17: Chapter 17 I Need Brighter Light

Chu Xuan's slightly mocking words reached everyone's ears, leaving them all stunned.

Huang Guangming's eyes flickered, and he said as if it were only natural, "You're the strongest one here, so of course you should be the one walking at the very front."

"Yeah, Brother Chu Xuan, you must have gained some special ability, right? Just like in the movies—aren't superheroes supposed to protect ordinary people?"

Han Meimei rubbed her shoulder. She had just wanted to grab Chu Xuan's arm, but he was too busy throwing fruit knives at the fleeing man in pajamas. He hadn't shown the slightest bit of tenderness, pushing her away without a second thought.

Han Meimei stepped forward again, her soft curves partially exposed and almost pressing against him. However, Chu Xuan swept a cold glance over her, making her shudder and take two steps back.

Han Meimei pouted, her face full of resentment. "Brother Chu Xuan, you can't abandon me. You have to save us and get us out of here!"

"With great power comes great responsibility!" a tall, thin student said with a frown. "You can't let us ordinary people walk in front, can you? If there's any danger, wouldn't we be completely defenseless?"

Taking in everyone's expressions, Chu Xuan sneered, the mockery in his eyes deepening.

"Putting aside whether those two monsters are faking it or not, even if the light intensity here really can drive them back, at such a short distance, if a monster forces a pounce, can you really guarantee you won't lose your cool? Once the light becomes chaotic and the monsters find an opening, people will die."

"Then what do you suggest we do? We can't just wait here to die! You just said you'd take us out of here!" Huang Guangming deliberately goaded him. "You're not scared, are you?"

Chu Xuan naturally saw through Huang Guangming's intentions and smiled coldly. "Have you all misunderstood something? I only said I have a way to leave this place. When did I ever say I would definitely take you with me?"

As soon as Chu Xuan said this, everyone's expressions changed, and they began to panic.

Before this, they had been on the verge of despair and collapse. It was Chu Xuan who had shown strength beyond that of ordinary people by killing the monsters one after another, giving them a glimmer of hope.

However, now that Chu Xuan said he didn't intend to take them with him, the hope that had just surfaced instantly shattered.

The tall, thin student even fell to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling. "Don't, Chu Xuan! Please don't give up on us. Take us with you! We'll do whatever you say, please!"

Glancing at the other party indifferently, Chu Xuan said faintly, "If you want to leave with me, you have to listen to me! Everyone, within two minutes, find as many cell phones as possible. Even if they don't have a password and can't be unlocked, as long as the flashlight function can be turned on, it's fine. Then gather at Dormitory 412..."

"Of course, if you're not afraid of death, you can also choose to follow Huang Guangming down now."

Leaving those words behind without waiting for a reaction, Chu Xuan gave Tang Zheng a look, and the two of them ran toward Dormitory 412 together.

"Chu Xuan, what are you thinking? You told me before that the situation was urgent, but you don't seem that rushed, and you even explained so much to them."

Tang Zheng returned the fruit knife with the broken tip to Chu Xuan, his face full of confusion.

"Besides, you're not really planning to wholeheartedly lead those deadweights to escape, are you? Those people were really trying to kill us just now. You're kind enough to want to save them, but the moment you give them a little bit of a good face, they start acting up again. They're really asking for it, especially that Huang Guangming! We must be careful; that bastard holds a grudge. Who knows if he'll mess things up."

Tang Zheng warned solemnly, "Don't forget, this piece of trash used to bully Chen Qing back in high school. When we taught him a lesson in our freshman year, he used his family connections and almost got us both expelled. He even made us pay a lot of money. When we just walked out of the dorm, this thing started framing us again. If he hadn't wanted to get information about the monsters from us, he would've taken the chance to gang up on us long ago."

"The situation has changed. I want to save as many people as possible now. In that case, it's better to spend a little more effort to get a firm grip on them and make them believe in me. Besides, the monsters' goal is to eat people, not purely to kill. Bringing more people along will ultimately help share the risk. As for Huang Guangming..."

Chu Xuan wiped the greasy blood off his hand, his expression unreadable. "Some people, even if they're just a pile of shit, still have some utility value."

Tang Zheng turned to look at him, suddenly feeling that the current Chu Xuan was somewhat of a stranger.

