# 54
**Chapter 54: The Smart Ones**
"AAAAHHHHH!!!"
"Quiet!"
"You... you killed Xiuxiu!"
"She wasn’t herself anymore—can’t you see that?"
Having just watched their companion—who had been hiding in the same stall moments ago—turn into a monster and get cleaved in two, the two girls were completely paralyzed with terror, their legs turning to jelly.
Lin Qiye helplessly helped them out of the restroom. Outside, a dozen or so students had already gathered. When they saw that Lin Qiye had actually brought the girls out alive, their eyes were full of admiration.
"There really were people inside? Senior Qiye, you’re incredible!"
"You could tell from ten meters away... Are you a cultivator, Senior Qiye? Can you take me as your disciple?"
"What are you all standing around for? This isn’t the time to chat—come help!"
Only then did the group snap out of it and rush forward to support the two rescued girls.
They were all survivors Lin Qiye had pulled from the nooks and crannies of the freshman and senior buildings. Many of the girls had been just as paralyzed with fear, but thankfully most of the boys had held it together—no one was completely unable to walk.
"Senior Qiye, what do we do now?"
"I’ve finished searching these two buildings. Go hide in the auditorium we passed earlier—I’ve already cleared it out," Lin Qiye said calmly.
"What about you?"
"The sophomore building is the worst-hit area. I still need to go save people."
"Can I come with you? I just fought off a monster with a fire axe—I can help!" A sturdy-looking boy stepped forward.
"No need. I’ll go alone." Lin Qiye shook his head and pointed at the girls in the group who could barely stand. "Your axe is better used protecting them."
"Alright then."
Without another word, Lin Qiye ran downstairs alone and charged toward the deepest part of the sophomore building.
The monsters hiding there made up roughly sixty percent of the entire school’s infestation. And with ten minutes already passed since the outbreak, who knew what kind of hell that building had become...
He just hoped the students there were smart.
---
"Quick, quick! Boys, push the desks and chairs into the stairwell—block it off!"
"Come on, put your backs into it! Don’t let them get through!"
"Girls, stop screaming! Come bandage the wounded!"
"What? There are still survivors on the third floor? Damn it—Axe Squad, with me!"
"Teacher Wang, I’m leaving this floor in your hands!"
On the chaotic fifth-floor balcony, Li Yifei was shouting himself hoarse. By now, most of the sophomore students had gathered on this level. Desks and chairs were stacked into solid barricades sealing both stairwells. A dozen monsters prowled below.
The mild-mannered, glasses-wearing Teacher Wang nodded solemnly. "Don’t worry. I’ve played enough tower-defense games in my life—this floor is safe with me."
Li Yifei slung a fire axe across his back and yelled toward the other stairwell. A few sturdy boys armed with fire axes, steel pipes, or even tennis rackets quickly ran over.
"More than twenty students from Class 8 are trapped on the third floor. We’re going to get them!" Li Yifei gave a brief summary. Several boys tore their clothes into strips, knotted them into a thick rope, and tied it to the balcony railing, letting it hang straight down.
Li Yifei tugged it to test the strength, then climbed over the railing first, gripping the rope and slowly lowering himself just like he’d seen in movies.
The others followed suit. Though nervous, they moved in orderly fashion.
"Teacher Wang... will they be okay?" a girl asked anxiously.
Teacher Wang watched them for a long moment, then sighed. "Of course it’s dangerous. But I believe in his ability..."
"Li Yifei looks so cool—why didn’t I notice before?" another girl whispered.
"Throughout history, in every dark age, there are always unknown people who step forward and become leaders.
Students like Li Yifei, who seem hopeless on normal days, can reveal potential no one else has in times like these.
Never underestimate anyone. No matter how unremarkable they seem, one day they might shine brilliantly." Teacher Wang adjusted his glasses, then turned to warn the girl:
"Oh—and no puppy love allowed."
"..."
Li Yifei and the others landed quietly on the third-floor hallway. Most monsters were clustered between the fourth and fifth floors, leaving only two on this level, circling outside Class 8’s door.
All the doors and windows of Class 8 had been barricaded with desks and chairs, so the monsters couldn’t break in.
He wasn’t the only smart one.
Their landing made little noise, and the monsters didn’t notice until the boys tiptoed right behind them. Only then did the creatures whirl around, gaping maws opening wide.
"Hold the line!" Li Yifei shouted.
Four or five boys lifted chairs and charged, ramming the monsters head-on.
The creatures were deadly biters, but no stronger than ordinary humans. Under the frenzied chair-assault, they were actually pushed back—though their razor teeth made short work of the furniture, splintering it in seconds.
In that brief window, the rest of the boys surged forward, swinging fire axes and clubs straight into the monsters’ mouths. After a flurry of blows, the creatures convulsed and toppled, heads smashed to pulp.
Gasping for breath, the boys couldn’t help grinning, eyes shining with exhilaration.
Together, they had killed two terrifying monsters!
"Quick, get them out!" Li Yifei ran to the door and knocked.
Inside, students had been watching through gaps in the barricade. Seeing the monsters dead, they pulled aside a desk and opened a path. Several boys stepped out.
"I’m Li Yifei from Class 2. Follow us—evacuate, now!"
"Evacuate? Where to?" the lead boy shook his head and pointed downstairs. "The first floor’s completely overrun—at least ten monsters down there. We can’t break through. You killed two—can you kill ten?"
"We’re going up," Li Yifei said seriously. "We cleared the fifth floor and barricaded both stairwells. Most students are hiding there."
"The fifth floor?" The boy gave a wry smile. "Tell me—what floor are we on now?"
"Third."
"Where are the monsters thickest?"
"First, second, and fourth..."
"So even if we fight our way up, how do we get past the fourth-floor horde?
And if we somehow do, you said your stairwells are sealed. Will you have time to open the barricade for all of us, let us through, then seal it again?" He pointed at the rope dangling in the hallway.
"Or do you expect all twenty-eight of us to climb that rope to the fifth floor?"
Li Yifei had no reply.