Qiao Siqi, who was known for his unconventional love of long johns, sent everyone's hearts on a rollercoaster ride. In comparison, the sight of him hanging on the tree like a ginseng fruit didn't seem so pitiful.
Qi Yan looked at Qiao Siqi: "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Although everyone agreed that if anything unexpected happened at the courier station, they would climb the tree first and then make further plans, only Qiao Siqi, who was running at the front, could see what was wrong with the courier station.
"No way," Johns said without hesitation.
Caught off guard, Qi Yan was genuinely taken aback, and her expression turned rather unpleasant.
Song Fei felt a little awkward. Although he enjoyed seeing Qi Yan make a fool of himself, this wasn't the way he wanted to: "Qiao Siqi, are you scared out of your wits? The five of us followed you up this mountain, what's the meaning of you not telling us the reason now?"
Qiao Siqi was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening. He was utterly embarrassed: "I didn't say there's no way! I said there's no way, no way! The delivery point is just a door frame, no door! After going through so much together these past few days, can't you guys at least have some teamwork?!"
Song Fei: "..."
Qi Yan: "..."
Zhou Yilu has no knowledge of the emotional world of gay men, and only speaks from the simple and objective perspective of a passerby: "The two of them are quite compatible."
Qiao Siqi didn't want to talk to him and shed a single dog's tear towards the tree.
The three big trees that the children were climbing were still some distance from the steel-framed house. From there, they could see that the door of the steel-framed house seemed to be open, and they could vaguely see a shelf piled with cardboard boxes inside, but they couldn't tell whether the door was not closed properly or there was no door at all.
"The steel-framed houses aren't sturdy to begin with. Let alone hordes of zombies, even one of our ordinary classmates could break down the door," Zhou Yilu explained the current situation from a professional perspective.
"What do we do now?" Luo Geng frowned. "Plan C?"
Without a door, there was no guarantee of safety, so the courier point was definitely out of the question. Their plan was to move to the library. Their current food supply would last two days, so their primary task was to find a sheltered, warm place to spend the night; otherwise, they would either starve or freeze to death.
Dormitories, supermarkets, canteens, and courier points all belong to the living area, located at the innermost part of the campus, specifically the north side. The library, on the other hand, is the teaching building closest to the living area. To use an imperfect analogy, if Song Fei's school were a map of China, the main gate would be Hainan Island, the living area would be equivalent to Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, the library would be roughly in Shaanxi, the sports fields and gymnasium would be in Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet, and Sichuan, and the departmental buildings, such as the Luban Building of the School of Architecture and the Gewu Building of the School of Physics, would be irregularly distributed across the central and eastern provinces. Public teaching buildings like the Zhiyuan Building would be neatly arranged in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Yunnan.
"Plan C is for sure, but not now." Song Fei looked up at the overcast clouds. "Let's wait a bit longer; it'll be dark soon."
"Okay." Luo Geng understood what Song Fei meant.
Even though the library was nearby, it felt far to them at this moment. The courier point, which they could see without even looking up, was a place they could run to in a flash. To get to the library, they had to rely on the right timing and location, trying to sneak away like they did when escaping from their dorm to the supermarket. Otherwise, if they attracted a zombie horde on the wide avenue, they would have nowhere to escape.
Although smog can't be present all the time, darkness can serve the same purpose. If the smog could last until nightfall, a night without moonlight or stars would be the most beautiful.
Several of her friends understood immediately, including Lin Dilei, who hadn't experienced it herself but had heard about it from them.
It was 3:50 PM. Judging by the light, it would take at least another hour before it got dark, and even longer if it got completely dark.
Six flowers of the motherland, stuck on a bare tree branch, are struggling to survive in the howling north wind.
The group tried their best to pull their collars up and wrap their clothes tightly, tuck their hands into their sleeves, and hug the tree branches with their arms. Even so, heat continued to leak out.
Qiao Siqi sniffed: "I don't know how you guys feel right now, but I feel like a tattered rag, the kind that's all wet and hanging out to get completely frozen solid."
Lin Dilei was speechless: "Be content. I've shielded you from so much wind. How about we switch?"
The two trees were practically touching, but Lin Dilei was definitely closer to the direction from which the wind was blowing.
Without comparison, there is no harm; Qiao Siqi should shut up obediently.
A sudden gust of wind blew, and Lin Dilei was almost unable to hold on. When she finally got through it, she sneezed several times in a row.
The girls were a little worried, after all, she was a girl and not as resistant to the cold as the boys. Just as they were about to ask a few questions, Lin Dilei spoke first: "Have you noticed that there have always been these eight down there? The number hasn't increased."
