Only when Qi Yan ran into the dormitory building did Song Fei finally feel half relieved. However, there were already mutants who had run in the building the day before. No one could say for sure whether Qi Yan could safely hide in the dormitory. So, she couldn't let go of the other half of the worry no matter what.
The fleeing students rushed into the dormitory building, leaving only the horde of mutants following behind. Unlike the students who ran like a herd of antelopes, these mutants had no concept of organization, and their speed varied, resulting in a long, scattered run. Even though their numbers were considerable, they did not create a powerful momentum.
For the first time, Song Fei observed "them" from an outsider's perspective. He didn't need to run for his life or run wildly; it was as if he were observing them from God's point of view, looking down from above.
These were all his classmates: laid-back boys, cute and obedient girls, and some who might not have been seriously injured when attacked, and who, after mutating, didn't actually attack anyone, leaving almost no trace of blood on their bodies. If you ignore their unnatural movements and slightly eerie faces, these people would still seem like the classmates you would pass by on campus.
Song Fei didn't know how to describe this feeling: fear, eeriness, coldness, sadness, and also a burning urge to slap himself. He had complained countless times about how boring and tedious university life was, and even fantasized about aliens invading Earth and turning the university into a battle base. In that case, he would definitely tear up all his books first, and then fight the aliens amidst the shower of shredded paper.
The aliens didn't come, but the mutations did.
Their naivety made them so vulnerable in the face of the unexpected. The dullness and tedium they once scorned are now the beautiful dream they most want to grasp but can never hold onto.
"Help me!!!"
Suddenly, chaotic footsteps and desperate cries for help echoed down the corridor.
Song Fei shuddered and immediately ran back into the house, leaning against the inner door panel. But before she could even press her ears against the door, an even more horrific, almost tearful scream shattered her eardrums—
"Please, someone open the door for me! I'm begging you!"
Song Fei almost gritted his teeth. Opening the door would most likely mean death, but if he didn't open the door, how was he any different from those mutants!
Taking a deep breath, Song Fei gripped the doorknob, about to unlock it, when he suddenly stopped. His eyes lit up as if he'd just remembered something, and a bold shout escaped his lips: "Run to 440 and I'll open the door for you!!!"
This shout wasn't just a timely rain for the student outside the door, it was a lifebuoy! The student outside, who had already exhausted all his strength and thought he couldn't run anymore, suddenly channeled Usain Bolt's energy.
Song Fei heard the previously heavy footsteps quicken, and was about to be happy, but then she realized that while the footsteps were indeed faster, the sound seemed to be getting farther and farther away...
"You fucking went the wrong way!!!"
Song Fei was utterly devastated. If those mutants were really zombies, they would definitely leave disappointed after cracking open this thing's head and taking a look!
Fortunately, the footsteps returned shortly afterward, growing ever closer. Song Fei nervously swallowed, seized the opportunity, and suddenly flung open the door!
Bolt charged into the campus like a rocket!
The moment he rushed in, Song Fei slammed the door shut, almost seamlessly. But the mutated creature chasing after him was even faster. The door that Song Fei slammed shut hit the mutated creature directly! One used his hand, the other his body; the strength was incomparable. By the time Song Fei tried to use his body to hold the door open, it was too late. The enormous impact had already knocked the door open, and the mutated creature charged straight in!
The campus Bolt seemed to have anticipated this situation. As soon as he ran in, he grabbed a chair, turned around in a flash, and smashed it into the mutant!
The mutant remained oblivious and painless, but the attacker's brutality caused it to stumble and temporarily tilt to one side.
Song Fei was stunned, but he quickly came to his senses, slammed the dormitory door shut, and locked it with a click!
Bolt, who was about to kick the mutants out of the school, was practically going crazy: "Why the hell are you locking the door?!"
Song Feigang's initial admiration for his combat prowess was instantly wiped out by his intelligence, but there was no time to explain. The mutant, who had straightened up again, pounced on his prey once more!
On campus, Bolt used the same trick again, hitting the other person on the head with a stool!
The immense impact tore open the other person's forehead, splattering blood everywhere. But unlike a human, the blood was a strange, almost blackish dark red!
The mutant was clearly unaware of being cracked open. After a moment's pause, he reached out and grabbed the stool from the school Bolt's hand, pulled hard, and the stool flew out of his hand, crashing with a thud onto the iron edge of the upper bunk next to him before falling heavily to the ground!
