Rong Mo'er gulped down a few more mouthfuls before reluctantly letting go of his hand. She quickly pulled out her water bottle, uncapped it, and held it up.
She looked at him and said, "Gu Shaoze, try focusing the water into your forefinger. I saw Miaomiao do that before."
Hearing this, Gu Shaoze nodded and said, "I will try."
Closing his eyes, he focused inward. A strange sensation stirred within him as he felt a warm energy flowing in his veins. Moments later, the water on his palm vanished, and a steady trickle began to flow from his forefinger and entered the bottle.
Both of them stared in awe. Their gazes met, and grins spread across their faces. They no longer had to worry about running out of water anymore!
While the two were busy learning to control their newfound abilities, the lecture hall descended into chaos.
Terrified screams and desperate cries mixed with the guttural roars of zombies.
"Akh! Help!!"
A student let out a bloodcurdling scream as his friend sank his teeth into his neck. Blood spurted out like a fountain when his neck was bitten off, filling the air with the thick scent of iron and sending the zombies into a frenzy.
"Roarr!!"
Standing in the corner of the lecture hall, Brother Yang hurled a fireball the size of an orange at the nearest zombie that was pouncing at him.
BOOM!
The fireball struck the zombie's face and exploded on impact. In the past, this attack had been enough to take down a zombie by burning half of the brain.
Believing it was dead, Brother Yang let his guard down and turned toward Teacher Cao as he asked, "Brother Cao, what should we do now?!"
Before he could get an answer, a rancid stench filled his nostrils. As soon as he smelled this, his heart skipped a beat.
Crash!
"Kukh—!"
A sudden, intense pain shot through his body. His face paled as he turned his head, only to see a zombie with half its face burned, sinking its teeth deep into his shoulder and tearing away a chunk of flesh.
His entire body trembled from pain and fear as he stretched a desperate hand toward Teacher Cao, pleading, "S-save me—"
Crash! Crash! Crash!
His breath stuck in his throat when he heard sickening growls and the wet, sticky sound of chewing right beside his ear.
Before his mind could fully process what was happening, his vision blurred. The world spun—until suddenly, he found himself looking at his own body being eaten by several zombies.
Horror gripped him as he realized that his neck had been broken. A moment later, he watched with terror as the zombie's sharp claws plunged into his skull.
Seeing his men get slaughtered one after another, cold sweat covered Teacher Cao's forehead and back. His eyes darted around frantically as he tried to search for an escape route.
After indulging himself in excess lust over the past two days, his stamina was far from when he had just awakened his ability. Now, he was already gasping for breath after fighting for half an hour, barely managing to fend off the zombies' continuous attacks.
When he saw that the area near the door was clear of zombies, he sprinted toward the door. But just as he reached it, a zombie lunged at him from behind.
"Roarrr!"
His face went pale when he heard the roar. With only a split second to react, he leaned to the side, narrowly avoiding the zombie's sharp claws. But before he could recover, it lunged at him again.
In desperation, he grabbed a nearby female student and shoved her forward toward the incoming zombies.
"Akkhh!"
Caught off guard, the student stumbled. Before she could regain her footing, the zombie pounced at her, sinking its teeth into her neck.
Teacher Cao's face turned even paler at the sight. Without a second glance, he bolted toward the door. The moment he stepped through, he slammed it shut and, with trembling hands, fumbled for his keys. His fingers shook as he locked the door.
Ignoring the frantic banging and desperate pleas from inside, he sprinted toward the emergency stairs. At this moment, his mind was consumed by a single thought—escape. He must escape from this place!
By the time he reached the ground floor, his lungs were burning as he gasped for breath. Without even considering the risk, he opened the entrance door and ran out into the storm.
Within minutes, the heavy downpour had soaked him to the bone. Yet, despite the cold on his body and his heavy steps, he didn't dare stop. He ran blindly, never looking back.
Finally, after more than an hour, he spotted an abandoned house. Relief spread on his face as he stumbled inside, gasping for breath. He slammed the door shut and blocked it with heavy furniture before he flopped to the ground, fainting from exhaustion.
In his frantic escape, he failed to notice the eerie silence of the streets and the subtle tremors in the ground.
More than two kilometers from him, a massive horde of zombies was moving toward Lin'an University at a slow yet orderly speed. More and more zombies join the horde from every direction.
Their numbers keep increasing as time passes. By the time the horde reached one thousand, it finally stopped growing.
Meanwhile, back at Lin'an University, the rain showed no sign of stopping.
Trapped in the guard post, Rong Mo'er and Gu Shaoze could only ease their hunger by drinking water. Thankfully, before he ran out of energy, Gu Shaoze had managed to produce four liters of clean water.
As for the remaining students in the hall, most had already turned into zombies, while the rest had been devoured alive. None was spared from the calamity, including Mo Binxue, who was tied up in the corner.
By midnight, the rain had finally begun to ease. A heavy, suffocating tension hung in the air, accompanied by the lurking danger.
In the mountain villa, Jin Xuyan stood by the window and checked his watch.