CHAPTER 622: REDUCED TO A ROTTING CORPSE

Su Jing couldn’t stand it anymore. "Can you please do that elsewhere? I’m going blind here."

Xiang Yu laughed, hugging Han Xin tighter, his arms wrapped around his neck. "You can go blind then. Lian and Mei will cure you."

Su Jing looked at her terrible hand of cards and sighed in defeat. Everyone was finding love and having a happy ending, and she was stuck in this group chat, forced to watch. She looked at Lu Lu, who was sitting beside her.

"Want to date?"

Lu Lu looked at her like she was crazy. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes spoke volumes.

"Damn, a simple ’no’ would be fine," Su Jing said, exasperated. "There’s no need to make that face."

Lu Lu looked away.

Xiang Yu leaned in closer, his lips brushing against Han Xin’s ear. "Do you want to dance with me?"

Han Xin leaned his head closer, their cheeks brushing against each other affectionately. He whispered back, "I don’t know how to."

Xiang Yu smiled. "I will teach you."

Han Xin said okay, and Xiang Yu dragged him along to the patio right outside. While Xiang Yu was turning on the speaker, Han Xin embraced him from behind, his arms wrapping around his waist. He nuzzled his nose into the crevice of Xiang Yu’s neck, breathing him in. He wished everyday would be like this. Just the two of them enjoying each other’s company with their friends being merry in the background.

***

The small city was a beacon of light in the darkness. Several people patrolled the streets, but the rest of the city was relaxed. The sound of music and flashing lights came from the cafeteria hall. It was the sound of happiness and joy. After years of being tormented by the alliance, they could finally sleep at ease.

In other territories, all the cities had been attacked by zombies and destroyed. When Peng Xiu released the zombie army she had raised, she had also unleashed the zombies she had hidden near the other cities under the guise of research centers. One could say this was karma after they had banded against the Eremites for years. Or perhaps it was just a consequence of forming an alliance with untrustworthy people.

Xiang Yu was kind enough to send the zombies he had under his command to get rid of the zombies destroying their cities. This was how far his kindness went. He didn’t offer any more help than that, and he didn’t do it for free.

He made a deal with the alliance members that was extremely favorable to the Eremites. That alone made them grateful enough to sign without thinking twice. It was either they accepted it, or their entire cities would crumble to the ground.

***

The wind howled through the spikes of the tall wall carrying the scent of food and the sounds of merriment. At the back wall of the city Peng Xiu staggered forward, an echo of the woman she once was.

Her torn dress, once a flowing garment of moonlight silk, now clung to her in tatters, stained with soil and something darker. A hooded cloak draped over her shoulders, its edges frayed and heavy with dust, partially concealing the horror beneath.

But no fabric could hide the truth. Half her face was rotted away, revealing sinew and bone, a grotesque mask of decay that mocked her former ethereal beauty in her original body. Her lips, or what remained of them, twitched with grim purpose.

She was the walking dead, yes, but not mindless. Her eyes burned with a fierce, unnatural light, twin embers of vengeance that refused to be extinguished. They scanned the wall, narrowing as she spotted movement in the dark. A dog, ribs visible beneath its matted fur, crawling into a narrow hole in the stone. It was secret passage. A way into the city.

Peng Xiu’s fingers curled around the hilt of her blade, the metal slick with old blood and new resolve. She clenched it tighter, knuckles whitening beneath the grime. Her breath came in ragged bursts, each one a testament to her will. She was no longer beautiful. She was no longer whole. But she was still dangerous.

She sneered, her sinister aura growing stronger. That vile man had given her this plan B in case she failed. And, as expected, she had failed to kill Han Xin as told, and in the end, she had died herself. Her body was long torn to pieces, but before she could be thrown out of this world, her soul was transferred to this rotting body.

A once ethereal immortal was now reduced to a rotting, walking corpse, forced to crawl through a dog hole in a wall. She was annoyed, but if she wanted to achieve her goal, she had to lower herself and crawl through.

She crawled through the hole and soon popped up in the city. She expected patrols even in this deserted area, and she wasn’t surprised when she saw someone doing their rounds. Peng Xiu sneered, thinking she could create chaos. Since she was a zombie now, why not destroy everything that Xiang Yu had built?

She snuck up behind the man, who was unaware of her lurking in the dark. She grabbed him suddenly and sank her teeth into his skin. The man didn’t even have an opportunity to cry out, as his mouth was covered. He struggled, but he was no match for her. She grinned like a fiend, her teeth sinking deeper, with fresh blood dripping down. She tore his throat and spat out the flesh, her mouth and teeth stained with blood.

She looked like a devil that had crawled out of hell. She walked away, her steps slow and deliberate, just like the man lying on the ground, his blood soaking the ground.

Peng Xiu walked in the shadows, going deeper into the city. She knew exactly where to go, as the man in the hood had told her where to look for Han Xin. As expected, she found him. But what she didn’t expect was to see Han Xin holding Xiang Yu in his arms.

The two of them were slow-dancing together, the atmosphere so romantic. Han Xin had always been cold and distant around everyone, especially around her. Yet, his cold eyes were now affectionate and filled with love for someone else.