Ch97 - To the Pavilion! . . . Again

Translator: transcendentwings

When he saw Song Fei running towards him, Kuang Ye felt confident and leapt ashore like a lotus flower emerging from the water.

The moment Song Fei reached him, he was just about to open up his arms to embrace his comrade when he spotted the large wave of zombies at his comrade’s back. Before he could come to his senses, his comrade had already hauled him to his feet and dragged him into a dead sprint!

“What’s going onah—” Kuang Ye was on the verge of breaking, his drenched clothes were splashing drops of water all over the place with their mad dash.

“It’s okay,” Song Fei choked on the wind as he comforted the other, “There is still a long stretch of lakeshore between usne!”

. . . You also know that it’s a lakeshore and not a coastlineah!!!

Kuang Ye had no strength left and could only roar in his heart while his feet followed Song Fei closely. If he was not mistaken, the other party seemed to have a clear direction and fled towards it without hesitation. He didn’t dither about and just ran towards a certain place with a decisive attitude!

Abruptly, Song Fei turned and left the lakeshore without warning, heading straight for the grove!

Kuang Ye couldn’t react in time, his soul wanted to turn, but his body couldn’t dance to the same tune. He twisted his body and fell to the ground. If he hadn’t thrown his arms out at the last moment to brace himself, his handsome face would have been ruined!

Uh, the adjective was added by the very person involved.

Song Fei jumped at the sound of the thud and thought that a zombie had caught up and knocked the other over. When he saw that it was only his teammate who slipped, he didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. He hurried over to yank his companion, whose wet clothes were covered in gravel and soil, up and led him to the woods: “This way—”

Kuang Ye finally adjusted his pace to the same frequency as his comrade, just that: “Can you signal before making a sharp turn in the future!”

Song Fei swept the pine branches away while he continued rushing forward and didn’t forget to complain: “Signal for what, you just don’t have a tacit understanding with me!”

“This type of awareness is too difficult to cultivate!”

“That’s only because you joined this squad for too short of a period of time.”

“Could they all cooperate so well with you?”

“Most of themba, but there are also some who can’t cooperate for the life of them. . .Aithat’s right, you and Qiao Siqi must have tacit understanding, he can fall eight times in just three runs!”

“. . .”

After they passed the last pine tree, the view in front of him suddenly opened up. There was anancient-style hexagonal pavilion with a clear pondbeside it. The water in the pond was drawn out through a narrow canal, and after a moment’s pondering, he realized that it should be connected to Mingfeng Lake. There was a stone tablet next to the pool with three large letters engraved onto it—XimoPavilion.

The footsteps of the zombies came from far away and a gust of sinister wind suddenly whipped around the pavilion.

However, after the wind blew past, the pavilion pillars were still red, the tiles were still black, and the upturned hexagonal eaves were still motionless, as if the outside world had nothing to do with this place. No matter how chaotic your world was, I will remain a pure land.

. . . Until a certain classmate who didn’t care about public buildings stepped on a seat in the pavilion, wrapped his arms around the pavilion’s pillar, and then began tokengchikengchi, shimmy up.

Kuang Ye didn’t see how Song Fei leapt up and when his eyes’ focus finally aligned, the other had already vaulted to the top and was ultimately riding on an upturned eave as he tied a rope onto it!

Kuang Ye immediately understood and swallowed nervously.

The footsteps behind him were pressing closer and closer.

Song Fei finally secured the rope tightly and the end of the rope dangled to the ground!

Kuang Ye took a deep breath and was about to grab it when he suddenly felt his arm stiffen.

“What are you standing there for, come upah!” Song Fei didn’t understand what happened, all he saw was Kuang Ye’s hand that froze in midair as if someone had pressed his acupoint.

A distinct sound of branches being broken came from the pine tree behind him, their pursuers were close at hand and were about to barrel out!

Kuang Ye threw the towel in, he unzipped from top to bottom and decisively threw off his down jacket that was like an ice cube after taking that dip in the water. He grabbed the rope with only a single layer of clothes on and climbed up hand over hand.

Although the soaked single layer he had on was cold and stuck to his body, it was much less of a hindrance than wearing a down jacket!

On one end, Kuang Ye was ascending with all his might, and on the other end, Song Fei also lent a hand by hauling the rope up. Finally, when the pursuers arrived, he successfully pulled Kuang Ye onto the roof of the pavilion.

