Mu Bai walked few steps in front of Li Xinwen and Manager Su. Within the emergency staircase, only the three of them are present so each step they take reverberate through the concealed room.
Their journey down didn't meet any mishap. No zombies wandered into the emergency staircase, and they were able to reach the bottom floor without meeting any obstacle. There were several non-intact corpse lying around and the few that was slightly intact has their head smashed open. "It looks like those people are doing alright," Li Xinwen said. "I do hope nothing will go wrong once we meet again..." he added in a low voice as he exits the emergency stairwell.
"Don't worry. I'll be there." Mu Bai said as he quietly followed suit.
The hallway that greets him was worse than the emergency stairwell. More dead bodies lie around the floor and some even started to turn into a zombie. Li Xinwen didn't waste any time and asked Mu Bai to kill them before they could pose any danger. "Da Bai, careful not to go too far. And Manager Su, if you cannot handle it, just close your eyes. The stress is not good for the baby. Don't worry, I will protect you and once everything is cleared, I will tell you to open your eyes."
All of a sudden, Li Xinwen's expression changed from serious to happy. With his heightened hearing sense, he could hear the incoming military teams close by. And he could also sense a certain someone's spiritual signature within the group. "Our help is here. They are very close. We will be able to meet them once we get to the entrance," Li Xinwen said with a smile on his face.
After killing two more zombies, a door at the end of the hall opened. Li Xinwen instantly recognized the presence of the person behind the door. Even without looking, Li Xinwen knew who it was. "An Yunxu, why are you guys still here?"
However, An Yunxu refused to answer. Instead, he hurriedly ushered Li Xinwen and the others aside. "Come! Hurry, hurry!" he said in excitement.
Li Xinwen didn't know what was going on but he also sensed few other people inside so he wasn't worried that An Yunxu may be planning something bad. He simply nodded to him to continue.
"We went to scout the main entrance earlier, but it was chaotic. There were tons of zombies and survivors pouring in, either to kill or to seek refuge. We didn't want to get caught up with it so we hid here," An Yunxu reported as soon as they got into the room.
"Yeah, based on what we saw earlier, I think the main entrance would be full of zombies by now. We are already close to the main entrance so we should just wait here until help arrives," another survivor within the group chirped in.
"Who is that guy?" Li Xinwen asked pointing towards the man standing beside An Yunxu.
"That's Wen Ping, the producer for [Death to My Destiny]," An Yunxu explained as he looked at Li Xinwen worriedly. After all, it was known within the entertainment industry that Li Xinwen and this producer has bad blood.
"I see," Li Xinwen said with an understanding nod. "Let's get out of here first, and then we can talk about it later."
"Did you not hear what we told you earlier? The entrance must've been overrun by zombies by now. We should just wait!"
"You can wait all you want, but I won't wait," Li Xinwen said in a firm voice. "I still have people that I am worried about back home. The earlier I left, the faster I can get back home."
An Yunxu and Wen Ping exchanged glances and both came to a silent agreement after listening to what Li Xinwen said.
"Li Xinwen, I understand your concern for your loved ones. I know you have an old mother waiting for you but with the current situation, I think it's better for you to prepare for the worst," Wen Ping said, trying to sound calm. "Rather than rushing into swarms of zombies for someone whose life and death are—"
"Shut your mouth!" Li Xinwen's cold voice cut through the air and all of a sudden, the temperature around them dropped by several degrees. One can even see their breath due to the cold. "Try to curse my mother again and I'll throw you into the swarm of zombies myself."
The room fell into a tense silence as Li Xinwen's word hung in the air. An Yunxu and the other survivors in the room exchanged glances, realizing that the something is wrong. Several people started to rub their arms, feeling the cold. Wen Ping also took a step back, his expression fearful.
"Li Xinwen… Teacher Li, I apologize for my words… I really didn't mean anything bad earlier. If you want to go then I won't stand in your way," he stammered, his voice filled with trepidation.
Li Xinwen's icy demeanor softened slightly as he took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself. The frost in the room gradually dissipated, returning to a normal temperature. He looked at Wen Ping with a piercing gaze, but his voice held a tinge of frost.
"It's good that you understand, Director Wen."
Wen Ping nodded quickly, his fear evident in his eyes. "Yes, yes, I understand, Teacher Li. I apologize once again for my earlier words. I won't interfere with your decision."
An Yunxu was still staring at Li Xinwen. Looking at the man's determination, he couldn't help thinking if Li Xinwen has a great plan to leave here unscathed. True, the safest way would be to stay here and wait for reinforcement but what if the city is overrun by a lot of zombies and help is delayed for several days? With limited foods, surely everyone will suffer.
"Xiao Wen, do you have a plan…?" An Yunxu asked in a hesitant tone. "Can I join you?"
Li Xinwen frowned as he looked at An Yunxu. He had a complicated feelings about An Yunxu. For one, he found out that the accident that caused the original Li Xinwen to fall into coma was man-made and the perpetrator is this young man before him. But at the same time, he felt that if it wasn't because of that accident, he wouldn't have had the chance to transmigrate over.
"I promise I won't cause any trouble!"
An Yunxu's voice sounded again, snapping him out of his thought. He gazed into An Yunxu's eyes which seemed to be filled with silent plea so in the end, he could only sigh. "Alright, you can come along. But I will not bring anyone who will only eat soft rice. You want to follow, you'll have to contribute."
"I know! I didn't arrive to the lower floor by hiding behind people…" An Yunxu replied. "I think I am already used to killing the zombies."
"Good. Then pick up your weapon," Li Xinwen said. "The plan is quite simple. The military is merely 300 meters away from us but they are slowed down by the zombies outbreak. To lessen the burden of our army brothers, we should help them secure a place for them to call a temporary base. The main entrance has a big area, and I believe it is a good place for them," Li Xinwen explained. This wasn't his original plan but when he thought about it again, he felt that he could do Xue Jun a favor.
Currently, the zombies are still a low level zombies. Their movement are slow and their limbs are stiff. He felt that as long as few of them work together, clearing the entrance shouldn't be a problem. And if thing does go awry, he can always just use his guns.
"But Xinwen, with just us four… is it enough?" An Yunxu asked worriedly. "Plus…" he let his word linger as his gaze moved towards Manager Su.
"It is fine. You don't have to worry about Manger Su. I will make sure to take care of her.
Though the ability of the three of us is quite limited, it'll be different if the rest of you joins.
Who knows, you might get 'rewarded' by the military for your help," Li Xinwen glanced over to the rest of the crowd that was in the room.
"Why should we go risk our lives when we can wait here? You've said it before, they're only 300 meters away…"
"Then I guess it's only us fou—"
"Wait, I would like to join!" someone from the crowd raised her hands and walked over to stand in front of Li Xinwen. "I also have a younger sister whom I am worried about. If I can leave this place earlier, I can go over to her school to find her," she added as she looked at Li Xinwen with unwavering gaze.
"Umm… Can I also follow?" another person walked out of the crowd. This time, it was an elderly lady who is wearing a janitor's uniform. Though she appears to be past her prime, the bloodied, broken wooden stick in her arm shows that she had her fair share of zombie killing.
Her eyes did not show any sign of decadence like several other people who are younger than her. In fact, just from her eyes, Li Xinwen can see that her will to live is far stronger than the rest.
While staring at her, Li Xinwen felt that having her along would actually ease out his burden slightly. "You can follow. But I only need you to stay with my Manager and take care of her. That way, I can focus on killing the zombies," Li Xinwen said with a nod.
After that, Li Xinwen waited for a while but no one seems to want to follow them. So he didn't waste anymore time and led the small temporary team out of the room.