"I... I..."
The girl uttered two words, then seemed unable to continue, silently resuming her previous posture and beginning to sob softly.
Huang Ruiyang silently watched the scene before him. He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
"Hmph, all you do is cry all day long, what's the use of crying!" the boy sneered.
"Alright, alright, didn't Yiwen say she turned off her phone's ringtone? Some phones have separate alarms and ringtones, so you have to turn them off separately!" Someone stepped in to mediate.
"You'll be happy once we lure the Spore Person over here!" the boy said.
"But we didn't manage to lure them over, did we?" the peacemaker retorted.
The boy snorted heavily upon hearing this and said nothing more.
Silence returned to the meeting room.
Just when everyone thought they would continue to wait in the darkness as before, a heavy footstep sounded outside the conference room.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The footsteps were powerful, and they were still slowly approaching.
Huang Ruiyang felt his body trembling uncontrollably. He subconsciously reduced the force of his breathing and slowed his breathing rate, trying to minimize the noise he made.
Like him, the people around him also tried to make as little noise as possible, even the girl who had been crying stopped crying.
The crowd waited in fear.
The footsteps approached gradually from a distance, then faded away again.
However, the crowd did not relax, because the figure had gone in the direction...
The entrance to the conference room!
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The heavy footsteps reached the door of the conference room, but he did not stop there; instead, he continued walking slowly forward.
Seeing this, Huang Ruiyang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He turned to look at the crowd, and saw that in the darkness, they were also looking at each other, their eyes filled with a hint of relief.
However, they still dared not speak, because the Spore Person outside had not gone far.
Everyone waited in silence.
The footsteps faded into the distance, then stopped.
Amidst everyone's confusion, the footsteps paused in the distance, then slowly turned around and walked back.
Everyone froze, and a thought suddenly flashed into their minds.
That ringing sound definitely got picked up!
Everyone's eyes instinctively turned to the girl.
The girl, who also realized this, silently lowered her head. After all, if her phone hadn't rung, they might not be in this situation now.
A soft, cold snort came from the darkness.
Everyone silently withdrew their gaze. Even if they wanted to scold the other party, now was not the time, since the Spore Person was right outside.
The group waited anxiously in the conference room.
Footsteps continued to echo outside. He passed by the meeting room, then walked away, then returned, repeating this three times.
"Tread!"
Heavy footsteps sounded.
Amidst the pounding of everyone's hearts, the footsteps finally stopped at the conference room door.
He lingered at the door for a moment, then...
"Creak--"
The shrill sound echoed in the conference room.
Huang Ruiyang subconsciously held his breath, his gaze peering through the gap between the chair backs toward the door.
The conference room door slid inwards slightly, as if something was pushing it from the outside.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the door, as if afraid it would be pushed open.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the conference room door remained arched inward for a short while before gradually closing back, and then silence returned.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the next moment, a loud "bang" rang out, followed by one "bang" after another.
The Spore Person have started ramming the door!
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the conference room door creaked and groaned, as if it might be destroyed at any moment.
The boy who had just reprimanded the others turned to look at the crowd.
"Alright, now that the Spore Person have been lured here, what do you guys do?"
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, but their gazes instinctively drifted towards the girl whose phone had just rang.
Under everyone's gaze, the girl squatted on the ground, trembling for a while, before finally slowly standing up.
"I understand. I'll go out the window and then try to distract him!"
The crowd remained silent, simply watching her figure.
Huang Ruiyang remained squatting on the ground, silently watching the figure walk towards the window and then step onto a stool.
Finally, he stood up.
"I'll go, I can run faster!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him stared at him in astonishment, as if they were looking at a fool.
Ignoring the stares of those around him, Huang Ruiyang walked forward step by step.
As he passed the girl, he only heard her say "thank you".
Huang Ruiyang smiled gently. This is enough.
He climbed onto the window using a stool, then slightly turned his head to look at the door of the conference room.
The dark green Spore Person were seen repeatedly banging on the door.
He took a deep breath, then suddenly jumped out of the window.
After landing, he stood up and waved in that direction, saying, "Come and chase me! I'm here!"
Upon hearing his voice, the Spore Person stopped banging on the door and turned to look at him.
As their eyes met, Huang Ruiyang felt a sudden tightness in his chest. Without thinking further, he abruptly turned and ran outside.
"Roar--!"
A piercing roar accompanied by rapid footsteps sounded behind Huang Ruiyang.
He waved his hands frantically, his feet pounding the ground incessantly; he had never felt himself run so fast before.
However, all of this was of no use, even though he was more familiar with the school facilities, as the Spore Person were rapidly approaching from behind.
As he listened to the approaching footsteps behind him, a sense of despair gradually rose in Huang Ruiyang's heart.
Although he had anticipated this when he decided to take the girl's place, but...
If he could live, he would still want to live!
Tears gradually filled his eyes, and in his hazy vision, he seemed to see a figure rushing towards him from the front of the corridor.
wrong...
Huang Ruiyang suddenly raised his hand and wiped his eyes.
Someone really did rush towards us, that is...
Looking at the other person's blood-stained chest and the long knife in their hand...
Huang Ruiyang slowly stopped. He turned his head to look at the Spore Person chasing behind him, then looked at the figure charging towards him with a knife in front of him, and then squatted down helplessly.
They won't even let us run away...?
Two sets of footsteps approached rapidly from both sides, but the footsteps in front of him were the first to reach him.
Was he about to be chopped down?... Huang Ruiyang thought sadly.
He closed his eyes, preparing to face his end. However, the footsteps in front of him did not stop beside him, but instead ran past him and went straight behind him.
Huh? Weren't you here to kill me?
Huang Ruiyang turned his head in surprise.
The young man with the knife ran straight towards the Spore Person.
As the long sword was raised, accompanied by a dazzling flash of light, the dark green mushroom head flew straight into the sky.