As Li Jiayu held onto Hsiao Wanqing"s creamy wrist, that was so soft, it seemed boneless, and he felt her rapid pulse. Perhaps, the gruesome image of the pregnant woman startled her, especially when it happened to be a close subordinate of hers. Being able to maintain her calm alone was considered praiseworthy.
“Princ.i.p.al Hsiao, don"t let your imagination run wild. You are merely a woman, not a G.o.d. Do not feel burdened by the tragedies that are far beyond your reach... All you need to do is to stand by me. I’ll protect you, understand?”
When they arrived at the third room, Li Jiayu had suddenly muttered these words without looking back.
Hsiao Wanqing froze slightly after hearing that and instinctively felt that his words… contained some peculiar feelings which she failed to decipher.
Was Li Jiayu close with her? Of all people, he seemed to look after her the most, yet why did he treat Ran Hongxia so coldly?
“It’s still rather hard for me to accept the fact the Xijiang University has encountered a crisis of this scale… Rest a.s.sured, I’ll try my best to adapt, so don’t mind me. Go save some lives.”
“Of course! Teacher Jiang Lihua’s tragic death has thoroughly ignited my anger!”
Li Jiayu pushed the door but realized it was locked from the inside. So, he simply hacked at the paper on the door which wrote, "Landscape Painting a.s.sociation, serious inquiries only", instantly destroying the door’s lock. Then with a kick, he rushed in!
The room was decorated rather lavishly. There were multiple gla.s.s cabinets as well as artistic-looking ink paintings hung on the walls. However, there was no one to appreciate them now.
The area was strewn with toppled bottles that smudged black ink everywhere. Even several of the paintings were dripping with fresh blood that instantly ruined their beauty.
On the ground, several middle-aged guys laid there in a mess. Unfortunately, all of them had their intestines penetrated and their bellies rotted through. There was even a bald man whose intestines had been yanked out and suspended on the antique pen holder.
“... Looking at their posture, they must’ve been planning on committing suicide... but their plans were thwarted by the Venomous Spiders that rushed in from the outside. After being forced back in, they were then killed, one after the other…”
Li Jiayu shook his head. He did not waste his time here and rushed to another room. However, he noticed that Dark Octopus’s team that were on the opposite side seemed to have encountered a problem. Faintly, Li Jiayu could also pick up the mournful and inconsolable screams
"Another axe-wielding guy probably collapsed eh?"
Chuxiang and his team that were not located far away was trying to break down the door. He struck the door with his air-conditioning unit that weighed more than a hundred kilos.
Bang Bang Bang
As he drove his "weapon" viciously against the door, the entire 12th story seemed to be shaken up along with it.
The fourth room was the headquarters for "Traditional Literature Society". As Li Jiayu strode up to the entrance, the faint sounds of crying reached his ears.
“There’s a survivor!”
Li Jiayu creased his brows and hastened his pace. He sliced at the door with and charged in like a wolf!
Upon entering, he immediately took notice of the three corpses laying on the ground and two puddles of pus. In the corner, there were two girls and one guy huddled into a trembling bunch Their faces were plastered with despair while they trembled incessantly.
There were also enemies in the room: a single Venomous Spider; and a Corrosive Worm.
The Venomous Spider had clearly filled both its belly and its addiction of toying with humans, so it was not in a hurry to kill the remaining survivors. The Corrosive Worm, however, had probably spat too much of its acid and was unable to brew anymore acid.
It relished its meal, using its funnel-like mouthpart to suck up the pus left over from the corroded corpses. As far as the Corrosive Worm was concerned, the pus from corroded humans was the most delicious of delicacies.
“You two worms… sure are relaxed. Were you fellows waiting to digest the food in your stomach before resuming with murder? Too bad you can’t wait for it anymore!”
Li Jiayu expressed his displeasure. His heart sank and he casually grabbed an LCD display, chucking it toward the Venomous Spider. He then encroached the Corrosive Worm, alarming it. Then when it was about to fly, Frost Moon"s blade penetrated its head!
“Screech-”
Almost immediately, the Venomous Spider had gotten infuriated after being smashed by the LCD screen!
