Chapter 40

Chapter 40

As the two passed by the cultural center building, Chu Ya suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

It was a dangerous signal from his quantum beast, the Silver Wolf.

No, now it was the Black Wolf.

Although his mental domain was damaged and he had lost his mental connection with the Black Wolf, he could still feel its murderous intent.

"I can drive the car without using my hands, just my feet. It goes wherever I want it to."

Shen Juanjuan pedaled the car as he spoke, noticing that Chu Ya had stopped, so he stopped beside him.

"How do we—"

"Shh, don't talk."

Chu Ya's expression was too serious, so Shen Juanjuan immediately shut his mouth and joined him in alertly scanning their surroundings.

Mixin Town remained as silent and empty as ever, with those dark buildings standing silently on either side of the street. Chu Ya's sharp gaze slowly swept over the windows, though he couldn't see the Black Wolf, the sense of danger—or rather, the Black Wolf's murderous intent—did not dissipate but grew stronger, setting off alarms in his mind.

Chu Ya looked at the cultural center building next to them, feeling that being out on the street was too dangerous. He immediately said to Shen Juanjuan, "Let's go up."

"Okay, let's play upstairs."

Chu Ya pushed his wheelchair around the cultural center building, heading upward. Shen Juanjuan pedaled hard, but it was uphill, and his small car kept sliding back down.

"Hey, hey..."

Chu Ya said, "The car can't go upstairs. Put it down and walk."

"Aww..." Shen Juanjuan couldn't bear to leave his steel ball car for even a moment.

"A good driver doesn't take the car upstairs; they park it in the parking lot," Chu Ya said.

"I, I am a good driver." Shen Juanjuan got off the car and asked, "Where is the parking lot?"

Chu Ya pointed beside him: "This is the parking lot."

"Oh."

Shen Juanjuan left his small car at the bottom of the spiral ramp and ran up the stairs with his legs.

Chu Ya continued upward, suddenly becoming alert as if sensing something. He turned his head to the left. But his view was blocked by a wall, so he quickly moved to the side of the building and peered through the gap between the opposite buildings.

He saw a group of wild beasts running in the wilderness outside Mixin Town. They were numerous, varying in size and species, but all shared the same rapid speed and consistent direction, as if led by someone toward Mixin Town.

The beasts looked somewhat strange; at first glance, one could only tell there were deer, wolves, monkeys, and even a couple of tigers and leopards. Despite being natural enemies, they converged together, carnivores and herbivores running side by side.

If the sight before him was already shocking, seeing the leading beast running at the front made Chu Ya's pupils constrict and his face pale.

It was a wolf larger than the tigers and leopards behind it, entirely black without a single speck of another color.

...It was his quantum beast.

Chu Ya finally understood where the sense of danger came from.

His quantum beast wasn't in Mixin Town but had come down from nearby Keke Mountain, leading a pack of wild beasts straight for him and Shen Juanjuan.

While Chu Ya wasn't afraid of the Black Wolf, he knew he couldn't handle the horde of wild beasts and needed to find a place to hide quickly.

He remembered the small theater where he had hidden during a previous search. The theater had no windows, only one door, so he immediately urged Shen Juanjuan, "Quick, run, get upstairs!"

He pushed his wheelchair as fast as he could, rushing upstairs. Shen Juanjuan, influenced by his urgency, also pushed the wheelchair forward nervously.

"What's going on? Why are we running?"

"It's very dangerous."

"How is it dangerous?"

"If we don't run, we'll die. Don't ask anymore, just run."

Shen Juanjuan obeyed, pushing the wheelchair with all his might, grunting continuously.

When they reached the sixth floor via the spiral ramp, their field of vision widened, and Shen Juanjuan also saw the dust rising from the wilderness and the pack of wild beasts approaching.

Shen Juanjuan had only seen cats and dogs before; this was his first time seeing other animals, and there were so many. But these animals didn't attract him like cats and dogs; instead, they filled him with shock, fear, and rapidly increasing breaths. He kept tapping Chu Ya's shoulder and pointing in that direction: "Look, look, big cats and dogs."

