Waaah, I'm being forced into loving my yandere wife's brain.

Shen Jin has been gone for four days.

After taking a shower, Lin Zhiyao stood alone in front of the bathroom mirror, her palms brushing against the water vapor, her expression blank as she gently touched the dark red mark on her collarbone with her fingertips.

Even after so long, the mark was still as clear as if it had just been branded on, with slightly purplish edges, making it even more shocking against her pale skin.

Lin Zhiyao recalled the night Shen Jin left, when he pressed her down here, bit her neck from behind, held her waist with one hand and pinched her chin with the other, forcing her to look at her flushed face in the mirror.

That was her own face, showing an expression she had never shown before.

Shen Jin even put his finger in her mouth and stirred it around.

Make her stick out the tip of her tongue.

Lin Zhiyao felt ashamed.

"Yaoyao." Shen Jin whispered in her ear, his hot breath hitting her sweaty back. "Be good when I'm not around."

Lin Zhiyao bit her lip, her eyes were red and wet, and she didn't even have the strength to nod. She could only let out soft sobs.

Shen Jin seemed quite satisfied with her reaction. He lowered his head and bit her shoulder blade again, with just the right amount of force, leaving a complete ring of teeth marks.

He extended his tongue and slowly licked the deep marks, a satisfied darkness swirling in his gray eyes. "Yaoyao, wait for me to come back."

Those were his last words.

Lin Zhiyao snapped out of her thoughts and pulled up the neckline of her nightgown, trying to cover up the marks.

She went downstairs to the kitchen to find something to eat. Several plates of cut fruit were neatly arranged in the refrigerator, and next to them was a sandwich with its edges carefully cut into triangles and placed on a porcelain white plate, garnished with a mint leaf.

Lin Zhiyao was stunned.

Shen Jin wasn't there; besides her, the only other people in the villa were the zombies.

She picked up the plate shakily, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains.

On the lawn outside the window, several zombies were stiffly trimming the bushes, their heads bowed. One of them seemed to sense her gaze, slowly turning its head, its murky eyes meeting hers, and then—

He lowered his head.

It looked like they were bowing.

Lin Zhiyao's hand trembled, and the plate almost fell to the ground.

The food she's been eating these past few days has all been prepared by these zombies.

A wave of nausea washed over her, and the sandwich in her hand suddenly felt incredibly heavy.

She had initially thought that Shen Jin would quietly come back every day, since he often appeared after she fell asleep in the past, silently carrying her from the sofa back to bed, or bringing her warm medicine to her lips when she coughed in the middle of the night.

But Shen Jin has not appeared again in the past few days.

Lin Zhiyao even secretly breathed a sigh of relief, wondering if Shen Jin had finally lost interest in her.

She thought he had changed his ways or found a new prey, and that he might let her go after a while.

It turned out not to be.

He simply sent zombies to monitor her and take care of her, treating her like a caged canary, without even needing to personally feed her.

Lin Zhiyao put the plate back in the refrigerator, having lost her appetite.

She went back to the master bedroom on the second floor and buried herself in the covers.

The bed was large, and the silk quilt was as soft as a cloud, but she felt cold all over.

Shen Jin's scent still lingered on the pillow, that strange, decadent, sweet fragrance clinging to her, leaving her nowhere to escape.

She was too afraid to go downstairs.

Aside from necessary trips to the toilet and to get water, Lin Zhiyao locked herself in her room, not even daring to open the curtains.

The zombies seemed to sense her fear, and their presence became increasingly faint. Sometimes she would peek out the window, but the lawn was empty, as if the figures trimming the bushes and sweeping the fallen leaves were just her hallucinations.

But Lin Zhiyao knew they were nearby.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, the doorbell rang.

Lin Zhiyao was curled up on the sofa watching the TV series "Empresses in the Palace" on her tablet when she was startled by the crisp "ding-dong" sound and almost rolled off the sofa. How could anyone be here?

Lin Zhiyao froze on the spot, her fingers gripping the edge of the blanket tightly, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

The doorbell rang again, followed by a familiar voice: "Cousin? Is that you in there?"

Su Wanqing.

Lin Zhiyao's fingers trembled slightly.

She walked to the window, carefully opened a crack, and saw that it was indeed Su Wanqing standing outside the iron gate, with a strong man standing next to her, who was her boyfriend.

Both women looked disheveled, especially Su Wanqing, whose eyes lit up with an astonishing gleam of greed and scheming upon seeing that it was indeed her.

"Great, cousin, you're still alive! Why didn't you come back to find us? Is there anyone else in the villa? Didn't you want to go to the shelter? We can take you there."

Lin Zhiyao did not move.

She didn't believe Su Wanqing would be so kind.

A month ago, this woman threw her into a pile of zombies and laughed, saying she deserved to die.

This sudden show of goodwill must be a trap.

But Lin Zhiyao didn't refuse immediately.

Looking at the two people outside the iron gate, a thought suddenly welled up in her mind—

This might be an opportunity.

An opportunity to leave Shen Jin and head to the refuge.

Lin Zhiyao took a deep breath, changed her nightgown into a regular T-shirt and trousers, and then put on a jacket to cover the marks on her collarbone.

She went downstairs, through the living room, and to the iron gate. Through the openwork iron bars, she looked at Su Wanqing outside.

"How did you find this place?" Lin Zhiyao's voice was indifferent, revealing no emotion.

Su Wanqing's smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal: "We were searching for supplies around here and found this area strangely clean, so we came in to take a look. We didn't expect you to be living here."

Su Wanqing's gaze passed over Lin Zhiyao and landed on the villa behind her. A hint of jealousy flashed in her eyes. "Cousin, you really live a good life. This villa must have everything, right?"

"It's alright." Lin Zhiyao didn't want to say more.

Su Wanqing's boyfriend stepped forward, his voice filled with surprise and delight, "That's wonderful, Lin Zhiyao! I didn't expect it to really be you. You're still alive! We're planning to go to the shelter in the east, which is less than 800 kilometers from here. If you'd like, you can come with us."

Lin Zhiyao looked up at him.

She remembered that the man's name was Chen Feng, and that he was fairly upright.

"We have a car, but we're out of gas."

Chen Feng continued, "I see a lot of cars here. If we have the keys or some gas, we can just hit the road. There are very few zombies around here, making it a good place to break out."

Lin Zhiyao remained silent for a moment.

She quickly calculated in her mind.

Shen Jin didn't know when he would return; maybe tomorrow, maybe a week later.

If she doesn't leave now, she'll never have another chance when he comes back.

Although the zombies were outside, the fact that Su Wanqing and her group were able to get here meant that there was indeed a possibility of breaking through.

"Okay," Lin Zhiyao heard herself say, "I'll go with you."

Lin Zhiyao turned around and walked back to the villa. She went into the room and pulled a small backpack out from under the bed.

This is what she secretly packed while Shen Jin was away these past few days. Inside were several bottles of mineral water, several packs of compressed biscuits, a fruit knife she had taken from the kitchen, and some medicine that Shen Jin had left for her.

Lin Zhiyao slung her bag over her shoulder, picked up her car keys, and before leaving, she thought for a moment and left a note for Shen Jin, expressing her gratitude and wishing him happiness in the future.

The three set off at dusk.

As the car drove out of the villa area, Lin Zhiyao saw several stiff figures flash by in the woods by the roadside through the car window.

The zombies stood in the shadows of the trees, their murky eyes all turning toward the car. Upon seeing her, their rotting eye sockets widened instantly, with many eyeballs popping out. They immediately chased after her viciously, but couldn't catch up at all.