Chapter 31
The boy was afraid, but he couldn't do anything about his situation. He could only watch as his fingers were broken one by one. Despair filled his eyes.
The sweat on his forehead, which was arranged in fine droplets, didn't know if it was because of the pain or the fear.
Veins popped up all over his face, and his body went completely limp. Then, a warm liquid, which he couldn't control, surged out from under him. It came with a nauseating smell.
When Lu Jia realized what was happening, she quickly got up and ran into the dorm room. By then, the boy had already been taken by Su Mo to the balcony. Before she could even shout anything, he was pushed off the third-floor balcony by Su Mo.
"Ah~"
With a horrifying scream, the boy was immediately surrounded by zombies. He couldn't move, and all he had left was despair. But he still tightly held the sunglasses he had taken from the woman's face, using every last bit of his strength.
Those gray eyes without pupils filled his final moments with fear.
His appearance clearly meant that the monsters downstairs could have a feast. They howled with excitement, indulging in their meal.
This is Lu Jia's first time seeing zombies eating people for real. She held back her urge to vomit and turned her head away, refusing to look anymore.
"Um..." The girl who had already sat up on the bed was still trembling and didn't know what to say.
Lu Jia heard the sound and glanced at Su Mo, who had lost her sunglasses. Her gaze finally fell on the girl inside the dormitory. When she saw the girl looking towards their balcony, she immediately understood.
Seeing the girl walking briskly towards them, Lu Jia grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her forward, speaking in a low voice, "This classmate, you need to understand that this has nothing to do with me or her. Be careful with your words and don't speak without thinking."
Hearing her words, the girl seemed confused. Already hurt, she couldn't understand why someone who had saved her would now threaten her.
But Lu Jia knew that soon someone would figure it out. She had to find out the answer before the crowd did. Taking matters into her own hands would not be good for her and Su Mo - they must not be discovered.
"Do you understand?" she said, gripping the girl's hand tightly. As her eyes glanced at the red marks on the girl's neck and she remembered the unpleasant things she had heard before, Lu Jia couldn't help but loosen her grip slightly, but she didn't let go completely.
When she obtained the answer she was looking for from the girl's actions, Lu Jia silently let go of her hand. Then she grabbed Su Mo, who was on the balcony, and quickly left the dormitory.
The strange noises and screams directly disturbed Gu Xici and Jiang Bei on the second floor, interrupting the intense gaze between the two of them.
But because there was a delay, when Gu Xici and Jiang Bei arrived at the girl's room, there was already a crowd of people outside her door. When they saw her and Jiang Bei, they willingly made way for them to go in.
"Qiao Tang?" Gu Xici looked at the person sitting on the bed, her voice trembling.
The person on the bed lifted her head only after hearing her voice. When she saw who it was, she rushed into their arms and began to cry.
Hearing the sorrowful sobs, Gu Xici couldn't find the right words to say, so she soothingly embraced the person in her arms and said, "It's okay, don't be afraid."
While she comforted the person, Jiang Bei stood motionless beside them, completely unaware of what had happened, until someone at the dormitory entrance mentioned that someone had fallen. It reminded him.
However, when he ran to the balcony to look down, the people below were no longer human.
Isn't that...? Jiang Bei's eyes flashed with shock as he saw the people below. He recognized this person, the newly promoted squad leader named Wang Chenghua. He was really good at killing zombies, and recently, Li Hua had been taking him along when he went out to search for food. Li Hua also had great admiration for this person.
Losing someone like this made Jiang Bei angry.
"What happened? What did you do?"
He walked back to his bedroom, speaking with a strong tone of questioning. From the way he looked, it seemed like he wanted to hit someone.
Hearing his words, the girl in Gu Xici's arms cried even harder.
"Jiang Bei, I want you to figure out exactly what's going on before you speak," Gu Xici stared coldly at Jiang Bei, her tone even containing a hint of threat. But after saying this sentence, she turned to the person in her arms, her hand embracing the girl's shoulder, and softly comforted, "It's okay."
Gu Xici scared Jiang Bei a little, but for Jiang Bei, this situation really happened too suddenly. "Gu Xici, that person is a trusted member of our team, I just... wanted to clarify."
"This has nothing to do with me. All I know is that a beast died, and from now on, I will have someone watch over the building where the girls live. If anyone wants to enter, they must have my permission. No man, including you, is allowed to enter without my approval."
