Song Fei was unaware that his trusted ex-boyfriend was exercising on a globe, just as Qi Yan was unaware that his sweetheart was peeking through the elevator door. ( ) The former thought the latter was overcoming obstacles, while the latter thought the former was terrified and bewildered.
Especially in the instant the lights went out, Qi Yan almost impulsively jumped down and rushed towards the elevator.
Fortunately, the globe started spinning again.
"What's going on—" Zhao He's shout came from outside the building.
The sudden darkness caught even the passionate young man singing loudly in the apple tree off guard. Although he had been working hard to lure the enemy, he could still hear his comrades shouting and yelling in the hall. Now, all of that was gone with the power outage. In the boundless silence, even Zhao He, who was fearless, felt a sense of panic.
"The power's out!" Qi Yan's voice drifted out from the wide-open front door. "Is the power out everywhere outside—?"
Zhao He quickly looked up and gazed around. All he could see was darkness. There seemed to be light in the far distance, but he couldn't tell if it was real or not. He could only cautiously reply, "The department buildings are all closed. We can't be sure about the living area!"
After saying that, he asked again, still worried, "Are you all alright?"
There was a pause in the building before the reply came: "Song Fei and He Zhiwen are in the elevator—"
Zhao He was devastated: "Does my luck have to be this bad?!"
Their original tactical plan was to take the elevator as much as possible after entering the Gewu Building, and only attempt to rush the stairs if that was not feasible. Although countless safety tips warned against using elevators in emergencies, firstly, the physics professors' offices were on the top twelfth floor. Climbing all twelve floors in one go would be exhausting under normal circumstances, let alone knowing how many zombies were lurking in the stairwell. If there were few, they could try their luck; if there were many, they'd be lucky to even make it halfway. They couldn't afford to gamble on the unknown. Secondly, the physics professor's office was right to the right of the elevator exit, extremely close. If the elevator was an option, even facing zombies blocking the way after exiting, it was still far more likely to succeed than rushing all twelve floors.
However, no matter how much you plan, you can't predict a power outage. Besides, how many seconds does it take for an elevator to travel from the first to the twelfth floor? How precise would it have to be to time it exactly right!
"Don't talk about anything else, I still have eight left, you keep singing a few more verses—" Qi Yan had slowly adapted to the darkness, and by the moonlight, she could vaguely make out where the windows were, where the doors were, where the elevator was, and where the zombies were still guarding below.
"You're taking on eight people by yourself?!" Zhao He was shocked. What shocked him even more was that Qi Yan could still calmly talk to him in this kind of battle.
"I didn't attack," Qi Yan had to be more direct with his tactics, "I need you to lure them all out!"
"Okay!" Zhao He understood completely. Since he was needed to lure the enemy, his comrades in the hall must have already found hiding places. "You stay hidden and don't make a sound. Be prepared for a protracted battle!"
Qi Yan understood Zhao He's meaning. This method of luring the enemy was highly unpredictable. Sometimes a single shout could attract all the zombies, and sometimes even if you shouted yourself hoarse, they wouldn't be interested. But, "No, I don't have time!"
Zhao He didn't understand and was getting anxious: "Where are you?!"
"On the globe!"
"..."
As the saying goes, "a trade is like a mountain," and the tactical thinking of the biology students was too difficult to understand. Seeing that the zombies that had been surrounding his tree were starting to flow back because of Qi Yan's shouts, Zhao He didn't bother to delve into the matter anymore. He just focused on doing his job and let things take their course.
A loud male voice pierced the night sky once again.
In the dappled moonlight, the boy stood alone in a tall tree, while the crowd below looked up at him, creating the atmosphere of an open-air music festival.
The three zombies that had entered under the globe after being drawn in by Qi Yan's shouts hesitated for a moment amidst the singing, then turned and wandered out again. The five who had originally been admiring the statue of the physics pioneer remained unmoved.
Qi Yan had no intention of sitting idly by and waiting to die. Since he wasn't going to leave, he simply grabbed the surface of the sphere with one hand and held the gun with the other, intending to stab as many as he could.
However, forces are reciprocal. When he stabbed the zombie, his body, which was lying on the globe, exerted a reaction force on the sphere. After a few shots, the sphere started to rotate continuously! Qi Yan was utterly devastated. To maintain his balance, he could only keep crawling forward while constantly stabbing with the gun. The difficulty of the battle was heartbreaking to hear, and the beauty of the scene was enough to bring tears to one's eyes!
