Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Now, no one, including the administrators, needed to walk anymore. The Black Wolf strutted majestically back and forth in the group, occasionally growling commands, while the Mutants kept their heads down, maintaining a steady pace.

The older and middle students were very excited; the wooden sleds had lifted their spirits from the sadness and lethargy of the previous night. People would often fall into the snow, only to get up and catch up amid everyone's laughter, continuing to ride the sleds.

The younger students watched enviously from their push carts, which made the older and middle students even more pleased. Whenever someone fell, whether it was the one who fell or those on the sleds, they would first look at the reaction of the younger students before bursting into loud, exaggerated laughter.

"Ooh..." The younger students hummed with envy.

The administrators also sat in two push carts, shouting at the students ahead, "Try being arrogant again? Your faces are so thick, you want to upset them, then you'll have to comfort them when they cry?"

"Ouch!" Another older student tumbled into the snow amid laughter, rubbing his bottom as he got up, glancing at the younger students while chasing after the sled.

"Lin Baise, is falling fun?" The questioner deliberately raised his voice.

"It’s so much fun, it doesn’t hurt at all, it’s soft and fluffy."

The younger students started to fuss: "Administrator, I want to ride the wooden sled."

"Wah... I want to ride the wooden sled."

Two administrators jumped off the push carts, brandishing rulers, causing the students to quickly shout, "The administrator is coming, run, run."

Under the Black Wolf's command, the Mutants maintained a steady pace. The administrator ran forward and struck the most rambunctious students twice, "I’ll see who dares to tease them again, who isn’t afraid of being hit."

"Aah, ah... I won’t say anything, administrator, I won’t say anything."

Chu Ya also sat in a push cart, discussing the upcoming journey with Rong Chen beside him, while taking care of the group of younger students sitting around him.

"Brother Chu Ya, my shoelaces are loose."

"Brother Chu Ya, my hat is hanging around my neck, I can’t reach it."

"Brother Chu Ya, when can we ride the wooden sled?"

Chu Ya tied the shoelaces and put on the hats for the younger students, explaining why they couldn’t ride the wooden sleds. Shen Juanjuan sat nearby with a stern face. After tying the shoelaces for a younger student, Chu Ya noticed Shen Juanjuan’s expression and gently flicked his pouting lips.

"Why are you unhappy?" Chu Ya asked softly.

"Hmph." Shen Juanjuan turned away.

Chu Ya turned his head back, but he turned away again, looking annoyed, "Annoying!"

"Do you want to ride the wooden sled?"

"Don’t want to!" Shen Juanjuan glanced at him sideways, his tone cold, "I’m asking you, do you remember who your brother is?"

Chu Ya thought for a moment and said, "Of course I know I am your brother, and I also know you are the squad leader, responsible for leading many younger students, a heavy and challenging task, but you are doing an excellent job."

Shen Juanjuan was stunned for a few seconds, his lips moving as if he wanted to explain something, but he didn’t speak, though his expression softened slightly.

Chu Ya whispered in his ear, "What if I just ignore them, or leave them behind, and we go play alone? We’ll ride the wooden sleds, leaving them here to chase after us, crying and shouting, 'Squad Leader, wait for us, wait for us...'"

Chu Ya mimicked the voices of the younger students chasing the sleds, and Shen Juanjuan pursed his lips, his expression becoming conflicted.

"Let’s go, we’ll go now, let’s ride the sleds."

Chu Ya pretended to lift Shen Juanjuan, but he wriggled and held Chu Ya’s hand.

"What’s wrong? Don’t you want to ride the sled with me?" Chu Ya asked.

Shen Juanjuan looked at the other children in the push cart, seeing them squinting and huddled together in the wind and snow, finally shaking his head, "No, let’s stay here."

"No?"

Shen Juanjuan consoled him, "I know you only want to be my brother and ride the sled with me, but I have to take care of them too. I’m still the squad leader, I need to manage them, my task is very, very..."