As she said these words, her gaze was determined, and it could even be said to be a little scary. It gave Jiang Bei the illusion that if he chose to refuse, he might be beaten up.
After her words, everyone at the door, who had previously speculated about the situation, started discussing in a flurry.
Everyone knew what had happened, and even Jiang Bei himself almost understood the situation now. He just felt a little regretful that it didn't deserve such a harsh punishment.
"Calm down first. We can have a meeting to discuss this matter. There's no need to make a decision right now," Jiang Bei still hoped for a discussion, otherwise Gu Xici's behavior would cause conflicts to some extent.
"I am calm now, we will all make the necessary arrangements and work, so we should respect each other, right?"
Seeing that Gu Xici was determined, Jiang Bei had to give in. He repeatedly said that he would investigate this matter thoroughly and give everyone an explanation. After comforting the girl for a few words, he had to leave. After all, it seemed that he wasn't very welcome here.
After Jiang Bei left, Gu Xici looked around and her gaze finally fell on the people at the door.
"There's nothing interesting to see, everyone can leave."
Hearing her words and understanding her meaning, the people dispersed. Some went upstairs, some went downstairs.
As the crowd dispersed, Gu Xici noticed Lu Jia's presence among the crowd. She saw Lu Jia holding someone's hand and disappearing through the door with the crowd.
Gu Xici found it strange that Lu Jia was there, especially when the other girl was also present. However, because the person in her arms was crying harder, she had to let go of her curiosity and focus on comforting the girl.
Back in Room 417, thinking about the eye contact with Gu Xici, her heart couldn't calm down. She was worried that the girl might say something unnecessary.
She originally stayed at the scene to monitor what the girl would say, but Gu Xici drove everyone away. Su Mo also lost her sunglasses, and although she was hiding her face, there was still a risk of being recognized. So, she had to go with the flow and leave.
But Gu Xici... worried her, especially after the confrontation just now. The people who had mocked her before and the person who confronted Jiang Bei today didn't seem like the same person at all.
The person next to her, who she was holding hands with, cleverly chose not to disturb her. They silently began to gently squeeze someone's fingers.
"Knock, knock!"
Her thoughts continued until the sound of knocking interrupted her, completely snapping her back to reality.
"Who is it?"
The person by the door didn't rush to open it. Instead, they asked from the other side of the door.
"Gu Xici"
The other person simply introduced themselves, without many words.
Gu Xici, Lu Jia thought about this name in her heart. Thinking about what happened today and seeing Gu Xici come to find her made her start to worry. She wondered what that girl had said to Gu Xici.
She hesitated for a moment, but eventually, after calming down Su Mo, she obediently opened the door.
The door was opened under Gu Xici's gaze, but the person in front of her seemed reluctant to let her in.
"I came to find you because of Qiao Tang's situation, I think it's better to discuss it inside."
Gu Xici, who could tell Lu Jia's thoughts, clearly didn't intend to show any weakness.
Qiao Tang? Although Lu Jia was unfamiliar with this name, it didn't stop her from guessing who this person was, suspecting that it must be the victim she encountered earlier.
And Gu Xici's perplexing words only deepened Lu Jia's thoughts. She was unclear about what answers Gu Xici had obtained from the girl's words, so she had to step aside to let the person in, although she was unwilling.
Although Lu Jia remained composed, Gu Xici keenly sensed the change in her emotions. Seeing that she reluctantly gave in despite not wanting to, it slightly eased the heaviness in Gu Xici's heart caused by the previous incident.
Without any hesitation, she walked into the dormitory, even intentionally bumping into Lu Jia's shoulder.
Lu Jia completely ignored this childish behavior because she was currently concerned about something else.
The person who entered the room silently looked around Lu Jia's dormitory. The room was tidy, but the shoes on the shoe rack were not neatly arranged and were mixed up.
She couldn't compare with her and accidentally gained an advantage over Lu Jia. Finally, she felt a sense of accomplishment.
Her gaze slid to the right along the shoe rack and finally landed on the bed next to her. Someone was lying there, causing her to stop and look closely.
"Is she... sleeping?" When she asked this question, her tone unintentionally lowered.
"Hmm," Su Mo neither slept nor stayed awake. She was just following Lu Jia's order to lie on the bed forcefully. But since Gu Xici thought so, she naturally didn't say anything.
"She usually sleeps heavily, so why did you come to me?" As Su Mo implied that Gu Xici didn't need to be concerned, she also took the initiative to ask Gu Xici about her purpose.
