Run! They're Coming Down!

"Bzz~"

By the time the dormitory door opened again, the sky outside had already begun to darken.

There was no sun, moon, or stars in the Maze City, and there wasn't much difference between day and night. But when night fell, you could clearly feel it coming.

The wind and the air both carried a scent of fear.

Xiao Ran stepped out of the dormitory, with the other four close behind him.

Their expressions seemed even more dull than before, and their clothes were smeared with blood.

"Come on. Take me to your dorm."

Xiao Ran shut the door and spoke to the young man at the front, Wang Jun.

Wang Jun nodded blankly and led Xiao Ran toward the fourth floor.

They climbed the stairs one step at a time. The higher they went, the more chaotic the noise in the stairwell became.

Every so often, they even heard something being smashed.

The stairwell walls were covered with all sorts of promotional slogans.

Some were goofy slogans like [If You're My Bro, Come Chop Me] and [I'll Help You Show Off and Take You Flying], while others were more formal posters that listed benefits and rank systems in detail.

"These guys really do treat this place like it's beyond the law. They're planning to rule the roost here."

Looking at the messages, Xiao Ran couldn't help clicking his tongue. From what he'd learned from Wang Jun and the others, these newcomers had already spent quite some time building up their forces on campus.

At present, there were more than a dozen societies of various sizes in the dormitory building. Three of them—the Empty Pavilion Society, Copper Gong Bay, and Great Gan Sect—were major groups, each controlling at least twenty or thirty dorm rooms.

Xiao Ran guessed that each of those three societies had at least three or four newcomers among its members.

The remaining mid-sized societies could control around ten dorm rooms, which was already quite impressive.

The smaller groups had five or six rooms at most, and were essentially just personal enterprises.

Apart from these societies, there were also some special dorm rooms. Their occupants belonged to no society and had nothing to do with any of them, yet their dorm rooms were of exceptionally high levels.

Xiao Ran guessed that these rooms belonged to scattered newcomers who couldn't be bothered to build up a society.

It made sense. As long as they completed three side quests, they could leave the Maze City whenever they wanted. Then they could bring in supplies the next time they entered and keep developing their little corner at their own pace. They could establish an absolutely secure asset in a dorm like this, then live however they pleased, beyond the law. Who wouldn't be tempted?

Still, that would make things far too boring for Xiao Ran.

Although the students here were corpses, he had already tested Spirit Seizing from the Calamity Suppressing Token on Wang Jun and the other three many times. It let him read their memories, but those memories were limited to their time here. They had no memories from when they were alive. As for the skills he wanted...

Well, it wasn't that he got nothing at all. Wang Jun, for example, had given him an ability: a sense for danger.

When danger approached, there was a chance he would feel a subtle warning.

It was thanks to this ability that Wang Jun had earned himself a small squad leader position in the Independent Regiment.

As for the others, they were a complete waste of time.

"Old Wolf, over here!"

As soon as they reached the fourth floor, someone called out to them. Wang Jun and the others didn't move until the caller shouted twice. Only then did Xiao Ran remember that Old Wolf seemed to be Wang Jun's nickname.

He immediately nodded at Wang Jun, who then belatedly led Xiao Ran over.

"What's wrong? Still half asleep?"

Seeing the wooden expressions on Wang Jun and the others, Yang Kai punched Wang Jun on the shoulder, then took out a pack of cigarettes and offered him one.

Wang Jun accepted the cigarette, his gaze fixed on the dormitory in front of them.

Its door had been smashed in. The room was fairly spacious, but blood and scattered debris covered the walls and floor.

Two students were hurrying to clean it up.

"Don't bother looking. They had bad luck. Three Night Demons smashed their way in last night, and they couldn't hold out. Every last one of them died."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Yang Kai glanced at the black stockings hanging from the bedpost and shook his head regretfully. "That girl was pretty cute. Too bad—most of her head got eaten. I told her ages ago she should come work with me."

After speaking, Yang Kai noticed Xiao Ran standing behind the others. "Oh, a new face. I'm Yang Kai, from the Fourth Team. What's your name?"

"Nice to meet you, Brother Kai. I'm Wang Meng."

Xiao Ran gave Yang Kai a shy nod.

"Heh, you know how to play the game." Yang Kai patted Wang Jun on the shoulder. "Be careful on the Ghost Hunt tonight. The Night Demons seem to have gotten stronger lately. I heard a third-tier Night Demon appeared out of nowhere and awakened an ability. The captain took people out last night, but they still couldn't kill it. The Second Team even lost most of its members."

Xiao Ran listened from the side. According to what he'd learned from Wang Jun and the others, Night Demons had nine tiers. They awakened a special ability every three tiers, and their strength increased dramatically. If one ever reached the ninth tier, it would be a disaster for the entire dormitory building.

But Xiao Ran was quite interested in the Night Demons, especially one that had awakened an ability.

Wang Jun nodded without expression. Yang Kai had grown used to that look. Wang Jun always looked like that when he faced danger, but he had to admit the guy was unusually lucky. He'd escaped danger several times already.

Thinking of this, Yang Kai put an arm around Wang Jun's shoulder. "We'll move together tonight. If anything happens, give your brother a hand."

"Okay."

Wang Jun opened his mouth and said one word, then led Xiao Ran and the others toward the other side.

After passing a few dorm rooms, Wang Jun took out a key and opened a door.

Xiao Ran followed them inside and saw that the room was pretty nice—better than his own.

Not only did it have a high-grade security door, but there was even a standing fan inside, and the beds had clearly been upgraded.

Wang Jun's bed was especially notable: two talismans had been stuck to it.

"All right, get to it, you guys!"

Xiao Ran shut the door and clapped his hands, signaling Wang Jun and the others to bring out everything valuable in the dorm.