He didn't know what those beasts were, so he called them big cats and dogs.

The pack of beasts moved too fast. By the time the two reached the eighth floor, they had already reached the outskirts of Mixin Town, swiftly crossing the barbed wire fence and flooding into the town streets.

"They're coming in, they, they..." Seeing the beasts running through the streets, Shen Juanjuan was terrified and stuttering.

The beasts headed straight for the cultural center, some leaping onto rooftops and bounding along rapidly. Chu Ya pushed his wheelchair forcefully, his eyes locking onto the Black Wolf at the front of the pack.

The Black Wolf slowly stopped, standing on a flat rooftop, with a couple of jackals flying past it. It stood motionless, looking up at Chu Ya with green eyes full of malice.

Chu Ya stared back, the moving iron bars casting shifting shadows on his face, making him appear cold and grim.

"Roar..." The Black Wolf raised its head and let out a long howl, and all the beasts rushed toward the cultural center building. Tigers, leopards, and deer charged up the spiral ramp, while monkeys climbed directly up the window frames and iron bars.

Just as Chu Ya and Shen Juanjuan reached the tenth floor, a monkey leaped over the railing and pounced. Shen Juanjuan, who was pushing the wheelchair, turned at the sound and screamed, "Big cat!!!"

Though the monkey looked like a monkey, it had two long sharp fangs and a layer of fine scales covering its body, with pitch-black eyes. As it pounced, it brought a stench of foul wind.

Seeing its sharp claws about to touch Shen Juanjuan, Chu Ya suddenly pulled him away and swung a punch.

His fist struck the monkey's face, and its sharp claws scraped against the metal frame of the wheelchair, producing a grating sound. The monkey then flew backward, soaring over the lower railing and out of the building.

But it grabbed the railing outside, flipped, and jumped back into the spiral staircase, emitting a sharp screech. Chu Ya took advantage of this moment to pull Shen Juanjuan into the small theater's entrance.

"Get behind me!"

With a loud command, Chu Ya went to close the theater door.

It was a metal sliding door that had been left open for years, with dust accumulating in the tracks and rust covering the door panels, which had fused with the ground. When Chu Ya exerted force, chunks of rust fell off, and the door groaned loudly as it moved.

Shen Juanjuan helped push, closing his eyes and stomping his feet. As the door was about to close, a monkey's claw slipped through the gap, nearly grabbing Chu Ya's clothes.

In recent days, Chu Ya had searched every shop and found a suitable fruit knife at a kitchenware store. He sharpened the tip, turning it into a dagger.

Gripping the dagger, he stabbed at the monkey's claw while shouting, "Close the door, quickly close the door."

"I am, I'm closing it." Shen Juanjuan continued pushing with all his might, only managing to squeeze out a few words between clenched teeth.

The monkey held onto the door, and Chu Ya stabbed repeatedly. Finally, in pain, the monkey withdrew its claw, and the metal door slammed shut under Shen Juanjuan's effort.

Bang! Bang!

Heavy metal impacts echoed against the door, causing dust and rust to fall from the panels. The room darkened, and Chu Ya found the lock, securing it with a click.

"Shen Miaomiao!" In the darkness, Shen Juanjuan's voice was filled with panic.

"I'm here."

A small hand touched Chu Ya's arm, and the entire body pressed against him: "Shen Miaomiao."

Chu Ya pulled Shen Juanjuan onto his wheelchair. "It's okay, everything is fine now."

The door continued to be pounded, and with each thud, Chu Ya felt the child shudder in his arms.

"Are those big cats and dogs trying to kill us and eat us?" Shen Juanjuan's voice trembled.

"They're not big cats or dogs; they're wild beasts you've never seen before." Chu Ya recalled the appearance of the monkey earlier and thought it must be a mutant.

He had only heard of mutants but had never seen one. Mutants were animals that had been contaminated by a virus years ago, becoming vicious and murderous. After several military operations, they were driven into the mountains. Growing up in Cloud Peak, Chu Ya had forgotten how close Keke Mountain was, and it was home to countless mutants.

