A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

While Bei Nuan was eating lunch, Dan Sui finally returned from her rendezvous. As she served Bei Nuan, her gaze kept flitting towards Bei Nuan's face.

It seemed like she had something to say, but was hesitant.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Bei Nuan took the initiative to break the ice.

Dan Sui, the great secretary, blushed. "Holy Maiden… I just wanted to ask… is it possible to transfer Wen Qin to your side as well? Even if it's just as a handyman."

So it was for this.

It wasn't a big deal, so Bei Nuan readily agreed: "Of course, no problem."

Dan Sui skipped out joyfully, and after a short while, brought in a young man.

This Wen Qin looked to be about the same age as Dan Sui, tall, fair-skinned, and delicate-featured. Led by Dan Sui to Bei Nuan, he was too shy to even lift his head.

Dan Sui nudged him, whispering for him to bow.

Wen Qin shyly bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Holy Maiden."

Before he could finish his bow, Great Sage, who had been hugging and gnawing on a dragon fruit, suddenly howled and leaped onto Wen Qin's neck.

Great Sage scampered up and down Wen Qin's head and shoulders, treating him like a climbing frame, ecstatic as if he had gone mad.

Wen Qin, no longer shy, grabbed Great Sage.

"A Mang, how are you here? I couldn't find you anywhere!"

Unfortunately, the little monkey couldn't speak, only screeching. Finally, having had enough of climbing, he burrowed into Wen Qin's arms, nuzzling his chest with whimpers.

The two of them, like a father and son reunited after a long separation, held each other tightly.

Dan Sui hadn't yet processed the situation, staring dumbfounded at her "Wen Qin gege." "Why are you holding the Sacred Monkey? Put him down!"

Wen Qin, amidst the commotion, gave her a shy smile. "This is the little monkey I told you about, the one I lost. His name is A Mang."

Bei Nuan stared, speechless.

So, this Wen Qin not only stole her secretary, Dan Sui, but also her little monkey?

Lu Xingchi walked over and put his arm around Bei Nuan's shoulders. "It seems your little monkey has found his owner."

Bei Nuan was happy for Great Sage, yet inexplicably sad. She also wanted to lean on Lu Xingchi's chest and whimper.

"Sit down and tell us about it," Lu Xingchi said, gesturing to a chair.

It turned out Wen Qin was indeed Great Sage's owner.

Wen Qin had found Great Sage in the woods near his home before the zombie outbreak.

There were many wild monkeys in the area, and poaching was rampant. People often hunted monkeys illegally for their bones, which were sold as medicinal ingredients.

When Wen Qin found Great Sage, he had a gunshot wound on his leg. The poachers had likely killed his mother, but the injured little monkey had escaped.

Wen Qin brought the little monkey home and cared for him diligently, raising him to his current size.

Not long ago, when the zombie outbreak occurred, he and Great Sage were separated during their escape from a horde.

They were separated near the villa where Bei Nuan and the others were staying.

Wen Qin didn't dare to continue further and found an opportunity to enter the nearby settlement, where he had been searching for A Mang.

It seemed A Mang was very clever. Without his owner, he had managed to sneak into the nearby villa area, staying out of the wind and rain, and even finding food in the kitchen.

After hearing the story, Dan Sui stammered, "But, but this is clearly the Holy Maiden's Sacred Monkey…"

Bei Nuan shook her head. "He's not a Sacred Monkey. He's just A Mang. We picked him up on the road."

Bei Nuan told them how she found Great Sage and then quietly asked Wen Qin, "Can I still call him Great Sage?"

Wen Qin quickly replied, "Of course, Holy Maiden. You can call him whatever you like."

Since Wen Qin had been transferred to Bei Nuan's side, she arranged for him to be Great Sage's dedicated caretaker. Dan Sui took the reunited pair and happily left.

Bei Nuan watched Great Sage clinging to Wen Qin's neck as they walked away, feeling a sense of loss. Suddenly, she felt someone hug her from behind.

Something soft kissed the top of her head.

"It's a good thing that Great Sage found his owner," Lu Xingchi comforted her.

Bei Nuan murmured in agreement.

After a moment of thought, Lu Xingchi said with determination, "How about, after we find a safe place, I get you a little monkey?"

"Can we keep a little monkey where we're from?"

Bei Nuan imagined for a second the two of them living in a place without zombies, leading a normal life, and even raising a little monkey. Suddenly, she realized that was impossible.

By then, she would have likely completed the Holy Mother mission and left.

Bei Nuan turned around, looking up at Lu Xingchi with a pitiful expression. "Regardless of what happens in the future, I need comfort now."

Lu Xingchi's heart skipped a beat.

"How do you want to be comforted?" he asked.

