A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

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Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Bei Nuan suddenly wasn't afraid anymore.

Staring at Huo Ren's arrogant face, Bei Nuan frantically imagined a scene in her mind where thousands of bags of rice were pelting him.

"What's wrong with Brother Huo?" Huang Mao, who was behind Bei Nuan, muttered, "Is he in a bad mood?"

Bei Nuan thought: Does he look like he is in a bad mood? He looks like he is in a great mood.

"You stay here. If you want to go back to your room, go back yourself. I'll go up and have a look."

Huang Mao gave the instruction and left.

He really didn't need to keep an eye on Bei Nuan all the time. The place was surrounded by high walls; Bei Nuan wasn't a bird, she couldn't fly out even if she wanted to.

By the time Bei Nuan looked up again, Huo Ren had disappeared from the balcony.

Several guards with guns came over and dragged the middle-aged man away from the mother and daughter.

The people who had just been scared away returned to the courtyard one after another, quietly inquiring, "Why did he suddenly shoot?"

The guards said lightly, "Our boss saw this man mutating from above, so he shot him."

Some people really believed it, some were skeptical. Whether they believed it or not, no one dared to say a word.

Huang Mao showed no sign of returning, so Bei Nuan quietly slipped to the back of the courtyard.

As expected, Lu Xingchi and the other two came out of a building behind.

Many people were sitting on the steps under the shade of the trees outside the building. Lu Xingchi walked over and sat down. Bei Nuan looked around and sat down too.

It was rare for Boss Lu to be so low-key; it looked quite novel.

When he saw Bei Nuan coming, he didn't turn his gaze, but used his body to shield her, and discreetly stretched out his hand to find and hold Bei Nuan's hand.

His fingers were slender and strong, his palms warm, a circle larger than Bei Nuan's, tightly enveloping her hand.

Bei Nuan's nose suddenly felt a little sore.

Bei Nuan really wanted to ask him: Did you follow the fried rice with egg and rice here?

But it felt like a silly question.

Something small and hard appeared in Bei Nuan's palm.

It turned out that he was holding her hand because he had something to give her.

Bei Nuan withdrew her hand and looked down. It was two deformed bullets and two shell casings.

Lu Xingchi whispered, "The person who died at the pier and the people who were silenced at the small restaurant last time were all shot execution-style at close range. Look closely, the bullets taken out are the same."

He was talking about the waiters who were silenced in the farmhouse restaurant outside Ning City on the day the zombie outbreak occurred.

Bei Nuan didn't notice when he took the bullets.

At that time, the owner of the restaurant was so frightened that he became mentally unstable. What did he say he heard? Bei Nuan thought.

Zombie virus suppressant.

Lu Xingchi was also saying, "I think the murderers are likely to be the same group of people. They mentioned the zombie virus suppressant. I want to find out what's going on."

That's why Lu Xingchi went against his usual behavior and entered this shelter so low-key.

This shelter was also strange. It seemed to be charitably taking in refugees, but it seemed to be Huo Ren's territory.

Huo Ren acted tyrannically and disregarded human life, and no one dared to control him. He didn't look like someone who would kindly open a shelter.

But maybe this place was just his playground. He had people round up everyone and kept them here for his amusement.

Bei Nuan shivered.

Bei Nuan whispered about Huo Ren to Lu Xingchi.

Lu Xingchi nodded, asked which room she was staying in, and then said, "We'll probably stay for two days. Don't be afraid."

With his reassurance, Bei Nuan went back to her room to rest with peace of mind.

At dinner time, the kitchen staff moved several huge stainless steel barrels to the courtyard. The barrels were filled with thin porridge.

The rice grains in the porridge were playing hide-and-seek, and they hid so well that no one could find them.

Even with this kind of clear porridge that could be drunk with a straw, each person could only get a small bowl, enough to keep you from starving, but not full.

Just as Bei Nuan was about to get her porridge, Huang Mao called her. He gave her and Zhen Zhen a lunch box each. When they opened them, there were two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes neatly arranged inside.

Bei Nuan thought, is this the legendary harem treatment?

Zhen Zhen ran over from next door to eat with Bei Nuan. They chatted casually, and the topic was still Huo Ren.

Because of Huo Ren's reckless shooting in the afternoon, Bei Nuan felt uncomfortable whenever she thought of him, even hearing his name gave her PTSD. Zhen Zhen, however, was oblivious.