After the song ended, only one zombie had been taken down in the hall, with four more still lurking around. Meanwhile, Qi Yan, who had been working out while fighting zombies, was already panting heavily.
"Keep singing—"
"My voice is completely hoarse, are you even capable of this?!"
As it turns out, Qi Yan was very capable, because not only could he give such a compelling reason as the lack of a certain element in the Five Elements theory, but he also pointed out the direction for enhancing the song's appeal.
"It's not just about being loud; rhythm and emotion are also very important!"
Zhao He felt that Qi Yan was fooling him. He believed that rhythm was important because he could feel it after several encounters. The clearer the rhythm of the song, the more zombies liked it. Perhaps they also had an instinct to follow the beat. But what was emotion?
"Hurry up, I can't hold on any longer!"
Qi Yan isn't one to easily admit defeat, but once he does, it's a sign he's truly at the last moment. If he still can't succeed, Qi Yan will probably have no choice but to jump down and fight with fewer troops.
Zhao He tried hard to recall Song Fei's performance when luring the enemy—the opponent was recognized by both martial arts troupes as having the best ability to control the zombies. Even the same song had a different appeal to the zombies depending on whether he sang it or someone else did; it was that magical.
So what is Song Fei like when he sings?
Flashing through my mind, a clear image finally emerged—ecstasy, immersion, overflowing with emotion, and unrestrained indulgence!
Taking a deep breath, Zhao He began to sing again. This time, he didn't try to outdo others in volume or resort to harsh shouting; instead, he poured out his emotions, letting a flood of memories embrace him and the zombies together.
"I love you so much~~ But you love an idiot~~ And that idiot doesn't love you~~ You're even more of an idiot than that idiot~~"
"Oh~~ You even knit sweaters for idiots~~"
The moonlight, like a stage spotlight, illuminated Zhao He in the tree, making him appear melancholic and affectionate.
Men with a story are the most charming.
Qi Yan watched with a strange expression as two more zombies disappeared below the globe, following the song. Suddenly, he understood what it meant to use minimal force to achieve maximum effect. In the quiet night, there was no need to shout; the song drifted into his ears on the wind. Sometimes, it's better to move someone with emotion than to try too hard.
As for whether Zhao He actually had such a heartbreaking love affair, that's someone else's story.
Seizing the opportunity, Qi Yan suddenly stopped fighting the rotating sphere and, following the globe's rotation, gracefully landed on the stone pedestal. The zombies, though not yet gone, were distracted by the music and were a beat too slow. By the time they reached out to grab Qi Yan's ankle, the latter had already fired a shot that firmly pierced one of their eyes!
Using the force of the thrust, Qi Yan pushed the zombie back a meter away, then suddenly pulled out his gun, causing the zombie to stagger and sit on the ground!
At the same time, another zombie had already grabbed his legs and was about to bite him!
Qi Yan raised his knee and slammed it into the zombie's face!
The zombie didn't let go at all, and even bit his knee!
Qi Yan didn't have time to break free, and his knee was bitten squarely! Fortunately, the skin and flesh of his knee were extremely taut when he was bent over, so the zombie only managed to bite the fabric of his pants at the knee.
But the sensation of teeth slicing through the fabric across the knee was still terrifyingly clear.
The zombie couldn't tell whether it had actually bitten into flesh or not, and continued to tear at it forcefully.
Qi Yan seized the opportunity and stabbed the other man in the back of the head!
The zombie that had fallen earlier got up and pounced again. Qi Yan kicked the zombie corpse that was still hugging its knees towards the other zombie.
The charging zombie was struck squarely by the corpse of its companion, temporarily halting its movement.
Qi Yan nimbly jumped down, landing right beside it. He pulled out a metal chopstick, sharpened with a whetstone from the cafeteria, from his waist and stabbed it into the other's temple with precision and force.
The two corpses fell to the ground together. Qi Yan quickly reached out his arm and caught them at the last moment, then slowly placed them on the ground.
The hall finally fell completely silent, the moonlight cold and clear, like the underworld.
The closed metal elevator doors were bathed in a dim moonlight. Qi Yan knew Song Fei was definitely not behind that door, because he had clearly seen the numbers climb after the elevator doors closed, but he still couldn't help but glance at the door, as if that would make him feel more at ease.
