When Fu Qi was seriously studying something, he had an air of refinement about him, like a young scholar. But whenever he was fighting zombies or limbering up, he would tug open his collar and roll up his sleeves, revealing the lines of his arms and making him look surprisingly fierce for someone with his appearance.
Both of these sides usually gave people a rigorous, serious impression. But because he spent all day spouting nonsense with a straight face and was always grinning, Qin Zhen often felt that he was anything but respectable.
That impression reached its peak whenever Fu Qi used a falsetto to call himself “Sweetie.”
“You—you’re so improper!” she accused sternly.
Fu Qi said, “Nonsense. I’m the most respectable person there is.”
Qin Zhen was furious.
Outside the door, one of the younger men was still anxiously calling, “Sis? Brother! My Three Pure Ones, don’t tell me one of you has mutated into a zombie…”
Qin Zhen panicked when she heard that. She hadn’t forgotten that Fu Qi had lied about her supposedly suffering from side effects of the medication, so she hurriedly shoved him.
Unfortunately, Fu Qi had firmly decided not to help her. He said, “Between the two of us, you’re the one who’s feeling unwell, and you’re also the one who fell into a horde of zombies. The simplest and most convincing way to put their minds at ease is for you to show yourself and prove that you’re fine.”
Qin Zhen still didn’t dare.
Fu Qi continued, “I’m in the room right now, and there’s only one of your men outside. If we keep dragging this out, Fan Kong will arrive in a moment…”
He was a genuine Daoist, after all.
The zombie shuddered. After only a second’s hesitation, she hurriedly scrambled off the bed and opened the door.
Just as Fu Qi had said, Fan Xu’s main concern was Qin Zhen. He finally relaxed after seeing with his own eyes that she was all right. “You two were arguing, and then everything suddenly went quiet. You scared me to death. I thought you… Sister Night, what happened between you and Brother Fu?”
Qin Zhen didn’t dare make a sound. Even less did she dare tell the Daoist that she had just been trying to avenge her kind against the humans. After holding it in for a while, she gave a weak little “Mm.”
The light was dim, and Fan Xu couldn’t see her expression. He didn’t understand what she meant, but it wouldn’t have been appropriate to pry too much into a “couple’s” affairs. Scratching his head, he said, “Brother Fu’s had it rough too. He didn’t stop for even a moment during the days you were missing… You two should be more understanding of each other…”
The zombie didn’t dare say another word. She nodded vigorously. “R-Received!”
“…”
Fan Xu scratched his head again.
Fortunately, with the excuse of the medication’s side effects, he didn’t suspect anything. After telling Qin Zhen to get plenty of rest, he left.
Qin Zhen quickly locked the door, turned around, and ran back. When she took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, she deliberately stepped on Fu Qi.
Fu Qi said, “Didn’t Daoist Fan Xu tell you to be understanding of me? Putting on one face in public and another behind my back? This little zombie’s gotten pretty bold.”
The zombie was not bold at all. She immediately shrank obediently back beneath the covers, abandoning her grudge over how her entire species had been slandered and insulted by humans.
The next morning, Fan Xu brought them water for washing up and even offered to buy them breakfast. Fu Qi declined. “We’re going to rob a rich man.”
That rich man was Xu Feng.
The base operated on a system of distribution according to labor. Xu Feng was the captain of the Dawn Base’s special operations team and handled the most dangerous missions, so his benefits were naturally quite good. He was currently at the base’s medical center for the wounded, recovering from injuries sustained on a recent mission.
By the time Fu Qi brought Qin Zhen there, Xu Feng had just been about to eat breakfast. His meal even included a bowl of fragrant, steaming porridge, which was promptly stolen.
Xu Feng was lying on the bed with both legs in casts, raised high in the air. His head, neck, waist, and abdomen were wrapped in bandages, leaving only his two hands free. He looked so miserable that it was almost unbearable to look at him.
Fortunately, Fu Qi had no conscience and was perfectly capable of fighting him for his food.
“No!”