"I think Huo Ren didn't really want to kill anyone," Zhen Zhen said, "He was standing so high, maybe he really saw someone mutating."

There was half a river fish in Bei Nuan's lunch box. The fish was very fresh, and Bei Nuan carefully picked out the fish bones, not wanting to talk much.

"Or maybe he misunderstood, thinking that the person was going to do something bad for this place. After all, it's rare to have such a safe place for everyone to hide from zombies, so it must be protected."

Bei Nuan thought: That man who was shot had his wife and children with him. What bad things could he do?

The fish was very tender, and Bei Nuan was busy eating. Zhen Zhen continued her monologue.

"Huo Ren seems to be quite prone to thinking of people from a dark perspective. I think he is just… how should I put it… someone who accidentally fell into darkness, needing redemption, needing a little light."

Bei Nuan didn't respond, thinking: Sister, your Huo Ren is not someone who accidentally fell into darkness, he is the Dark Lord himself.

You redeem him slowly, be careful not to redeem yourself into it.

Sure enough, by nightfall, Huo Ren was in great need of redemption.

It was Xiao Hei, who had helped Bei Nuan drive the boat during the day, who came.

Xiao Hei came to inform Bei Nuan that Huo Ren wanted her to go to his room tonight.

When Xiao Hei came to call her, Zhen Zhen was still at Bei Nuan's place. Hearing his words, she was stunned for a long time, her eyes turning red.

Bei Nuan was frightened by her: Could she really think that Huo Ren taking Bei Nuan with him was an act of great kindness?

How could she be so naive?

"Did Brother Huo call her because he has something to say?" Zhen Zhen seemed to still hold a glimmer of hope.

Xiao Hei glanced at Bei Nuan, his dark skin showing a hint of red, "Brother Huo definitely has something to do." He added, "You've been with Brother Huo all the way, don't you understand?"

Zhen Zhen's face instantly flushed red. She stood up abruptly and said resolutely, "Take me to see him, I want to have a good talk with him."

Then she turned to Bei Nuan and asked hesitantly, "Do you… want to go with me?"

Bei Nuan huddled on the bed, hugged her pillow, and shook her head frantically.

The meaning was clear: You can keep your precious Huo Ren to yourself, absolutely no one will fight you for him.

Zhen Zhen was very satisfied with Bei Nuan's reaction and instructed Xiao Hei, "Then let's go."

She went out first.

Xiao Hei hesitated for a moment.

Brother Huo called for Bei Nuan, Xiao Hei didn't dare not bring her over, but he also didn't dare to seriously offend Zhen Zhen - Brother Huo's current number one in the harem.

Xiao Hei looked at Bei Nuan again.

Bei Nuan shrank to the innermost part of the bed, a small ball.

On her small, white face, her eyes were as black and white as a small animal's, looking at him with glistening tears.

Under the pitiful gaze of those eyes, Xiao Hei's protective instincts as a man surged up.

He said to Bei Nuan, "Don't be afraid, you don't have to go yet. I'll see if she can persuade Brother Huo." After thinking for a moment, he added, "I'll also try to talk to Brother Huo, he's quite willing to listen to me."

He left too.

As soon as they left, the guard in charge came with a large ring of keys, locking all the cell doors.

They said it was for safety, to prevent zombies, but Bei Nuan didn't believe it at all.

As darkness fell, there were no lights, the corridor was very quiet, and Zhen Zhen and the others didn't come back.

Lying in bed, Bei Nuan couldn't sleep at all.

Bei Nuan reorganized the things in her space again, spreading out all the things that could be used as weapons to hit, chop, or cut people, one by one, arranging them in the most convenient and accessible place in the space.

While she was busy, she suddenly heard a slight sound coming from the door, as if the lock was slowly turning.

The cell door was locked, and no one could open it without a key.

The people with keys were either the guards or Huo Ren.

Bei Nuan sat up abruptly.

In the darkness, a tall figure flashed into the room and closed the door casually.

All the hairs on Bei Nuan's body stood on end. She took out a sharp meat cleaver and held it in her hand.

The person walked over quickly.

The knife in Bei Nuan's hand suddenly and inexplicably flew out of her hand.

He came over in a few steps and unhesitatingly grabbed Bei Nuan's wrist, covering her mouth at the same time.

Moonlight shone on the bedside. As soon as he came over, Bei Nuan saw who it was and opened her mouth to bite his hand fiercely.

