20: Chapter 20 Night Falls

"Quick, downstairs!"

After killing the Pajama Monster, Chu Xuan didn't delay any further. He called out to Xu Zhiyou and the other four, then charged straight down.

Seeing Huang Guangming and the others still dazed and slowly crowding the landing, Chu Xuan didn't say a word. He reached out and snatched the long-handled fluorescent lamp from the other's hand, leading Xu Zhiyou and the four others as they burst through the crowd.

"Hey! That's mine!" Huang Guangming cried out in a panic.

"This is just to light the way for you..."

Chu Xuan strode downward, saying without looking back, "Everyone keep up, don't fall behind!"

Arriving at the third floor below, Tang Zheng had already picked up the long-handled fluorescent lamp he had just thrown. Fortunately, the outer layer was tightly wrapped with mineral water bottles using transparent tape, so the phone inside hadn't broken. Aside from being a bit loose, the brightness of the light was unaffected.

"Tang Zheng, you stay at the back to cover our rear. Don't be afraid; when a monster gets close enough to a sufficient light source, it will turn into an afterimage and return directly to the place where it transformed, reverting to its human form."

Chu Xuan's expression was solemn. During the next half-hour of Nightfall, the more people who were united, the greater their hope for survival.

"Alright!"

Having witnessed the scene earlier himself, Tang Zheng wasn't overly worried. Holding the long-handled fluorescent lamp, he stood against the wall and waited for the rest of the crowd to pass before following.

"Hurry up in the front!"

"Don't push!"

"Brother Chu Xuan, wait for me..."

Hearing the commotion behind him, Chu Xuan, who had already reached the second floor, frowned and shouted back, "Those in the back, form two lines! Don't crowd together, and don't try to rush. Just keep up."

At his shout, the commotion in the crowd behind finally subsided. Though anxious, they remained orderly as they followed Chu Xuan quickly down the stairs.

"Awooo—"

In front of the first-floor fire door, a tall monster with greenish-black, rotting skin stood there. Its crimson eyes stared fixedly at the approaching Chu Xuan, and it let out a strange, wolf-like howl filled with menace.

The intense sense of pressure made a chill run down Chu Xuan's spine, and his heart pounded wildly.

Keep charging, or turn back?

This was a choice between life and death!

Chu Xuan already knew the answer. Without pausing for a second, he held the long-handled fluorescent lamp and charged straight ahead.

"You can't escape..."

With killing intent and resentment filling its crimson eyes, the greenish-black, rotting-skinned monster turned into an afterimage and swept past Chu Xuan, heading up the stairs until it vanished.

[2:59:00]

Bang!

With a kick, he burst open the fire door, and in an instant, a slightly blinding light shone in.

Chu Xuan felt greatly relieved, finally understanding why the monster had stalled in front of the fire door—it had nowhere left to retreat.

The stairwells of this dormitory building were located on either side of the central elevator. As Chu Xuan stepped out of the fire door, he saw over a dozen corpses scattered across the brightly lit first-floor lobby. While not as terrifyingly hellish as the fourth floor, it was still extremely bloody, with severed limbs strewn across the floor and a nauseating stench in the air.

A corpse lay sprawled in front of the exit door. Its head was missing, but its arm was still raised, clawing at the iron gate, as if its last thought in life had been to escape this terrible place.

As far as his eyes could see, there wasn't a single living person. Chu Xuan also noticed that most of the doors on the first floor were still tightly shut; only a few were open, offering glimpses of the bloody scenes within.

Perhaps most people were still fast asleep, unaware that death had arrived.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Xuan took a quick sweep of his surroundings to get his bearings. Instead of running for the main exit, he headed straight for the nearby Dormitory Manager's room.

Unlike the ordinary student dorms, the Manager's Room had an external hollow iron gate in addition to its wooden door.

And this iron gate was precisely Chu Xuan's ultimate goal for coming here!

"Chu Xuan, where are you going? Aren't we escaping through the main door?"

"Idiot, the exit door is locked every day. Only the manager has the keys!"

Ignoring the questions from those behind him, Chu Xuan strode to the Manager's Room. The door was wide open, and the manager's mangled corpse lay at the entrance. The room inside was relatively tidy, with nothing out of the ordinary.

However, the iron gate outside was noticeably bent and dented, clearly having been struck by immense force.

Evidently, the old manager had been woken up by the sound of a monster ramming the door when Nightfall arrived. Perhaps because he couldn't see, he lacked a sense of crisis and had actually opened the door, only to lose his life to the monster.

However, even if the manager hadn't opened the door, he likely wouldn't have escaped death.

Chu Xuan had noticed a long time ago that the iron gate outside the Manager's Room wasn't securely attached to the wall. The welds holding the iron plates were shoddy, and several screws had rusted and fallen out.

Looking at it now, there were already cracks in the welds, which were on the verge of breaking. This gate clearly wouldn't hold for long.

