Vixen Above, Mensao Below (52)

It was Song Jia's routine to always wake up at midnight to drink a glass of water.

However, because she was exhausted, when she opened her eyes and looked at the clock, she saw that it was already quarter to two in the morning.

Ye Minzhe's arms was tightly wrapped around her. He was wearing his boxers while she was only in her underwear, their bodies tightly covered by a thick blanket. They were in a spooning position, his leg thrown over hers, his erection pressing against her back.

Song Jia's body stiffened.

Truth to be told, Ye Minzhe had never stopped wanting her, but held back because he saw that Song Jia was about to pass out. She just recently recovered from a cold, so he didn't want to tire her out.

Bang!

The glass of water that Song Jia was holding nearly slipped out of her hands when she heard something crash against the bedroom door.

She could hear party music through the closed door, but there were no longer any sound of voices. Song Jia's instincts told her that something was wrong.

Bang! Bang!

The door bulged inward as something heavy was slammed against it on the other side. The force that was used was so great that the door rattled off its hinges.

"Minzhe. Ye Minzhe, get up."

Song Jia quickly shook Ye Minzhe's shoulder, trying to wake him up. Still sound asleep, Ye Minzhe mumbled her name and hugged her waist even tighter with a stupid grin on his face.

Song Jia slapped his cheek. "Ye Minzhe, wake up!"

He stirred, opened his eyes, eyelids still sluggish with sleep. "Jia?"

At that precise moment, the force that was trying to open the door disappeared and everything became quiet.

Ye Minzhe's head was aching from an imminent hangover, and all he wanted to do was to lie in bed with her. Ye Minzhe pressed his face against her back and inhaled her scent. His headache lessened a little.

Song Jia nervously glanced at the door, and shook him again.

"Ye Minzhe, wake up."

"Jia...."

Because Ye Minzhe was still drowsy, his voice sounded husky and sexy. His black curls were tousled, and as he flung back the covers, the sheet tangled around his waist. He squinted at the light coming from the desk lamp Song Jia had turned on. Almost a reflexive action, he pulled Song Jia close to him and kissed her hair.

"Jia, what's wrong? Are you hungry? I'll tell the chef...no, I'll cook you something."

Song Jia covered his mouth. "Ye Minzhe, something was trying to get into the room earlier. I can't hear the voices of the crowd either. I think something went wrong outside."

All the sleepiness quickly left Ye Minzhe. Someone tried to enter their room?

Jia was only wearing her underwear! What if somebody saw her naked body?

He hugged Song Jia tighter and regardless of his own frown, he didn't forget to reassure her, "Maybe the party's over. It's probably some of the drunks left that's making all that noise."

"Then why didn't they turn off the music? I have a bad feeling about this."

Ye Minzhe nodded. He trusted Song Jia's gut feeling. He wrapped the blanket around her, almost making her look like a sushi roll, before picking up his discarded clothes and putting it on.

"Jia, stay here, I'll go check it out."

"Bring a weapon. I still have the duffel bag you gave me, you can pick something there."

Because of the way he wrapped the blanket around her, only her eyes were left exposed to stare at him. Ye Minzhe felt amused, but he hid his smile as he crouched down to grab a rifle. He picked up the duffel bag and put it beside her on the bed.

"Stay here, I'll protect you," he warned her again, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. He then picked up his rifle and walked towards the door.

BAM!

Without warning, the door burst open, ripped off its hinges. It came flying towards Ye Minzhe at a terrifying speed, sweeping him off his feet like a great wooden flyswatter.

It threw him against the wall, knocking him out cold. Judging by how stiff his body was, he probably wouldn't be able to wake up in a short amount of time.

Song Jia was rendered speechless.

Never mind, this grandma will protect you instead.

Zombies came pouring in, their limbs twisted and almost boneless, as if they were a single monster made of cartilage. The coppery smell of blood filled the air, and Song Jia was horrified to see that there were so many of them.

Because Ye Minzhe had been covered up by the door, they charged straight towards Song Jia.

Song Jia clambered off the bed, her limbs tangled in the blanket. When she finally got herself loose and tried to stand up, her legs collapsed.

Song Jia wanted to cry. Of all times to become a limp noodle, it had to be at such a bad time.

Desperately, she crawled under the bed on her hands and knees. A hand shot out from beneath the bed and grabbed her ankle.

"Let go!"

Song Jia yanked and kicked, trying desperately to pull herself forward. She reached into her storage space ring and threw multi-colored balls towards the zombies' direction, releasing gas in the air.

The zombies growled, a voiceless cry that only they could understand. Song Jia could see that although it didn't make them pass out, their movements greatly slowed.

Song Jia lashed out with her foot, and felt it connect with the zombie's nose. But the zombie that grabbed her foot was persistent.

A sharp pain on her calf caught Song Jia off guard. Just as she was about to kick the zombie in the face again, the force that was dragging her disappeared.

"Jia!"

Ye Minzhe slammed the zombie's head against the wall, his handsome face contorted with rage. He picked the zombie up and smashed its face over and over until the zombie's skull shattered, spraying a shower of blood and brain.

When Song Jia crawled out of the bed, she was immediately encased in a tight hug, cutting off her breath. Ye Minzhe released her and looked her up and down in panic.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Fuck, Jia."

His hands grabbed her cheeks, placing a frenzied kiss on her lips, over her eyelids, and across her cheeks before pressing his lips to her forehead. Ye Minzhe sucked in a breath. His whole body was still trembling from fear.

"I almost lost you. I can't believe I almost lost you."

Unlike Ye Minzhe, Song Jia was eerily calm.

"Those zombies didn't come from outside."

Ye Minzhe froze. Their bodies were tightly pressed together, and Song Jia could hear the rapid pounding of his heart. Ye Minzhe tightened his hold on her, reassuring himself with her warmth.

Fortunately, the two of them were together. Fortunately, he had woken up in time.

"Jia, what do you mean?" Ye Minzhe's voice was hoarse.

"I recognized some of their faces. Those zombies were guests to your party."

Ye Minzhe quickly understood what she had guessed. "You mean..."

"It isn't only a flesh bite that can turn people into zombies. Contaminated food and drinks could also..."

Song Jia didn't finish her sentence. The reason the zombie virus spread so fast was because its mode of transmission wasn't only through blood and body fluids.

With enough dosage of the virus, it could also be passed through contaminated food and water, and in some cases, there were even reports of it being spread airborne in closed spaces.

The zombie virus was very resistant to environmental factors like heat and acidity, which makes them highly persistent so that they can remain infective for over a month. This was why the zombie virus was so terrifying.

It basically uses every mode of transmission just so that it could spread itself to a new host and multiply.

Ye Minzhe's expression hardened.

"They made my birthday party a Hongmen Banquet." [1]

[1] Hongmen Banquet or Feast at Swan Goose Gate. A historical event that took place in 206 BC where Xiang Yu, coming from an ancient family of patrician military leaders, invited his great rival for the throne Liu Bang, an unknown man born from a small village, to a banquet feast in order to secretly assassinate him. Liu Bang won the throne in the end though. Similar to Scotland's Black Dinner during 1440 and the Glencoe Massacre of 1692 which inspired GoT's Red Wedding.