A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

A jeep headed south, advancing towards the heartland of Country M.

The red earth remained, but the terrain became undulating, with gentle slopes appearing alongside the road. Vast tea plantations covered the slopes. Untended, they still resembled a thick green carpet, vibrant with life.

Accustomed to Lu Xingchi's driving, Bei Nuan found Captain Zheng's pace incredibly slow, almost like crawling, making her drowsy.

Captain Zheng picked up the old map placed under the windshield and checked the marked location.

“Almost there,” he said.

In the distance, at the end of the vast tea plantations, a massive manor could be seen.

Bei Nuan drew a conclusion at first glance: Seriously rich.

Whoever commissioned them to retrieve the items was undoubtedly a local tycoon of Country M.

The manor occupied a considerable area, a complex of buildings connected by sky bridges and corridors. The decorations were intricate, with marble cherubs perched on the eaves exchanging multicultural greetings with the large stone lions placed at the entrance.

Then Bei Nuan understood why the manor's owner had offered a reward for retrieving items.

Because zombies were everywhere.

This tycoon's manor was surrounded by a large tea plantation and processing plant. The numerous workers at the plant had all turned into zombies, wandering all over the place.

Even if they dealt with those outside, zombies were visibly roaming within the manor.

With so many zombies inside and outside the manor, retrieving anything would indeed require overcoming numerous obstacles.

For ordinary people, such a trip would be a life-or-death ordeal.

However, Lu Xingchi was no ordinary person. This number of zombies was nothing to him.

They found a hidden spot near the tea plantation and got out of the vehicle.

Captain Zheng went around to the back of the jeep, opened the trunk, took out a bow, and slung the quiver over his shoulder, looking like a hunter preparing for a hunt.

He explained, “There are too many zombies here. Using guns isn't ideal. A bow and arrow are quieter.”

Da Hei, who hadn't been part of the search team yesterday, didn't take Lu Xingchi seriously.

He pulled out his knife and glanced at the delicate black crossbow in Lu Xingchi's hand. “For killing zombies, all that fancy stuff is useless.”

Bei Nuan thought: Ha.

Lu Xingchi just smiled, not taking it to heart.

Da Hei twirled his knife and said to Captain Zheng, “Brother, don't shoot me.”

Captain Zheng nodded, “I know.”

Both of them looked serious.

Da Hei walked in front with his knife, the two ranged players following behind.

Bei Nuan pretended to carry her crowbar, while she and Xiao Shouzi looked like professional cheerleaders, there specifically to offer encouragement.

Bei Nuan quickly noticed that Da Hei's knife technique was completely different from Jiang Fei's.

He didn't rely on agility, but on sheer strength and force, hacking down each zombie that came his way, full of killing intent.

Lu Xingchi, however, was conservative in his zombie shooting.

Bei Nuan observed carefully for a while and realized he was counting.

For every zombie Captain Zheng killed, he killed one too, not one more, not one less.

It was like a world champion participating in a school sports meet, deliberately slowing his pace, running alongside the school's fastest runner.

Both Captain Zheng and Da Hei were paying attention to Lu Xingchi.

Da Hei, unlike the more reserved Captain Zheng, watched for a while and then said to Xiao Shouzi, “He's not as amazing as you said.”

Xiao Shouzi anxiously retorted, “Brother Lu isn't performing at his best today.”

Bei Nuan thought, He's not just not performing at his "best," he's not performing at all.

They crossed the tea plantation, reached the manor gate, entered the courtyard, and slowly fought their way to the entrance of the main house.

Captain Zheng whispered, “It’s said there were over two hundred servants here. The inside must be full of zombies.”

He then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

It was a map of the house, with two small circles marked on it.

Captain Zheng pointed to the circles, planning their route. “We need to find these two marked rooms.”

Bei Nuan thought, This is terrifying. The house is so big you need a map to find rooms.

Why not just build a bus route inside, with scheduled departures? Everyone could just hop on and go wherever they want. How convenient would that be?

Upon entering the main house, they were greeted by a foyer comparable to the lobby of an opera house. Unfortunately, there was no electricity, and the crystal chandeliers were dark. Otherwise, it would have been magnificent.

With many servants, there were many zombies. Uniformed zombies wandered throughout the mansion.

Even though the big boss was deliberately holding back, he still seemed formidable. Bei Nuan noticed that Captain Zheng had begun to truly compete with Lu Xingchi.

His arrow-shooting speed increased, arrows flying out like meteors, with almost no discernible aiming time.

Bei Nuan observed discreetly. To be fair, Captain Zheng's abilities were outstanding among those who had struggled through the apocalypse.

The problem was that Lu Xingchi wasn't human.

As Captain Zheng sped up, Lu Xingchi kept pace, not falling behind at all, yet also steadily avoiding surpassing him.

Captain Zheng seemed to finally realize Lu Xingchi's terrifying prowess.

It was like taking an exam together. If you scored 70, the top student would also score 70. If you scored 90, the top student would also score 90. This could only mean one thing—the top student was capable of far more than 90.

