The group carefully made their way through the plaza before entering the gymnasium through a side door. Once inside, Ling Mo’s mind was filled with only one thought: to find a spot to rest as soon as possible.
But the cruelty of the current world left him with no choice but to steel himself and lead his group onwards.
Lingering near the entrance of the gymnasium would easily attract the attention of zombies.
Not only were these zombies not blind, their vision was markedly better than that of a regular human’s. Although they usually seemed no different from a specter as they spun on the spot when they were inactive, they’d enter a fevered state in practically an instant once they spotted their target.
Therefore, even if they were about to collapse from exhaustion, Ling Mo’s group hurriedly made their way up to the next level of the gymnasium, under Lin Luanqiu’s guidance.
According to what Lin Luanqiu had said, apart from some exercise equipment that was installed in the lounge, the second floor of the gymnasium also contained an indoor volleyball court and a Taekwondo dojo.
But what allowed Ling Mo to breathe a sigh of relief was that they hadn’t run into any zombies on their way up to the second floor. When disaster struck, the survivors in the gymnasium had likely drawn away the zombies in their attempts to flee.
“That Taekwondo dojo was previously closed for renovations, but we can inspect it through the French window1)A type of window. Click here to get a better idea of how it looks likeand inspect the place,” Lin Luanqiu suggested, “The dojo might be a little dirty, but I feel that that’s the most suitable place for us to rest.”
Ling Mo nodded his head before he cast a flabbergasted glance at Lin Luanqiu and asked, “How do you know so much? After all, the school is huge. You’re just one student, how’d you manage to get such a clear picture on the state of things?”
“I talked with everyone when I was with the volunteer rescue squad. I’ve made careful enquiries of everything relating to the number of people or the state of buildings within the campus for both before and after the disaster struck,” Lin Luanqiu gave a faint smile before continuing, “Even if I’m a psychic, a girl needs to put in even more effort than other people if they plan on living on in this world. And I never planned on confining myself to this place either. I thought of various plans, but their chances of success were far too little, so in the end, I chose to escape the school.”
“I hope you’ll be able to recover.” Ling Mo muttered to himself before giving voice to his heartfelt thoughts.
Although they didn’t know each other for long, a girl like Lin Luanqiu who was smart and independent was the type of person that Ling Mo greatly admired.
She was the same as Shana. They were both people who had a strength of heart and carried their own ideals. People like these, be it man or woman, deserved respect.
After hearing what Ling Mo said, Lin Luanqiu revealed a trace of a smile and said, “Thank you.”
Their group quickly passed through the corridor and arrived at a door that had “Undergoing Renovation” sign plastered on top of it. This should be the Taekwondo dojo.
But after gripping onto the doorknob, Ling Mo abruptly took a step backwards, his guard raised as he looked at the door.
Seeing Ling Mo’s reaction, Shana wordlessly stood by his side and raised her long saber.
Shana’s attitude allowed Lin Luanqiu to immediately understand what was going on. A trace of confusion appeared on her face and she said in a low voice, “I didn’t know that there were survivors here…”
Ling Mo remained silent and fixed his gaze onto the door. In the instant he gripped the doorknob, he distinctly felt it faintly vibrate, which meant that someone was behind the door.
Sure enough, the door immediately opened when Ling Mo released his grip and a haggard looking youth appeared from within who said, “Which faculty are you guys from?”
Ling Mo furrowed his brows and walked past this person, casting a glance into the room. He found more than ten people spread about the room, but all of them seemed to lack energy.
And opposite this door was a large French window. They’d clearly used it to discover Ling Mo’s party. However, based on the faint look of vigilance on the face of the youth’s face, Ling Mo roughly knew what they were thinking.
They probably had no intention of interacting with Ling Mo’s group as Ling Mo’s group would undoubtedly increase their burden if they took refuge here…
But they didn’t expect Ling Mo’s group to immediately make their way over to the Taekwondo dojo. At this point, they had no choice but to make contact. This was no coincidence. After all, the Taekwondo dojo was the best place in the gymnasium. It provided an early warning system through the use of the French window and its location was sufficiently obscure. On one side it was linked to the corridor while the other was close to an emergency staircase.
At this moment, Shi Bin cried out in pleasant surprise, “Xu Cai! You’re Xu Cai, right?!”
References [ + ]
Upon hearing Shi Bin’s exclamation, one of the boys facing the window promptly looked over and squinted at Shi Bin. Shortly after, a trace of a smile immediately appeared on his gloomy-looking face and he hurriedly got to his feet, looking as if he’d received a pleasant surprise.
When he walked over, Ling Mo found that he was well built and was rather tall in stature. From his appearance, he was most likely from the physical education faculty, or at the very least a sports lover…
“Shi Bin? You brat, you didn’t die?” Xu Cai’s eyes went wide as he sized up Shi Bin. Soon after, he gave a hearty laugh before he turned to the youth and said, “Teacher Luo, this is Shi Bin, he’s from the same faculty as me!”
Teacher Luo shifted his gaze to Shi Bin. After glancing at him for a moment, he gave a vapid reply, “We ourselves are about to run out of food…” His words were whispered in a soft voice, appearing as if he were somewhat afraid of the well-toned boy, Xu Cai.
“That’s great! Where’d you guys come from?” Xu Cai didn’t even listen to any of Teacher Luo’s complaints and continued to passionately chat with Shi Bin.
A pleased look flashed across Shi Bin eyes as he replied, “This…we just came out from the red light district.”
