Ch92 - Conquer in Stages

Translator: transcendentwings

A dim stage, dark seats, a weak wall light.

This was a space very similar to a cinema projector room. The only difference is that a screen was placed before the projector and here it was a stage. Of course, the space was also larger and more spacious than a projector room and that there were more seats.

The lights were almost all out, except for a few small dim ones dotting the walls on both sides. Just like the first few that light up when the theater is about to close.

However, the lights when the show is about to end generally gradually grow brighter and brighter until the audience are completely separated from the plot.

Not here though.

As if everything was frozen at this point between dispersing and not, the darkness was covered with a layer of a blurred yellow glow, revealing some vague figures standing still, reflected in the shadows.

Some of them stood in the second row, some in the ninth row, some in the fifth to the left, and some in the tenth to the right. There was no pattern, just like sporadic spectators standing up randoming from their seats.

Suddenly, a beam of white light shone in from door number three. The door was only open a sliver, but the light was so bright that it was almost blinding, instantly breaking the tranquility of the dark venue.

Outside of door number 3, the comrades of the Wusheng class who had circled the corridor to confirm its safety, left four people to stand guard on the left and right, while the remaining ten heads were squeezed together and peering at the gap in the door.

Qiao Siqi: “Is it a human?”

Zhou Yilu: “Would a person stand calmly in the darkness when surrounded by zombies?”

Song Fei: “It seems that there are six.”

Qi Yan: “There is another one standing against the wall next to door number one.”

Zhao He: “Seven of them in total, with the fourteen of us, its exactly two against one.”

Li Jingyu: “You still need to engage two against one.”

Zhao He: “That’s true, even if it was one on one, I’d give it a straight!”

Li Jingyu: “Xiao-He, we can fight three against one.”

He Zhiwen: “Cool!”

Zhao He: “. . .”

The ideal two-on-one situation didn’t materialize in the end because Song Fei and Qi Yan, who were paired, Zhao He, a one-man army, Fu Xiyuan and Wu Zhou, also partnered off, snuck into the darkness first. They slipped behind the three zombies closest to door number three and attacked them simultaneously. The three zombies neither caught their human scent, heard any sound, nor saw their human bodies, thus were defenseless and died instantly.

The sounds of fighting attracted the attention of the remaining four zombies, but their howls were sealed within the venue, their bodies trapped in the seats, and so the Wusheng class was at a loss as to what to do momentarily.

However, two of the four zombies were security guards and they seemed to have blinking walkie-talkies hanging from their waists. The companions could only taken the initiative and in the end, with the strength of the ten of them—Zhou Yilu and Qiao Siqi were on the lookout in the corridor, and He Zhiwen and Li Jingyu couldn’t find an opportunity to intervene in this crushing melee—the remaining four zombies were all taken down.

Seven of the zombies, excluding the two security guards, were three professors and two students.

After removing the walkie-talkies and the three pairs of shoes that seemed to be worth a try by visual estimate, the companions immediately left the venue and returned to the corridor—Light, always more reassuring than darkness.

With his field of vision brightened, Song Fei instantly began to tinker with the walkie-talkie, twisting the knobs and pressing on the buttons, but ultimately to no avail. He was so anxious that he couldn’t help but start smacking the body of the radio with apapasound.

Qi Yan couldn’t stand it anymore, and snatched it over in time to protect it: “It’s not a capital crime to have a dead battery, right?”

Song Fei was embarrassed and only realized how stupid he was for thinking that the walkie-talkie was broken.

The walkie-talkie had probably been hanging on the infected security guard’s body for many days. Just the image of the charger connected to the outlet in the security room, made him subconsciously think that the walkie-talkie should’ve been fully charged.

On the other side, He Zhiwen was still hesitating about the three pairs of shoes on the ground, letting his right foot wrapped in a striped sock touch the cold ground.

“Why are you in a daze, try it on quickly and see which pair you can wearah.” Song Fei urged.

He Zhiwen stretched out his hand and then retracted it, seemingly repeating this action several times before he eventually shook his head with a despondent face.

Song Fei understood his awkwardness. To put it bluntly, they were stripped from a dead person after all, so everyone felt somewhat repulsed in their hearts.

“F*ck,” Song Fei pulled He Zhiwen away and picked up one of the three pairs of shoes on the ground, “I’ll give you my shoes, I’ll wear this one!”

dJ KCfEJy ENI fyImNymLe foRtJIIJz ge YOyq nJf IDRtJoJLe COyOtNgLJ Nyz tfqCmJODI AfqDtJ mCNm IJJoJz LNtqJt mCNy LfAJ Nyz ENI IO qtNmJADL mCNm CJ ENymJz mO hte: “GCNyX eOD—”

YOyq nJf ztJE hLOIJt mO CfI ANhJ Nyz tJRJNmJz: “v’LL qfFJ eOD oe ICOJI, v’LL EJNt mCJIJ.”

