Climbing the Wall

Ke Jianghao cautiously looked Lu Bai over as though he were meeting him for the first time.

But he also knew it was unsafe to stay in such an open area. Even with a bellyful of questions, he had to hold them in for now.

"Follow me."

Ke Jianghao took the lead and ran toward the rear diagonal of the open space.

The others hurried after him. No one wanted to stay behind and face the Zombies.

Of course, to accommodate the Girls in the group, Ke Jianghao did not run too fast.

As a member of the School Track and Field Team, this level of exertion was barely a warm-up. Thus, he still had the energy to explain the situation as he led the way.

"There's a low wall behind the Experimental Building. Once we climb over it, we'll be out of the school...

...Don't worry. The last time we skipped class and snuck out, we placed a few bricks beneath the corner of the wall. It's easy to climb over."

At the mention of skipping class, aside from Ke Jiangni curling her lips, even the female teacher could not be bothered to correct the Sports Student's attitude toward studying.

Perhaps it was because the Zombie outbreak had happened during mealtime, so there were not many people near the Experimental Building.

Or perhaps all the Zombies in this area had been wiped out by Lu Bai in one go.

In any case, although their group of seven was a conspicuous target, they did not encounter even a single Zombie blocking their way until they reached the vicinity of the Experimental Building.

That allowed everyone's taut nerves to relax, if only slightly.

"This way."

Before Ke Jianghao had even finished speaking, he spread his long legs and stepped into the vegetation on both sides of the Experimental Building.

Through clusters of waist-high hibiscus, they could vaguely see traces of trampled dirt.

There had originally been no road in the world; once enough people walked it, it became a road.

Mm,

Lu Xun really had said that.

Rustle, rustle~

The two Girls were wearing skirts. Ordinarily, they had been glad that the school was open-minded enough not to design the Girls' uniforms as pants.

But in a situation like this, it was agonizing.

They used their feet to push aside the intrusive branches and leaves. After only a few steps, three or four red scratches had appeared on their fair calves.

As the one bringing up the rear, Lu Bai naturally noticed this.

To be honest, he did not particularly want to get involved.

But after hearing movement behind him, he asked out of concern for their safety, "Need help?"

Perhaps because he had not specified who he was asking, both Ke Jiangni and Wu Ya turned around.

The two women noticed each other's reactions. Before the atmosphere could turn awkward, they exchanged smiles and spoke almost simultaneously.

"I'm fine."

"No need, thanks."

Lu Bai had not asked to curry favor, and he was even less inclined to go against women's wishes.

He decisively added, "Then hurry up. The Zombies are catching up from behind."

The two women froze. Mainly because Lu Bai's slightly amused tone made it impossible to sense any tension in his words.

But soon, a horde of Zombies charging over from the direction of the Teaching Building filled that gap.

Accompanied by hysterical roars, a large number of Zombies sprinted toward them. Their utterly reckless posture instantly awakened everyone's primal fear.

At the sight of this, the female teacher panicked and shoved Zheng Xiaoming, who was in front of her, to the ground. The only thought in her mind was that she could not fall behind.

"Move! Don't just stand there!"

Ke Jianghao, who had already turned past the corner of the wall, heard the commotion and ran back, shouting urgently, "Hurry up!"

Ke Jiangni remained fairly calm. She grabbed the pale-faced Wu Ya and quickly ran toward her brother.

At a time like this, there was no room to worry about the branches scraping their feet.

Bang! Bang!!

The sounds of glass shattering rang out one after another.

Their shouting had clearly attracted the Zombies inside the Experimental Building. Some impatient Zombies had even fallen directly from the sixth floor.

There really were not many Zombies in the Experimental Building, but them running out at this moment was nothing short of adding snow to frost.

Lu Bai walked over and pulled Zheng Xiaoming up from the ground. He watched the female teacher, who had already passed Ke Jianghao and was running farther back without looking back.

Objectively speaking, he did not like the female teacher's behavior.

However,

No matter how hard he tried, his eyes were filled only with an exceedingly amiable smile, perhaps toned down just a little.

To others, that expression only made it seem as though he were holding back laughter.

Zheng Xiaoming, whom he had pulled up, clumsily straightened his glasses. With no time to thank him, he turned and ran in a panic.

"Anyway, I shouldn't have Cerebellar Atrophy or Brainstem Aplasia or anything..."

Lu Bai muttered.

Through all the signs, he had already realized exactly what was wrong with him. Unfortunately, he did not know how to solve it.

Besides, he had no time to think too much about it now.

The Zombie that had fallen from above had already struggled back to its feet.

Listening to the movement from his rear flank, Lu Bai drew the Eight-Sided Han Sword and slashed backward without turning his head.

The blade traced a huge fan-shaped arc through the air and, with the precision of an antelope's horn hanging from nowhere, cleanly sliced off a Zombie's head.

After easily dealing with one Zombie, he strode forward and turned the corner of the Experimental Building. What came into view was the low wall Ke Jianghao had mentioned.

As everyone knew, the more panicked people were, the more likely they were to make mistakes.

With so many people, even a low wall was not so easy to climb over.

Yet, to Lu Bai's surprise, the situation beneath that wall was not as chaotic as he had imagined.

With Tian Wang crouching at the corner of the wall to serve as a step, the female teacher and Wu Ya had both successfully climbed to the other side.

Other than Ke Jiangni, who was currently climbing the wall, only Zheng Xiaoming, who was "waiting in line," and Ke Jianghao, who was directing things, remained.

"Glasses, once Xiao Ni gets over, you're next. Relax."

Ke Jianghao's tone was steady. Only the flush on his face revealed the turmoil in his heart.

"Jiangni, hurry up! Faster!"

Wu Ya's shout came from the other side of the wall.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly?

Lu Bai turned sideways and glanced at the horde of Zombies racing toward them, easily reaching a conclusion.

"What a headache..."

He pressed his temple, then voluntarily turned and blocked the Zombies' path. Raising his voice slightly, he said, "I can buy you thirty seconds at most."

Ke Jianghao suddenly looked up and instantly understood what Lu Bai meant.

When faced with danger, some humans collapsed on the spot, while others instead became increasingly resilient.

This Sports Student was clearly the latter.

"Fatty, once Glasses gets over, you go next. Don't worry about us."

"Okay... okay."

After quickly arranging what came next, Ke Jianghao picked up a brick and walked to Lu Bai's side.

"You don't have to force yourself."

Lu Bai caught sight of the beads of sweat forming on Ke Jianghao's forehead from the corner of his eye and gave him a token warning.

The Sports Student forced an ugly smile onto his face.

"I can't leave everything to you. I made some preparations, at least."

"Fine." Lu Bai raised an eyebrow.

The Zombies lunging toward them left them no time to continue chatting. They endured the nauseatingly thick Bloody Smell and stench.

Lu Bai slowed his breathing and moved his feet.

Sword Step, followed by a thrust!