Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 29

He had been pushed to the brink, cornered with nowhere to run. Clutching a dagger, he had barely escaped a swarming horde of zombies when he stumbled upon a small creature; a young zombie. It seemed to retain a sliver of consciousness, staring at him blankly. It didn’t attack; instead, it offered him a wild fruit it had kept safe.

For a time, he followed it, observing it day and night. Once, when he accidentally blundered into another pack of monsters, the small zombie had leaped from a building to save him. Its skin was crawling with those blood-red patterns, flowing through its veins like liquid fire. The surrounding zombies snarled, but they were wary, refusing to advance. The small zombie led him to safety.

It had treated him like a companion. As a zombie, it possessed a trace of awareness that made it unwilling to feast on raw flesh; as a human, it lacked the reason to fully function. Its skin was tinged green, its eyes a milky grey. It couldn’t go back to being human, but it refused to fully succumb to the rot. It was suspended between instinct and intellect, until it found him.

And he? He deceived it. He lured it into a cage, researching it day and night until he discovered its blood could grant him power. The energy was immense but volatile, requiring massive amounts of fresh blood to replenish. So he coaxed it with food and the occasional “company,” making it a willing blood bag.

Then one day, it died. It was too weak from blood loss to fight back, and because it still harbored a shred of human kindness, it hadn’t been on guard. Someone had killed it casually, like swatting a fly.

Staring at the charred, lifeless remains, the Commander recognized the elemental signature. There was only one person in the base with lightning that powerful and precise: Si Ruxu.

Logic told him he shouldn’t make an enemy of her; she was the base’s backbone. But logic had long since fled. He began frequenting the small cabin he used to despise, sitting in silence for entire nights beside the corpse he kept preserved with special technology.

He meticulously laid his traps, drawing the zombie tide to frame Si Ruxu, forcing her out while leaving her just enough of a path to survive—all while dragging her name through the mud with S-rank bounties.

Si Ruxu was supposed to die eventually, but she found a new companion: Si Qi.

Si Qi carried the same scent as that small zombie. Her red-patterned power was stronger, purer. He hungrily imagined what it would be like to keep Si Qi in a cage, using her blood to regain his god-like strength. But he had miscalculated. He had underestimated her, and she had drained him of nearly everything he had left.

The scarred man’s face twisted into a snarl. He saved the recording of the Purge to his bracelet and stood up, lighting a single candle. In the flickering, spectral light, he entered a secret passage. Deep within a hidden vault, he found the last remaining vial of green blood.

The liquid inside pulsed with red veins. He uncorked it, tilting his head back to swallow it whole. As the surge of power returned to his limbs, his eyes filled with a predatory, bloodthirsty gleam.

*****

Luo Fenghe kept his elite Awakened at the base, wary of what the Research Institute or the Commander might pull.

Si Qi felt she was being pampered. In Luo Fenghe’s base, she didn’t have to lift a finger for food or clothes. She spent her days wandering the fields, though she often had to teleport away when people started staring too much. Luo Fenghe often took her out for night walks to “experience the local culture,” but she knew the truth: he wanted her to see the beauty of the human world so she wouldn’t turn her back on them.

Completely unnecessary, she thought.

One day, she noticed people “covertly” reading newspapers while staring at her. She stared back and bared her teeth in a snarl. 

The next morning, the base’s news headline read: 

[SCOOP] Top Tier Elite & Universe’s Most Beautiful Si Qi Caught Making Cute “Grumpy Cat” Face! [Photo] [Photo]

Luo Fenghe nearly fell off the sofa laughing, clutching his stomach as tears ran down his face. “A cute ‘grumpy cat’ face! Hahaha! Oh, my stomach… Si Qi, come on, do it for me!”

Si Qi’s fingers curled. She realized then that the staring wasn’t malicious; they admired her.

After that, she started going out more. Someone would give her bread, another would give her milk or candy. She always left empty-handed and returned with a hoard of gifts. No one mocked her old, worn clothes.

She suddenly understood why Si Ruxu was so popular. This was the world Si Ruxu saw. No wonder she wanted to save it. She had received so much of its kindness. Si Ruxu had been the one to break the clouds in Si Qi’s grey sky years ago, and even though she had eventually left, she had given Si Qi a memory of a whole, vibrant youth.

*****

“There’s a base summit today,” Luo Fenghe said, snatching a candy Si Qi had brought home and popping it into his mouth. “All leaders are required to attend. The Institute will be there, too.”

Si Qi’s expression didn’t change, but her lips went pale.

“I don’t know what they’re planning, but I’m taking you with me,” Luo Fenghe added.

Si Qi wanted to say no, but she thought of Si Ruxu. If Si Ruxu was there, she wanted to see her. She nodded.

“We leave soon. The meeting is at your old base. Don’t worry, they won’t dare touch you now,” Luo Fenghe assured her.

Before leaving, Si Qi did something strange. She took all the snacks and gifts she had collected and distributed them to the elderly and the children of the base. She even spent her points on crystals to give to low-level Awakened. Finally, she brought the stray kitten she’d been feeding to Luo Fenghe’s house.

“Take good care of it,” she said with absolute seriousness.

Luo Fenghe looked at her. Her face was pale, but she looked more “alive” than when they first met. She looked beautiful and fragile, like a butterfly that had lost its way. He clapped her on the shoulder. “We’ll be back in a few hours. I’ve got your back.”

Si Qi nodded and walked out first. Her stride was determined, like someone who was finished with goodbyes.

*****

The armored car reached the headquarters in thirty minutes. It was the same grand hall, the same metallic walls. Si Qi entered the inner chamber, the one where she now realized Si Ruxu must have been watching her months ago.

Did she know I was being stared at like an animal back then?

Si Qi stood in a corner, her long lashes lowered. The room was silent as the leaders gathered. In the far corner, the scarred Commander scanned the room, his gaze lingering on Si Qi with a frown. She isn’t with Si Ruxu. Another variable.

The door opened again. Two women walked in—one bright, one cold, both wearing nearly identical light trench coats.

Across the room, Si Qi’s eyes met Si Ruxu’s. Her heart felt like it had been struck by a stone. Si Ruxu’s eyes were crinkled in a gentle, distant smile, as if saying “long time no see.”

Si Qi looked away, hiding behind Luo Fenghe. Luo Fenghe stepped forward to shield her, offering Si Ruxu a polite, neutral nod. Si Ruxu’s expression cooled instantly. She stared at the spot where Si Qi was hiding and thinned her lips.

“Why is everyone standing?” Si Luoheng asked with a light laugh, breaking the tension. “A base this grand, and you didn’t even prepare chairs for us?”

The Commander forced a smile and had chairs brought in. He watched the tension between Si Ruxu and Si Qi, feeling a wave of relief that they seemed to be at odds.

“I’ve called you here to discuss the second Purge,” the Commander said, stepping to the front and activating a screen. “As we know, only two people returned from the first. Only two returned from the second. And the only person to survive both is Si Qi.”

Every eye in the room turned to her. There was no hope in those gazes—only suspicion, fear, and the desperate need to find a scapegoat.

“So I have to ask,” the Commander said, his voice like a snake in the grass. “What kind of ‘ability’ do you have that allows you to escape twice while everyone else dies?”

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