13: Chapter 13 One Slash to the Throat

"Someone went crazy and rushed into the fire escape again trying to escape, but just seconds after entering, a scream rang out. They were eaten by the monster!"

"Others couldn't take the pressure and committed suicide directly."

Huang Guangming's voice trembled as he continued, "I found that Ma Tao wasn't dead. When I asked him again, he seemed to have a sudden realization and said there was a problem with the electrical circuits!"

"He said the circuits in this dormitory building have been invaded by a weird power. Monsters can travel through the circuits into every light tube. Whenever they accumulate enough energy, the monsters come into the real world, and the lights going out is the signal for their appearance! The reason the voice-activated lights in the fire escape failed is because of the monsters' presence!"

"If we want to survive, we must destroy the power source or the light tubes. Otherwise, when the monsters appear next time, all of us might die!"

Hearing this, Chu Xuan sighed inwardly. These words were clearly lies fabricated by Ma Tao to trick Huang Guangming into turning off the lights.

Because it wasn't the presence of monsters that caused the lights to go out.

On the contrary, the reality was that because the lights went out, the monsters appeared.

But judging by Huang Guangming's tone and the expressions of the people around him, they clearly believed it.

"Although I didn't destroy the power source and light tubes according to his words, I did pull the circuit breaker. I thought cutting off the circuit would have the same effect. After all, destroying the power source might carry the risk of electric shock..."

Huang Guangming gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it! Damn it all! I actually believed his nonsense! It's my fault for being so confused at the time; otherwise, how could I have believed such full-of-holes logic!"

"After I pulled the breaker, screams rang out immediately. Although I pushed the breaker back up as quickly as possible—the interval was very short, probably less than three seconds—when the lights came back on, three more classmates had died miserably!"

Huang Guangming's expression was filled with intense regret: "If I had known, I wouldn't have turned off the lights..."

Indeed!

Why did Huang Guangming believe Ma Tao's words and turn off the lights?

Because when people are in a state of crisis and helplessness, their IQ drops sharply.

But why didn't Ma Tao turn off the lights himself? Why did he fabricate a lie full of holes to get Huang Guangming to do it?

As if parting a mist, many things Chu Xuan hadn't understood before suddenly became clear.

Previously, Chu Xuan had been wondering.

Why didn't the monsters go to the main distribution room to destroy the power source before taking action? If they did, all the lights in the dormitory would fail. Wouldn't it be permanent night then?

And Chen Qing in the dream—he clearly had the chance to secretly turn off the lights at certain times, so why didn't he do it?

The answer was about to emerge!

"Not only that, I saw with my own eyes a blurry monster afterimage appear where Ma Tao was previously, and then it changed back into Ma Tao's appearance!"

"Now the only thing we know is that the lights must not go out, otherwise monsters will appear. The reason the monsters in the fire escape can't come here is very likely because the lights here are still on. But what's the use of that?"

Huang Guangming suddenly looked at Tang Zheng and Chu Xuan, shouting, "We are still trapped here, and we don't know how to get out! We don't even know when the lights here will suddenly go out next time. When that happens, all of us will end up like this, dead without a whole corpse!"

Huang Guangming pointed at the severed limbs and broken bodies around them, screaming hoarsely, "Now! You two have come out! Can you tell me exactly what happened in your dormitory? How did you kill the monster? And how did you open the dormitory door to come out?!"

"I now seriously suspect you are monsters just like Ma Tao. If you still refuse to cooperate and are unwilling to provide valuable information, for the sake of the collective interest, I promise you that you will die even more miserably than Ma Tao!"

Huang Guangming's words resonated with the emotions of the crowd. Those who had been backing off due to Tang Zheng's imposing presence now became incensed.

The gazes everyone directed at Tang Zheng and Chu Xuan were filled with intense hostility. It was as if not cooperating meant disregarding the collective interest, meant they were monsters in disguise, and meant they deserved to die.

Feeling the knife-like stares from all sides, before Tang Zheng could speak, Chu Xuan spoke up first:

"Don't be in such a hurry. Everyone's goal is the same—to leave this place as soon as possible. And I already have a way."

Hearing this, the crowd was stunned for a moment, followed by expressions of joy. Although some were still skeptical, there was finally hope.

