An Feiwan clung desperately to Nan Yao as she struggled to stand, lost in a panic and weeping hysterically.
“If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you,” Nan Yao snapped, driving an elbow straight into her.
“Ngh!” An Feiwan groaned in pain, her grip slackening.
Seizing the moment, Nan Yao sprang up and grabbed a heavy stone from beside her feet, slamming it forcefully onto the forehead of the zombie lunging toward them.
Thud! The zombie’s skull split, and it collapsed flat onto the ground.
With the frantic horde closing in behind them, Nan Yao grabbed An Feiwan roughly and shoved her straight into Jiang Jingyu’s arms nearby.
“Nan Yao!”
As she ran, Nan Yao cut her eyes sideways, shooting Jiang Jingyu a razor-sharp glare dripping with bone-chilling frost.
Like a venomous snake that had already locked its fangs into him, lethal poison seemed to course through his entire body. Jiang Jingyu instantly went dead silent, dutifully pulling An Feiwan tight into his arms and sprinting for his life.
“Hurry! Inside, quick!”
Jiang Ying shouted, standing anxiously at the back gate of an estate as he ushered everyone safely indoors.
Outside, the heavy thuds of zombies slamming against the gate echoed relentlessly. Inside, the group collapsed onto the floor, every single one of them gasping for breath.
Nan Yao glanced around the room and suddenly realized someone was missing.
“Someone’s missing.”
No one answered, and no one seemed to care.
Jiang Ying, however, cast a glance her way and waved his hand dismissively. “You mean Lu Jingwang? He can take care of himself. Don’t worry about him.”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Jiang Ying flared up in rage. “By the way, who the hell brought those zombies over? Are you insane?! Whoever that bastard is, you’d better admit it now, or a beating will be the least of your problems!”
“Only Nan Yao was bleeding…” A curly-haired girl cowering in the corner pointed hesitantly toward Nan Yao’s injured ankle.
Nan Yao’s eyes turned cold as she glanced at the girl’s nametag: Peng Xin.
“But Nan Yao only got hurt because An Feiwan pulled her down while they were running,” Liu Xing chimed in, his wide eyes blinking innocently.
At the mention of her name, An Feiwan’s face flushed bright red. “I… I’m sorry!”
“Apologize for what!” Jiang Jingyu demanded furiously. “Who can prove she’s innocent? I say Nan Yao did this on purpose! In the last channel, this bitch betrayed me. She’s a cold-blooded killer! She’s an ungrateful, backstabbing slut—”
Crack!
An Feiwan gasped, covering her mouth in sheer horror as Nan Yao swept a point-nosed shovel up from the corner and slammed it straight into Jiang Jingyu’s face, knocking him flat against the wall where he instantly went limp and passed out.
“You… you killed him!” An Feiwan’s hands trembled violently like she had Parkinson’s.
Shock washed over the crowd, and everyone instinctively took several steps back.
With a cold, unreadable face, Nan Yao stepped forward, grabbed Jiang Jingyu by the wrist, and dragged his unconscious body right in front of the trembling Peng Xin. Slamming the shovel into the dirt with a sharp thwack, she roughly yanked his sleeve up past his elbow, pointing to a fresh scratch on his arm. Her cold, detached gaze bore an unmistakable gravity that demanded belief.
“It wasn’t me.”
“I… I see! Please, let me go!”
After that brief fiasco, the eight of them headed into the European-style manor together, dumping Jiang Jingyu on the rug before breaking off to pick their rooms.
Nan Yao chose a random room, locked the door behind her, and closed her eyes. With a soft whoosh, her body dissolved from the room and reappeared inside her spatial base.
Right now, her spatial base contained only a single building of roughly eighty square meters. Above the house floated a progress bar currently advanced about the width of a fingernail showing a Level 1 status.
While killing the zombies earlier, she had felt a surge of energy rush straight into her spatial base. It seemed zombies were crucial for upgrading her base.
Nan Yao stepped inside the house. It was a standard layout two bedrooms, one living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom fully equipped with the essentials.
[Host, don’t mind how small the spatial base is right now. As your level increases, it will automatically expand. Once you reach a certain level, you can even summon the spatial base into the physical world with your mind and run it like a hotel. You won’t even have to worry about upgrade materials then you can just have them trade zombie cores directly for room keys, and the rewards will pour right in.]
