Chapter 76.1 Savage Expansion (9)
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Following Zhuang Lao’s instructions, his task now was to find an open area to improve the signal on his communicator.
The school corridor was dark and long, with only a faint, flickering light in the distance. Luckily, Lin Zhaohe had lived here for three years and vaguely remembered that the stairs were at the end of the light. He had to reach the playground, which meant going down the stairs to the first floor, then passing a small pond full of lotus flowers and the library, before finally arriving at the playground behind the academic building.
The students who had been reciting the text neatly in the classroom were nowhere to be found, along with the disappearance of the bright moonlight. The cozy scene in front of him gradually faded, turning from a warm photograph to a black-and-white graveyard. The air carried a damp and unpleasant smell, like the odor of clothes that never dried on a rainy day, making him feel uncomfortable.
As a result of the recent fight with Lin Yan, Lin Zhaohe lost the backpack filled with supplies he had been carrying on his back. He had exerted too much force and couldn’t maintain his transformed state any longer, leaving him weakly leaning against the wall as he moved forward.
Afraid of something nearby, Lin Zhaohe refrained from making noise and walked cautiously. He steadily approached the stairwell, taking small steps.
As he neared the stairwell, it became brighter. The entire dark corridor was illuminated only by a dim light hanging near the entrance of the stairs.
Having just been in a fight, Lin Zhaohe concentrated intensely but felt the strain on his body. He found a seat at the stairwell and rested, catching his breath under the faint light. His mouth felt dry and a strong desire for water arose.
Unfortunately, his backpack with the water had disappeared. Lin Zhaohe had to endure and proceed down the pitch-black stairs, almost unable to see anything. The solitary dim light in front seemed like a precious source of illumination amidst the darkness.
While Lin Zhaohe was contemplating where to find water, he suddenly felt a drop of cold liquid landing on his head. He looked up in confusion, directing his gaze towards his own head.
It wasn’t a small light at all. Instead, it was a person curled up into a ball. No, it was far from being considered a person. The body was coiled like a snake, attached to the ceiling. Only one round eye and a wide-open mouth remained on the face. The eye emitted a faint glow, resembling a mosquito trap in the dark, attracting light-seeking humans. The snake-like mouth, exuding venom, was wide open, and drops of saliva hit Lin Zhaohe’s head.
A fearful cry lodged in his throat, then exploded like a burst bubble.
“Ah! Ahhhhh!” Lin Zhaohe emitted a sharp cry and tried to run, but the creature sank its teeth into his back, small hooked teeth piercing his muscles deeply. With immense strength, it lifted Lin Zhaohe off the ground.
Lin Zhaohe let out a wretched scream but reacted swiftly. He pulled out his blade and swung it backhanded, accurately hitting the creature’s neck.
Although it didn’t resemble a human, its defense seemed lacking. Lin Zhaohe’s blade effortlessly severed most of its neck, causing it to loosen its grip and throw Lin Zhaohe forcefully to the ground.
After landing, Lin Zhaohe gritted his teeth and, enduring the pain, lunged forward. He pressed down on the creature and delivered several more strikes to its vital areas until it stopped struggling.
“Huff… huff…” Gasping heavily, Lin Zhaohe was drenched in sweat. The burning pain from his injured back made even standing up difficult. The creature beneath him was dead. Lin Zhaohe took a moment to regain his composure. He planned to get up and leave when he heard a faint sound—something falling from the creature’s body.
Lin Zhaohe instinctively felt that it must be something important. He quickly reached out to feel around and discovered two circular objects resembling coins. Unfortunately, the darkness made it impossible to see clearly.
The stench of blood emanating from the corpse might attract other dangerous creatures. Lin Zhaohe didn’t dare linger and hurriedly stood up, staggering. He continued his descent. However, after a few steps, he sensed something was amiss. The creature’s teeth seemed poisonous. The wound throbbed with unbearable pain, as if being corroded by some acidic liquid.
The best solution would be to wash the wound with clean water, but Lin Zhaohe had nothing at hand…
Could it be that he was going to die here? Lin Zhaohe’s vision darkened, feeling helpless. After fighting Lin Yan, the Big Boss, for so long, he was now on the verge of death from a mere scratch by a small monster. Truly, the unpredictability of life.
From the second floor, he rushed down to the first floor. As he approached the ground floor, the short flight of a dozen steps became an insurmountable chasm. With each step, gritting his teeth and pushing through, Lin Zhaohe’s legs weakened. He ended up sitting on the ground, desperately trying to keep his eyes open and stay conscious. However, pain and exhaustion claimed his last remnants of awareness.
Lin Zhaohe closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but water trickled into his tightly closed lips, moistening his parched mouth and rousing his consciousness.
Lin Zhaohe blinked in confusion, and in the pitch-black vision, a young face appeared. The person holding a bottle of water looked at Lin Zhaohe and said, “You’re awake!”
Lin Zhaohe murmured in response, feeling that his physical condition had improved significantly. Although his back still hurt a bit, it wasn’t as severe as before. He got up from the ground, but before he could speak, he noticed a drastic change in the expression of the young person who had previously looked concerned. He took several steps back in extreme terror, staring at him as if he had seen a ghost.
Lin Zhaohe was startled by his expression, thinking that there might be something behind him. He quickly turned his head to look, only to find nothing there.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Zhaohe asked nervously.
“D-Don’t come any closer!” The young person’s face turned pale with fear.
Lin Zhaohe immediately felt something was wrong, wondering if the creature had poisoned him and turned him into a monster. He hurriedly explained that he was still human, capable of using human reasoning and wouldn’t harm others.
