The atmosphere inside the building was extremely gloomy.
The sound of stifled sobs along with whispers containing words of fear and worry could be heard almost everywhere.
Some men were comforting beautiful women and vowing to protect them with their lives, thus gaining the favor of those helpless women who had no one else to trust. However, how could those men who did not have the courage to pick up a weapon to fight defend them? But, with the condition the world was in, sometimes even false hope was welcomed with open arms.
Among these men was Liang Peng.
As one of the few men within this group who not only had the courage to fight, but also possessed the ability to protect others, Liang Peng, who was lustful by nature, was surrounded by a group of five female university students.
Liang Peng's appearance was not brilliant and, in fact, he was slightly ugly rather than handsome. However, what the naturally weaker women needed was to survive in this new world; this was something they had realized after a day of witnessing their friends dying before their eyes like flies.
Chen He could also be surrounded by beauties if he wanted to; even more than Liang Peng. However, he simply stood in a corner as he looked at Liang Peng with a casual glance.
Bang!
Suddenly the door opened with a loud bang, drawing everyone's gaze. Each of them praying to God or any saint that no more enemies had appeared.
At first, when they saw Shangguan Bing Xue and Bai Zemin, they unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. However, after seeing her supporting him and seeing his staggering footsteps, their expressions were filled with disbelief; especially those people who had been saved by him.
"He... He was injured?"
"What creature could have been able to injure him to the point of taking away his capacity to move on his own?"
"How could this be possible..."
The group of surviving students and teachers began to murmur and their gazes were filled with terror and apprehension.
If there was an existence out there capable of causing Bai Zemin, one of the strongest people in this group and one of the few who actually had the courage and ability to fight, to be left in such a miserable condition where he couldn't even move on his own, then how were they going to survive? Dread and worries about the future overwhelmed their weak minds once again.
Liang Peng also had a slight change in his previously smiling expression and for a moment forgot that he was apparently living the best moment of his life.
As for Chen He, he was stunned for different reasons. Seeing Shangguan Bing Xue supporting Bai Zemin, Chen He could not believe what he was seeing and for a moment even doubted whether his eyes were working properly.
"Bing Xue you... Are you okay?" with eyes wide open and full of disbelief he asked.
"I'm fine." Shangguan Bing Xue's reply was short and cold as usual.
As for Bai Zemin, he couldn't help but look at Chen He as if he was an idiot. The injured person here who couldn't even move properly was him, not her. Who was he asking then? However, he didn't care too much and the next second he forgot about it.
"I won't say thank you since currently that word is even less valuable than it was in the past." Bai Zemin looked at the beautiful woman beside him, who was once again completely soaked because of him, and said in a deep voice, "Today, it could be said that you got me out of a trouble that could have cost me my life. In the future, I will definitely return the favor to you until I'm even."
Without waiting for a response, he gritted his teeth and removed the arm he was using as support on her. Feeling embracing pain under his feet, pain that even freezing water could not alleviate, he began to walk to his place away from everyone.
Every step he took was heavy and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead even though his body was cold.
Seeing this, it didn't matter if it was Shangguan Bing Xue, Chen He, Liang Peng, or the rest of the survivors; they all realized the pain he was feeling at that moment was too great for words to describe.
"He..." Chen He seemed to want to say something but as he looked at Shangguan Bing Xue he preferred to remain silent.
As for Shangguan Bing Xue, she watched his back slowly disappearing at the end of the corridor and although she really didn't like Bai Zemin, she accepted that at least, he was a man with courage and bravery; unlike others.
She looked at Liang Peng and her eyes flashed with disgust, hatred, and disdain as she coldly whispered, "You piece of scum."
In fact, the reason why Shangguan Bing Xue was alone when she went to find Bai Zemin was because Chen He had to stay behind to see to it that Liang Peng didn't do something stupid since when she invited the two of them to go find him, Liang Peng was the first to immediately refuse saying that Bai Zemin had wanted to go out alone on his own.
While Liang Peng's words were true, Shangguan Bing Xue had received the highest education in society. Apart from personal talent, she had worked very hard to become what she was today. She, intelligent, could see the bigger picture and knew that Bai Zemin's help would be needed in the long run because regardless of his negative points he was a good fighter.
Therefore, when Liang Peng refused and upon discovering the almost naked lust in his eyes, Shangguan Bing Xue had no choice but to leave Chen He here to take care of him and prevent him from doing anything stupid. As for why she didn't stay and let Chen He go find Bai Zemin, it was because even with her self-control she had no confidence in putting up with the strongman's stupidities and might end up turning him into an ice statue.
"Bing Xue, are you really okay?" now that they were finally a little further away from the rest of the people, Chen He looked at her worriedly and asked.
"..."
Shangguan Bing Xue did not answer and, as if tired, closed her eyes as she sat down in a corner. Her white dress was completely wet, hugging and outlining the curves of her body making her even more charming than she naturally already was.
Even the gentlemanly and kind Chen He couldn't help but let his eyes run wild and secretly stole a glance or two before closing his eyes to avoid looking anymore.
Countless gazes fell on her and seemed to want to eat her with their eyes. But she had no intention or energy to pay attention to them... She had gotten used to this a long time ago anyway, to the looks of desire, lust...
* * *
"F*ck its mother!" Bai Zemin couldn't help but curse as he gritted his teeth and dropped to the ground like a broken rag without caring about anything but relieving the pressure on his feet.
A person could never imagine how horrible the pain of feeling their own skin peeling off and their flesh tearing after being burned by the fire was. Bai Zemin had never in his life experienced such dreadful pain like this and he never wished to experience it again if possible.
"Hehe... That's what you get for acting all proud!" Lilith teased him mercilessly. Still, she reached over and helped him lean back more comfortably against the wall with careful movements.
"Leave me alone." Bai Zemin rolled his eyes and grunted. His chest rose and fell as he took deep breaths, fighting the pain he felt. "I already owe that woman and I am truly grateful for her help. Whatever her reasons, the fact is that she helped me in my weakest moment... But I do not wish to owe her anything more."
"You and that woman have known each other before?" Lilith asked as she sat down beside him.
"No. Before the world became this hell, she and I had never interacted and probably never in our lives would have." Bai Zemin closed his eyes and replied quietly, feeling exhausted.
"Then why do you seem to be so wary of her?" Lilith had noticed that while Bai Zemin kept his distance from everyone, he seemed especially guarded against Shangguan Bing Xue.
While all the men were enchanted with her in some way or another, Bai Zemin was doing his best to stay away; the more the better. This was something that had confused her until now so she decided to ask around to get to know him better since there seemed to be a backstory. That was the reason why Lilith had thought that they had known each other before.
Bai Zemin, exhausted, unconsciously replied, "All of you... Women... Are not a good bird."
"Eh?" Lilith was surprised by his words. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but when she looked at him she realized that he had already fallen asleep.
The pain was so great that Bai Zemin had immediately fallen asleep as soon as he was in a relatively safe place. After all, he was not only in physical pain; his mind was exhausted beyond words as he had not yet had a proper rest after fighting a battle in which his life was about to end on several occasions.
In fact, he was so tired that he didn't even notice what he had said at the end before he fell unconscious.