"Heavy and challenging," Chu Ya added.

"Yes, my task is very that, so I can’t go," Shen Juanjuan patted his hand, speaking warmly, "Chief Administrator Chen said we will get to ride the sleds for a while, how about waiting until tomorrow? Tomorrow I’ll only be with you, okay? You need to be sensible and well-behaved."

Chu Ya reluctantly nodded, "Alright then."

Under the Black Wolf’s command, the Mutants pulled the sleds and push carts through the canyon, reducing a half-day journey to less than an hour.

The long line suddenly stopped. Rong Chen stood on the rear push cart, shouting to the front, "What’s going on? Why did we stop?"

Chu Ya also stood on the push cart, seeing a manager at the front shouting something, but the wind made it hard to hear, so he jumped off the cart and ran over.

The manager running over was a plump middle-aged woman, responsible for the girls’ dormitory, so the girls along the way greeted her, "Manager Feng, where are you going?"

"I’m going to the back to talk about something, don’t stand on the wood, sit down."

"Manager Feng, slow down, you might fall."

"I can barely walk, how can I run fast?" Manager Feng panted.

Manager Feng ran to the back of the line, out of breath, "Chief Administrator Chen, there’s no path ahead, it’s a cliff."

"A cliff?"

"Yes, there’s an iron bridge on the cliff, probably built by people who passed through before, but it looks precarious."

Rong Chen frowned, jumping off the cart and hurrying forward, "I’ll check it out."

Several managers also jumped off the carts, and Rong Chen turned to wave at Chu Ya, "Chu Ya, come with us."

"Okay."

Chu Ya turned around and saw that all the young cadets were staring at him, Shen Juanjuan also grabbing his sleeve. He said, "Squad Leader, Chief Administrator Chen asked me to check the road ahead, but I don't want to go. I just want to stay with you."

Shen Juanjuan was about to say they shouldn't go, but Chu Ya continued, "But if I don't go, we won't be able to move today, and everyone will be stuck here."

Shen Juanjuan struggled internally for a moment, then slowly loosened his grip on Chu Ya's sleeve. "Be a good boy and listen. Go check and come back quickly. I won't run around; I'll wait right here. You can see me as soon as you turn your head."

"Alright, but what about them..."

"I'll keep an eye on them. I'm the Squad Leader, after all."

With Shen Juanjuan's assurance, Chu Ya jumped off the cart. But as soon as he got down, the young cadets on the cart stood up in a flurry, all wanting to follow him down.

Chu Ya stopped and turned around, seeing that Shen Juanjuan was the fastest, both feet already hanging outside the cart.

"Squad Leader, what did you just say?" Chu Ya pointed at him.

Reluctantly, Shen Juanjuan pulled his feet back and spread his arms to block the other cadets from getting off. "Shen Miaomiao is on a mission and will be back soon. Don't run around, okay?"

Chu Ya also stepped back to explain, "I'll be back soon. Follow the orders of the Squad Leader and Deputy Squad Leaders, and stay put."

"Deputy Squad Leaders?" the children asked in confusion.

Chu Ya pointed to Chen Hongliang, Tang Yuanyuan, and Yu Datou. "They are the Deputy Squad Leaders."

Tang Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly switched into her role as Deputy Squad Leader, sternly blocking the children. Chen Hongliang snapped to attention and responded loudly, "Understood, Deputy Squad Leader." Yu Datou silently turned around and grabbed a child who was trying to slide off the cart: "Stay put! Sit down!"

Chu Ya followed several administrators to the front of the group. From afar, he saw a wide gap of about ten meters in the canyon ahead, spanned by an iron suspension bridge covered in ice and snow.

As he approached, he saw that while the iron bridge could accommodate the carts, the exposed iron cables were rusted and broken in several places, hanging loosely over the cliff. The bridge surface had multiple holes, revealing the deep, foggy abyss below. The entire bridge seemed precarious, as if it would collapse with a single gust of wind.