Back in the dorm, without a word, Chu Xuan pulled a pack of bottled water—twelve bottles in total—out of his closet.

Chu Xuan crouched on the floor, took out a bottle, sliced open the red packaging wrapped around it with a knife, tossed it aside, then unscrewed the cap and placed it on the ground.

"Do what I'm doing: first tear off the wrapping paper on the bottle, then unscrew the cap and put it on the floor." Chu Xuan handed over the fruit knife, then found three more loose bottles of mineral water and placed them next to Tang Zheng.

"That's fifteen bottles in total. It should be about enough."

"Alright." Tang Zheng didn't ask questions and started working.

Chu Xuan nodded slightly and began to get busy. First, he pulled a wooden mop out of the bathroom and snapped off the mop head with a "crack," leaving only a wooden pole over a meter long.

Then he found a roll of clear tape from Chen Qing's seat.

Next, he found a 1.5-liter box of imported skim milk on Wang Hua's desk shelf. After quickly unscrewing the cap, he glanced over and saw that Tang Zheng had already placed five bottles of mineral water with the labels torn off and the caps unscrewed next to him.

Chu Xuan controlled his breathing rhythm. His left hand gripped a mineral water bottle, and with a slight squeeze, he forced out a small amount of water. His right hand held the large carton of milk.

As the bottle tilted, milk was poured into the transparent mineral water, blending the originally clear water into an uneven milky white.

In this way, Tang Zheng tore the packaging and unscrewed the caps in front, while Chu Xuan followed suit behind him, injecting a small amount of milk into the mineral water bottles one after another.

He finished adding milk to all fifteen bottles of mineral water. In less than two minutes, students had already begun running over one by one with their cell phones, all with their flashlights on.

The first person to arrive was none other than Huang Guangming, who had been opposing Chu Xuan before.

Huang Guangming held a pile of cell phones in his arms and said with a curl of his lip, "Do you want us to prepare more phones and then go downstairs with all the flashlights on? Then let's hurry up... Hmm? What are you doing with all these mineral water bottles?"

"We need a brighter light."

Replying faintly, Chu Xuan didn't offer much explanation. He simply waved his hand at everyone and shouted, "Everyone, get a bottle of water from Tang Zheng. One bottle per person. Tighten the caps yourselves, then shake the milk inside until it's mixed evenly!"

Besides Chu Xuan and Tang Zheng, there were eleven other people present.

After Chu Xuan finished speaking, he hooked his finger at Huang Guangming. "Hurry up, bring four cell phones over here."

Huang Guangming hesitated but still handed over four phones.

Chu Xuan glanced at them and saw that the battery levels were relatively sufficient. He divided the four phones into two groups of two. He overlapped the phones in each group so that the flashlight beams pointed in the same direction, one above the other.

Chu Xuan measured it out slightly. Using the wooden pole from the broken mop as a separator, he made these two groups of phones face each other and wrapped them onto the pole with clear tape.

In just over ten seconds, a simple long-handled flashlight was completed.

Chu Xuan held one end of the wooden pole, while the other end had the four phones firmly wrapped around it. The flashlight beams were divided by the pole, shining in two opposite directions.

He gave it a shake, and feeling that it was wrapped securely enough, Chu Xuan nodded slightly.

This scene left everyone completely stunned, and they still didn't understand what Chu Xuan was trying to do.

Only a student wearing thick glasses suddenly had his eyes light up.

"Chu Xuan, what exactly are you up to?"

Huang Guangming couldn't wait any longer and asked with a frown, "You said you wanted a brighter light, and this is it? That's ridiculous! What does this have to do with the milk-water you mixed? Isn't this a waste of everyone's time? You..."

Huang Guangming's voice stopped abruptly.

He saw that Chu Xuan had already taken two of the remaining four bottles of milk-infused mineral water. The milk inside had already been shaken evenly by Tang Zheng, and the water in the bottles was a faint milky white.

As Chu Xuan used clear tape to strap these two bottles of milk-infused mineral water to the sides of the homemade long-handled flashlight, when the light from the cell phone flashlights shone through, the two bottles miraculously glowed with a brilliant light, just like fluorescent lamps.

Everyone's eyes widened as they stared fixedly at the scene.

"This... is the brighter light?"