Ch7 - Once More

Translators: phizzlepop, kurisu

Editor: mantou

When Song Fei had run back to the dormitories, it hadn’t even been eleven o’clock in the afternoon. But all the way until six o’clock in the evening, the campus PA loudspeakers still hadn’t made a peep yet. The entire residential area was extraordinarily quiet, like there were no living creatures around, yet also like a more terrifying creature was lurking in this silence, just waiting for the dead of night, waiting for an opportunity to act.

Wang Qingyuan, Ren Zhe, Xiang Yang, none of them had returned.

Song Fei was lying on the bed, but his heart had sunk to the very bottom of a valley.

The whole afternoon, he’d tossed and turned and hadn’t been able to fall asleep at all. In the past, falling asleep as soon as he touched the pillow had been a unique skill of his, but after experiencing all kinds of things during the daytime, whenever he closed his eyes, his brain would start to replay all of those tragic images again. He wanted to drive those things out, and could only force himself to think about other things. For example, in the announcement they’d said that there was an accident, but exactly what kind of accident was it, and could cannibalism be regarded as an accident? And for the very first time, they hadn’t said that everything would be okay, everyone please rest assured, but instead, had straightforwardly told everyone to seek shelter nearby. Didn’t this mean that the school still hadn’t taken control of the situation at the time? Then what about now, was everything under control now? If everything was under control, then why hadn’t they made another announcement yet?

He was too tired to think, and also tried to console himself, perhaps after waking up, everything would be alright again. But he also couldn’t go to sleep. The more he thought, the more chaotic his train of thoughts was, the more his head hurt, and the more wide-awake he was.

Dong!

The sudden banging sound on his door startled him so much his entire body jolted.

He held his breath, pricked up his ears and listened, but there was no other sound.

After a long and oppressive silence, Song Fei gathered his courage, quivering as he asked, “Who is it?”

Dong Dong!

The banging sounds on his door were even more violent now!

No, not his roommates, or even students, otherwise they’d speak, they’d call out a response instead of banging on the door!

Song Fei suddenly yanked the blanket over his head, and curled up. Just like the first time he’d slept by himself as a child, when he kept feeling like a hand would stretch out from underneath the bed to grab his feet, so he had to securely cover himself up, keeping it airtight. Even if he couldn’t breathe, he still couldn’t leave the tiniest gap!

Gradually, the banging sounds on his door weakened.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before silence fell once again. The silence was still oppressive, still suffocating, but it was in this oppression and suffocation that Song Fei breathed a sigh of relief.

He carefully poked his head outside his blanket.

Song Fei was very thankful that it wasn’t time for lights-out yet. At least, at this very moment in time, the darkness wouldn’t add yet another layer to his fear. However, looking at the pale white ceiling, he began to feel afraid again. Could it be the mutants wandering in the corridors also had phototaxis like moths, so had come to bang on his door? But if he turned off the lights, even if he wasn’t gnawed to death, he’d still be scared to death first.

F*ck it, he wasn’t going to think about it anymore. Anyway, he’d turned the lights on as soon as it became dark, so if something were going to happen it would’ve happened already. Do whatever you want, ba, being bitten to death was still better than being scared to death!

Song Fei couldn’t lay down any longer. He threw back the covers, then gingerly crept out of bed. The sliding door for the balcony had long since been locked by him. Right now, through the glass, he could see the lights that were on in the opposite building.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5…

Song Fei had never counted the number of windows with the lights on in a building as seriously as he was right now. In the end, he’d practically pasted himself against the balcony door to count, because this way he’d have a wider field of view.

One-third. The windows with lights on plus two was exactly one-third the total number of windows.

This was only the one side that he could see, and as for the situation on the other side, there was no way of knowing. But this one-third with lights on was enough to let Song Fei gain a little peace of mind.

At least there were people just like him, suffering while waiting apprehensively. Thinking like this, things didn’t seem to be as frightening anymore.

His stomach growled gululu, and Song Fei finally remembered that he hadn’t eaten a single bite since this morning. Too many things had happened today, and he’d been busy fearfully running for his life, so how could he’ve still attended to his Temple of Five Viscera.