Qin Zhen rebuked him in the name of justice and snatched the porridge away, placing it back on the little table in front of Xu Feng.
Fu Qi: “?”
What was going on?
How could this stranger, whom Qin Zhen had never met before, rank above him too, apart from those two Daoists?
The person in question was astonished and touched. “They told me Fu Laoqi had found himself a girlfriend. I didn’t believe it at first, but after meeting you, I do now.”
With makeup that bizarre, she clearly wasn’t normal, which made her a perfect match for Fu Laoqi.
“But now I’ve changed my mind again. You two absolutely cannot be a couple.”
Under the gazes of both of them, Xu Feng declared firmly, “Miss Ye is upright and honorable. She’s a good person. Fu Laoqi is different. He’s not human.”
Fu Qi praised him. “Good eyes.”
The zombie understood the true meaning behind those words and covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
With the two Daoists out of sight, Qin Zhen felt much more relaxed. She tugged Fu Qi down by the arm, leaned close, and whispered her malicious little thought to him.
“M-Mummy.”
Fu Qi understood. Compared with humans, the zombie considered “Mummy” closer to her own kind. She couldn’t stand by and watch one of her kind get bullied.
This zombie really was exceptionally well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge. She even knew foreign words and mummies.
Only the “Mummy” himself was blind and deaf to the reason, and warmly invited the zombie to eat breakfast with him.
After robbing Xu Feng of his breakfast, they got down to business.
“A hospital or sanatorium marked with the letters DF?” Xu Feng had never heard of it. He opened his watch and searched for a while, but found nothing.
“It could also be DE.” Fu Qi turned to Qin Zhen. “What do you think?”
Qin Zhen was baffled.
She had known from the start that Fu Qi had come to Xu Feng for the mission. The mission had been issued by the government.
After the zombie virus broke out, the whole world descended into chaos. While governments everywhere were working desperately to develop a vaccine and save their people, the people of Country A had not only produced specialized communication watches and developed a drug that could temporarily confuse zombies, but also found the leisure to send people to other countries on “vacation.”
There was clearly something wrong with that.
The mission was to uncover the purpose of those people from Country A and intercept them.
It was an arduous task, carried out jointly by several teams. By now, more than half of them had been wiped out.
Xu Feng’s injuries had come from those people from Country A. Naturally, the watch on his wrist had also been seized from them.
When Qin Zhen saw the watch she had been longing for, her eyes lit up. She had only managed to endure quietly at the side because human affairs were more important. She hadn’t expected Fu Qi to suddenly ask for her opinion.
“What’s it got to do with me?” she asked.
Fu Qi said, “Didn’t we agree last time that you’d join the team? As a new member, you should speak up during mission discussions and actively share your opinions.”
Qin Zhen: “Huh?”
Hadn’t that been a joke?
Besides, when had zombies ever worked for humans?
She was just about to refuse when she suddenly remembered that her original purpose in leaving the tomb had been to earn money through work. Working for someone and joining a combat team were, in essence, perhaps not so different.
But working for other people was fine. Working for Fu Qi was not!
Before refusing, Qin Zhen first made sure to haggle. “What do you, give me?”
Money had become useless. Food was now the most valuable thing, but she didn’t need that.
Fu Qi said, “I’ll provide you with internet access.”
“I can provide that too.” Xu Feng searched through the keywords, keeping his eyes fixed on the glowing screen while sparing his mouth to stir up trouble. “He’s lying to you. His watch was blown up, and he still had to come here to ask me to look up information. How is he going to provide you with internet access? Miss Ye, if you have nowhere to go, why not come stay with me? I have internet and supplies, and you can use whatever you like.”
Having a specialized watch with internet access was certainly tempting. Unfortunately, Qin Zhen cared more about keeping her zombie identity secret than about the internet she loved.
During those two thoughtful seconds, Xu Feng assumed Qin Zhen was weighing her options, so he shot Fu Qi a provocative look.
Fu Qi smiled. “All right, Sweetie. Go with him, then. Have fun, and don’t get hurt.”
