A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

Bei Nuan put the gun back on the table and walked to the door of the fighting cage.

The burly man had already rushed over to open the door for her, looking even more excited than Bei Nuan.

“I thought you definitely wouldn't hit it,” the burly man said.

Bei Nuan thought to herself that, actually, even if she hadn't hit the zombie, she wouldn't have been afraid.

It's just that, in that case, everyone in the entire casino would have witnessed a whole bunch of random things suddenly appear out of thin air, blocking the zombie and Bei Nuan, and then witnessed Bei Nuan fighting the zombie with all sorts of strange items.

That would probably be the most memorable cage fight in history.

The burly man's excitement was different from that of the audience below.

He asked Bei Nuan, “Do you know how much money you won?”

The burly man picked up his small notebook and, pinching a pink pen, quickly calculated.

Because no one thought an F-rank would win, and Bei Nuan had also bet on killing the zombie with one shot, the odds were astonishingly high. Bei Nuan had won a whopping 7,800 dollars.

In addition to the prize money of 5,000 dollars for killing the zombie and winning the cage fight, the total was over 12,800 dollars.

Considering the income and prices here, this was undoubtedly a huge sum.

Bei Nuan thought that Du Ruo wouldn't have to painstakingly carry stones anymore. This money was enough for him to buy out all of Xiao Shao's roasted sparrows every day.

The burly man counted out a large bag of chips, handed it to Bei Nuan, and, still a bit worried, advised her, “You can deposit the money in the casino. Withdraw as much as you need, don't carry it all with you. Be careful of being robbed.”

So it turns out this powerful casino also doubles as a bank.

After counting Bei Nuan's chips, the burly man yelled, “The other person who bet on her to win, number 0527, who is it?”

Bei Nuan was also very curious. Who had such good judgment, such a discerning eye, to dare bet on an F-rank to win?

In the dense crowd, a thin, small arm was raised.

Bei Nuan saw clearly that it was Xiao Shao, the girl selling roasted sparrows she had met at the market in the morning.

She was so young, yet she was already hanging around in a casino.

“She bet on me winning with one shot, just like me?”

“No,” the burly man explained, “She bet ten dollars on every possible way you could win.”

Xiao Shao struggled to push through the crowded people, squeezed to the front of the stage, and expertly instructed the burly man, “Exchange all the chips for cash and deposit it into my account.”

The burly man glanced at the B-rank tag hanging on Xiao Shao's chest and laughed, “Kid, you bet pretty accurately. You're a B-rank, yet you actually bet on an F-rank to win?”

Xiao Shao's expression was a little embarrassed. She told the truth, “Actually, I also bet on her losing after two shots.”

Bei Nuan: “…”

Quite good at spreading the risk.

Xiao Shao looked up and gave Bei Nuan a happy smile, her dark eyes sparkling.

“Sister, you're so amazing! How did you think of coming here to kill zombies? Do you urgently need money?”

Bei Nuan thought: I'd be crazy to want to kill zombies. Others come here voluntarily, but I don't.

“No, I was forced…”

Before she could finish speaking, Bei Nuan saw a man in a military uniform coming through the crowd to find her.

It was the person who had been standing behind Qiu Zhengxun.

If Qiu Zhengxun was looking for someone, it was definitely nothing good.

Bei Nuan bent down and whispered quickly to Xiao Shao, “Xiao Shao, can you do me a favor? Do you remember those A-rank brothers who were with me? They're carrying stones on the mountain. Go tell them that I've been detained here, and they'll give you a very, very big reward.”

The man in uniform had already squeezed over, stood below the stage, and vaguely pointed at Bei Nuan with his finger, then pointed behind him, “Master Qiu wants you to come over.”

The "Master Qiu" he spoke of should be Qiu Zhengxun.

Bei Nuan looked at Xiao Shao again and found that her small figure, weaving east and west, had already squeezed out of the crowd and disappeared.

The zombie cage fight was over, and the crowd reluctantly left the iron cage, surging to other places to continue their revelry, leaving only the casino staff to enter the iron cage and clean up the mess.

Bei Nuan followed the man back to Qiu Zhengxun and Qiu Ji.

Qiu Zhengxun was sitting in a chair, but like he was standing at attention, his shoulders straight and his expression cold and annoyed.

Qiu Ji leaned back in his seat, his elbow resting on the armrest, lazily slouching, his long eyes narrowed, smiling at Bei Nuan.

Letting Qiu Zhengxun speak first was definitely not going to be good.

Bei Nuan spoke first, “I won the cage fight, killed the zombie, can I leave now?”

Before Qiu Zhengxun could speak, Qiu Ji opened his mouth and answered very fluently.

He smiled, “It was agreed before the cage fight that you would be free after killing the zombie. Master Qiu always keeps his word. You won the cage fight, of course you can leave.”

