Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Just as everyone was checking their surroundings, a massive rumbling sound suddenly came from the top of the bus, as if something had been dropped from a great height and landed heavily on the roof of the school bus.

Since the kidnappers had previously opened a hole in the roof, sand was trickling in through the circular hole.

Yi Tiantian immediately understood what was happening.

"Those crazy kidnappers are starting to bury us alive!!"

"Soon the school bus will be buried under mud and sand!"

Everyone had already braced themselves, so those who could hear Yi Tiantian's thoughts weren’t too shocked.

However, the students who couldn’t hear his thoughts, along with the driver and attendant, panicked.

The driver swallowed nervously, but before he could speak, another deafening roar came from above.

The noise was like a distant artillery shell, or a torrential rainstorm pounding the roof.

"D-do you think... the kidnappers are..."

The attendant beside the driver was pale with fear, her face tense as she spoke in a trembling voice.

Hearing the attendant's words, the driver’s eyes darted to Yi Tiantian, clearly seeking answers.

At that moment, the roof shook again, and the kids huddled in the corners, trembling like lost kittens.

Each time the noise hit, the kids shrank further into the corners, their wide eyes brimming with fear.

Yi Tiantian opened his mouth, but he really didn’t want to tell so many children that they were being buried.

The driver glanced between the roof and Yi Tiantian, who gave him a confirming nod.

The adults exchanged silent glances, realizing what the kidnappers were up to.

"We must escape from this pit before the kidnappers seal this place with a layer of cement!"

"Otherwise, once the cement sets, none of us will survive!"

Yi Tiantian's inner thoughts were a wake-up call for everyone, as they hadn’t realized the kidnappers were so ruthless, leaving no chance for survival and even planning to trap them with cement!

The atmosphere became tense. On one side were the frightened children and the trembling driver and attendant, while on the other side were those who, after hearing the inner thoughts, knew they had to escape as quickly as possible.

Fei Cheng felt grateful that he hadn’t listened to Yi Tiantian’s suggestion to not participate in the documentary shoot. Otherwise, only Yi Tiantian would be trapped in this fallen school bus, and how terrified he would be!

But now it was different. Fei Cheng believed that as long as he was here, he would do his utmost to protect Yi Tiantian and help him escape successfully!

Yueyue and Yangyang were also deeply frowning, already thinking of ways to get out.

"Kids, don't be afraid. I've already contacted the police, and they'll come to rescue us soon!"

Seeing the kids huddled and shivering in the corners, Yi Tiantian couldn’t help but comfort them.

"Let's treat today's event as an exciting drill!"

[But in my heart, I'm hoping you'll never face such danger again, and that this kind of "drill" never happens again!]

Hearing Yi Tiantian say this, the children calmed down a little. After all, the most anticipated event of the day had been a fire drill, so hearing Yi Tiantian’s words, they started to think of today’s event as just another "drill."

Of course, these words might fool the younger kids, but the older ones still had eyes full of fear.

Yi Tiantian couldn’t bear to see them so scared, so he stepped forward to lighten the mood. "After all this, do you guys even need to go to class?"

As soon as they heard "don't need to go to class," a few of the kids perked up.

It wasn’t just the kids on the bus—there were plenty of adults, and Yi Tiantian had already said the police were on their way, so they’d be rescued soon!

And the best part? No class today!

One of the trembling kids, a little girl with glasses, raised her hand high as if she had something to say.

Yi Tiantian, acting like their substitute teacher, asked, "Do you have something to say?"

The little girl nodded firmly and answered with conviction, "We’ll wait here obediently for the police to rescue us!"

"Kids sure do have it easy, don't they?" Yi Tiantian thought, looking at the children’s innocent faces and the little girl’s determined gaze, before nodding vigorously. "Alright! Let’s wait here obediently. The police will definitely come to rescue us!"

The kids seemed to relax after hearing Yi Tiantian and the little girl speak.

No one had been hurt, and they trusted Yi Tiantian completely—everyone would be saved.

Seeing the kids calm down, the adults started to feel more hopeful too.

Yi Tiantian figured the adults had a lot of questions, so he explained everything that had happened since the bus was taken.

"Before the kidnappers confiscated our phones, I sent our location to the police. I think they’ll get the message."

"Great! This is wonderful!" The driver was practically jumping with relief, gasping for air like he’d just been given a second chance at life.

The attendant’s eyes welled up, and she covered her mouth, her voice trembling with relief as she said, "This is wonderful. We’re really going to be saved!"

Yueyue and Yangyang had thought Yi Tiantian’s plan had completely failed, but they didn’t expect he had kept such a crucial move up his sleeve!

This revelation excited everyone even more.