He Zhiwen blinked blankly: “That’s rightah, thanks.”

lfJN HTQ: “. . .”

dJ KCfEJy: “. . .”

Song Fei: “How could you not feel ashamed and agreeneyou don’t want to wear it but it’s okay to let your comrade wear it you’re too selfish cowardly you’ve let me down I’m so disappointed in you He Zhiwen!”

dJ KCfEJy: “. . .”

YOyq nJf: “v’LL qfFJ eOD oe ICOJI, v’LL EJNt mCJIJ.”

KT tIQmTJ: “zf, Jf JTTB, W’YY mTLi dITP.”

YOyq nJf: “v’o RtODz OA eOD.”

. . . YOyq nJf, eOD zJFfL!!!

vy mCJ Jyz, OyJ OA mCJ mCtJJ RNftI OA ICOJI ENI EJNtNgLJ. sLmCODqC fm ENI ImfLL N LfmmLJ LOOIJ, fm ENI zJAfyfmJLe gJmmJt mCNy CORRfyq NtODyz Oy OyJ AOOm.

He Zhiwen was reluctant to toss his original shoe, and just placed it into his bag—Just in case there was a chance to pick up the other shoe when leaving the auditorium.

The companions watched Comrade He being forced to try on shoes like Cinderella who hadn’t fallen in love with the prince. Their sympathy was real, but with Stepmother Song standing next to him, they could only keep their condolences in their hearts.

“There’s something I can’t figure out, those seven people were all infected, so who locked the door of the auditorium from the inside?”

Back in the security office, Zhao He had posed this question that had been bothering him for a long time.

“It should still have been the security guard,” Wang Qingyuan speculated, “The door was locked with the chain that was normally used to lock the auditorium door. Normally it should’ve been placed in the security room, the front, rear, left and right doors were locked in the same way as well and there are no signs of damage indicating that they were sealed quite smoothly, they had plenty of time at the very least and didn’t lock it hastily after being chased here. They probably locked it quickly from the inside when they realized that something was wrong outside.”

“Then why did they still get infected?” Fu Xiyuan, like Zhao He, couldn’t figure it out.

Wang Qingyuan hypothesized: “The security guards were always in the auditorium, but those five people may not have been. It’s very likely that they probably ran here after the incident happened, or they came to ask for help at the locked door and were let in. Someone among them were already infected, but were unaware and in the end, the rest became implicated.

Zhao He and Fu Xiyuan accepted this explanation and stopped speaking up.

The companions also fell silent.

All such guesses could only remain as just that, no one knew what happened in this auditorium, what they saw was just the afterimage left behind after a scene from hell.

He Zhiwen informed them that it usually takes two or three hours for a walkie-talkie to become fully charged, but the Wusheng class didn’t have that much time. As a result, they only waited an hour after much effort and once they saw the time change to twelve noon on their cell phone, they didn’t want to delay any longer.

On this side, Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan put the two charging stations in their respective backpacks, while on the other side, Song Fei was the first to climb back onto the roof through the ventilation duct with a walkie-talkie in hand.

A moment later, the thirteen companions who were still in the security room heard Song Fei’s bewitching voice amidst the roaringzilalasound of static—

“Hullo, hullo, can you hear me, am I handsomeah?”

The twelve companions directed their scathing criticism at the walkie-talkie in Qi Yan’s hand in unison: “Scram—”

Qi Yan: “. . . But does this question really need to be asked, of course you’re dashing.”

All the comrades: “What happened to your bottom line!!!”

Although they were forced fed a mouthful of low-quality dog food, the walkie-talkie was proven quite useful which was enough to make up for the psychological trauma the companions received.

After carefully putting away the walkie-talkie, Qi Yan and the remaining comrades filed out and clambered onto the roof.

Contrary to their expectations, the zombies around the auditorium still didn’t disperse. Although they no longer gathered in groups and had scattered in all directions, they were still roaming around the front and back of the building, showing no signs of straying too far away. As if they knew that there was prey inside and wouldn’t give up so easily even if they didn’t perceive any movement.

“It’s unscientificah,” since the zombies hadn’t dispersed anyway, Song Fei wasn’t afraid to speak out loud, “When the zombies in the dormitory and canteen couldn’t catch sight of living people or hear any noises, they would break up and wander off after a while, why are these being so persistent?”

The group exchanged glances with each other and were all at a loss.

