Jin Zhaoye gazed at Xie Li's sparkling eyes, like a dog who'd stolen a sausage and trotted off smugly with it...

Jin Zhaoye looked at Xie Li’s bright, shining eyes—like a little dog who’d stolen a sausage and was proudly bringing it to its master to show off. She was so amused she laughed, this little Alpha really was getting her revenge.

Learning on the spot and putting it right to use—what a fine student.

Xie Li felt a chill run down her back at that laugh, instinctively sensing danger.

Her hand, braced on the bed, had barely shifted an inch when the world spun. By the time her vision cleared, she was pinned beneath the woman.

Her face was buried in a soft pillow, her every breath filled with Jin Zhaoye’s scent.

The woman who had just been lying beneath her was now straddling her lower back, one leg pressing down on the bend of Xie Li’s knee, holding her firmly in place on the bed.

Her hands were twisted behind her back and restrained there. The grip considerately avoided the wounds on her wrists, but the strength behind it didn’t slacken at all.

Xie Li tried to struggle, but couldn’t break free.

“Jin Zhaoye...” Xie Li mumbled into the pillow.

A hoarse voice came from above her head: “Since Xie Li is so passionate about learning, then Teacher Jin will teach you one more time.”

As the words fell, Xie Li felt the hair at the nape of her neck being brushed aside, the sensitive skin exposed to the air, and then—warm lips pressed against it.

“Ah... Jin Zhaoye...”

“Pay attention. Feel it properly.” As she spoke, Jin Zhaoye bit down, breaking the skin over Xie Li’s gland.

The Omega’s pheromones surged out like a tide, the scent of white tea and cedar instantly flooding Xie Li’s gland.

Xie Li threw her head back, a muffled groan escaping her nostrils.

Her heat cycle, which had nearly been triggered early before, now spiraled completely out of control with this massive influx of pheromones.

Her body felt as if it had been set ablaze. Fire spread from her gland, burning through every nerve ending, finally gathering low in her abdomen.

Xie Li’s own pheromones spilled out uncontrollably, the scent of lime and mint rapidly filling the room.

Jin Zhaoye paused, sensing the change in Xie Li.

No—she’d only meant to teach this little Alpha a small lesson. How had things suddenly slipped beyond her control?

Before she could react, the body beneath her erupted with sudden force.

An Alpha’s strength during a full-blown heat far exceeded normal levels. Jin Zhaoye’s restraint was broken directly.

The world spun again, roles reversed. This time, it was Jin Zhaoye who was pinned down.

Xie Li leaned over her, looking down. Not a trace of clarity remained in her eyes—only a blazing wildfire.

Her gaze was full of possessiveness.

“Jin Zhaoye...”

A flicker of rare panic crossed Jin Zhaoye’s eyes. “Wait, Xie Li...”

Xie Li didn’t let her finish. The kiss descended.

What happened after that was… chaotic.

An Omega’s heat and an Alpha’s rut colliding—it was almost impossible for things not to get messy.

They pressed together, the room filled only with the sound of their breathing.

Pheromones fused in the frenzy, lime and mint and white tea and cedar merging completely into one.

Outside the window, the sky shifted from black to pale. The sun rose slowly, morning light leaking through the gap in the curtains to fall upon the disheveled bed.

On the bed, the two who had been busy all night finally grew quiet. They held each other, heads close together, like intimately entwined lovers.

......

While the two slept, the survivors on campus spent a night of fear and worry, and then began to move.

In the Female Alpha dormitory building, a group of survivors banded together. Lan Ran moved among them, holding an iron rod she’d wrenched from a bed frame.

The others were similar—some held mop handles, some had kitchen knives tied to the ends of sticks, and some carried fire extinguishers.

Armed with various makeshift weapons, the group carefully made their way downstairs.

The situation in the other dormitories was much the same. Survivors gathered together and headed as one toward the Main Administration Building.

Their unity wasn’t born of deep trust in their companions, but of a shared mindset: hiding in a crowd meant that if a Zombie attacked, it might not bite you first. The odds of survival were far greater than going alone.

Over at the campus cafeteria, several aunties in white work uniforms, holding kitchen knives and a Bone Chopper, cautiously opened the back kitchen door.

The door had barely swung open when a Zombie lunged inside.

The lead auntie, Pang Ayi, swung her blade down with practiced ease, chopping through the Zombie’s neck as cleanly as she would a vegetable.

Dark red blood splattered across Pang Ayi’s front. She glanced back at the sisters behind her and waved cheerfully. “Hey, this isn’t much different from chopping big bones! Come on, old sisters, let’s go.”

“Let’s go, let’s go!” The aunties urged each other on, charging out the back door.

The whole of Nancheng University grew restless with the movement of so many survivors.

Zombies kept emerging from corners, chasing after the fresh, running meat. Snarls rose and fell, echoing across the campus.