Digging out instant noodles from the cabinet with great familiarity, Song Fei randomly opened a bag, the sila tearing sound particularly jarring in 440 at the moment. Song Fei was startled, and immediately didn’t dare to move. Until he was sure there were no sounds outside, did he gently place the instant noodles inside a lunch box. Those who were aware, would know that he was treating instant noodles like this, while those who weren’t, would absolutely think that he was handling a piece of tofu.

All four thermoses had been filled up yesterday. At this moment, they were in a state where they sloshed around half-filled, not a single one full. Song Fei opened up Ren Zhe’s high-end thermos that purportedly preserved its contents at 80℃ even after sitting for 48 hours, and was full of expectation as he poured water into his lunch box, until the water was level with the instant noodles. Then, he put down the thermos, and put on the lid of the lunch box, letting it steep.

Five minutes later.

Song Fei impatiently opened up the lunch box, and used his chopsticks to separate the noodles. He swallowed a bit, then opened his mouth to take a big bite in an almost reverent manner.

Gazhi.

Very nice, the texture was especially chewy.

After inhaling this pack of moistened crispy noodles into annihilation, and drinking half the soup in the lunch box, his stomach was finally pacified. Song Fei’s entire body had also regained some of its strength now. When he climbed into bed again, his fatigue began to set in.

Closing his eyes, Song Fei finally sailed off to dreamland.

This was a very ordinary, but very comfortable dream.

In this dream, Song Fei finally made it through the very last hour, and safely handed in his CET-4 exam paper. Then, he went to the canteen and met up with Qi Yan, before eating lunch contentedly. The lunch dish was sweet and sour shredded sichuan vegetables, and the serving auntie had even specially given him half a portion extra. During the meal, Qi Yan wept grievously as he acknowledged the mistakes he’d made when they’d been dating, expressing his regrets for having vision, but not the insight to recognize gold-inlaid jade. He held on to his hand as he promised, “In the future, I won’t go to the library anymore, I’ll wholeheartedly watch new episodes and scroll through Weibo with you”, beseeching him to get back together with him.

Song Fei woke up nodding from his dream, roused by his own glee.

Sunlight shone into 440. The dorm room filled with the breath of life was very quiet, so quiet it was somewhat desolate.

He sat up bleary-eyed, almost ready to believe that what had happened yesterday was all a dream, until he grabbed his phone that was charging next to the bed— full battery, signal still on vacation.

Song Fei was instantly wide-awake again. He single-mindedly climbed down his bed, then ran to the sliding glass door to the balcony. As expected, he discovered that there was also a face already distorted from being plastered to a sliding glass door in the building across.

When Luo Geng saw Song Fei, he immediately brightened up, and waved enthusiastically.

Song Fei also waved a greeting, while cautiously sliding open the door to the balcony at the same time. First, a crack, and he didn’t seem to hear any sounds when he strained his ears, so he simply summoned all his courage and rushed out all at once, with one hand still grasping the door frame. He’d made up his mind to take a quick peek downstairs, and in the case the situation wasn’t quite right, he’d immediately duck back inside the room.

It was completely deserted downstairs.

Song Fei maintained this posture of one hand clutching the door frame, while the other supported him up on the bannister as he scanned the area for two minutes using his 24K titanium alloy eyes, before determining that there really was nothing in his visual field. There were no living people, no mutants, no corpses, and even the broken limbs were gone. The green space surrounded by bare shrubs was still as neat and orderly as ever, although the flowers and plants in it had already yellowed and wilted because of the cold weather, while the news blackboard at the front of the building exuded as much youthful vitality as ever, although the words above the illustration of Conan on it no longer said “there is only one truth“, but “the dormitory is like my home, everyone should keep things civilized“.

Everything was as tranquil as ever.

As long as you disregarded the puddles of blood that had already darkened on the pavement.