The campus Bolt was distracted by the chair that slipped from his hand. When he came to his senses and wanted to fight bare-handed, the mutant had already grabbed his shoulder and pulled him over. It looked like the hideous, bloodthirsty mouth was about to bite his face!
There was no way to avoid it, and being bitten seemed inevitable. But in the blink of an eye, a light pink floral bed sheet flew through the air and covered the mutant's head!
With a sudden pull, a twist, and a tug, the mutant was instantly dragged two steps away, like a mad horse with its reins on.
Before the mutant could even regain his footing, the warrior holding the bedsheet delivered a deadly kick, shoving him to the ground. The impact was so solid that even Usain Bolt on campus felt the pain.
"What are you standing there for? Lift his leg! Don't let him get up!" the sheet warrior roared.
The campus Bolt immediately obeyed, grabbing the mutant's ankle and lifting him up forcefully!
The mutant was not about to be dealt with and immediately struggled, almost losing his grip several times!
Fortunately, before he became exhausted, the sheet warrior covered the mutant's mouth with a crumpled sheet in one hand and reached under the mutant's armpit with the other, pulling upwards—the mutant was successfully lifted up by the two of them!
"Throw him downstairs!"
Three powerful and resounding words.
Without the slightest hesitation, Bolt on campus immediately accelerated and reversed!
With a loud crash, the mutant slammed onto the asphalt, creating a bizarre scene along with the pale pink floral bed sheet.
"I know why you locked the door," Campus Bolt said, still shaken. "If we focused on dealing with one, we could still put up a fight, but if a second one came in, we'd both be dead for sure."
Normally, Song Fei would definitely have boasted a bit, but now, panting heavily, he really wasn't in the mood for it.
"Outer courtyard, oh, Qiao Siqi."
"History Department, Song Fei."
I owe you my life.
"Forget it, we're all classmates, let's not talk about this."
"We're all classmates, so you're the only one who opened the door for me."
"..."
Song Fei didn't know how to respond. In a life-or-death situation, any choice is instinctive.
"Song Fei!"
Suddenly, an anxious shout came from downstairs.
Song Fei's body trembled, and he quickly peered out. Sure enough, he spotted a figure looking up from the second-floor balcony diagonally below.
"Qi Yan!"
Song Fei waved vigorously. Although it was just a meeting across the distance, it was enough to make people cry tears of joy!
Qi Yan still seemed worried: "Are you alright?"
Song Fei immediately patted his chest and said, "Nothing's wrong. When it comes to fighting, I'm a professional!"
Qi Yan wanted to grab the guy who could still joke around at a time like this and rub his face hard: "Didn't you lock the door properly? How could you let them in!"
This matter couldn't be explained in a short time, so Song Fei simply focused on the key points: "Anyway, it's locked now, so don't worry!"
"Hey, you on the second floor," Luo Geng, who had been worried sick for Song Fei, finally couldn't contain his curiosity and asked Qi Yan, "I'm right across from you and it's perfectly normal. How did you, with your vertical coordinates and sitting inside, determine that the monster fell out of Song Fei's dormitory?"
"I told you it's not a monster, it's a zombie!" Zhou Lu, who was upstairs on the balcony, interrupted forcefully.
Luo Geng ignored him and looked at Qi Yan for clarification.
Qi Yan felt that this question was completely devoid of technicality: "I can't see from inside the house, but I can hear. If I run out and look down, I'll know everything."
Luo Geng frowned. As a science student, although his grades were a bit poor, his thinking instinctively followed logic: "Then that's even stranger. When you ran out, the monster had already fallen down. How did you determine that it was Song Fei's house?"
Qi Yan pursed her lips, somewhat regretting taking the bait.
Song Fei's heart sank. This was Qi Yan's minefield, and Luo Geng really knew exactly where to hit. He quickly replied, "Why do you have so many questions? Hurry back and check if the door is locked properly, lest you get pounced on again."
Luo Geng was speechless: "It's clearly very strange, aren't you curious?"
Song Fei rolled his eyes. What was he curious about? Even a fool could figure it out...
"You won't find another one like his tacky bed sheet in the whole building."
Suddenly, Qi Yan's reply came from below.
The sound wasn't loud, but there was no attempt to conceal it or make it sound unnatural.