"Will they break in? Will they come in?" Shen Juanjuan continued asking.

"Don't worry, they can't get in; they're locked outside."

Chu Ya comforted Shen Juanjuan, though he wasn't entirely sure himself. He didn't know if the door could withstand the beasts' attacks, listening to their relentless pounding and ferocious roars.

"I don't like them, not at all." Shen Juanjuan turned his head, burying his face in Chu Ya's chest, his hands tightly around Chu Ya's waist. "Can we leave? Can we go somewhere else? I don't want to stay here."

Chu Ya remembered the last time they hid in the theater, recalling a stage area and another space behind the curtains. He turned the wheelchair and moved along the aisle toward that direction.

"Where are we going?"

"I'll look for another hiding place."

"Can't we leave?"

"Not yet." Chu Ya held the dagger in one hand and pushed the wheelchair with the other, unable to see ahead clearly. He asked Shen Juanjuan, "Could you lead the way? Try walking slowly."

Shen Juanjuan immediately huddled closer, wrapping his arms around Chu Ya again.

Chu Ya didn't force him, continuing to push the wheelchair forward. But he soon encountered a small step, causing the wheelchair to tilt to the left. He managed to prevent it from tipping over by grabbing a nearby seat.

Shen Juanjuan slid down from Chu Ya's lap, whispering, "I'll lead the way."

Shen Juanjuan gripped the wheelchair's armrest, extending one foot to test the ground, taking a step only when he felt it was flat.

Chu Ya knew the door could keep the beasts out but not the quantum beast. The Black Wolf could appear at any moment, so he remained vigilant.

"There's a path ahead, no steps, walk, walk..." In the darkness, the continuous sounds of the door being hit and the beasts roaring filled their ears. Shen Juanjuan clung tightly to the wheelchair's armrest, his voice trembling as he kept saying, "Walk, you can walk here. Shen Miaomiao, are you still there? Are you here?"

"I'm here." Chu Ya responded.

"Hmm? It seems there's no more path... Oh, the path turns here."

As Shen Juanjuan spoke, a sudden burst of light appeared on the left side. A small iron door on the wall, previously unnoticed, was now wide open, and the Black Wolf had already lunged halfway inside.

Blinded by the sudden light, Chu Ya dragged Shen Juanjuan back half a step and punched in the direction of the door.

With a dull thud, he followed up with a stab.

This missed, and before he could retract his hand, two rows of sharp teeth clamped down on his wrist, the Black Wolf's fangs piercing his skin.

"Roar!"

Just as Chu Ya felt the pain spreading from his wrist, the Black Wolf released its grip and let out an angry roar.

The Black Wolf fell outside the wall, and Chu Ya quickly closed and locked the small iron door. The Black Wolf stood up and slammed into the metal door, creating loud bangs.

The Black Wolf's strange reaction made Chu Ya think that it had bitten not just him but also itself.

The thought flashed through his mind, and he said to Shen Juanjuan, "Let's go."

"What happened? What happened?" Shen Juanjuan, blinded by the light, didn't know what had just occurred and asked in panic.

Chu Ya endured the pain in his wrist. "Nothing, keep moving... Wait."

They continued to move forward in the dark, but the sound of the beasts hitting the door suddenly stopped. Shen Juanjuan, surprised, asked, "Did they leave?"

"No."

The two of them felt their way into a passage beside the stage. Chu Ya touched the wall next to him, grabbed a piece of velvet cloth, and pulled it aside, allowing light to flood into the room.

Chu Ya closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, realizing this was a small room on the right side of the stage.

The room was narrow, with only a small window whose glass was shattered, mostly blocked by a spiral staircase that wound upward, leaving only the top and bottom edges of the window exposed.

Chu Ya knew the gap in the window was too small for him and Shen Juanjuan to squeeze through, and even if they did manage, they would be discovered, making it more dangerous than staying put.

"Your hand, it's bleeding!"

