Lu Dongnuan stared at the still-warm corpse, her stomach churning violently, though she forced herself to suppress the nausea.
The stench of blood spread out like ripples from a stone tossed into still water.
She tossed aside the bloodstained Baseball Bat, picked up her backpack again, and practically scrambled on all fours toward the bathroom she remembered.
Her heart hammered madly in her chest.
“Hah, honestly, it’s nothing all that terrible.” She took a breath, the stinging pain from the wound on her arm sharpening her senses.
According to her original plan, she reached the restroom, intending to escape through the ventilation duct—only to bump straight into a similarly disheveled figure: Xiao Fang.
His clothes were ragged, blood smeared at the corner of his mouth, and he was blocking the restroom door as if he’d been waiting a long time.
Lu Dongnuan’s heart skipped a beat.
Had her plan to escape through the vent already been exposed?
She couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“Ah, what an unlovable bunch. Nothing but trouble. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
Seeing her, Xiao Fang flashed a cold smile that was equal parts smug and weary.
“Senior, you’re pretty sly, huh.” He tapped his temple, “But, I’m not exactly stupid either.”
When Lu Dongnuan stayed silent, he gestured with his chin toward the inside of the bathroom.
“I noticed the vent ages ago. Good thing I have sharp eyes, or else…” He let out a snort, “you really would have slipped away like a cicada shedding its shell.”
“You already dealt with Zhuo Lei?” Lu Dongnuan asked calmly.
“No, that guy only looks skinny. He’s actually tough as hell, but I gave it a shot.” Xiao Fang spat out a bloody glob.
“Is the fourth floor a way out, or a dead end?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“If it’s a way out, then let’s go, now.”
“Huh?” Xiao Fang was bewildered by the sudden shift in her logic.
“Comrade Xiao Fang,” Lu Dongnuan’s voice was icy and commanding, “you’re focusing on the wrong thing.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Our core goal—isn’t it to get out of here alive?”
“So what if it is?”
Lu Dongnuan patted the backpack on her back.
“Don’t we need supplies if we want to survive?” She smiled.
“The supplies are right here. So next, shouldn’t we be running?”
“Hold on, hold on.” Xiao Fang made a time-out gesture, his brow furrowed.
“Wait a second, let me sort this out.”
He stared at Lu Dongnuan, trying to straighten his thoughts, “You tricked me. You used the excuse of a way out on the fourth floor to send me off, made me clash with Zhuo Lei to buy yourself time. Then you stole all the supplies and planned to keep them for yourself, right?”
“What did I trick you about?” Lu Dongnuan immediately put on an incredulous face.
“You said there was a way out on the fourth floor!”
“So, is there or isn’t there?”
“There sort of is…”
“Did I ask you to fight Zhuo Lei? I just wanted you to check it out. Plus, weren’t you the one who volunteered?”
“That doesn’t count. I was… I was fooled by you!”
“Fine, say you were confused for a moment. Then tell me, how exactly did I trick you?”
“Weren’t you about to run away?” Xiao Fang pointed at the restroom’s ventilation duct.
“Run from where?”
“The ventilation duct!”
“Use your brain.” Lu Dongnuan looked at him as if he were an idiot, “With such a huge backpack, do you think I could even fit?”
“Couldn’t you throw it in first?”
“Good point.” Lu Dongnuan pinched her chin, pretending to ponder.
“Aha! Gotcha! You were going to run off by yourself!”
“Idiot, what are you misunderstanding!” Lu Dongnuan feigned annoyance.
“Didn’t we agree to escape together?”
“No, no! You wanted to run off alone, and I was stopping you! And I told you not to leave, remember!” Xiao Fang felt like his own logic was slipping away.
“Comrade Xiao Fang, you really can’t see the forest for the trees!” Lu Dongnuan shook her head in exasperation.
“Without supplies, are we supposed to gnaw on our best buddies out there? Now that we’ve finally got them, you don’t want to run? Planning to stay here and fight monsters one-on-one?”
“I… I’m dizzy. Something feels off, but it doesn’t feel completely wrong either.” Xiao Fang rubbed his temple.
“Wait! Not right either! When you tried to escape just now, you didn’t call me! And don’t say something dumb like, ‘Didn’t we just run into each other now,’ I’m not buying it!”
“Let me ask you,” Lu Dongnuan suddenly lowered her voice, glancing around, “From a structural perspective, isn’t this Dead Mall a ring?”
“I think so…”
“If I go the other way, what if I run straight into Zhuo Lei?”
“!” Xiao Fang’s eyes went wide.
“Damn, that’s actually a good point!”
He lowered his head, staring at his hands.
He asked, “So… so it’s my fault?”
“It’s all right. Realizing your mistake in time makes you a good kid. Senior won’t blame you.”
“Uhhh… ehhh…”
Just then, a deep, guttural roar rumbled from the direction Lu Dongnuan had come from, as if it came from the very depths of a chest.
Both their faces changed at once.
“Did you hear that?” Lu Dongnuan lowered her voice, her gaze flicking over Xiao Fang.
“Zombies came up from the second floor?”
The next moment, heavy, dragging footsteps echoed, mixed with the nerve-grating sound of fingernails scraping the ground, drawing nearer.
The last trace of doubt in Xiao Fang’s eyes was replaced by a surge of terror.
He glanced sharply at Lu Dongnuan’s backpack, then at the corridor where the noise came from, swallowing hard.
“Senior… should we… go?” he croaked, all the previous hostility wiped away.
Lu Dongnuan shoved him into the innermost stall, squeezed in after him, and gently slid the latch shut.
In the cramped space, the two were pressed almost against each other, their heavy breathing and pounding hearts loud in the silence.
“Hrrr… hrrr…” The skin-crawling sound hovered right outside the door.
Through the gap at the bottom of the stall, they could see a blurry, swaying shadow.
Xiao Fang held his breath, not daring to move.
Lu Dongnuan tilted her head slightly, pressing her ear to the door, listening intently to the noises outside.
The footsteps paused outside the restroom, followed by a low growl.
The monster lingered outside for ten seconds or so, as if unsure, before the heavy footsteps began again, fading away with a dragging sound.
Only when the noise had completely disappeared down the corridor did Xiao Fang let out a huge sigh of relief, his body going limp, nearly collapsing to the floor, forehead slick with cold sweat.
“G-gone?” His voice trembled. “Was it that monster from the first floor?”
Lu Dongnuan immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
She waited quietly a bit longer, and, once she was sure there was no further sound outside, she gently unlatched the stall door.
On the icy tile floor, there was a long, dark red smear—blood dragged across the ground.
She followed the trail with her eyes; it disappeared around the corner.
“When you guys came up to the fourth floor, was there anything there?” Lu Dongnuan asked.
“Nothing. There wasn’t much blocking the way, we could move it aside easily.”
So it wasn’t the monster from the first floor—because that one was terrifyingly fast, and could even climb walls.
It would have reached them in an instant over such a short corridor.
As they were pondering this—
“Rrraaargh…”
Both of them turned at the same time, and the sight before their eyes made their breath catch in their throats.