Though usually one of the flock, I rarely spoke up. Section Chief Wang was momentarily stunned by my words, a flicker of anger crossing his face. But at that moment, I had little energy to spare for his mood. Seeing that banging on the wall was useless, my mind raced, desperately seeking a solution. Then, my eyes caught sight of those several backpacks stuffed with quilts.

There should be a few more quilts inside the packs. A new thought struck me: if things got desperate, I could use the quilts to start a fire and block the hallway entrance, perhaps buying us some time. As for what to do after the quilts burned, I frankly didn't have the capacity to consider it then.

This situation felt like an old adage in practice: treating a dead horse as if it were alive. At worst, it was a simple death. At least I, old man that I was, still had a pistol; in the critical moment, I could at least find a quick end.

If Section Chief Wang and the others knew what I was thinking right now, I’d likely be the first one to suffer.

Though they still hesitated, they quickly came to their senses and began tearing open the quilt covers. The military-grade blankets were certainly well-made; it took considerable effort for the few of us to rip them into strips. I rushed forward and ignited the cotton stuffing. Unexpectedly, this action, intended to help, brought about an even greater crisis!

The moment the quilts caught fire, a sudden alarm blared in my mind. Ever since I first stepped on those strange bugs, I'd had a nagging discomfort, and only now did I realize precisely where that feeling stemmed from.

It was the sound! The sound they made when stepped on! No matter the insect, none should produce that crisp, shattering noise like breaking glass. Such a sound suggested only two possibilities: first, that the bugs had dried out completely into husks; or second, that their shells had frozen solid while they were crawling!

What would a swarm of frozen insects do when encountering a bonfire?

Before I could even fully process this, they were already swarming madly toward the blaze. Under the beam of the flashlight and the glow of the fire, at least a hundred monstrous bugs crawled toward us from several directions. If they got close, the few of us would truly be reduced to insect fodder, returning to nature!

"Damn it, I'll risk it all!"

Just as I prepared to jump out and try to fight a path clear, the nearest few bugs moved even faster than us, leaping directly into the fire.

But before they even hit the ground, I heard several sharp cracks—they were shattering into pieces in mid-air.

The fallen insect corpses nearly extinguished the faint fire. My heart clenched, and I nervously looked at the people beside me. As expected, the others were so terrified they couldn't even speak, their hands shaking so much they couldn't hold the remaining quilt pieces firmly.

Seeing their state, rage flared within me, and I roared, "Damn it! Are you looking to die? Move faster!"

Before the words faded, Section Chief Wang let out a strange cry, his finger pointing rigidly at a spot, unable to retract.

I followed the direction of his finger, and with that sight, even my own movements froze in terror. Toward the direction of that concrete cover, a massive swarm of strange bugs was barreling towards us, dense and unstoppable!

The bugs closest to us were continuously emitting that strange, crisp shattering sound, while the flames looked as if they could be snuffed out at any moment. My mind became a chaotic mess; even the inexplicable courage that had sustained me until now seemed to vanish completely at that instant.

Although I was nearly broken, my bad luck dictated I didn't quite collapse. Instead, I was shoved to the ground when one of the guys, leg-weakened by fear, accidentally stumbled on the edge of the step.

This fall was no small thing, because less than a meter in front of me, a strange bug was charging happily toward my face!

Watching it in the firelight, my head throbbed. Almost instinctively, I started grabbing anything near me and throwing it out. But I had precious little to grab then—two scraps of torn cloth flew out, but they couldn't even slow the creature down. As it lunged, about to reach me, in my panic, I grabbed a handful of something and hurled it!

That package flew out, striking nothing, and landed directly in the bonfire. The nearest bug had already reached my feet. In the firelight, I could even see those ice-frost white markings on its body.

My mind was completely blank now; I could only instinctively kick out my leg, repeatedly kicking at whatever lay near me. Kicking and backing away like this, I unknowingly stumbled back into the group of people.

I scrambled up like a madman, grabbing one person's leg to force myself to stand. After regaining a slight sense of calm, I realized the leg I held belonged to Section Chief Wang. However, he was staring in shock past the fire, and following his gaze, I saw an unbelievable scene: the swarm of strange bugs was actually retreating! Looking at their speed, they seemed to be pulling back even faster than they had advanced!

What could have made them turn and flee like that?