"It's me." Lu Xingchi didn't seem to be in pain, and there was even a smile in his voice.

Bei Nuan let go of her mouth, "I know it's you. You scared me to death."

Lu Xingchi chuckled softly, "You have too many tricks. I was afraid that if I wasn't fast enough, I might be killed by you using some strange method first."

He let go of Bei Nuan and sat down on her bed. Suddenly he saw a rope hanging down from above.

"What's this?" Lu Xingchi reached out.

"Don't touch it!"

Bei Nuan grabbed his moving hand, then climbed up, stepped on the lower bunk, and fiddled with the upper bunk's railing.

"What is it?" Lu Xingchi also stood up and saw that the upper bunk was covered with sheets, bulging with several large lumps.

"A trap. Three gas canisters in a row. Pull it, and they'll all fall down together."

Anyone who dared to bend down by her bed would be unlucky.

Lu Xingchi was silent for a moment. He really almost got killed by her; she was really well-prepared.

The origin of the gas canisters was easy to guess. After making Hainanese chicken rice in the small building in S City, she took all the gas canisters in the building.

She had no intention of staying in that small building at all.

Lu Xingchi had long discovered that Bei Nuan had a habit of picking up anything she found useful as she passed by, like a little hamster that liked to hoard things.

Bei Nuan tucked the rope that triggered the trap properly under the upper bunk sheet and hid it.

The trap had to be set; she couldn't just sit and wait for death.

Locked alone in a cell, she had to guard not only against the perverted Huo Ren, but also against others. The guards here didn't look like good people either.

"What are you doing here?" Bei Nuan asked Lu Xingchi.

"To see you, I'm afraid you'll be scared alone." Lu Xingchi said straightforwardly.

Bei Nuan was a little touched.

"I checked. The people in charge of this place are indeed in the same group as Huo Ren. Huo Ren is their leader." Lu Xingchi said.

Bei Nuan also knew that they seemed to know each other. And Huo Ren acted as if he could do whatever he wanted, not like he was on someone else's territory.

Lu Xingchi pondered for a moment, "I don't know why they would build a shelter."

Bei Nuan smoothly added, "What a pervert wants to do, a normal person can't understand."

Lu Xingchi smiled and stood up.

Bei Nuan thought he was leaving, but he picked up Bei Nuan's dagger from the ground and casually pulled a sheet.

He walked to the door and used the dagger to nail the sheet to the door, covering the small window that could be peeped into from outside.

With the small window covered, the two of them were alone in the cell, and Bei Nuan suddenly blushed a little.

Lu Xingchi walked back and leaned down in front of Bei Nuan's bed.

By the moonlight coming in from outside, she could see his long, bright eyes.

He was really too close, his attractively curved lips were right in front of her, and Bei Nuan suddenly remembered the kiss they had bumped into at the supermarket.

His lips felt soft, his breath fresh, and to be honest, quite… kissable…

Bei Nuan was startled by her own thoughts and immediately corrected herself in her mind: It's just objectively, physically, quite… kissable.

Staring at someone's lips was really inappropriate.

Bei Nuan moved her gaze away from his lips and looked up, suddenly finding that Boss Lu's eyes were downcast, also looking at Bei Nuan's lips.

The atmosphere was strangely awkward. Bei Nuan instinctively moved towards the inside of the bed.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." Lu Xingchi suddenly said, his voice gentle.

"I'm not afraid of you." Bei Nuan hurriedly declared, adding, "I'm not afraid of anyone."

"Yes." Lu Xingchi smiled, "You're not afraid of anyone, everyone else should be afraid of you."

He suddenly reached out and gently stroked Bei Nuan's cheek with his fingertips.

"With a face like this, they would never guess what's going on in that little head behind it."

Bei Nuan felt guilty, "…What am I thinking about?"

"Thinking about gas canisters is not bad, anyone who gets hit by one would be in trouble." Lu Xingchi's voice was low and gentle, with a hint of teasing, "Rice is not so good, it falls down bag by bag, not in one piece, it can't crush anyone."

These were the words Bei Nuan muttered when she hit Zhou Cang with rice. It turned out he had heard them all.

Although she was caught, Bei Nuan refused to admit it.

Bei Nuan muttered, "I don't even know what nonsense you're talking about."

Lu Xingchi tugged at the corner of his mouth faintly, "Yes, I don't know what I'm talking about either."