"Can we really cross this bridge? It looks so dangerous."

The administrators looked around, seeing only steep cliffs on both sides, and began to worry. "What should we do? It seems we have no choice but to cross this bridge."

Rong Chen looked anxious. "We can't cross. This bridge is too dangerous. What if it breaks while we're crossing?"

"Can we climb the nearby mountain? If we climb to the top and walk along the ridge, then descend, we might avoid this cliff."

"That's not feasible. It's a long way, and these children aren't monkeys. How can they climb such a mountain?"

Chu Ya was also surveying the surroundings. Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen were nearby, placing Lin Duozhi and Liu Sijin on the ground before walking toward Chu Ya.

"Brother Chu Ya, can we cross that bridge?" Liu Zhen asked.

Just as Chu Ya was about to answer, a Mutant that had been lying nearby suddenly sprang up, pacing anxiously. Other Mutants also stood up, moving restlessly. Black Wolf roared to intimidate them, but they didn't obey as they usually did, instead struggling more violently and biting the thick ropes tied around their bodies.

The children were dragged and screamed in alarm, some falling into the snow. Black Wolf swatted one Mutant that had broken free, but it quickly got up and ran toward the back of the canyon.

The Mutants became increasingly agitated, ignoring Black Wolf's commands and pulling the wooden sleds to turn and run. The administrators rushed forward to untie the ropes, fearing the Mutants might harm the children in their frenzy. Chu Ya also used his mental energy to swiftly cut all the ropes connected to the Mutants, but a sudden thought struck him, and a strand of mental energy climbed up the cliff face.

The Mutants, now free, fled in all directions. Black Wolf, sensing something, didn't chase them but instead raised his head and roared at the top of the cliff.

Chu Ya's mental energy quickly reached the summit, and what he saw made his heart sink.

The peak was covered in snow, and the snow surface was teeming with Mutants resembling hares, numbering in the tens of thousands, rapidly moving toward the cliff. They covered the entire snow-capped peak, like a gray flood surging across the mountaintop, a scene that sent shivers down his spine.

But the next second, Chu Ya realized they weren't hares but wood rats!

Each of these Mutant wood rats was over a foot long, with long fangs and blood-red eyes that glinted with madness.

A few Mutant wolves on the summit, unable to escape in time, were quickly overwhelmed by the rat swarm. They let out short cries of pain before falling silent. Chu Ya's mental energy even heard the gnawing sounds of the rats, and the gray swarm soon revealed several piles of white wolf bones.

"What's happening?" The administrators, while helping the fallen students, looked around nervously.

Chu Ya abruptly withdrew his mental energy and shouted at them, "Hurry! Cross the bridge!"

"Cross the bridge? But—"

"The summit is full of Mutants, and they're coming here soon. We have to leave now!"

The administrators' faces turned pale. Rong Chen glanced at the precarious iron bridge and the anxious students behind them, then made a decisive decision, blowing a sharp whistle.

"Hurry! Get on the bridge! Hurry!"

"Run, everyone, run!"

The students started running toward the bridge. Several administrators crossed first, spreading their arms to cover the holes in the bridge.

"Run faster!"

"Don't run, the bridge is slippery, be careful not to fall."

"Okay, don't run, run on the path, and walk carefully on the bridge."

The administrators shouted various commands, while those not on the bridge quickly organized the students to cross. Rong Chen retrieved guns from the cart and threw them to the administrators.

At that moment, Mutant wood rats appeared at the top of the cliff, crawling down like lice covering the mountain wall. Chu Ya released his mental energy, piercing their heads like sharp needles. The administrators also fired at the top of the cliff, causing the rats to squeal and fall with pieces of rock.

The students, clutching their heads, ran in panic toward the iron bridge. The older cadets, contrary to their earlier mischief, picked up or held the hands of younger children before running. Chu Ya, using his mental energy to attack, ran to the back of the group, calling out Shen Juanjuan and Tang Yuanyuan's names.

