The Abused Heroine Stops Pretending [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 71.3

Zhou Tiantian pouted. “They drove her away.” The “they” naturally referred to her roommates.

The roommates clung closely to the rescuers, paying no attention to Tang Jing and Zhou Tiantian behind them.

“No,” Tang Jing stopped in her tracks. “I have to find her.”

Senior Xu had always looked out for her, but two months ago, she had started avoiding her. Over the past month, they hadn’t met even once.

Now, learning that Xu Yushu had saved Zhou Tiantian’s life and had been injured in the process, Tang Jing couldn’t just abandon her.

“I’m coming too,” Zhou Tiantian grabbed her arm urgently. “Senior got hurt because of me. We can’t leave her behind.”

“Mm.” Tang Jing nodded and turned back upstairs with Zhou Tiantian.

The rescue team was busy knocking on doors one by one, so they didn’t notice the two slipping away.

Senior Xu Yushu’s dorm was on the same floor as Zhou Tiantian’s, though one was in the middle of the hallway and the other at the far end.

With most of the zombies already dealt with, the two made it safely to Xu Yushu’s door.

Tang Jing knocked lightly. “Senior?”

Silence. She wasn’t sure if Xu Yushu was even inside.

Most seniors had already left for internships, and Xu Yushu’s dorm was usually empty except for her.

Tang Jing knocked again. This time, there was a faint sound from inside. She glanced at Zhou Tiantian before speaking to the person behind the door. “Senior, it’s me Lou Jing.”

The noise inside stopped again.

If not for the earlier sound, Tang Jing would have thought the room was empty.

The dormitory door had an old-fashioned lock. She pulled out her student ID from her pocket, slid it into the door crack, and flicked it upward. The lock clicked open, but something heavy was blocking the door from the inside, forcing her to push hard to open it.

As she finally managed to push the door open, she saw her senior, her feet tied with rope, a cloth stuffed in her mouth holding a fruit knife, seemingly ready to end her own life.

Seeing this, Tang Jing immediately rushed forward and snatched the knife from her hand.

“Senior, you!” Tang Jing stared at her in disbelief.

Xu Yushu gave a bitter smile. She hadn’t cried when facing death, but now, upon seeing Lou Jing, her eyes welled up with tears. However, when she noticed Zhou Tiantian standing behind her junior, she turned her face away, roughly wiping her tears with the back of her hand before pulling the cloth from her mouth. “Why are you here?”

Zhou Tiantian said worriedly, “I told A-Jing what just happened. There’s no way we could leave you behind, Senior. Come with us.”

Xu Yushu opened her mouth to refuse, but when her gaze met Lou Jing’s, she pressed her lips together and nodded in reluctant agreement.

She couldn’t bear to die. As long as she was still conscious and aware, she wanted to keep looking at her junior, even if their relationship remained nothing more than that of senior and junior.

Tang Jing crouched down to untie the rope binding Xu Yushu’s feet, the other end was tied to the bed. Frowning, she looked up at her. “You tied yourself up, were you afraid you’d turn into one of those monsters too?”

A choked sob escaped Xu Yushu’s throat, but she quickly suppressed it. “I don’t want to eat people.”

Tang Jing pursed her lips, loosening the ropes around her feet while silently communicating with her system.

“System, is Xu Yushu the person I’m looking for?” Tang Jing asked.

The system naturally knew who she meant. “Xu Yushu, proxy account ID: Shi Wanqing.”

The last time she entered this world, Xu Yushu had simply been an ordinary senior someone she could treat as an NPC to complete her mission.

But this time, a senior colleague had transmigrated alongside her.

And that senior colleague had ended up as the pitiful senior before her. The thought made Tang Jing frantic, she had no intention of following the original plot anymore.

Because, in the original storyline, Senior Shi would leave them before turning into a zombie. They wouldn’t meet again until much later, and when they did, it would be a permanent farewell. Just thinking about it made Tang Jing’s frown deepen enough to crush a fly.

The system offered a solution. “20 points can unlock an alternate branch of the plot.”

Tang Jing was puzzled. “Since when was this an option?”

