Run, They're Coming Down

"Buzz~"

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

There was no sun, moon, or stars in Miyuan City. The difference between day and night was not significant, but when night fell, one could clearly feel its approach.

Both the wind that blew and the air itself exuded a sense of dread.

Xiao Ran stepped out of the dormitory, followed closely by the four behind him.

Their expressions were even more vacant than before, and their clothes were stained with blood.

"Let's go, take me to your dorm."

Xiao Ran closed the door and said to the young man at the front, Wang Jun.

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

As they climbed the stairs step by step, the noise in the hallway grew more chaotic the higher they went.

Occasionally, they could even hear sounds of smashing and breaking.

The hallway was plastered with various propaganda posters.

There were humorous tags like "[If you're brothers, come chop me]" and "[I'll take you to act cool, I'll take you to fly]", but also some formal posters that detailed welfare benefits and rank systems.

"These guys really treat this place as a lawless land, ready to become kings and overlords here."

Xiao Ran scoffed as he looked at the information, recalling from Wang Jun and the others that these Initiates had been developing on campus for some time.

Currently, there were more than a dozen large and small clubs in this dormitory building alone. Clubs like the Empty Pavilion Society, Causeway Bay, and Great Ganmen were major ones, each controlling at least twenty to thirty dormitories.

Xiao Ran estimated that each of these three clubs had at least three or four Initiates.

As for the medium-sized clubs, controlling about ten dormitories was already quite a formidable strength.

The smaller ones, at most, had five or six dorms, operating entirely on their own.

Aside from these clubs, there were also some special dormitories that didn't join any clubs or interact with them, yet they held very high ranks.

Xiao Ran speculated that these dormitories were likely occupied by scattered Initiates who couldn't be bothered to form clubs.

It made sense. As long as they completed three side quests, they could leave Miyuan City at any time. Then, they could return with supplies, hide here, and continue developing slowly, accumulating absolutely secure assets in these dormitories, living freely and doing as they pleased. Anyone would be tempted.

However, for Xiao Ran, this was too boring.

Although the students here were all corpses, he had experimented many times on Wang Jun and the other four. Using the Spirit Seizing ability of the Calamity Suppressing Token could only read their memories, and those memories were limited to their time here. They had no memories of their past lives at all. As for the skills he wanted…

Oh, it wasn't entirely true that there were no skills. Wang Jun, for instance, had given him an ability: Danger Sense.

When danger approached, there was a certain probability of a subtle premonition.

It was with this ability that Wang Jun had managed to secure a small leadership 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 shouted in their direction. Wang Jun and the others didn't move until the person called out twice. Xiao Ran then remembered that Old Wolf seemed to be Wang Jun's nickname.

He immediately nodded at Wang Jun, who then, as if just realizing, led Xiao Ran over.

"What's up, still half asleep?"

Seeing the vacant look on Wang Jun and the others' faces, Yang Kai punched Wang Jun on the shoulder and then took out a pack of cigarettes, offering one to Wang Jun.

Wang Jun took the cigarette and looked at the dormitory in front of him.

The door to this dormitory had been smashed open. The space inside was quite large, but the walls and floor were covered in blood and scattered debris.

Currently, two students were inside, working quickly to clean up.

"Don't look, they were unlucky. Three Night Ghosts smashed the door down last night. They couldn't hold on and were all wiped out."

Yang Kai, with a cigarette in his mouth, looked at the black stockings hanging on the bed frame with regret, shaking his head. "That girl was quite pretty. Now look, her head's half gnawed off. I told her she should have stuck with me."

After speaking, Yang Kai noticed Xiao Ran standing behind them. "Oh, a new guy? I'm Yang Kai, from Team Four. What should I call you?"

"Hello, Brother Kai. My name is Wang Meng."

Xiao Ran nodded shyly at Yang Kai.

"Heh heh, you know how to play the game." Saying that, he patted Wang Jun on the shoulder. "Be careful hunting ghosts tonight. The Night Ghosts have gotten stronger lately. I heard a Tier 3 Night Ghost appeared from somewhere, and it awakened an ability. The Commander couldn't kill it with his men last night, and Team Two lost more than half their people."

Xiao Ran listened from the side. According to the knowledge from Wang Jun's memories, Night Ghosts had nine tiers. Every three tiers, they would awaken a special ability, and their strength would be greatly enhanced. Once they reached Tier 9, it would be a disaster for the entire dormitory building.

However, Xiao Ran was very interested in Night Ghosts, especially those that had awakened abilities.

Wang Jun nodded expressionlessly. Seeing his expression, Yang Kai was used to it. This guy always looked like this when facing danger, but he had to admit, this guy's luck was always exceptionally good, and he had narrowly escaped danger several times.

With that thought, Yang Kai put his arm around Wang Jun's shoulder and said, "We'll act together tonight. If anything comes up, you can help your brother out."

"Okay."

After Wang Jun uttered a single word, he turned and led Xiao Ran and the others away.

After walking past a few dormitories, Wang Jun took out his key and opened a door.

Xiao Ran followed them in and saw that the room was quite nice, better than his own dormitory.

Not only was the room door a high-grade anti-theft door, but there was also a standing fan inside, and the bedding had clearly been upgraded.

Wang Jun's bed, in particular, had two talismans attached to it.

"Alright, let's get to work, everyone!"

Xiao Ran closed the door, clapped his hands, and gestured for Wang Jun and the others to take out all the valuable items in the dormitory for him.

The wardrobe opened, and Wang Jun took out a shoebox. The weight inside was all badges.

Although they were just ordinary campus badges, the quantity was astonishing. This box had at least over a hundred.

