In this position, Qin Zhen was completely enveloped in Fu Qi’s arms, her back pressed against his broad, solid chest. It made her extremely uncomfortable.
She had gotten into similar physical contact with Fu Qi before, whether they were fighting or he was trying to cheer her up. But back then, she had never felt this way—her whole body growing hot and tense, wanting to pull away while also wanting to draw closer.
Qin Zhen instinctively raised a hand and placed it on the arm wrapped around her waist.
Fu Qi seemed to notice. His arm shifted, and his burning palm seized her cold hand, rubbing it a few times. When he tried to pull away, her fingers once again clamped tightly around his.
He gave a gentle tug and said, “I don’t dislike you.”
Qin Zhen still refused to let go.
So he stopped struggling and simply let her hold his hand.
Qin Zhen clutched his hand as she nestled against him. They were both lying on their sides, and she could vaguely feel the human heart pounding against his chest. The sound seemed to travel through his clothes and into her body, as though it had brought her long-dead heart back to life, making it beat again and pump warmth and blood through her body.
While wondering whether a zombie’s body would break down if it grew warm, Qin Zhen held Fu Qi’s hand and kneaded his palm.
After a few squeezes, she heard Fu Qi ask, “Feel good?”
His breath brushed the back of her ear, and she felt as though even her ears were about to heat up.
She ducked her head, escaping his breath. But once it was gone, her ear felt cold, and she didn’t like that. She lifted her neck and tilted her head back again.
She moved too quickly. Fu Qi happened to be lowering his head at the same moment, and with a dull thump, the zombie’s round head collided with Fu Qi’s chin.
Fu Qi hissed and tried to touch his chin, but the hand Qin Zhen was holding wouldn’t come free.
“Is your head made of iron?”
The zombie remained silent.
After waiting for a while, Fu Qi propped himself up and leaned over her to take a look. Only then did he realize that she had curled up, smiling shyly. When she noticed him looking, she embarrassedly closed her eyes.
Fu Qi was both exasperated and amused. “If you know it’s embarrassing, why are you holding on so tightly?”
The zombie grew even more bashful, but the grip of her hand did not loosen in the slightest.
Fu Qi let her hold him for a while before saying, “You can let go now, Sweetie. I’m still injured.”
His injury was on his shoulder. After all the roughhousing with Qin Zhen earlier, the wound had already suffered quite a bit. Then, when he had hugged her just now, it had been pulled again, and he could faintly feel blood seeping from it.
Reminded of that, Qin Zhen hurriedly released his hand.
Fu Qi drew back his arm and lay flat again.
Qin Zhen rolled over to face him. Both her hands quietly reached for Fu Qi’s arm. When he showed no reaction, she stretched forward and grabbed his hand.
“Do you like touching me that much?”
Qin Zhen was no longer angry with him. She gave a quiet little “Mm” and said, “It feels good. It’s warm and springy.”
There was a fierce vitality in him, almost as though it might pass through his skin and into the zombie’s body. For a moment, she felt as if she, too, had developed a rapid, powerful heartbeat, and her cheeks always seemed to burn.
It really was embarrassing for a zombie.
But it was so thrilling that the zombie couldn’t stop.
“You’re also very…” Fu Qi was about to say, “You also feel good,” but when the words reached his lips, he felt that saying such a thing to a girl would be too offensive. He changed course and said, “You’re also very good.”
“What’s good about me?” Qin Zhen released one hand and ran it over her own arm. “It’s cold and skinny, like a tree branch.”
Fu Qi turned over the hand she was holding and clasped hers instead, pulling it upward until he placed her hand against his chest.
With one hand held by Qin Zhen, he used the other to rub her wrist and knead her thin arm. “You’re too skinny. It would be better if you put on some weight.”
“I can’t get fat,” Qin Zhen said.
That was a problem Fu Qi had no way to solve.
He fell silent. In the silence, he felt the hand against his chest beginning to creep under his clothes.
“…” Fu Qi caught the wandering hand. “What are you doing?”
Qin Zhen’s voice was small and faintly aggrieved. “Didn’t you say I could touch you anywhere?”
Fu Qi was speechless.
Considering that he had just made Qin Zhen angry, he didn’t point out that the offer had expired. Instead, he said, “If you do that, I won’t be able to sleep… I’m injured and need to rest.”
With that, he released her arm, slipped his fingers into her palm, and guided her hand down to rest beside them.
“When I’m sleeping, you’re only allowed to hold hands.”
Qin Zhen gave an “Oh,” then wrapped her other arm around his. Her two hands took turns: one moment squeezing his palm, the next rubbing his arm.
