Chapter 80: A Formidable Foe Approaches

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Listening carefully, he actually heard some movement inside the villa. Lowering his footsteps as much as possible, Ma Yi crept closer. The villa's main door was slightly ajar, leaving a small crack. Ma Yi pressed his head to the gap and peered inside.

In the villa’s spacious hall, a young girl was bustling about, fiddling with something. Several human-like mannequins were arranged on the sofa, and on the head of each mannequin was stuck a huge face. From Ma Yi’s vantage point, he could see that the one sitting squarely in the middle of the sofa bore his own photograph.

“So, you always like to run off, never caring about me. Is it that those girls outside are so irresistible?” The voice was tinged with irritation, and the feather duster in her hand kept pointing accusingly at the mannequin with Ma Yi’s photograph.

“I won’t dare next time, you’re my favorite,” the girl replied, lowering her voice and doing her best to mimic Ma Yi’s tone, but it still sounded unmistakably feminine.

“Hmph, just back home for a few days and you’re out again, just back and already you’re running off. How many times have I told you? Can’t you just stay by my side in peace?” The woman glared angrily at Ma Yi’s mannequin, her tone bristling with annoyance.

“And besides, haven’t I always been waiting here for you? Aren’t you satisfied with just me?” The girl brandished the feather duster as if to strike, but in the end, she simply dropped her hand and straddled the mannequin’s legs.

Outside the door, Ma Yi’s face was covered in awkward lines. Once he’d seen clearly who it was, he carefully retreated back to the entrance of the snow tunnel. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leave directly, but he simply didn’t know the way. The hillside was riddled with countless tunnels dug by Liu Xue, and if he took a wrong turn, who knew where he’d end up.

Feigning a look of just coming out, Ma Yi shouted loudly, “Hey, what the—where am I? Did I take a wrong turn?”

His voice was so loud that, as soon as he finished, a cacophony erupted from inside the villa.

“Who’s in there?” Ma Yi called out, stomping deliberately on the ground. Suddenly, a girl burst out of the villa.

“Brother-in-law, what are you doing here?” Liu Xue asked, a hint of panic on her face.

“What’s wrong with you? Why do you look so pale?” Ma Yi frowned, staring at Liu Xue.

“No, nothing, really. I was just spacing out and got startled by a noise. You know me, I usually just wander around by myself,” Liu Xue stammered, flustered.

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“Oh? And what are you doing in there?” Ma Yi made as if to enter the villa, but Liu Xue instinctively stepped in front of him, trying to block his way.

Right now, Liu Xue was in a panic. If her brother-in-law went inside, he’d see the mannequin with his face stuck on it in the hall—how would she even explain that? It was too embarrassing. She anxiously searched her mind for a solution, but her brother-in-law was so forceful—he was the undisputed authority in the villa district. Other than acting sweet and coquettish, what else could she do? Wait, that’s it! She could act cute and plead.

The idea flashed through Liu Xue’s mind, but just as she was about to adjust her demeanor and try it, Ma Yi’s hand was already pressing on the door, ready to push it open.

“Forget it. Why don’t you take me back first? I haven’t seen your sister in days; spending time with her is the most important thing now,” Ma Yi suddenly turned away, giving up on opening the door that was already ajar by several inches. Liu Xue, startled by his abrupt movement, quickly fell in behind him.

“What’s gotten into you today? You’re acting all jumpy and strange,” Ma Yi said with a suspicious look.

“Brother-in-law, let me take you back,” Liu Xue quickly changed the subject, unable to stand being scrutinized.

As dusk fell, Ma Yi awkwardly climbed out of his second bed—not because he’d done anything untoward, but because this was the second bed he’d broken. Whenever he fell asleep, his consciousness lost control over his body, and though he appeared slender, Ma Yi’s true weight was measured in tons. When awake, he could restrain his strength, but once asleep, all that weight would crush even the finest mattresses to pieces. Poor Liu Wen suffered as well.

Liu Wen, helpless, crawled out from the other side. This was the second time she’d been bounced into the air by the ruined mattress. Looking at Ma Yi, she was both angry and amused, and in the end, she had no choice but to spread some bedding on the floor. With Ma Yi’s current state, sleeping on a bed was out of the question; the floor was the only option. To avoid collapsing the house, he and Liu Wen had already moved their bedroom to the ground floor.

