The Garrison’s Stand

She tapped the ground with her toes, once, twice. Huang Xiu lowered her head and cursed silently.

“Damn, what a pain in the ass!”

She hated people like that the most. Compared to them, she felt useless.

“Fine, I’ll go with you!” The girl lifted her head and shrugged. “My roommate and classmates are still in the dorm. They’re all my boys.”

She forced a lighthearted tone, half-joking. “As their good dad, how could I just stand by?”

“Junior Huang, no need.” Yun Ning laughed bitterly, scratching his face with his good left hand. “I’m not going to die.”

“What do you mean?” Huang Xiu felt insulted. She was about to retort angrily when the guard captain walked over from behind and said coldly, “No need to argue. We’ll all go together.”

“Together.” The other four spoke in unison.

Huang Xiu turned to look at the five guards. They weren’t tall, but they stood straight as pines.

Their faces, smeared with dark green paint, showed no expression, as if they weren’t the ones about to face death.

“The guard’s duty is to protect the civilians in the contact point.” The captain drew his gun. “As long as there are still civilians inside, our mission isn’t over.”

“Number Five, continue escorting the girls out. The rest of you, prepare for battle!” The captain gave orders while his cold eyes quickly scanned the forest path to the left front.

Even before entering the contact point, he had memorized the campus terrain.

This quiet, wooded path cut straight through the school’s green belt.

It was the fastest route from the school gate to the dorms.

The captain withdrew his gaze. Seeing that Number Five hadn’t moved to escort, he said in a deep voice, “Number Five, carry out your orders.”

Number Five was silent for a moment, then nodded.

As he passed the captain, he suddenly reached out and punched the latter hard on the shoulder.

Then he walked toward the gate without looking back.

The captain ignored the punch. He quickly formed a three-three battle formation with the remaining three.

Huang Xiu and Yun Ning were placed in the middle.

The six of them stepped onto the path and moved forward quickly.

Time was precious. An accident could happen at any moment. No one dared to waste time.

The path was paved with gray stone slabs of uniform size. To fill the gaps, the school had spread a layer of smooth pebbles.

As she ran, Huang Xiu bled freely.

Plants kept springing up, transforming, joining the plant army moving through the trees on both sides.

The constant loss of blood made her face pale, but this was the critical moment. She couldn’t afford to care.

No accidents occurred on the way. The six reached the boys’ dormitory building smoothly.

The ground outside the gate was full of pits and bloodstains, along with several trees broken in half.

This was the aftermath of Yun Ning’s battle with the tiger.

Huang Xiu felt a chill. She could imagine how brutal that fight had been.

“I told the boys to hide inside the dorm.” Yun Ning looked up at the six-story building, squinting slightly.

“As long as they don’t break school rules on campus, the monsters here can’t hurt them.”

Huang Xiu had noticed that rule long ago. She nodded in agreement. “That’s right.”

“It’s nighttime now, so if they stay in the dorm, they’ll be safe.” He explained.

“Before I retreated, I specifically told them to stay inside. Looks like they listened.”

“Let’s not waste time. We…” Huang Xiu was about to suggest that Yun Ning and the guards call the boys down.

Suddenly, from very far away, from what seemed to be the direction of the gymnasium, a piercing roar rang out.

“That’s the tiger’s roar.” She said decisively. A bad feeling arose.

“It seems he doesn’t want us to evacuate the students easily.” Yun Ning scanned the surroundings, every muscle tense.

“Why does he insist on keeping these students here?” Huang Xiu was puzzled.

Did these monsters live by eating humans?

Before she got an answer, a huge rumbling noise came from afar, like an earthquake.

At the same time, Number One shouted, “Monster tide at two o’clock! Prepare to engage!”

Then he pulled the trigger hard.

His gun roared. Muzzle flashes flickered like fireflies in the dark night.

Bang, bang, bang…

The sharp gunfire pierced the walls, waking up the sound-activated lights in the corridor one by one, and caught the boys’ attention.

“It’s the army! The army is here! We’re saved!” A thin student exclaimed with delight.

He had returned to the dorm early today and narrowly escaped disaster.

He was about to go to bed when the ruckus downstairs woke him up.

When he walked to the corridor, he saw the desperate battle between a man and a tiger.

The terrifying spectacle froze him in place.

Even after the tiger disappeared downstairs, he only dared to stay in the dorm, following the shouted orders of the retreating boy.

“That guy from earlier is there, and there’s a really pretty girl!” A boy with glasses from the upper bunk yelled as if he’d discovered a new continent. “Holy crap, she’s gorgeous! Camel, come look! I think I’m in love!”

He had witnessed everything but hadn’t seen any casualties or gotten a close look at the monsters.

Now he felt like everything tonight was as fun as a movie.

His mind was relaxed, his attention focused on Huang Xiu.

The boy named Camel was another pervert. He jumped off the bed. “Where? Where? Let me see!”

He pushed aside the roommate by the window and leaned out. Instantly, he was stunned.

Below the window, behind four soldiers, stood a girl.

She wore no makeup, only a simple blue-and-white short-sleeved shirt and pants, the school uniform.

But none of that could hide the absolute truth of youthful beauty.

Her skin was so fair it seemed to glow. Her delicate features looked like a figurine personally crafted by Nüwa.

But what attracted Camel most was her aura.

Tough, cool, handsome, he had never seen that in a girl his age.

Her hair flew in the wind, her gaze firm. She waved her hand.

Countless strange creatures surged from both sides like a tide, charging toward the end of the left road.

At that moment, Camel felt himself sinking. He murmured, “Whoa, I think I’m in love…”

“Stop messing around.” The thin student pushed Camel aside and squeezed to the window, saying with disdain, “You’re always ‘this is my wife, that is my wife.’ At your age, where do you get so much love?”

Then he looked down and cried out in horror, “Holy shit, so many monsters!”

Only then did the other boys in the dorm notice the terrifying monsters surging like a tide.

These monsters had human bodies and beast heads, their faces hideous and terrifying, as if they had crawled out of hell.

“W-What do we do?” The boy with glasses swallowed. He sensed the danger.

If the army was defeated, they would be the first to suffer, hiding in this building.