Ch93 - Maxim of Self-Defense

Translator: transcendentwings

Qi Yan watched helplessly as Song Fei fell, what hit the ground was Song Fei’s butt, but what was broken intoeight pieceswas his heart.

The zombies were close at hand!

Song Fei detected this and didn’t waste any time on expressing his pain when he landed, only swiftly scrambling to his feet, his actions even faster than Qi Yan’s reaction!

In the blink of an eye, Song Fei scaled the downspout again, with a little hop and a slide, his feet were already dangling one meter above the ground as if he were possessed.

However, this height still wasn’t enough to grasp the end of the rope.

The four zombies that were hot on his heels seemed like they were about to reach the base of the downspout while the large army behind them had also made it out of the grove!

Qi Yan didn’t wait for Song Fei to climb up on his own and directly unraveled the loop from the top of the downspout. He wrapped it around his wrist, gripped the rope tightly with both hands, and passed it further down through a strong downward motion of his arms!

The rope that was originally hanging one meter above Song Fei’s head was instantly delivered before Song Fei’s eyes!

Song Fei didn’t even see how the rope was lowered and just instinctively lunged for it. And with the lesson he learned from his past experience, instead of using his feet, he used his legs to tightly clamp around the downspout. Not risking missing the opportunity again, in a flash, his hands firmly grasped the rope and at the same time he let both of his legs go as the weight of his entire body instantly transferring onto the rope!

Qi Yan had already prepared himself mentally when he slipped the rope around his own wrist, but the sudden sharply increased pulling force of gravity was still far beyond his expectations and his entire body was nearly dragged down!

Everything happened too quickly, it seemed that in a brief flash, Song Fei plummeted down, landed on the ground, then leapt up again. It wasn’t until Qi Yan pulled off the rope loop that his companions came back to their senses.

But Qi Yan’s movements were too swift. By the time they rushed over wanting to help them grab the rope, half of Qi Yan’s body had already been carried over the eaves. Forget about the rope, even Qi Yan’s waist and legs were scarcely held onto!

Song Fei originally assumed that the moment that he was able to hang onto the rope, it would be a piece of cake as if he were stepping on the clouds, but instead of rising up, he nearly went into a free fall instantly, almost scaring him silly!

Fortunately, the rope was ultimately stabilized. He raised his head in shock and saw half of Qi Yan’s body hanging down and the tensed veins on his face!

The moment the companions caught Qi Yan and dragged him back, body and all, the rope in Qi Yan’s hand and Song Fei along with it, finally began to shift upwards steadily.

It was only too bad that the four zombies had already arrived and pounced onto Song Fei’s legs before they were able to reach a safe height!

Song Fei violently kicked one of the zombies in the face, but the other three zombies immediately tugged downwards on his feet!

The tension that the companions had to deal with instantly quadrupled and the upward momentum of the rope was instantly halted. Fortunately, Qi Yan and everyone else were able to hold it together!

However, Song Fei couldn’t bear it any longer.

This time he distinctly felt a burning pain, his peeling palms rubbing violently along the rough surface of the rope, leaving a faint blood stain. With adong, he crashed to the ground again!

The moment Song Fei fell heavily to the ground, his feet also slipped out of his shoes due to the three zombies’ grip!

The three zombies were taken aback for a moment, then instantly tossed the shoes aside, charging at Song Fei who was sprawled on the ground in an attempt to pin him down!

How could Song Fei give them such an opportunity?

Something like falling to the ground was something thatgets easier every time, not to mention that Song Fei was able to react abnormally quickly the first time, the second time became even swifter. The moment his feet were released, he rolled across the ground so that by the time the zombies pounced onto the ground, he had already tumbled a meter off to the side. Then without even sparing a look at the situation on the zombies’ side, after rolling over, he leapt to his feet, and sprinted towards the open side door of to the swimming pool without so much a backwards glance—

“Use your voices to help me contain them, Qi Yan, you are not allowed to come down!!!”

