549: 9.19 Data Not Found

9.19 Data Not Found

Just as the thought flashed through Zhao Bolin's mind, there was a tentative call far in the distance. "Professor Zhao??!"2

"Professor Zhao, are you… are you okay?!"

Zhao Bolin gasped and wrenched himself away from Lu Yizhou's embrace. His cheeks heated up furiously. Slapped by the guilty conscience that suddenly burst forth his chest, he quickly distanced himself as far away as possible. Then without anything to occupy his hands, he could only take off his glasses and deliberately wiped them as the other students came out of the laboratory one after another. W–What was he thinking just now?! They… They almost ki— Goodness! They are a teacher and student! 

The corner of Lu Yizhou's lips twitched as he stared at his lover who was itching to separate himself from him. Nonetheless, he did not comment on it further and chose to bend down to gather the bread instead. Fortunately, it had not been crushed by the zombies' stampede.

Everyone gasped when they saw the scene in front of them. "These… These zombies…" The gaze they used to look at Lu Yizhou was complicated. Just a moment ago they were cursing this person, thinking that he had colluded with Professor Lou and ran away with their bread. However, now the tables had suddenly turned. Not only had Student Lu come back with the bread, he had also gotten rid of the zombies outside!

Their attention was wholly focused on the mass zombie corpses around them that they failed to realize the deep flush on Zhao Bolin's cheeks… except Li Zhu. His eyes flashed in an indescribable light and something seemed to dawn on him.

The hot-blooded male student, who had cursed Lu Yizhou just now, was the first to step out and address the elephant in the room. He stared at Lu Yizhou warily. "Why are you coming back? Where are the others?" 

Everyone expressed their desire to know. They had witnessed with their own eyes Lu Yizhou getting on the elevator with Professor Lou and Pan Wei. But now, the two of them were nowhere to be found and here was Lu Yizhou, safe and sound with not even a speck of blood on his clothes…

"Ah!" A female student glanced around and finally realized the familiar appearance of one of the corpses. Different from the zombies whose features were distorted with turbid white pupils and reddish veins under their skin, this corpse was relatively clean. Only a huge gash on his neck indicated how he died. Furthermore, that fat body was not difficult to discern. "That… That is Professor Lou!" She was so scared that she stumbled back, face as white as a sheet.

This time, including Zhao Bolin, everyone finally noticed Professor Lou's corpse. The flush on Zhao Bolin's cheeks drained away and he frowned.

He was clearly bitten by the zombie. However, they had seen him get into the elevator, meaning that he had gone to another floor. How could he suddenly appear here? Simultaneously, eight pairs of eyes landed on Lu Yizhou. 

Lu Yizhou casually moved his hands.

Only Professor Zhao learned sign language, thus everyone turned to him for answers. Professor Zhao had assumed a somber look and put on his glasses. "They were ambushed by the zombies downstairs. Pan Wei has been infected by the virus whereas Professor Lou… he was bitten by the zombies when he left Lu Yizhou and Pan Wei behind, trying to save himself." Anger brimmed on Zhao Bolin's golden eyes. "In the end… Student Lu fought the zombies and brought the bread back."

"Then why did you go with Professor Lou in the first place?" Li Zhu asked in suspicion.

Lu Yizhou's gaze drifted to him for a second before he turned to Zhao Bolin and continued signing. 

"He says… Professor Lou asked him to join his plans. However, he didn't know how to tell us because he's new here. Afraid that nobody will believe him, Student Lu finally decided to go with Professor Lou first and see if he can do something to salvage the situation. Who knows that something like this will happen…"

Guilt fermented inside Zhao Bolin's heart. So when Lu Yizhou told him to be careful of the people around him, he was really trying to warn him about Professor Lou? However, Zhao Bolin actually doubted him and thought that Lu Yizhou was talking about himself…

Zhao Bolin assumed a teacher's aura and preached on him. "From now on, you should say something like this directly, okay?" I will definitely trust you, was what Zhao Bolin held himself back from saying. For fear that his preferential treatment would be too obvious, he cleared his throat and swept his gaze around. "The same thing applies to everyone here. I know our world is not the same anymore but that's all the more reason for us not to doubt each other. As for Professor Lou…" he sighed. "I can more or less guess why he would attempt something like this. It's better to address the problem head on. Anyone dissatisfied with our current status quo? For example… if you have any complaints with me being in charge of food provision…"

"No, no!" The students hastily rebuked. "How can we, Professor? We know that you're doing it for our own good!"

"Yeah, actually, isn't there a rumor that Professor Lou has always been discontented with Professor Zhao being the Department's lead researcher?"

"Oh, I actually heard of that too! Perhaps that's why…"

The incident was smoothly resolved. Lu Yizhou's excuse was perfectly reasonable and hence, everyone started to get along with him again. They acted even warmer, especially after Lu Yizhou braved through the storm of hellish zombies just to bring their food back. Lu Yizhou was a true comrade!

The zombies were gone and the group had just gone through a life and death situation together, so the atmosphere between them was particularly harmonious. After a little rest, they dragged the zombies' corpses toward the stairs, using them as a riddle for the other zombies to climb up before reinstalling the barricade. As for the students and Professor Lou who died from the zombie attack, they could only place them inside an empty laboratory and send them off with a simple prayer. After that, they sprawled on the floor and fell asleep, this time peacefully.

The first ray of sunshine broke through the horizon, bursting through the sky with blue and purple hue.

On the fifth floor of the Biology Building, soft snores and deep breathing of the students could be heard. However, inside the office, Zhao Bolin was not asleep. Instead, he had never been so wide awake.

He sat on the swivel chair with his eyes closed and repeated his interaction with Lu Yizhou inside his mind, frame by frame, starting from the time when he saw him in the open air corridor. His fingers tapped on the armchair, indicating that he was currently in deep thoughts. And then, he turned on his computer, entered the admin system and typed Lu Yizhou's name into the search bar.

Even though the internet in the whole world was down, he could still access the university's database by pulling up the file saved in the network. The database was filled with every student's information and credits. It could only be accessed by a number of staff in the university. The results came out in mere seconds.

'Data Not Found'

Hundreds of students were scanned however… none of them was named Lu Yizhou. Zhao Bolin's lashes quivered. He took off his glasses, placed a palm across his eyes and eventually, a mocking smile curled on his lips. "Ha… damn it."

pqdm.com