Luo Geng glanced at the pink floral pattern and was completely convinced by the answer: "That's right."
Qi Yan did not respond.
Song Fei sighed, feeling both relieved and uneasy. He didn't plan to come out publicly at school, but he also didn't intend to hide it. Whether he liked men or women was his own business; he didn't need to explain it to anyone or pretend to be something he didn't want to conceal. But Qi Yan didn't think so. Qi Yan felt that they were both still very weak at this stage, without any strength to resist the pressure that came with being gay. Even if this identity wasn't confirmed, mere suspicion and distrust were fatal.
This isn't a question of whether you prefer sweet potatoes or potatoes.
This is a question of whether you prefer meat or vegetables.
The differences are too fundamental to be reconciled.
Qiao Siqi wasn't as naive as Luo Geng. As a man who straddled the two- and three-dimensional worlds, he immediately understood the mystery behind it. But he couldn't very well ask his savior, "Hey, why are you two so close that you remember each other's bed sheets?" right after escaping danger.
"Where did you come from?"
Qiao Siqi's inner monologue was abruptly interrupted: "The cafeteria. We had locked and blocked all the doors, and nothing happened all night. But just now, I don't know how they managed to break the door open. Our dorm is the closest to the cafeteria, so everyone ran, and I ran with them. But when I got to the door, I realized I didn't have my key. What bad luck."
canteen.
Qi Yan was waiting for him there to have dinner together.
Instead of him, Qi Yan was greeted by a mutant. Song Fei could imagine how frustrated Qi Yan must be. It was just that they couldn't meet face-to-face; if they had, that guy would have argued with him for ages.
"Holy shit!"
"Damn it..."
"Are you crazy...?"
The sound of people gasping for air echoed from the building across the street.
Song Fei looked at the person opposite her, puzzled: "What's wrong?"
Luo Geng, looking completely bewildered, pointed down at his crotch: "Look down..."
Song Fei peeked out in confusion, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. She saw Qi Yan, like Spider-Man, using all four claws to climb from one balcony to another. When he got tired, he would jump into the nearest balcony with the sliding door closed to rest, and then continue when he was ready. In short, he was slowly but surely approaching 440.
The girls' dormitory had complained more than once about the unsafe design of the school's balcony railings, which made them easy for people to climb over at night. Song Fei had even privately complained about how troublesome the girls were. Now, he wanted to sincerely apologize to those girls.
In the rising sun, a lithe figure scalded the wall, sweating profusely. Regardless of floor or department, anyone in the dorm with a view of this spectacle was awestruck. In contrast, the dorm whose balcony was visited by Spider-Man looked rather pitiful. The already shaken students thought the mutant had evolved and could now climb walls; several nearly poked him off with brooms.
Finally, after overcoming countless hardships and obstacles, Qi Yan successfully climbed onto the 440 balcony.
Song Fei didn't say anything, but her heart was already in turmoil.
Only after Qi Yan's feet touched the ground did Song Fei say irritably, "Are you crazy? Why did you climb up here!"
Qi Yan happily rubbed his face and murmured in a voice only they could hear: "Ninety-nine times when your liveliness is annoying, but today is an exception."
For the first time since the accident yesterday, Song Fei's eyes welled up with tears.
He hugged Qi Yan tightly, wishing he could pull her into his own body.
Qi Yan gently stroked his back. At this moment, for the first time ever, he forgot all his inhibitions and the many eyes watching from the building across the street. All he wanted to do was tell Song Fei, "I can't leave you alone."
Such warmth and tenderness was almost unlike Qi Yan's usual demeanor. Song Fei truly wished this moment could last forever: "Don't worry, I'm not alone."
Qi Yan nuzzled his head with her chin: "Okay, I'll stay with you."
Song Fei grinned: "Great, the three of us can play a game of Landlord."
Qi Yan: "..."
A hand emerged from the shadows: "Hello, my name is Josh, you can call me Johns. Uh, you can also just ignore me..."
Qi Yan's vision finally broadened beyond Song Fei, and she could see that there was another classmate on the balcony.
Joss's hand froze in mid-air, feeling somewhat embarrassed. He always felt that Spider-Man's gaze wasn't very friendly.
"You climbed up here too?"
"No way, I came in through the door."
"..."
Oh no, the unfriendly attitude seems to have turned into naked hatred.