Fei Cheng watched Yi Tiantian with pride, staying calm even as everyone else reacted in shock.

He knew Yi Tiantian would definitely succeed.

"But Officer Qin, why hasn’t he shown up yet? Could something have gone wrong?"

"The worst case is that they misjudged the situation and couldn’t handle these armed kidnappers..."

"Remember, these guys are from the Dusk Society—they’re ruthless desperadoes."

After the wave of joy, worry began to creep back in, especially for Yi Tiantian.

In the rush, he had only managed to send a location message to Officer Qin and wasn’t sure if he’d understood the hidden meaning.

Fei Cheng knew Officer Qin.

During the Dusk Society and plastic surgery clinic incident, Officer Qin, working undercover, had made significant contributions. Afterward, he had exchanged contact information with Yi Tiantian and told him to reach out if he ever faced any difficulties.

Never did they expect it would come in handy so soon!

Yueyue and Yangyang weren't directly involved in the cosmetic clinic incident, so naturally, they knew nothing about this Officer Qin that Yi Tiantian had never mentioned before. At this moment, they were completely confused.

"All we can do now is hope Officer Qin gets here quickly!"

"The longer this drags on, the harder it'll be to rescue us."

Yi Tiantian checked the system again but found no new updates on Officer Qin's whereabouts.

This weird rumor system went silent!

As time passed, about an hour had gone by since the school bus was driven into the pit. By now, they could no longer hear anything from the roof, now buried under a thick layer of dirt.

Through the windows, all they saw was darkness—dirt had covered everything outside.

The inside of the bus was as dark as night.

The driver had an idea. He suddenly remembered there was a lighting system in the school bus that they could use, so he quickly turned on the switch.

In an instant, the previously dark cabin was completely illuminated, and for the first time, people in the darkness could see each other's facial expressions clearly.

It had been a full hour since Yi Tiantian and the little girl had their inspiring conversation, but in that hour, the police had not come to rescue them, and the kids were starting to panic again.

Everyone started to worry—what if the police couldn't find us? What if the kidnappers outside were too powerful?

The little kids were obviously helpless, like lambs to the slaughter, shivering in the school bus.

The driver and the attendant grew worried too, thanks to the oppressive atmosphere, the harsh lighting, and the time spent trapped inside.

Everyone felt the air was getting thinner, like the oxygen could vanish at any second.

"This isn't going to work if we keep waiting!"

"Before the police arrive, we must save ourselves!"

"Now that the kidnappers have buried the school bus in the pit, if we can climb out of the bus and dig our way up from the pit..."

Yi Tiantian frowned and began to think.

Fei Cheng understood what Yi Tiantian meant—he was suggesting they could escape like prisoners breaking out of jail.

But there was a fatal problem with doing that: what if, after all the digging, they reached the surface only to find that the people above were the bad guys?!

What if the first person they saw after digging out was one of the kidnappers?! Who knows what horrors might happen then?!

Fei Cheng had these concerns, which was why he hadn't stepped up to suggest a self-rescue.

"Let's wait another hour, and then start digging upwards!"

"If we run into the kidnappers, then we'll just have to accept our bad luck!"

"Why isn't this stupid system giving us any clues?!"

Even in this life-or-death situation, the hateful rumor system remained silent, like it was broken.

Another hour passed, and every minute in that hour was torture for everyone.

Despite the light, the harsh glare, everyone's desperate faces, and the suffocating atmosphere made it unbearable.

Once again, Yi Tiantian stepped forward in front of everyone.

"Everyone, I have an idea."

Yi Tiantian took a deep breath and looked at the group.

"Since we can't wait any longer for rescue, we need to take matters into our own hands! We can..."

Yi Tiantian explained the rest of the plan to everyone present, detailing how they could escape and the potential dangers they might face afterward.

"So, what do you all think?" he asked cautiously, his voice trembling with anticipation.

To his surprise, the adults remained silent, weighing the risks. The uncertainty of what awaited them outside made them hesitant.

Yueyue and Yangyang stayed quiet, knowing this was Yi Tiantian's personal decision and that the system had offered no guidance.

They too were a bit uncertain.

When Yi Tiantian saw everyone's expressions, he understood their thoughts. It seemed no one was willing to take the risk.

But when his eyes met Fei Cheng's, he suddenly felt a wave of warmth.

At that moment, Fei Cheng's eyes were filled with support and determination. He spoke up the next second, "I think this idea is very good. Although it's a bit risky, I don't want to sit here and wait for death either! I'm willing to be the leader."

Fei Cheng's words filled Yi Tiantian with hope. He hadn't expected anyone to back him, especially not Fei Cheng, who now stood ready to lead.

Just then, the little girl who had raised her hand earlier raised it again.

Yi Tiantian nodded at her, signaling that she could speak.