One was exerting all his effort, while the other remained calm and unhurried.

The difference was obvious.

Captain Zheng couldn't keep up the pace and his arrow-shooting slowed down.

As he slowed, Lu Xingchi followed suit, shifting the pressure back to Da Hei.

Da Hei hacked away with his knife, becoming increasingly breathless.

Bei Nuan understood why Captain Zheng had brought Lu Xingchi along. Although he and Da Hei were both skilled, they wouldn't be able to complete this task alone.

So, probably upon hearing Xiao Shouzi describe Lu Xingchi's incredible abilities, he immediately sought him out.

Bei Nuan wondered why Captain Zheng insisted on coming here.

After hacking for a while, Da Hei grew irritated. During a lull in the zombie onslaught, he glanced back at Xiao Shouzi and Bei Nuan.

“Can you two help out? Even if you can't kill them, at least make a show of it.”

Bei Nuan suddenly felt a little embarrassed and took two steps forward.

As several more zombies charged towards them, Bei Nuan symbolically raised her crowbar, intending to actually make a few swings.

However, the crowbar suddenly flew out of her hand.

It spun like a propeller at high speed, whizzing past Da Hei's head and into the oncoming zombies.

The force of the crowbar was immense, instantly knocking down a swathe of zombies before clattering to the ground.

Everyone was stunned.

They had never seen anyone use a crowbar like that.

Bei Nuan glanced at Lu Xingchi, thinking: Dude, that effect was a bit over the top. Are we filming a martial arts movie?

Da Hei stared in terror at Bei Nuan's slender arms, completely unable to believe that she had thrown that devastating crowbar.

Lu Xingchi smiled, walked over, picked up the crowbar, and returned it to Bei Nuan. He said calmly, “It’s just a few zombies. No need for you to get involved. I’ll handle it.”

He made Bei Nuan sound like a hidden martial arts master.

Shaken by Bei Nuan's propeller crowbar, Da Hei dared not speak out of turn again.

After that, Lu Xingchi became less restrained, easily controlling the situation, barely needing anyone else's help.

They finally reached the first circled location, a bedroom in the west wing connected to the main building.

The bedroom was enormous, practically paved with gold bricks, and luxuriously furnished.

Captain Zheng took off his large backpack, pulled out a list, and began placing items into the bag.

Bei Nuan watched what he was putting in.

Then she felt speechless.

A gold-plated ashtray, a diamond-encrusted cigar case, several silk ties, and a few luxury watches.

Before Bei Nuan could comment, Da Hei, always blunt, voiced her thoughts.

“We risked our lives, killed so many zombies, finally got in here, just for this?”

Xiao Shouzi chimed in, “These are things the big shots want. They don't have these in the base and aren't used to living without them.”

Captain Zheng, with his bow and arrows on his back, squatted on the ground, meticulously packing items into his backpack according to the list.

His expression and tone were indifferent. “As long as the payment is made and the goods are delivered, with no outstanding debts, I don't mind even if they ask me to retrieve a dog bowl.”

Bei Nuan looked at him, thinking, It's just for thirty days' worth of meal tickets. With his abilities, he shouldn't care.

So, it's not for the meal tickets.

Then it must be for that "Taiping Gate."

Bei Nuan asked, “So, what is Taiping Gate?”

At the same time, she heard Lu Xingchi ask, “What is Taiping Gate?”

The two of them were thinking about the same thing, their thoughts converging. They exchanged a smile.

Before Captain Zheng could answer, Da Hei spoke first.

“We all live in those dilapidated buildings in the mining area, but those rich and powerful people don't live there. They live in a resort further inside, by the lake. There's a club there called Taiping Gate. It's said to be a fun place.”

Bei Nuan thought carefully. In the original novel, the team seemed to have never ventured deeper into the base beyond the mining area dormitories before leaving.

She wondered what was hidden in the deeper parts of the base.

Captain Zheng interrupted Da Hei, “No matter how fun it is, it has nothing to do with us.”

Bei Nuan asked Captain Zheng, “Who exactly commissioned us to retrieve these items?”

Captain Zheng silently packed the items into his bag and finally spoke after a while, “A wealthy businessman, surnamed Yin. He ostensibly runs a tea business in Country M.”

His meaning was clear. Ostensibly a tea business, but who knew what he actually did.

Xiao Shouzi added, “Boss Yin, everyone knows him. He owns Taiping Gate.”

Captain Zheng packed a few silk pajamas, carefully folding them and placing them into his backpack as if afraid of damaging them. Then he took out the map.

“We still need to go to another place.” He glanced at the map. “A study.”

This precious study was in the east wing of the mansion.

Bei Nuan thought, The study is so far from the bedroom. Not bad. Walking to the study in the morning could serve as exercise.

With Lu Xingchi controlling the situation, Bei Nuan followed behind, lost in thought.

The countdown for "Absolute Obedience" was still ticking. Bei Nuan thought, This ability seems to have a major bug.

