A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

Bei Nuan thought, Ha, what a saintess. I knew the moment you saw our big boss, you'd have ulterior motives.

But Lu Xingchi would probably agree.

After all, the saintess was also looking for the mysterious person. If there was a chance to get close to her, it would be more convenient to find clues.

It was unknown how long the suppressant on Du Ruo would remain effective, and the team desperately needed to uncover the mysterious person and find a way to solve Du Ruo's problem.

Bei Nuan couldn't help but think again about the saintess in her close-fitting dress and long flowing hair.

Probably not Lu Xingchi's type.

Lu Xingchi is so reliable, even if he goes to that saintess, he will know his limits.

Probably, right?

Bei Nuan looked up at Lu Xingchi, only to find that he hadn't even stopped sawing, just having finished cutting a piece of wood.

The piece of wood fell into the pile of sawdust, and the rising wood dust flew in the golden sunlight.

Lu Xingchi straightened up and replied indifferently, "I just had a bad cold two days ago, and I'm only feeling a little better today. Will I infect the saintess?"

Jueniu, who always sincerely treated their saintess as a treasure, was startled and immediately said, "You're right. If you have a cold, you absolutely cannot approach Saintess Yawen."

Then he took two steps back. "I've been so close to you. You haven't infected me, have you?"

Bei Nuan was thinking that it was rare for him to speak so bluntly when she heard him say, "It doesn't matter if I get infected, but the key is that I've had the opportunity to talk to the saintess these past two days. It wouldn't be good if I infected her through me."

He stood far away from Lu Xingchi, as if Lu Xingchi were a giant, human-shaped cold virus.

Jueniu said to Lu Xingchi with sympathy, "I know this is a rare opportunity, and you really want to go, but you really can't with a cold. How about waiting a few days?"

Lu Xingchi raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

Bei Nuan kept looking at Lu Xingchi, a little surprised.

He actually refused? Such a good opportunity to find clues, he doesn't want it?

After Jueniu left, Du Ruo whispered, "I guessed Lu Xingchi wouldn't go. How about I go take a look?"

"Don't be silly," Jiang Fei said. "That saintess looks suspicious. Nobody should go."

Bei Nuan also whispered to Du Ruo, "Jiang Fei is right. Boys must be careful to protect themselves when they're out and about."

Lu Xingchi couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile.

Several people picked up their saws and continued sawing wood.

Bei Nuan stood there holding her saw, worried.

The virus in Du Ruo's body was like a time bomb, and no one knew when it would explode.

Lu Xingchi saw her furrowed brows and the worry on her small face. He smiled and reached out to pat her head.

"Don't worry. Things will work out."

Bei Nuan came back to her senses, sighed, and glanced up at his hand resting on her head.

Suddenly, she realized something.

The scorching sun, the scalding saw in her hand, and a comforting gesture from Lu Xingchi.

Bei Nuan quickly opened the task panel.

Sure enough, the "God's Blessing" task was marked as complete.

A twelve-hour countdown timer appeared below, along with a line of small text:

The benevolent God blesses you, may you have the ability to control flames.

It was actually a fire-controlling ability.

Bei Nuan really wanted to throw the saw in her hand directly.

What kind of terrible god was this?

What use was having the ability to control fire in a tribe that worshipped the Water God and regarded the Fire God as an evil spirit?

It was possible she'd be burned as a witch… oh no, drowned, right?

Bei Nuan carefully studied the task panel. The sentence in the description was too simple. How exactly did this fire control work?

Silently control the size of the flame with your mind?

Bei Nuan rummaged through her space and found a lighter, but there were people everywhere, so she couldn't experiment for the time being.

As Bei Nuan was thinking, she looked up and saw a group of people walking towards them.

Like leaders inspecting work, a group of people surrounded a very conspicuous man.

The man was also dressed in white, but he wore a white, high-collared, long robe over his white clothes.

He had long hair and a handsome face. His eyes were as calm as a lake, without the slightest ripple, as if the word "abstinence" was clearly written on his face.