The other few people also took out their privately hidden badges one after another. Surprisingly, an inconspicuous subordinate actually took a special badge out of his pillow.

[Campus Badge·Cruel]

Having read the memories of the four, Xiao Ran knew that this kind of special badge was definitely a scarce resource on campus.

This subordinate had been following Wang Jun, and it was unknown where he had obtained this badge. He had kept it hidden, clearly having his own little plans.

But none of that mattered. Whatever small thoughts he had before were now mine.

"Nice curtains, mine!"

"Nice mattress, mine!"

"The pillow is quite soft, mine!"

"The bed is also mine!"

"Mine!"

"All mine!"

As long as it was something that could be thrown into his spatial storage, Xiao Ran missed nothing. To his surprise, the electric fan turned out to be a special item.

When the Night Ghost broke in, it could emit a strong gust of wind, blowing the Night Ghost away.

Although its use was limited, sometimes such a delay could give the people in the dormitory time to counterattack.

In the blink of an eye, the entire dormitory had been cleared out by Xiao Ran.

Now, let alone a Night Ghost, even a mouse would probably shake its head if it came in.

After packing everything, Xiao Ran happily led his people out of the dormitory. The only regret was that he couldn't take the room door with him.

Returning to the second floor, Xiao Ran handed the shabby bedding from his original room to Wang Jun and the others to throw out. Then, he arranged the items he had brought in and started upgrading using the badges Wang Jun and the others had accumulated.

"Ding! Door and windows upgraded to LV1!"

"Ding! Door and windows upgraded to LV2!"

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

Xiao Ran threw almost all of the more than a hundred badges into upgrading the doors and windows, raising them to level seven in one go.

(Note: Each level's consumption doubles. Level seven consumed 64 badges!)

The originally thin wooden door had also become a black-and-blue metal door.

Iron bars had also been added to the windows, creating anti-theft windows.

It had to be said, after the upgrade, Xiao Ran truly felt a sense of security.

Lying on the soft bed, Xiao Ran rested with his eyes half-closed, pondering what Huang Le was up to.

About half an hour later, the light outside began to completely dim.

The noisy sounds in the corridor gradually quieted down, leaving only the dim yellow light shining on the pale walls.

Xiao Ran and Wang Jun and the others gathered again in the first-floor hall of the dormitory.

More than a dozen people were already scattered around the hall, holding axes, hammers, and similar items.

Ghost hunting operations didn't happen every night, but every week, major clubs would send some people to participate.

In essence, it was to let these people attract the Night Ghosts, so that those hidden beginners could find an opportunity to strike.

Yang Kai, who had been there before, also came over at this time, accompanied by three other boys.

When everyone had almost gathered, a bald man carrying a watermelon knife walked out.

"Remember, the third floor, the sixth floor, there's one room each on the east, west, north, and south sides. These are safe houses. If you encounter a Night Ghost and can't hold on, retreat to the safe house immediately. The password is 'beat the tiger tonight'!"

"Bastard!"

Yang Kai cursed under his breath from the side. With nearly thirty people here and only four safe houses, which were also far apart, it was clear they were meant to attract the Night Ghosts as much as possible.

Of course, Yang Kai could only grumble these complaints in his heart.

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

Wang Jun didn't say anything, just nodded.

The crowd dispersed into six groups. Two groups went up the fire escapes on the east, west, north, and south sides of the dormitory building, while the other two teams patrolled up the central stairs.

Nearly thirty people seemed like a lot, but when dispersed, each group had at most six or seven people, and some had only three or four.

It was still a long time until the lights went out at night, so everyone was still relatively relaxed.

They were all moving, intentionally or unintentionally, towards the safe house on the third floor.

Yang Kai, perhaps due to nervousness, talked a lot. By the time everyone reached the third floor, Yang Kai glanced at the closed dormitory doors in the stairwell.

From inside the room, faint sounds of panting and bumping could be heard.

"These sons of bitches!"

Yang Kai cursed under his breath. He was struggling desperately outside, while these bastards were having a blast inside the dorm.

No one would feel comfortable in this situation. With that thought, he walked up to the dormitory door and kicked it hard a few times: "Stop howling, if you attract the Night Ghosts, you'll all be finished."

As if startled by Yang Kai's actions, the sounds of "hei jiu hei jiu" from the room began to weaken.

Seeing this, Yang Kai tilted his head up with a smug look and walked forward.

Xiao Ran followed the group at a leisurely pace. Watching Yang Kai's actions, he actually found the guy to be quite spirited.

Just as he was thinking this, a gust of cold wind blew past. Xiao Ran's heart tightened. Following the direction of the wind, he looked towards the corridor on the side and saw an old man wearing a vest and holding a broom standing at the entrance to the stairs leading to the fourth floor, watching them.

As if sensing Xiao Ran's gaze, a flicker of surprise flashed in the old man's cloudy eyes. He then pointed to the top of Xiao Ran's head.

"The top?"

Xiao Ran was taken aback. He looked up at the ceiling but saw nothing.

"Kid, hurry up. What are you looking at?"

Yang Kai noticed Xiao Ran standing still behind the group and casually walked up to him, asking.

"Nothing."

Xiao Ran shook his head and looked back at the old man. Yang Kai followed Xiao Ran's gaze, but saw nothing in the empty stairwell.

As Yang Kai was wondering, Xiao Ran's eyes gradually turned cold. His lips moved, and he silently read the old man's lip movements in his mind: "Run, they're coming down..."

As if to confirm the old man's words, the lights in the corridor flickered a few times. Immediately after, Xiao Ran heard the sound of footsteps running down the stairs from above.

Sorry, I'm a bit late today. This chapter is quite long.