Chapter 14: A Gift—Fortune Favors the Bold

The female zombie let out a shriek and lurched toward Bian Changxi.

Bian Changxi took a deep breath and tilted her neck. “That slow pace, that pure, mindless expression… I almost missed it.”

Muttering to herself, she strode forward, circled to the zombie’s side, and slashed at its arm with her blade. With a metallic clang, it felt like chopping into a stone club. The impact sent a jolt up her arm, making it go numb. She quickly yanked her blade back and retreated. The zombie’s arm was only cut about a third of the way through.

The straight sword was too light. If she’d had a heavy axe, that arm would’ve come off in one blow.

After being attacked, the zombie let out an even louder roar and shambled toward her again. Bian Changxi repeated her tactic, striking the same wound.

That’s the problem with low-level zombies—they’re just too stupid. Even after being hit again, it didn’t change its approach, just kept reaching for her. Again and again, she hacked at its arm. Several times, her blade nearly got stuck, or its long, sharp nails grazed dangerously close to her face. But finally, she managed to chop off both of its claws.

Breathing heavily, she shook out her aching arms, always keeping a safe distance from the zombie. Staring at it, she muttered, “Once I kill you, you’ll become the energy to activate my farm.”

Suddenly, she accelerated, darted behind the zombie, raised her blade high with both hands, and brought it down on the zombie’s neck.

It got stuck halfway through.

The zombie staggered. Bian Changxi took the chance to kick it hard. The zombie fell face-first to the ground, the straight sword popping free. She pinned it down, pulled a backup blade from her thigh, and sliced into the cut on its neck. With one swift motion, the zombie’s head rolled away.

Bian Changxi stepped aside, bracing herself against her knees as she caught her breath.

Too… too weak!

Her hands were trembling so badly she could barely hold her blade. She’d overexerted herself.

“Whew—!”

A whistle sounded from the building across the street. Bian Changxi looked up to see a man on the second floor whistling at her. “Hey, girl, you’re pretty tough! Nice work!”

She shot him a cold glance, then noticed others peering out as well. She picked up her blade, retreated inside the apartment’s glass doors, and sat down against the wall to rest.

“So weak… With skills like this, it’s no wonder I didn’t kill a single zombie in the first month of my previous life.”

She’d always been frail. When her parents died in that plane crash, the grief nearly destroyed her. On top of that, a horde of relatives descended like debt collectors, arguing daily over the family shares. The stress and sorrow made her gravely ill. If Bai Heng hadn’t nursed her so carefully, she might never have recovered. Even so, she’d been plagued by illness for two years, until she awakened her wood-type ability. The gentle, nurturing nature of the wood element slowly restored her health over time.

That was one reason she focused on cultivating the healing branch of the wood element. In fact, wood abilities could also be offensive, controlling, or plant-based, and the other elemental powers had similar branches. It all depended on how one developed them.

She had to awaken her wood ability as soon as possible. But who knew if she’d still have it in this life?

She picked up something she’d retrieved—a severed arm from the female zombie.

Rotten flesh, exposed pale bone, long and sharp fingernails like steel blades, as if they could pierce straight into a person’s bones.

“A gift from the first victim…”

But what if it didn’t work this time? What if there were side effects?

A flurry of thoughts flashed through her mind, but her actions didn’t hesitate for a second. She used the zombie’s claw to slice a cut into her left forearm. It hurt—a lot. Bright red blood welled up instantly, and the flesh around the wound began to yellow and rot at a visible rate. It looked terrifying. Bian Changxi took out a bandage from her backpack, wrapped up the wound, pulled down her sleeve, and sat with her knees drawn up, staring at the pristine white wall in front of her.

Fortune favors the bold. Luck never falls from the sky for no reason. If you want to gain something, you have to take risks. If the worst happened, she was mentally prepared—she’d end things herself before it got too bad.

﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡

A matte-gray heavy motorcycle cruised steadily down a deserted street, its low, steady engine barely drawing attention. Suddenly, something up ahead caught her eye. Three zombies were clustered tightly around a convenience store, pounding on the glass doors with fists like sledgehammers, slamming their heavy bodies against it. No doubt, someone was trapped inside.

Bian Changxi slowed down, approaching cautiously as she observed.

They were all male zombies, probably movers or laborers before the apocalypse—big, burly, and strong. She wouldn’t stand a chance one-on-one. But lone zombies were hard to find, and the street was deserted. This was as good an opportunity as any.

She touched the wooden box at her waist that held her jade bracelet, then glanced at the fire axe strapped to her bike, hesitating.

The people trapped inside heard the motorcycle and called out in relief, “Hey, friend, help us out! We’re trapped by these three. If you can lure one or two away, we’d be so grateful!”

It was already the second day of the apocalypse—people were starting to venture out for food or to check the situation. Bian Changxi had run into quite a few on her way out of the neighborhood. The group inside looked to be four men and two women, all in their early twenties, disheveled and panicked—probably college students. The fact that they’d chosen this run-down commercial street instead of rushing to the big malls showed they had some sense.

She glanced at the hammers, iron rods, and kitchen knives in their hands. Maybe they could work together.

Suddenly, one of them called out excitedly, “Changxi, is that you? Changxi! It’s Yuwen!”

Bian Changxi frowned slightly and glanced at the guy. She didn’t recognize him.

“Changxi, help us! I’m Wang Yan, your classmate!” another girl shouted.

Changxi paused. Classmate? She thought back—there did seem to be someone by that name. And “Yuwen” sounded vaguely familiar too. Wasn’t her last boyfriend Zhang Yuwen?

After her parents’ plane crash in her senior year, she’d faced unprecedented pressure from her family—especially her “good uncle”—all for those shares, with even hints of framing her for murder. She’d had to drive Bai Heng away, and forced herself to play the part of a heartbroken, numb, delinquent girl.

She’d dated a lot of boys over those two years.

A new one every month or two, frequenting shady places, making herself look like a total delinquent. Looking back, it was all so childish and ridiculous.

If that was Zhang Yuwen and Wang Yan, then the others must be students from S University—maybe even people she knew.

She suddenly didn’t want to stop anymore. She looked away and revved up her bike.

“Changxi, don’t go! You can’t just leave!”

“That’s really Bian Changxi?”

“She’s leaving? How can she do that?!”

An unopened soda can came flying out through a broken part of the glass door, aimed at Bian Changxi. She tilted her head and dodged it, but the clatter as it hit the ground caught the attention of the three zombies. They turned to look at her, and the one at the back started shambling her way."