“Not bad.”
[By the way, Host, behind the house is a spiritual spring nestled next to a large tree. It’s an endless source of water that you can use to heal injuries and illnesses. As your level goes up, its restorative effects will strengthen too.]
Nan Yao’s eyes lit up. “System, you’re quite the treasure.”
[Heh heh,] the system giggled bashfully.
A soft mist hovered around the spiritual spring, giving it a hazy, dreamlike appearance.
Stepping forward, she scooped up a handful of crystal-clear spring water and washed it over her blood-crusted ankle.
A soothing coolness swept from her ankle through every nerve in her body. Nan Yao’s fatigue dissolved instantly, leaving her thoroughly refreshed and energized.
It really is a treasure!
“Nan Yao, are you in there? I heard the others say you’re here too.”
Nan Yao’s ears twitched. In a flash, she exited the spatial base and reappeared back in her room.
“Nan Yao…”
The bedroom door swung open abruptly, catching Peng Xin completely off guard.
“What do you want?” Nan Yao asked calmly, eyeing Peng Xin, whose demeanor seemed entirely different now.
“Oh… right,” Peng Xin snapped back to her senses and said quickly. “It’s like this—most of the guests have arrived and are chatting down in the living room. I heard them say you’re on the show too, so I thought I’d come invite you down to hang out. Since we’ll all be sharing this island for a month, it’s good to get to know each other. Besides, the crew just delivered the outdoor game task.”
“Thanks, but no.”
Nan Yao gave a direct refusal and went to close the door.
[Host, go take a look down there. I can feel something good below.]
She paused, then immediately called out to Peng Xin, “Wait. I’ll come with you.”
A bright smile broke across Peng Xin’s face. “Great!”
Resting her hand on the spiral staircase railing, Nan Yao surveyed the group below, noticing the clear distance and unfamiliarity between everyone now.
“Hello, beautiful!” Liu Xing waved adorably in greeting.
Nan Yao gave a slight nod in response and followed Peng Xin over to the opposite couch. Sitting beside them was Jiang Ying, who had changed his outfit. He now wore a bucket hat, a mask, and an expensive designer hoodie, leaning back recklessly with his feet kicked up on the coffee table, tapping them impatiently.
“Look at the big star acting all high and mighty,” Jiang Jingyu muttered, unable to stand Jiang Ying’s attitude and tossing snide remarks his way.
“A nobody who wouldn’t earn my monthly allowance if he worked his entire life what, I’m not allowed to act high and mighty?” Jiang Ying sneered, glaring arrogantly at Jiang Jingyu.
“You!”
“Alright, alright.” Playing the mediator, Peng Xin quickly stood up to defuse the conflict, turning to the three non-celebrities Jiang Jingyu, An Feiwan, and Su Xiaiai. “Don’t take it to heart. Jiang Ying just has a bad temper, but he’s actually really loyal once you get to know him. Right, Nan Yao?”
“Right.”
Jiang Ying raised an eyebrow, shooting a hostile look at the minor celebrity who always seemed to cross him. “Looks like you actually took your medication today. Finally stopped acting like a rabid dog.”
Nan Yao narrowed her eyes. “That’s because the dog stopped biting randomly today.”
“Nan Yao, how dare you insult me like that!” Jiang Ying slammed his feet off the table and stood up, pointing a finger down at her nose as he yelled, “Believe it or not, once this show finishes filming, I’ll have you blacklisted! I’ll make sure you never survive in the entertainment industry again!”
Brainless.
Nan Yao gave a subtle roll of her eyes. He really loved slapping his own face.
Still, it was clear now that she was the only one who had retained her memories.
Everyone else’s memories had been reset and overwritten with new identities. From the looks of it, her new identity was a low-tier starlet who didn’t get along with Jiang Ying.
To orchestrate a setup like this, whoever was pulling the strings behind the scenes certainly knew how to entertain themselves.
However… Nan Yao felt a flicker of concern.
[Will your presence be detected by the broadcasting authorities?]
[Don’t worry, Host. You’re the only one who can sense me. Our bond is completely secure.]
[Good to know.]
“Heh…”
Nan Yao froze. Why would there be a zombie here?!