Seeing this man, Bei Nuan thought that he and Lu Xingchi must have a lot in common.

Because in this chaotic apocalypse, this man also looked abnormally clean. His hair shone strand by strand in the sunlight, and his clothes were immaculate and dazzlingly white.

It seemed like he was another person with OCD.

As the group approached, Bei Nuan looked away and pretended to be busy with her saw.

Lu Xingchi had just ruffled Bei Nuan's hair again, so she smoothed the strands on top of her head.

At the same time, Lu Xingchi was sawing off a piece of wood. The wood fell into the sawdust pile with a thud.

Bei Nuan heard the sound and glanced over.

Suddenly, the pile of sawdust on the ground burst into flames as if someone had suddenly lit it.

Sawdust was too easy to ignite, and the entire pile was instantly engulfed in flames that reached one or two feet high.

The flames were so large that everyone around saw them.

Screams erupted everywhere. Most people in this tribe probably hadn't seen fire for a long time and were a little scared.

Bei Nuan stood there, staring at the flames in confusion.

This was definitely related to the fire-controlling ability she had just acquired, but how did it suddenly catch fire?

This place was full of wood, and it would be troublesome if it burned.

Without any hesitation, before anyone could react, Lu Xingchi went to where they were building the house, shoveled some soil over, and quickly extinguished the fire.

With such a commotion, the group of inspecting people all gathered around.

"How did it suddenly catch fire?"

No one knew.

Lu Xingchi and Bei Nuan, who were closest, were the most suspicious, but everyone was wearing the same white clothes and pants. The clothes were thin and had no pockets, so there was nowhere to hide anything that could start a fire.

Someone whispered mysteriously, "Is this the Fire God causing trouble?"

Someone pointed the finger at Lu Xingchi. "What's wrong with this person? How did he know that covering it with soil would extinguish the fire?"

Bei Nuan thought, Lu Xingchi isn't stupid. This is common sense, okay?

Jueniu came over, struggling to squeeze into the crowd.

He said to the white-robed man in the middle, "Chief Jiahan, these people were newly recruited into the tribe by Saintess Yawen today."

The implication was clear: they were people influenced by the Fire God outside, so naturally they knew how to extinguish fire. There was nothing unusual about it, and after a few more purifications, it would be fine.

So the white-robed man at the front is the Jiahan Chief of this tribe? Bei Nuan thought.

Bei Nuan had thought that the Jiahan Chief they had been talking about was an old man, but she didn't expect him to be so young.

Bei Nuan suddenly understood. This chief was the one Saintess Yawen was acting spoiled with on the phone, right?

She immediately imagined a 100,000-word love story between the chief and the saintess.

Jiahan raised his hand to stop the chatter of his subordinates.

He didn't pursue the cause of the fire and wasn't focused on Lu Xingchi, who knew how to put out the fire. Instead, he looked at Bei Nuan with curiosity in his eyes.

"You just entered the tribe? Where are you from?" he asked Bei Nuan.

His voice was calm and gentle, as if he was afraid of scaring Bei Nuan if he spoke too loudly.

Bei Nuan truthfully told him that she had come from across the border.

He nodded. "There are zombies everywhere outside now. Don't be afraid. Stay here. It's much safer here."

Bei Nuan nodded. "Okay."

Someone whispered next to her, "You can't just say okay. You have to salute the chief."

Bei Nuan recalled the etiquette and, bracing herself, performed the highest form of salute to Chief Jiahan.

Suddenly everyone around laughed.

Bei Nuan: ???

Was it wrong again?

Jiahan smiled. "This is a salute only for the tribe's saintess. I am the chief, not a god. You don't need to be so formal with me."

Jiahan suddenly bowed deeply to Bei Nuan.

"This is the salute for the saintess," he explained.

Then he bowed again.

"This is the salute for me."

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Everyone realized that Chief Jiahan, who only saluted Saintess Yawen, had actually saluted Bei Nuan.

Jiahan himself didn't seem to notice this at all. He didn't say anything more and continued walking past them.