When the roar exploded into the night breeze, Qi Yan had already tossed aside the rope, picked up the spear, and had one foot dangling in the air. If Song Fei had shouted a little later, he would’ve already directly leapt from the roof!

At that height, the great mother earth would’ve directly accepted him back into its embrace without even needing the zombies to take action.

The majestic “Yellow River Cantata” burst forth again, and this time an enchanting dance show organized by a few of the companions was added as an accompaniment which devolved into Qi Yan pulling an ultimate move where he even started stripping as a last resort.

Except for the four who initially targeted Song Fei, the zombie army in hot pursuit were all lured by the companions to hover around the base of the downspout.

But Song Fei was unaware of all of this.

He didn’t know how many zombies were chasing after him from behind and was also unsure whether the chorus that started up again really came from his comrades or was just an illusion created by a slip back in time.

The only thing he could feel with certainty was the cold gusts blowing across his face and the sudden silence that enveloped him after charging into the swimming pool.

Song Fei didn’t halt his steps, instead, he tugged off his only remaining shoe in a manner that seemed impossible by human standards while rocketing forth, then rushed to the edge of the pool wearing only socks. He sat down on the spot without hesitation and then quietly slid into the water.

The bitingly frigid fluid instantly covered his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He closed his eyes, held his breath, and sank slowly.

The entire swimming pool gym was still from beginning to end and even the sound of the splash when he entered the water was also barely audible. When he sank to the bottom, even the ripples in the pool gradually calmed down, everything became a motionless picture as if nothing happened.

Frosty, depressing, suffocating.

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There were only six of seven zombies in the vast pool, four of which bore a resemblance to the ones who hadheld him backearlier, but they were too far away and Song Fei couldn’t be sure.

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Song Fei was puzzled while he took a huge mouthful of oxygen soundlessly.

Yet he observed as those six or seven zombies sluggishly approached the side door as if there was some mysterious traction outside the door.

Song Fei stared at them in confusion. Finally, when the last zombie disappeared outside the side entrance, his primordial spirit returned to its original position and hisseven orificesand each and every cell was enlightened.

There was no such divine aid.

From beginning to the end, it was the chorus of his comrades-in-arms!

Not only did they help him contain the main body of pursuers, they even lured back the pursuers who were not contained initially, including the zombies who were originally in the swimming pool center!

Compared to the muted swimming pool where the target disappeared, the racket outside the swimming pool was naturally more attractive!

His tense nerves finally relaxed a little and Song Fei released half a sigh of relief at dodging the disaster and gaining a reprieve, but he still dared not fully relax.

Paddling gently in order to rotate his body, Song Fei surveyed his surroundings.

However when he turned halfway around, his body was suddenly unable to move as if someone had captured his foot underwater!

Song Fei’s blood ran cold.

His movements while treading water began to become even more violent, both out of fear and because he wanted to get more of his upper body out of the water. However, not even two strokes later, his body was dragged down directly, and his entire body sank into the water again.

This was the 1.8-meter deep area close to the side door. Even if one could swim, sometimes fear would take over for a moment when one’s feet touched the floor, but one’s head wasn’t exposed above the surface, let alone when one is being yanked into the depths of the abyss!

Song Fei endured the sting and opened his eyes in the liquid, but it was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything clearly.

He bucked his legs desperately, however the underwater resistance made his struggle come to naught!

Song Fei was going crazy and the suffocation and dread made his chest almost explode.

All he could do was risk it all and make a life-or-death attempt such that either the fish dies or the net gets torn!

Song Fei no longer kicked his legs, and simply let sleeping dogs lie, allowing his body to follow the forced direction!

Soon he felt himself bumping into a body and the next second he simply used his strength to continue rushing forth!

The resistance of the water affected Song Fei, and also didn’t let go of this “water ghoul“. Both of them crashed into the swimming pool wall and their grapple underwater came to an end.

