Chapter 21: No Zuo No Die

"... Alright, I'll count."

Ming Yang finally realized what Yi Zhen was up to; the other boy had definitely come out, but was now clearly destroying the evidence to avoid leaving such a strong odor, which showed some responsibility, yet his bladder refused to listen, so he needed to count quickly and finish this soon, as the urge to urinate was growing increasingly unbearable, making him suffer greatly.

"Mm-hmm, sorry about that."

Yi Zhen had no choice; since he intended to destroy the evidence, he naturally had to pack it into a trash bag to be halfway done, and since he was still holding it in his hands, he certainly couldn't let someone else come in and see it, so it was unavoidable.

Fortunately, today's trash had all been neatly packed in bags and not yet taken out, presenting the perfect opportunity to conceal these dirty clothes.

Without further hesitation, he stuffed everything indiscriminately into the large black plastic bag before him, which already contained no fewer than several dozen pieces of trash; with the addition of this new variety, it bulged even more tightly.

Thankfully, after tying several tight, sealed knots, nothing protruded from the bag; aside from the increased volume of trash, there was absolutely no other change—perfect!

"Ming Yang, come in, it's ready!"

Yi Zhen promptly called out to Ming Yang, who had been silently counting the seconds; in truth, all of this could have been done in ten seconds, but twenty was just to be safe, preventing the scenario where the knots weren't properly tied before someone entered, and imagine if they casually asked what he was doing—eating stolen trash? How awkward that would be.

"You're so slow."

Although Yi Zhen hadn't exceeded twenty seconds, Ming Yang still felt compelled to grumble; did he know how those every single second had felt? That gradually intensifying urge to urinate, if held back or if he lost control, would render everything Bai Da; despite desperately trying to count the seconds accurately, his mind had already silently reached one hundred—one hundred, do you understand what that concept means? He nearly ruined his cultivation base.

"..."

Yi Zhen watched as Ming Yang appeared like a fleeing hare, vanished again just as quickly, and even managed to spit out a remark; ah well, fine, it was all his fault, there was no other way; between social death and saving face, he had straightforwardly chosen face, for his skin was thin, capable only of chatting casually with girls, possessing no other outstanding talents, perfectly ordinary.

Don't misunderstand; chatting casually meant just that, with no ulterior motives whatsoever. A female classmate was simply a female classmate, and he was widely recognized as an innocent child, a fact even endorsed by his teachers.

"Ahem, Ming Yang, I'm going to take out the trash."

Forget Ming Yang's nagging for now; one step remained incomplete: disposing of this bag of trash to prevent the smell from spreading while it sat here, avoiding being overwhelmed by toxic fumes again as before, making this step extremely important.

"Wait, Yi Zhen, don't leave yet, I have something to tell you!"

Hearing this, Ming Yang inside the bathroom grew anxious, disregarding everything else; supporting his 'gun barrel', he rapidly fired off 'bullets', hoping to finish quickly so he could inquire about certain matters; earlier, due to the emergency, he had prioritized expediency, but now, he naturally needed to get clear answers before letting the matter rest.

"Let's talk when I get back, I'm going, I'm going."

Although Yi Zhen didn't understand what the other boy wanted to say, an intuition told him it might relate to his abilities, so he immediately grabbed the trash and left; anyway, he wouldn't be back for a while, and by the time he returned, they might all be asleep, saving further trouble.

As he passed Yun Hen's bed and was about to walk straight past, a sudden inspiration struck him; oh, right, he seemed to have forgotten that Yun Hen's bedding and pillow also needed to be discarded, so he quickly used one hand to roll them up.

Fortunately, the quilt and other items were still clean; otherwise, carrying them would have been even more difficult; this load was already enough to leave him gasping for breath, but there was no help for it; dealing with these things required personal effort, as he couldn't ask others for help without exposing himself as the culprit.