Six of its spider appendages writhed and lurched nimbly toward Li Jiayu. Unfortunately, it ended up like its predecessor and was turned into an ice sculpture.
“You guys! What are you standing around for?! Head towards the 13th story!”
Li Jiayu yelled coldly at the three stupefied girls and boy. Without a second word, he headed to the door with Hsiao Wanqing in tow, leaving the three of them with a cold arrogant silhouette.
Only after a moment did the girl then part her mouth stiffly and say with an extremely panicked expression,
“...What just happened?”
“I don’t know… I only saw Princ.i.p.al Hsiao and that white-haired hunk…” The other girl had a look of disbelief as her tear streaked face messed up her makeup.
“Then a few slashes… and that insect died…”
“We were rescued… Everyone cheer up. We don’t have to die anymore! Let’s hurry. According to him, we should take refuge on the 13th story.”
“B-but… What about Ah Tao and Ah Guang’s bodies…”
“Forget about that for now. They have already departed from this world. The survivors are our utmost priority right now.”
Without the need for anyone to lead, these three lucky survivors supported each other’s limp bodies and hurried towards the 13th storey. When they arrived, the sight of so many cla.s.smates caused them to unleash their emotions like a volcano, become a crying mess.
Under the joint effort of all three teams, a large portion of the rooms on the 12th story were swept through in merely 3 minutes! The kills totalled up to 18 Venomous Spiders and 9 Corrosive Spiders. Additionally, they had also managed to rescue 50-60 survivors at the same time!
The two groups of axe-wielding men also suffered quite a few losses here and there.
There had been a sports instructor whose confidence had inflated because he possessed a strong body and knew a few Baguazhang[1] martial art moves to rely on. His confidence had been so inflated that he scrambled to fight a Venomous Spider before Dark Octopus even got to it. However, what he had failed to realise was the Corrosive Spider above him was spitting a mouthful of acid at him, almost immediately reducing him to nothing but a puddle of yellow pus.
Aside from him, there had been another person. He had been a senior in year 4 that belonged to a family that practised the Xingyiquan[2] style of martial arts.
He had been a courageous person and the thoughts of seeking attention crossed his mind while he had been dealing with the Venomous Spider.
However, whilst in the Xingyiquan stance, he had neglected the agility of his enemy and was bitten in the ankle during a moment of carelessness, before being poisoned to death!
Afterwards, Li Jiayu and the other 2 teams gathered in the Girls’ Wash room and upon hearing that piece of news, they simultaneously sucked in a deep, cool breath.
Sure enough, some people were destined to die. They could never avoid it, no matter what.
In Li Jiayu’s recollection, that year 4 senior used protecting Sun Weiwei as an excuse to demand that she dedicate her virginity to him for one night in a desolate utility room...
It’s reasonable to say that during the first attempt at escaping, this person had protected Sun Weiwei genuinely and breathed his last under the Blood Centipede’s mandibles! Never would he have thought that Li Jiayu’s rebirth messed up destiny’s trajectory and, thus, caused him to die earlier...
That senior was pretty pitiful. He had pursued Sun Weiwei for nearly a year but was always rejected. Despite the fact that in the future, the way he exploited the situation to seize Sun Weiwei’s chast.i.ty was a tad underhanded, but it was commendable that he protected Sun Weiwei and died in doing so. He had been, at least, a responsible person.
Li Jiayu had originally planned to nurture this guy who had a couple of legitimate tricks up his sleeves. Of course, it would have been on the premise that the senior would not hara.s.s Sun Weiwei...
"Forget it, that guy is already dead. Thinking about this is of no use."
According to the other Awakened, Draconian Chuxiang’s group seemed to be doing rather well. Although Draconian Chuxiang was the main force, Ran Hongxia had unexpectedly accepted her duty as a woman and became the secondary force after Chuxiang.
This made Li Jiayu cast a surprised glance toward her. He had initially thought that Ran Hongxia would need a long time before overcoming her fears.
As for Chuxiang, it was needless to say that his robust body, with 8 times the strength of an ordinary human, allowed him to face the insects without the slightest fear.
