Hmph, you bad woman

Realizing Xie Li had been yanked away, Jin Zhaoye didn't have time to think—her body reacted before her mind, darting inside after her.

The next second, the door slammed shut behind the two of them.

Outside, chaotic footsteps rushed past; the zombies had overshot their pursuit and continued surging forward.

A few of them stopped, pressing against the door panel, scratching with their claws, battering it with their bodies or heads.

Inside the room was dim and still; no one moved, no one made a sound.

Xie Li was held tightly, frozen in place. Thankfully, she could feel the warm breath of the person beside her.

Jin Zhaoye didn't move either. She stood right by the door, her back pressed against the panel, gripping her baseball bat, alert to her surroundings.

Time ticked by, and the banging sounds outside gradually weakened.

After another while, the chaotic footsteps seemed to fade away too, leaving only distant roars. Everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.

With a click, someone turned on the light switch.

The fluorescent lights came on, making everyone squint.

Xie Li squinted for a few seconds to adjust to the light, then took in her surroundings.

It was a fairly large dressing room. Several rows of wardrobes lined the walls, with two fabric sofas nearby and some props and miscellaneous items piled in a corner.

A girl was curled up on one of the sofas, hugging her knees, her face buried in the crook of her arm, her features unclear.

By the door stood a short-haired girl holding a mop handle—she must have been the one who opened the door to let them in.

'Dr. Jin, Xie Li, are you both okay?' The girl holding Xie Li let go, her gaze sweeping over the two of them.

Xie Li shook her head, her eyes settling on the girl's face. She looked at the high ponytail; she seemed familiar, like she'd seen her in some class, but she couldn't quite recall the name.

'Zhou Yu?' she ventured.

'Yeah, it's me.' Zhou Yu nodded, forcing a small smile. 'We thought everyone in the auditorium was dead. We didn't expect to run into you two. That's great.'

'Have you been hiding here the whole time?' Xie Li asked.

Zhou Yu gave a brief explanation. 'Yeah, when the riot first started, a few of us happened to be in the dressing room helping out. Then things got chaotic outside, so we hid here and haven't dared to leave.'

'What's the situation outside now?' the short-haired girl asked.

Xie Li glanced at Jin Zhaoye, and seeing she had no intention of speaking, answered herself. 'Pretty chaotic. Lots of people dead. Zombies everywhere. On our way here, we only ran into a few living people.'

Zhou Yu followed up. 'Dr. Jin, are the news reports online true? Has the apocalypse really come?'

Jin Zhaoye replied, 'I'm not entirely sure either, but it's true many people have mutated, becoming highly aggressive. And if bitten, they turn into those things too.'

Her voice carried a certain reassuring power.

The previously panicked people in the lounge relaxed a little with Jin Zhaoye's arrival.

The short-haired girl also put down her mop handle, her gaze fixed on Jin Zhaoye, unable to hide her excitement.

'Dr. Jin, hello,' she said somewhat shyly. 'My name is Liu Zhaoyang. I'm a junior, majoring in bioinformatics. I'm a fan of yours. I've attended one of your lectures before and read your genetics papers. I'm so glad you're alive.'

'Hello, Liu Zhaoyang. I'm glad you're alive too,' Jin Zhaoye said, extending a hand toward her.

Standing to the side, Xie Li watched this impromptu fan meet-and-greet, several question marks popping up in her head.

Was this fierce warrior woman really that famous? Why did it seem like everyone knew her?

'Which 'Jin' are you?' Xie Li asked.

Jin Zhaoye looked back at Xie Li and replied succinctly, 'The one with the radical for leather.'

She'd thought it strange before. Students at Nancheng University should all know her. She'd given several public lectures at the university and published quite a few papers. Any student who paid a little attention to academic developments should have at least heard her name.

But this Alpha really didn't seem to know her. She'd just assumed Xie Li was a kid who didn't care much for studying.

Xie Li felt a bit uncomfortable under that 'look at the slacker' gaze and lowered her head, muttering quietly, 'Why look at me like that? I haven't heard your lectures.'

That's what she said, but she'd already remembered. That morning in the classroom, when Lan Ran mentioned 'Dr. Jin, the goddess,' she must have been talking about her.

It was kind of funny. Lan Ran had been right. She really had run into her goddess. Not only run into her, but also done this and that with her.

Xie Li licked her somewhat dry lips, then immediately realized the gesture might be inappropriate and quickly pressed her lips together.

Jin Zhaoye's gaze fell on those tightly pressed lips, her eyes deepening slightly.

The atmosphere between the two was a bit微妙, hard to define, but anyone looking could tell there was something not simple between them.

In fact, they had all noticed it—the intertwined scents of pheromones emanating from Jin Zhaoye and Xie Li. The scent was strong, clearly indicating something had happened.

But this wasn't the time for gossip, so no one asked further.

Xie Li sensed their gazes, her cheeks warming slightly. She silently walked over to the sofa, found a corner to sit in, and rubbed her slightly dizzy head.

The earlier fall had knocked the back of her head, and a large bump had swollen up, hurting quite a bit.

