Chapter 81 – The Last Frenzy

As Ling Mo and the others walked down the corridor, Xu Cai’s expression turned grim. He grabbed Shi Bin, who was trailing behind, and asked in a low voice, “Who exactly is that guy?”

Shi Bin was taken aback. He wanted to blurt out the word “superhuman,” but remembering Ling Mo’s icy stare just moments ago, he hesitated and changed his answer. “He’s… I don’t really know who he is. Anyway, he’s Ye Lian’s boyfriend…” He added dejectedly, “And he’s pretty skilled.”

“Oh,” Xu Cai nodded, then suddenly leaned in closer and lowered his voice even more, “You must have some food on you, right? Can you spare a bit for us? To be honest, we don’t have much left to eat.”

Shi Bin replied with a pained expression, “Where would I get food? That Ling Mo guy has plenty of food, but he doesn’t like me, so he hasn’t shared any with me! Not that I care!” His face showed a trace of resentment.

“I see…” Xu Cai patted Shi Bin on the shoulder and said, “It looks like you’re having a tough time too. Do you know how long you’ll be staying here?”

“How would I know? But it’s getting late, so I guess we’ll stay for the night.”

“Alright, find a chance to come out later. I’ll be waiting in the stairwell.”

Xu Cai’s suggestion made Shi Bin a bit suspicious, but he quickly continued, “I just want to discuss something with you. Don’t worry, aren’t we good buddies? Can that Ling Mo really restrict your freedom?”

“Okay then… I’ll be off.”

After speaking, Shi Bin quickly said goodbye to Xu Cai and hurried to catch up with Ling Mo and the others.

Xu Cai stood at the door, silent for a while, then a cold smile appeared on his face. It seemed that Shi Bin was being oppressed by that young man named Ling Mo and was holding back a lot of anger.

Xu Cai realized that Shi Bin had a sinister side to his personality. Despite his attempts to hide it, Xu Cai had long noticed Shi Bin’s narrow-mindedness and intense jealousy.

“Such a big backpack, and several weapons…” Xu Cai slowly clenched his fists. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he turned to face the group of students who still looked astonished.

“Xu Cai! Why did you stop us just now? Didn’t you hear what that guy said? They came back from Red Light Street! We can’t just stay here and wait to die; we need to beg them to take us with them!”

A boy pushed his way out of the crowd, speaking excitedly.

Xu Cai slammed the door shut with his backhand and then glared at the boy with angry eyes, “What did you say?”

The boy, though tall and chubby, was clearly afraid of Xu Cai. Hearing his words, he immediately shut his mouth and averted his gaze, not daring to meet Xu Cai’s eyes.

The crowd fell silent, but soon another boy summoned the courage to speak up, “He’s right! Xu Cai, every time you take some people out to find food, only you come back alive, and the food you bring back doesn’t last us more than a few days… At this rate, we… we don’t want to die! Please, let’s ask them for help!”

“What, are you saying I abandoned them and got them killed? Are you saying that if this keeps up, you’ll all die?” Xu Cai’s eyes widened, and his tone turned vicious. “You all eat the food I risk my life to bring back, and you still dare to talk to me like this? Without me, you’d be dead already! Do you really think I was blocking your way to survival just now? Use your pig brains! How could those few people make it back from Red Light Street? Ridiculous! I know exactly what kind of person Shi Bin is. The other guy doesn’t look strong either; at best, he’s a bit better than Shi Bin.”

“Sure, Ye Lian and the other woman seem capable, but they’re also dragging along a sickly person!”

At this point, he licked his lips and sneered, “Do you really believe they made it back from Red Light Street? Let me ask you, why would they come back here after escaping? That guy said he had something to do… bullshit! Do you think I’m as brainless as you? At this point, even if his own parents were here, he wouldn’t come back for them! I bet they’re planning to escape!”

“Then…”

Xu Cai’s words left everyone exchanging uncertain glances. But the boy who had spoken earlier, after hesitating for a moment, couldn’t help but ask again, “But why would they lie?”

“Why? To scare you fools! Did you see that guy? He’s carrying a huge backpack! How much stuff do you think he has in there? And he, Ye Lian, and that long-haired girl all have good knives! Look at what we’re using—baseball bats and metal pipes! If we had better weapons, would we have lost so many people?”

Xu Cai spoke fervently, his eyes reddening with excitement. “It’s already afternoon. If you ask me, they’re probably exhausted, and with that sickly person slowing them down, there’s no way they’re leaving tonight…”

“What are you suggesting…” Another person tentatively interjected.

Xu Cai clenched his fist and shook it vigorously in front of him, a ruthless glint in his eyes. “Tell me, is it easier to steal food from living people or from zombies?”

The dojo fell silent.

They had been trapped here for a long time and had encountered other survivors, but those survivors never had any food. They’d often beg to be taken in, bringing no benefits and only adding to the burden.