Unfortunately, Song Fei wasn’t able to disregard it, and what was worse was that he even had outstanding eyesight to boot— he couldn’t hold on to the doorframe any longer, and rushed straight to the toilet and vomited until he almost blacked out.

Just when Luo Geng had wanted to follow suit and open his door to walk out, believing that Song-tongxue across the way had dauntlessly verified external security for him already, Song-yongshi unexpectedly rushed into the bathroom ashen-faced, making Luo Geng’s heart skip a beat, and half his body retracted back inside the door. Until he saw Song Fei come back out with a pale face, he asked, not without some concern, “You okay, ba? You pregnant?”

If the distance hadn’t been so far away, Song Fei really would’ve wanted to make some preparations to throw up all over his face.

Luo Geng was merely trying to find joy in the suffering. After being tormented for an entire night, no one was feeling too great. “Hey, did you hear a broadcast last night?”

Song Fei’s eyes widened, his impatient tone of inquiry carrying a glimmer of hope in it that was difficult to hide, “There was a broadcast last night?!”

Luo Geng was stunned, “No idea, ah. I didn’t hear one, so isn’t that why I’m asking you, ma.”

Song Fei discovered all of a sudden that it turned out he’d been mistaken about Qi Yan. There were a lot of people in this world who you’d want to slap in the face as soon as they opened their mouths. By comparison, Qi Yan, who could at least repay him using his body, was truly a clear stream in the world of humans.

“Morning, ah.” Luo Geng suddenly nodded at the area above Song Fei.

“Morning,” Zhou Yilu’s voice was languid, sounding like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep, “What’s up… yawn… anything new, are they arranging for a re-take?”

Song Fei was stupefied.

Luo Geng had also turned to stone. It took a long time for the myriad of things he wanted to say to converge into a single sentence, “Your main focus is really…”

Song Fei helped him say, “Perverse.”

Zhou Yilu felt that this was a case of a sated man not understanding the needs of the hungry. “After passing, you no longer care how others are doing, ba.”

Song Fei had just wanted to say, I was f*cking interrupted halfway too, okay, but Luo Geng across the way was one step ahead of him, “Who said I passed?”

Song Fei was taken aback. He clearly remembered that when he’d run back to the dormitories yesterday, Luo Geng on the other side still hadn’t woken up yet ah. “Since you haven’t passed, why didn’t you go take the exam?”

Luo Geng shook his head in an unfettered manner: “I refuse to take it.”

Zhou Yilu couldn’t listen any longer: “Do you even want your dignity? Your dad’s already this old, yet you’re letting him be your gunman?”

Luo Geng: “…”

Song Fei: “…”

A chilly wind blew past the space between the two dormitory buildings.

Luo Geng: “Most likely something big happened, like the school not being able to get the situation under control.”

Song Fei: “En, otherwise there wouldn’t have only been a single announcement, then no other signs of activity.”

Zhou Yilu scratched his head with some confusion. How’d the topic change as soon as he stopped paying attention for a second? Had they already finished discussing the previous one?

They hadn’t conversed for long before some of the people in the other dorm rooms also heard the sounds and went out on their balconies. Half an hour later, all of the schoolmates who were still breathing in the two dormitories had come out to swap information.

“They’re gone?”

“You blind, ah, haven’t you seen them f*cking wandering the corridors?!”

“What exactly are those things?”

“Even the school doesn’t know and you’re asking me?”

“F*ck, when things went wrong yesterday I even thought it was just a safety drill, and I was still thinking that this time things did seem pretty real… ahhhhh—”

The sudden scream instantly condensed the atmosphere that had finally just been assuaged a little. Under the gaze of several dozen pairs of eyes, that person was dragged alive into his room.

No one knew how the door to their room had been opened, and if it hadn’t been locked properly, if the lock was broken, or if they’d forcibly broken in.

The only thing that was clear was the wailing, the struggling, and after everything was over, the dead silence.

“What exactly happened, ah?” Luo Geng was so anxious his eyes reddened. This incident had occurred on the second floor diagonally below him. Even if he could hang upside down off his balcony, he still wouldn’t have been able to catch a glimpse of the inside story. But across the way, each and every face that had changed expressions, practically into one of extreme fear, also made him keen to find out what had happened.