If the command given to someone is "From now on, for the rest of your life, you will obey me," would the person really become a puppet for life?

It didn't seem realistic.

Unfortunately, the task description was too brief. Bei Nuan opened her panel, trying to dig out some more useful information.

Sure enough, in the lower right corner of the task name, there was a tiny, inconspicuous triangle.

Bei Nuan clicked it with her mind and discovered a small line of text: Effective duration: five minutes. Memory wipe duration: five minutes.

Below were listed names.

There were only two names: Lu Xingchi and Zheng Yin, which seemed to be Captain Zheng's name.

These were the two people on whom Bei Nuan had used her ability.

Bei Nuan understood. I knew it.

Using this ability once only made someone obedient for five minutes, after which their memory of those five minutes would be erased.

So, it was fine to use it every five minutes. There was no need to chant the spell every time a command was given, like she had just done with Lu Xingchi.

After a long walk, they finally reached the target study. Everyone visibly relaxed. Once they retrieved the items from the study, they could return.

The study door opened with a simple turn of the knob.

The study was large, with half of it occupied by a set of sofas and a coffee table for guests.

Further inside was a massive, luxurious executive desk. A teacup and an overturned book were on the desktop, as if the owner had left in a hurry.

All four walls were lined with bookshelves, filled from floor to ceiling with books.

Bei Nuan took a closer look. The books were diverse, uncategorized, and in various languages.

However, all the books shared one thing in common—exquisite binding and matching sets, displayed beautifully on the shelves.

Bei Nuan pulled out a book and flipped through it.

The book was so new that many pages were still stuck together, as if they had never been separated.

Bei Nuan bet that many of these books had never been touched.

They were purely for display, as decorations.

Lu Xingchi was also browsing through the books. He smiled slightly, clearly sharing Bei Nuan's thoughts.

Captain Zheng, utterly professional, ignored the books and went straight to a wall, removing the books lined up on the outside.

A safe was revealed behind them.

Captain Zheng took out a slip of paper, opened the safe according to the code written on it, and took out all the contents.

Bei Nuan craned her neck to look and, among the stack of documents and boxes, immediately spotted something familiar.

A satellite phone.

It looked similar to the one Huo Ren and Ya Wen had.

Bei Nuan immediately nudged Lu Xingchi.

Lu Xingchi, however, didn't seem to be focused on that. He nodded, indicating he had seen it, and went to flip through the books on the desk.

Bei Nuan moved closer to Captain Zheng, picked up the phone, and examined it. It was indeed identical to Huo Ren's, the same model.

Could the owner of this manor, this Yin, also be connected to Huo Ren?

Jia Han had mentioned before that Huo Ren used to be in charge of affairs in this region and had extensive connections. It seemed highly possible.

Lu Xingchi, still standing by the desk, casually asked Captain Zheng, “All packed? Shall we go?”

Bei Nuan thought, He's trying to lure out the person hiding.

The others agreed, and everyone picked up their weapons and left the study.

The study was on the third floor. They walked along the long corridor and down the stairs to the first floor.

Lu Xingchi suddenly asked Captain Zheng, “I saw a book in the study just now. Could I borrow it? I’ll return it to the owner later.”

Before Captain Zheng could respond, Xiao Shouzi chuckled, “Brother Lu, what are you afraid of? No one would know even if you took all the books.”

Captain Zheng looked up at the stairs and frowned. “Do you really need to go back? It's too dangerous here. We should leave quickly.”

Da Hei said, “You guys go get it. We’ll wait here.”

He was too lazy to climb up to the third floor again.

Captain Zheng hesitated for a moment and said to Lu Xingchi, “Then you go get it. We’ll wait for you. Be quick.”

Lu Xingchi reached out and held Bei Nuan's hand, signaling her to go upstairs with him.

Bei Nuan ascended the stairs and turned into the corridor before saying, “I wonder who's hiding in the study.”

Lu Xingchi couldn't help but rub her head. “We’ll find out.”

The corridor was covered with a thick carpet, making their footsteps silent.

The two quietly returned to the study door.

Lu Xingchi had been the last to leave the study and had deliberately left the door slightly ajar.

Faint sounds could be heard from inside.

Bei Nuan peeked through the crack in the door.

Lu Xingchi's timing was perfect. The hidden person, after waiting for a while, thinking they were truly alone, was about to come out.

The bookshelf behind the executive desk was sliding open like a door, revealing a hidden room behind it.

A young man cautiously emerged.

He was tall, seemingly about the same height as Lu Xingchi.

His most striking feature was his raven-black hair, which contrasted sharply with his extremely pale skin, as if he hadn't seen sunlight for a long time.

His eyes were as dark as his hair, startlingly black, deep and bottomless like a black abyss.

Bei Nuan recognized him.

After seeing his photos so many times, she finally saw him in person.

This was the mysterious person who had injected Du Ruo with the zombie virus suppressant at University A, the one Huo Ren had relentlessly pursued, turning the world upside down, but failed to find.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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