Shen Juanjuan saw two bloodstains on Chu Ya's hand, dripping down his pale, slender fingers, causing his face to turn pale with worry.

Chu Ya lifted his hand and noticed two bite marks on his forearm, not large but deep, with blood still flowing out.

"Ouch, does it hurt? Is it very painful?" Shen Juanjuan, extremely worried, reached out to touch the wounds.

"Don't touch it; it could get infected." Chu Ya turned around, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and wrapped it around the wounds. "It's fine, it doesn't hurt."

"Did you get scratched by that, that, that..."

"Monkey."

"Did that monkey scratch you?"

Chu Ya didn't mention the Black Wolf, so he replied, "Maybe." Seeing Shen Juanjuan's worried expression, he added, "You saw it yourself; the wounds are small and will stop bleeding soon."

Relieved, Shen Juanjuan began to look around the room. "How are we going to get out of here?"

Chu Ya looked at the window. "We can't get out; the gap is too small."

"I can dig a hole, I can remove the obstruction." Shen Juanjuan raised the iron bar in his hand.

"It's reinforced concrete; you won't be able to dig through it."

"You have to believe me; I can definitely dig through it. I can even dig through the walls of the orphanage." Shen Juanjuan was full of confidence.

"..."

As they spoke, Chu Ya glanced out the window, his expression gradually becoming serious. From his angle, he could see a row of military vehicles on the road outside Mixin Town.

These military vehicles must have just arrived, as the doors were now opening, and Morna government soldiers were jumping out. Each soldier was armed and standing outside the barbed wire fence, talking into walkie-talkies.

Chu Ya's first thought was that Gu Lin had sent people to search for him, but seeing the relaxed demeanor of the soldiers made him wonder if it was due to the mutated creatures outside. Perhaps they had even attacked Keke Town, which is why the soldiers had come.

Regardless, these mutated creatures would lead the soldiers to attack the cultural center building, and they would surely be discovered then.

"Squeak!" With a screech, an enlarged monkey face appeared at the window, facing Shen Juanjuan up close. It opened its mouth fiercely, revealing a row of saliva-dripping fangs and a blackened mouth.

"Ahhh!!!"

Shen Juanjuan screamed and was pulled away from the window by Chu Ya. Chu Ya stabbed the monkey's paw that had reached in, but the monkey, having learned its lesson, quickly withdrew its paw.

Shen Juanjuan, recovering from his shock, also struck the monkey's face with the iron bar, yelling, "You scratched Shen Miaomiao! I'm going to beat you to death, to death, to death!"

The mutated creatures from the left side of the theater rushed over, and various animal faces appeared in the small window gap, snarling at the two of them and extending their claws to scratch.

The room was narrow, and one leopard's front leg was particularly long, almost reaching Chu Ya's chest with its sharp claws. Shen Juanjuan, both shocked and angry, hit the scaled leopard claw hard with the iron bar, causing it to change direction and grab towards him.

Chu Ya quickly pushed Shen Juanjuan back against the wall and stabbed the leopard claw several times, forcing it to retract in pain.

"I'm going to stab you one-two-three, one-two-three!" Shen Juanjuan's anger overpowered his fear, his face flushed as he yelled out the window, "You're not allowed to scratch Shen Miaomiao! Did you hear that? Not allowed to scratch him!"

"Roar!"

"You shameless thing, you dare to talk back? I'll stab you! Psychic attack!"

"Roar!!"

Chu Ya looked through the gaps between the animal feet and saw several soldiers using pliers to cut through a section of the barbed wire surrounding Mixin Town. Everyone was entering the town in an orderly manner.

Although they hadn't yet noticed the abnormality on the cultural center building, once they entered this street, they would discover it soon.

The mutated creatures crowded around the small window, their vicious claws reaching in. The room was narrow, and Chu Ya kept stabbing the nearest claws with his dagger, while Shen Juanjuan continuously struck them with the iron bar.

However, every time Shen Juanjuan struck, he couldn't help moving forward, and Chu Ya had to constantly pull him back.