The group following him immediately left Bei Nuan and the others behind, catching up to his pace.

Bei Nuan watched his retreating figure and subconsciously scratched the top of her head again.

A flame suddenly burst from the hem of Jiahan's robe, who had already walked a few steps away.

He was surrounded by people, and someone immediately noticed and screamed, desperately tugging at his clothes.

Jiahan turned around and saw it too.

He was much calmer than the others. He immediately unbuttoned his clothes and took off his outer robe.

Someone brought a bucket of water and poured it over him, extinguishing the fire.

A close call.

However, Bei Nuan was going crazy.

What was going on with this ability? It was repeatedly and uncontrollably setting fire everywhere.

If this continued, it might cause someone's death.

Bei Nuan opened the task panel again and searched carefully, but she couldn't find any instructions on how to use it.

Bei Nuan sighed and scratched her head in distress.

Not far away, where Bei Nuan was looking, a tree suddenly caught fire.

This time, everyone was experienced. Someone rushed over with a basin of water and splashed it on the tree, extinguishing the flames that had just started.

All the workers fell silent.

Repeated fires were not a good sign.

Jiahan, however, remained very calm.

He glanced at the charred tree trunk. "It's okay, don't be afraid. It's probably because we've been busy building the camp and neglected the sacrifices. I'll go and sacrifice to the Water God in a while, and it will be fine tomorrow."

Everyone seemed to believe his words, bowing deeply to him and dispersing to continue their work.

Jiahan also left with his people.

But Bei Nuan felt that he seemed to have taken a deep look at her before leaving.

Bei Nuan held her saw and looked at the sawdust on the ground, finally figuring it out.

The same thing had happened during all three fires.

For everyone's safety, Bei Nuan decided to conduct an experiment right away.

She found a hidden spot behind a large pile of lumber, secretly grabbed a handful of sawdust, and scooped up a handful of soil from the ground like a little mouse.

Then, staring at the sawdust, she touched the hair on the top of her head where Lu Xingchi had touched it.

As expected.

The moment her fingers touched her head, small flames merrily sprang up on the sawdust.

Bei Nuan knew what was going on.

She couldn't touch the hair on the top of her head.

Bei Nuan tried again and found that as long as she concentrated, she could control the size of the flames at will.

If it weren't for being in this tribe that regarded fire as the source of all evil, this ability would actually be quite fun.

It seemed that for the next twelve hours, she absolutely couldn't touch her head. Anyway, it was only twelve hours, and it would pass. It wasn't a big deal.

It wasn't long before it was lunchtime. Someone brought food, and everyone ate the same thing.

Bei Nuan felt a pang of pain when she saw it.

Lu Xingchi, that crow-mouthed jinx, had cursed the cheaters in Werewolf to eat cassava, and now they really had to eat boiled cassava again.

The conditions here were better than on the island. In addition to cassava, there were other dishes, and everyone received a portion.

But cassava was still the staple food.

There were so many high-yield crops that could prevent famine. Weren't potatoes good? Weren't sweet potatoes good?

Why did this place love cassava so much?

After lunch, the sun scorched the ground as if it were on fire, and they no longer had to build houses. It was time to change shifts.

Lu Xingchi and the others were taken away to do other work, and Bei Nuan was assigned to return to the tent with the women to do needlework.

Bei Nuan half-heartedly learned how to overcast the edges of fabric, chanting in her mind:

Absolutely don't touch my head, absolutely don't touch my head.

For some reason, when she didn't have to worry about it, there was no problem at all. Now that she absolutely couldn't touch her head, it was itching terribly.

Especially the top of her head where Lu Xingchi had touched it, it felt like it had suddenly grown many more nerves than other places and kept itching.

Bei Nuan made up her mind that after this unlucky countdown was over, she would definitely give her head a good scratching and rubbing.

Bei Nuan's overcasting work progressed extremely slowly. Before dinner, she hadn't even finished the hem of one piece of clothing.

Because there was no electricity, as soon as dusk fell, everyone, like birds, prepared to go to bed early.

