In the apocalyptic zombie world, after sending a message in the group she had inexplicably bound to a few days earlier, Jiang Ying turned her head to the left. A man stood there, around thirty years old, wearing a black hoodie and black pants.
At that very moment, he was holding a cloth strip of indistinguishable color, wiping the long blade in his hand.
Against the backdrop of the rolling yellow sand behind him, this scene reminded Jiang Ying of a novel she had read before her transmigration.
"Brother Lin, I've sent a message to Lin Xi. I'm waiting for her reply."
Jiang Ying's words made the man wiping the blade stop his movements. He looked up into the distance. After a long while, just as Jiang Ying thought Lin Zhongxun wouldn't respond to her, he nodded.
Jiang Ying sat back down, licked her chapped lips, and couldn't help but think of her own tumultuous two years.
Before transmigrating, she was twenty-five. She hadn't studied much, having dropped out before finishing high school to work.
During those working years, she had met good people and also some not-so-good ones. She had been in relationships and encountered one or two scumbags.
The year she turned twenty-five, she got cancer—lung cancer, and it was terminal.
She didn't seek treatment. Instead, she took the money she had saved over the years, originally meant for buying a house, and went traveling.
She traveled across the beautiful landscapes of the country, eating all the things she had wanted to try before but couldn't bring herself to spend money on.
During her travels, she met many, many wonderful people. These very good people warmed her entire life.
Because of their existence, she forgave all those who had treated her poorly before. She even sent New Year goods to her mother, with whom she hadn't been in contact for many years, right before her death.
Just before she died, she found a scenic place with clear waters, green mountains, and year-round flowers to buy a burial plot, and even hired someone specifically to handle her remains.
She died peacefully, her heart at ease. Right before passing, she even watched a comedy movie.
She thought she would be reincarnated after death, or perhaps simply vanish into nothingness, becoming part of the mountain, part of the grass. Never did she imagine she could open her eyes again, never thought she would encounter so-called transmigration.
The world she transmigrated into was an apocalyptic world. A world with zombies. Her entire worldly possessions consisted of a loaf of bread missing several bites and a bottle of mineral water with a distinctly off smell.
In that moment, Jiang Ying felt that all that forgiveness for the injustices she had suffered could go to hell. She wanted to blow up this damned world, to perish together with this stupid world.
She couldn't even figure out whose ancestral grave she must have desecrated in her previous life to deserve this transmigration.
She didn't want to live. She only wanted destruction. She only wanted to leave this disgusting world!
She acted on it immediately. Jiang Ying used all her possessions to trade for a bomb with someone. Hugging it, she ran straight for a zombie horde. But she didn't even make it out of the base gate before an uncle pulled her back.
That uncle, with red-rimmed eyes, told her that a wretched life is better than a good death.
The uncle told her many, many stories. No matter how harsh the post-apocalyptic environment was, they all struggled to survive. Their shared joys and sorrows were too numerous to count.
The uncle's daughter had died by suicide. Not long after her death, his wife passed away too.
He said this world had already lost too many people; young people couldn't die anymore, otherwise this damned world really would be beyond saving.
Jiang Ying was silent for a few days. Afterward, she began following behind the uncle, practicing staff and blade techniques alongside the ordinary people. They, these ordinary folks, were striving to hone their instincts for survival in this world.
Following them, Jiang Ying gradually found reasons to want to live.
Just as her life seemed to be getting on track, a team of young men and women arrived at their base. Interestingly, this young couple were university classmates of the original host, and the man was even the original host's boyfriend.
Even more interestingly, Jiang Ying discovered that the names of the original host's "boyfriend" and his current girlfriend were exactly the same as those in a book she had read before her transmigration.
The days that followed were like a fucking dream. No matter what she did, she couldn't avoid that pair of idiots.
That pair of idiots had both awakened supernatural abilities and soon rose to become high-ranking members of their base. From then on, Jiang Ying found it even harder to shake off those two sticky plasters.
She clearly said nothing and did nothing, yet somehow became a part of their little play.
The daily routine was her going out to fight zombies and complete missions, while the female lead, Feng Qingqing, and the male lead, Shangguan Xu, enjoyed romantic dalliances within the base.
Feng Qingqing (teary-eyed): Shangguan Xu, tell me, don't you love me anymore? Do you still remember Jiang Ying? Do you think I'm not as pretty as Jiang Ying, not as brave, not as strong as her, so you've fallen for her again, is that it?
Shangguan Xu (pulling her into a strong embrace): Qingqing, how can you say that about yourself! I won't allow it! In my heart, you are the most beautiful, the bravest, the kindest! I, Shangguan Xu, in this life, the next life, for all eternity, will love only you!
Jiang Ying went from being frantic to speechless, and now she simply viewed their behavior as a form of performance art.