But before he could take a few steps, he heard a cry from the direction of the iron bridge. Turning around, he saw the bridge tilting to the left, the steel cable supporting the left side no longer taut, sagging in a loose curve.

All the administrators moved to the right side of the bridge, using their weight to balance it, shouting, "Hurry across the bridge, hurry!"

The steel cable, originally secured to a large iron post and wrapped several times, had come loose, with only the top hook precariously holding it in place, about to slip off.

Chu Ya turned and rushed to the iron bridge, grabbing the cable and quickly wrapping it around the iron post, then slinging it over his shoulder and pulling back.

He exerted all his strength, stepping firmly on the ground, and the cable, which had been sliding on the iron post, slowly tightened again.

Wang Chengcai carried Lin Duozhi and had another on his back. He had just run to the bridgehead, looking at the swaying iron chain bridge and then at Chu Ya, placing the two children on the bridge: "Go quickly, hurry up."

Lin Duozhi stood on the bridge in a panic, not moving. Wang Chengcai said again: "I'll hold the bridge for you, go to the other side and wait, I'll be over soon."

Lin Duozhi lifted his foot to walk towards him, but he shouted fiercely: "Are you being disobedient? Do you want a beating?"

He looked fierce to begin with, and with his brows furrowed, he was even more terrifying. Lin Duozhi didn't dare come over anymore and could only follow the other students, taking one step at a time while looking back towards the bridge.

Amidst the intense gunfire, the students ran while dodging the mutants falling from the mountain walls, also having to watch out for scattered pieces of wood on the ground, occasionally someone would fall.

People needed to cross the bridge, and supplies couldn't be left behind, especially things like tents and blankets. If they were lost, it would be hard to survive the extremely cold night. The managers pushed the nearest carts onto the bridge.

Chu Ya pulled the iron chains tightly.

The canyon was in chaos; he couldn't see where Shen Juanjuan was or spot the group of little class students, but he couldn't let go of the chains behind him. His mental power continued to release as he anxiously searched the crowd for their figures.

There were too many mutants, and soon some wood rats broke through the defenses, rushing down to the cliff bottom. The Black Wolf kept leaping, intercepting the mutants that pounced on the students mid-air.

Although the weight of the iron bridge was mainly borne by the iron piers, the bridge was so heavy that the chains still slowly slipped backward. Chu Ya's body was almost parallel to the ground, and deep marks were cut into his shoulders by the chains. Just as his feet were being dragged backward, someone suddenly appeared in front of him, grabbing the chain hanging to the ground and pulling with all his might.

"I'm a sentinel in the differentiation phase, I'll help you." Wang Chengcai gritted his teeth.

From the crowd running past, Liu Zhen's voice came: "What are you two doing?"

Wang Chengcai forced out three words through his teeth: "What do you think?"

Liu Zhen glanced at the iron chain bridge ahead and didn't ask further, only putting down Liu Sijin from her back: "Get on the bridge quickly, I'll go help them."

"Then I'll wait for you on the bridge."

"No! Wait for me on the other side of the bridge."

"Okay, hurry up then."

"I will."

With three people pulling the chains, the force on Chu Ya's shoulders immediately decreased. Soon, two more people joined the team, and Chu Ya recognized them as big class students who had entered the differentiation phase, named Hong Wenzhi and Liu Xiaozhuang.

A sentinel and four differentiation phase sentinels together held the chains, and the iron bridge finally stabilized, no longer swaying left and right. However, the bridge surface was full of holes, and the snow was trampled into a slippery mess, so everyone could only pass carefully, unable to speed up.

Chu Ya continuously released his mental power, his eyes always fixed on the rear of the team. As fewer and fewer people remained in the canyon, he still hadn't seen Shen Juanjuan and the group of little class students, so he said to the four people: "Hold on for a bit, I'll be back soon."

"Alright!" All four exerted all their strength, and Liu Zhen squeezed out this single word through her teeth.