No one paid any attention to Luo Geng.

Including Song Fei.

Luo Geng couldn’t see, but those on this side of the building could see very clearly— a few minutes after the student from the second floor balcony across from them had been dragged in, he’d returned again. He was still dressed in the same outfit as before, a blue thermal top, gray thermal bottoms, clearly not a set at a glance, while the hem of the thermal top hadn’t been completely tucked into the thermal bottoms.

This was supposed to be an appearance that easily gave others an impression of geniality.

If it weren’t for the fact that he only had half a face left.

It was similar to the human anatomical models commonly found in hospitals, half the face a human face, the other half, muscle tissue without the overlying skin. The only difference was that the muscle tissue on those models were intact, while on this one in front of them, only sporadic fragments of flesh remained, precariously affixed to half his face, reminiscent of a clump of sludge, with striking white bone faintly visible underneath.

There was nothing left to regurgitate in Song Fei’s stomach, so he could only dry-heave incessantly.

That student with half a face had returned to the spot where he’d been chatting with everyone shortly before, just that his hands were no longer holding on to the bannister, but like a robot that encountered obstacles but wouldn’t avoid them, kept on squirming as he tried again and again to move forward, but was thwarted again and again by the balustrade.

If yesterday’s emergency situation had only given rise to an abstract fear in everyone.

Then right now, this fear had manifested itself in a distinct, concrete image.

A student burst into tears.

On a regular day, perhaps it’d be humiliating for a grown man to cry, but right now, Song Fei envied him instead. Crying was also a method of venting, and after crying it out you’d no longer be afraid. At least it was better than him holding it back until he was trembling from head to toe like this.

Luo Geng no longer asked. He recalled what had befallen him yesterday, then combined it with the horrible scream he’d heard just now, along with those expressions on the other side, and it was already enough for him to make out the general situation.

Either this school had gone crazy.

Or they’d gone crazy.

The wind suddenly carried over the sounds of many people running, just like what Song Fei had heard in his classroom yesterday at the time of that incident. He opened his eyes wide, forgetting his fear for the moment, and with a sense of foreboding, he stared intently below!

Sure enough, it was almost as though the scene of yesterday’s fleeing army had been reproduced once more. First, it was the one or two people heading the group, closely followed by a herd of students running for their lives. Amidst the sounds of piteous wailing, they rushed into the dormitory building like a tide!

Song Fei stared fixedly into the dense crowd of people below, but there were too many people, and their speed was too fast for him to see clearly. He was so anxious he wished he could directly leap down to look through them separately one by one!

He wanted to call out that person’s name, but was also afraid that if that person was really in there, this call might hinder his speed instead.

This was no good, that was also no good, Song Fei was so anxious that he directly tugged at his hair. Just at this crucial moment, a strange feeling swept through his heart, like the trope they loved to use in movies and novels, a sudden flash of insight. Song Fei used to turn his nose up at these things, yet at this very moment, as though compelled by a mysterious force, he really looked over. It was almost at the very end of the group, just coming from around the corner, entering Song Fei’s field of vision.

Qi Yan was right over there.

While running as hard as he could, he was looking around as though he was searching for something, until his gaze and the 440 balcony… brushed right past each other.

Song Fei, well, now that was someone full of hatred!

Alright, it was understandable for there to be some scope misalignment in guerilla warfare. If the mountain wouldn't come to him, then he’d just have to go to the mountain!

Luo Geng wasn’t sure why Song-tongxue across from him was suddenly waving his arms in a threatening manner, eyes ablaze with passion like an unmarried girl who’d finally spotted her sweetheart in the midst of her rowdy embroidered ball toss festivities, those actions violent like warning the other party, if you don’t f*cking catch this, laoniang will end you.

Author’s Chapter Summary:

The rising sun shines on a nightmare, the balcony welcomes the same beginnings of a tragedy!

The translator has something to say: Sponsored by Subway [cue Ailee playing in the background]