Qin Zhen naturally knew that humans could die from injuries, but she didn’t understand why Fu Qi suddenly reminded her of this. Before she could ponder it further, the sound of explosions echoed through the tomb, causing rubble to fall. Several pieces landed near the coffin.
"Husband!" Qin Zhen shouted, scrambling to gather the pile of bones on the ground.
Though she wasn’t entirely sure what relationship these bones had to her, they had still been her companions for a long time. Even if they couldn’t be husband and wife anymore, the sentiment remained.
Clutching the bones, she yelled at Fu Qi amid the deafening blasts, "Your friend is d-d-destroying my home!"
Fu Qi crouched down to help gather the bones, apologizing, "I’m sorry."
"This is serious!"
"I’ll give you my pants when we get out."
"...It’s not about the pants!"
Truthfully, Qin Zhen was a little tempted.
At this point, the tomb was almost certainly going to collapse, and whether they could escape was no longer up to her. There were plenty of clothes outside, but she had no money. Before she could earn enough to buy new ones, she needed at least one decent outfit to maintain her dignity as a zombie.
But after what happened last time, Qin Zhen wasn’t sure whether she or her "husband" was the true owner of the tomb. What if the tomb belonged to him? If she forgave the person responsible for collapsing their home so easily, where would that leave the pile of bones?
"You—you—"
Before she could finish her accusation, another explosion rocked the tomb, shaking the entire cavern.
Qin Zhen lost her balance and fell onto her backside with a yelp. The skull in her arms rolled away, nearly hitting a sharp piece of rubble before a hand intercepted it.
"Anything else important?" Fu Qi asked, holding a hastily bundled pile of bones in one hand while shoving the retrieved skull into Qin Zhen’s grasp with the other.
Fine, I’ll forgive you for now.
Qin Zhen muttered silently before shouting, "The coffin! The glowing pearl!"
"If they don’t hold special meaning, leave them." Fu Qi grabbed her arm, pulling her through the debris-filled tomb. "You and your husband are the priority."
Qin Zhen felt touched, though the phrasing struck her as odd. But there was no time to dwell on it. She stumbled after Fu Qi through the passageways until they reached the side chamber with the underground pool—only to find the stone walls already collapsed. The once-still water was rapidly rising, nearly flooding the tomb.
"This—this—"
"This pool must be connected to an underground river. The large-scale explosions above likely loosened the soil, allowing the river to break through and flood in." Fu Qi explained swiftly before urging, "Move!"
His explanation came too quickly, as if he’d anticipated this when he first examined the pool. Before Qin Zhen could question him, Fu Qi dragged her into the turbulent waters.
The current was fierce and murky, pressing in from all sides and blinding her. Worse, a powerful whirlpool kept dragging her deeper.
Luckily, she didn’t need to breathe. But with no sense of direction, she could only rely on Fu Qi’s tight grip on her wrist to keep them from separating.
Qin Zhen decided to do nothing except clutch her "husband’s" skull, letting Fu Qi and the whirlpool toss her around like a ragdoll.
The underwater chaos lasted so long that Qin Zhen began wondering—if Fu Qi drowned and she couldn’t escape, would she become an underwater zombie?
Not a bad idea. A whole new zombie subspecies.
The only problem was that if she let go of the skull, the current would sweep it away.
Maybe she could tie it to herself with seaweed, but that felt disrespectful, like walking a dog...
Lost in thought, Qin Zhen suddenly noticed light. The next moment, Fu Qi released her wrist, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pushed her upward with force.
"Whoosh—"
They broke through the surface.
Qin Zhen had imagined many scenarios for their escape—running into Fu Qi’s tomb-raiding accomplices, emerging into a snowstorm, scaring some unlucky passerby with her undead appearance, or even stepping into a futuristic world with towering skyscrapers and flying mechs. But she never expected the first thing she’d see to be the barrel of a gun.
"P-p-people..."
Fu Qi was right beside her, though he’d been facing the other way. Wiping water from his face, he turned and corrected, "These two are international friends from Country A. Be polite—come on, sweetheart, say hello."
The two burly, blond men aiming guns at them from the riverbank reacted instantly. One swore, "Fuck!"
The sunlight was so bright that its reflection off the water on Fu Qi’s face momentarily blinded the second man, delaying his recognition. When he finally saw Fu Qi, his expression darkened, and he spat out the same curse.
"Fu—Fuck!" Qin Zhen stammered in imitation.
She was cursing Fu Qi too.
Now she understood everything.
Fu Qi had never explicitly said his "friends" were coming to rescue them—only that they would come looking for him.
This wasn’t a rescue. It was a revenge hunt.
No wonder he kept confirming whether she could survive injuries and reminded her that humans die from gunshots... He wanted her to take bullets for him!
Qin Zhen felt hurt.
If Fu Qi had just admitted these were enemies and asked her to protect him, she would’ve agreed. Guns and blades couldn’t harm her—only Taoist priests posed a real threat. It wouldn’t hurt, and she wouldn’t die.
Besides, despite his scheming and infuriating remarks, Fu Qi had never truly harmed her. On the contrary, he’d helped care for her "husband" and kept his promise to bring her out of the tomb.
He was the first human she’d met after being isolated for so long. They’d faced danger together, and Qin Zhen would’ve agreed to almost any reasonable request.
But why did he have to manipulate her?
She thought they could at least call each other friends.
The zombie was genuinely heartbroken.
The sunlight was too harsh, forcing Qin Zhen to squint as she looked at Fu Qi. She opened her mouth to speak—
Before she could utter a word, Fu Qi suddenly shoved her.
Only her shoulders and head were above water, and she’d been leaning against Fu Qi lazily. The unexpected push sent her backward just as a gunshot rang out.
The bullet struck where she’d been, sending a spray of water into her face.
Before she could process what happened, another bullet whizzed toward her.
This time, Fu Qi was too far to intervene. The icy projectile pierced Qin Zhen’s left chest with a sharp "thud."
Qin Zhen: "..."
She stared blankly at Fu Qi, who was just an arm’s length away, his brows furrowed as he tried to reach her—only to be stopped by another warning shot.
Qin Zhen followed the trajectory of the bullet toward the riverbank and spotted the two cursing foreigners, their gun barrels still smoking.
"Bang!" One of them fired again, the bullet sending another spray of water into the air before striking Qin Zhen squarely in the chest.
She stared blankly down as dark crimson blood seeped from the wound, spreading in delicate tendrils.
"..."
The words Fu Qi had said to her before leaving the tomb resurfaced in her mind. Finally, Qin Zhen closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and let herself fall heavily backward.