The little landmine's voice was still energetic, so everyone felt relieved.
Luo Geng: "That's true."
Zhou Yilu: "This place is remote, there's nothing around. People leave as soon as they pick up their packages, no one lingers. There are probably only a few people around when this happened. Maybe some zombie wandered here by chance, bit everyone and mutated, and settled down here, isolated from the world."
Zhou Yilu's guess was not unreasonable. These eight zombies all rushed out of the courier point and were not collected on the road.
Qi Yan sensed something amiss: "Little Landmine, just tell me your thoughts."
Lin Dilei: "If we can resolve these eight issues, then we can get into the courier point, right?"
Qiao Siqi: "The problem is, the courier point doesn't have a door!"
Song Fei: "I think she doesn't mean to stay permanently, but rather to take refuge temporarily. If no more zombies come, then a delivery point without a door is still better than being in a tree."
Lin Dilei: "And don't you think that leaving so many express delivery boxes there for people to look at but not to open is a loss of humanity?"
Luogeng: "..."
The five male students weren't particularly enthusiastic about unpacking the packages, but they were well aware of the consequences of offending a woman. Besides, they were indeed getting restless up in the tree; their limbs were starting to stiffen, and in another hour, they'd probably be frozen solid.
Time waits for no one, just do it!
Qi Yan: "Six against eight is no chance of winning, we can only lure the enemy..."
All the partners looked at Zhou Yilu in unison: "Go deeper."
Zhou Yilu was speechless: "We're all on the same plane, why the hell are they pushing their way into my area?!"
Song Fei: "An inch longer, an inch stronger!"
Zhou Lu looked up and said, "Don't talk nonsense from up there like it's nothing."
Song Fei's eyes widened: "How could I stand idly by? We're like two frozen pears on the same tree now, of course I'll help you!"
Zhou Yilu softened slightly: "That's more like it. How can we help?"
Song Fei: "Lure."
Zhou Yilu: "..."
A moment later, Song Fei's beautiful voice, slightly husky, rang out in the cold wind—
"Please come here~~ Please come here~~ Here is a green world, a green world~~ Where does green come from~~ Where does green come from~~ Green comes from every single leaf here~~~"
Song Fei's voice wasn't loud, but it wasn't quiet either; it was loud enough for the zombies to hear, and it wouldn't drift away on the wind. Not only was the melody lively, but she also sang with great enthusiasm and expressive eyes. Not to mention the zombies, even one of her friends, who was completely captivated, almost lost their grip and fell off the tree.
Qiao Siqi: "This singing is just too..."
Luo Geng: "It's a long story."
Lin Dilei: "What's so difficult about it? It's just four words..."
Zhou Yilu: "Full of vibrancy, energy, and energy!"
Zhou Yilu spoke almost through gritted teeth, and as the last word faded, he used all his strength to fire the next shot!
The first zombie that lunged at the tree struggled for a couple of moments, then stopped moving.
Zhou Lu forcefully pointed the gun and carefully climbed down another branch, getting closer to the bottom.
As the old tunes fade away, new ones begin—
"Who brought you to my side? It was the round, bright moon. The bright moon... It was the babbling mountain spring... It was the babbling mountain spring... It was the babbling mountain spring..."
For the next ten minutes, zombies and the divine music flew together, and blood and demonic sounds blended into one.
If they hadn't been so steadfast in their stance, all four comrades would have rushed down to help the zombies devour Song Fei!
As the eighth zombie fell, Song Fei ended his concert. His branch was the highest; he looked around to confirm that the surrounding area for dozens of meters was safe before nodding.
The group quickly climbed down the tree, exhausted both physically and mentally.
They rushed into the courier station, supported and helped, and the six people ducked to either side of the door, finally letting out a sigh of relief. Although the temperature was still cool, the lack of wind greatly reduced its lethality.
Lin Dilei rushed into the pile of packages almost immediately. Soon, the sound of tearing and ripping filled the air, and her skill in opening packages and tearing tape was simply amazing.
"So many, which ones should I open and which ones shouldn't I open?" Song Fei looked at the vast sea of express delivery boxes and was overcome with decision paralysis.
"Soft bags that are neatly packed or flat boxes that aren't too heavy are usually clothes," Lin Dilei shared her experience without looking up. "Just pick square boxes that have some volume and weight; they're usually food or household items."
Having a direction makes things easier. Song Fei immediately spotted a medium-sized box, picked it up, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's incredibly heavy!" Overjoyed, Song Fei promptly put it on the ground and began to unpack it.
"National and Provincial Civil Service Examination Textbooks (1000 Must-Do Essay Questions Before the Exam)," a perfect set of six volumes.
