation—only silence. One mother gently rocked a swaddled infant, her bony hands trembling.
Suddenly, a hoarse male voice cut through the air.
“Hey! Where’d you come from?”
Lu Yunfei raised a brow. “You need something?”
“Heh… outsiders must’ve brought supplies. Hand ’em over.”
“Oh?” Lu Yunfei smiled faintly. “Why?”
“Why? ‘Cause Grandpa’s got fists!”
The man approached. One of the women warned softly, “Be careful. He has a knife.”
Her words earned her a cold, warning glare from one of his accomplices. She shrank back, silent.
Lu Yunfei drawled, “Oh… a knife.”
The man grinned. “Give it up, and maybe we’ll let you live comfortably.”
Then his eyes landed on Chi Ying, and he froze.
A woman—no, a stunning one. Even before the apocalypse, she’d be out of reach for most.
His companions urged him on, but the man hesitated. He was already imagining her as his. But he also didn’t want to share.
“Hey!” Lu Yunfei barked, catching his wandering gaze.
The man snarled, “You’ve got a death wish!”
He launched a punch.
Lu Yunfei sidestepped easily, caught the man’s fist midair, and twisted—dislocating his arm in one smooth motion.
“AHHH—!”
The man tried to draw a knife with his good arm, but Lu Yunfei snorted and kicked him hard in the chest. He crumpled to the ground, unmoving.
“That’s it?”
Lu Yunfei glanced at the others. “Anyone else?”
One flinched forward but was stopped by another. “He’s strong—and not alone. We’ll lose.”
The group backed down.
Lu Yunfei returned to his seat, frowning. The idea of Chi Ying staying in a place like this didn’t sit right with him.
“Brother Gu…”
“Mm?”
“…Never mind.”
He swallowed his words. Life in the apocalypse was cruel. Gu Chi already bore so much—he couldn’t afford another liability. Even if Chi Ying stayed, she might at least survive.
Gu Chi gave a distracted nod. His mind was elsewhere too.
It wasn’t the fight that troubled him—but Chi Ying.
Since arriving, her eyes had been fixed on the thin, desperate women. Her expression made him uneasy.
She looked… shocked. As if seeing the cruelty of the world for the first time.
Then, she moved.
Chi Ying approached the women. They barely noticed her. Their faces were blank, hollow.
“Are you… hungry?” she asked softly.
One woman with a child looked up and nodded.
Chi Ying placed the supplies on the ground. “It’s all for you.”
For a moment, no one moved.
Finally, the mother reached for a bottle of water and a packet of biscuits. Hands trembling, she broke the biscuits into pieces and fed them to her child.
Then another woman stepped forward. Then another. More and more followed, grabbing food in desperation, stuffing it into their mouths as if it might vanish.
[Holy Mother Value +10. Points +1000.]
[Holy Mother Value +5. Points +500.]
The system’s electronic voice echoed repeatedly, but Chi Ying didn’t react. She stared at the empty ground, the paper wrappers scattered across it, and said nothing for a long time.
Loveguy On CFRFGC Chapter 7