The Zombie I Flirted With After Losing My Memory, Who Was Pretending to be an Alpha, Is Actually My Ex - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Use Your Brain

There were far too many zombies on the second floor. Teng Xi, gripping her Miaodao, hacked her way through with sheer effort only to reach the stairwell and find it clogged with a swarm. She was caught in a pincer attack.

Teng Xi frowned, her hands tightening around the hilt. Just as she was about to exert her strength and showcase her “mighty Alpha” side, Xie Jinbing grabbed her and pulled her into a nearby room. The roaring tide of zombies slammed into the door, cut off from them.

Teng Xi turned to meet Xie Jinbing’s gaze, which looked at her as if she were an idiot—as if to say, ‘If you can solve it with your brain, why use brute force? Do you not have a brain?’

The room was small, barely a dozen square meters, filled with various ancient texts and paintings. Three sides were glass walls, offering a clear view of the outside. Xie Jinbing had swiped her keycard to open it; this was a curated display room.

Sheathing her Miaodao, Teng Xi looked with a headache at the zombie corpses she’d just made, and the horde now pressing against the glass. Because the third floor had been cleared, they were surging up, pounding on the walls. Fortunately, the glass was bulletproof, so they didn’t have to worry for the moment.

“At least there are no zombies in here,” Teng Xi said, making small talk to cover her embarrassment at being out-thought. She realized a door opened by a keycard wouldn’t let just anyone in. She cleared her throat and asked, “Are there rooms like this on the first floor?”

Xie Jinbing shook her head, pointed to the floor, and signaled a “one.”

“Only one display room in the whole library?”

Xie Jinbing nodded.

“Then what now? The hallway is packed.” Brute force wasn’t impossible—this was a remote hospital library, not a city center, so the numbers were finite. But they couldn’t estimate the situation at the back door. Exhausting themselves now only to be trapped in another pincer attack wasn’t wise.

Xie Jinbing didn’t reply. She walked slowly around the room, scanning the outside as if searching for something.

The display room faced the stairs. To the left was the elevator; to the right was the balcony they had climbed in from. After a few minutes of fruitless pounding, the zombies outside began to disperse.

“Beep—“

A crisp electronic chime sounded from the other side of the room. Teng Xi turned to see Xie Jinbing with her back to her, fiddling with something.

“Sister Xie?” Teng Xi called out cautiously. Xie Jinbing turned and beckoned her over.

Teng Xi sidled up and saw her holding a phone, her fingers tapping rapidly.

“A vending machine?”

The screen showed the shopping interface of a self-service vending machine. The chime had been the sound of the phone scanning a QR code. Looking up, she saw a vending machine standing near the elevator.

Teng Xi immediately understood: she wanted to use the sound of falling snacks and drinks to lure the zombies away.

“I thought the phone was dead?” Teng Xi noticed the battery was at 50%. They had been together for days; she knew none of them had a charger.

“Pregnant woman.”

Teng Xi realized. It must have happened during that hour she was away this morning; she’d been too busy “escaping” to notice a phone charging in the corner.

The vending machine was fully stocked. Teng Xi watched as Xie Jinbing added item after item to the cart, her finger hitting the “+1” button incessantly.

“Even though I have amnesia, I have a feeling I had a wish like this as a kid,” Teng Xi paused. Seeing Xie Jinbing ignoring her, she didn’t give up.

“That is, to buy snacks and drinks without restraint. But this is your phone, Sister… I’d feel bad using your phone to experience that thrill~” Teng Xi spoke into Xie Jinbing’s ear with a “green tea” coquettishness, her head nearly touching the screen. She even shifted her Miaodao from her right hand to her left, as if making room for the phone.

Faced with such an obvious hint, Xie Jinbing stopped and held the phone up to Teng Xi.

“Me? Oh, that’s not right… it’s your phone after all.” Teng Xi’s mouth hung open in mock surprise, but her hand reached out shamelessly.

Looking at her cheeky expression, Xie Jinbing couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. Just as Teng Xi’s fingers touched the edge, Xie Jinbing snatched it back, bopped her on the head with it, and finally stuffed it into her hand as Teng Xi pouted.

