Volume One, Chapter Seven: The Former Lord of the City

“Yingying, let me in too! All my food is here.”

The scene felt like a replay, perhaps only Qi Fengling truly understood it.

In the previous life, after desperately crossing two zombie-infested streets to bring food over, Zhou Ying showed no concern for Qi Fengling, barely opening the door half a meter wide.

And when she heard he had no food and saw his disheveled state, Zhou Ying decisively abandoned him, then created a huge commotion, hoping to attract zombies to kill him.

“Qi Fengling, you know I’m a traditional girl. You’re not my boyfriend yet, so you can’t enter my chamber,” Zhou Ying lowered her head, appearing obedient.

In the past, Qi Fengling was easily swayed by this. Zhou Ying often brainwashed him like this, making him ignore his friends' advice.

“Qi Fengling, Xixi and I have been hungry for days; this food isn’t even enough for us!”

“If you can go out and find more food, will you be my boyfriend?” This was Zhou Ying’s usual tactic: first a slap, then a sweet carrot.

After saying this, Zhou Ying paid no mind to Qi Fengling’s expression and tried to close the iron door, certain he would choose to go find food.

From Zhou Ying’s perspective, now that Ye Tian was here, if Qi Fengling got bitten by zombies while searching for food, so much the better.

If he managed to come back, she would manipulate him again; if he insisted on entering, she would have no choice but to break ties with him.

After all, her Ye Tian had promised to take care of her.

“Huh? Qi Fengling, what’s wrong? I told you, you can’t come in,” Zhou Ying said as she felt the door jammed by something. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t close it.

The door was fine; it was simply being held open by Qi Fengling.

Watching Zhou Ying use all her strength to close the door, Qi Fengling felt both anger and joy.

Anger, because this woman was truly heartless; joy, because he sensed the strength of an awakened being.

Although he was only a low-level first-stage awakened now, with a mere ten points of power, that was probably twice Zhou Ying’s strength as a normal human.

“Is that so, Zhou Ying? Then who is he?” Qi Fengling stopped beating around the bush, pulling hard, and the iron door swung open.

In an instant, Qi Fengling’s eyes met Ye Tian’s.

Ye Tian, the male idol of Yun City University, was also the city lord of Yun City in the previous life.

Ye Tian now was not much different from the six-winged fallen angel he was before awakening, but one thing remained unchanged: his arrogant gaze.

In the last life, Qi Fengling and Ye Tian had no real connection—one was the lofty city lord, the other an ordinary awakened survivor.

If not for Qi Fengling’s various adventures, he wouldn’t even have had the chance to meet Ye Tian.

Qi Fengling’s impression of Ye Tian was poor.

At first, after humans and awakened fighters jointly pushed zombies out of Yun City, Ye Tian, the strongest, was naturally appointed city lord.

Initially, Ye Tian was conscientious, but within six months, he changed.

He no longer cared about Yun City’s development, exploiting ordinary people, despising lower-level awakened, suppressing high-level awakened who opposed him, and even crushing promising successors.

Within two years, Yun City became Ye Tian’s personal fiefdom; he was its emperor, a tyrant in chaotic times.

Under his misrule, many awakened quietly left, and Ye Tian refused cooperation with other cities.

At his peak, Ye Tian completely disregarded others.

Later, the Zombie Emperor rose, uniting all nearby zombies to besiege the once impregnable Yun City.

By then, city defenses and morale were no longer as strong, and without aid from other cities, the once prosperous Yun City fell in under five days—the first large city conquered post-apocalypse.

Ye Tian himself was hunted down and killed by the Zombie Emperor and ten epic-level low-grade zombies, marking the end of his life.

In short, Ye Tian saved the early Yun City but doomed its later fate; his faults outweighed his merits.

“Hmph, Yingying! Is this the dog that’s been licking your feet? What a pathetic sight!” Ye Tian sneered disdainfully at Qi Fengling, unbothered by being called a pretty boy.

“Brother Ye Tian, he’s the one who keeps pestering me; I have nothing to do with him.”

“If I wasn’t afraid he’d go mad, I wouldn’t have said those insincere things,” Zhou Ying had already chosen to abandon Qi Fengling.

“Kid, listen carefully—Yingying never liked you.”

“Considering these foods you brought, you’ve got ten seconds to scram,” Ye Tian took the food from Zhou Ying and ordered Qi Fengling away.

“Kid, are you deaf? If you don’t leave, don’t blame me for throwing a punch,” Ye Tian’s face darkened as Qi Fengling showed no intention of leaving.

“Hmph, Ye Tian, great male idol, I want to see what power you have to make me leave,” Qi Fengling lifted his chin, unafraid.

Times had changed. Ye Tian was no longer the lofty city lord; now, he wasn’t even an awakened.

“Bastard, you’re asking for death,” Ye Tian punched toward Qi Fengling’s face as soon as he spoke.

But Qi Fengling had already anticipated the attack.

“Ugh! You’re quite something,” Ye Tian bit his teeth, shocked and angry as Qi Fengling firmly caught the sneaky punch.

Qi Fengling was even more surprised. Though a low-level first-stage awakened, his power was double that of his former human self.

He had thought he could easily crush Ye Tian, but the latter’s strength was nearly equal.

That made sense. Differences exist even among ordinary humans, like a baby versus a boxer.

Both are human, but a baby’s strength might be one, while a boxer’s could be ten.

Thinking about his three years as a doormat, Qi Fengling’s resentment vanished.

Qi Fengling’s family was modest; the money for Zhou Ying’s meals and gifts came bit by bit from his savings. Given that, his physical condition couldn’t be good.

Ye Tian was different—he had many admirers, ample money, and time for other pursuits. Qi Fengling had heard Ye Tian had trained in professional sanda.

No wonder Ye Tian had done so well in the past! His whole aura screamed destined protagonist.

But, unfortunately, this time, all of Ye Tian’s fortune would belong to Qi Fengling.