This was to set the terms first, so that Qiu Zhengxun had no room to go back on his word.

Qiu Zhengxun, however, didn't buy it at all.

He frowned, “She just said she'd never used a gun before. But how could an ordinary girl, facing a zombie, firing a gun for the first time, be so calm? I find it very suspicious.”

Bei Nuan couldn't help it: Suspicious my foot!

This Qiu Zhengxun was determined to make things difficult for Bei Nuan, even making up excuses.

Bei Nuan strongly suspected that if it weren't for his younger brother Qiu Ji constantly protecting her, Qiu Zhengxun wouldn't bother with all this trouble, picking on a laborer.

He would probably just pull out his gun and shoot Bei Nuan dead.

Qiu Zhengxun continued, “I want to temporarily detain her in the mountain prison and investigate her thoroughly.”

Qiu Ji immediately objected, “Why the mountain prison? Is that a place for people to stay? She was caught sneaking into my casino warehouse. Even if she needs to be detained, shouldn't it be more appropriate to detain her here?”

Qiu Zhengxun hesitated for a moment.

Bei Nuan had a feeling that he glanced at Uncle Shi, who was standing behind Qiu Ji, before nodding and saying, “Fine.”

Although she had won the cage fight, Bei Nuan still couldn't leave.

Qiu Ji gestured to Uncle Shi to take Bei Nuan away, “Go find a place for her in the back and let her sleep well.”

“Wait,” Bei Nuan said, pulling out a one-hundred dollar chip from the bag of chips and returning it to Qiu Ji.

Qiu Ji smiled, took the chip, and turned the small plastic disc between his fingers.

He glanced at the heavy cloth bag in her hand and asked, “You lent me money, so there's no interest?”

Bei Nuan carefully rummaged through the cloth bag again and found a twenty-dollar chip, which she handed to him.

“Twenty percent interest for such a short loan, am I not generous?”

Qiu Ji took the twenty-dollar chip, both amused and exasperated. “Yes, very generous.”

Bei Nuan handed the large bag of chips to the burly man. “Please deposit all of this for me.”

Uncle Shi led Bei Nuan away from the cage fighting cavern. Instead of going elsewhere, they returned to the restricted area behind the casino.

Opposite the room where the zombies were kept, there was a room with an iron gate.

Uncle Shi brought Bei Nuan inside.

Bei Nuan had seen this cavern-made "room" when she first arrived. It was originally a storage room for the casino, filled with tables, chairs, benches, and all sorts of other things.

“You can sleep here peacefully tonight. If Master Qiu finishes his investigation and you’re clear, he’ll release you.”

Bei Nuan nodded and walked in.

There were gas lamps hanging on the walls of the outside corridor. The light from the gas lamps shone through the iron gate, so the room wasn't completely dark.

Bei Nuan walked to the innermost part, specifically chose a backlit empty space, and started moving the clutter aside.

Presumably because Qiu Ji had instructed him to "let her sleep well," Uncle Shi went out and got a thick blanket for Bei Nuan, handed it to her, and then locked the door and left.

It was dark here, with no way to tell the time.

But Bei Nuan estimated that after all this time, it should be dark outside.

Lu Xingchi and the others must have discovered that she was missing by now. They probably wouldn't dream that she was in a casino.

She wondered if Xiao Shao could successfully find them.

That child looked so clever, maybe she could.

Bei Nuan glanced at the blanket, tossed it aside, and started diligently pulling things out of her space.

The surroundings gradually quieted down, even the noise from the casino gradually faded into silence. It seemed that it had closed for the night.

Someone walked over, turning off the gas lamps hanging on the corridor walls one by one, leaving only the last one, its light dimmed.

The footsteps gradually faded away, leaving Bei Nuan alone.

Only the zombies locked in the opposite room would occasionally groan and shake the cage doors, the hollow clang echoing in the corridor.

After an unknown amount of time, a figure blocked the light from outside the iron gate.

He fiddled with the lock, the sound very soft, as if afraid of disturbing someone.

After a slight click, the iron gate slowly opened, and a person tiptoed in.

He paused at the doorway for a few seconds, seemingly adjusting to the dim light inside.

The place where Bei Nuan was sleeping was hidden in a backlit corner, a dark patch, making it difficult to see clearly.

The person, using the light coming in from outside, walked to the empty space where Bei Nuan was sleeping, crouched down, and reached out to gently touch the blanket-wrapped Bei Nuan.

Bei Nuan didn't move.

The person pulled something out, gripped it in their hand, and suddenly stabbed fiercely at the bundled figure on the ground.

Thud!

The sound seemed wrong.

The feeling also seemed wrong.

The person froze, then stabbed again.

As soon as the second stab went in, he realized something was wrong and looked up.