"What's your way?" Huang Guangming asked excitedly.

Chu Xuan pondered, "As for exactly what to do, I need to confirm three things first."

"Where the hell do you get off with all these conditions..." Xu Fan cursed loudly.

"Don't be impulsive."

Huang Guangming stopped Xu Fan's subsequent foul language and asked quickly, "What do you want to confirm?"

Chu Xuan merely gave Xu Fan a faint glance before looking back calmly at Huang Guangming, holding up one finger: "The first thing, I want to know where Ma Tao is?"

"Over there..." Huang Guangming jerked his chin toward a spot not far away. The crowd blocking the view naturally parted to both sides. Following Huang Guangming's gaze, everyone froze in the next second.

There, besides a pool of blood, there was no sign of anyone.

"Where's the person?"

Huang Guangming's face changed drastically. He ran over and asked the surrounding people repeatedly, "Where is Ma Tao?"

"I don't know, he was just here!"

"Wasn't he beaten to death? How could he suddenly disappear?"

"..."

The crowd fell into a commotion, yet no one had noticed how Ma Tao disappeared. Such a bizarre scene sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"Could there be a possibility that the monster that turned into Ma Tao didn't actually die?"

Chu Xuan's voice rang in everyone's ears, "He took advantage of the moment no one was paying attention to sneak away."

"Absolutely impossible!"

Huang Guangming turned his head sharply, raising the baseball bat in his hand, which was still stained with bits of flesh and blood. "His head was smashed flat by me, and his brains were leaking out. How could he not be dead?"

"If it were a human, they should be dead, but for a monster, that might not be the case."

Chu Xuan suddenly asked again, "Did you see Ma Tao turn into a monster's form?"

"What do you mean?"

Huang Guangming remembered something and looked startled: "There was a monster corpse with its head cut off in your dormitory just now... Could it be that the monster only dies if its head is severed? And monsters return to their original form after death?"

"I said I had to confirm three things first." Chu Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the female student beside Huang Guangming and asked, "The second thing: what is your name?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Guangming's face immediately turned cold.

Including Tang Zheng, everyone looked at Chu Xuan with strange gazes, then at the female student.

"My name is Han Meimei."

The female student's eyes were full of disgust, as if she were having a stress response: "That's enough! Are you insane? Why do you keep staring at me? What time do you think it is to be thinking with your crotch? The only person I like is Brother Ming, so don't provoke me, okay? Just answer whatever Brother Ming asks you. Why are there so many issues? Right now, I just want to leave this place quickly!"

It's not Qin Qing...

Chu Xuan lowered his eyes slightly.

This dormitory building has eleven floors and over three hundred dorm rooms. Searching for one person would be both dangerous and time-consuming. After all, the next night was about to fall.

Before that, they had to find a safe place to hide.

In that case...

A plan that wasn't exactly noble quietly formed in Chu Xuan's mind.

Huang Guangming said with an unfriendly gaze, "What are you thinking about? Is there anything else you need to confirm?"

"Hurry up, don't push your luck..." Xu Fan urged impatiently.

"The last thing!"

Chu Xuan suddenly looked up, his eyes piercing as he stared at Xu Fan, and asked: "Gongting Yuye Jiu (Imperial Jade Wine), how much for a glass?"

Xu Fan was stunned for a moment, then sneered, "What the hell are you talking about? It's nonsensical. Has your brain turned to shit?!"

"I'm giving you a chance. Answer right now." Chu Xuan's expression was normal.

"Chu Xuan, what kind of comedy skit lines are you quoting? Don't you think it's funny? I've given you enough patience, but you're playing me for a fool and treating all our lives as a joke!"

Huang Guangming's tone was icy: "I'll give you one last chance. Tell us everything you know, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

"Brother Ming, these two bastards are doing this on purpose; they don't want to cooperate at all." Xu Fan said with a dark face from the side, "Let's stop wasting breath on them. I bet they're just like Ma Tao, monsters in disguise. Let's all go at them..."

Xu Fan wanted to continue speaking, but at that moment, Chu Xuan suddenly lunged!

A cold light shot straight toward Xu Fan. Xu Fan instinctively wanted to retreat, but it was already too late.

Puchi!

This one strike went right through the throat!