Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Chu Ya did not recognize Liu Zhen and Liu Sijin, but seeing the two girls, one big and one small, already frozen with blue lips and pale faces, and with two backpacks beside them, he asked the older one: "Liu Zhen, right? Can't you two climb up?"

"Not that we can't climb, but... my sister, her foot, it's stuck in a crevice between the rocks, and we can't get it out. Just now, there was a commotion above, so they couldn't hear us. We were assigned to the back, as the last pair, without any middle-class students to report for us. If we hadn't met you, I would have gone ahead to call for help."

Liu Zhen's teeth chattered, but she spoke clearly, and Chu Ya immediately understood the situation. He put down his backpack and squatted to examine Liu Sijin's foot.

Liu Sijin's foot was wedged between a rock and the rock layer, not pressed down by the rock itself, and the surrounding snow had been cleared away, but it was still stuck at an awkward angle. Chu Ya gently moved her ankle and found that only by moving the rock could he free her foot.

It was a boulder as large as a small hill, which ten Liu Zhens together could not move. Chu Ya circled around the rock, and the rustling sound came from Wang Chengcai sliding down the snowy slope.

Chu Ya naturally glanced at the top of the slope, where he saw Shen Juanjuan and Lin Duozhi holding hands, also wanting to slide down. He quickly called out: "Don't come down, both of you."

"I don't..."

"We need you two to keep watch for us."

"...Alright then."

Wang Chengcai pushed hard against the boulder, but Chu Ya stopped him: "It won't work, don't waste your strength."

"What should we do?" Liu Zhen asked urgently. "Shouldn't you go and call for help?"

"We can move it without calling for help; otherwise, it will take too much time to go back and forth, and you two can't stand being frozen here." Chu Ya said.

Although Liu Sijin was still answering questions from the two children above, she was clearly very cold. Liu Zhen hugged her closer, saying nothing more.

Chu Ya took off his cotton jacket and handed it to Liu Zhen: "Put this on your sister." Seeing Liu Zhen hesitate, he added: "I'm a sentry, and I'm wearing a padded jacket underneath, so I won't be cold."

The orphans didn't have the habit of saying thank you, but Liu Zhen still moved her lips to say thanks before taking the coat and quickly wrapping Liu Sijin in it.

Chu Ya lay on the snow to study the boulder, while Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen, who never got along, avoided looking at each other, focusing instead on Chu Ya.

"I'll dig a bit more here, and you find a thick tree trunk. We can use it as a lever to pry it open. We just need to pry it a little for Liu Sijin's foot to come out."

Seeing Wang Chengcai walk towards the trees at the front of the snow ditch, Chu Ya pulled out a dagger from his waist and threw it to him: "Cut a thicker one."

Wang Chengcai took the dagger and silently cut a tree, while Chu Ya and Liu Zijin dug out all the snow beneath the boulder and placed several large stones there.

Wang Chengcai soon dragged a whole tree back, cutting off the branches to expose a thick trunk.

Chu Ya inserted the trunk between the large stone and the boulder, using it as a lever and pressing down hard. Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen also came to help, pressing down on the tree trunk together.

"Come on, Class Two, come on..."

Shen Juanjuan remembered his duty to keep watch and shouted encouragement while observing the surroundings.

"Class Two, come on..." He clenched his fists and turned his head, suddenly noticing something and stopping abruptly, staring motionlessly down the mountain. Then he touched Lin Duozhi, who was still exerting himself, "Look, look quickly."

Lin Duozhi also turned his head.

"There are two dark blobs running over there."

"Hmm, what are they?"

"I can't see clearly, can you?"

"I can't see clearly either."

Shen Juanjuan blinked hard, seeing the two dark blobs moving rapidly across the snow, their edges blurred like water stains on a paper towel, with indistinct boundaries and shapes.

This familiar blur reminded Shen Juanjuan of Shen Wangwang, but he knew those black shadows weren't Shen Wangwang and felt a sudden tension.