Given the shopping power, Teng Xi operated the screen with lightning speed, her inner glutton drooling: “Banana chips, I love those. Cumin lamb flavor, crispy chicken wings, yogurt flavor, honey char siu, durian… love them, love them…”

Listening to the list, Xie Jinbing felt her own appetite being stirred.

“Gurgle~“

“Uh, I’m a bit hungry.” Teng Xi, who had been so focused on the menu, wanted to sink into the floor. She had literally talked herself into a hunger pang.

A rustling sound came from her trench coat pocket. Before she could react, Xie Jinbing reached in and pulled out the bread she had left for Teng Xi that morning.

Xie Jinbing raised the bread, asking why she hadn’t eaten.

“I wasn’t hungry this morning.” As the words left her mouth, her stomach betrayed her with another growl. Teng Xi’s cheeks flushed crimson. She lowered her head to continue “ordering,” her voice much quieter.

Xie Jinbing didn’t tease her further. She peeled the wrapper and held the bread to Teng Xi’s lips.

The savory meat-floss bread was tempting, sitting right there next to Xie Jinbing’s slender, rounded fingertips. Teng Xi swallowed. As if possessed, she didn’t take it with her hands but took a bite directly from Xie Jinbing’s hand.

One fed, the other ordered. Soon, every item in the vending machine was selected. Teng Xi pressed “Pay” and handed the phone back.

Xie Jinbing didn’t take it. Instead, she reached out and entered the password right in front of Teng Xi. She prayed silently that Teng Xi hadn’t changed it after the breakup.

——950630

As the last digit fell, a checkmark appeared. Payment successful. The vending machine began its slow mechanical process.

Xie Jinbing stood dazed. She had only tried on a whim, but the password worked. And it was those numbers—her birthday. In that moment, an indescribable feeling surged in her heart.

For the first time, she felt an impulse to grab Teng Xi by the collar and demand to know why they broke up, and why she still kept her traces everywhere. This time, she wouldn’t let Teng Xi brush her off with a “too lazy to change it.”

But she didn’t move. The current Teng Xi had amnesia; she couldn’t even remember Xie Jinbing’s name. She silently put the phone back in her pocket and, naturally, stuffed the piece of bread Teng Xi had bitten into her own mouth.

The sequence of actions was as natural as if they had done it a thousand times, but it made Teng Xi’s heart undergo an earthquake. She! Sister Xie! Bit the bread I just bit! Ahhh! Does this count as an indirect kiss?!

Xie Jinbing finished the last bite. Looking at the stunned Teng Xi, she smirked wickedly. She reached out and wiped a bread crumb from the corner of Teng Xi’s mouth, successfully turning Teng Xi’s neck a deep shade of red.

The air was thick with an unnameable ambiguity. Seeing Teng Xi so flustered, Xie Jinbing was in an excellent mood.

“Thud, clatter, thud—“

The sound of falling snacks and drinks was exceptionally loud in the empty hall. From slow drops to a constant barrage, the zombies at the stairs were lured away, rushing toward the sound like madmen.

Teng Xi led the way out. Behind her, Xie Jinbing didn’t forget to close the display room door, trying to preserve the ancient books and paintings from the zombies.

About 90% of the zombies had been lured away. Teng Xi dispatched the remaining few, and the two dashed downstairs.

There weren’t many zombies on the first floor; the previous explosion had likely drawn them to Section C. Xie Jinbing led Teng Xi toward the back door with practiced ease, her fists moving swiftly to crush the heads of any attacking zombies.

Following behind with her Miaodao, Teng Xi’s lip twitched as she watched Xie Jinbing take down zombies with one punch. She had almost forgotten that Sister Xie’s combat power seemed even higher than her own.

The back door was an iron gate that could be opened from the inside. However, it had no peephole, leaving them blind to the situation outside.

Teng Xi reached out her left hand to the handle, her right hand holding the Miaodao in a defensive stance. She muttered a prayer to Goddess Guanyin and prepared to turn the handle, but then she felt a cool hand cover the back of her own. It was Xie Jinbing’s skin—icy, unlike a normal person’s—sending goosebumps down Teng Xi’s arm.

Xie Jinbing guided Teng Xi’s hand to press down, then placed her right hand on Teng Xi’s shoulder to push her back into the room, taking her place at the front.

Teng Xi wanted to argue, but Xie Jinbing signaled a “six” then a “circle” with her hands—“Medicine.”