"I agree! I refuse to just sit here and wait for the end!"

The little girl's words seemed to ignite the emotions of the kids. One by one, more children raised their hands.

Even in this tense moment, they raised their hands politely, maintaining order and showing remarkable resolve.

A little boy bravely spoke up, "We may be kids, but we know we have to save ourselves. Our teachers always tell us that no one should ever give up on life, no matter what."

A younger girl raised her hand and declared, "Mom always says we can't give up when things get tough!"

"We must get out!"

"We can definitely escape!"

Though the children didn't fully grasp the dangers ahead, their spirit of moving forward and striving to save themselves moved all the adults present.

If they continued to submit, they would only face the fate of waiting for death. So it was better to rise up and resist, to let fate know they wouldn't give in easily!

The children's innocent yet powerful words rekindled the adults' courage. They exchanged glances, finding the same fierce determination in each other's eyes.

Fei Cheng took a deep breath and suggested, "Let's work out a plan for getting out of here."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The driver, who knew the bus best, pointed out that there was an openable window on the roof.

"We could start by using that window to dig our way out, step by step."

The driver's idea was met with unanimous agreement, as the window on the roof of the bus was indeed the closest point to the ground, so leaving from there would save a lot of effort.

But this brought up another problem: the bus was now slightly tilted, and they would have to open a window buried under a thick layer of dirt!

Opening the window was a very difficult task that required everyone's cooperation.

"How about this, we hold Fei up from below and let him try to open the window on top of the bus?" Yi Tiantian suggested.

"After all, Fei is the most muscular and in the best shape among us. He's the strongest one here!"

"If Fei can't do it, no one else will be able to either."

They wasted no time. Fei agreed with Yi Tiantian's idea, and everyone sprang into action.

The others held Fei up from below, while Actor Fei followed the driver's instructions and tried to push the window open.

Fei reached up and tried to push it open, but it was covered in thick dirt and wouldn't budge.

But seeing the kids' hopeful faces and Yi Tiantian's encouraging look, Fei decided to give it one more shot.

Unfortunately, this attempt also failed.

The dirt was too heavy, and even the well-built Actor Fei couldn't force it open.

With everyone watching anxiously, Fei tried a different approach. He reached up and tried to pull the handle downwards to see if that would work.

To everyone's surprise, the window popped open as soon as he pulled it.

But just at that moment, the driver, who had been helping to hold Fei up, suddenly smacked his forehead and exclaimed, "Oh no! I forgot, that window actually opens by pulling down!"

As soon as the driver finished speaking, everyone realized something was wrong.

Dirt started pouring into the bus through the open window!

"Ahhh! Too much dirt!"

The attendant, who was also helping to hold Fei up, had dirt land directly on her face.

Those below were in such a state, and the people above were even worse off.

As the sand and dirt poured in, Actor Fei already had a lot of it on his head.

And more dirt continued to flood into the bus.

The adults quickly moved away from beneath the window and watched as the sand and dirt kept pouring in.

"Are we going to be buried alive?!"

The attendant, horrified, covered her mouth and whispered in fear.

The driver, seeing this, couldn't help but scream in panic.

"Ahh! We're all going to die here!"

This sight only increased everyone's panic. Even the kids, who had been eager to escape, now looked pale with fear.

"Don't worry, the mud and sand will stop flowing in soon!"

Seeing the tension among the crowd, Yi Tiantian encouraged them again.

Whether the words came from the rumor system or were made up by Yi Tiantian, everyone chose to believe him.

There's no turning back now that the door is open.

Yi Tiantian's words rallied everyone, strengthening their resolve to escape.

"I’ll go first and clear the way!" Fei Cheng looked at everyone and said, his expression serious, his tone unexpectedly admirable.

"Be careful, Actor Fei." Yi Tiantian knew Fei Cheng was the most suitable person to lead the way, so there was no stopping him now; he could only offer a few words of caution.

"Okay, I will."

Fei Cheng’s gaze softened, and his deep voice reassured Yi Tiantian.

By now, the mud and sand had piled up from the roof window, forming a small mound.

They needed to act fast to save themselves.

Fei Cheng gritted his teeth and braced himself for the challenge.

Yi Tiantian and the others lifted Fei Cheng again, as if he were their last hope.

Though the flow of sand had slowed and seemed to be stopping, Actor Fei still got a mouthful of mud when he reached the roof window.

But he couldn't care less; Fei Cheng's only thought was to get out of here and save everyone on the bus.

Everyone held their breath, pinning their hopes on Fei Cheng.

Just then, a tractor nearby started up, a few meters above the school bus.

"Dig this open right away! There's a buried school bus inside!" Officer Qin directed the staff on the scene.