The system replied, “A perk for gold-level fast-transmigrators.”

As a newcomer, the only one who could possess such a title and privileges was Senior Shi.

Tang Jing hadn’t expected to receive Senior Shi’s benefits, and her gloomy mood lightened considerably. She continued, “How many points do I have right now? And how are these points calculated?”

“Successfully completing a world grants 50 points. Unlocking a hidden achievement grants an additional 50 points. Given that you’ve successfully completed the last two worlds and unlocked hidden achievements in both, your current account balance is 200 points.”

“Deduct them,” Tang Jing said without hesitation.

The system reminded her, “Your final point total will affect your year-end bonus.”

“It’s fine. If there isn’t one, then so be it.” Tang Jing was utterly nonchalant.

If she had to choose between Senior Shi and a year-end bonus, she would unhesitatingly pick the former.

After all, the reason she became a fast traveler was for Senior Shi. The year-end bonus was just a secondary perk.

System: “There are currently no changes to the side plot.”

“When will there be?” Tang Jing quickly asked.

System: “When the side plot is triggered.”

Now reassured, Tang Jing untied the rope from her senior’s legs and helped her up.

“Should we leave now?” Zhou Tiantian asked.

“Let’s go.” Seeing the wound on her senior’s arm, Tang Jing tore a strip from the nearby bedsheet and quickly bandaged it. “The rescue team is on the field. We can get medicine there.”

“Okay.” Xu Yushu didn’t dare to look at her too much, afraid she might do something inappropriate without realizing it.

However, there were too many teachers and students at the school not just theirs, but the entire city, and even the whole country, was beginning to see outbreaks of the virus. Some areas had already fallen completely in a short amount of time.

Tang Jing, along with her senior and Zhou Tiantian, had just reached the first floor when they spotted a group of zombies lingering outside the door. If they wanted to get out from here and head to the playground, it wouldn’t be possible.

“The window in the first-floor laundry room can get us out,” Xu Yushu suggested, noticing her hesitation.

“Let’s go,” Tang Jing said without hesitation.

The three turned and headed down the hallway toward the other side, the laundry room was at the end of each corridor.

Once inside, sure enough, there was an open window. The protective railing had broken some time ago, and no one had come to fix it. Now, it served as a convenient exit for the three of them.

Behind the dormitory was a small grove. Since the zombie outbreak had happened at night, this area had naturally become the safest place.

Tang Jing jumped out first, scanning the surroundings to confirm it was safe before waving the others forward.

Zhou Tiantian was the second to come out. As she jumped down, she nearly twisted her ankle, but Tang Jing swiftly grabbed her arm to steady her. If she had actually sprained it, escaping would have been much harder.

Xu Yushu was the last to emerge.

Whether it was due to the zombie virus circulating in her body or not, she felt weak all over. As she jumped down, her body lurched forward. Tang Jing caught her, immediately noticing the burning heat of her skin.

Tang Jing’s brow furrowed. “System, is there any way to alter the side plot?”

“No.”

Tang Jing: “Can Xu Yushu’s infection not be changed?”

The system was merciless. “No.”

Tang Jing pressed her lips together and said nothing more, leading the two of them along the wall.

When they reached the corner ahead, she stopped. From here, they could see the direction of the playground, but based on her observations, the path there was swarming with zombies.

“What do we do?” Zhou Tiantian asked anxiously, having seen the same thing.

Tang Jing said, “We’ll have to find another way.”

Just then, chaos erupted on the playground. The three of them, who had been about to leave, paused.

Zhou Tiantian tensed. “What’s happening over there? Why is it so chaotic?”

Tang Jing quickly pinpointed the issue. “Someone among the survivors has turned.”

In a densely packed crowd, once one person succumbed to the virus, those nearby would be doomed. If people couldn’t disperse quickly, the infection would spread exponentially, one to two, two to four, and so on.

Zhou Tiantian immediately looked at Xu Yushu, her gaze landing on the bandaged arm.

“I…” Xu Yushu hid her arm behind her back.

Tang Jing didn’t notice the exchange between the two. Her eyes returned from the playground as she said, “Let’s go. We’ll find our own way out.”

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