In the past, Xu Cai was considered a very talented student in the physical education faculty. Not only did he make multiple appearances in the downtown mixed martial arts competitions, he even obtained exemplary results. On normal days, he’d was the objection of affection for the girls within the campus. Now, looking at Xu Cai being confined here with these other people while he, on the other hand, was able to make it back alive naturally gave Shi Bin a certain amount of pride.
This time round, not only did Xu Cheng reveal an expression of shock, the people within the dojo stood up in succession, astonishment written on their faces.
Only now did someone realize the presence of Ling Mo and the rest behind Shi Bin, and someone even recognized Ye Lian at first glance, “Isn’t that Ye Lian!”
“The campus belle… Why is she together with Shi Bin?”
“The man beside her is also from our school…”
Shi Bin was originally feeling quite pleased with himself, but he now felt as if the wind had been taken out of his sails. He hurriedly turned behind and just happened to catch sight of Lin Luanqiu’s admonishing gaze.
A chill immediately ran down his back and Shi Bin felt his scalp turn numb. When he turned to look at Ling Mo, he saw Ling Mo wearing an impatient smile on his face with a cold look in his eyes.
“Everyone, quiet!” Shi Bin immediately shouted at everyone present before giving Ling Mo a tentative look and taking a step back, an embarrassed look on his face.
Xu Cai was rather perceptive. He immediately gained some insight upon seeing Shi Bin’s strange reaction and cast an inquisitive gaze towards Ling Mo before saying, “Sorry, may I ask which faculty you’re from?”
Ling Mo shook his head and explained, “I’m not from your school. I just came by to settle some matters.”
Ling Mo looked unaffected on the outside, but inwardly he was cursing and swearing at Shi Bin. When Ling Mo had first met this guy, he’d practically divulged the entirety of Lin Luanqiu’s background at once. Now, he was once again revealing their backgrounds as well. Shi Bin was definitely specialized in selling out his teammates! Telling them they just came out of the red light district? Wasn’t that clearly letting the others know that they had the strength to make it through half the campus, and that they should cling onto Ling Mo’s group and beg to be taken along?
It wasn’t wrong of him to posture, but what he did do wrong was that he had absolutely no talent in it. Not only was he more or less a burden, he was even trying to act as if he was the one propping up the group!
Luckily, most people likely wouldn’t believe in such talk…
Ling Mo had taken Lin Luanqiu warning Shi Bin not to mess around into consideration, but at this point, Ling Mo’s poor impression of Shi Bin could no longer be reversed.
Instead, he might as well use this as an opportunity to leave Shi Bin here. But regardless, Ling Mo had to speak to Lin Luanqiu in advance before he made his decision. In any case, the two of them held a cooperative relationship, it’d be better for him to first speak to her about it.
Sure enough, Shi Bin’s words had caused quite a stir amongst the other survivors. Although they no longer discussed loudly discussed it, the way they looked at Shi Bin had clearly changed, their eyes now holding a fervor within their eyes. There were even some that started to become restless and appeared as if they wanted to walk over.
Unfortunately for them, Xu Cai had practically barred their approach with his body and said, “Oh…doesn’t matter, we all share the same identity now as humans, don’t we? You guys showing up here means that we’re fated to meet. Come on in and take a seat.” Xu Cai looked as if he were all brawn and no brains, but the in truth, not only were his eyes sharp, he was intelligent too. He’d guessed that Ling Mo was probably stronger than Shi Bin, but he wasn’t clear on how much stronger he was. Most importantly, looked far too ordinary, while Shana with her long saber raised had a piercing look in her eyes, giving her an imposing presence.
This made him think that this girl might just be the strongest of the group. However when he glanced at Shana, Shana returned his gaze with a strange look of her own. He didn’t know why, but when he locked eyes with Shana, Xu Cai had this indistinct feeling that he was being treated as if he were prey. He hurriedly averted his eyes before finally resting them on Ye Lian’s body.
She was the one who was known as the campus belle, and she looked more than ten times better than her photos in the forums! On top of that, Ye Lian looked rather imposing as well, but he hadn’t heard tell of her being able to use a saber in the best…
Seeing Xu Cai unable to tear his gaze away from Ye Lian, Ling Mo furrowed his brows and asked, “What’re you looking at?”
Xu Cai was stunned. After glancing at Ling Mo, he cast a questioning gaze towards Shi Bin. Shi Bin knew he’d already provoked Ling Mo. He spoke in a very soft voice that lacked confidence, “He’s Ye Lian’s boyfriend.”
“Her boyfriend?” Xu Cai’s face held a look of shock, but it quickly reverted back to normal and said, “Haha, sorry about that. I didn’t notice. Why don’t you guys come in? Although this place isn’t all that big, it should still be enough for you guys to stay here for a while.”
Ling Mo didn’t have the least bit of goodwill left for these people. Upon hearing what Xu Cai said, Ling Mo gave a derisive grunt and replied, “No need, we’re just resting here for the time being.”
“It’s fine if you guys rest inside for a little while as well…” Xu Cai planned to continue persuading him, but Ling Mo had already turned around to look at Lin Luanqiu and said, “Is there anywhere else that we can use in this place?”
Lin Luanqiu nodded and glanced at Xu Cai before she turned to face Ling Mo and said, “Follow me.”
After which, she took the lead and made her way towards the other end of the corridor. Following after her, Ling Mo shot Xu Cai a cold glance before leaving with Ye Lian and Shana.