Jin Zhaoye, as usual, remained calm. She stood there, letting them sneak glances, her expression unreadable.

'Um...' Zhou Yu cleared her throat, breaking the微妙 silence. 'Dr. Jin, would you like some water?'

'Right, we still have some snack supplies here,' Liu Zhaoyang chimed in. 'We found chips, spicy strips, and a few packs of fruit candy in the drawers.'

'Thank you. I just ate, so I'm not hungry for now,' Jin Zhaoye thanked them politely.

'Oh, okay,' Zhou Yu replied awkwardly, placing a bottle of mineral water on the table.

'Oh, right, I haven't introduced you yet.' She quickly found another topic, pointing at the girl on the sofa who had been keeping her head down and lowering her voice. 'Her name is Luo Peishan. She's a freshman.'

The girl whose name was called looked up, revealing a delicate, tear-streaked face. She glanced at Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye, then quickly lowered her head again, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum. 'Hello.'

After the greeting, Luo Peishan buried her face in her knees again, as if trying to hide herself.

Looking at this younger schoolmate, Xie Li felt a bit uneasy.

The kid was fair and clean, her features not fully matured yet. She looked like she'd just turned eighteen, probably hadn't even killed a chicken before. Now she had to face this hellish-level scenario. Who knew how many days she'd last?

Tsk, just thinking about it was annoying.

She hadn't even had a proper taste of the rich life yet. How had the world ended up like this? Headache.

Rubbing the large bump on her head, Xie Li suddenly remembered something important.

She turned her head to look at Jin Zhaoye, who was leaning by the door, and addressed her the way Zhou Yu and the others did. 'Dr. Jin, that zombie that ambushed us earlier... was it a bit different?'

Everyone in the lounge looked up at her upon hearing this, including Jin Zhaoye.

When Jin Zhaoye had called out the warning earlier, Xie Li had already raised her baseball bat to block, but she was still knocked down by the zombie.

'Its speed and strength felt much greater than a regular zombie's. Regular zombies are scary, but they don't actually run that fast. That one was too agile—it could even twist in mid-air, like it was breakdancing.'

Jin Zhaoye nodded. 'Indeed. Its strength, speed, even bone density were above that of ordinary zombies.'

'Do you think it's possible... zombies could evolve?' Xie Li speculated, her imagination running wild.

Zhou Yu picked up the thread. 'You mean, like in novels? Zombies have tiers, level one, two, three, getting stronger as they go. And then humans develop special abilities too? Wind, fire, water, lightning?'

Xie Li gave Zhou Yu a thumbs-up, her face clearly saying, 'Sis, you've read your share of novels.'

Jin Zhaoye looked at this group of university students, her expression somewhat complicated. She was more inclined to believe in science.

Whether it was zombie evolution or humans with special abilities, these were baseless fantasies. Viral mutation followed patterns, biological evolution had a process—superpowers couldn't just appear overnight.

However, looking at the little Alpha's bright, expectant eyes, she didn't voice her反驳.

'Perhaps,' Jin Zhaoye nodded in agreement. 'It's still too early. We can't observe much yet.'

Xie Li hummed in acknowledgment, lazily letting out a yawn. After all this折腾, her stamina was long depleted.

When the adrenaline was pumping earlier, she hadn't felt tired. Now, relaxing, her whole body felt drained, utterly weak all over, her eyelids growing heavy.

She snuggled into the sofa and muttered softly, 'Let's rest for a bit then. Recharge, then figure out how to break out.'

Within seconds of her words, Xie Li's breathing became long and even.

Zhou Yu looked at Xie Li, who had fallen asleep just like that, a bit surprised. She turned to Jin Zhaoye and mouthed, 'She's asleep just like that?'

The corner of Jin Zhaoye's mouth lifted slightly as she gave a light nod.

The lounge quickly quieted down. No one spoke anymore. The day had been extremely惊心动魄; everyone was exhausted. They'd just been holding their nerves, not daring to close their eyes and rest.

Now, with Jin Zhaoye holding the fort here, everyone relaxed and closed their eyes to rest.

Jin Zhaoye also found a spot to sit. She didn't sleep, just rested with her eyes closed, her baseball bat placed within reach, her ears constantly tuned to the sounds outside the door.

Time ticked by. It was unclear how long had passed when a sudden cell phone ringtone shattered the room's silence.

The sleeping people jolted awake. Xie Li was startled, reflexively gripping her baseball bat and jumping up to look around. Only after realizing it was a phone ring did she remember they were safe.

Jin Zhaoye silenced her phone and looked at the others apologetically. 'Sorry for disturbing you. Go back to sleep. I'll take this call in the inner changing room.'

As she spoke, she stood up, swiped her finger across the screen to answer, and called out to the person on the other end, 'A Yun.'

Xie Li glanced at Jin Zhaoye's retreating back, her sleep-muddled mind gradually clearing.

A Yun?

She grumbled inwardly. How affectionate.

When calling her, it was always 'Xie Li, Xie Li.' Why didn't she call her 'A Li'? They'd even kissed!

Hmph, bad woman!