Xu Cai, being the strongest, naturally became the unquestioned leader of this group of survivors. Although he always took a few unlucky ones with him to search for food, the rest held onto a sliver of hope. As long as it wasn’t them being sacrificed, they turned a blind eye. Some even thought, if sacrifices were necessary to get food, it was acceptable to use others as bait—as long as they themselves weren’t chosen.

Unable to resist fate and lacking the courage to fight back, they became increasingly numb. This was the mindset of these students now.

So, when Xu Cai made this suggestion, they were shocked for a moment but soon showed greedy and excited expressions.

“Yeah, they must be lying to us…”

“They have so much good stuff; it wouldn’t hurt them to share a bit with us, right? Aren’t we classmates?”

“Exactly! Can they really watch us starve to death? That would be heartless!”

“Let’s ask them first. If they refuse, we’ll just take it by force!”

Listening to the increasingly heated discussion among the students, a satisfied grin crept across Xu Cai’s face.

The prolonged hunger and the constant shadow of imminent death had eroded their last bit of conscience. They were now like a pack of crazed animals, needing just a small spark to ignite their madness completely.

But at this moment, a sharp voice suddenly pierced through the noise: “According to you, they plan to escape from the school, which means they were just as trapped here as we are. Even if the food was collected over the past few days, how do you explain those three knives? Our school doesn’t allow controlled weapons.”

The person questioning was a petite girl. Xu Cai barely remembered her, as she rarely spoke up. He didn’t expect her to dare to stand against him now.

Yet, the girl had pointed out a crucial issue, making the group, momentarily blinded by greed, realize something was amiss.

Xu Cai felt a surge of loathing towards the girl and wished he could slap her right there, but he had to restrain himself. He forced a smile and said, “Maybe they sneaked them in. It’s not like the security checks were that strict. Remember, a few days before the disaster, there was news about our city seizing over five thousand illegal firearms and various prohibited weapons, and they were all destroyed. Doesn’t that explain it?”

“Yeah, who doesn’t have something in their dorm that the school doesn’t allow?”

“Exactly! If we just let them go, we might actually starve to death here.”

“I don’t want to starve to death. Besides, we might not even need to fight. They might be willing to give us some food.”

Despite their doubts, the group was more unwilling to give up this precious opportunity.

Xu Cai’s lips curled into a slight smirk as he shot a cold glance at the girl who now looked resigned. Xu Cai wasn’t foolish; he knew that Ling Mo’s group was far from weak. At the very least, Xia Na and Ye Lian were not to be trifled with鈥”just the high-quality weapons they carried were enough to overpower his group. If they were truly as weak as Xu Cai had made them out to be, he wouldn’t have bothered sharing so much food with his classmates or waited until Ling Mo’s group was about to leave. He would have attacked them on the spot.

His plan was simply to use these classmates as tools.

When the time came, he would let them charge ahead. No matter how strong Ling Mo’s group was, they couldn’t come out unscathed from a mass attack. Xu Cai would stay back and reap the benefits.

The ideal outcome would be both sides suffering heavy losses, leaving him with both food and weapons. Maybe he could even have his way with Ye Lian. Even if she got killed in the chaos, as long as her face remained intact, it would be fine.

“Heaven has a path you don’t take; hell has no gate, yet you barge in. Don’t blame me, Xu Cai, for being ruthless. Blame your bad luck; I have no other choice…”

Xu Cai’s cold smile remained, and his gaze locked onto the girl who had questioned him earlier.

He grabbed her, and just as she was about to scream, he covered her mouth with his hand. Then, he turned to the stunned group and flashed a sinister grin. “I know most of you haven’t fought anyone before. To increase our chances of success, we should practice building our courage, right? This classmate has decided to sacrifice herself so you can enjoy a bit and boost your morale before the fight. Those without the guts can stand aside and deal with themselves. The brave ones, step up!”

As soon as Xu Cai said this, the boys looked utterly shocked. But judging by Xu Cai’s demeanor, he was not joking.

The girl was almost lifted off the ground, her eyes brimming with tears, showing a look of pleading as she gazed at the boys staring intently at her.

Without waiting for their response, Xu Cai tore the girl’s clothes with a ripping sound. Her white skin was immediately exposed to the air. Xu Cai then threw her into their midst with a forceful shove, laughing as he said, “A lot of you haven’t had your first taste yet, right? What, too scared?”

A nearly naked girl tossed into a group of crazed individuals instantly triggered their latent beastly instincts, especially with Xu Cai’s provocative words…

As the first person lunged forward with a roar, the scene quickly spiraled out of control.

Even the other two girls couldn’t escape their fate…

Watching these people vent all the pressure and pain they had endured over the past days on the three girls, Xu Cai’s eyes appeared cold and sinister.

He suddenly turned his gaze to Teacher Luo, who had been standing by the door, and a strange smile crept onto his face.

Teacher Luo shivered when he met Xu Cai’s eyes. He took a deep look at Xu Cai, then finally bit his lip and walked into the frenzied crowd. He reached out towards one of the girl’s legs, which were raised high…