The change occurred three days ago. While she was out on a mission, she encountered Feng Qingqing midway. Unfortunately, they also ran into a large horde of zombies, among which was a Level Three zombie.
The team fought desperately. At the final moment, she was pushed into the zombie horde by Feng Qingqing, the space-ability user who had been protected by everyone all along.
Her sacrifice bought the team precious escape time. Regardless of what they thought in their hearts, in action, every member of her squad left.
Just as she was about to be devoured by the zombies, she was pulled into the Transmigrators' Group Chat and bound to it. Then, a man dressed in black descended from the sky and saved her.
She passed out. This coma lasted for seven days, and during these seven days, she awakened a lightning-based supernatural ability.
Having just opened her eyes and eaten some food given by the brother who saved her, she was asked to send that sentence into the group chat.
To be honest, Jiang Ying is still bewildered even now.
[Admin] Earth Girl Lin Xi: He is my father. What message did he ask you to relay to me? Is he okay?
[Apocalyptic Zombie World Jiang Ying: He is right beside me. He is well, very well. He was the one who saved me a few days ago.]
Lin Xi from the Earth dimension was so agitated she couldn't stand still or sit still. Clutching her phone, she ran towards the homestay.
Chi Xiangping sat behind the counter selling embroidery products, chatting with a customer. On her forehead, she wore a flower-patterned hat she had embroidered herself, and on her back, she carried an embroidered bag. As she spoke, she smiled, her eyes shining.
Lin Xi suddenly stopped in her tracks. She didn't know how to tell Chi Xiangping the fact that Lin Zhongxun was still alive, nor did she know how to tell her that Lin Zhongxun was living in another world.
She knew Chi Xiangping wouldn't believe her. She might even think Lin Xi was possessed after hearing it, and would take her to the street to find a Miao ethnic grandmother to call back her soul.
"Xiao Xi is here?" While Lin Xi hesitated to move forward, Chi Xiangping had already spotted her.
She waved to Lin Xi, "Come over quickly. Granny Xiuhua made lotus leaf cakes, and they're still warm. Come and have some."
Lotus leaf cakes are a special delicacy of Helianhua Village. Around May and June, the grandmothers and aunts in the village pick lotus leaves, knead them with glutinous rice flour, and steam the mixture filled with flower paste or crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and sugar.
The glutinous rice flour carries both the fragrance of the flowers and the fresh scent of the lotus leaves. Sweet, soft, and chewy, they are incredibly delicious.
Lin Xi loved them the most. She walked over, unwrapped the lotus leaf, and began to eat. She looked at Chi Xiangping and said, "It's very tasty."
"Then I'll make some for you too," Chi Xiangping said happily.
Lin Xi turned sideways, wiped her tears, unsure why she was crying.
"I'm going to take a look in the backyard," Lin Xi said as she walked away.
Arriving at the backyard, Lin Xi made a video call to Jiang Ying.
Jiang Ying fumbled to answer. It had been over a year since she transmigrated to this world, and the electronic devices here were no longer functional.
This was actually her first video call since arriving in this world.
When the call connected, Jiang Ying pointed the camera at Lin Zhongxun, who had somehow appeared beside her.
Lin Zhongxun couldn't see Lin Xi; he couldn't even perceive the medium of Jiang Ying's phone.
Yet, he accurately found the lens and said, "Xiao Xi, can you see me?"
"My time in this world is limited. Midnight here is my final deadline to leave. So I'll be brief."
"I've completed 99 tasks. After finishing one last task, I can return to Earth. The system I'm currently bound to can send me back."
"But I found your mother in the stream of time. She's now a temporal drifter. To go back, she needs approval from you, the administrator." At this point, Lin Zhongxun's gaze softened.
"So, in a while, if you receive a return application from someone you don't recognize, you must approve it."
Lin Xi, covering her mouth off-screen, nodded vigorously. Lin Zhongxun couldn't see, but he could imagine her state.
His voice grew tender, "Don't cry, Xiao Xi. Mom and Dad will be back soon."
"That fake mother of yours might make some moves during this time. Be careful of her, and don't let her discover your group chat system. The person who helped her possess that body has been searching for spatial-temporal cracks leading away from the Earth plane all these years."
"Most of his abilities are sealed by the laws of the Earth plane. To return, he can only rely on the Transmigrator Group Chat System. If she finds you, you'll be in great danger."
After a pause, he added, "But don't be too afraid. The Transmigrator Group Chat System will protect you."
At this point, the call screen filled with static.
Half a minute later, Jiang Ying sent a message: [Lin Xi, Senior Lin Zhongxun was taken away by a beam of light.]
A message from the Group Chat System promptly popped up: [He almost spilled all our secrets. No point chatting with him anymore, just send him off. What a tiresome fellow.]
The remarkably human-like remark from the Group Chat System made Lin Xi pause for a moment. She thought that during the days when the system was bound to Lin Zhongxun, their relationship must have been very, very close.