Huang Mo theorized: “Most of these zombies were a part of the crew that blocked us on Xuezi avenue. If it is as we guessed and they were brought to Xuezi avenue by the students from the sports department, who were originally at the track and field arena during their escape, then they must’ve experienced more battles and cheated death many more times than any of the zombies elsewhere.”

Song Fei: “You mean those students from the sports department inadvertently improved their combat qualities?”

Huang Mo: “This possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, confrontation is mutual.”

All the companions frowned as they looked at Zhao He.

The latter’s eyes widened, this really was a case of, the person was sitting at home, yet apotstill came flying out of the sky.

All joking aside, if they analyzed it clearly, the zombies wouldn’t leave no matter what, even when He Zhiwen tried to lure them away with the drone, it still was of no use because from the moment they scaled onto the roof, many of the zombies below had locked onto them again.

At midnight, the cold winds howled.

The warmth that the companions finally recovered after much effort began to fade away again.

They could no longer stand on the roof like that stupidly, they either had to take action or retreat back to the security room to spend the night. Only it was currently midnight and they didn’t want to give up that easily. Even if they couldn’t break into the underground parking garage overnight, everyone still hoped to utilize as much of the cover of darkness as possible to shorten the distance to the underground lot because it was the only efficient route close to the university gates.

“How about this,” Song Fei deliberated out loud. In fact, this idea had been on his mind since they flipped a coin and decided to go to the cultural and sports area, but it was only now that he really thought it through. “Let’s divide the road from here to the underground garage into several sections. Don’t think about heading to the garage as soon as we are on our way, instead, let’s use every stop in between as the ultimate destination. After reaching one, consider the next and if that method works then we’d just continue, if not, then we’ll adjust on the spot.”

Luo Geng understood instantly: “You mean to break down a big task into several small ones?”

“Exactly!” Song Fei’s eyes lit up, “It’s hard to become fat with one bite, but you can gain weight bite by bite.”

The chubby He Zhiwen: “This, I can prove.”

Song Fei smiled, his hands were too restless and couldn’t hold himself back from give He-tongxue’s cheeks a good rub.

Qi Yan rolled his eyes and asked the key question directly: “How do you want to segment it?”

“Based on the building.” Song Fei used metal chopsticks to draw a broken line on the dusty roof floor. The starting point is the auditorium and the end point is the garage entrance at the back of the Houde building while every pitstop in the middle was another building, “The one closest to the auditorium is the swimming facility, then pass the artificial lake, we’ll reach the basketball stadium, and beyond the basketball stadium is the academic activities center. Then south of the center, is the row of shared teaching buildings where the Houde building is also located. Following this route, our goal will be set as the next building and reaching the target building would be counted as a victory. At that time, we’ll consider whether to continue or to take a break.”

Qi Yan frowned: “It seems like a walk in the park by breaking it down into sections, but can you guarantee that there would be a rest stop at every building?”

“When it comes to buildings, I can’t be as quiet as a chicken.” Zhou Yilu flipped his tresses, stepped forward and pointed the tip of his spear at the nodes on Song Fei’s blueprint, “The swimming pool and the basketball stadium both aren’t too high and are outfitted with pipes thick in diameter externally, making the roof accessible by climbing up the pipes; there are trees surrounding the man-made lake, so if we encounter danger, we can clamber up those trees directly; the academic activity center has three floors and is unable to be ascended directly, but there are awnings on all the doors on the first floor and there are no floor-to-ceiling windows, thus perching on the window ledge and making a small leap onto the canopies would beso easy; The public teaching buildings are all pieced together side by side. I figure we could pass through this row of buildings like a breeze and head straight for the entrance of thecarport. If we had to stop along the way, then we could just keep scrambling up the trees. Although our university is on the boundaries of barren lands, at least it was landscaped quite well.”

Zhou Yilu finished rambling on in one breath such that smoke almost rose from his throat.

Yet, as a result, he only saw his companions gape at him without blinking, giving him no reaction at all.

Zhou Yilu was heartbroken: “What was said isn’t feasible?”

All the comrades: “Especially viable.”

Zhou Yilu: “Then what’s with your expressions?”

Song Fei: “They’re regretting that they didn’t choose our major initially.”

—The one best at escaping from dangerous situations, tourism manager Song-xiaocao, the one who had better escaping skills, architect Zhou-lang.

Two minutes later.

Fourteen figures gathered at the corner of the roof above the rear of the auditorium, belting out songs together, which instantly resounded through the universe—

“The wind is howling~~The horses are braying~~The Yellow River is roaring!The hills of the Hexi mountainous area are tens of thousands of feet high~~Thesorghumof Hedong and Hebei are ripe~There are so many anti-Japanese heroes in the mountains~Those with guerilla warfare from the Tibetan tents are seen as heroes. . .”

