Under a dim, ash-colored sky, on a land riddled with devastation, a horde of zombies was frantically attacking a city.
Blood, severed limbs, screams, cries, pleas for help, mutations…
The aura of despair multiplied endlessly the moment the city walls collapsed.
Some let out their final roar and perished together with the zombies.
Some fled in panic, abandoning teammates, family, and friends who had fought beside them.
Others stood helpless and dazed, crying bitterly, stretching out uncertain hands, not knowing who to ask for help.
“Lu Qingqing! No—!”
A sharp, despairing scream rang out. The bewildered crowd seemed to be injected with a glimmer of hope, all turning toward the direction of the voice.
“Everyone back off. I’ll deal with the Zombie King.”
A firm and powerful female voice echoed from within the zombie horde. Countless vines grew wildly from her hands, tightly binding the Zombie King.
Lu Qingqing’s eyes widened, her delicate face covered in frost, madness burning deep in her gaze as her ability continuously surged toward the crystal core.
Lu Qingqing understood clearly that she was a soul from another world. Surviving in this world for ten years was already a stolen life.
She once believed that as long as she kept growing stronger and broke through human limits, she would find a way back. Now it seemed she had been naive.
Since that was the case, living one more day or one less day made no difference. It would be better to use her death to exchange for the survival of more people.
It could also be considered repaying the world for ten years of nurturing, and fulfilling the bond of this life.
With a deafening explosion, a massive mushroom cloud rose from where Lu Qingqing and the Zombie King stood.
Her thoughts flickered like a film under the roar, rapidly flashing through scenes of her past and present lives.
In this life, for ten years she had no family, no attachments, no burdens. From the moment she opened her eyes, she faced only danger and survival. She walked this path freely and unrestrained.
But in her past life…
Her family had been red capitalists, falsely accused and sent down to the countryside, where they all died tragically on a labor farm—none survived.
And she had not even had the chance to collect their bodies.
Finally, when the spring breeze of reform arrived, she used her dowry to help her husband start a business. Together they built a multinational conglomerate worth hundreds of billions.
But while cleaning one day, she accidentally opened a hidden secret room. After discovering her husband’s true identity, she was brutally killed.
And her son, whom she had raised for over thirty years, stood by and watched coldly.
Before she died, her husband told her that the son she had raised was not her biological child. Her real child had been drowned in a urine bucket right after birth.
It was a very beautiful baby girl.
Her husband also told her that her family had been reported by him, and he had bribed people at the labor farm to kill them one by one.
Thinking of this, Lu Qingqing burned with hatred—so much that she wished she could turn back time and perish together with her enemies.
“Qingqing, Qingqing, wake up, wake up.”
Through a haze, Lu Qingqing heard a familiar yet slightly unfamiliar voice, making her brows furrow slightly.
“Qingqing, wake up. I know you’re anxious because your family was arrested.
But don’t panic first. Tell me what happened, okay?
I can help you pull some strings and rescue them.”
Hmm?
Her brows furrowed even tighter, a wave of nausea rising in her chest.
She had already recognized this voice—it was her husband from her previous life, that scum, that beast.
Could it be that even that scum had entered hell?
Even in hell, she would make him die once more to repay blood debts.
The surge of rage caused her to suddenly open her heavy eyes. Before she could even see clearly, her hand was already raised.
Smack!
A loud slap echoed sharply.
Wei Guangming only felt a burning pain on his face and tasted blood in his mouth.
He pressed his tongue against his back teeth; one tooth felt slightly loose. The pain ignited killing intent in his heart.
“Lu Qingqing, why did you hit me?”
The fake smile on Wei Guangming’s face disappeared as he glared at her furiously.
The shout, combined with the pain in her palm, brought Lu Qingqing’s rationality back.
Her eyes widened as she quickly scanned her surroundings, assessing the environment and looking for advantageous positions.
This was a habit she had developed over ten years in the apocalypse—one that had saved her life countless times.
Finally, her gaze landed on Wei Guangming’s face—young, angry.
Too immature to properly conceal his emotions, allowing her to detect the killing intent on his face.
“Wei Guangming.”
She squeezed the words out through her teeth, already confirming the situation she was in.
Today was February 2, 1973—a day she would never forget.
It was also the day the Lu family was arrested by the Revolutionary Committee.
In her previous life, she had been out shopping and narrowly escaped the arrest. When she returned, she fainted from the shock of the family’s sudden collapse.
After waking up, she had faced Wei Guangming’s gentle concern and promises, and she believed his lies.
Desperate to save her family, she handed over large sums of money for him to help. In the end, her family vanished without a trace.
It was not until 1987 that she learned they had all died.
In this life, she did not believe a single word he said. But she knew Wei Guangming was no good person.
Before her death in her previous life, she discovered he was likely an enemy spy.
Whether or not he truly was, she did not know now—but she could not alert him.
She needed a way to send him off first and plan her next steps.
“Wei Guangming, I… I…”
Lu Qingqing’s eyes turned red, looking pitiful as she pleaded:
“Wei Guangming, my family has been arrested. Please help me investigate their situation, okay?
My grandfather is very old, and my nephew is so young. I’m afraid… I’m afraid something will happen to them. Please help me.”
“Alright, Qingqing, don’t worry. I will definitely help you.”
Wei Guangming suppressed the anger on his face, swallowed the blood in his mouth, and softened his tone.
His peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly, a calculating light flashing deep within.
“Qingqing, don’t worry. I have contacts in the Revolutionary Committee. I can definitely help you find out. But handling matters like this requires…”
He made a money-counting gesture.
“The people there are not easy to deal with. You understand.”
“I understand, I understand.”
Lu Qingqing immediately reached into her pocket, but only managed to find a little over a hundred yuan.
This was the money she had planned to use for buying clothes at the department store that day.
She handed it all to him eagerly.
“Guangming, this is all I have right now. Please go and find out the news first, okay?
Once I can contact my family, they will definitely tell us where the money is. Then we can… we can give you more as thanks.”
Wei Guangming stared at the hundred-some yuan. By normal standards, it was already a considerable amount.
A factory worker’s monthly salary was only a little over thirty yuan—this was equivalent to three months’ wages.
But Wei Guangming knew the Lu family was a wealthy capitalist family. A hundred yuan was only a drop in the ocean.