The confusion didn't last long. The smell of sulfur drifting in the air reminded me of what Old Li had given me before we set out: that packet of sulfur powder. It turned out that when I fell, the packet of sulfur powder had also dropped to the ground, and in my frantic tossing, I had grabbed and thrown it out.

The smell produced by the sulfur powder in the fire was the key to their retreat! Understanding this, the terrified me finally settled a little; at least there was a glimmer of hope. But knowing they hated the smell of sulfur—what good was that? We barely had any sulfur powder left to last us until we could successfully escape.

Furthermore, those bugs didn't seem to die from this substance or anything; my estimation was that they merely disliked the odor.

However, unexpectedly, I wasn't the only one who realized the sulfur powder might be the key to scaring the bugs off. Those other men seemed to have grasped the problem too. Almost immediately after the bugs retreated, they frantically lunged toward the remaining half-bag of sulfur powder!

A bitter taste filled my mouth. The situation was uncertain, yet they had already devolved into this state. If further danger arose, I truly couldn't imagine what these men would become.

Forcing myself to calm down, I stopped thinking about them, but my resolve hardened: if a real crisis hit, I would abandon them the moment I sensed it.

I am no saint, and this is no drama being filmed. I am just an ordinary person. What do their lives or deaths have to do with me?

Just then, since they had snatched the majority of the sulfur powder, the smell in the air began to thin. I inwardly cursed—as expected, that creepy sound of countless insects crawling rose up again, sending shivers down my spine.

Looking back at the others, not a single one was willing to toss what they held into the fire. I initially wanted to erupt in anger, but seeing their faces stripped away my desire to shout. Getting angry at these people would only hurt myself in the end.

Stepping back a few paces, I glanced toward the hallway entrance behind me and suddenly noticed a rusted drainage pipe nearby. Perhaps I could climb up from there.

Although I had mentally decided to climb, I knew that in this current situation, if I tried to climb up alone, they would probably drag me down before I got anywhere. Furthermore, even if they weren't quite that depraved, if several of us squeezed onto that pipe, which looked ancient already, I couldn't guarantee it could support the weight of so many people.

All these thoughts flashed through my mind in mere seconds. Having made up my mind, I shouted loudly, "Line up by age! We need to find a way up to the second floor!"

I hadn't expected those few men to obey honestly from the start, but after my shout, they paused only briefly before quickly and efficiently forming a single file line in front of me.

Reflecting later, I understood their mental state: in such a moment, they simply needed someone to take charge. After Old Li left, I had unconsciously become their unofficial leader in their eyes.

I didn't dwell on that then. Seeing how obedient they were, I felt a wave of relief and quickly directed them to climb in sequence. As for the order, Section Chief Wang naturally took the first spot without argument.

Usually lethargic, they became surprisingly agile at this moment. Despite constant yelps of fear, they managed to scramble up, more scared than hurt.

I stayed behind to cover the rear. By the time they were all up, I could see the strange bugs reappearing at the doorway.

Without hesitation, I quickly scrambled onto the metal pipe and began to climb.

However, the pipe had already become unstable after the others climbed over it, and with my own backpack weighing me down, the metal pipe finally gave way with a sharp crack under my weight.

Hearing the sound, my heart sank. Sure enough, the entire pipe began to fall away, and my foothold immediately loosened. I instinctively reached out, but my hand found nothing solid to grasp.

My body lost its balance instantly, and I missed my footing entirely, causing me to slide directly back to the ground.

The moment my feet hit the floor, I heard a crisp cracking sound—in this brief moment, bugs had already crawled down to this level!

Now, true despair washed over me. Behind me, the dense sound of crawling insects was already audible.

All I could think of now was desperately grasping for the remaining pipe beside me, but in my clumsy effort, I accidentally pulled too hard and tore the rest of the pipe down, nearly crushing myself in the process.

This left me dumbfounded. The second floor was at least three and a half meters high. I hadn't learned any special climbing techniques—how could I possibly reach it?

Was this it? Was I, Luo, truly going to meet my end here? Or should I turn back and try to charge through that swarm of bugs?

But the instant I turned my head, my brain exploded. Over there, at least two to three hundred strange bugs were slowly crawling toward me. If I charged through them, I would truly become the insects' dinner.

Only then did genuine hopelessness set in. I couldn't even muster the will to fight anymore, watching helplessly as the bugs slowly closed in on me.

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