Bei Nuan thought for a moment and said seriously, "I really want someone to perch on my shoulder and let me feed them dried cassava."

Lu Xingchi: "…"

Ever since Dan Sui had revealed her and Wen Qin's secret to Bei Nuan, she dared to talk to Bei Nuan about anything.

According to her, the news of Ya Wen's sudden demise had spread throughout the settlement, and everyone was speculating about the cause of her death.

There were too many eyewitnesses at the scene.

Now everyone knew that Ya Wen had been shot dead by that outsider, "Mr. Huo," and everyone also knew that the man was one of Ya Wen's lovers.

Rumors were swirling, yet on the surface, Bei Nuan didn't show any reaction.

Everyone maintained the same attitude as before.

The same calm gentleness, the same respectful courtesy, as if they weren't interested in this sensational gossip.

Beneath the calm surface, however, undercurrents surged.

In the evening, as dusk approached, Huo Ren and his group's SUVs drove into the settlement one after another.

Hearing the engine noise, Bei Nuan dropped what she was doing and ran outside.

Lu Xingchi followed her. "What are you going out for?"

"I want to see if they caught that mysterious person," Bei Nuan said, clutching her skirt as she ran to a spot where she could see the gate.

She saw Huo Ren and his men getting out of their vehicles one by one to have their injuries examined. They all looked exhausted, not like they had found the mysterious person.

Huo Ren lazily got out of the car, looking like he wanted to slack off.

No one dared to check if he was injured. He irritably unbuttoned his collar, intending to head straight towards the wooden houses Ga Han had arranged for them.

Suddenly, someone rushed out from the crowd and blocked Huo Ren's path.

Lu Xingchi whispered, "It's Jue Niu."

It was indeed Jue Niu.

Jue Niu looked very different today. His usual polite and well-behaved demeanor was gone. His hair was messy, and the buttons on his shirt were undone.

He seemed to have been crying, his eyes were red, and his expression was somewhat frightening.

"Stop!"

Jue Niu blocked Huo Ren's way and yelled at him.

Huo Ren's subordinates, seeing the commotion, rushed over, forgetting about their injuries.

Huo Ren, however, waved them back dismissively.

Bei Nuan saw clearly that Jue Niu was holding a gun in both hands.

In this settlement, there was actually a gun, an object clearly violating the fire taboo.

Huo Ren seemed to have the same thought. Facing the black muzzle pointed at him, he didn't seem afraid at all. Instead, he asked Jue Niu with interest, "Where did you get the gun?"

"It was Holy Maiden Ya Wen's, hidden for self-defense. It's none of your business," Jue Niu said, seemingly unwilling to dwell on the matter. "Did you kill our Holy Maiden Ya Wen?"

Huo Ren curled his lip. "Yes. I killed her."

As if afraid he hadn't made himself clear, he even made a shooting gesture, emphasizing, "I personally fired the shot, right in the head."

His flippant, cat-and-mouse tone infuriated Jue Niu.

"Why did you kill Holy Maiden Ya Wen? Why??"

Jue Niu's whole body trembled as he held the gun. "They all said she was turning into a zombie. It's all nonsense! I've been following her these past two days, and she hasn't even come close to a zombie!"

Huo Ren didn't care, patiently and frankly replying, "Because she had a bad temper, a loose tongue, and was stupid. She was more trouble than she was worth, and no longer of any use to me."

Jue Niu seemed surprised by Huo Ren's directness, staring at him speechless.

After a moment, Jue Niu finally recovered, gritting his teeth and spitting out a few words.

"You killed her, so you should die too."

He aimed at Huo Ren's head and pulled the trigger.

It seemed that only at the moment Jue Niu fired did Huo Ren slowly pull out his own gun and aim at Jue Niu.

Bei Nuan's first reaction was to look back at Lu Xingchi.

Lu Xingchi stared in that direction, motionless.

There was only one gunshot.

Jue Niu was still standing.

But Huo Ren was also still standing.

Neither of them had fallen.

Huo Ren seemed a little puzzled, looking at his gun over and over. "Jammed? Really?"

Jue Niu, having fired a shot at such close range and missed, was not reconciled. He swiftly drew the saber from his waist and slashed at Huo Ren.

Huo Ren was still examining his jammed gun, not paying the slightest attention to the incoming blade.

Jue Niu seemed to have killed his share of zombies; his movements were practiced. The blade sliced into Huo Ren's neck at an angle.

This time, even Bei Nuan saw the gleaming blade hit Huo Ren.

However, nothing happened.

Huo Ren was still standing there.

As if the blade that had sliced through his body didn't exist.

He finally looked up from his gun, gazing at Jue Niu with an amused expression. "Firearms didn't work, so you switched to cold weapons?"

