The Villainous Female Side Character Pretends to Be an Omega in the Apocalypse and Raises a Cat - Chapter 17

“Bang, bang, bang!”

Urgent knocking interrupted Chi Yingdong’s train of thought.

She set down her bowl and chopsticks, quickly making her way to the door.

Standing outside was Xu Luo, but her current state was clearly off.

Her face was as pale as paper, and her sleeve was stained with suspicious brown bloodstains, starkly visible against the light-colored fabric.

“You’re hurt,” Chi Yingdong frowned slightly. “What happened?”

At the question, Xu Luo’s expression darkened. Her thin lips pressed into a tight line as she replied in a low voice, “When I was heading back, a group of people were waiting at the 19th-floor stairwell.”

Hearing this, Chi Yingdong’s expression immediately turned grave. This was something that hadn’t happened in her previous life.

“When I walked past them, they ignored me. I thought they weren’t targeting me,” Xu Luo said, her words speeding up. “But as soon as I opened my door, they surrounded me.”

Chi Yingdong instantly understood, these people were after her.

“What did they ask you?” she inquired while mentally running through who it could be.

Xu Luo’s voice tightened. “They asked me where the original homeowner went. I told them I didn’t know, that I’m renting this place.”

Chi Yingdong glanced quickly at Xu Luo, her brow furrowed in thought. “What did they look like?”

“They were all wearing black masks, so I couldn’t see their faces,” Xu Luo paused before adding, “But the woman at the back had a scar under her eye.”

Though this person stood at the rear, seemingly inconspicuous, Xu Luo had encountered enough people to recognize from the woman’s aura alone that she was no ordinary individual, and she had noted her distinguishing feature.

“A scar under the eye…” Chi Yingdong murmured softly, rapidly sifting through related information in her mind.

She had lived in this complex for several years and had never seen anyone with such a mark. Ordinarily, aside from necessary interactions with security, she hardly associated with anyone, let alone made enemies.

Chi Yingdong connected this to the person who had tagged her in the residents’ group chat.

If it was the same individual, then that person must be a homeowner in this complex.

“Did they hurt you?” Chi Yingdong’s gaze fell on the bloodstained sleeve.

Following her line of sight, Xu Luo looked at her own sleeve, first nodding, then shaking her head.

“They didn’t believe me and insisted on searching the apartment,” Xu Luo’s voice carried a note of humiliation. “I blocked them from entering. The woman leading them might also be an ability user.”

Xu Luo swallowed hard. “She just pushed me, and I flew backward, crashing into the glass.”

Being thrown so easily by a mere push was embarrassing to admit.

So many days into the apocalypse, she showed no signs of awakening any abilities. In this lifetime, it seemed she would remain an ordinary person.

Yet, in her first encounter with an ability user, she had keenly felt the gap between ordinary people and those with powers.

With no end in sight for the apocalypse, she feared she wouldn’t be able to protect her wife and daughter.

After a moment of silence, Chi Yingdong suddenly said, “In a while, when the zombies evolve, crystal cores will appear in their brains. Some people can use these cores to awaken abilities.”

She met Xu Luo’s gaze directly. “I can help you.”

Xu Luo’s eyes instantly lit up, looking at Chi Yingdong with surprise. “Really? Is that possible?”

If she had supernatural abilities, her family of three’s survival rate in the apocalypse would increase significantly.

But the light in her eyes quickly dimmed again.

Xu Luo asked, “There are risks, right?”

“Yes,” Chi Yingdong replied. “Using crystal cores to awaken supernatural abilities has a fifty percent chance of failure. You can think about it.”

Xu Luo’s hope diminished somewhat as she hesitated and asked, “What happens if it fails?”

If failure merely meant not awakening any abilities, she would be willing to take the gamble. But if failure meant turning into…

Chi Yingdong’s gaze swept quickly over Xu Luo, mercilessly shattering her illusions. “Turning into a zombie.”

Xu Luo’s body visibly stiffened.

With a fifty percent chance of becoming a zombie, could she still take that risk?

She had a wife and a daughter. She was the pillar of her family.

This was a bet she didn’t dare make.

But if she didn’t take it, the memory of being thrown aside by supernatural ability users was still fresh in her mind.

As an ordinary person, how long could she protect her wife and daughter?

Xu Luo said with difficulty, “Give me some time. I need to think it over.”

Chi Yingdong nodded in agreement. “Come find me anytime you need.”

There was still some time before the zombies evolved, so Xu Luo could consider it slowly during this period.

Chi Yingdong had no intention of telling Xu Luo that she had a way to help her avoid the risk of turning into a zombie.

In the apocalypse, without determination, one couldn’t survive long. She didn’t want to carry dead weight.

Allowing them to live on the 19th floor was entirely for Xu Chu Luo’s sake.

Only then did Xu Luo remember her original purpose. Her eyes swept over the dining table in the room, only to see her daughter eating.

Shocked, her already pale face turned even whiter. Xu Luo hurriedly apologized, “I came up late and disturbed your meal.”

Three days ago, Xu Luo wouldn’t have restricted her daughter from eating at someone else’s house. She could have returned the favor later or sent gifts.

But times were different now. Food was too precious, every grain of rice especially valuable.

This morning, unable to find Chi Yingdong, she had gone out first to search for food.

She went to the residential convenience store, but it was flooded. Only the items on the top shelves remained intact.

She brought everything back, but the quantity was small, not even enough to last her family of three for a week.

Under her mother’s gaze, Xu Chu Yao immediately sprang up from the chair like a guilty fawn and hurried toward the door.