As Bei Nuan was tossing and turning, agonizing over not being able to scratch her head, someone entered the tent.

It was also an acquaintance.

Saintess Yawen, in a white dress, walked in front, followed by several women, and went straight into the tent.

One of the middle-aged women stepped forward and pointed at Bei Nuan.

"Saintess Yawen, I saw it clearly. It was her."

Bei Nuan: ?

The middle-aged woman was agitated, but she still struggled to suppress her anger, maintaining a respectful tone towards the saintess.

"I was standing on the ladder behind the house looking down, and I happened to see her hiding behind the wood. She didn't even move, and the fire started."

Bei Nuan: "…"

Such good eyesight to see me lighting a fire even when I was hiding so well.

Saintess Yawen nodded and glanced at Bei Nuan. "Even Jiahan's clothes caught fire today. There must be a demon causing trouble. Seize her and throw her into the Salt River tomorrow morning to sacrifice to the Water God."

Bei Nuan: ???

This saintess, talking about killing people so casually?

Her tone was as natural as if she was talking about throwing a piece of clothing into the Salt River to wash it.

Very Huo Ren's style.

The women behind Yawen immediately came forward and grabbed Bei Nuan.

"Lock her in a cage first," Yawen glanced at Bei Nuan and casually instructed, then turned and left.

Several women escorted Bei Nuan to a large open space in the middle of the camp.

The open space was surrounded by a circle of newly planted saplings more than a person tall. There was an altar, but it was empty now.

Near the edge, there was a row of several iron cages, only about half a person tall, which seemed to be used to hold wild animals.

The middle-aged woman who had reported Bei Nuan shoved her into one of the cages, causing Bei Nuan to stumble.

She locked the cage door with a padlock.

"The saintess instructed that tomorrow morning, we should call a few men over to sink her and the cage together into the Salt River," she said.

The cage was too low to stand in, so Bei Nuan simply sat down cross-legged.

There was nothing to worry about.

As soon as Lu Xingchi found out she was missing tomorrow morning, he would definitely come looking for her.

So, after helping the tribe saw wood for half a day and sewing a piece of clothing, it seemed they were still going to end up on bad terms.

Bei Nuan looked at the small lock on the cage door with disdain.

The only problem was that she would probably have to sleep outdoors like this tonight.

The women locked the cage door, ignored Bei Nuan, turned, and left.

Bei Nuan suddenly had a mischievous thought.

Leaning her elbows on her knees and looking at the backs of the women, Bei Nuan happily scratched the top of her head, which had been itching terribly and she had been desperately wanting to scratch.

The middle-aged woman who had reported her hadn't walked a few steps when a small flame suddenly sprang up from the hem of her clothes.

The flames licked up her clothes, emitting a dazzling light in the night. The women were startled and screamed.

They jumped and hopped, tearing and pulling, finally ripping off the burning clothes.

They looked back at Bei Nuan in terror, didn't dare to approach again, and fled, unsure whether they were going back to treat their injuries or to complain to their saintess again.

Bei Nuan thought, I only lit a small fire and didn't burn her hair. That's already considered a good deed for the day.

Unable to lie down in the cage, Bei Nuan leaned against the iron bars, dozing off.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she suddenly heard a faint sound.

Bei Nuan opened her eyes.

A pair of black eyes were looking at her from very close by, upside down.

It was actually Da Sheng.

It was hanging upside down from the cage, blinking its eyes, and looking at Bei Nuan.

The gaps between the iron bars were large enough for it to squeeze through.

Seeing Bei Nuan open her eyes, it seemed very happy and jumped onto Bei Nuan's lap, whimpering and whining, unsure what it was saying.

"How did you get here?" Bei Nuan was overjoyed.

Unfortunately, Da Sheng couldn't talk.

Bei Nuan immediately understood. Although it had hidden last night, it had been secretly following them all the way here.

"Did you come to find me because you're hungry again?"

Bei Nuan took out a handful of dried cassava from her space.

Da Sheng ate the dried cassava from her hand, then jumped off her lap.