Jue Niu stared at Huo Ren, fear in his eyes, as if he had seen a monster.

Huo Ren reached behind him, and one of his subordinates immediately stepped forward and handed him his gun.

Huo Ren's gun was jammed, so he intended to switch to another one to kill Jue Niu.

Although she knew Lu Xingchi would definitely intervene, Bei Nuan was still a little nervous.

However, before Huo Ren could raise his gun, Ga Han arrived with a group of people. The first thing he did was order someone to take Jue Niu away.

It looked like an arrest, but it was actually protection.

Ga Han said, "Mr. Huo, Holy Maiden Ya Wen served as our Holy Maiden for ten years. It's normal for some people to not understand what happened yesterday. If you continue to stay in our settlement, I'm afraid you will still encounter danger. If something really happens, I can't bear the responsibility."

Bei Nuan thought that Ga Han had finally had enough of entertaining the abnormal Huo Ren and was driving him away.

Huo Ren narrowed his eyes and sized up Ga Han.

Ga Han met his gaze unflinchingly.

Just when Bei Nuan thought Huo Ren would shoot Ga Han as well, Huo Ren actually smiled.

"Chief, are you planning to kick us out? Alright. I just received news that I need to rush to another location. We'll pack our things and leave shortly."

With that, he jumped back into his car and led his convoy back to the wooden houses Ga Han had arranged for them.

Lu Xingchi watched Huo Ren's retreating figure thoughtfully.

"I made Huo Ren's gun jam, but I also controlled Jue Niu's bullet. I personally controlled it as it passed through Huo Ren's head," Lu Xingchi whispered to Bei Nuan.

It seemed that even if Huo Ren had clues, Lu Xingchi no longer wanted to keep this murderer around.

But the murderer couldn't be killed.

Lu Xingchi said, "The bullet went through his head, but he's still alive, without even a wound. When Jue Niu slashed at him just now, I specifically altered the shape of the blade. It should have been extremely sharp, enough to cut him in two, but it was useless."

Lu Xingchi concluded, "The bullet and the blade passed right through him, as if he were a shadow, a wisp of smoke."

Bei Nuan breathed a huge sigh of relief.

She no longer needed to worry; Lu Xingchi had discovered Huo Ren's secret himself.

It seemed that Huo Ren was not only immune to ability attacks, but also impervious to knives and guns. He seemed to be immune to physical attacks as well.

No wonder he was so arrogant.

It was still impossible to tell him that Huo Ren might be a transmigrator, but it didn't matter. She could tell him later.

"I can't kill him," Lu Xingchi continued.

Bei Nuan turned and saw the worry in his expression.

"If he's like a shadow, able to pass through objects, I can't kill him."

Bei Nuan pondered for a moment. "But he's usually normal. He doesn't act like a shadow, he doesn't fall through the ground, he can touch things. This morning, when he kissed my hand, he was perfectly normal…"

"He what? Kissed your hand?" Lu Xingchi interrupted.

The big boss's tone was dark, and Bei Nuan felt that Huo Ren was a little closer to death.

Bei Nuan diverted his attention. "That's not the point. The point is, Huo Ren doesn't normally pass through objects, so I suspect this is probably an ability that needs to be activated."

Lu Xingchi added, "Or an ability that's passively triggered when he's in danger."

"Right," Bei Nuan mused. "So maybe we can exploit a time gap and attack him before he can activate his ability."

Lu Xingchi nodded. "We can also try other methods."

Bei Nuan agreed. "Exactly. Fire, explosions, electric shocks, we can find opportunities to try all of these on him."

The two of them silently plotted how to deal with Huo Ren, as if he were chicken wings on a skewer.

Bei Nuan was still optimistic. "On the bright side, his ability, while seemingly powerful, is defensive. It's not offensive."

So he could only swagger around with a small gun.

If he had an offensive ability like Lu Xingchi, wouldn't he be even more insufferable?

Huo Ren seemed to be in a real hurry to leave. Not long after, Bei Nuan heard the sound of the convoy's engines. Huo Ren and his men came out again.

Bei Nuan guessed that he might have received new intelligence on the mysterious person's whereabouts and was being pressured by his boss to move on.

Bei Nuan saw Huo Ren stick his head out the car window before driving out of the gate, taking another look at the settlement.

His expression was relaxed, with a mischievous, malicious glint that set off alarm bells in Bei Nuan's mind.

She still remembered clearly the trick he pulled at Ninth Prison before leaving, luring zombies to blow up the gate.

His expression then was exactly the same as now.

Bei Nuan watched vigilantly, but until their entire convoy left the settlement, nothing unusual happened.

Still uneasy, Bei Nuan ran to the gate and climbed the watchtower.

The watchtower was built on a hillside, on high ground, offering a very far view.