A person stood up from the top of the pile of tables and chairs stacked high next to the empty space.

Even in the darkness, her eyes were bright, like a small beast lurking, waiting for its prey to take the bait.

She was looking down at him intently, those clear eyes now full of amusement and mockery.

Five minutes later.

Bei Nuan was grunting and dragging someone out of the "room."

Stumbling and panting, she was incredibly disheveled.

She really couldn't drag him any further.

Bei Nuan wanted to cry.

As she dragged, she complained in a low voice, “Have you been eating Xiao Shao's food without paying every day? Not just Xiao Shao's, but others' too, right? You eat so many free meals, don't you consider losing some weight?”

Uncle Shi lay sprawled on the ground.

He was still wearing his floral shirt, motionless, eyes closed, only breathing in, not out, showing no intention of getting up to exercise and lose weight.

Having been hit by three propane tanks, he really couldn't move.

The corridor outside was quiet, completely empty. Bei Nuan had just checked.

But there were people on duty at the casino entrance, so Bei Nuan couldn't get out.

Uncle Shi absolutely couldn't just lie here. If he lay here, Qiu Zhengxun would have even more reason to find trouble with her.

Besides, he wasn't completely dead yet. He still had a breath left.

Bei Nuan hadn't hit him too hard. If she had really flattened him, it would be difficult to clean up.

Bei Nuan had a perfect plan.

Uncle Shi had a large bunch of keys hanging from his waist. Bei Nuan had just tried them; one of them could open the opposite room where the zombies were kept, and there was also a key for the lock on the zombie cages.

Her plan was to drag Uncle Shi to the room opposite, where the zombies were kept, and unlock one of the zombie cages.

There was a long bamboo pole in this storage room. Bei Nuan could, like during the cage fight, use the long pole from a distance to open the iron latch of the cage door and release a zombie.

As long as she was fast enough, Bei Nuan would definitely have time to rush out of the room and re-lock the gate.

This way, the zombie's only target would be the barely-alive Uncle Shi.

Then, Bei Nuan would return to her storage room, lock the iron gate again, and toss the keys into the opposite iron gate.

The two iron gates faced each other directly, so this wouldn't be difficult at all. Even if she didn't throw the keys in, she could poke them through with the long bamboo pole.

A locked-room murder scene would be perfectly set up.

After the zombie had its way with Uncle Shi and he joined the happy family of zombies, the matter would be perfectly resolved.

The dream was incredibly beautiful, but reality was cruel.

The first step was proving incredibly difficult.

This guy, who knows what he ate every day, was incredibly heavy. Dragging him was much more tiring than hitting him.

Bei Nuan thought that she must find a shopping cart from the supermarket and put it in her space. Next time she hit someone like this, she wouldn't have to worry.

She finally managed to drag him to the doorway.

The iron gate had a frame, like a threshold, lying horizontally, and it was quite high, making it difficult to cross.

Bei Nuan changed her position, clamping his two feet under her arms, panting, like a sled dog, pulling him hard and trying to move him out the door.

She thought: Singing the barge-hauler's song for Du Ruo today was really unlucky. It turns out that I'm the one who needs to pull the barge in the end.

Brothers, pull harder—Hey! Yo! Have a drink when we get there—Hey! Yo!

Bei Nuan silently chanted the barge-hauler's song in her heart, pulling the heavy Uncle Shi forward step by step.

While she was struggling, a smiling voice came from behind her.

“So tired? Need my help?”

Bei Nuan dropped Uncle Shi's feet and sat down on the ground, going on strike.

Lu Xingchi, with a slight smile, crouched down in front of her. “It seems I’m late again.”

He calmly scanned Bei Nuan up and down, presumably seeing that she was unharmed, his whole body relaxed.

He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. “I’ll have to be quicker next time. Otherwise, you’ll have taken care of everything yourself, and what need will there be for me?”

“You’re not late, you came just in time. The highlight moment for you to play your role has arrived.”

Bei Nuan pointed at Uncle Shi. “Hurry up and drag him to the opposite room to feed the zombies. I really can’t drag him anymore.”

As soon as Lu Xingchi arrived, he saw the person lying on the ground and knew, without asking, that someone must have tried to bully Bei Nuan and been dealt with by her.

He only realized when he got closer that the person lying there was actually an acquaintance, Uncle Shi, whom he had seen at the market this morning.

Lu Xingchi glanced at the groaning zombies in the iron gate opposite and asked Bei Nuan, “Why bother with this? We could just finish him off with a knife and leave directly.”

Leave directly?

Bei Nuan hesitated.

With Lu Xingchi there, they could indeed leave directly.

But in that case, it would be obvious that she had killed Uncle Shi, and they wouldn't be able to stay on this island any longer; they would have to leave.