His mobile phone naturally couldn't be left behind, as going out without it was impossible; it was just a pity that the battery level looked rather bleak, suggesting he'd need to buy a power bank when he went out; he felt as though he'd forgotten something—was it an illusion, or something else? Never mind, let's go, gogogo!

"Yi Zhen, Yi Zhen!"

Ming Yang, having received no response despite his desperate calls, gnashed his teeth in frustration; unfortunately, the culprit had already taken a huge pile of items to wait for the elevator at the lobby, so naturally, no one answered.

As for the neighbors? They were eating, drinking, and blasting music through Bluetooth speakers, making so much noise that there was no way they could hear his shouting from here.

"Damn you, Yi Zhen, just you wait; ouch~ surprisingly, surprisingly this even triggered that thing, looks like I can't chase after you; just wait until you return, I'll teach you a lesson."

Seeing no response after a long wait, Ming Yang, who was about to pull up his pants, was suddenly overwhelmed by another sensation, forcing him to squat down; his mouth continued to chatter incessantly, marking his return to the talkative and sharp-tongued Ming Yang of old; come on, give it some energy, be yourself! Ahem.

"By the way, where did Zhen Lin go?"

Yi Zhen pressed the button for the first floor inside the elevator, only just remembering that Zhen Lin had been absent since earlier; he wondered how he would explain it if he encountered him midway.

Although the dormitory building was well-equipped with three elevators, only two were usable; the third was reserved exclusively for faculty and staff, a privilege of the dorm manager, intended to ensure quick access in case of emergencies; therefore, if Yi Zhen continued taking the elevator, he faced two problems.

First, while there were two elevators to choose from, one would naturally take whichever arrived faster without a second thought; consequently, the probability of encountering Zhen Lin would be significantly higher, easily leading to social death, especially since the rolled-up bedding was long and bulky, not to mention the pillow wrapped within it; it was far too risky.

Second, Zhen Lin's current whereabouts were unknown, but given his habitual dislike for stairs and the fact that it was currently a holiday with few people around, his first choice would naturally be the elevator! Thus, it seemed he couldn't stay here; who knew where Zhen Lin actually was? Perhaps wandering on the roof, or maybe waiting downstairs for the elevator; he recalled that the other elevator previously showed no indication of stopping, ascending, or descending, meaning no one had pressed its button.

Therefore, the conclusion was clear: exit the elevator quickly to avoid a dangerous collision.

Since the path had been smooth so far, he had already descended from the eighth floor to the fourth; he hurriedly tapped the button for the third floor, daring not to go lower, as the probability of an encounter would be too great; instead, he would settle for the stairs, which he could barely manage to carry the load down.

With a 'Ding!', the elevator successfully stopped at Yi Zhen's intended location; he temporarily set down his belongings, poked his head out to scan the surroundings; hmm, safe, let's go!

He picked up the items he had set down again, moving slowly out of the elevator; his strength was simply insufficient, otherwise, he wouldn't be struggling so much.

So why not look for an advertisement to instantly enhance his strength? Forget it; last-minute cramming was best avoided, and with the phone's battery level, he couldn't afford the drain; what if it shut down completely? Would he even be able to leave the building then?

Most critically, lingering here to search slowly might not yield suitable results and could lead to an accidental encounter with Zhen Lin, which would defeat the original purpose; therefore, he would endure it; the school gate was only a few hundred meters away, and he would arrive soon.

Phew~ offering himself a little comfort, he regained his confidence, gathered his strength, and swayed unsteadily toward the left-side main entrance.

The right side was a wall; apart from telling you that this path was blocked, it offered no further explanation; if you insisted on forcing your way through, it had never stopped anyone, provided you had the perseverance to chisel through that spot, which would result in an interaction with the wind, allowing you to fully experience nature and its gentle breeze; if someone else came along afterward, it would merely add one more corpse to the news reports, two lives lost in one incident, truly lamentable and sigh-worthy!