After the power outage, there was no loud crash as the elevator car fell to the ground, so Song Fei and the others should be safe for the time being. As for which floor the elevator was stopped on...
Qi Yan narrowed his eyes, gripped the gun barrel tightly, and moved silently toward the stairs.
The stairwell was much emptier than expected. Qi Yan easily reached the second floor, and there wasn't a single zombie in sight in the corridor. Moonlight streamed in through the windows, casting dappled shadows on the corridor floor.
However, the more this is the case, the more unsettling it becomes.
Qi Yan crouched down, pressed himself against the wall, and came to the window outside the first classroom. He then peeked his head out slightly, quickly peered into the classroom, and then quickly withdrew.
Nothing was gained.
The light was too dim; through the window, the classroom was just a dark abyss.
Qi Yan swallowed hard, no longer worrying about whether the classroom was safe. Whether there were no zombies or it was full of them, he could only take it one step at a time!
He crouched down, pressed himself tightly against the base of the window, and slowly made his way towards the elevator entrance in the corridor.
A classroom.
Two classrooms.
Three classrooms.
Although the movement was slow, it was very effective. After crossing one more classroom, we would reach the elevator!
Qi Yan suppressed her excitement and trepidation as she arrived outside the fourth classroom. The door was open, so Qi Yan leaned against the side to steady her breathing. Once she felt ready, she moved to cross the door as quickly as possible. That way, if there were zombies inside, they might not notice the fleeting figure in the darkness.
However, he had barely moved, and before his body had actually moved forward, a zombie suddenly walked out of the door!
Qi Yan almost screamed, and used all her strength to steady her forward-leaning body, but her nose still brushed against the side seam of the zombie's pants.
Fortunately, the scratch was so light it was almost imperceptible. Apart from Qi Yan breaking out in a cold sweat, the zombie was completely unaware and continued to leisurely wander forward.
Judging from his silhouette, clothing, and the bald patch on his head, this should be a teacher from the Computer Science Department.
Qi Yan suddenly realized that the zombie outbreak occurred on a weekend. There were no classes in the department buildings, nor were they being used as test centers for the CET-4 and CET-6 exams. So, at most, there were some students studying in this building, or teachers who were working overtime on the weekend. Moreover, the Gewu Building was the furthest of all the department buildings. Even if students wanted to study, most would choose the Wenbo Building. Although the Yixin Building and Luban Building were relatively close, one had almost no study rooms and was full of dance studios, art studios, music classrooms, sculpture classrooms, etc. The other had study rooms, but whether you could find one or leave the building before mealtime was a problem. So, it made sense that there were few people here, and that many of them would become infected with zombies.
As the zombies gradually disappeared into the distance, Qi Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and with a flash, he crossed the doorway. The elevator was already within reach!
Clang clang—
Who the hell threw an empty soda can on the ground?!
Qi Yan was practically going crazy, and then she heard rapid footsteps in the distance—the teacher was back!
Qi Yan instantly pressed himself against the wall, gripped his gun, and stared intently in the direction from which the sound came.
As darkness deepened, the frantic figures of Mediterranean zombies gradually emerged.
Qi Yan held his breath, waiting for his teacher to come before him for a desperate battle!
The zombies are closing in.
We're closer now.
It's right in front of me!
We made it through!!!
Uh, wait a minute?!
Qi Yan stared in astonishment as the teacher swept across her face like a gust of wind, then disappeared without a trace at the other end of the corridor. She wondered if she was simply too unattractive, or if the other person had higher aspirations.
However, after a moment's thought, he understood.
Zombies' eyesight hasn't evolved, which is one of the reasons they initially chose to operate on smoggy days and at night. In the current extremely dark environment, unless the brain gives the instruction "prey is hiding in the dark," it's not impossible for a zombie acting solely on its instinct for sound to overlook him in the darkness, where he has little human scent left due to the floral water.
So God is fair; he tripped over a soda can, but it also saved him from disaster.
He wasn't afraid of fighting one-on-one, but if there were still zombies in the classroom and they were drawn out by the fight, he would be doomed.
Carefully avoiding the offending can, Qi Yan quickly reached the elevator door. But in this situation, she couldn't possibly shout or bang on the door. Qi Yan was frantic with worry when suddenly a brilliant idea struck her.