V2C10

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Song Hanzhang was silent as they walked back.

Noticing the shift, Lin Jue asked him uncertainly, “Xuezhang, was there something wrong with that corpse?”

“No,” Song Hanzhang replied immediately.

Lin Jue remained doubtful. Even though he wasn’t very sensitive when it came to Song Hanzhang’s emotions, he was still surprisingly sharp. Ever since the last round, there had been something hidden in Song Hanzhang’s heart; perhaps something so terrifying that even the fearless Xuezhang would feel lost.

That uneasy Song Hanzhang standing alone by the bed he saw that night was not just an illusion.

He didn’t want to push, nor did he wish to break the delicate balance of the moment, but he would need to know one day.

“If you don’t want to say it, I won’t force you; you have your reasons. But here’s what I think: don’t shoulder everything yourself, we’re companions for a reason. We’ll survive together, we definitely will.” Lin Jue watched the passing scenery through the car’s window. The misty world had another type of beauty to it, strange and filled with danger.

Just like Song Hanzhang.

The car drove over rocky ground made uneven from the overgrown plants, silent. Just when Lin Jue thought that Song Hanzhang wouldn’t respond, he heard his voice, uniquely cool as always.

“To struggle this way; would there really be a point?”

A deep sense of despondency and despair.

“Why wouldn’t there be? Though I don’t know how to end this, if I die here, no one will ever remember I existed! Lilith said that the dead didn’t have such an honor,” Lin Jue answered, an odd feeling both gentle and fierce surging in his chest.

“Xuezhang, I don’t want to be forgotten by you, nor do I wish to forget you. Once we die here, everything that proves our existence will be wiped out and I don’t want that to happen, so we need to survive; we have to survive.”

“There’s something wrong with your statement though. The players in this game don’t forget their dead teammates.” The still-perpetual coldness that Lin Jue was confronted with made him feel a wave of sadness, but Song Hanzhang paused and continued, his icy words dyed in a shade of gentleness, “However, your words still have a point. We are proof of each other’s existence here.”

Lin Jue stared at Song Hanzhang with unconcealable shock. Song Hanzhang said, eyes still focused on the road, “Even though we’ve only known each other for a short while… Lin Jue, you are an outstanding teammate.”

Before Lin Jue had noticed, the corners of his mouth had already curled up. The joy of being acknowledged by Song Hanzhang filled his heart so that even the nightmarish scenery around them seemed to soften.

“Xuezhang is also an outstanding teammate, I’d give you ninety-nine out of a hundred!” Lin Jue exclaimed, smiling.

Song Hanzhang glanced at him as he kept driving, confusion clearly written in his eyes. Where did that final mark go?

Lin Jue hid his mouth behind his fist and forced back his laughter. “If you just smiled a bit more, then I’d give you full marks.”

Never did Song Hanzhang expect Lin Jue to make fun of him in this situation and in his surprise, he couldn’t keep up his stern facade, his brows softening. Lin Jue, on the other hand, didn’t think that it was actually possible to make Song Hanzhang smile with his joke; he sat there dazed for a moment, staring at him, and sighed. “Xuezhang, you really should smile more.”

Unfortunately, such was Song Hanzhang’s personality that after a short smile, he returned to his old expressionless self.

Lin Jue sighed again in regret.

The car was once again parked in the administration building’s parking lot. The two closed the metal doors behind them and returned to the monitor room.

“There are no special insects in this building apart from the cockroaches and moths we’ve already met. Those won’t be a problem before midnight. After that…” Song Hanzhang suddenly stopped, his eyes focusing on one of the screens in front of him.

Lin Jue followed his gaze and his eyes widened.

Ants!

A small number of ants surged out from under the flowerbeds in Time Plaza, a few of them circling it before setting out for the grass area. The grass shook in the fog, its shadows dancing.

Song Hanzhang looked at his watch; 22:05.

“They’re hunting.” Lin Jue’s face was almost pressed onto the screen, carefully observing the blurry video.

“The army ants will attack other insects…” Song Hanzhang narrowed his eyes, his tone serious.

“That’s good. If they start fighting each other, we’ll have time to run away,” Lin Jue said optimistically.

The number of army ants on the plaza wasn’t high, a few ants crawling out from the flowerbeds, loitering around the plaza, the group yet to form the battalion that could wipe out the entire arena.

“Watch them; they’re most likely to be our greatest enemy tonight, especially the larger soldier ants,” Song Hanzhang said.

Lin Jue nodded, his eyes still on the screen.

“They’re quite fast,” he said in worry after watching for a while.

“They’ll be fast as individuals. After they form their group, their speed will decrease to about a fifth of their current; as long as we don’t get surrounded, it shouldn’t be an issue. Of course, there’s also the problem of evolution though.” Song Hanzhang frowned at the camera.

