18: Chapter 18: Scout the Way, or Wait to Die!

Everyone was incredibly surprised, instinctively looking at the bottles of water they had just been given. They simultaneously shone their flashlights on them, and as expected, the brightness increased significantly.

"It's actually this bright!"

"How was this done?"

Just as everyone was marveling, the student with the thick glasses from earlier said with a look of disdain, "How did you all get into university? Don't you even know such a simple physical reaction?"

"Xu Zhiyou, do you know what's going on?"

Seeing everyone's gaze converge on him, the student pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and gave a light cough.

"This involves light scattering and diffuse reflection... Simply put, the tiny particles in the milk cause the light to scatter, resulting in the light dispersing in all directions and undergoing multiple reflections inside the liquid. Although this makes the direct light beam weaker, the scattered light makes the entire liquid appear to glow uniformly, so it looks brighter visually."

Huang Guangming frowned. "You mean it just looks brighter, but the actual light intensity has become weaker?"

"Although the direct light is indeed weaker, the light passes through the milky water and emits light from every angle, greatly increasing the effective luminous area."

Xu Zhiyou explained, "The reason the illumination area becomes larger can be summarized in three points: first, scattering allows the light to spread; second, it forms a surface light source effect; and third, the Tyndall Effect enhances visibility..."

While they were talking, Chu Xuan asked for four more phones, took the last two bottles of milky water, then picked up a broom from the corner, pulled off the broom head, and followed the same process.

In one smooth motion, he made another long-handled DIY fluorescent lamp in less than half a minute and handed it to Tang Zheng.

A flash of excitement appeared in Xu Zhiyou's eyes. "It's indeed much stronger than a simple phone flashlight. If we make a few more of these long-handled lamps and everyone carries one, we can definitely go downstairs safely!"

Huang Guangming said happily, "Then let's find more phones. There are plenty of brooms and mops in the other dorms..."

"No!" Chu Xuan stood up and said, "There's no time. Day and night rotate every half hour. In less than five minutes, it will be three in the morning, and the darkness will descend again."

In Chu Xuan's line of sight, the time displayed by the System prompt was always present.

[2:55:20]

Hearing this, although the others didn't understand why Chu Xuan knew so clearly, they weren't in the mood to look into it further.

They all looked at the time displayed on their phones, their expressions changing slightly. They crowded out of Dormitory 412 and rushed toward the nearest fire stairs, fearing that a single slow step would cost them their lives.

However, when they reached the fire door, they all stopped in their tracks and looked expectantly at Chu Xuan, who was walking up from behind with large strides.

Beside Chu Xuan, Han Meimei followed him like an accessory. After being rebuffed a few more times, she had learned her lesson and no longer pressed her body against him, instead finding a distance that was relatively close but wouldn't get her pushed away by Chu Xuan.

But her mouth never stopped moving; she would let out a soft huff from time to time, trying to attract Chu Xuan's attention, but unfortunately, Chu Xuan remained indifferent.

Huang Guangming looked back and saw this scene, suppressing his hidden resentment. His eyes darted around, and he stepped forward to speak.

"Chu Xuan, the phones were collected by everyone, but you're the only one using the two long-handled lamps that were made. Isn't that a bit unfair? How about this: you and Tang Zheng share one, and the rest of us share the other. What do you think?"

After speaking, Huang Guangming spread his hands. "Of course, this is just my suggestion. I'm also doing it for everyone's sake. If you don't agree, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Chu Xuan gave Huang Guangming a deep look.

Huang Guangming met his gaze without showing any weakness, feeling smug. In his view, this was an open scheme, and he had already placed himself in an invincible position.

With a simple sentence, he had separated Chu Xuan and Tang Zheng from the rest of the group.

If Chu Xuan gave up the long-handled lamp, the credit would go to Huang Guangming. If he didn't, the others would still harbor some resentment toward Chu Xuan, even if they didn't say it openly.

Huang Guangming thought that since they were about to leave this hellhole anyway, he wasn't afraid of offending Chu Xuan further.

Not only that, but Huang Guangming also planned to use his background and connections to teach Chu Xuan a harsh lesson after leaving this place. He had to make Chu Xuan understand once again that in this society, being able to fight was useless; one also had to look at background and power.

Chu Xuan was silent for two seconds, then suddenly smiled and handed over the long-handled lamp in his hand. "You have a point. I'll give this to you for now."

The corners of Huang Guangming's mouth couldn't help but curl up, his heart even more smug. But before his happiness could last long, Chu Xuan's next words made his eyelids twitch violently.

"Since you have the life-saving tool, please go down and scout the way."

"What did you say?" Huang Guangming's face turned pale with shock. "You're asking me to scout the way? You're joking, right?"

"Of course it's you. Who else would it be, me?"

Chu Xuan raised an eyebrow and countered, "As the Student Union President, you have the obligation and responsibility to protect the safety of all the students. Now that the situation below is unclear, shouldn't you be the one to step up and take the lead?"

"I..."

"You're not scared, are you?"

Tang Zheng sneered from the side. "When we only had phone flashlights, you were urging Chu Xuan to go down first. Now that you've been given such a long-handled lamp, which is much safer than before, you're still unwilling to go? Do you still have the awareness of a Student Union President?"

Huang Guangming turned his head and glared fiercely at Tang Zheng, then said to Chu Xuan unwillingly:

"I'm just an ordinary person. If this thing doesn't work, wouldn't I be dead? But Chu Xuan, you're different; you're much more powerful than me..."

"That's right, I am indeed different!"

Chu Xuan said calmly, "Because I can lead everyone out of here, I must first ensure my own safety. Otherwise, if something happens to me, wouldn't everyone have to be buried with me?"

"What do you all think?"

Chu Xuan looked around at everyone and said bluntly, "To put it plainly, I will do my best to lead you all away within the limits of my ability. But in return, you also have to contribute, such as scouting the way. Otherwise, you just treated me like a monster and wanted my life, and now you won't follow orders but want me to risk my life to save you? Do you really think I'm some saint who repays evil with kindness?"

"No problem, Brother Xuan's words make sense!" Tang Zheng was the first to shout.

The others also chimed in, and even Han Meimei said in a low voice, "Huang Guangming, why don't you go down first? There's not much time left."

"It's just asking you to scout the way, not asking you to die. What are you afraid of? You don't even have this little bit of self-sacrifice, so why are you still the Student Union President?"

The tall thin student cursed, "What a coward. I was really blind to hang out with you before!"

"Stop dawdling! Huang Guangming, are you even a man? Hurry up!"

"You... you all..." Huang Guangming was both ashamed and furious.

Chu Xuan spoke indifferently, "Now you've seen everyone's attitude. According to the principle of minority subordinating to the majority, we are many, and we are a collective. If you don't cooperate, it shows you have malicious intentions. We can completely treat you as a monster. Don't make a mistake."

These were the words Huang Guangming had said not long ago, and now they were being returned to him by Chu Xuan in full.

Feeling the undisguised hostile gazes of the people around him, Huang Guangming was momentarily speechless. He never expected that he would become the target of public criticism.

He had truly shot himself in the foot.