Fu Qi became even less capable of falling asleep, and he couldn’t move his arm either.
After a while, he asked, “Who’s better, me or your husband?”
Qin Zhen thought about it before answering, “You have better hand-feel. You’re comfortable to touch, warm and bouncy. My husband is mainly for… emotional companionship.”
Fu Qi understood.
The red flag at home remained standing, while colorful flags fluttered outside. He was one of those outside flags, relying on his youth and good looks to win the zombie’s favor.
Qin Zhen was currently squeezing his fingers. Fu Qi hooked one fingertip away, letting her grasp at empty air.
“Sweetie, you should go to sleep.”
The zombie chased after that finger and happily caught it again. She was being remarkably considerate, taking the initiative to remind Fu Qi that he needed to rest.
Fu Qi couldn’t fall asleep. “I’m thinking about something.”
“What?”
“I’m thinking…” Fu Qi paused before saying, “I’m thinking about how I’ve kept myself pure all these years, only to be toyed with by you. How am I supposed to explain this when I go home? And it’ll be hard for me to find a girlfriend now.”
Fu Qi thought he had already made himself clear enough. But after he finished speaking, he received no response from Qin Zhen. She merely continued squeezing his fingers.
He waited a while, then turned his head and glanced down.
Qin Zhen had nowhere to hide. After meeting his eyes, she hesitated and said, “Hehe.”
Fu Qi was speechless again.
He understood now. She only wanted to take advantage of him and had no intention of taking responsibility.
What a scumbag zombie.
But he simply had no way to deal with her.
Fu Qi turned his face away, ignored the activity of his hand, and closed his eyes.
Based on what Fu Qi knew of this scumbag zombie, she definitely wouldn’t obediently keep holding his hand all night. He expected to wake the next morning with one of her hands inside his clothes.
But the truth was completely different.
The next day, he was jolted awake by the sound of gunfire.
Gunshots meant people.
Fu Qi’s eyes flew open. Qin Zhen was no longer beside him, and his heart instantly sank.
At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded outside. With a sharp click, the door was opened from the outside, and the small, blue-gray-faced zombie rushed in.
“Where did you go?”
“I went to get you some water,” Qin Zhen answered honestly. She came forward and took his hand. “Sweetie, there seem to be people outside.”
“Did they shoot at you?”
“No,” Qin Zhen said. “They were some distance away. I heard the gunshot and ran, ran back right away.”
Fu Qi relaxed.
The two of them were still living in the village as before. There were few zombies here, and crops grew freely. It wasn’t unusual for them to run into other people.
Besides, there had only been one gunshot from beginning to end. The firepower wasn’t heavy, so it didn’t sound like those people from Country A. More likely, they were passing travelers like themselves, killing zombies.
“Forget it. We’ll put on the makeup first,” Fu Qi said.
Qin Zhen hurriedly dug out the liquid foundation and began smearing it over her face. After only a few strokes, Fu Qi had quickly gotten dressed, washed up, and sat down in front of her to take the foundation from her.
With both hands free, Qin Zhen immediately felt like touching something. But it was broad daylight, and something seemed to have happened outside, so she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. Every now and then, she stole a glance at Fu Qi. Her hand rubbed against her knee for ages, yet she still didn’t dare raise it.
When Fu Qi moved on to applying foundation to her neck and lifted her chin, her eyes darted from side to side, but she still didn’t dare meet his gaze.
So her boldness only emerged at night?
Fu Qi found it amusing. “If you want to touch me, go ahead. That way, you won’t get upset with me later if you’re dissatisfied.”
“Oh, listen to you. I’m not that kind of zombie…”
Even as she spoke, her hand had already found its way onto Fu Qi’s chest.
“If you’re not that kind of zombie, then take your hand away…”
The zombie pretended not to hear him, running her hand up and down a few times before finally stopping over Fu Qi’s heart. Through the fabric, she could feel the vigorous beat beneath it. Her face flushed, and she tilted her head up at Fu Qi with a silly grin.
Fu Qi’s hand never stopped applying the foundation. “Do you like touching my chest that much?”
“It’s comfortable. There’s a heartbeat—it’s lively and energetic. I like it.” After praising him with complete sincerity, Qin Zhen blinked and suddenly realized something. “No wonder all those monsters in stories like eating human hearts!”
That was a rather frightening thing to say. Fu Qi reminded her, “You’re not allowed to covet human hearts! That’s something demons and monsters do.”
“I was only saying.” Qin Zhen declared, “I’m a good zombie!”
“You’d be even better if you had a little more sense of responsibility.”
“How much more responsible do I have to be? Do you really expect me to le—le—lead a zombie army and attack you humans?!”