There were still not enough cameras, especially in places without much infrastructure like the Time Plaza, only two on the outside of the clock tower. The amount of area that could be scouted by them was extremely limited, the clarity of the video also terrible.

“Should I go scout in the plaza?” Lin Jue suggested after watching a while longer.

“There’s no need to take the risk. There will be others to scout for us.”

“Are you talking about…”

“The army ants are grouping up. When they’ve finished forming their entirety, as well as all of the insects in the area, they’ll go to their surroundings for food. Towards the west is the gym where Shentu’s group is, and towards the east is the northern dormitory area where Gu Fengyi is at. Either side is possible,” Song Hanzhang explained, looking at the map.

“Then what do we need to do?”

“Wait.” It seemed that Song Hanzhang had already formed a plan. He put down the map and continued to monitor the images on the screen.

22:30. The army ants which had appeared before expected had completely obliterated the insects in the bushes and were starting to return to the plaza.

23:00. The army ants gathered into a mob underneath the clock tower, ready to depart.

23:15. The ants which had left the plaza to scout returned and the entire army advanced towards the west.

“That’s where Shentu is,” Lin Jue said solemnly.

Song Hanzhang kept looking at the screen. “That will be advantageous for us.”

“Why?”

Gu Fengyi’s team is primarily composed of magic users which won’t be as useful for us to gather information from. Since Gu Fengyi’s skill is snake sense as well, it’ll be unlikely for them to be sieged. Another part is her caution… Hence, Shentu is more convenient for gathering information.”

22:35. Four figures sprinted out from the sports building.

Song Hanzhang stood up from his seat. “Let’s go!”

&&&

Cracks were already appearing in the cement road and the car would often shake violently from the thick, protruding roots.

The outside world was completely changed. The trees along the road were thick and almost wall-like, the buildings covered with vines that layered their outsides, some even encroaching towards the insides of the windows.

It was as if the school had been abandoned for more than ten years, becoming the playground of plants and insects, as well as the hell of men.

“Xuezhang, ahead!” Lin Jue pointed at a figure standing in between the wall of trees. It was dim there; if not for Lin Jue’s good eyesight, they would have most likely driven past them.

Song Hanzhang stepped on the brakes and the car stumbled to a stop.

“Hey driver, I wasn’t about to hail a cab,” Lu Ren leant against a tree and grinned.

Song Hanzhang ignored his words and immediately began interrogating him. “Did Judas appear?”

Lu Ren rubbed his lower lip with his thumb. “Take a guess.”

Song Hanzhang stared at him silently.

He shrugged. “Alright then, no.”

Song Hanzhang sighed. “I understand. Want to get onboard?”

“Oh? A fast pass to hell?”

“Apologies then. We don’t have such a plan,” Song Hanzhang said cooly. “Goodbye.”

“Oh, another thing.” Song Hanzhang stilled. “Even though Judas hasn’t appeared, there’s someone even more dangerous among the players~”

“Will you tell me who it is?” Song Hanzhang asked, expressionless.

“Nope,” Lu Ren smiled. He waved and left.

“Who is he talking about?” Lin Jue whispered.

“I don’t know,” Song Hanzhang replied.

Lin Jue suddenly felt like every sentence of their conversation had held a deeper meaning, but he didn’t have understanding that the two shared and could only rub the handle of his polearm in gloom.

&&&

The car continued driving and was successful in ‘coincidentally’ rendezvousing with Shentu Ming and his other three teammates. The four of them ran out from the southern gates of the sports building, panting. Dan Liang was accidentally tripped by Lin Wei’s machete, his head banging violently into the metal wires.

The ants behind them were almost on top of Dan Liang. He widened his eyes in fear. Hearing the fall, Shentu Ming turned around and immediately went back to pull Dan Liang up. “Get up! Run!”

Song Hanzhang braked, the car stopping right in front of the other four. “Get on!”

Lin Wei and Qin Hanwei immediately hopped into the backseat. After pushing Dan Liang into the car, the seats were full. Fully aware of how large he was, Qin Hanwen pulled Dan Liang onto his legs and Shentu Ming was finally able to squeeze on.

The car left in a cloud of dust, leaving the army ants far behind.

Dan Liang pressed down on his head which had struck the wire mesh and then the top of the car, his eyes red. “It hurts so much.”

“Let me see.” Shentu Ming pulled his head and started healing him.

Dan Liang leant his head against Shentu Ming’s shoulder, obediently accepting the help and whispered a thanks to Shentu Ming who smiled. “No problem, companions are supposed to help each other.”

Lin Wei snorted as if in mockery.

Song Hanzhang looked at the four behind him through the rear-view camera and asked despite knowing the answer, “Were those army ants chasing you?”

