547: 9.17 He Will Not

9.17 He Will Not

He sauntered out of the elevator with a relaxed posture, Lu Yizhou and Pan Wei following behind him. After a while, Professor Lou spoke again, "Now that you two have decided to follow me, you have to listen to my orders, understand? I will be making decisions from now on—ah!" Professor Lou rounded a corner and cried out in shock, his whole body petrified. "Z–Zo—"2

In front of him, the corridor that was supposed to be empty was littered with countless zombies!

They hid in the dark shadows, utterly silent with their bloodshot eyes staring greedily at the food in front of them. Professor Lou had analyzed the zombies for these past few days; they would constantly be moving despite the presence of humans in front of them and with their jerky movements, their feet would shuffle against the floor and produce sound of friction, no matter how small it was. 

That was why Professor Lou never noticed anything this time. The zombies in front of him were too quiet! It was like… It was like they were laying in ambush and deliberately waiting for them!

Professor Lou was so frightened that his legs turned into jelly. His fat body toppled to the ground, the bread scattered all over the floor. With thick dread and panic in his face, he scrambled back. "H–Help me…" 

Beside him, Pan Wei was so afraid that he was paralyzed, a distinct smell of urine wafting from his crotch. 

Professor Lou tried to crawl back into the elevator when a pair of long, slender legs appeared in his field of vision. His eyes lit up when he realized who it was. That's right, Student Lu was strong. If it was him, then he would definitely be able to fight the zombies! Professor Lou grasped onto Lu Yizhou's trousers like grasping onto a last straw, pleading with tears running down his face. "H–Help me! I… I will give you all of the bread, I will give you anything! Please… I don't want to die!"

With a movement so at ease it was jarring against the peril they were in, Student Lu slowly crouched down. He reached out and patted Professor Lou's shoulder. Hope reignited in Professor Lou's eyes as he raised his head to look at Lu Yizhou's face… but then, all he saw was a cruel and hostile smile.

Professor Lou was dumbstruck, an inexplicable dread rising in his heart. "S–Student Lu…?"

Subsequently, something more unimaginable happened. He saw Lu Yizhou lifted his hand and crooked a finger toward the crowd of zombies nearby and then… and then one of the zombies on the forefront actually came forward as though it was obeying his order! Colors drained from Professor Lou's face as he stared at Lu Yizhou in unadulterated fear and horror. "W–What… What are you…"

Lu Yizhou leisurely moved his fingers to sign something. However, Professor Lou did not understand it. No, even if he did, there was no way he could comprehend anything in his current situation. His mind exploded in white lights and was utterly blank. He let out a terrified shriek when the zombie approached and tried to run away on all fours. Alas, Lu Yizhou suddenly clamped his shoulder in a terrifying grip, preventing him from going anywhere. 

"No, nonono— please!" Professor Lou cried desperately as he struggled like a fish on the chopping board. "Please don't kill me! I beg you! I beg you!" 

This time, Lu Yizhou mouthed the words and Professor Lou caught it clearly amidst his blurry vision. "You die because you're too weak." 

The blood on Professor Lou's body froze, thick despair consuming him whole. He was trembling so hard that his teeth were chattering as well. That was… That was what he had just said a few moments ago…

Strength seeped out of Professor Lou's body as he sprawled on the ground, his body spasming and twitching once in a while. His eyes were dazed, as though his mind had crashed down, unable to comprehend the situation he was in. The zombie received Lu Yizhou's order and pounced on him. Crimson haze colored his vision as high-pitched scream escaped from his throat, the sound so jarring and tragic like it was dug from the hollow of his core. 

Blood gurgled out of his mouth as his eyes hazily drifted to Lu Yizhou. 

In that moment… he saw black rapidly filling every corner of the other's eyes, followed by pale blue veins that seemed to surface out of his skin. Darkness seemed to trail along those eyes, shrouding and enveloping Professor Lou's dying figure. It was like the abyss itself had descended in the form of this ordinary university student who had a calm look on his face as he saw a person being devoured in front of his eyes.

Realization suddenly dawned on Professor Lou. Alas, everything was already too late. He died with a look of terror on his face, eyes still wide open in shock…

Lu Yizhou's throat bobbed as he stared at the fresh corpse in front of him. Finished eating, the zombie sensibly stepped back and returned to the empty spot, not daring to linger for even one more second without its King's permission. After staring for two more seconds, Lu Yizhou suddenly dipped one finger into where a huge gash was torn on Professor Lou's neck, then he brought the bloody finger into his mouth and groaned in ecstasy.