A one-word sign, but Teng Xi understood: She had antibodies. She wasn’t afraid of being bitten.

Teng Xi frowned. She had used that as a lie to protect Xie Jinbing yesterday, and now Xie Jinbing was using it as a reason to shield her.

“Sister Xie, if I were an Omega, I would definitely want to marry you,” Teng Xi said with total sincerity, but she stepped in front of Xie Jinbing just as the handle fully turned.

The rusted iron door groaned like the creaking joints of an old man carrying too heavy a pack. It sounded like it might fall apart at any moment.

Sunlight spilled in like a beam of hope, but it was met by a bloody, withered claw reaching in without warning. A gore-covered face squeezed into the gap, snarling. Half the face was gnawed away, revealing white jawbone and teeth; pitch-black eyes bulged hideously. The stench made them both want to gag.

Teng Xi swung her blade with lightning speed. The claw and the top of the head rolled into the room. Thick black liquid splattered across Teng Xi, but a greyish-white hand blocked the spray meant for her face, leaving it only on her hair.

The headless zombie slumped back. A massive force slammed into the door. Instantly, four or five claws gripped the frame, pulling outward.

“Fuck!”

Teng Xi cursed, pulling the handle with all her might while her Miaodao severed the fingers of the zombies gripping the frame.

The hand over hers tightened. Another palm, stained with black slime, slammed onto the door to join the tug-of-war.

A low, hiss-like growl escaped Xie Jinbing’s throat. The four hands on the handle exerted a sudden, powerful force that made Teng Xi’s hands ache. They slammed the door shut. Severed fingers were crushed in the frame, and dark fluid leaked down the metal.

Xie Jinbing grabbed Teng Xi and pulled her into the narrow space under the stairs. Potted palms and large vases flanked them; it was a spot easily missed if one wasn’t looking closely.

The two were tall. The stairs right above their heads vibrated—zombies lured by the slamming door were sprinting down from the second floor.

Through the gaps in the green leaves, they saw a dense crowd of zombies rushing toward the iron gate. The zombies outside were still pounding on it, and the ones inside joined in. The rhythmic bang-bang-bang echoed continuously.

They both frowned. If the pounding continued, they didn’t know how long the old iron door would last.

Three minutes passed, then five. The zombies continued their assault as if they were star-crossed lovers begging for one last look at their beloved on the other side. The scene didn’t evoke sympathy, only a mounting sense of dread.

Teng Xi realized they couldn’t stay here. She reached into her pocket for a pre-prepared walkie-talkie, turned the volume to the minimum, and tapped out the international SOS signal: three short, three long, three short.

The effect was immediate. Less than two minutes later, a loud crash erupted from outside the main library entrance—the sound of a table hitting the ground. The clatter of falling steel pipes and wood drew the horde away. They roared and surged toward the main entrance.

A few minutes later, the death-knell pounding on the iron gate finally stopped, though a few stragglers still wandered outside.

Only after relaxing did Teng Xi realize how close they were. She was practically being held in Xie Jinbing’s arms. Xie Jinbing was half a head shorter; from this angle, Teng Xi could see the soft fuzz on her face and the long lashes veiling her eyes as she watched the zombies outside.

Teng Xi stared dazedly at the whorl of hair on the top of her head. Her hair quality was excellent; the black parts were smooth and glossy, while the red tips from the dye were a bit frizzy but still well-maintained. It seemed to be crying out for a touch.

Teng Xi couldn’t resist. She tilted her head and nuzzled the top of Xie Jinbing’s head, finally getting a close encounter with that wolf-tail. A fresh, faint scent wafted from Xie Jinbing.

Usually, after killing zombies, they were both covered in foul-smelling blood, but Xie Jinbing never seemed to smell bad. There was a subtle fragrance emanating from her body that Teng Xi, with her dull sense of smell, couldn’t quite capture.

Nuzzled by the other, Xie Jinbing’s body went rigid. Her eyes remained on the zombies, but her body was uncontrollably trembling.

Too close. They were far too close.

The gland at the nape of her neck throbbed with a strange ache. Even though she had stolen a suppressor shot this morning, whenever Teng Xi got close, the pheromones in her body ran wild. She could feel something changing inside her, but she couldn’t explain it—just as she couldn’t explain why she looked like a zombie.