Chapter 9: I’ll Feed You
Pei Zhi kept his voice steady and calm: “You are free now. From here on out, you can go wherever you want.”
The little zombie slowly lowered his arm. His fingers relaxed, letting the stalk of foxtail grass slip from his grip, fluttering petal by petal to the dirt.
No more tasty meat to eat!
He was going to starve all over again!
A wave of profound grief washed over the little zombie, and he let out a heartbroken, aggrieved howl at Pei Zhi.
Pei Zhi set his hands gently upon the boy’s shoulders, patiently laying it out: “You are not a storage tool for anyone, and you have no duty to save this broken world. It’s completely fine to just live as an ordinary, carefree little zombie. That is your right.”
Having wandered as an undead creature for so long, the boy’s mental faculties had withered. He could not grasp the deeper meaning behind Pei Zhi’s words; all he knew was that his delicious piece of meat was abandoning him. He stood rooted in place, whimpering in distress.
Desperate to stay, he reached out to clasp Pei Zhi’s hand, pleading with his eyes for the man not to cast him aside. At most, he promised himself he wouldn’t drink so much blood next time—just a tiny sip whenever his belly started rumbling would be enough!
Yet the moment his fingers brushed the man’s skin, Pei Zhi shook him off with a cold glare: “Go!”
Frightened, the little zombie drew his hands back, but he still refused to leave, planting his feet firmly in front of the man.
Hardening his resolve, Pei Zhi gathered his energy and hurled a crackling streak of lightning into the pavement, blasting open a deep crater: “Still not leaving?!”
Thoroughly startled, the little zombie finally turned on his heel and fled. Halfway down the road, he halted, spun around, and gazed back at Pei Zhi with wide, pleading eyes.
Pei Zhi raised a glowing hand in a threatening motion, his voice turning harsh: “Don’t you dare look back!”
The little zombie turned once more and dashed forward. Pei Zhi kept his arm raised, only letting it fall to his side once that small, scurrying silhouette had completely melted away past the end of the avenue.
He simply could not drag this little zombie along. The boy’s spatial power belonged to him alone; he was under no obligation to lug heavy crates of rations for ungrateful survivors. Worse still was the miracle of his healing factor—a secret far too dangerous to expose.
If he dragged the boy through the gates of the base, the research division would seize him instantly. He would be locked behind glass, sliced open, and drained of every drop of fluid until they synthesized a cure for the pathogen.
The boy had spared his life and cleansed his infection. Pei Zhi refused to throw him into that living hell.
Perhaps wandering through the wasteland without a single worry was the kindest fate after all.
Pei Zhi stood gazing down the empty street for a long time. Eventually, he checked his wrist compass to confirm the coordinates and set off on foot toward the base.
Along the desolate path, scattered zombies crept from the shadows. They were all mindless, low-tier husks that lunged forward the moment they caught the scent of a living person. Pei Zhi cleaved through them with effortless strikes.
Moving in stops and starts, another pack sprang from the wreckage. Pei Zhi raised his palm, unleashing an arc of thunder that pulverized seven or eight skulls in a row. Just as his lightning danced toward the final shadow, his eyes caught the distinct shape of a frizzy afro. His heart seized in panic, and he pulled his strike back at the very last second.
His brow twitched violently as he stared at the familiar figure. A split second more, and he would have blown Jiang Xiaozhi’s head clean off!
Pei Zhi glared daggers at him.
The little zombie was paralyzed with fright. He blinked his wide eyes, looked at the smashed corpses on either side of him, let out a terrified screech, and scampered off as fast as his legs could carry him.
Pei Zhi shook his head in sheer disbelief. Only after making sure Jiang Xiaozhi had vanished into the distance did he pick up his pace again.
Yet as he walked, Pei Zhi realized that every single time a fresh swarm closed in, Jiang Xiaozhi would slip into the middle of the pack, hunting for a chance to take a bite out of him.
Pei Zhi blasted every zombie in sight to bloody ribbons, hoping the gore would scare the boy into keeping his distance.
Instead, Jiang Xiaozhi vanished briefly and returned wearing a cracked motorcycle helmet he had scavenged from somewhere. Leading the charge at the front of the line, he let out a triumphant roar, dove straight in, and sank his teeth into Pei Zhi’s rear!