Song Fei nearly coughed up blood. But he told himself to be strong, took a deep breath, and start again. This time, he wouldn't pick and choose based on weight, heading straight for the large box. He lifted it, and lo and behold, it was just the right weight. Compared to his own size, it wasn't as heavy as the weight of knowledge, but it wasn't too light either; it still had some weight. Song Fei nervously opened the box a second time—
Two bags of deluxe cat litter.
How do these pet owners manage to get away with the dorm ban on pets?!
Night finally fell, and the group of friends, ready to set off again, each had their own achievements—
Lin Dilei, a well-known international brand, purchased through overseas online shopping. 28-inch suitcase, meat floss cakes, biscuits, chocolates, snacks, 5kg pack of fresh oranges, brand-name down jacket, and two sets of skin care products.
Zhou Yilu: a pair of snow boots that are slightly oversized but still usable, a cashmere scarf, and a carton of imported milk.
Luogeng, ten sets of protective gas suits (mask and goggles).
Qiao Siqi, some snacks, five boxes of men's underwear.
Qi Yan spent most of his time keeping watch, so his harvest was meager, consisting only of a pair of black leather gloves.
Song Fei, none.
Actually, Song Fei couldn't say he didn't have anything. In just over an hour, he had dismantled countless things: civil service exam books, postgraduate entrance exam English materials, cat litter boxes, a 10,000-piece puzzle set of Black and White Hell, a juicer, a soy milk maker, and even a half-meter-tall Iron Man figure.bookshelf
He had a complete understanding of just how rich and fulfilling university life could be.
The suitcase Lin Dilei found was both a surprise and a worry. The surprise was its enormous space; almost anything could fit inside. The worry was that once everything was packed in, the suitcase was quite heavy. Pulling it around wouldn't be difficult, but the noise of the wheels might attract zombies in the quiet of the night.
"How about we carry it?" Zhou Yilu put on his scarf and stuffed his shoes and the milk from the unpacked carton into his suitcase.
"It's too heavy." Luo Geng placed the five gas masks on top of the down jacket, pressed down hard, and the box closed successfully. Then he stood up and distributed the remaining five sets to his friends, "Put them on."
Qiao Siqi took the box, a little hesitant: "It's too late at night, and besides, there's no smog today."
Luo Geng: "Do you know why zombies love to gnaw on faces so much?"
Qiao Siqi: "Your face is so tender?"
Luo Geng: "...Your being bitten was definitely not a coincidence!"
Apart from Qiao Siqi, the other comrades understood that the reason they were biting faces was because they were all wearing clothes, and faces were the easiest to bite. Now that they had masks... and so on.
Song Fei opened the box and felt an overwhelming sense of happiness, as if she had been given a new lease on life: "It even has goggles!"
Luo Geng said proudly, "I already said it's a set, so it has to be comprehensive. This isn't just for protecting against smog, it also protects against toxins. Some volatile gases are also harmful to the eyes."
Zhou Yilu: "Damn, how did you pick this one out of so many boxes?"
Luo Geng: "Look at the package slip to find the recipient's name. Don't I recognize my own name?"
The five friends: "..."
No wonder it looked familiar; it's exactly the same as the one on Luo Geng's face!
Luo Geng: "However, the workmanship of this batch isn't as good as the one on my face, so the quality has definitely dropped. I guess it will be automatically given a positive review by the time it's online. Oh well, I'll add a comment later."
The five friends: "...You're thinking too far ahead!"
In the dark and deep night, six figures moved cautiously, almost shuffling forward. Ultimately, the heavy suitcases they were pulling made barely audible noises as they moved forward at an extremely slow pace.
This is a path without streetlights, with pine and cypress trees covering the slope. Going down the slope, you'll find yourself directly behind the light of the books.bookshelf
A strange howl came from afar.
The six people were not afraid at all, because they felt the same stimulation and the same sense of security in each other's floral scent.
The library is now clearly visible.
It was a building completely different from the school's modern style, with red walls and black tiles, exuding an antique charm. It is said that the school required the library to have a strong cultural atmosphere and profound historical heritage, preferably in the style of the Palace Museum. Thus, this four-story library was beautifully completed.
This is another important reason why they chose the library – its windows and balconies have intricate designs and are easy to climb.
In the deep of night, the lights surrounding the library are as striking as spotlights, making the building shine brightly.
Luo Geng walked at the very back of the group, constantly alert to his surroundings. The closer they got to the library, the brighter the world became, and the six of them became increasingly clear, including their shadows on the ground…
Luo Geng's steps suddenly froze.
There are seven shadows on the ground.