"Hurry, pull the foot, pull it out... Very good... Let go, everyone let go!"

Below, Liu Sijin had freed her foot, and Chu Ya, Wang Chengcai, and Liu Zhen all squatted to check if her foot was injured. They heard Shen Juanjuan suddenly shouting: "Shen Miaomiao, look! Look over there! Look!"

Chu Ya thought it might be Mutants and quickly stood up, but he immediately saw two quantum beasts charging up the mountain, kicking up a flurry of snow dust.

Oh no!

His heart sank, but he didn't have time to think much, only shouting to the two children at the top of the slope: "Slide down quickly! Hurry!"

Shen Juanjuan and Lin Duozhi, already looking panicked, sat on the snow and slid down. Chu Ya and Wang Chengcai quickly climbed up the slope to catch the two children. Shen Juanjuan slid so fast that he started rolling after a short distance, and Chu Ya scooped him up from the snow slope, carrying him down.

"What did you see?" Liu Zhen looked around, tense and bewildered.

"Quantum beasts are coming, hide behind the rocks quickly, and don't come out no matter what happens." Chu Ya placed Shen Juanjuan behind the rocks and then climbed up the snow slope.

He hadn't expected to find two sentries or guides among the guards at the foot of the mountain, who must have discovered some clues and followed them up the mountain. He needed to lure them away; if they pursued further, the main group of orphans would be exposed.

Just as Chu Ya climbed up the gentle slope, the two quantum beasts charged at him.

One was a porcupine, the other a monkey. They leaped high into the air as they approached, trying to pin Chu Ya to the ground.

Chu Ya reached back for his dagger but found it empty, remembering he had given it to Wang Chengcai.

The two quantum beasts pounced on Chu Ya, the cold wind breaking through the snow, blowing his long hair that hung by his cheeks. But a black shadow leaped out from the side, colliding with the two quantum beasts in mid-air and falling to the ground together.

The Black Wolf landed and immediately engaged the two quantum beasts in a fierce fight, while two soldiers in military coats appeared in Chu Ya's field of vision.

Chu Ya immediately turned and dashed into the nearby forest.

"Stop!"

Two loud shouts came from behind, but he didn't look back, sprinting forward.

Chu Ya swiftly weaved through the tree trunks, with snow constantly falling from the branches onto his head and shoulders. He could feel a mental force approaching, a guide's mental restraint. He sensed that the level of this mental force was low, and if he released his mental shield, he could easily resist and counterattack.

But now he couldn't muster his mental energy and could only let it entangle his body. Fortunately, a low-level guide controlling a higher-level sentinel would have a shorter binding time, so Chu Ya only paused for half a second before continuing to run forward.

Another wave of mental energy came, this time an attack from a sentinel. Without turning his head or stopping his steps, Chu Ya took the hit on his back.

It was still a sentinel of lower rank, roughly C-level, but since he couldn't activate his mental shield, he was struck hard, causing his blood to surge and his back to throb with pain.

Chu Ya could only run desperately through the forest, trying to lead those behind him further away, then find an opportunity to escape.

Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen couldn't see the quantum beasts, but they could hear the footsteps and shouts of the two sentinels. Seeing Shen Juanjuan climbing up the snow slope on all fours, they quickly grabbed him, ignoring his struggles and pressing him behind a large rock.

"I'll go find my brother."

"Be quiet, don't move, be quiet," Liu Zhen whispered, hugging Shen Juanjuan. Liu Sijin also leaned in close to his ear, whispering, "My sister said we can't let anyone else find us, no!"

Shen Juanjuan stopped struggling and didn't make a sound, only panting heavily as he looked at the top of the slope, his eyes red, as if he were about to cry but held it back.

Wang Chengcai had been crouching behind the boulder without moving, but when the two sets of footsteps disappeared into the forest, he suddenly darted out, quickly climbing towards the top of the slope. Liu Zhen then whispered to the three children, "Liu Sijin, you watch over them, I'll be right back." After giving these instructions, she followed Wang Chengcai up the slope.

