"I...!"

Song Xiaodao's face went pale.

For a child who had just entered the apocalypse, killing someone-for any reason-was something impossibly distant.

Zhao Yin fixed her with a burning stare, pressure radiating from his gaze. "I won't kill him for you. If you don't have the guts, I'll let him go. Is that what you want? To let your revenge slip away?"

Something hardened in Song Xiaodao's eyes.

Zhao Yin watched with interest as she gripped the hilt of the blade embedded in the ground before her. She pulled with everything she had.

The little girl lifted the Tang Dao-a weapon taller than she was-and walked toward Wang Quan, one step at a time.

"Big brother, I'll give you anything you want! Please don't let her kill me! I'm begging you, big brother!" Wang Quan lay sprawled on the ground.

He had no idea how many bones Little Monkey had shattered.

Zhao Yin smiled. A cold smile.

Even if Song Xiaodao was dead weight, she would have to become useful dead weight.

This man would be the first person she killed in the apocalypse-destined to become a stepping stone on her path.

The Song Xiaodao of his previous life had earned a place in Zhao Yin's inner circle for a reason. Beautiful women were never in short supply around ability users. Without an iron will, how could she have caught his attention back then?

"Wang Quan, my brother treated you like a savior." Song Xiaodao's voice turned hoarse. "To rescue you, the two of us nearly got torn apart by zombies!"

"We called you 'Big Brother.' We gave you our last scraps of food. And in the end-you still tried to get my brother killed!"

"Xiaodao, Big Brother Wang was wrong! What happened before-it was just a moment of confusion...!"

Wang Quan tried to keep begging.

Squelch!

Song Xiaodao drove the blade into his inner thigh.

"AHHH-!" Wang Quan shrieked like a slaughtered pig. "Xiaodao! Xiaodao, listen to me-!"

Song Xiaodao gripped the hilt with both hands, raised the blade high, and stabbed down again.

"Wang Quan. If my brother dies, you killed him. Understand?"

Squelch!

This time the blade sank into his abdomen. When she wrenched it free, blood gushed out in a torrent.

"Fuck your mother, you little bitch! You want to kill me? Then do it!" Wang Quan screamed.

He understood now. No matter what he said, he was going to die today.

So he stopped begging.

Song Xiaodao said nothing more. She raised the blade and brought it down again. The wet sound of steel parting flesh. A spray of crimson.

But she was too weak. Each blow only wounded him-none were fatal.

Wang Quan howled under the slow torture, slash after slash, until his will finally shattered. He broke down sobbing, begging again.

"Xiaodao... Xiaodao, just kill me! Please...!"

Song Xiaodao's strength gave out. She stood there, chest heaving.

"The heart," Zhao Yin said. "One thrust to the heart will end it."

Song Xiaodao turned to look at him.

Strangely, she wasn't as afraid of him anymore.

"Uncle. He forced my brother to lure away the zombies." Her voice was steady. "I want to feed him to them."

Those weren't words a twelve-year-old girl should say.

But a glint of appreciation flickered in Zhao Yin's eyes.

Finally. This burden might not be completely useless after all.

"Monkey. Grab him. We're leaving." Zhao Yin ordered.

Little Monkey had already deactivated its ability, shrinking back to normal size. It stepped forward, seized one of Wang Quan's legs, and dragged him toward the range exit.

A long smear of blood trailed behind them.

Zhao Yin met Song Xiaodao's gaze. "You have two choices. First-come with me. I'll do what I can to keep you alive. But if we run into something beyond my ability to handle, I will abandon you without hesitation."

He paused.

"Second-I leave you some food and this blade. After that, you're on your own."

"Uncle... why are you being so good to me?" Song Xiaodao studied him.

She didn't believe he was some bleeding heart.

"What if I told you," Zhao Yin said evenly, "that seven years from now, you'll be one of my women? Would you believe that?"

Song Xiaodao nodded. "I believe you."

Zhao Yin blinked, caught off guard. He looked at her more carefully.

Then he let out a dry laugh. "A twelve-year-old brat. What do you know?"

"Uncle. I'll go with you." Song Xiaodao bit her lip.

The answer was expected. Even a fool would know which option to pick.

Zhao Yin turned and followed Little Monkey. "Let's go. Time to feed your enemy to the zombies."

Outside the range, the horde Song Xiaojian had lured away had scattered. A few stray zombies were already wandering back.

Little Monkey let out a piercing screech.

Two zombies in the distance snapped their heads toward the sound. The reek of blood pouring off Wang Quan drove them into a frenzy. They charged.

