The Zombie I Flirted With After Losing My Memory, Who Was Pretending to be an Alpha, Is Actually My Ex - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Lost

At the kitchen entrance, Teng Xi crouched by the peephole, gripping her Miaodao as she watched the outside, her breathing gradually slowing.

In the eyes of the others, Teng Xi had entered a mysterious state—remaining motionless in her scouting posture, with only the slight rise and fall of her chest proving she was still breathing. She seemed to merge entirely into her environment.

“Move!” After an unknown amount of time, Teng Xi suddenly threw open the door with a low shout. Her Miaodao swung out, the window’s light flashing silver across the blade; in an instant, head and body were separated.

The hideous head of a zombie flew through the air in a clean arc. Upon landing, it rolled with a wet thud to the feet of another zombie, its bulging eyeballs staring straight at Teng Xi’s group—enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

Xie Jinbing, bringing up the rear, gave the dazed Si Qinghan a nudge, signaling her to keep up.

Even the slightest movement, however, startled a zombie at the other end of the corridor. Its head twisted aimlessly, searching for the source of the sound, nostrils twitching as if catching the scent of the living. Within mere seconds, it was howling and charging toward them.

In those few seconds, the group had already used Xie Jinbing’s keycard to swipe open the opposite door. The zombie’s sharp claws only managed to scratch against the door as it slammed shut, producing an ear-piercing screech.

“Scratched all you want, I’m still not letting you in.” Inside, Teng Xi used a bedsheet to wipe the viscous liquid from her Miaodao before sheathed it.

This was the linen room, filled with various cotton textiles. It looked as though it had been converted from a standard ward, with windows at a normal height.

“That must be the entrance to the underground garage,” Yao Zhi said, walking to the window and pointing outside.

The others joined her. Fortunately, the situation was as Xie Jinbing had predicted: there were only a few scattered zombies wandering aimlessly outside the garage entrance.

However, an uncertain factor remained. This room was at the end of the corridor; it only had a window facing the garage. The other side was adjacent to the stairs—a solid wall that blocked their view of what lay around the building’s corner.

“Let’s use a rope to climb down. I’ll go first,” Yao Zhi said, pulling out a pile of bedsheets and deftly tying a clove hitch.

Teng Xi knit her brows, staring at Yao Zhi’s busy figure with an unreadable expression. Yao Zhi possessed an overly rational mind. She knew clearly that in this temporary team, Xie Jinbing and Teng Xi had the highest combat power. She had to find a way to make the two of them trust the three of them quickly, so she chose the most dangerous method.

By risking being the first to descend and scout, she was giving them her back. If she encountered a crisis and Teng Xi didn’t pull the rope to save her, she would surely be doomed.

And even if she were unlucky enough to be bitten, her death would ironically force the survivors closer together out of fear of the outside environment.

Teng Xi opened her mouth to speak, but someone was faster.

Xie Jinbing moved past the crowd, leaned over the windowsill to look down, then bent over to tighten the straps of her Crocs. With her hands bracing the ledge, she swung her long legs over.

In Teng Xi’s eyes, Xie Jinbing was like a fluttering butterfly, flying out against the sunlight. Her fiery-red wolf tail hair no longer sat obediently on her shoulder but trailed behind her, scattering golden sunlight. A small piece of bandage she had swiped from the room peeked out of her pocket, disappearing from everyone’s sight along with her white lab coat.

“Xie Jinbing!” Although they knew she wasn’t stupid enough to commit suicide, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.

The four rushed to the window.

Having jumped down, Xie Jinbing landed at a tricky angle onto a diagonal outdoor air conditioning unit. Her body seemed completely detached from gravity—silent. Now only about two meters from the ground, she leaped again, rolling upon landing to dissipate the force, and stood up unscathed.

“Holy crap… is she… is she even human?” Feng Sisi was so stunned she could barely speak.

“…Technically speaking, not exactly,” Si Qinghan’s lip twitched.

Having landed safely, Xie Jinbing looked around before giving the group a signal.

Safe.

The others tied the rope to a discarded steel bed frame in the corner and successfully descended to the ground.

Teng Xi, with her Miaodao, and Si Qinghan naturally took up the positions of vanguard and rearguard. The team moved quickly toward the underground garage.

As soon as they entered, the smell of gasoline mixed with mold in the damp air hit them. Teng Xi wrinkled her face in discomfort—a psychological revulsion.

Teng Xi led the way, holding her Miaodao with both hands. She effortlessly took down the one or two zombies they encountered, leaving Si Qinghan with no room to act. Xie Jinbing followed behind her, giving directions.

“By the way… didn’t we just walk past this path?” Si Qinghan pointed at the green glowing emergency exit sign above their heads.

Teng Xi: “I was just about to say—are we lost?”

She didn’t dare state outright that the person leading the way was lost.

However, the college student Feng Sisi, who had encountered zombies right as she entered society, was blunt: “Dr. Xie, are you lost?”

Feng Sisi had somehow scurried from the back of the line to Teng Xi’s side. After she finished speaking, she received a sharp rap on the head from Teng Xi.

Teng Xi: “What are you talking about? Dr. Xie is taking us on a tour of the local scenery to ease your nervous tension. Kids shouldn’t talk nonsense when they don’t understand.”

The whistling wind echoed through the empty basement, mixed with the howls of zombies, dropping the temperature of the already chilly early spring by several degrees.

Everyone stared collectively at Teng Xi, who was lying through her teeth. This environment couldn’t be further from “scenery.”

“What? Don’t go falling for me now; I’m phobic of marriage and child-rearing.”

Teng Xi’s narcissism was more goosebump-inducing than the cold environment, yet it miraculously dispelled the lingering dread in everyone’s hearts.

Xie Jinbing withdrew her gaze from the distance, her lips curving up unconsciously. Teng Xi had a kind of magic that could make her relax.

This time, everyone looked at their surroundings more carefully—except for that loafer Feng Sisi, who only slacked off when there were no zombies and rushed up to finish them off only when they appeared.

The slacking sycophant Feng Sisi: “Idol, that move just now was so cool! Can you teach me? QAQ”

The bullshitting Teng Xi: “Ancestral sword techniques aren’t shared with outsiders.”

“Ancestral sword techniques! No wonder you’re so amazing, Idol!”

The fooled Feng Sisi went quiet for a long time. Just as Teng Xi thought she would stop pestering her, she spoke again.

“Um, Idol, there’s something I want to say.”

Beside them, Si Qinghan couldn’t take it anymore: “Princess, just say what’s on your mind. Why the hesitation? You’re not trying to confess your love, are you?”

Xie Jinbing, walking behind them, paused for a fraction of a second before resuming her pace. However, her gaze was fixed intently on Feng Sisi’s scabbard, and then she looked down at her own Crocs.

“Eh?” Feng Sisi was nearly tripped by her own scabbard suddenly swiveling against her hip. She looked at Xie Jinbing, who had stumbled and accidentally hit the scabbard.

“Dr. Xie, how about I find you a pair of shoes from a zombie later? It’s not hygienic, but look, you almost fell just now.” The “clear stupidity” in Feng Sisi’s concerned gaze made Xie Jinbing feel a twinge of guilt for her petty trick.

Xie Jinbing adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose. Her beautiful peach-blossom eyes curved as she smiled at Feng Sisi and mouthed an apology.

“Dr. Xie, you’re so beautiful when you smile.” Feng Sisi admitted she was a bit dazed.

But she didn’t forget her purpose. She turned back to Teng Xi with a hesitant face, making Teng Xi extremely uncomfortable.

“Speak.”