A Time-Traveling Zombie Romance (GL) - Chapter 6

Somewhere in this world, there’s a scenery like this:
A stretch of emerald-green forest, where the air is unusually fresh. In the woods roam many wild animals; birds sing melodiously in the trees. It is truly a paradise hidden from the world.

And in a certain part of the forest, there’s a small creek. In the creek, a boy and a girl are playing happily in the water.

If you were to step closer and look carefully, you would see that the boy is strikingly handsome—so handsome that even the birds might feel their hearts flutter at the sight of him. The girl, meanwhile, looks like an immortal fairy untouched by the dust of the mortal world; even calling her “peerlessly beautiful” or “as lovely as Xi Shi” would be an insult to her beauty.

Yes, this is me and my senior sister Yunxi.
(Xiao Qi: Self-flattery! But it’s the truth.
Author: —)

Ten years passed very quickly. My senior sister and I had grown into adults.
(Author’s note: Xiao Qi is now sixteen, about 1.75 meters tall; Yunxi is about half a head shorter.)

“Senior Sister, I saw some fish! I’ll catch a few to take back so we can add a dish to dinner tonight, haha!” I said to her happily.

“I want to catch some too! Where are the fish?” Senior Sister laughed.

“There, over there. I’m going to catch it.” I rolled up my sleeves, moving slowly toward the fish’s position, careful not to scare it away. When I was less than a meter away, I suddenly lunged.

“Bang—”

“Ow!” “Ow!”

After two cries of pain, I felt as though stars were spinning above my head. When I came to, I saw Senior Sister sitting in the water with both hands over her head, looking miserable.

“Senior Sister, what’s wrong?” I immediately went to her side.

“It hurts!” Senior Sister looked at me pitifully, pouting.

“Let me see… wow, it’s swelling already.” I gently took her hands away, seeing a little raised red bump, and gasped.

“I’m sorry. If I’d noticed you were going for it too, I wouldn’t have jumped. Now I’ve made a bump on your head,” I said guiltily.

“It’s not your fault. I was the one who tried to catch it. Sorry!”

“Forget it, let’s stop arguing. You sit by the stream and watch me catch them,” I said.

“Alright.” Senior Sister nodded and walked barefoot to the bank, sat down hugging her knees, and watched me.

Once again I rolled up my sleeves and approached a big fish slowly. “Splash! Ah, missed it, it got away.”

“Hehe.” Senior Sister laughed from the side.

After a few failed attempts, I finally caught a big fish. “Wow! Senior Sister, look! I caught it, haha! I caught it!” I held the fish up in both hands, raising it over my head to show her.

“Mmm, Junior Brother is really amazing.” Senior Sister said, looking at me with what seemed to be another kind of feeling in her eyes. Unfortunately, at the time I was so happy I didn’t notice the look in her eyes.

An hour later, we brought back three or four fish. On the way, I was still happily holding Senior Sister’s hand when suddenly my vision went black and my head felt dizzy; I nearly fell. Pressing my temple with my hand, I steadied myself.

“Junior Brother, what’s wrong?” Senior Sister asked, alarmed.

“It’s nothing, just suddenly felt dizzy,” I said with difficulty.

“How long has it been since your last attack?” Senior Sister asked.

“About three months,” I said.

“Three months? Then the corpse poison must be about to flare up again. Hurry, we need to go back, you have to get into the medicine barrel right away.” Senior Sister was instantly nervous.

“Mm.” I nodded.

We quickened our pace and rushed back. By the time we got home it was nearly five o’clock, the sun already setting. As soon as we arrived, Senior Sister ordered me into the medicine barrel. I wanted to tell her it was fine, but couldn’t win against her insistence, so helplessly I stayed in the barrel.

She stayed beside me for about half an hour, then went to the kitchen to cook.

She even brought dinner to me in the barrel. The more I looked at her, the more she felt like my mother.

But I was very touched.

After soaking for two hours like before, I came out. The strange feeling in my body faded as usual. But I was still anxious. When would I finally be cured? Did I really have to live every day relying on this medicine barrel?

Just then, Master arrived.

“Master.”

“Qier, I think in a few days I’ll be able to completely expel the poison from your body,” Master said. Ten years had passed, and many white hairs had grown on his head.

“Really? Haha! That’s great. I can finally be a normal person again.” I jumped up like a child with joy.

“Junior Brother, what’s making you so happy?” Senior Sister came into the room and smiled when she saw me bouncing around.

“Senior Sister, Master said in a few days he can completely remove my corpse poison, haha!” I ran over and took her arm happily.

“Really? That’s wonderful.” Senior Sister smiled brightly.

“Ahem, um, Xier. In a few days, when Qier’s corpse poison is being removed, that will be the most critical moment. You must protect the ritual for me. If it succeeds, the poison will be gone forever. If it fails, the corpse poison will erupt far more violently than before, and she may never regain consciousness.”

Master, who had been ignored for a long time by me and Senior Sister, finally spoke seriously.

“What, it’s that serious?” Senior Sister exclaimed, clearly shocked. I was stunned too…

“Mm. That’s why you must be extremely careful protecting the ritual. I remember in an old book it said: if the successor of the Zombie King is about to have their corpse poison removed, it’s a strong threat to it. During the process, the Zombie King may appear to stop me. You must be prepared.”

“Zombie King!” Senior Sister shuddered slightly at the thought of that sinister, terrifying creature from ten years ago. Seeing this, I held her hand, wanting to give her some sense of safety. She looked at me and made up her mind.

No matter what, I will protect Junior Brother. I won’t let her be harmed at all. Senior Sister thought, and in an extremely serious tone said: “Yes, Master. Xier understands.”

“Good!” Master replied and left the room.

“Senior Sister…” I looked at her worriedly.

“It’s alright. I won’t let you get hurt, Junior Brother.” Senior Sister forced a faint smile.

“Mm, I believe Senior Sister.” I was once again moved, and went forward to hug her. She actively hugged me back. I felt the warmth of her body and gently breathed in her scent. Senior Sister leaned against me as if no difficulty could frighten her anymore, and held me tightly, afraid I’d leave her.

The two of us stayed like that in silence for a long time before letting go.

In the next few days, Senior Sister didn’t play with me anymore, and seldom smiled. She trained and trained and trained. I knew it was for me, but I’d rather become a zombie than watch her work herself so hard…