This time, Yin Yi seemed to have hit the giant spider's brain. A single Silver Thorn was all it took to kill it.
Now, only one heavily injured giant spider, one unharmed one, and a floor covered in disgusting spiderlings remained in the hall.
"Dammit, aren't spiders afraid of fire? Does anyone have a lighter? Let's burn down these damn webs first!"
"The convenience store has lighters! I'll go get them!"
Teacher Zhao's death ignited a fire in everyone. The adrenaline rush made them forget their fear. It was as if the survival instincts of their ancient ancestors had awakened. Taking advantage of the chaos, a few students braved the danger and ran to the convenience store on the side, looking for anything that could start a fire.
The rest stayed in the hall to face the giant spiders in a final showdown.
The uninjured giant spider saw one of its companions grievously wounded and immobile, and the other killed instantly. Though it looked ferocious, screeching and directing the surrounding spiderlings to attack the students, its legs were slowly backing away.
Seeing this, Han Ning shouted, "Everyone with ranged weapons, fire at that spider! Force it into a corner, and I'll finish it off!"
"The rest of you, keep the injured one busy! Don't let it escape or attack anyone."
Hearing this, those with compound bows raised them and took aim at the giant spider.
Others grabbed whatever they could—bricks, stools from the floor—and hurled them at the creature.
As the barrage of makeshift weapons rained down, the giant spider dodged, its body a blur. It prepared to leap to the ceiling to evade the attack.
But in the next second, Han Ning anticipated its escape route and whispered, "Yin Yi, Silver Thorn!"
*POP!*
With a SWISH, a flash of green light shot out. The Silver Thorn precisely struck the giant spider's abdomen, and the Wood Attribute Spiritual Energy exploded inside it.
Its armor cracked, and pale green blood spilled onto the floor.
While it was screeching in agony, another Silver Thorn struck it in the head.
The spider's brain burst, and the giant creature fell silent.
As for the remaining, heavily injured spider, it too was killed by a barrage of miscellaneous projectiles, thanks to the students' combined efforts.
At the same time, the students who had gone to the convenience store looking for kindling returned, carrying a large bag of lighters and candles.
The school's convenience store didn't sell cigarettes, but it still stocked items like lighters and candles.
But with all three giant spiders dead, the kindling was no longer needed for the moment.
Working together, the students dealt with the remaining hundreds of palm-sized spiderlings. Like stomping on cockroaches, they crushed them one by one, leaving a mess of shattered remains scattered across the floor.
A thick, putrid stench filled the air.
Everyone's nerves had been stretched taut during the fight. Now that all the giant spiders were dead, they finally relaxed, a profound sense of exhaustion washing over them.
But life had to go on, and there was no time to rest. Students with first-aid knowledge went to help the few who had their chests torn open by the spiders, staunching the bleeding and bandaging their wounds.
Fortunately, the wounds were on their chests, where their ribs offered some protection, so the injuries weren't too severe.
The rest split into two groups. One went into the nearby convenience store to gather food and supplies, while the other was tasked with cleaning up the battlefield.
Han Ning, his two friends, and the large student worked together to move the bodies of Teacher Zhao and another student who had died. They dragged them to the side and covered them with a bedsheet from the convenience store.
"Teacher Zhao was at the front, protecting us. That's how he got ambushed by those spiders," the large student said, his expression sorrowful as he wiped his face with a bloodstained sleeve.
Han Ning and his friends felt a bitter pang in their hearts. They had seen too many classmates and teachers die over the past few days, and all they felt was a bleak sorrow.
The four of them straightened Teacher Zhao's clothes and respectfully composed his features before standing up together. They surveyed the hall, filled with the mangled corpses of the spiders.
'Hundreds of spiderlings and three giant spiders, each larger than a grown man... They would provide more than enough nutrients for the Silver Lotus Wood.'
"Hey man, what's your name? Your Silver Lotus Wood is seriously badass."
The large student patted Han Ning's shoulder and asked.
"I'm Han Ning. I was a computer science major. These two are my roommates, from the same program."
Han Ning introduced himself, Lin Tianhe, and Chen Linyu.
"I'm Luo Chen. Mechanical engineering."
The large student, Luo Chen, managed a faint smile.
After making their introductions, the four of them immediately got back to work cleaning up the spider corpses.
Han Ning picked up the corpse of a relatively intact spiderling.
Instantly, the text [Energy +0.01] flashed before his eyes.
'One spiderling only gives +0.01 Energy... but there are at least eight or nine hundred of them here...'
The thought flashed through his mind. He silently bent down and started gathering the corpses, piling them in one spot.
Han Ning didn't absorb the Energy from all the spiderlings. He only took about a third, gaining a total of around 3 Energy points. He planned to leave the rest for the other students.
'This was a group effort,' he thought. 'I can't take it all for myself.'
'Besides, if everyone's Silver Lotus Wood gets stronger, it'll be a huge help for surviving in this strange wasteland.'
Before long, a small mountain of nearly a thousand green-blooded spiderlings was piled up in a corner of the hall.
Luo Chen pointed to the three large spiders nearby. "I just talked it over with the others," he said. "You three take two of the big ones, and the rest of us will share one. As for the little ones, you can take a third of them."
"That sounds fair to me. Tianhe, Lin Yu, what do you think?" Han Ning asked, turning to his two friends.
'Technically, Yin Yi killed all three giant spiders,' he reflected. 'But without the others' help and sacrifices, they never could have done it so quickly. Everyone deserves credit.'
"No problem," Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu said, nodding in unison.
Just then, about a dozen other students emerged from the convenience store and the cafeteria's kitchen, some pushing shopping carts and others dragging large woven plastic sacks.
"We've gathered about half the supplies from the second floor. The carts are full, so we'll need to make two or three trips," one of the students announced to the others as he took inventory.
"Alright then, let's divide up the supplies, get everything downstairs, and head back for now," Luo Chen, who clearly held some authority among the group, clapped his hands and made the decision.
Barely an hour had passed from start to finish, yet it felt like an eternity.
As they carried the boxes of supplies down to the first floor, the others guarding the entrance to Cafeteria No. 9 were still fighting off scattered Soul Beasts.
"We need to leave soon! The smell of blood is attracting more and more Soul Beasts. More powerful ones are already on their way."
The teacher in the lead shouted to the students moving supplies, his tone grim. He pointed toward an area to the southeast.
His words were accompanied by waves of chilling hisses that sounded like steam whistles.
Han Ning looked where the teacher was pointing. The unsettling sound was indeed coming from that direction.