They thought they could get rid of most of the zombies in the woods, after all they had been running very fast and the direction was also very chaotic so they assumed that only two or three of them would be able to catch up by chance. Yet the reality was, after the two of them waited and waited, they still weren’t done. Finally, Song Fei untied the rope and returned it to his bag before retrieving the walkie-talkie. After he finished adjusting it, at long last, no more newcomers barged into Ximo Pavilion—The number of zombies was fixed at ten, unfortunately breaking through the single digits.

“Calling Qi Yan, respond Qi Yan. . .”

Song Fei wasn’t sure whether Qi Yan had turned on the walkie-talkie. If their companions didn’t descend from the trees, the probability of turning on the walkie-talkie was higher. If they did come down from the trees, then they may have to wait for them to have escaped to and settled down at the Academic Activities Center before they would tune into the walkie-talkie, so he was merely giving it a try.

Who knew that the other side would respond so quickly—

“How are you guys?”

No nonsense, cutting straight to the point, Qi Yan’s standard style.

Although they were only connected by voice, Song Fei felt that he wasn’t afraid of anything anymore: “All is well, we are now on top of Ximo Pavillion, once we find an opportunity to lure the zombies away, we’ll come find you.”

“jQPf. . . CLaQYQfJ?”

“HfiNTd Qd, dIQA QAJ’d QPqfidLJd,” Jfm mLA Jfd dIT dQPT df NQaT dITP AfPT gLGsNifUJB fJ dIT GLPqUA LddiLGdQfJA, “oITiT LiT pfU LYY, ILA dIT BTAdQJLdQfJ GILJNTB?”

“Wd ILAJ’d, Qd’A AdQYY dIT LGdQaQdQTA GTJdTi, mT LiT GUiiTJdYp ITLBQJN dITiT, pfU NUpA AIfUYB LYAf IUiip faTi. OTPTPgTi, NTd fJdf dIT LmJQJN SQiAd LSdTi pfU LiiQaT ITiT LJB dITJ PLsT fdITi qYLJA.”

“bfJ’d mfiip.”

EfAAQJN dIT mLYsQT-dLYsQT gLGs QJdf IQA gLN, lfJN HTQ TpTB dIT efPgQTA gTYfm LJB AqYLpTB IQA ILJB fUd Ld RULJN xT: “CIfJT.”

UkGwV DI LGt iIYkHHSIH, ikE ZJwV pIQ’t EJwI EaGE GSSJLIH YJb wJ GbVkhIwE tIIhIH EJ aGAI tJhI tJbE JY aNrwJEQv rJLIb GwH LaIw aI vGhI EJ aQt tIwtIt, aQt vISS raJwI LGt GSbIGHN Qw EaI JEaIb’t rJttIttQJw.

Song Fei turned on the screen: “Lock screen password.”

“7013.”

“Does it mean anything?”

“Born in 701 AD, passed away in the third year of Shangyuan, the great poet from thelong riverthat forms the glorious years of Chinese civilization, Li Bai.”

“. . .”

Originally, Song Fei felt a little guilty about sacrificing Kuang Ye’s phone..

Now, he felt reconciled and completely numb.

Songs were played one after another, and when it came to the fifth song, Song Fei finally became depressed: “Don’t you have any with a more cheerful rhythm, one not so lyrical?”

Kuang Ye finally had time to ask: “What do you want to do?”

“Make a feint in the east and attack in the west. We can’t just remain on top of this gazebo and enjoy the viewba.”

“That. . .achoo, having been said, exactly how do you plan to create a disturbance in the east only to strike in the west?”

“Sacrifice your phone for the sake of our happiness.”

“. . .”

Kuang Ye’s unwillingness and regret flew off completely after Song Fei unzipped his down jacket and took the other into his arms.

When he was stuck close to Song Fei’s warm chest, not to mention sacrificing his phone, he felt that he could even offer up his own body in exchange.

Pa.

Song Fei gently tossed the mobile onto a patch of dry grass under the pavilion. Three zombies were attracted and ambled over totteringly, but after surveying their surroundings, unable to find anything remarkable, they were at a loss once again.

An alarm rang loudly and obnoxiously at this moment.

Paired with thebreathing lightand the suddenly lit up screen, a female voice with a brisk rhythm penetrated the night sky—

“ireallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallylikeyou~~~”

Song Fei was a little apprehensive when the ringtone started, after all, there were living, breathing people squatting on the roof, so who knew if they would act just like before where under the presence of visible human beings, they abandoned the drone and chose the living.