It was already dark, and she could only see the headlights of Huo Ren's convoy moving further and further away along the road until they disappeared completely.

They had actually left.

This was very strange, completely unlike Huo Ren's style.

Bei Nuan came down from the watchtower and ran.

"Where are you going?" Lu Xingchi followed her helplessly.

"To find Ga Han. I want him to check if Huo Ren and his men have done anything, like hiding a zombie somewhere, or leaving a hole in the wall. If Huo Ren would just leave so obediently, my name isn't Bei Nuan."

Lu Xingchi silently complained in his heart: Your name isn't Bei Nuan, you changed it to Jia De, didn't you?

It was dark, and the settlement was quiet. Everyone had gone to bed early like birds.

Ga Han, however, listened to Bei Nuan and immediately had people light torches to carefully inspect the settlement's walls.

The entire perimeter wall was intact, without even a mouse hole.

The settlement was crowded, and it wouldn't be easy to hide a zombie. Besides, no one had seen Huo Ren and his men bring any zombies in.

Nevertheless, Ga Han still had people search every nook and cranny.

Not long after, the searchers came to find Ga Han.

Their faces were pale.

"Chief, we found a tent filled with explosives."

Ga Han stood up and left, with Bei Nuan and Lu Xingchi following closely behind.

Because the houses hadn't been built yet, everyone was living in tents, and many items were piled inside the tents, serving as temporary storage.

One of the tents contained statues, wooden frames for building altars, banners, and other miscellaneous items.

Large and small items were piled high, filling the small tent.

Now, there were also detonators and explosives inside.

Whoever planted the explosives had malicious intentions. The explosives were connected to each other, layer upon layer, tightly bound to the jumbled items, with more items piled on top. It would take time to disentangle them.

This was undoubtedly the work of Huo Ren and his group.

She knew they wouldn't give up so easily.

Bei Nuan wondered, "I don't know where Huo Ren and his men got so many explosives."

Huo Ren's convoy couldn't have been carrying so much stuff all along.

Ga Han knew what was going on. "There's an armory belonging to an armed force nearby. They probably broke into it."

Ga Han and his people abhorred fire and naturally wouldn't touch the things in the armory, giving Huo Ren and his men an advantage.

Bei Nuan mused, "So many explosives, to bring them in, tie them up, and place them… how could they have done it so quickly?"

"It definitely wasn't done just now when they left," Ga Han said. "I've been having people keep an eye on them. They couldn't have had the time to do so much."

Lu Xingchi said, "It was prepared beforehand, perhaps during the day."

Bei Nuan shuddered.

Even without the incident of Jue Niu shooting, even if Ga Han hadn't confronted Huo Ren, and even if Huo Ren hadn't planned to leave, he still hadn't intended for the people of this settlement to survive.

Ga Han was very calm, asking people to bring scissors and pliers to carefully dismantle the explosives and detonators.

But Lu Xingchi stopped him. "Don't touch them."

"I saw Huo Ren and his men leave with my own eyes," Bei Nuan said. "It shouldn't be remotely detonated, so it's either triggered by touch or timed. We have to be careful."

Lu Xingchi had already found it. "Look inside, there's a countdown timer."

Lying on the ground, they could see a faint light from a display screen deep within the layers of clutter. A countdown timer was ticking down.

There was just over a minute left.

This area was full of densely packed tents, with almost the entire settlement sleeping nearby.

Ga Han was already giving orders. "Wake everyone up immediately and evacuate them outside the settlement."

His voice was surprisingly calm, but Bei Nuan knew that in one minute, it would be impossible to notify so many people to wake up and evacuate.

"Can it be sealed?" Bei Nuan asked Lu Xingchi.

"Unlikely. There's not enough metal in the settlement. Adding a metal shield would only make the explosion more dangerous."

Lu Xingchi thought for a moment. "I'll try my luck, try to melt the circuit board in the timer," he said calmly to Bei Nuan. "You go outside now, outside the settlement, and wait for me."

If it exploded, the people closest to it would be the first to be vaporized.

Bei Nuan didn't move.

The countdown timer continued to tick relentlessly, second by second.

"I'll do it."

She stepped forward and placed her hand on the explosives.

Before the countdown reached zero, everything in the entire tent, along with the explosives and detonators they were tied to, vanished.

Author's Note:

Here comes Zhou Cang again 2333

Werewolf Cast List:

Lu Xingchi: Seer

Bei Nuan: Hidden Wolf

Xiao San: Cupid

Zhou Cang: Silenced Elder (Eliminated)

Jiang Fei: Guardian

Du Ruo: Hybrid

Xie Yuanqing: Piper

Lao Hu: Fortune Teller

Huo Ren: Headhunter

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