With a cold face, Chi Ying silently watched the metal passage beneath her feet begin to deform and twist. Her hands, however, didn’t stop moving.
“Chi Ying…”
A woman’s voice suddenly echoed from the left.
It was Song Shi.
Chi Ying lifted her eyes but didn’t respond—pretending she hadn’t heard.
Boom!
The metal door swelled and bulged upward.
After a few seconds of silence, the voice grew louder. “Chi Ying! It’s me!”
Only then did Chi Ying withdraw her hand and turn around, feigning surprise.
“Ah!” she murmured flatly, “Is that Song Shi?”
From around the corner, a figure emerged. It was indeed Song Shi—and just as Gu Chi had described the day before, there was a strange, black coil-like object wrapped around her head.
“It’s me,” the figure confirmed.
Chi Ying narrowed her eyes slightly. “Why are you here?”
Song Shi didn’t answer, only stepped forward slowly. When she was less than half a meter away, she suddenly reached out toward Chi Ying.
Chi Ying tilted her head, easily dodging her hand. “I’m in the middle of something.”
Without another word, she turned and used her powers to fling the broken metal door aside.
“Song Shi” stood frozen for a moment, then blurted out, “Wait—you’re not even going to ask me why I’m here?”
She just… kept doing her thing?
“Oh, well. As long as you’re safe,” Chi Ying said without turning around.
“Song Shi” narrowed her eyes.
She couldn’t let this go on.
Stealthily, she moved forward and reached toward the back of Chi Ying’s neck.
Chi Ying’s ears caught the subtle shift in footsteps behind her—like a predator creeping toward its prey.
She didn’t turn around, letting the hand clamp down on her neck.
Pain bit into her skin—two sharp streaks of heat traced over her nape, leaving bloody trails.
Finally, Chi Ying turned her head and calmly looked “Song Shi” in the eye. “Why are you trying to catch me?”
“Song Shi’s” expression shifted into a twisted, eerie smile—completely out of character.
Chi Ying wrinkled her nose. “Song Shi doesn’t smile like that. You look ugly.”
Even if this thing was the zombie leader, if it wanted to impersonate someone, it should at least bother to maintain the persona.
Song Shi, who valued her image, would never wear such a grotesque expression.
“…!”
Though only a zombie now, the creature felt inexplicably offended.
It didn’t immediately register what was wrong with Chi Ying’s words—just that she was staring intently at it.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” it asked nervously.
Chi Ying tilted her head and raised a hand, gently stroking its slender neck—thumb pressing lightly into the skin, as if weighing the idea of severing it.
“Song Shi” shuddered.
This woman… this terrifying woman… it had seen her slice off the heads of other zombie leaders without hesitation.
Chi Ying’s eyes stayed locked on it for a moment, then she slowly withdrew her hand and gave a faint smile.
“Nothing.”
Forget it. Once she finished dealing with this experimental base, she could take care of this creature in Song Shi’s skin.
“Song Shi” stiffened.
There was no fear or confusion in the girl’s expression. Only quiet patience.
Click. Bang.
Suddenly, the metal beneath their feet shifted. Chi Ying glanced down, then casually stepped aside.
A drawn-out “click-click-click” echoed, like a stuck door trying to open.
“Song Shi” looked at the twisted door, falling silent.
Those two men inside… were they stuck?
Thankfully, after a few loud bangs, the passage finally burst open.
Two men emerged, one after the other.
“Whew… Luckily, the door still works,” said the first one. He had a gentle-looking face and wore glasses, but the cold gleam in his eyes made Chi Ying feel sick.
He smiled at her as though admiring a rare specimen. “What a powerful ability user. Seems the professor has found another high-quality experimental subject.”
Chi Ying ignored him.
She didn’t know the man, but the arrogant figure behind him was familiar—Ye Wuhan.
“Wuhan, she’s all yours,” the man in glasses said.
Chi Ying quietly gathered her powers. She still needed to be captured and taken in to find the others, so she didn’t intend to resist too much.
“I advise you not to resist. Mr. Ye is a level-nine ability user now,” the man added meaningfully.
Chi Ying: “…Wow.”
She tilted her head, voice dry with sarcasm. “What shortcut did you take?”
Ye Wuhan’s smug face froze.
Her tone was too calm.
Once a person reached the higher levels of supernatural ability, advancement became incredibly difficult.
Ye Wuhan’s talent had always been average, and with Yun Ling holed up at headquarters, there was no way he could have had access to a spiritual spring.
And in the original story, Ye Wuhan only reached level eight.
“You’re calm,” the man with glasses observed.
“If you knew what those wounds on your neck meant,” he said, gaze dropping to her nape, “you might not be so composed…”
But his words trailed off.
The twin scratches on the back of her neck were already healing rapidly—almost entirely gone.
“She has healing abilities?” he asked, glancing at “Song Shi.”
“That’s not in this body’s memory,” “Song Shi” said with a frown.
Ye Wuhan cut them off, scowling. “Enough talk. Just take her back. She might be even more valuable than that Gu Chi.”
He raised his hand and summoned wood-type abilities.
Vines burst from the ground, weaving around Chi Ying and forming a dense cage.
“Song Shi” and the man in glasses quickly stepped aside to avoid being caught in the blast.
Chi Ying dodged a few tendrils, then let the vines wrap around her.
Just then, the pendant on her chest—the spiritual spring space—shivered faintly.
Chi Ying’s expression shifted.
That must be Yun Ling trying to come out to help.
She lowered her voice. “Yun Ling, don’t come out.”
The pendant stilled.
“I know you’re in there,” she added mercilessly.
Inside the space, Yun Ling froze in shock.
She—how did she know?!
The pendant fell completely silent.
Satisfied, Chi Ying relaxed.
Inside the vine cage, nothing moved.
Ye Wuhan smirked. Too easy.
“Alright, done. Go cuff her and bring her back,” he said impatiently, pointing to the man who’d been hiding in the back.
The man with glasses stared coldly at Ye Wuhan.
Who did this guy think he was? The only person he took orders from was the professor.
If it weren’t for the professor handing over his own level-seven ability to this idiot, Ye Wuhan would still be nothing.
Feeding him so many supernatural cores—anyone could hit level nine with that much help.
Still, he hid his disgust and stepped forward, pulling a pair of metal cuffs from his belt and snapping them on Chi Ying.
If that man Gu Chi, or this woman, were willing to replace Ye Wuhan, he’d drop this idiot in a heartbeat.
The group led her back into the underground base, the heavy metal doors sealing behind them.
Far in the distance, Lu Yunfei crouched behind a corner, communicator raised.
“Exploration team member Lu Yunfei. Emergency report.”
Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1