In the backstage lounge of the Auditorium, Zhou Yu and the others also wore anxious expressions.

Liu Zhaoyang had been peering through the crack in the door for a long time, seeing nothing, only hearing the constant snarls of Zombies out in the hallway.

She turned back, her face full of worry. “It’s been a whole night. Could it be that because everyone’s out today, there are too many Zombies, and they’re trapped?”

“Maybe it was too late last night, and they decided to wait for daylight to come back,” Zhou Yu analyzed. “You all heard the broadcast yesterday. Jin Zhaoye and Xie Li must have found a safe place, that’s why they had time to send out a Drone to notify everyone.”

Luo Peishan nodded in agreement. “Right, they’re so capable, they’ll definitely come back.”

......

The Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye the three were thinking of were still deep in sleep.

It wasn’t until noon that Xie Li was finally awakened by the constant snarls outside the window. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was Jin Zhaoye’s sleeping face.

That face was nestled against her shoulder, sunlight falling across it, so pure and beautiful it was like a celestial maiden had descended to earth.

Long, delicate lashes cast shadows beneath her eyes. Her breathing was even and deep, a faint blush on her cheeks. She was sleeping soundly.

Xie Li stared, mesmerized, until she smelled the pheromones tangled in the air. Then it hit her—why were they sleeping wrapped around each other?

She quietly lifted the blanket and peeked underneath—and froze in shock!

Why were they wearing nothing?

How could they be wearing nothing?

What happened last night?

Xie Li’s brain short-circuited for a second. The next instant, fragmented images began surfacing in her mind.

Jin Zhaoye’s ragged gasps, the arm tightly wrapped around the back of her neck, the gritted curses, the wet, slick sounds, the woman’s helpless moans—they all seemed to echo clearly in her ears.

Xie Li squeezed her eyes shut. The color drained from her face at a visible speed, then rushed back even faster, staining her collarbones a deep red.

Those scenes replayed in her mind like a film reel, relentlessly reminding her of what the two of them had done last night.

How accomplished—in a single day, she’d traveled a road her twenty-three years in her past life had never even approached.

Xie Li opened her eyes and looked at the woman still sleeping soundly beside her—still breathtakingly beautiful.

But she had no mind to appreciate it now. For the sake of her own life, it was better to get dressed first.

Carefully, inch by inch, she tried to slide the arm pinned under Jin Zhaoye out from beneath her.

She’d barely moved when the sleeping woman slowly opened her eyes.

Freshly awakened, Jin Zhaoye’s gaze held a trace of haze, not the usual cool detachment. She blinked, her vision gradually focusing, settling on Xie Li’s face.

They stared at each other. One second, two, three.

Silence spread through the air.

Xie Li forced the corners of her mouth up into a slightly awkward smile. “Good morning, Jin Zhaoye.”

The silence continued. Jin Zhaoye didn’t take up her greeting.

Xie Li subtly shifted her leg. Jin Zhaoye’s gaze dropped to the tented blanket, beneath which their bodies were tightly entangled.

Smooth, soft skin overlapped; it was impossible to tell whose leg was wrapped around whose waist.

Xie Li cleared her throat softly, grasping for something to say. “Did you sleep well last night?”

Jin Zhaoye lifted her head and gave her a steady look, as if her eyes were saying, Do you think I rested well?

Xie Li guiltily lowered her lashes, avoiding that gaze, belatedly realizing she might have said the wrong thing.

“Move your leg,” Jin Zhaoye said hoarsely.

Xie Li immediately pulled her leg out from between the other woman’s thighs, clutching the blanket as she wriggled across the bed all the way to the corner, looking at Jin Zhaoye with a pitiful, helpless expression.

Jin Zhaoye didn’t even spare her a glance. Silently, she pushed back the blanket, sat up, and turned her back to Xie Li as she walked toward the wardrobe.

Xie Li’s eyes instinctively followed her, taking in the straight line of her shoulders, the taut muscles, and the gland on her neck, bitten red and swollen.

Her throat bobbed. Panic grew in her heart. This silent, distant attitude—was Jin Zhaoye going to get dressed and then kill her?

Given Jin Zhaoye’s combat ability, Xie Li stood zero chance of winning. And last night, she was the one at fault—it was her heat that had erupted, her who had torn off the other’s clothes.

Should she run now, or get dressed first and then run?

Jin Zhaoye sensed Xie Li’s stare but paid it no mind.

She bent to pick up the undergarments from the floor and put them on, opened the wardrobe door, skipped past the row of white shirts, selected a black one and slipped it on, buttoning it from the bottom up.

Once fully dressed, Jin Zhaoye turned to face Xie Li on the bed. She lifted a hand to pull her long hair out from inside the collar, the movement casual and elegant, transforming her back into the cool, composed Jin Zhaoye of before.

She spoke, her voice flat. “What happened last night was an accident. Once we leave here, forget all of it.”