Chi Yingdong explained, “I invited her to stay for a meal.”

Seeing the timid look in her daughter’s eyes, Xu Luo couldn’t bring herself to scold her.

Chi Yingdong opened the door wider and slightly turned aside. “Would you like to come in and have something to eat too?”

“No, no,” Xu Luo quickly waved her hand in refusal. “I ate earlier and I’m not hungry.”

Chi Yingdong didn’t press further and looked at Xu Chu Yao.

Xu Chu Yao glanced reluctantly at the dining table but obediently took Xu Luo’s hand. “Sister, I’m going home now. I’ll come back another time to play with the cat.”

Chi Yingdong lifted her eyes and subtly glanced toward the stairwell. “I can’t finish all this food by myself. Let Xu Chu Yao stay and help me with some. I’ll bring her down later.”

Xu Luo felt embarrassed and wanted to refuse, but then she remembered the outcome of her previous refusal and ultimately agreed.

After the meal, Xu Chu Yao helped clear the table. The little girl stood on her tiptoes, neatly stacking the dishes and utensils into the dishwasher.

Chi Yingdong pressed the start button, and the dishwasher emitted a soft hum.

“Let’s go, we’re heading downstairs.” Chi Yingdong held the kitten in one arm while using her other hand to firmly close the door, leading Xu Chuyao toward the fire escape.

The power was out in the residential complex, and the motion-sensor lights in the stairwell no longer illuminated with their footsteps. Considering the child, Chi Yingdong quietly retrieved a flashlight from her spatial storage and handed it to Xu Chuyao.

Xu Chuyao took the flashlight, its beam cutting through the darkness to light their path ahead.

Chi Yingdong’s fingers unconsciously stroked the kitten’s soft fur.

There were people in the complex who harbored ill intentions toward her.

Though unafraid, the thought of hidden eyes constantly watching, with those individuals occasionally causing trouble, was genuinely irritating.

She had initially expected it would take some effort to uncover these people, but surprisingly, they couldn’t contain themselves.

Chi Yingdong reached the 20th floor via the fire escape.

Her gaze fell to the ground, and Meng Qinghe followed suit, looking down.

With elevators available for going up and down, the emergency stairs were rarely used, so much so that even the property management neglected cleaning the fire escape.

Each step was originally coated in a thick layer of dust, leaving a clear footprint with every step.

Now, the steps were marked with chaotic footprints, the freshest ones still damp with moisture.

“Help! Somebody help!!”

A desperate, heart-wrenching scream suddenly echoed from behind the fire door.

Chi Yingdong paused mid-step, turned, and pushed open the heavy fire door.

The seldom-used door emitted a piercing screech from its hinges as it swung open.

No sooner had the door opened than the zombie, which had been frantically chasing a living person, immediately turned toward the sound and rushed at them.

Chi Yingdong instantly activated her ability, a cold glint flashing at her fingertips.

Meng Qinghe only saw a blur before the zombie collapsed with a heavy thud, a small, bloody hole now visible in its forehead.

The rescued girl stood frozen in place, her mind in a daze.

Her eyes fixed intently on the zombie’s corpse, she then stumbled backward.

The girl appeared quite young, wearing the uniform of the local middle school known for its strong teaching staff.

As she approached the zombie’s body, her knees seemed to give way abruptly, hitting the cold floor tiles with a heavy thud.

Tears carved two distinct trails through the grime on her face. Trembling, she reached out a hand, only to pull it back sharply as if shocked, just before touching the zombie.

Suppressed sobs reverberated in the stairwell, reminiscent of a wounded animal’s whimper.

The girl’s behavior made it clear at a glance that she had a deep connection with this zombie.

However, Chi Yingdong had witnessed too many similar scenes in her previous life to feel anything but numb.

Moreover, this display of “mother-daughter affection” was clearly a trap meticulously set for her.

The girl wept softly.

Chi Yingdong turned away indifferently, gently patting the kitten’s back to soothe it.

Xu Chuyao’s face had turned pale as she fought back the nausea rising in her stomach.

She stole sidelong glances at the kneeling, sobbing girl, her small brow furrowed tightly.

Though the girl’s cries were heart-wrenching, her trembling hands never dared to touch the “mother” so close by.

Xu Chuyao couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something indescribably odd about the scene.

If it were her mother lying there…

She pondered what she would do, she would definitely cling tightly to her mother, unable to bear letting her go.

The moment this thought surfaced, Xu Chuyao shook her head in a panic.

Xu Chuyao: “No, no, no.”

Her mother would never turn into a monster!

Xu Chuyao spat three times in succession, as if doing so would nullify such an ill-omened remark.

She finally understood the problem, why the girl had been afraid to touch her own mother.

Xu Chuyao quickened her steps to catch up with Chi Yingdong.

Meng Qinghe, perched on Chi Yingdong’s shoulder, observed from her vantage point.

She saw the girl, who had been crying her heart out moments before, rise silently and follow them as soon as they began to leave.

Meng Qinghe’s ears twitched alertly, tracking the girl’s every move as she debated whether to tell Chi Yingdong they were being followed.

But soon, Meng Qinghe relaxed again.

She recalled the time she had hidden behind the curtains, intending to startle Chi Yingdong.

Back then, she had believed her hiding spot was perfectly concealed, certain Chi Yingdong would never find her.

Yet Chi Yingdong had still managed to pinpoint her location without a hint of hesitation.

Chi Yingdong didn’t need her warning.