Bei Nuan asked Lu Xingchi, “Have you found any clues about that symbol?”

Lu Xingchi shook his head. “I’ve searched everywhere and haven’t found that symbol anywhere else. The people who brought us to the island last night aren’t on the island today either. I heard they went out again and won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Leaving now would mean giving up the only clue, which would be a great pity.

“Let’s just feed him to the zombies.” Bei Nuan kicked Uncle Shi. “We can stay for two more days.”

Lu Xingchi hesitated.

Staying for two more days meant that Bei Nuan couldn't leave yet and had to maintain the status quo, continuing to be locked in this dangerous place.

“Come on, help me.” Bei Nuan had made up her mind. She stood up, went to open the door to the zombie room with the key, and came back to start dragging Uncle Shi again.

“I’ll do it.”

Lu Xingchi easily grabbed Uncle Shi by the collar, dragged him away, and threw him into the room where the zombies were kept.

The zombies in the room, seeing a living person, were instantly invigorated, like they’d been given a shot of adrenaline.

Du Ruo was right, they all looked incredibly hungry.

The commotion of the zombies hitting the door made Uncle Shi open his eyes.

He struggled to focus for a moment and recognized Lu Xingchi standing there indifferently, and Bei Nuan casually twirling his keys around her finger.

He strained his neck and saw the zombie cages beside him.

He seemed to suddenly understand where he was and what Bei Nuan, holding the keys, was about to do. His whole body trembled.

Unfortunately, Bei Nuan had hit him too hard, and he couldn't move.

Seeing that he was awake, Bei Nuan crouched down and asked him, “Did Qiu Zhengxun send you?”

Uncle Shi struggled to make a sound. “Master Qiu sent me… I didn’t want to come…”

“Why does he keep making things difficult for me?” Bei Nuan thought for a moment. “Is it because I discovered that a zombie cage was unlocked today?”

Uncle Shi struggled to speak. “Yes, but Master Qiu made me do all those things… It has nothing to do with me, please spare me…”

Bei Nuan raised an eyebrow.

He had stabbed her so fiercely just now, without any intention of sparing her.

Bei Nuan hung the bunch of keys back on his waist.

Seeing Bei Nuan put the zombie cage key back, Uncle Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he saw Lu Xingchi walk to a zombie cage and lightly touch the lock on the cage door.

The lock fell directly to the ground.

Lu Xingchi didn't need a key to open the zombie cage.

Uncle Shi's eyes widened in terror, and he made a groaning sound out of fear. Before even being bitten, he already felt like a zombie.

Lu Xingchi and Bei Nuan retreated from the room together, put their hand on the doorknob, turned it, and re-locked the iron gate.

Now only Uncle Shi was left alive in the room.

The iron latch on the zombie cage door turned as if someone had grabbed it, the cage door creaked open, and the zombies roared, pouncing on Uncle Shi on the ground.

Neither of them was interested in watching zombies eat people.

Lu Xingchi, not knowing the full story, helped her deal with Uncle Shi without a word, and only then asked Bei Nuan, “How did you end up in a place like this?”

How did she end up here?

Of course, it was because she was lured here by the Saintly Heart mission.

But she couldn't answer that way.

Bei Nuan didn't answer, instead asking him first, “Did Xiao Shao tell you I was here?”

Lu Xingchi replied, “Yes. Du Ruo discovered you were missing and was searching all over the island for you when he ran into me. Xiao Shao said you asked her to go up the mountain to find someone. She didn’t find anyone on the mountain, and after going around in a big circle, she ran into us.”

Bei Nuan asked, “Did you give her a reward? I promised to reward her.”

Her focus was always unique.

Lu Xingchi was a bit helpless, patiently answering, “We did. Du Ruo gave her all the money he earned from carrying stones today. Du Ruo said that Bei Nuan is more important than roasted sparrows.”

“Du Ruo is so good. But he definitely has roasted sparrows to eat,” Bei Nuan said triumphantly. “I went into the cage fight to kill zombies today, and I even bet on myself. I earned a lot of money!”

Lu Xingchi frowned deeply. “Went into the cage fight? Killed zombies?”

And she even learned to gamble??

Bei Nuan was still quite excited. “Being locked in a cage with zombies, with only two bullets, it was so exciting and fun!”

Lu Xingchi: “…”

“And there’s something even more exciting. They locked me up here, and just now, while I was sleeping, that Uncle Shi tried to stab me a few times, but I KO’d him with a propane tank.”

Her train of thought was all over the place, her words rambling. Lu Xingchi had to pull her back, directly asking the key point.

“Why did Uncle Shi want to kill you? And what’s the deal with the ‘Master Qiu’ he mentioned?”

Bei Nuan gave him a brilliant smile. “They wanted to silence me.”

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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