Bei Nuan thought it was full and was going to leave, but she saw Da Sheng go to the cage door and tug at the lock.

Bei Nuan laughed. "You can't open it. It's okay, someone will let me out tomorrow."

Da Sheng looked back at her, as if it didn't quite understand what she was saying. Suddenly, it squeezed out from between the iron bars again and disappeared into the darkness.

Less than a minute later, it returned, clutching a thin twig in its small paws.

It carefully poked the twig into the keyhole of the lock, fiddling with it.

It sincerely wanted to get Bei Nuan out of the cage.

Bei Nuan was suddenly touched.

Last time, she had rescued it from the cage, and now it was its turn to save her.

This little monkey knew how to repay kindness, better than many people.

"Actually, if you really want to save me," Bei Nuan sincerely suggested, "do you remember the person who locked you up last time? Go find him and bring him here."

Da Sheng heard her speak, a long string of words, and looked back at her with an expression that clearly said:

I don't understand.

Bei Nuan thought for a moment, then made a claw shape with one hand and grabbed her other palm.

"The person who locked you in a cage, remember? The cold one, the one who doesn't smile much, go find him."

Da Sheng stared at her with its round eyes, trying to understand her words.

After trying to understand for a while, it suddenly darted out of the cage and disappeared.

Just when Bei Nuan thought it had really gone to find Lu Xingchi, it returned, dragging a large blanket.

Da Sheng was too small, and the blanket was too big. It took a lot of effort to drag it to the cage before trying to pull it inside.

Bei Nuan quickly helped it pull the blanket in and suddenly understood.

It had misunderstood.

It probably understood the words "cold" and thought Bei Nuan was cold.

Bei Nuan couldn't help but laugh.

She didn't know where it got the blanket from, but it was quite beautiful, embroidered with intricate patterns and fringed with long tassels on all four sides.

The little monkey looked at Bei Nuan with a proud expression, and Bei Nuan reached out and patted its head, draping the blanket over herself.

It was indeed quite warm.

Suddenly, there was movement not far away.

A large group of people were coming towards them.

At the front was still Saintess Yawen, and among the people following her were the women who had just locked Bei Nuan up.

Bei Nuan could hear someone saying, "I saw her set the fire with my own eyes! The fire just suddenly appeared, it was very strange!"

Bei Nuan didn't care about anything else and quickly said to Da Sheng, "Da Sheng, quick, hide."

This time, Da Sheng looked at Bei Nuan, then at the people coming towards them, and immediately understood her words.

Like a small arrow, it darted up and hid immediately.

However, its hiding place was problematic.

It jumped onto Bei Nuan, quickly climbed onto her shoulder, and wrapped its arms around her head.

Bei Nuan: "…"

Its small claws were directly on her head.

It was so nervous that its claws were hurting Bei Nuan's scalp, and Bei Nuan quickly reached up to pry its claws off.

Her fingers touched the top of her head.

At this moment, Bei Nuan was trying to look up at Da Sheng, but Da Sheng was behind her head, out of sight. Her gaze fell upon the crown of a nearby small tree.

As if hit by a flamethrower, several trees next to the open space burst into flames.

The burning tree crowns were like giant torches, illuminating the entire open space.

Bei Nuan quickly retracted her hand in fright.

The group of people walking towards them all saw, in the light of the flames, the girl in the cage, draped in an intricately patterned blanket, sitting cross-legged with a small monkey perched on her neck, clinging tightly to her head.

Everyone was stunned.

Bei Nuan had accidentally set another fire. Not daring to touch Da Sheng again, she looked up and saw something strange.

The large group of people who had been aggressively walking towards her suddenly all knelt down, forming a sea of kneeling figures.

Only Saintess Yawen remained standing alone, staring blankly at Bei Nuan.

As if she had seen the most terrifying sight in the world.

After a long while, she found her voice, hoarsely yelling at the people behind her, "What are you all kneeling for? Get up! Throw her into the Salt River for me now!"

However, no one moved.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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