However later, he found that he was overthinking.

The zombies’ enthusiasm for musical notes, especially for rhythmic melodies, far exceeded his imagination.

After he pulled Kuang Ye away from the eaves and hid at the center of the pavilion, as far away from the zombies’ field of vision as possible, the final zombie also gave up on their location and crowded around the phone.

It was only a pity that the zombies couldn’t understand English, otherwise, with the lyrics, it might’ve developed into a fatal attraction.

While musing over this nonsense, Song Fei made a shushing gesture at Kuang Ye, indicating for the other to follow him. After that, he clambered onto the eaves farthest from the landing point of the cell and furtively dropped to the ground.

Kuang Ye may have been unable to climb up, but he didn’t hesitate to jump down and keep up immediately.

Yet it was impossible for two grown lads to land entirely soundlessly. At first, Song Fei only made some of the zombies confused, however, after the second noise that escaped when Kuang Ye landed, two zombies that were on the edges of the phone’s encirclement reacted and their bodies were obviously angled in their direction.

A current of air formed below Song Fei’s feet as he plunged headfirst into the woods!

Kuang Ye learned from experience, his eyes were fixed on Song Fei so that no matter what Song Fei did, he would imitate the other in a godly manner!

Not long after they made a break for it, they heard the zombies howl behind them, evidently the first zombie to discover their escape was alerting his companions!

Song Fei knew that it wouldn’t take long for those guys to give up on the cell and chase after them. Even if he dashed out of the woods before them, the ruckus they stirred up would be huge. When that happens, if other zombies were lured over on their way to the academic center, coupled with the fact that there were no other buildings in the vicinity, it would be as difficult to shake them off as it would be for them to reach the heavens.

Thus the best method was to get rid of their zombie tail!

Another sharp turn!

Kuang Ye had already learned, or maybe it was because he was only clothed in a single layer so his mind was clearer and his body was more flexible as he was able to make the turn with Song Fei!

However, after turning around, Song Fei didn’t run, instead, he hid behind an old pine tree that possessed a huge canopy!

Kuang Ye’s mind was full of questions, but he didn’t dare speak, only sticking close as he concealed himself as well—Since he decided to follow Song Fei, he had to give his unconditional trust to the other!

Soon after the two hid, the zombies howled again. The messy footsteps thundered just beside their ears, and they could even smell the dust stirred up by the zombies’ stampede.

Song Fei poked his head out from behind the tree, quietly watching as the zombies that were chasing them the most swiftly, whizzing away at a similarly high speed. At the closest point, the straight-line distance from the tree where they were stowed away was no more than five meters.

But the zombies had been too persistent in their pursuit that they seemed to be barreling forward as a result of inertia, thus none of them noticed that the prey had already laid low on the spot.

One, two of them.

The third, fourth, a fifth.

The sixth one, the seventh.

The zombies weren’t running neck to neck, there was a considerable distance of several meters between them. Song Fei silently counted the number of zombies that had passed by in his heart, calculating, assuming that no new zombies were drawn in along the way, then there should only be three more, after which, they’d be able to make a clean getaway.

Seven, eight.

The ninth one.

The tenth!

Song Fei dared not breathe and tried to suppress the impulse brewing under his feet and decided to wait a little longer, just a bit longer.

Sure enough, another footstep soon followed.

It was a zombie whose run staggered, the eleventh one that never appeared at Ximo Pavilion before!

Song Fei’s heart was in his throat. While feeling lucky, he also scrutinized the space behind the zombie as if he could see if there would be a twelfth behind that one if he stared long enough. . .

“Helpahhhhhhhhh—”

A heart-wrenching cry for aid came from the backpack, accompanied by a crackle of static proportional to the volume of the cry for help!

Song Fei held his breath, Qi Yan?!

“I heard you talking, helpahhhhhh—”

No, not Qi Yan!

It also wasn’t any other member of the Wusheng class.

Song Fei instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, and felt a little guilty, thinking that he treated his friends differently from others. But he immediately realized that something wasn’t right, the only reason why he could hear the call for help—regardless of who the other was—could only be because of one reason—he had forgotten to turn off the walkie-talkie.

And now, the consequence of the ghostly wail from the walkie-talkie could only bring the genuine cries of ghosts!

“Aoaoaoao—”

. . . He knew it!!!