However, there were also downsides that limited him greatly. Such were his sluggish speed, reaction and also his poor combat awareness. Were it not for those limiting factors, he alone would be more than sufficient to suppress two spiders at once!
Ran Hongxia was someone who got more fierce as the fight dragged on. Albeit, not having completely comprehended the sword energy, she could only occasionally brandish a faintly discernable sword flash with her fire axe.
However, her strikes were also filled with might. Moreover, Ran Hongxia was courageous while her movements were nimble and motor senses were developed. She also had keen combat awareness. To one’s surprise, she defeated 5 Venomous Spiders, two Corrosive Worms.
Sonic Warrior seemed to be performing well. Despite being unable unleash the roar from before and having to take roughly 7-8 tries before unleashing a sonic cannon, it was still better than none!
His sonic cannon skill was a long distance attack. When the spider suffered one of these, it would sink into a “stunned state”. Even if it did not die, it could only wait for death!
As for the Fire Sorcerer Feng Liaoyuan, he had no chance of proving himself. Additionally, there was also Lan Xiaoyue, whose face was as pale as a sheet of paper. She was so frightened, she couldn’t even speak, let alone fight.
The remaining 13 axe-wielding men also gained invaluable experience. Even if they did not stand much of a chance, what they gained was the way of combat. At least they did not tense up like in the beginning when they met the Venomous Spiders.
“En… You guys did well…”
At the girls’ toilet, located at the far end of the long hallway, Li Jiayu dismissed the boys and girls that had been hiding in there. At this moment, he looked at the other team’s members with a faint smile on his face.
“Much to my surprise… Chuxiang and Chenkun, you guys are beginning to adapt to your strength, right? Good job. You"ve exceeded my expectations… You brave warriors of “the suicide squad” are also not bad. Continue to work hard… Ran Hongxia, you didn’t disappoint me…”
At this point in time, it was a must to say a few good words to raise the morale. However, when it came to the latter sentence, he felt a tightness in his chest from annoyance. However, as he looked at that expectant gaze of hers that was locked onto him, Li Jiayu then suppressed his disgust and praised her.
Sure enough, after receiving Li Jiayu’s praise, Ran Hongxia’s pair of clear-as-water, black pupils brightened up and the corners of her mouth raised into a satisfied and bashful smile. Despite this, she did not understand why she got so happy in that moment.
“Thanks… I will continue to perform well… Li Jiayu, y-you… are my goal…” Looking at Li Jiayu’s handsome face and ice-cold, white pupils, Ran Hongxia’s face flushed with a tinge of red as she forced out the words.
“Oh really?… then I’m afraid you’ll have to eat my dust for the rest of this lifetime. ”
Li Jiayu revealed an indistinct mocking smile. Then he clapped his hands and said to everyone,
“Alright, the creatures on the 12th story have been cleaned out… En, you are Fang Zizhou, right? Sorry to trouble you, but head to the 13th floor. Tell them to dispatch people down. If there is anything useful, bring it back up to the 13th floor… This floor is full of clubs, a.s.sociations and so on. There"s also food. Especially in the music research union, it seemed to be full of fruit and milk tea…”
“Yes! I’ll go now.”
Fang Zizhou naturally understood the importance of food amidst a crisis. After all, the 13th story held up to nearly over 2000 people. Who knew how much food would be consumed every day? So, he replied and quickly departed.
“Then, it’s time to cleanse the 11th story…”
Li Jiayu waved his hand and was about to head out when he noticed Dark Octopus’s weird expression. It had a pair of slightly narrowed, bell-like eyes and was turning beet red all over. This sights surprised Li Jiayu and he asked hurriedly,
“Octopus, what’s going on with you? Is your body not holding up?”
Dark Octopus shook its head and wrinkled its face, appearing extremely wretched. The words it then said resembled a silly middle-aged silly man.
“No… N-no problem… Octopus feels… the air here… is not bad… Girls’ toilets… This is great… Octopus wants to go take a bath…”
“Great...MY FOOT BATH MY a.s.s! WHY DON’T YOU GO TO h.e.l.l THEN?!”
Li Jiayu flew into a rage and punched the head of the unrepentant Dark Octopus as Li Jiayu was utterly uncomfortable and chided it.