Fu Qi no longer wanted to talk to her. He quickly finished applying the foundation, ruffled her hair, helped her put on her coat and gloves, and went outside to check on the situation.
The gunfire had come from less than two hundred meters away. They had barely gone any distance before they heard shouting and cursing. There were three people in total. Two of them were grappling with each other, while the third leaned against a car nearby, trying to break up the fight. A zombie’s corpse lay not far away.
Fu Qi watched from the shadows with Qin Zhen for a moment. “It’s nothing,” he said, then stepped out and walked toward them.
The man trying to mediate was a young fellow with a scar across his face. He was extremely alert. The moment he heard the movement, he turned around, his gun swinging with him. When he saw Fu Qi, his expression immediately turned cold.
“You? Fu Laoqi! What a small world!”
As he spoke, he raised the dark muzzle and aimed it at Fu Qi.
“Look out!”
Qin Zhen’s hair practically stood on end. She shouted and turned, throwing herself in front of Fu Qi to shield him.
The last incident had left her deeply shaken. There was no way she would let Fu Qi get hurt again. But after wrapping her arms around him, she heard no gunshot from behind. Instead, someone above her let out a low chuckle.
“Oh, come on, is this your new teammate?” the scar-faced man teased. “Fu Laoqi, what kind of love potion did you give her to make her willing to take a bullet for you?”
Fu Qi placed a hand on Qin Zhen’s shoulder and gently made her let go. He said quietly, “This is Tian Li from the Fierce Tiger Squad. He’s joking.”
He stroked Qin Zhen’s hair and pulled her to his side before asking the other man, “What happened?”
“What else could it be? A few days ago, we ran into three people from Country A. I injured my leg…”
Only after Fu Qi pulled her away did Qin Zhen realize that Tian Li wasn’t leaning against the car to look cool. One of his legs was tied up in a makeshift brace, leaving him unable to walk.
Tian Li explained that the Fierce Tiger Squad had received orders from the base to help slow down the three people from Country A. He had injured his leg and become separated from his teammates after being pinned down by enemy fire. Luckily, he had run into a kind young man who rescued him.
“By the way, I should warn you—the people from Country A headed east. Make sure you avoid them.” As he spoke, Tian Li pointed at the two men fighting on the ground. “Little Lin, the young guy who rescued me, and that older brother over there… Little Lin and I had been traveling all night and planned to rest here for a while. But as soon as we parked, we saw a zombie chasing that older brother and trying to bite him. Little Lin’s a warmhearted kid, so he fired a shot and put the zombie down…”
At that moment, the fight beside them came to an end. The middle-aged man had been pinned beneath the young man and was screaming hysterically.
“She wasn’t a zombie! She was my wife! You… I’ll kill you!”
He struggled furiously as he shouted.
The young man called Little Lin looked utterly exhausted. With a pained expression, he said, “Big brother, I’m sorry I tried to help and only made things worse. I didn’t know she was your wife! At the very least, you could’ve tied a rope around her, couldn’t you? Even people walking their dogs in an apartment complex have to keep them on a leash.”
His words were crude, but they made sense. The older man, however, was too furious to listen. He thought Little Lin was insulting his wife and insisted on beating him to death to avenge his zombie wife.
“That’s the whole story.” Tian Li spread his hands helplessly. “The apocalypse has been going on for five years. How are there still people getting romantically involved with zombies? Who could’ve seen that coming…”
Fu Qi said, “What’s so strange about it? Don’t you call your gun your wife?”
“How is that the same?”
“Species discrimination will bring you divine retribution.”
That was the situation in its entirety. The older man was determined to kill Little Lin and avenge his late wife. Little Lin had already killed the man’s zombie wife, so he couldn’t bring himself to kill a living person as well. In the end, he locked the man inside a house and drove away.
Fu Qi and Qin Zhen happened to be heading out too, so they decided to travel together.
Little Lin drove three hundred kilometers in one go before finally daring to stop and rest. Even after parking, he kept glancing behind them, afraid that the older man might have caught up.
They stopped near a river embankment. The area was secluded, with a wide-open view, making it relatively safe. After resting for a while, they reorganized their supplies and tended to themselves.
Most importantly, Tian Li’s leg had been treated far too hastily. Fu Qi happened to have some medicine, so he rebandaged the wound for him. He also contacted the Fierce Tiger Squad to let them know that Tian Li was safe.
The Fierce Tiger Squad was far away and would need at least two days to arrive. Tian Li was one of their own, and with his injury making it difficult for him to move, they obviously couldn’t leave him behind. After discussing it with Qin Zhen, Fu Qi decided to bring him along and drop him off near a secure base farther ahead.
