Due to the limited space, the gap between the bookshelves was not wide—only about seventy centimeters—while the shelves stood two meters tall.
A thunderous crash rang out.
In an instant, the neatly arranged bookshelves toppled one after another like dominoes, crashing down in succession until the final shelf slammed against the wall with a heavy thud.
Countless books tumbled everywhere, piling into the gaps and angles between the collapsed shelves and littering the entire floor.
Having shoved over the shelves on one side, Le Jun immediately sprinted to the other.
By now, Qi Yezhou had also stumbled over, and the two joined forces to knock down the bookshelves on the other side.
Amid the cascading clatter, the chimes of the clock finally faded away. Before their very eyes, the entire space began to decay and rot at a visible speed.
The students who had just been frozen in place by shock turned in the blink of an eye into man-eating monsters with split flesh and putrid stench.
Snarling hideously and baring their claws, they surged toward their prey like beasts, dripping with bloodlust.
“Don’t look back, run!”
Ye Li’s sharp shout snapped Le Jun, whose face had completely drained of color, back to his senses.
He obediently mustered every ounce of strength he possessed and charged headlong into the aisle between the two rows of collapsed shelves without looking back.
The aisle was currently a complete mess, littered with tattered books and newspapers that had spilled from the shelves.
Agile on his feet, Le Jun ran relatively fast.
Injured foot and all, Qi Yezhou struggled immensely. Limping and stumbling, he awkwardly lost his footing time and again, looking remarkably like “fellow sufferers” with the trail of rotting corpses behind them.
Le Jun was the first to reach the end.
Ye Li stepped aside, letting him slip through the door.
At this point, Qi Yezhou was still a few paces away.
The rotting corpses behind him were closing in fast.
Just then, a flash of resentment and resolve flared in the eyes of Luo Jiajia, who had been waiting beside the door.
She suddenly reached out, yanked Ye Li inside, and used her other hand to slam the door shut.
“No—!” Qi Yezhou’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets in rage as he watched it happen.
Just as the door was about to slam shut, a loud thud rang out as a large water bottle jammed between the door and the frame.
Inside, Ye Li shoved Luo Jiajia aside and barked at Le Jun, “Hold the door!”
Yanking out the water bottle in her hand, she leveraged the door open and darted outside.
Seeing the door open once more, Qi Yezhou’s heart pounded, hope rekindling within him as he sprinted forward with everything he had.
Yet two rotting corpses had already caught up right behind him. The claws of one even snagged the backpack slung over his shoulders.
In the nick of time, Ye Li, who had charged outside, grabbed Qi Yezhou by the collar and hauled him forcefully behind her.
Caught off guard by the opposing forces, the straps slipped from Qi Yezhou’s shoulders. The rotting corpse ripped the backpack away while he stumbled forward.
Quick on his feet, Le Jun seized the opportunity from by the doorway and hauled him straight inside.
Having lost its target, the other rotting corpse lunged at the nearest prey—Ye Li.
Without hesitation, Ye Li swung the water bottle with brutal force. With a loud smack, she knocked the monster’s incoming head sideways, then lashed out with a vicious kick, sending it crashing backward into several other rotting corpses lunging from behind.
Seizing the opening, she spun around and dashed inside.
“Bang!”
The door finally slammed firmly shut.
A step too late, the monsters outside could only claw and slam against the door panel in a frenzy.
Inside, having barely escaped with his life, Qi Yezhou panted heavily, fists clenched tight as his bloodshot eyes glared daggers at Luo Jiajia.
His furious glare was almost palpable, making Luo Jiajia shrink back involuntarily.
“What are you glaring at me for? Didn’t you lock me outside last time? One for one, we’re even!”
Crossing her arms, she turned her head away, her tone still stubborn, brimming with contempt and sneering mockery.
“Consider yourself lucky this time that someone helped you. I didn’t have such good luck last time!”
Watching the drama unfold from the side, Ye Li pieced together the “feud” between them from these few words.
Presumably, after they pushed over the bookshelves last time, Luo Jiajia had run too slowly and was overtaken by the rotting corpses. Not only had Qi Yezhou refused to save her, but he had also shut the door, leaving her outside to be mauled to death by the monsters.
Burning bridges and leaving someone to die—no one could swallow such an insult. It was no wonder Luo Jiajia wanted revenge this time.
Had it been her in that position, the guy wouldn’t have even gotten the chance to touch the door!
By comparison, Ye Li suddenly felt quite fortunate that the first person she ran into was Le Jun.
Though this guy was a bit dense and somewhat cowardly, he was at least simple-minded and obedient, free of petty schemes and pointless chatter.
A pretty good partner!
Unnerved by the sudden approving glance the girl cast his way, Le Jun felt a slight chill run down his spine.
He didn’t know what it meant, yet he felt flattered all the same!
In the end, Qi Yezhou said nothing. He didn’t offer any excuses, nor did he lash out in anger. Instead, he simply said to Ye Li, “Thank you.”
Then, he called on Le Jun to help move the three discarded bookshelves in the room.
The room wasn’t large, being narrow and long.
They stood one bookshelf flush against the door and laid the other two flat, wedging them tightly between the upright shelf and the wall, barricading the door shut.
Afterward, they dragged over the bundles of discarded books stacked in the corner and packed them tightly into the open spaces of the shelves.
The commotion outside gradually grew louder; the horde of rotting corpses had evidently arrived.
However, with the two rows of collapsed bookshelves obstructing the space outside, the narrow remaining aisle couldn’t accommodate many corpses at once, preventing them from gathering enough force to break through the door.
At this moment, this small room had truly become a safe fortress for Ye Li’s group.
Rate on N.U.