Ruhua simply hauled the broken bed outside and tossed it into the yard. The solitary old wreck in the corner now had a new companion.

Ma Yi lay in the middle, with Ruhua and Liu Wen leaning against him on either side. It was not the first time the three had been together like this. Even before Ma Yi had won Liu Wen’s heart, she had bravely come to watch his live performances. By now, their relationship felt as comfortable as that of an old married couple—no awkwardness at all.

While Ma Yi slept soundly at home, far away in what was once the Kunlun Mountains, a vast army was on the move. Most of this army were zombies with ruddy skin. Unlike the zombies on Ma Yi’s side, not only was their skin different, but each had fangs protruding past their lips; the male zombies were all hideously ugly, their skin covered in diamond-shaped, barbed scales.

In contrast, the female zombies possessed perfect figures, smooth skin, and faces with an exotic allure. After endless marching and battles, their clothing and fabrics could not withstand such strain; almost none of the army wore a stitch, and the occasional scrap of cloth hung from the barbs of the males’ scales.

As zombies, they shared certain traits: none had a single hair on their bodies—a common characteristic, regardless of color or form. Yet, both the female and male zombies retained all of their organs. Compared to the petite women of the East, these red-skinned Western female zombies were colossal and powerful.

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The massive zombie army marched ceaselessly onward. At the vanguard, zombies slaughtered every living creature they encountered. Of course, nature always finds a balance, and now and then, evolved beasts would snatch prey from the army’s fringes, relying on their speed and abilities.

In the center of this zombie horde, a golden throne reminiscent of ancient Egypt was carried by four towering red zombies. Upon this enormous seat sat a stunning female zombie queen, elegantly holding a goblet. Whether it contained red wine or blood was unclear, but its crimson hue dazzled the eye. Compared to the red-skinned zombies below, the queen’s skin was unnaturally pale—almost human, even a touch ghostly.

The first reaction any mortal would have upon seeing this zombie queen was awe at her beauty. Even stripped of hair, brows, and the usual adornments, by human standards she was a rare vision, her allure intensified by her exotic features. Any man would struggle to resist the urge to get close, but alas, she was the queen of the undead, commanding millions—tens of millions, even. She was not someone just anyone could approach.

What drew even more attention, though, was the queen’s peculiar taste. As a peerless beauty among the undead, she could have any man or male zombie she desired. Yet, on her grand throne, several strikingly attractive female zombies reclined in various poses at her side. There was an air of decadent excess, reminiscent of ancient Rome or Greece.

The queen sipped the red liquid from her goblet, occasionally reaching out to caress the chin or neck of a female zombie beside her—a rare and unusual preference.

This colossal army had swept across an entire continent. From the time the queen first led a few hundred zombies, her legion had relentlessly grown ever stronger, annihilating all life that stood in its way or assimilating them into its ranks.

Originally, it would have been impossible for this army to cross the Kunlun Mountains. Yet with Mount Everest now gone, replaced by a vast plain, they could easily march into the East.

The East, with a third of the world’s population, was a different story. Such dense populations meant their zombie numbers far outstripped those of the West. Still, since entering the Eastern world, the queen’s army had fought countless battles, especially after passing the ruins of Kunlun, where they encountered the monstrous hordes from the Indian Ocean.

Even as zombies, the unruly “Indians” were as fierce as ever. Yet before this ten-million-strong legion, their numbers were shattered. In the world of the apocalypse, strength meant survival. This massive Western army, honed by endless combat, consisted only of the strongest survivors.

A million-strong vanguard unit of this army carved its way through zombie hordes numbering in the billions, crushing their enemies and killing ten times their own number.

After the outbreak of doomsday, if there was any place where survival was least likely, it was among these so-called “Indians.” Though famed for their “hacks,” the sheer population density meant the virus spread instantly and transformed them en masse. In India, women—not men—were the main labor force, but men were still physically stronger. Once the men mutated, the women had little chance of escaping infection, and nearly all became zombies as well.