As for Little Lin…
“To be honest, there’s not much hope left in this world. I’ve had enough. I’m planning to go back to my hometown, dig a hole, and bury myself.”
“It’s not that bad.” Tian Li patted him on the shoulder. “Maybe the apocalypse will be over in a couple of years. Hang in there, kid. Just keep going a little longer.”
“I can’t keep going, big brother!”
“Think of something positive!” Little Lin had saved Tian Li’s life, so Tian Li comforted him with great enthusiasm. “Think about your parents…”
“My father went to prison when I was three. After he got out, he took all the money from home and ran off. My mother remarried when I was young. I was raised by my grandfather, and he’s already passed away.”
“…”
“Think about your wife and children. If they knew you were still alive…”
“The zombie virus broke out when I was nineteen. I didn’t have a wife or children.”
“…”
Tian Li racked his brains trying to comfort Little Lin, completely forgetting all about Fu Qi.
Fu Qi went to find Qin Zhen and carefully inspected her head from every angle. “There are two more people traveling with us now, so remember to touch up your makeup regularly. And watch what you say, understand?”
Qin Zhen was sitting by the river embankment, pondering a very serious question. At his words, she turned her head to look at him and nodded, then turned back and continued thinking.
This was strange. Normally, she would be clinging to him by now, asking him to touch her.
Fu Qi sat down beside Qin Zhen and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
As he spoke, he held out his hand to the zombie. She grabbed it at once and rubbed his palm a few times. Then she seemed to realize something. She first lowered her head to look at Fu Qi’s hand, then looked at Fu Qi himself. Frowning deeply, she decisively let go.
Fu Qi: “...?”
Something was very wrong!
He was just about to ask Qin Zhen what was going on when someone walked over.
Little Lin sat down on Qin Zhen’s other side and said enthusiastically, “Hi, miss! My name is Lin Ye, but you can call me Little Lin. What’s your name?”
“She’s Little Qin,” Fu Qi answered for her.
“Little Qin? Is Qin your surname?”
Fu Qi said, “Her surname is Jiang. Jiang Xiaoqin. Qin as in ‘sunny day.’”
“Huh?” Little Lin looked bewildered for a moment, then made an uncertain sound. “Er... You mean ‘sunny’ as in clear skies, right? Jiang Xiaoqing?”
Fu Qi said, “That’s right. Qin as in ‘sunny day.’ Jiang Xiaoqin.”
Little Lin: “...”
Little Lin wasn’t even afraid of death, so he certainly wasn’t afraid of the minor difference between the n and ng sounds. Going along with local customs, he called her “Little Qin” and asked, “What are you doing?”
Qin Zhen had been seriously pondering a question, only to be interrupted first by Fu Qi and then by Little Lin. She was not in the best of moods. But after looking him over twice, her expression softened somewhat.
“I’m summarizing the advanced experience of my predecessors.”
Fu Qi: “?”
He had clearly been the one to ask her first.
Little Lin said, “Oh. Have you figured it out yet?”
Qin Zhen’s expression turned solemn. “Not entirely.”
“Why don’t you tell me about it? I can help you think it through. Two heads are better than one!”
Under normal circumstances, Qin Zhen would definitely have refused. Even if she wanted someone to help her think, she would have gone to Fu Qi. But this time, after a moment of thought, she said, “Sure.”
Fu Qi: “...”
It had only been one day, and he had already been replaced by some young kid?
The important thing was that this young man, whom Qin Zhen had met for the first time today, was very obviously interested in her...
Hadn’t he been determined to die just a moment ago?
In any case, the young man no longer wanted to die. He eagerly began asking Qin Zhen what exactly she was thinking about. Just as she was about to answer, Fu Qi coughed and stood up.
“We’ve rested enough. Time to hit the road.”
Lin Ye’s hometown was also in the south, so he was traveling in the same direction as Fu Qi and Qin Zhen. To save fuel, they combined the two cars into one.
Once they set off again, Qin Zhen took the wheel.
Ever since she had learned to drive, she had handled the steering wheel much of the time. Fu Qi was already used to it, but Lin Ye and Tian Li were not. Lin Ye in particular kept insisting that it was too tiring for a girl to drive and that he should take over for Qin Zhen.
Qin Zhen had something on her mind, so she simply gave him the driver’s seat.
But Lin Ye still wouldn’t settle down. He spent the entire journey trying to strike up conversations with Qin Zhen. His intentions were obvious to everyone.
Fu Qi remained silent. After they settled down for the night, with darkness approaching, the first thing he did was go looking for Tian Li.