Little Monkey retreated behind the gate where Zhao Yin and Xiaodao waited.

Wang Quan had been fading fast, but the sight of those two zombies jolted him back to life. "Xiaodao... Xiaodao! Save Big Brother Wang! I don't want to die! Please don't feed me to them-AHHH-FUCK YOUR MOTHER, XIAODAO!"

The zombies pounced.

In the blink of an eye, they tore open his chest cavity and ripped out his heart, lungs, intestines-

Wang Quan's mouth gaped wide. Even in death, his eyes burned with defiance.

Steam rose from the blood as the two zombies tore into him, biting and swallowing in a frenzy.

Zhao Yin glanced back at Song Xiaodao.

Unlike most survivors witnessing zombies devour a human for the first time, she didn't scream. Didn't vomit.

Tears glistened in her eyes.

But a faint smile curved her lips.

That expression suited Zhao Yin's taste. He reached over and patted her head. "Let's go."

"Uncle, where are we going?" Song Xiaodao asked.

"To survive."

Three words. Nothing more.

To survive.

Song Xiaodao felt the weight of them settle into her bones. In the apocalypse, every survivor had only one goal: how to stay alive.

"Uncle, there's still some food in that kitchen," she offered. "It's just rotten meat and moldy rice, but if you boil it long enough, it's still edible."

She and Wang Quan had eaten that rotten meat porridge earlier. When you were starving to death, Song Xiaodao didn't think it tasted that bad.

As for whether it was harmful-that wasn't a concern when the alternative was starvation. Plenty of survivors were eating the same thing now. Many more wished they had even that.

"I have food." Zhao Yin didn't look back.

The rate of spoilage after the apocalypse was staggering. Even the supplies in his Spatial Ring were nearly inedible by now. He could only imagine how vile the leftovers in that kitchen must be.

At least in this life, he wouldn't stoop to eating garbage like that. And he certainly wasn't going to waste precious storage space on it.

The Spatial Ring only held ten cubic meters. Half of that was already full.

Zhao Yin frowned. Another mouth to feed now. He needed to start thinking about supplies.

"Uncle, there are zombies ahead. Aren't you going to avoid them?" Song Xiaodao called from behind as she watched him walk straight toward the undead.

Before she finished speaking, a compound bow materialized in his hand.

Thwip! Thwip!

Two arrows flew. The heads of the zombies still feasting on Wang Quan burst apart like watermelons.

Little Monkey immediately darted over and began prying open the skulls with practiced ease.

"Stop." Zhao Yin halted the monkey, then turned to Xiaodao. "From now on, this is your job."

Little Monkey shot Song Xiaodao a look of pure displeasure.

Every time it collected Corpse Crystals for its master before, it got to see him smile. Now this newcomer was stealing its chance to earn favor.

Zhao Yin didn't notice the monkey's sulking. He walked over and retrieved his arrows.

Then he cracked open the two skulls himself and dug out a pair of un-evolved Corpse Crystals.

After just one day, more and more zombies were producing crystals. Even two random ones both had them now.

"This is called a Corpse Crystal." Zhao Yin held up the brain-matter-coated stones. "Watch closely. From now on, every zombie will have one in its head. Your job is to retrieve my arrows and dig these out."

Song Xiaodao's swollen face went through a violent shift of emotions. Her willpower far exceeded most girls her age-but those zombies had been people just a month ago.

Digging through their brains?

"I don't keep useless people around," Zhao Yin said coldly. "If you don't want to do it, fine. Go wherever you like."

He crushed the two crystals in his palm and absorbed them.

Song Xiaodao lowered her head. "I'll do it. Uncle, I'll do whatever you ask."

She stepped forward, trembling, and reached toward the exposed brain matter.

"There's nothing left in those. Each zombie only has one crystal." Zhao Yin said.

When Song Xiaodao turned back, he finally got a clear look at her face.

Her swollen cheeks had gone deathly pale. Tears streamed down.

For a twelve-year-old girl, his methods were brutal.

But this was the apocalypse. No one got to be a princess anymore.

"There will be much more of this," Zhao Yin said, his expression pitiless. "I'll make you kill zombies. Fight mutated beasts to the death. Maybe even kill other humans. The peaceful life before the apocalypse is gone forever. You could die at any moment."

His gaze hardened.

"If you stay with me, you'll learn my secrets. I can't hide everything from you. So understand this-if you ever decide to leave after that..."

He paused.

"I'll kill you myself."