Song Fei took advantage of the chaos to escape and broke through the surface with ahuala. At this time, he couldn’t care less about remaining quiet and ultimately scrambled ashore using both his hands and feet!

Hualala—

The “water ghoul” also climbed out after him!

The moonlight illuminated his wet face, making it look miserable and pale!

Song Fei nearly screamed and lifted his feet to bolt immediately!

Not to be outdone, the “water ghoul” chased after him, letting out a shrill howl as he was hot on the other’s heels: “Ahhhhh—”

Song Fei’s hair stood on end and every cell in his body trembled. He was no longer afraid of zombies, but he was still terrified of ghostsah!!!

“Song Fei, over here!”

“The changing room area—”

The beckoning of his classmates were like the calls of nature causing Song Fei to practically burst into tears!

No, he really did charge over in tears in reality and had even stumbled several times because of the pooling puddles of water at his feet!

Finally entering the corridor to the changing area, turn right for men, turn left for women, but Song Fei didn’t care because Qi Yan was standing in the middle at the fork in the road, with his arms open at him!

Song Fei threw himself into Qi Yan’s embrace, nearly knocking the other over!

Before Qi Yan could stand firm, the “water ghoul” tailgated them!

Zhao He stood in front of Qi Yan wielding the metal chopsticks, just waiting for the “water ghoul” to pounce over.

The latter lived up to expectations, similar to how Song Fei rushed into Qi Yan’s arms, he thrust his head into Zhao He’s chest!

Zhao He narrowed his eyes, raised his hand quickly, and just as he was about to stab downwards, he heard a series of: “Ahhhhh—”

The voice was shrill.

But the pronunciation. . . was strange.

Zhao He’s hand paused and he was knocked back two steps as a result.

The “water ghoul” was still howling crazily, while beating people and being destructive.

But he didn’t try to bite people, and didn’t have any weapons in his hands, he was only punching with empty fists, though because of the restrictions caused by his height, Zhao He easily avoided them all.

“He’s not a zombie!” Lin Dilei exclaimed.

Fu Xiyuan and Wu Zhou reacted in an instant, each restraining one arm to prevent him from scratching Zhao He until it became a mess.

“Human?!” Li Jingyu, who was guarding the door not too far away blurted out in a trembling voice.

“Then let’s enter the room first!” Feng Qibai, who was stationed with him, urged upon seeing this.

As the door was shut and locked, Song Fei was finally able to discern under the bright light that this was the janitor’s closet in the dressing room. The cleaning lady would take her lunch break here, and the cleaning tools were also stored here. But now, a small pieces of glass at the top of the window pane had been shattered and the incoming wind was making the curtains that the comrades had drawn close, billow up.

Apparently the comrades snuck in from the roof.

However none of that mattered right now.

The “water ghoul” was entangled with Fu Xiyuan and Wu Zhou once again. Zhao He tried to intervene several times, but every time it was his comrades who became his obstacle.

“Are you f*cking crazyah—”

“Ahhhhh—”

“Get a grip!”

“Ahhhhh—”

“F*ck!”

Zhao He once again restrained the “water ghoul” from behind, letting him kick with his legs and howl without letting go. However, preventing the opponent’s movements couldn’t make the other regain his sanity.

“You guys think of a solutionah!!!”

They could counter zombies, they could communicate with classmates, but this inability to fight or just talk it out really drove Zhao He insane.

In desperation, he covered the other’s mouth with force to prevent his desperate wails from arousing the zombies outside and became even more agitated!

Li Jingyu: “Why don’t we just knock him out!”

Luo Geng: “Do you this is a TV showahand make him faint with a chop to the neck, what if you knocked him intodeathne!”

Qiao Siqi: “Then are we just going to allow him to scream like that?!”

Zhou Yilu: “Find something to block his mouth!”

Zhao He: “F*ck, he wants to f *cking bite me!”

Water ghoul: “Ahhhhh—”

Pa!

A strong slap stopped the manic screeching and calmed the air in the cleaning closet.