At the top of the snow slope, Black Wolf tried several times to rush into the forest but was blocked by two quantum beasts. Although it was a B+ sentinel's quantum beast, it faced two opponents and wasn't interested in fighting, so while the two quantum beasts emitted black smoke, Black Wolf also sustained injuries.

Liu Zhen and Wang Chengcai couldn't see the three quantum beasts; they just rushed past them into the forest, chasing after the sentinels ahead.

The three children, including Shen Juanjuan, were left in the snow ditch. Although Liu Zhen told him not to move, he still rushed towards the snow slope, starting to climb. Lin Duozhi, seeing his actions, also tried to climb, but with only one hand, he barely moved.

Liu Sijin, holding Chu Ya's coat, stomped her feet anxiously: "My sister told us to stay here, Shen Juanjuan, your brother also told you to stay here, don't go up."

Shen Juanjuan frowned and gritted his teeth, struggling to climb, managing only to say, "I need to find my brother, I need to go, I need to find him."

"I'm going too, I'm going too," Lin Duozhi wriggled on the spot.

Shen Juanjuan used all his strength to climb a few steps but fell back into the ditch. He got up, angry, and punched the snow slope. Then he threw his backpack onto the snow and started climbing again.

Liu Sijin's expression wavered, and she finally spoke: "Don't climb, we can go around from the front."

Shen Juanjuan and Lin Duozhi turned to look at her. Liu Sijin walked to the left: "See, it slopes up here, we can walk a bit and stand on that rock, then we can get up easily."

Seeing it was true, Shen Juanjuan quickly turned and ran to the left, with Lin Duozhi following. Liu Sijin stomped her feet, worried: "There are so many backpacks, how can I carry them? Come help me."

Six backpacks lay on the ground, and Lin Duozhi and Shen Juanjuan turned back, each dragging two forward.

The three soon reached the top of the slope, where Shen Juanjuan and Lin Duozhi saw the three quantum beasts fighting.

Although Shen Juanjuan usually fought with Black Wolf, causing chaos, he would protect it in critical moments, soothing its pain every night with his mental tendrils, getting himself covered in black, and then returning to the mental domain for the raccoon to clean him.

Now, seeing Black Wolf being attacked by other quantum beasts, with black smoke rising from its body, Shen Juanjuan was furious.

"Those two black things are beating up Shen Wangwang, I'll go help, beat them first, then find my brother." Shen Juanjuan immediately rushed to the side of the road, picking up a long branch. Lin Duozhi also put down his backpack and picked up a branch.

Liu Sijin couldn't see the quantum beasts, only watching them pick up branches and take small steps toward something, then running around as if dodging something, and swinging their branches wildly.

"Hit this, hit this, beat it, beat it."

"Ah, run fast, hit this one, here, here."

"Hit their eyes, blind them, blind them!"

Shen Juanjuan kept shouting, and the usually timid Lin Duozhi seemed to be stirred by some rage, shouting along with Shen Juanjuan and swinging his branch at the heads of the two quantum beasts.

"Blind them! Blind them!"

"Blind them! Blind them!"

The two quantum beasts, already engaged in a fierce battle with Black Wolf, were suddenly attacked by two children wielding branches. Although they completely ignored the minor attacks, the branches waving in front of their eyes were very distracting, and the porcupine was bitten again by Black Wolf.

The two quantum beasts had to focus all their efforts on Black Wolf and couldn't spare any attention for the two children. They only roared in anger, clearly indicating that once they dealt with Black Wolf, they would tear the two children apart.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?" Liu Sijin was both afraid and curious.

"Blind them, blind them..."

"Blind them, blind them."

Shen Juanjuan paid no attention, only circling to dodge the porcupine and striking the monkey's head with his branch.