“Sounds about right, otherwise there wouldn’t have been such a big colony. The small ones didn’t have much attacking power, but they were just too tiny to be dealt with well. The difficult ones were the mutated soldier ants. Their upper-jaws are terribly well-developed and they even know how to shoot out these secretions things. They’re about the size of a water bucket and if an entire colony surrounds you, you’re as good as dead.”

Shentu Ming looked back at the colony of ants which was falling behind and asked worriedly, “How will we deal with these things? There are just too many of them, once we’re surrounded, it’ll be extremely difficult to get out.”

“There is a man-made water system between the library and the electronics buildings with a wooden bridge and no railings. We’ll go there to see if we can hold off the army ants. The entire school is slowly becoming a rainforest and when that happens, we’ll never be able to outrun the ants,” Song Hanzhang answered.

Shentu Ming sighed, constantly turning his head to see if the ants had caught up. Fortunately, the car was fast enough; there was not a single ant in sight.

“Where were you guys staying before? In the gym?” Song Hanzhang suddenly queried.

“Ah, yeah. We were hiding in a room on the upper floors of the sports building. It was pretty safe there and we could easily fend off the few centipedes there with the insecticide, but even the insecticide was slowly losing its effect. Thank goodness Qin Hanwen was keeping guard and saw the army ants coming towards us, otherwise we would have probably been trapped in the building.” Shentu Ming smiled encouragingly at Qin Hanwen. Qin Hanwen looked a little embarrassed.

Lin Wei sneered disdainfully from the side and said nothing.

Dan Liang sat on Qin Hanwen’s thighs and shook, his baby-face pale. “Ants; they were so scary.”

An obedient pretty-boy would always be showered with affection. Shentu Ming rubbed his head and said comfortingly, “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

Two giant trees barred the cement road. Song Hanzhan braked. “This is the furthest we’ll get, run.”

The five of them jumped out of the car and ran towards the water system. Grabbing a tank of gasoline from the trunk, Song Hanzhang ran after them.

Crossing the bridge only thick enough for three or four people to pass side by side, the group stopped on the other end. Their surroundings were immersed in the thick fog, the lamplights seeming so delicate in it.

Starting from one side, Song Hanzhang poured the gasoline across the entire bridge. The sharp smell of petrol permeated through the fog, so thick that it felt as if one tiny spark would render the whole place into a sea of flame.

“If we’re lucky, when the antennas of the ants touch the gas, they’ll become a mess by themselves. The gasoline will interfere with the identification of the pheromones that they secrete in their bodies.” Song Hanzhang threw the empty gasoline tank to the side and stood up. “If all else fails, we’ll set fire to the bridge and retreat. If the entire bridge burns, even the ants won’t be able to come through. We’ll have ample time to leave.”

“Hey, what if the ants know how to swim?” Lin Wei yelled.

Shentu Ming thought a little and said, “When ants open their body, it creates a sort of surface tension and they won’t drown in a short period of time, similar to water striders. Once the balance is broken though, they drown. Apparently army ants cross waters as a group. Even though the ants on the outside will drown, the ones on the inside survive perfectly fine.”

Lin Jue snuck a glance at Shentu Ming. He didn’t think that he would be so knowledgeable.

“That won’t happen,” Song Hanzhang said confidently. “Their body size has increased so much that it’s a question whether or not their skeletal structure can support their bodies, let alone cross water. There is a limited amount of oxygen in the air as well; they won’t be able to continue magnifying without constraint.”

“That’s such a relief to hear, I really don’t want to fight those ancient giant insects in those sci-fi movies…” Lin Hanwen forced out a bitter smile.

The six of them stood on one side of the wooden bridge.

Song Hanzhang closed his eyes and listened. “They’re coming.”

Sounds.

The sound of rustling; the sound of a vast colony crushing leaves. The horrid team of hunters was rushing towards them in the mist.

Lin Hanwen squinted at the shadowy figures, swallowed, and trembled out, “There are many of them, the army ants…”

Lin Jue’s heart immediately sped up, all the blood in his body rushing towards his limbs, the hand that was holding the polearm heating up. From fear or a desire for a fight, he didn’t know.

No one spoke, the encroaching rustles, the only sound in the night.

Finally, in the fog, the most terrifying enemy revealed its vicious body.

Vera’s Notes:

You know, I thought I should let you know that we love and appreciate every one of you for reading, liking, and leaving comments! It really makes Luci and I’s day to see you guys’ usernames pop up on our notifications since it’s honestly hard for me to believe in the reader stats that we get for our site.

Oh, this is also a callout post for one liker in particular though. Our reader named Sebastian, before two minutes have passed, you like our newest post with the most frightening consistency. The two of us are both impressed and afraid. Are you alright? And thank you! (Luci: ????)

Also, Lin Jue teammate-zoned. Ouch. He sure is happy about it though… What an obedient puppy.

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