Instead of being worried, Chu Xuan was pleased.

This indicated that while monsters could dismantle the iron gate, they found it difficult to cause significant damage to the gate itself.

The heavy weight in Chu Xuan's heart finally lightened a bit.

"Follow me inside!"

Chu Xuan dragged the manager's mangled corpse aside. By the time everyone had filed in, there was still over half a minute left—more than enough time.

"The keys are there!"

Xu Zhiyou pointed to a ring of keys hanging on the wall, a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

"Never mind that. Everyone come over and help me drag the bed to the door first." Chu Xuan went to the bunk bed in the corner and began dragging it.

Everyone was stunned for a moment. Though they were confused, they had grown accustomed to following Chu Xuan's orders, so they didn't ask questions and started moving.

Screeech—

The ear-piercing sound of the iron bed dragging rang out. Everyone worked together to move the bunk bed, which was quite heavy due to the various belongings the manager had piled on the upper bunk.

"Huang Guangming, what are you doing?!" Xu Zhiyou suddenly roared in shock and anger.

Everyone looked over to see that Huang Guangming had somehow stolen the manager's keys. He had closed the iron gate and was turning the key from the outside, locking them all in.

"You idiots can just stay here and wait for death!" Huang Guangming laughed hideously.

Everyone's expression changed drastically.

"Brother Ming, how could you leave me here alone? Please, take me with you!" Han Meimei threw herself against the iron gate, begging.

Huang Guangming's face was full of rage and resentment. "You bitch, didn't you want to throw yourself at Chu Xuan? Then you can be buried here with him!"

"No! Brother Ming, the only one I love is you. Please let me out! I'd never be interested in trash like Chu Xuan. I was only trying to escape, making compromises just to survive. Please, I beg you..."

Han Meimei continued to wail, but Huang Guangming had already snorted coldly and vanished with the keys.

"Move!"

Chu Xuan pulled Han Meimei aside, gripped the gaps in the middle of the iron gate, and suddenly shoved outward with all his might. The gate rattled loudly, shaking loose a cloud of dust.

"The door is locked and you think you can push it open? Do you think you're Superman? We could have escaped, and it's all your fault! You useless thing! Trash! Bastard! Fucking idiot..."

Han Meimei was completely despondent. She wailed and cursed incessantly, stepping forward to tear at Chu Xuan's clothes.

"Get lost."

Chu Xuan slapped her across the face, then without even looking at her, he slammed his body into the gate.

Bang! Crash!

With Chu Xuan's forceful impact, another loud bang rang out. The iron plates connecting the already unstable gate to the wall snapped directly.

Chu Xuan had literally torn the external iron gate off!

Everyone was overjoyed at the sight and wanted to rush out, but Chu Xuan barked, "The exit door won't open. We're hiding here for half an hour first!"

Chu Xuan dragged the dismantled iron gate into the room and was about to close the remaining wooden door.

"You bastard, like I'd believe you!" Han Meimei darted out. Her camisole had slipped down, but she didn't have time to fix it as she ran off.

Meanwhile, Huang Guangming heard the noise and instinctively looked back. Seeing Han Meimei running toward him, his expression shifted drastically. He hurriedly inserted the key to unlock the door, terrified that Chu Xuan might be right behind her, coming for revenge.

However, no matter how much he turned the key, the door wouldn't open.

"How is this possible? I remember it was this one. I've used it before, why won't it open?" Huang Guangming was sweating profusely in his panic, his hands trembling.

Snap!

Perhaps due to excessive force, the key actually snapped inside the lock.

Han Meimei, who had just run up, saw this, and her head buzzed. Her face went pale, and her legs gave way as she knelt on the ground, her still somewhat attractive face now a mask of despair and wretchedness.

"Fuck off, get out of the way!"

Huang Guangming kicked Han Meimei aside and tried to head back to the Manager's Room. But when he turned the corner, he found the door already tightly shut.

"You brought this on yourself; you can't blame anyone else."

Inside the room, Chu Xuan had already blocked the wooden door with the dismantled iron gate.

The external iron gate was exactly one size larger than the wooden door, allowing it to completely cover the door and its frame.

Propped against the iron gate was the bunk bed they had pushed over together, wedging it firmly in place. Not only that, but they had also piled tables, chairs, and stools on the bed to add weight.

"Hold the edge of the bed and brace against the iron gate."

Chu Xuan's attention was on the time displayed by the System. He spoke to everyone in a low voice, "Everyone, get ready. Nightfall is coming. Whether we live or die depends on this half-hour!"

Everyone waited in extreme tension.

[2:59:58]

[2:59:59]

[3:00:00]

Without any warning, all light vanished instantly. A deathly darkness suddenly swept in like a ghoulish, giant maw, swallowing everything in sight.

Nightfall...

...has arrived!