However, the more he explained, the more frightened the young person became. Trembling all over, he almost cried out, “If you’re human, then ask the two female ghosts on your shoulders to stop twisting!”
The two female ghosts on this person’s shoulders twisted like twisted dough. If it weren’t for the fact that he hadn’t drunk much water, he would have wet himself out of fear.
Lin Zhaohe: “……”
The young person asked, “Are they real?”
Lin Zhaohe shook his head in pain and explained that he had a purely friendly relationship with the two female ghosts and couldn’t control their actions.
After hearing this, the young person turned around and seemed eager to leave. The expression on his face suggested that spending even a minute longer with Lin Zhaohe would trigger an immediate heart attack.
But Lin Zhaohe couldn’t bear to let the person go after finally encountering someone he could communicate with. He hurriedly approached and held onto him. “Hey, hold on for a moment. Don’t be in such a rush. Don’t judge me just because I have these two female ghosts with me. Deep down, I’m a good person.”
The young person didn’t look back, and it was unclear whether he didn’t believe Lin Zhaohe’s words or were too afraid to look at the two things on his shoulders.
Seeing his hardened heart, Lin Zhaohe resorted to his last resort and said, “Actually, I come from a family that catches ghosts. These two ghosts haven’t been able to move on yet, so they’re following me. I came here to help them and others escape.”
This statement made the person pause, but he still hesitated and whispered, “Then why are you injured?”
Lin Zhaohe replied, “It’s all because of that monster’s treacherous ambush…”
The person turned their head and said, “I think you’re just making up stories.”
“You have sharp insight, my young friend.”
The young student showed a helpless expression. However, with this brief interruption, he was certain of Lin Zhaohe’s human identity. No ghost would blabber so much.
He briefly introduced himself as Huo Nanjing, a student at this school. He, along with several other students, was trapped inside the school with no way out. He found Lin Zhaohe in the lobby on the ground floor, thinking he was dead. To his surprise, Lin Zhaohe was still breathing, so he casually fed him some medicine to see how he would fare. Luckily, Lin Zhaohe’s resilience proved strong, and he pulled through.
Lin Zhaohe observed Huo Nanjing, noticing that he was wearing the high school uniform of this school. Lin Zhaohe asked a few probing questions, trying to determine if Huo Nanjing was a character from the second dimension who had merged into this world or an original student from the school’s three-dimensional reality.
As Lin Zhaohe had suspected, Huo Nanjing had merged into this world and was a product of the recent convergence.
“I’m so thirsty. Is there any water left?” Lin Zhaohe asked.
“Yes,” Huo Nanjing handed him the remaining water. “But you have to ration it. There isn’t much left.” Despite their conversation, Huo Nanjing still trembled with fear regarding the two entities on Lin Zhaohe’s shoulder. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Lin Zhaohe while speaking.
Lin Zhaohe also felt helpless. He had no control over the things on his shoulders. The only fortunate aspect was that he couldn’t see them himself. He could only afflict others.
“Is there no way out from the school entrance?” Lin Zhaohe inquired, seeking more detailed information.
“No, there isn’t,” Huo Nanjing replied. “There are too many monsters over there. It’s impossible to get through.” He gestured towards the school entrance.
True to his expectations, in the pitch darkness, Lin Zhaohe saw numerous glowing orbs. At first glance, they appeared to be streetlights or something similar, but after the recent events, Lin Zhaohe knew they weren’t lightbulbs. They were the eyes of the monsters emitting an eerie glow.
“What about the back door?” After all, Lin Zhaohe was familiar with the school’s layout from attending high school here. He asked further, “If the back door is not an option, I remember there’s a dog hole near the playground. Has it been blocked?”
Huo Nanjing looked surprised and said, “You’re also a student of this school? And you know about the dog hole? I heard that two senior students secretly dug it.”
Lin Zhaohe: Have you ever considered that one of those seniors is right in front of you?
Back then, he and Lu Feihe weren’t attentive in class, always busy tinkering with things. During the school’s military training, they weren’t allowed to go outside and buy snacks, so the school put up wire mesh above the perimeter wall. Since the upper part was off-limits, they decided to go underneath. Lin Zhaohe and Lu Feihe quietly dug a hole beneath the wall, disguising it with shrubs to allow food deliveries from outside vendors. Later, after they graduated, they heard that the hole had been gradually expanded to the point where a person could crawl in and out. Many students who sneaked out to have fun used this shortcut, making it an unspoken secret among the students.
Huo Nanjing said the hole was still there, but the playground was far away. He wasn’t sure if they could make it there safely.
Lin Zhaohe felt that his wounds weren’t as painful anymore. “It’s better than sitting here waiting for our doom, right?”
Huo Nanjing considered it and said, “By the way, what happened to the monster that bit you? Did you kill it?”
Lin Zhaohe: “Yes.”
Huo Nanjing: “Did anything fall off its body?”
Only then did Lin Zhaohe remember the two coin-like objects he had felt on the monster. The lighting was too dim at the time, and he hadn’t had a chance to examine them closely. He took the coins out of his pocket and said, “Is it this?”
“That’s right! It’s this!” Huo Nanjing exclaimed with delight.
“What’s the use of this thing?”
Huo Nanjing pointed to something resembling a red vending machine in the corner and whispered, “Do you see that over there? I bought your water and detox potions from there.”
Lin Zhaohe walked over to observe it. From the outside, it looked just like a vending machine, but the items being sold inside were quite different. There were HP, MP, and some detox potions, clearly resembling the restorative potions used by characters in games.
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