I Attacked Because I was Afraid of Death

IABIWAOD-CHAPTER 22.1

Arc I: Novice village

Chapter 22.1: The first appearance of the Zombie King (1)

There were many zombies in school uniforms and rather formal attire wandering on campus. They had most likely been teachers and students when they had been alive; after they had been bitten, their imprisoned souls had probably not known where to go.
They were walking slowly, raising their heads from time to time towards the roof of the building. Jing Xiubai put a finger to his lips, gesturing to his teammates to stay silent.
Everyone could feel something was wrong and they gathered closer together. Even Han Yiyi stopped spinning around and followed the others honestly.

Jing Xiubai raised his head and stared at where Chi Xin was also looking; a tall and slender figure slowly appeared on the roof.
Chi Xin was too far and could not tell whether they were male, female, human, or zombie. But as soon as he appeared, the whole world fell silent. The howling zombies seemed to have to receive some kind of muting command at the same time; their rotten faces and sluggish movements all stopped in place, like disgusting wax figures.

Chi Xin could feel a cold gaze sizing her up; her muscles tensed and she barely resisted taking out her most powerful bullets to kill the new threat. Was it a high-level zombie?
No. Chi Xin disagreed with herself instantly and the image of the eyes she had seen in her dream surfaced. The palms of her hands started sweating and her hold on her gun became slippery.
That was— probably what had been haunting her mind since she had transmigrated. Was it the Zombie King? Or was it some new kind of high-level zombie?
No matter what it was, its destiny with humankind was to fight to one last gasp.

As Chi Xin and the others prepared to fight, the person on the roof suddenly disappeared and the restriction on the zombies lifted. They started moving again and all turned their heads.
"Move!"
Jing Xiubai opened his arms to release his power before the others could react. A huge wall of ice appeared in front of the gate, blocking the corpses inside. The mission had been to find the new threat's den and they had now achieved it; they would now have to find a way to eliminate it. His team was made of ordinary people, Jing Xiubai could not guarantee everyone's survival and could only choose to retreat.

Chi Xin instantly understood Jing Xiubai's intentions and she raised her gun to eliminate the zombies blocking their way, kicking the ones around her at the same time.
But a cold and dangerous feeling came from behind her, one she had never felt since she had come to this world, a feeling of death.
It was like the time when she had been kidnapped in her previous life, when she had gotten out of the sack after waking up and her kidnapper's sharp scissors had been waiting there, almost piercing her eyes.

Her back and her forehead broke in a sweat. But the more frightened she was, the calmer she became, a skill she had gained during her childhood after countless kidnappings.
She calmed herself down and followed her body's reaction, crossing her arms in front of her and quickly turning back to block the upcoming blow.
Bang—
It was not a physical blow but felt like someone had rung a huge and loud bell in her head. Chi Xin felt dizzy, her ears were ringing and she took a few steps back, involuntarily leaving her shelter.

Chi Xin raised her head in astonishment and met with a bloodless face.
This visage was not ugly, quite the contrary. Its appearance was somewhat androgenous and would have been very popular with girls before the end of the world. But now, this face was tragically pale and thin, its neck and forehead crawling with blue veins. Its slender eyes were grim, full of resentment.
This, this was—

"Chi Xin!"
"Sister Chi!"
The shouts of the team awakened her. She stared at the leisurely posture of the Zombie King, not understanding why he was there. She was full of fear and panic but composed herself instantly.
In the movie, the Zombie King hadn't shown himself much but his appearance had been impossible to forget. But seeing him face to face without a screen between them was much more terrifying.

Chi Xin slowly took out her army knife and took an offensive stance. The Zombie King looked at her, with a little interest floating in his cold eyes.
"You really live up to my expectations..."
His voice was soft but hoarse as if he hadn't spoken for a long time. In the movie, he had never opened his mouth from beginning to end.
His whole person felt like a predator and Chi Xin's hair rose on her arms as her vigilance rose to the highest level.
"Do you know me?" Chi Xin managed to ask.
The Zombie King grinned, his lips so red they looked painted, and a terrible and gruesome smile appeared.
"Don't you know me too?"

Danger!
Chi Xin realized she had let her mouth slip and an unprecedented threat reached her. Before the Zombie King could move, she raised her knife forward, trying to poke him in the chest.
A stabbing pain erupted in her brain and she was caught off guard. She paused for a split second but her face remained expressionless and the army knife was still aimed at her opponent's body.
A hint of surprise flashed in the Zombie King's cold eyes but he dodged the attack. As he was about to open his mouth, a strong and glacial wing surged up.

Bang—
The Zombie King broke free from the ice cage around him. He raised his arm and stared at the crystal spreading rapidly on his pale skin, before turning his head to look at the people running toward them.
His brows furrowed and Chi Xin realized all of their expressions suddenly froze in time, falling into a blank trance just like Han Yiyi before. She then saw them stop and watched them point their guns at each other in shock—
!!!

Chi Xin's eyes fell on the Zombie King who was grinning at her. She couldn't do anything against him and she turned around to pounce on her teammates; her Desert Eagle appeared in her hand and she shot all of their weapons away.
Shocked by the sound, Jing Xiubai's expression shook for an instant and his eyes regained their clarity. Horror flashed across his face and before he could think about anything, he kicked Yu Xiang who was struggling to pick up his gun again.
Chi Xin reached them and threw herself with all of her strength on Rong Feng.
"Wake up!"
She slapped him in the face. She was too afraid to use her fists and directly break his cheekbones. The print of her hand appeared on his cheek but his eyes also regained focus.
The others also broke out of their trances and looked at each other with shock.

Chi Xin took her knife back and stood up in front of her team. She vigilantly stared at the Zombie King who was watching the entertainment yet did not look like he had plans to do anything else.