He withdrew his hand and straightened up, as if he was about to leave.

For some reason, a faint sense of loss arose in Bei Nuan's heart.

Lu Xingchi glanced at Bei Nuan's expression, then suddenly bent down again and reached out to cup the back of her head.

He leaned in and gently touched Bei Nuan's forehead with his lips.

The lips that she remembered as being very kissable touched her forehead, bringing a soft touch and warmth.

Bei Nuan was stunned for a moment and didn't struggle, thinking: This is the standard elder-style kiss. Papa Rabbit must have felt a little guilty for making the little rabbit lose her way today.

While she was lost in thought, she heard him whisper above her head, "You're tired today. Let's sleep, I'll stay with you."

Bei Nuan: ???

What does that mean??

Glancing at Bei Nuan's stiff expression, Lu Xingchi smiled, let go of her, walked to the opposite iron bed, and lay down fully clothed.

So that's what he meant by staying with her. It seemed he wasn't planning to leave tonight.

Although they had been together all this time, it was the first time they had spent the night alone in a room.

Bei Nuan lay back on the bed again and tried hard to recall the description of the male lead in the book.

He should be considered a gentleman, right? Right?

Before she could figure it out, her eyelids started to droop.

She had been worried and scared all day, constantly fearing that the perverted Huo Ren would suddenly shoot someone. Her nerves had been taut like a bowstring. Now that he was here, her whole heart suddenly settled down.

Bei Nuan's eyelids closed uncontrollably, as if glued shut with superglue, and she couldn't open them again.

The next morning, the corridor outside was filled with the noise of everyone getting up, and the clanging of the guards' keys.

Bei Nuan was woken up by the noise. When she sat up, she saw that Lu Xingchi's bed was already empty. She didn't know when he had left.

The door lock was also intact; at least the guards didn't notice anything unusual when they unlocked the door.

After breakfast, Zhen Zhen did come back from Huo Ren's place.

Bei Nuan didn't know how her talk with Huo Ren went. She looked exhausted and didn't say anything, and Bei Nuan didn't ask.

After breakfast, Bei Nuan found Lu Xingchi and the others in the courtyard. When they saw Bei Nuan, they walked over to the flower bed in the courtyard and sat down.

Bei Nuan also walked over and sat a little distance away from them, pretending to look at the scenery.

People who came out for fresh air sat all around the flower bed. Several people sitting together were not conspicuous.

Bei Nuan took off her jacket, quietly took Lu Xingchi's backpack from her space, hid it under her clothes, and pushed it towards him.

Inside were several large bags of nougat biscuits and Du Ruo's favorite beef jerky, and a few bottles of water.

"You left so early, I didn't have time to give it to you."

All the food was with Bei Nuan. The three of them had probably been hungry since noon yesterday.

Lu Xingchi glanced at the bag and smiled, "We won't die from missing a couple of meals."

Du Ruo, however, didn't think so and whined to Bei Nuan.

"Bei Nuan, did you see the porridge they served? That stuff is rice bathwater, right? When are you coming back to the team? I don't think I can live a day without you."

Although these words sounded ambiguous, Bei Nuan definitely wouldn't misunderstand his meaning.

What he meant was, without the snack stash, he couldn't live.

Jiang Fei didn't seem to care about food at all and looked at Bei Nuan tenderly, "Don't worry about us all the time, take care of yourself."

Lu Xingchi's crossbow and magazine were also with Bei Nuan. She didn't dare to hand them to him openly and asked quietly, "Do you want your crossbow?"

Lu Xingchi shook his head and refused, "Keep it with you for now, it's too conspicuous."

Du Ruo was a little dissatisfied: "Bei Nuan, you didn't even ask me if I wanted my Minghong Saber."

He was talking about his blunt, chuunibyou cosplay prop saber.

"Then do you want your Minghong Saber?" Bei Nuan had to ask him.

"No, keep it with you for now," Du Ruo said solemnly, "It's too conspicuous."

Bei Nuan: "…"

Lu Xingchi said, "I sneaked into their building again this morning and checked, but I still couldn't find anything useful. We don't need to waste any more time, we'll leave tonight."

Bei Nuan glanced at the two black iron gates, "Leave tonight? Can we get out?"

Lu Xingchi smiled, "Don't worry, I have a way."

While they were having their secret discussion, Xiao Hei walked over from afar and sat down directly next to Bei Nuan.