What a familiar line. The last time Fu Qi had said that, they had barely parted ways before a zombie crashed straight into the Daoist’s hands.
Qin Zhen hurriedly said, “I’m joining your team!”
Fu Qi said, “I don’t have a watch that can get online right now.”
“Later!”
If he could steal one, he could steal a second one!
Fu Qi was reliable. He knew all the zombies’ secrets and weaknesses, yet he had never used that knowledge against her. He even let her bully him now and then without getting angry. He was exactly the kind of person Qin Zhen liked best.
“You!” Qin Zhen grabbed Fu Qi by the sleeve, firmly declaring that she had chosen his team.
Fu Qi looked at Xu Feng and smiled.
Xu Feng rolled his eyes at him.
With the question of who belonged to which team settled, they continued discussing the problem at hand.
Back then, those people from Country A had blown up the tomb of the neighbor upstairs from Qin Zhen’s apartment, intending to bury Fu Qi alive. Instead, Fu Qi had accidentally fallen into a nest of zombies. Later, he used the binding-information function of his specially designed watch to lure those people from Country A back to find him. The bait had been this symbol.
It had proved incredibly tempting. Rather than continuing on their “vacation,” they had turned around and chased after Fu Qi.
Unfortunately, Fu Qi had obtained the abbreviation by chance. He had no idea what it meant, and he did not even know its complete form. All he could do was try searching online and gather everyone’s ideas to solve the mystery.
One of the newly appointed team members raised his hand. “FD? ED?”
“No,” Fu Qi said. “The symbol was engraved on something else. If it were a mirror image, I’d be able to tell.”
“Do you have a picture?”
“The people from Country A have it.”
That killed the conversation. The internet offered no possible clues either, and the matter remained completely without a lead.
Fu Qi had expected that outcome and was in no hurry. Once they finished discussing the issue, he planned to borrow the watch from Xu Feng. He had promised to let the zombie go online, and if he went back on his word, he would have to deal with the consequences of an enraged zombie.
Xu Feng was willing to lend it to him, but unfortunately, the researcher at the base who could reset biological information had gone to the neighboring base for an exchange. The watch could not be borrowed after all.
To keep his promise, Fu Qi squeezed onto the man’s hospital bed with the zombie and began using the man’s finger as a stylus.
Xu Feng, unaware of the reason, was utterly stunned. “I’m a critically injured patient… No, wait. This is one of the last technological achievements left in the apocalypse, and the entire base has only one! It’s normally used to exchange important information between bases, and you’re using it to placate a girl?”
Fu Qi said, “She isn’t an ordinary girl.”
Xu Feng said, “And you aren’t an ordinary hopeless romantic.”
He had been told that the two of them were former boyfriend and girlfriend, so he had gone along with that story. But in reality, he had known Fu Qi for many years and knew that Fu Qi had never even had a girlfriend. The whole thing was utter nonsense.
Xu Feng’s mind began turning. It did not take long for him to see the light.
“You two have nothing to do with each other at all… Fu Laoqi, you deliberately brought up Miss Ye joining your team in front of me just now, didn’t you?”
“You were waiting for me to compete with you for her, weren’t you?” Xu Feng continued. “Otherwise, the choice she had to consider would have been whether to join your team—not whether to join mine or yours.”
Fu Laoqi was devious. He had quietly switched the girl’s options around.
Fu Qi refused to admit it. “You have a filthy mind.”
Then he turned to Qin Zhen and said gently, “Sweetie, don’t listen to him. He’s jealous and trying to drive a wedge between us.”
When the zombie heard Xu Feng say all that, her entire body froze in confusion. After frowning and thinking it over, she suddenly realized that she really had not intended to agree to Fu Qi in the first place.
What was there left to consider?
Under Fu Qi’s deliberate guidance, she had somehow sold herself without even realizing it!
Qin Zhen said indignantly, “Then he was trying to drive a wedge between us, and it… it worked.”
And so, on that day, Fu Qi gained a new team member. The first thing this new team member did after joining was beat up the team captain.