Tian Li looked extremely awkward. “He said he didn’t want to live anymore, so I chatted with him for a while. I told him that even if he was going to die, he should at least fall in love once first. Otherwise, wouldn’t coming into this world have been a waste?”
Of the four “people,” there happened to be one girl, so naturally he began showering Qin Zhen with attention.
“I knew at a glance that you and Little Qin had an unusual relationship,” Tian Li said. “But saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda! Fu Laoqi, please, do me a favor and save my savior!”
Fu Qi said, “I don’t accept moral blackmail.”
Refusing moral blackmail was perfectly reasonable. But strictly speaking, his relationship with Qin Zhen had yet to be defined, so he had no right to stop anyone else from pursuing her. At most, he could remind Lin Ye that humans and zombies were different species, and that the barrier between them could not be broken lightly.
So he went to offer that reminder.
Qin Zhen said, “I know.”
She spoke very solemnly. Then she looked at Fu Qi and said, “You’re right. Humans and zombies are different. The bloody experiences of my predecessors re-, remind me that breaking through the barrier between species ends in tragedy!”
Fu Qi said, “...You know other zombies?”
“Not zombies. Gods, spirits, and ghosts.” The zombie spoke with great conviction. “Think of all the traditional stories China has accumulated over several thousand years. Whenever a god, spirit, or ghost falls in love with a human, not one of them has a good, good ending. The zombie we saw today was the same. Look—nonhumans can never be accepted by humans. Sooner or later, they all die.”
“...So?”
“To avoid repeating the mistakes of my predecessors,” the zombie said seriously, “I’ve decided to give up lust!”
Fu Qi: “...”
“From now on, I’m going to cleanse my heart of worldly desires and become the aloof Little Daoist Zombie I used to be!”
Qin Zhen declared this with great force. Then she looked at Fu Qi, her expression stern, and said, “Sweetie, you can’t indulge me anymore! You have to stand firm and follow your principles! You can’t just watch me become de-, degenerate!”
Fu Qi was silent for a moment before nodding. “All right. From now on, I’ll act according to principle.”
That night, they stayed in a two-bedroom apartment. Both rooms were available for sleeping, so Fu Qi said, “Then you’ll sleep in one room by yourself tonight?”
Qin Zhen nodded resolutely. “Mm!”
“Good,” Fu Qi said.
At the moment, the two of them were standing in one of the bedrooms, talking. Once they finished, Fu Qi turned to leave. As he lifted his foot, he seemed to accidentally step on something. His body tilted, and he fell toward the wall.
Qin Zhen was right beside him. Afraid that his shoulder would strike the wall and worsen his injury, she panicked and took a step forward, wrapping her arms around Fu Qi’s waist and placing herself between him and the wall.
But Fu Qi was tall and powerfully built, as heavy as a small mountain. He pressed down on Qin Zhen so hard that she was forced back two steps.
Fu Qi naturally put an arm around her waist and moved forward with her. With a bang, they hit the wall. Rather than saying that the two of them had embraced and crashed into it, it was more accurate to say that Qin Zhen had been pinned against the wall by Fu Qi.
One of his hands still protected the back of her head, while the other was wrapped around her waist.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Fu Qi lowered his head and asked softly, his voice tender. His breath brushed against the tip of Qin Zhen’s ear, making it twitch involuntarily.
That wasn’t all. As he expressed his concern, the hand around Qin Zhen’s waist spread open and pressed firmly into the small of her back. Then it followed the line of her spine, stroking upward slowly but with considerable force.
A tingling sensation climbed from Qin Zhen’s lower back along with his palm, shooting straight to the crown of her head.
When had a zombie ever encountered anything like this?
Her scalp went numb, and her entire body softened. She sank perfectly into Fu Qi’s embrace.
Fu Qi held her even tighter, gently rocking her in his arms as he urged her by her ear, “Sweetheart?”
“N-no, no, no... I’m fine...” Qin Zhen stammered, tilting her face up at him from within his arms.
“Good,” Fu Qi said, and released her as he stepped back.
He took one step back, and Qin Zhen moved forward as though glued to him, her arms still locked tightly around his lower back.
“You can’t touch me randomly,” Fu Qi reminded her. “Sweetheart, you’re supposed to be giving up lust. Don’t forget.”
“Uh… ah… hmm…” the zombie stammered. “How about… tomorrow…?”
“No.” Fu Qi’s voice was stern. He grabbed her arm and forcibly pulled it away. The zombie refused to let go, wrinkling his shirt in the process.
That wouldn’t do either.
Fu Qi pried Qin Zhen’s fingers open and said coldly, “You have to have principles.”
