26: There are still people

The school gates came into view.

The grand gates, where tens of thousands of students once passed through daily, now had pillars covered in icicles.

The security booth at the entrance was empty, its windows shattered and chairs overturned on the floor.

Beside the gate was a notice board with large, scrawled letters in red spray paint:

[Emergency Notice]

[Due to the extreme cold wave, classes are suspended indefinitely starting today.]

[All students and staff, please leave the school and return home as soon as possible.]

Qin Lin slowly drove into the campus.

The sycamore trees on both sides of the main road were encased in ice, their branches drooping like curtains made of crystal.

The decorative lanterns on the lampposts had frozen and cracked, their fragments scattered across the snow.

Teaching buildings, the Library, laboratory buildings... all the structures had their doors and windows tightly shut, silent and still.

The glass in some buildings was broken, allowing the wind and snow to pour in and form drifts in the corridors.

No one was there.

Not a single soul.

It was as if the entire campus had been muted and then frozen in time.

Su Yuran looked at the familiar sights outside the window, her gaze dazed.

"This place... at this time before, morning classes would have just finished,"

she said softly. "The roads would be full of people crowding toward the cafeteria or rushing to their next class. The radio station would be playing music, people would be playing on the basketball courts, and there was always a line at the Library entrance..."

But now, there was only wind, snow, and silence.

Qin Lin drove to the dormitory area.

The cluster of girls' dormitory buildings stood like a row of silent giants.

Most windows were closed, but a few stood open, curtains fluttering in the wind like white funeral banners.

"My dorm is in Building 3, Room 502," Su Yuran said.

"There are some books, photos... personal items. Even though they're useless now, still..."

But she wanted to get them.

They were fragments of her past life.

Now that everything had collapsed, those fragments had become exceptionally precious.

Qin Lin understood.

"Alright," he said. "But we must be quick. It's too cold outside to stay for long."

He parked the RV beneath Building 3.

It was some distance from the main road and relatively hidden.

The two of them began to suit up.

The innermost layer was thermal underwear, followed by a sweater, a down liner, and finally, a heavy outdoor down jacket.

Their pants were also triple-layered: thermal leggings, padded trousers, and windproof over-trousers.

They wore thick gloves, hats that fully covered their ears, and scarves wrapped three times around their necks, leaving only their eyes exposed.

Even so, the moment the RV door opened, the cold slammed in like a physical entity.

Cold.

Bone-chillingly cold.

The breath Qin Lin exhaled instantly turned into ice mist.

He checked the temperature: -46°C.

Su Yuran followed him out of the vehicle. Her feet stepped into the snow, but no sound was made; it was already frozen hard.

Unless a vehicle crushed it, a person's weight alone was not enough to sink into the snow.

She pulled her neck in, clearly struggling to adapt.

"Let's go."

Qin Lin walked briskly toward the entrance of the dormitory building.

The glass building door was already shattered.

The two stepped over the shards and entered the lobby.

It was even colder inside.

The indoor temperature was even a degree or two lower than outside.

The vending machine in the lobby had been smashed open, its drinks and snacks completely looted, leaving only empty wrappers scattered on the floor.

The duty room window was broken, tables and chairs were overturned, and registration logs were scattered and frozen to the floor.

On the wall was a "Civilized Dormitory Evaluation Board."

The smiling faces in the photos now held an indescribable eeriness.

The two headed toward the stairs.

The stairwell was pitch black, with only the emergency exit sign emitting a faint green glow.

Qin Lin turned on his flashlight, illuminating the steps.

Footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell.

Second floor, third floor, fourth floor... every hallway was a mess.

Some dorm doors stood open, showing signs of having been ransacked:

Cabinets were open, beds were messy, and personal belongings were strewn everywhere.

Clearly, someone had come to "scavenge."

"Was it the students themselves, or... outsiders?" Su Yuran asked in a low voice.

"Could be both," Qin Lin said. "When the Apocalypse first started, people definitely stayed in the dorms. Once they ran out of food, they'd search other rooms. Then people from outside would come in too."

They reached the fifth floor.

Room 502 was at the end of the corridor.

The door was slightly ajar.

Su Yuran pushed the door open.

The sight inside left her stunned.

Her dorm was a four-person room with loft beds over desks.

But now, besides the iron frames, it was practically empty.

Clearly, things had been taken to be used for warmth.

Her cosmetics were scattered on the floor; several bottles were broken, their contents frozen into ice.

"It's been rummaged through..." she murmured.

Qin Lin scanned the room.

It had been thoroughly ransacked.

Her suitcase was still under the bed, but it had been opened and its contents tossed about.

Nothing was left.

Qin Lin checked the other bunks.

Nothing useful.

"Let's go." Qin Lin checked the time; he had already guessed this outcome.

"We've been out for ten minutes. We have to go back, or we'll get hypothermia."

Su Yuran nodded, stuffing the items she had found into her backpack.

Just as they were about to leave, Qin Lin suddenly stopped.

His nose twitched.

"Yuran," he whispered. "Do you smell that?"

Su Yuran paused, then sniffed carefully.

In the air, besides the scent of dust and ice, there was a hint of... smoke?

It was very faint, but definitely there.

It smelled like burning wood mixed with the pungent odor of scorched plastic.

"Someone is burning something," Qin Lin said.

Su Yuran grew tense. "There's... someone else in the school?"

"Possibly."

Qin Lin walked to the window and looked out through the frosted glass.

The dormitory cluster was silent; no lights or plumes of smoke were visible.

But the smell of smoke was real.

"It might be students who didn't manage to leave in time," Qin Lin said, "burning things for warmth."

He had no intention of investigating.

In the Apocalypse, strangers usually meant trouble.

Especially now, with only him and Su Yuran, one vehicle, and limited supplies.

When encountering other survivors, the best course of action was to avoid them.

"Let's go." Qin Lin turned around.

The two left Room 502 and hurried downstairs.

When they returned to the first-floor lobby, the smell of smoke was more pronounced.

It seemed to be drifting from a certain direction, but the exact source was unclear.

Qin Lin quickened his pace and exited the dormitory building.

The wind and snow lashed against them.

Pulling Su Yuran along, he walked quickly toward the RV parked by the road.

Twenty meters left.

Ten meters.

Five meters—

Just then, a System prompt suddenly popped up:

[Detected a nearby female with a comprehensive score ≥ 90]

[Current RV passenger capacity: 1]

[Suggestion: Bring the target on board to advance the permanent mission]

[Success Reward: New Guest Bedroom (No. 002) x1, +100 survival points, Unlock Hidden Mission x1]

Qin Lin's footsteps faltered.

Su Yuran nearly bumped into his back.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Qin Lin looked at the prompt before him, then toward the direction the smoke was coming from.

It seemed to be... toward the Library?

The System was notifying him that there was a qualified female nearby.

Bringing her on board would earn him a new guest bedroom.

Especially with the 100 survival points reward.

In the RV's System Store, these were essentially currency.

He only had a little over three hundred points right now; naturally, the more money, the better.

He could also unlock a hidden mission.

But... he glanced at Su Yuran.

The girl was looking at him in confusion, her eyes clear and bright beneath her scarf.

If he went to find that strange woman now and brought her on board, what would Su Yuran think?

And what about after bringing her on?

One more person meant one more mouth to feed and one more risk.

After all, not everyone was Su Yuran, someone he was close to and could share secrets with.

Was it worth it?

Of course it was worth it; those 100 survival points alone could buy a lot of things.

Not to mention completing another hidden mission...