The twelfth zombie wasn’t good at chasing its prey, but it was great at howling. He cried out as he lunged at the space below the tree and aimed a bite at Kuang Ye!

Kuang Ye started to wave his scissors wildly when it launched itself over and he nearly stabbed himself several times.

The zombie was unmoved and pounced over without hesitation!

The tip of the dancing scissors slashed across the zombie’s face directly!

The touch of flesh from the tip of the scissors was transmitted back to Kuang Ye’s hand, making him stiff all over. Despite knowing that what he faced was no longer human, he still had psychological barriers when it came to dealing a killing blow.

A chopstick penetrated the zombie’s head, Song Fei helped his new comrade kill the zombie.

He could relate to Kuang Ye, because everyone had gone through such a mental journey.

“Don’t think of them as classmates,” he gave Kuang Ye a leveling stare, sounding out word by word, “Think more about the classmates who are still struggling to survive.”

“I am precisely that classmate who is still grappling with survivalahhhhhh!”

“I’m in the basketball stadium, quickly come and save meahhhh!!”

“I’m begging you guysahhhh!!!”

—The staticky crackle from within the backpack surged.

Kuang Ye swallowed his saliva and peered at Song Fei’s bag: “One like this?”

Song Fei had the mind to die, yet didn’t dare to protest. Seeing that the ten “old pals” who had just bounded past them were yowling as they doubled back, he yanked Kuang Ye up to his feet and sprinted back without another word!

Five minutes later, the two returned to the eaves of the hexagonal pavilion.

Armed with their last experience, Kuang Ye didn’t need Song Fei to tie the rope this time. He jumped up and grabbed the edge of the lowest point on the pavilion’s cover with both hands then with a pull on his arm from Song Fei, who had turned around, he hooked his long leg and flipped over, obviously a vast improvement.

Although, it was still chilly.

So without waiting for Song Fei’s invitation, he directly pulled open the other’s down jacket and leaned in.

Song Fei didn’t make a fuss, although the other party’s soaked single layer rubbed off on his own, due to the circumstances, he could only be forced to play the role of the old mother.

“Don’t ignore meah. . .”

“I was finally able to tune it to the correct frequency which I captured sounds. . .”

“If you guys still don’t talk, I’ll be really angry!”

“I’m angry nowahhhhwuuu. . .”

The person who asked for help never stopped crying along the way, even more miserable than the zombies. It was heartbreaking to hear it at first, now that they got used to it, it was just annoying.

Song Fei dug the walkie-talkie out in a bad mood and hollered: “Don’t f*cking yell anymore! I heard you!”

The walkie-talkie went quiet.

Song Fei made a face, it turned out that the other party was someone who caved to force and not niceties.

After a long pause, the static sounded again in a wronged manner: “My name is Ma Weisen, what’s your name, honorable classmate. . .”

“Song Fei.” With a helpless sigh, Song Fei softened his heart.

“Will you come save me. . .”

“Yes.”

“Don’t just cajole meah. . .”

“Who has the time to wheedle you!”

“But you answered so quickly that it was clear that you didn’t even stop to think. . .’

Song Fei took a few deep breaths, squeezed out a smile and said in a gentle voice: “I. Will. Go. Rescue. You.”

“I’m in the players’ lounge of the basketball stadium. . .”

“I know.”

“Then when will you come. . .”

“I’ll be there in a while.”

“Why does it have to be a while. . . “

“. . .”

“I knew you were lying to me. It’s so dangerous, only idiots would comeaowu. . .”

Song Fei put down the walkie-talkie and gazed up at the starry sky, hoping to find a trace of spiritual peace in this vast universe.

Ten zombies surrounded the pavilion again.

Time seemed to have gone in reverse.

Kuang Ye drew close and picked up the walkie-talkie—

“Hello, my name is Kuang Ye. Thanks to you, we are surrounded by a large group of zombies again, as such our class leader needs time to solve the current predicament and calm his emotions before heading over, otherwise he will easily join forces with the zombies to strangle you to death. . .achu!”

Author’s Chapter Summary: A winding path leads to the secluded Ximo Pavilion, a shrieking and howling wicked civilian

The translator has something to say: KY certainly picked up on the right way to follow SF quickly, which is to let SF do all the thinking while he’ll just follow mindlessly, and due to SF quick-wittedness, he could have reunited with everyone else very swiftly, but. . . well the crew has been picking up quite a few stragglers lately, I wonder what MWS will bring to the class