This time he really hit the monkey's eye, which closed and let out a painful squeal. Black Wolf seized the opportunity to bite its neck, sinking its fangs in with a crunch, and the monkey dissolved into a cloud of black smoke.

Without waiting for the porcupine to escape or return to its owner's mental domain, Black Wolf swiftly turned and with another crunch, the porcupine also vanished.

Chu Ya, leaning against a tree, stumbled through the forest, a thin trail of blood from the corner of his mouth freezing into a dark red icicle before it hit the ground.

He had been hit by mental energy bindings and attacks multiple times and was now barely hanging on by sheer willpower, looking around as he ran for a place to hide.

He had led the two sentinels far enough, hoping Liu Zhen and Wang Chengcai were smart enough to have taken Shen Juanjuan to safety and alerted the people at the orphanage ahead to hide.

Chu Ya saw a snow ditch to his left and decided to slide down it, but after taking two steps, he was hit by another mental energy binding, losing his balance and falling flat.

"Run, keep running."

A breathless male voice came from behind. Chu Ya struggled to push himself forward, but after crawling two steps, he was hit by another mental energy attack on his back.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering the snow with red dots, and finally collapsed, unable to support himself.

"Damn, this kid is too hard to catch, I'm exhausted, exhausted."

"This is a sentinel, his, his quantum beast is outside, outside."

"Should have shot him, who would have thought, he could withstand our attacks for so long before collapsing. Is, is he a high-level sentinel? But why, why is he just running, can't even open a shield, strange."

"He's definitely not a high-level sentinel, otherwise he would have counterattacked."

"Let's take a look first."

The two walked over to Chu Ya, one of them nudging him with his foot: "Dead?"

"Just unconscious, he's still breathing, like a sack of sand."

"He looks young, and not bad-looking either. How did he suddenly end up on this mountain?"

"Anyone coming to this desolate place must be up to something. Let’s take him back; there’s definitely something off about him."

"I suspect he’s trying to lure us away. There might be others on the mountain."

"Others? Notify the guards immediately, have them send more people up the mountain to search ahead."

"Alright, you notify them. I need to tie my shoelaces; they’ve come loose."

Chu Ya lay on his side in the snow, his face as pale as the accumulated snow. If it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would have looked lifeless.

The guard had just taken out his communicator when he froze: "My quantum beast has been dispersed and returned to the mental domain."

The guide also looked surprised: "Mine too."

With their quantum beasts dispersed, it would take some time before they could summon them again from the mental domain. Both men looked at Chu Ya lying on the ground, their expressions turning serious.

"Quantum beasts that fierce, he must be a high-ranking guard. Report to the post immediately, have everyone come up. There might be other guards or guides on the mountain. Bring heavy weapons."

The guard took out his communicator from his pocket and was about to press the call button when the boy on the ground suddenly lunged at him like a leopard, knocking him down and sending the communicator flying.

The communicator drew an arc in the air and fell into the snow nearby. The guard was pinned to the ground by Chu Ya, who had his neck in a tight grip. He reached for the gun at his waist but was stopped by Chu Ya’s knee.

The sudden turn of events left the guide stunned for a couple of seconds before he reacted, quickly releasing his mental bindings.

Chu Ya loosened his grip, and the guard immediately flipped over, pinning him down in the snow, his face twisted in fury as he grabbed Chu Ya’s neck: "You dare to choke me..."

The guide stood up and moved towards them, reaching for the gun behind his back, but suddenly his body stiffened, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and he collapsed onto the snow.

Liu Zhen, carrying a large rock, was panting as she approached. She was about to use the same tactic on the guard choking Chu Ya when the guard suddenly turned around, and she felt a powerful blow to her chest, sending her flying backward into a tree.

Liu Zhen fell to the ground, instantly buried under the snow that fell from the tree.

But Chu Ya seized the opportunity, flipping over and mounting the guard again, his hands around the guard’s neck.