Huang Mo’s hand that was still in mid-air was trembling slightly and her breathing wasn’t too steady. It was obvious that she wasn’t skilled in doing this kind of thing.

The “water ghoul’s” face snapped aside where he stilled, his eyes were blank, and his consciousness was blurred.

Huang Mo took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly as if she had made up her mind. She reached out and gave the other a string of slaps!

With the crisppapasounds, the eyes of the “water ghoul” sluggishly moved and when Huang Mo stopped, he blinked lightly.

Huang Mo approached the other cautiously, stating each and every word gently: “We are not zombies, we are classmates.”

The “water ghoul” blinked again, but was still dazed and remained mute.

Zhao He kept him bound in the same position while nudging the other: “Wei, she’s talking to youne.”

The “water ghoul” was still dumbfounded and didn’t register the prodding movement at all.

Zhao He swallowed hard: “Has he. . . really lost it?”

Huang Mo pursed her lips, unsure. She wasn’t an actual demi-immortal and was merely studying her profession and then applying what she learned. However psychology wasn’t a panacea and even if it were, she would still be in the entry-level apprenticeship stage at best.

Song Fei wanted to step forward, but Qi Yan subconsciously stopped him.

“It’s fine, fourteen against onene.”

Pulling Qi Yan’s arm away, Song Fei drew closer to this dear friend on land for the first time.

The other’s face was blue, bereft of any rosy color that made him appear like a zombie at first glance. However if one looked closely at his pupils, one could see that they weren’t cloudy like the infected at all and there were no wounds on his exposed skin from head to toe. As for what was under his clothes, it shouldn’t be a big issue—after all, he was only wearing a pair of swimming briefs.

Huang Mo moved aside to make way for Song Fei.

The latter came up to the “water ghoul” and greeted him after meeting his eyes: “Wei.”

Song Fei’s call was very soft, even gentler than Huang Mo’s, as if he were coaxing a lover.

The “water ghoul” treated everyone equally and continued to only blink. This seemed to be the only response he could muster for the outside world.

Song Fei continued: “We aren’t zombies.”

The “water ghoul” blinked for the second time.

Song Fei blew air at the other’s face rudely, but his voice became warmer: “We are classmates.”

The “water ghoul” blinked for the third time.

Song Fei abruptly hollered: “Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony!”

The “water ghoul” shivered: “Freedom, equality, justice, law!”

His voice was extremely hoarse, as if it had been rubbed raw by sandpaper, but his tone was serious, like answering the instructor’s questions duringmilitary training!

Song Fei shouted vigorously: “Patriotic and dedicated!”

The “water ghoul” burst into a wail, his tears and snot unrestrained: “Integrity and kindness. . .”

Song Fei signaled Zhao He to let go, then stepped forward and gave the other a solid hug: “You’re safe, truly.”

The “water ghoul” sobbed loudly, and a young man who was a few centimeters taller than Song Fei began to bawl like a child.

The companions felt sorrowful in their hearts, but were also finally relieved.

Song Fei bared his teeth at everyone in a joyful grin.

His companions all rolled their eyes at him in return.

This was something that the university required all current students to memorize a while ago. The instructors of each department would conduct spot checks very frequently and occasionally, on a whim, the department leaders would go to Xuezi Avenue to randomly question passing students. Even if one couldn’t remember the university motto, one would have to be able to recite this. When the preceding sentence was given, it must be followed up by the succeeding part, practically becoming a conditioned reflex on their part.

At that time, no one would have predicted that one day, these twenty-four words would become apeach wood sword, which could drive away evil spirits and allow one to dodge evil, clearing the clouds to reveal the sun. Even if one was standing in the pit of hell, you could feel the warmth of the grand family of socialists in an instant.

Author’s Chapter Summary:

Twenty-four words are always at the tip of the tongue, the vast world is for me to roam unstrung!

The translator has something to say: so even QY has moments where he doesn’t have his wits about him, thankfully (and ironically) SF will make up for it in those lapses