The Zombie I Flirted With After Losing My Memory, Who Was Pretending to be an Alpha, Is Actually My Ex - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Miaodao

The zombies, hearing the noise, faltered for a moment before charging like madmen, flailing and howling beneath the speaker. Simultaneously, the people atop the wooden shed looked on in shock, locking eyes with Teng Xi and Xie Jinbing.

The plan proceeded as scheduled. Bags of flour, with corners snipped, slid down the rope, drifting through the air like snowflakes and settling on the ground and the zombies. The pressure around the shed eased as the horde was gradually lured away.

Once the flour had mostly settled, the two tied the remaining bags together and sent them down the line. Another cloud of white powder filled the air, causing them both to cough.

“Prepare to break through after the explosion,” Teng Xi pressed the button on her walkie-talkie.

“Copy that,” a calm female voice replied.

Teng Xi and Xie Jinbing looked at each other: “Jump!”

They leaped in unison from the guardrail, rolling on the ground to dissipate the impact. After dispatching a few nearby zombies with their kitchen knives, they sprinted toward the wooden shed, where the zombie density was now low.

Once they reached a relatively safe distance, Teng Xi ignited a wad of cloth she had pre-soaked in alcohol. A large ball of fire flared up and flew toward the suspended dust.

“BOOM—”

Even with preparation, the sheer force of the explosion made their hearts skip a beat. As the shockwave hit, Teng Xi instinctively reached out to shield the person beside her, and they were both slammed forward.

“Ugh.” Teng Xi felt her left shoulder collide with a hard rock, but she didn’t loosen her grip on the person in her arms.

“BOOM—”

The secondary explosion followed quickly. The air current from the first blast kicked up the dust settled on the ground, increasing the concentration. Tongues of fire swallowed everything in sight, tearing the encroaching zombies into fragments. It took several more bursts before the air finally stilled.

Xie Jinbing opened her eyes to darkness—not from the blast, but because someone was shielding her head tightly. Her entire face was buried against Teng Xi’s chest, feeling the rise and fall of her breath. Teng Xi’s somewhat cool fingers were pressed against the back of her neck; just a bit further over was her gland, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

She struggled slightly, breaking free from Teng Xi’s embrace. Looking up, she saw Teng Xi’s tightly pursed red lips, the elegant bridge of her nose, and curly eyelashes dusted with white powder. Teng Xi’s gaze dropped to meet hers.

It was that expression again. Xie Jinbing’s blood turned cold instantly.

Though it lasted only a heartbeat, Xie Jinbing caught it: that detached, emotionless look in Teng Xi’s eyes, as if she were merely a god observing the world with cold indifference. It made all her kindness feel fake. This was the one thing Xie Jinbing couldn’t let go of after their breakup—the feeling that their past relationship was nothing more than a passing cloud to Teng Xi.

The two lay on the ground, closely entwined—or more accurately, Xie Jinbing was held firmly in Teng Xi’s arms.

“Sister, are you alright?” Teng Xi’s phoenix eyes curved slightly, her voice soft as her breath brushed against Xie Jinbing’s face.

Xie Jinbing felt the thumping of her own heart again and couldn’t help but despise herself for it.

“Hey! Are you two here to fall in love or to run for your lives?” A boisterous shout rang in their ears; the people from the roof had already hit the ground.

Xie Jinbing pushed away from Teng Xi and stood up, a trace of red appearing on her grayish face. Only a small group of zombies remained nearby; most had perished in the explosion. Her chef’s knife slid into her hand, and she cleanly decapitated a nearby zombie.

“You guys?” Teng Xi also saw the newcomers. Only two? She clearly remembered Si Qinghan saying there were three.

Notably, a girl about 165cm tall was wielding a Miaodao (a long, two-handed saber) that was nearly as tall as she was. Her movements were crisp and decisive; the blade was so sharp it sliced through zombie heads with ease.

Teng Xi whistled, marvelling sincerely: “Cool.”

The girl suddenly turned to look at her, her eyes widening as if she had seen a ghost. Her mouth hung half-open. Had the person beside her not slapped her upside the head to wake her up, she would have become zombie food.

The girl didn’t speak but frowned. While Teng Xi was focused on attacking a zombie with her makeshift weapon, the girl drew a second Miaodao—this one in a dark green sheath—from her waist and tossed it to Teng Xi: “Teng Xi, catch!”

When the person beside the girl saw her throw the sword, their gaze darted back and forth between the two women with a look that suggested they had actually seen a ghost.

Xie Jinbing listened as that all-too-familiar name fell from a stranger’s lips. She watched the Miaodao trace a beautiful arc through the air and remained silent, her lips pressed thin.

The hilt was wrapped in dark green leather, cold to the touch, yet it gave Teng Xi a strange sense of familiarity. The DNA in the depths of her soul seemed to awaken, and her grip tightened instinctively.

Screee—

The chaotic howling of zombies filled the air, but the sound of the long blade unsheathing reached Teng Xi’s ears with magical clarity.

It was a slender Miaodao with a blade length of about 110cm, etched with faint patterns that reflected a cold, ominous light. It made Teng Xi’s blood boil for no reason. Her right hand gripped the hilt firmly as she performed a flourish—dazzlingly beautiful.

With a total length of 150cm, the Miaodao easily reached the surrounding zombies. In an instant, several fell.

Xie Jinbing narrowed her eyes at Teng Xi, who looked incredibly formidable with the blade. Those clearly practiced movements were impossible to ignore; this was a side of Teng Xi she had never seen.

“Move!” Teng Xi grabbed Xie Jinbing’s wrist, her right hand swinging the blade to cut down a zombie in their path as she pulled Xie Jinbing forward.

Xie Jinbing looked down at the hand gripping her wrist through her sleeve. The fingers were long and the joints well-defined. She had once been so intimate with this hand, but now it held her with a polite yet distant grip. She tugged slightly, and easily broke free.

Her wrist slipped away, leaving Teng Xi’s palm clutching thin air. Teng Xi glanced back to see that Xie Jinbing was still beside her and didn’t give it another thought, gripping the Miaodao with both hands to resume the slaughter.

“Quick! Quick! Quick!” Si Qinghan’s urgent voice came through their walkie-talkies. “The zombies outside the library heard the noise! Get a move on!”

The four of them stiffened and increased their pace, fighting with even more intensity. The zombies here were scattered, and since their group wasn’t small—two in front, two in back—they managed well enough.

However, there were at least one or two hundred zombies outside the library. Meeting them head-on would be a massive struggle; they had to hurry.

Back at the window, Si Qinghan had already lowered the curtains. Fearing they wouldn’t have time to retreat, she hung three at once, fluttering in the wind, with the other ends wrapped around her arms.

Teng Xi plunged her blade into a zombie that had lost its lower half in the blast and was crawling through its own trail of gore. She gave it a swift end.

“Faster!” Si Qinghan wished she could go down and help them run. The horde from the library was about to turn the corner and meet them face-to-face.