It was extremely difficult to choose a song that everyone knew that was also very powerful. Fortunately, their predecessors left many treasures behind.

The powerful chorus of the Wusheng Troupe instantly attracted all the zombies from all directions. Some of them could no longer suppress their inner agitation and desperately stretched out their arms to jump up, trying to scoop up a handful of themother river.

Finally, the zombies were firmly chained down at the back of the auditorium. Among the fourteen people, two retreated first, followed up by another pair, then another duo, until in the final sonorous and powerful melody, only Song Fei and Qi Yan’s voices were left. As for the ten from the rest of the group, they had already shifted to the other side of the roof and slipped down quietly.

Qi Yan and Song Fei howled for another ten minutes before the walkie-talkie crackled to life.

It was Wang Qingyuan’s voice: “We arrived at the rooftop of the swimming pool safely, the situation inside is unknown, make haste.”

Song Fei was breathless: “Roger.”

Wang Qingyuan was hesitant: “What’s wrong with your throat?”

Song Fei: “You try subbing in for seven people and sing! It was only three or four hundred meters and it took you ten minutes to cross over!!!”

Wang Qingyuan: “The two of you are up now, so there’s no need. We’ve already cleared the way ahead.”

Song Fei: “Good pal, I knew you were reliable.”

Qiao Siqi: “Song Fei, aren’t you way too. . .”

Kada.

After turning the knob to the off position, Song Fei notified Qi Yan in an even tone: “We can withdraw now.”

Following Song Fei’s last word, the two of them discussed it and swiftly turned around to rush to the other end of the roof, then without using a rope, they jumped directly onto the awning above the main entrance, then leapt from that awning straight to the ground.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, the two of them were like arrows that left the bowstring, plunging into the vast night without even a backwards glance!

The pair sprinted all the way, their destination clear—The swimming pool!

However, without the mother river, the roof no longer held any attraction for the zombies. In addition, when the duo dropped down, they made twodongdongsounds, their footsteps like the wind as they ran. Shortly after, the zombies reacted and chased after the noises!

Just like Song Fei had estimated, the straight-line distance between the swimming pool and the auditorium was only three to four hundred meters.

It was only that this “direct route” involved traversing a small grove.

The predecessors planted the trees and the descendants enjoyed the shade, Wang Qingyuan wasn’t telling any lies if the several zombie corpses in the woods were of any indication and Song Fei and Qi Yan who had to step over them, didn’t encounter any more obstacles.

But the zombies behind them were getting closer and closer!

The two of them sprinted all the way to the swimming pool, stared intently, and swiftly located the downspout in the corner!

The thick downspout reflected with a dark glint under the moonlight.

Qi Yan reached the downspout ahead of Song Fei. Time was tight and there was no room for delay. He’d have to swarm up eventually anyway, thus he hugged the pipe without hesitation and used his tree-climbing skills to scale it.

Song Fei followed closely behind. As soon as Qi Yan went up two meters, he also charged up, the top of his head almost brushing against the soles of Qi Yan’s feet.

The downspout was much smoother than the trunk of a tree, making it particularly laborious to mount. What was even worse was that Song Fei didn’t travel on the gravel road the entire time when crossing the grove and had dipped into the mud several times. Now the soles of his shoes were as slick as a pair of loaches, his legs kept slipping down and if his arms weren’t tightly circling the pipe, he’d have already plummeted to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Qi Yan was already on the roof, while he had only reached halfway.

Song Fei gritted his teeth, beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

The zombies behind them broke free of the woods and were approaching step by step!

“Grab the rope—”

Someone was shouting above his head, Song Fei couldn’t tell who.

However, there was something swaying before his eyes. Song Fei flung his head from side to side and was finally able to see the rope that his comrades had unraveled down clearly!

Song Fei was overjoyed and stretched out his hand to fish for the rope.

He was already acting extremely cautious, even only using one hand to hold the rope while the other was still wrapped tightly around the downspout.

However that wasn’t enough, he had still overestimated himself.

The moment he let go of one arm, his body fell rapidly and a layer of skin was almost rubbed off the palm of his hand that was still holding the downspout, yet before the burning pain could hit him, his entire body had already crashed into the ground with adong!

Author’s Chapter Summary:

The Wusheng class obtained a walkie-talkie by chance, Song Fei crashed to the ground tragically in a trance!

The translator has something to say: SF really has many tricks up his sleeves, some may seem dirty, but one has to admit that they are effective, isn’t that so @HZW, other times though, he really needs to stop and think though (just smacking electronics is NOT an effective way to make it work again despite how often people resort to it)

And I’m back! Sorry for the long radio silence, we’ll start off with this until I get back into the groove of posting more regularly