Bei Nuan thought he had something to ask her, but he didn't. He just sat there and chatted casually.

Since Bei Nuan had nothing else to do, she carefully checked his background, asked about his hometown and interesting things about fishing, then changed the subject and talked to him about the shelter.

"Are we going to stay here forever?" Bei Nuan asked him.

Xiao Hei replied, "We'll probably have to leave in a few days."

"Why? Isn't this place good? Zombies can't get in." Bei Nuan looked innocent and ignorant.

Xiao Hei glanced at her small face and couldn't help but whisper to her, showing off what he knew.

"We're waiting for someone here. If the person has already passed, we have to continue to chase after them."

He used "we," clearly treating Bei Nuan as one of his own.

Bei Nuan's curiosity was completely piqued, "Waiting for someone? Waiting for who?"

"I can't say that." Xiao Hei replied, "Actually, we seized this prison and turned it into a shelter just to wait for that person to come."

After saying this, he seemed to feel that he had said too much, and looked regretful.

Bei Nuan tilted her head and saw that Lu Xingchi was looking down, not at her, but listening quietly.

No matter how Bei Nuan tried to set him up, Xiao Hei refused to say more.

Bei Nuan thought, she knew that Huo Ren and the others didn't build this place out of kindness.

They put up signs everywhere nearby, gathering survivors here, more like waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump.

So who were they looking for that was worth so much trouble?

Huo Ren, with his men and guns, seemed to have a powerful background. The person he was willing to go to such lengths to find was probably not an ordinary person.

Bei Nuan thought, whoever that unlucky person Huo Ren was looking for, she wished him well in never being found.

Whether Huo Ren could find that mysterious person or not, he could definitely catch Bei Nuan at any time.

Before noon, Huang Mao came directly to Bei Nuan's room to take her away.

"Brother Huo is looking for you, he wants you to go over."

It was never-ending.

Zhen Zhen had been locked in her room and hadn't come out. This time, there was no one to save Bei Nuan.

It was Huang Mao who came, not Xiao Hei. He had a frivolous smirk on his face. Bei Nuan felt that acting pitiful towards him would definitely not be a good thing, so she obediently stood up.

There was no escaping it, she had to go see Huo Ren.

As Bei Nuan followed Huang Mao through the courtyard, her eyes searched the crowd, but she didn't see Lu Xingchi and the others.

She didn't know where they had gone.

The administration building was very different from the dormitory area. It was clean and comfortable, with air conditioning as soon as you entered. Huang Mao took Bei Nuan to the fourth floor.

"Brother Huo?" Huang Mao knocked on a heavy wooden door.

"Come in." Huo Ren's lazy voice came from inside.

Pushing the door open, inside was a spacious room like an office.

Huo Ren was sitting on a swivel chair, the front of his shirt unbuttoned, revealing a large part of his chest, his long legs resting on the table in front of him. He was leisurely turning the chair while talking on the phone.

He glanced at Bei Nuan, gave Huang Mao a sign to go out.

Huang Mao respectfully backed out and thoughtfully closed the door.

Bei Nuan was a little puzzled: How could he make phone calls? Mobile phones had long been unusable. There had been no signal all the way here.

But the phone in his hand looked a bit special, sturdy and simple, like something from decades ago, with a thick black antenna sticking out from the top like a unicorn horn.

Bei Nuan suddenly understood: This was the legendary satellite phone, right?

In such chaotic times, probably only satellite phones could still be used.

"I just rested for a day, slept in bed for one night, and you're asking me to leave again?" Huo Ren's tone to the other end of the phone was very unhappy, "Even a working girl has a nine-to-six, six-days-a-week schedule."

Bei Nuan wanted to laugh a little.

She wondered who could even command Huo Ren.

"Alright, alright. Someone really saw him? Okay, then I'll go and take a look. So we don't want this shelter anymore?"

Bei Nuan remained calm.

It sounded like they had found the person they were looking for.

So this shelter no longer had any meaning and was probably going to close down.

Huo Ren hummed twice, threw the phone in his hand on the table, and looked up at Bei Nuan.

He put his legs down from the table, his long eyes squinted at Bei Nuan for a while, scanning her from top to bottom, then from bottom to top, and suddenly patted his thigh.

"Come here, sit down."

Bei Nuan stood motionless at the door as if she hadn't heard him, rapidly calculating a thousand ways to kill him in her mind.

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