Having locked on, the little zombie greedily gulped down two huge mouthfuls of warm blood.
“Hiss—!” Pei Zhi winced in pain, seized the collar of the boy’s tracksuit, and hoisted him off the ground like a stray cat: “Have you developed an addiction to biting me?!”
Still busily swallowing the sweet blood coating his lips, the little zombie offered a meek, muffled whimper.
Pei Zhi pulled down the waistband of his pants to check the damage. Two deep, perfect canine impressions were stamped directly into his flesh. His temples throbbed with irritation. Yanking his pants back into place, he issued a stern warning: “Do you think I won’t turn you into ash with lightning?”
The little zombie ducked his chin, letting out a soft, pitiful squeak to feign innocence.
Pei Zhi discharged a tiny jolt of power straight into the boy’s headgear, shattering the plastic helmet into shards: “Follow me one more time, and you’ll end up just like them!”
He pointed a sharp finger toward the decapitated husks strewn across the asphalt.
The little zombie stared at the ruined corpses for a long moment. It finally sank in that Pei Zhi was genuinely dangerous, capable of blowing his skull into bits with a single thought.
Yet the temptation of sweet blood and tender meat called out to him so loudly. His mind was in utter turmoil.
His delicate brows knitted together, only to ease after a drawn-out struggle. After agonizing over the choice, his instinct made the call: his own zombie life was far more precious.
Pei Zhi set him back onto the pavement. The second his feet touched the concrete, the little zombie cast one last look at Pei Zhi, spun on his heel, and marched away. This time, he didn’t cast a single glance behind him.
Continuing along the road to the base, the uneasy knot in Pei Zhi’s chest only grew tighter.
He had made a disastrous mistake: he had introduced the little zombie to the taste of raw meat. Before this, the timid boy had always bolted at the sight of humans; now, the scent of a person would lure him into the horde to tear and feast alongside the wild undead.
A mindless, low-tier zombie acting like that would get put down by scavenging ability squads in no time at all.
Realizing the danger, Pei Zhi spun around and sprinted back the way he had come.
When he finally tracked the boy down, his worst fears were confirmed. The little zombie had shoved his way into a feeding frenzy, brawling with other corpses over scraps of flesh.
By the time Pei Zhi hauled him out of the tangle of limbs, the boy was clutching a gnawed human arm between his teeth.
Such grim scenes were everyday horrors in the apocalypse, and Pei Zhi was far beyond feeling sickened. He smacked the back of the boy’s head with a stern bark: “Let go of that!”
The little zombie clamped his teeth down on his hard-won prize, refusing to give it up for anything.
Pei Zhi had to use force, smacking the boy lightly across the mouth.
At first, the little zombie clung stubbornly to the scrap. But after several firm reprimands, fear finally took over and he dropped it. The moment it slipped from his jaws, he wrapped all four limbs tightly around the severed limb, hissing and snarling at Pei Zhi in defensive rage.
He had fought tooth and nail to steal this, and he hadn’t even had the chance to chew properly yet!
Pei Zhi tried to wrench the arm away to toss it into the brush, but the moment he tugged, the little zombie shrieked at the top of his lungs, thrashing as if his very soul were being ripped out.
Defeated, Pei Zhi let go and stepped aside with a helpless sigh. Dropping to a squat, the little zombie crunched greedily into the meat, splattering his lips and cheeks with gore.
Watching the boy descend into such savagery, Pei Zhi felt a heavy pang of guilt.
He was the one who had accidentally awakened the boy’s hunger for blood and raw meat. The responsibility fell entirely on his shoulders.
Once the little zombie had stripped the flesh clean and was busily gnawing on the bone, Pei Zhi stepped over and crouched down in front of him: “Come with me from now on. But you are never allowed to touch human flesh again.”
Licking the final shreds of gristle from the bone, the little zombie dropped the scrap, tilted his head to consider the man’s words, and immediately scrambled to his feet to walk away.
He had no interest in following Pei Zhi just to starve; he wanted meat!
Pei Zhi stepped forward, planting his body firmly in the boy’s path. Lowering his voice to a gentle murmur, he said, “Don’t follow those monsters. Whenever you crave blood from now on… I’ll feed you myself.”
The Food-hoarding Zombie Was Kidnapped by the Apocalyptic Boss