Wang Jun opened the wardrobe and took out a shoebox. It was heavy, and packed full of badges.

They were only ordinary campus badges, but there were a staggering number of them—nearly a hundred in that box alone.

The others also took out the badges they'd been keeping hidden. Unexpectedly, one of the more inconspicuous underlings pulled a special badge out of his pillow.

[Campus Badge · Cruelty]

Having read the four men's memories, Xiao Ran knew that special badges were incredibly rare on campus.

The underling had followed Wang Jun, and Xiao Ran had no idea where he'd gotten the badge. He'd kept it hidden, clearly with plans of his own.

But none of that mattered. Whatever he'd had in mind before, the badge was mine now.

"Nice curtains. Mine!"

"Nice mattress. Mine!"

"Soft pillow. Mine!"

"The bed's mine too!"

"Mine!"

"It's all mine!"

Xiao Ran didn't let a single thing go if it could fit in his storage space. To his delight, the electric fan turned out to be a special item as well.

When a Night Demon broke down the door, it could unleash a powerful gust that blew the creature outside.

It wasn't very useful, but sometimes even a brief delay like that could give the people in the dorm enough time to strike back.

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Ran had stripped the entire dorm bare.

At this point, even a Night Demon would shake its head at the room—let alone a mouse.

After packing everything up, Xiao Ran happily led the others out of the dorm. The only pity was that he couldn't take the door.

Back on the second floor, he had Wang Jun and the others throw out the rotten beds in his original room. Then he arranged all the things they'd brought over and took out the badges Wang Jun's group had saved up to start upgrading.

"Ding! Doors and windows upgraded to LV1!"

"Ding! Doors and windows upgraded to LV2!"

"Ding! Doors and windows upgraded to LV3..."

Xiao Ran spent nearly all the hundred-plus badges on upgrading the doors and windows, taking them all the way to level seven.

(Note: The cost doubles with each level. Level seven costs 64 badges!)

The flimsy wooden door had been replaced with a blackish-green metal door.

Iron-barred security windows now covered the windows as well.

He had to admit, after the upgrade, Xiao Ran genuinely felt safer.

Lying on the soft bed, Xiao Ran rested with his eyes half closed for a while, wondering how things were going for Huang Le.

About half an hour later, the light outside the window faded completely.

The noise that had filled the stairwell gradually died down, leaving only the dim yellow lights shining on the pale walls.

Xiao Ran and Wang Jun's group returned to the lobby on the first floor to assemble.

More than ten people were already scattered around the lobby, holding things like axes and hammers.

They didn't go on Ghost Hunts every night, but each week the major societies sent some people out to take part.

In truth, it was just a way to send these people out as bait for the Night Demons, giving the newcomers hiding in the shadows a chance to strike.

Yang Kai came over at that moment, too, bringing three young men with him.

Once everyone had more or less arrived, a bald man walked out carrying a watermelon knife.

"Remember: there's a safe room on the third floor and one on the sixth, in each of the east, west, south, and north wings. If you run into a Night Demon and can't hold out, get to a safe room immediately. The code phrase is 'Tonight We Hunt the Tiger!'"

"Bastards!"

Yang Kai cursed under his breath from the side. There were nearly thirty of them, but only four safe rooms—and they were so far apart. It was obvious they wanted the group to draw in as many Night Demons as possible.

Of course, Yang Kai could only complain to himself.

He glanced back at Wang Jun. "Brother Jun, we're counting on you this time."

Wang Jun said nothing, only nodding.

The group split into six teams. Four headed up the stairwells at the east, west, south, and north ends of the dormitory building, while the other two patrolled the central stairs.

Nearly thirty people seemed like a lot, but once they split up, the larger teams had only six or seven people, and the smaller ones might have just three or four.

It was still some time before the lights went out for the night, so everyone was fairly relaxed.

Still, they all kept edging toward the safe room on the third floor, whether consciously or not.

Yang Kai seemed nervous, because he talked a lot. When the group reached the third floor, he glanced at a dormitory door shut tight in the stairwell.

Faint panting and muffled thumping came from behind it.

"Those damn bastards!"

Yang Kai cursed. He was risking his life outside, while those bastards were having the time of their lives in their dorm.

No one would be happy about that. He walked up to the dormitory door and kicked it hard several times. "Quit moaning! You'll all be dead if you attract the Night Demons!"

Perhaps Yang Kai's actions had startled them, because the rhythmic noises in the room began to fade.

Seeing that, Yang Kai lifted his head and strode away, looking pleased with himself.

Xiao Ran followed at the back of the group without hurrying. Watching Yang Kai, he couldn't help thinking that the guy really was a man of passion.

Just then, a chill breeze swept past. Xiao Ran's heart tightened, and he looked toward the side stairwell in the direction it came from. An old man in a vest, holding a broom, stood at the top of the stairs leading to the fourth floor, watching them.

Perhaps he noticed Xiao Ran's gaze. A flicker of surprise crossed the old man's cloudy eyes, and then he pointed above Xiao Ran's head.

"Above us?"

Xiao Ran froze and looked up at the ceiling, but saw nothing.

"Hey, move it! What are you looking at?"

Yang Kai noticed Xiao Ran standing motionless at the back and walked over casually to ask.

"Nothing."

Xiao Ran shook his head and looked at the old man again. Yang Kai followed his gaze, but the stairwell was empty.

As Yang Kai stood there puzzled, Xiao Ran's expression grew cold. His lips moved slightly as he silently read the old man's lips in his mind: "Run! They're coming down..."

As if to prove the old man's words, the lights in the stairwell suddenly flickered a few times. Right after, Xiao Ran heard a rapid clatter of footsteps on the stairs above, racing down toward them.