Goodness, he had forgotten how delicious human's blood could be…

[666: *shivers*]

[666: Host, are you… are you still human?]

Lu Yizhou finally came out of the trance he was in and tore his gaze away from Professor Lou's corpse. [No, I am a zombie.]

[666: …] 

That's true, but it was not what 666 meant… QAQ

He stood up and looked at Pan Wei's corpse. The man was currently twitching and jerking violently on the ground, his bones creaking in weird angles. And then when his eyes snapped open, the color of his pupils had faded into turbid white. He sprung up on his feet and stood in front of Lu Yizhou with fear in his eyes. Lu Yizhou shooed him away. This cannon fodder was just collateral damage to Professor Lou's plans, not important at all.

Lu Yizhou smacked his lips, relishing on the blood that lingered inside his mouth. Dragging Professor Lou's corpse with one hand, Lu Yizhou gathered the bread with the other and grabbed the brass key as well. 

Instead of returning to the elevator, he took the stairs, the horde of zombies stepping away to open a wide path for him.

***

Inside Zhao Bolin's office.

The original sixteen people had been reduced into half. Excluding Lu Yizhou, Professor Lou and Pan Wei who escaped through the elevator, five people had fallen victim to the zombies outside including the students in Professor Lou's group who was in charge of leading the zombies up. The remaining eight collapsed on the floor, crying quietly. 

"Why…" They could not understand no matter how hard they pondered on it. "Why did Professor Lou, Pan Wei and Classmate Lu…"

Amongst them, Zhao Bolin had the ugliest complexion. He stared at his empty drawer with his fists clenched tight. Without even looking, he also knew that his brass key was missing, that's why Professor Lou was able to open the collapsible door. However, to his surprise, that was not the fact that struck Zhao Bolin the hardest.

…It was Lu Yizhou's presence beside Professor Lou.

He suddenly recalled what the student had said to him in this room, just a few hours ago. [Be careful of the people around you.] 

Was he talking about Professor Lou or… himself?

A hot-blooded male student was unable to restrain his anger. He punched his fist on the ground and growled out, "Those fucker…! If I see them again one day, I will kill them with my own hands and push them into a crowd of zombies!"

The other students echoed him, equally angered and aggrieved.

Li Zhu, who had been paying attention to his teacher, came up and gently touched Zhao Bolin's arm. "Professor, actually… I have always felt that there are some problems with Classmate Lu. I don't know why but… he just strikes me that way." Li Zhu grimaced. "It's not your fault, Professor. You have been so kind to accept him into our group and such a thing suddenly happens…"

"That's right! That bastard Lu Yizhou is a white-eyed wolf[1]! Professor Zhao has saved him but he actually betrayed him this way!"

"Uwuwu, how can he do something like that?!"

"That fucker, I am going to—"

"Shut up!" Zhao Bolin's bellows cut through the heated atmosphere. In an instant, everyone clamped their mouth shut, surprised by the professor's sudden burst of emotions. "He's not… He will not…"

He will not… what? Zhao Bolin also had no idea what he was trying to convey. For some reason, he felt that something was wrong here. Lu Yizhou was not the kind of person who would attempt something like this; he was not the kind of person who would betray someone's kindness, especially not Zhao Bolin…

Everyone in this world could betray him, could leave him behind… but not Lu Yizhou. Never Lu Yizhou.

Zhao Bolin was stunned when such a strong conviction sprouted out of nowhere, taking root in his heart and dispelling traces of doubts that might linger. That was weird. He had only met Student Lu today so how could he be so certain what kind of person he was?

"Professor Zhao…?" Li Zhu called out hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

Zhao Bolin took a deep breath and was ready to dismiss the question when the clear sounds of scuffle came from outside. It was like someone was fighting. But outside, there were only zombies! How…?!

The student closest to the door quietly slid it open a bit and took a peek outside. What he saw almost scared him into pissing in his pants. "Holy shit, that's… that's Lu Yizhou! He has returned!"

Before anyone could even react, a gust of wind blew through the room and the door was slammed open. Everyone stared with their mouths agape at the empty space where Zhao Bolin was standing just a few seconds ago.

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[1] White-eyed wolf, Chinese idiom. Someone who's incapable of expressing gratefulness and appreciation and even bites the hand that feeds him.

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