Chapter 78: Shen Miaomiao, Go Catch Fish

Chapter 78: Shen Miaomiao, Go Catch Fish

Chu Ya's mental domain had not fully recovered. Dealing with those tree mutants had almost drained all his mental energy in a short time. Now, as he relaxed, he felt a throbbing pain in his head, and the scenes before his eyes rippled and distorted like water. The voices around him seemed to come and go.

He closed his eyes and lay on the ground, enduring the dizziness. He knew that this condition required a guide to sort it out, but Shen Juanjuan was still an unbroken guide who could only unconsciously release mental energy after falling asleep each night. Therefore, he had to hold on until evening, until Shen Juanjuan fell asleep.

He heard the voices of the manager and students, muffled as if through thick glass.

"Don't get in the water, just by the stream, wash your face, clean off whatever splashed on you."

"But then the mosquito repellent I applied will be washed off."

"Just reapply it. What can you do with a red face? Who knows if the tree's blood is toxic."

...

He also heard Shen Juanjuan's voice, fluctuating in volume, buzzing incessantly in his ear.

"Shen Miaomiao, are you sleeping? Why aren't you waking up? Shen Miaomiao, Shen Miaomiao... move a little, your face is so pale, move a little... Manager, my brother, my brother... oh..."

Chu Ya heard Shen Juanjuan's sobs and struggled to open his eyes, vaguely recognizing the panicked face in front of him.

"I'm fine, I'll sleep for a while, just a while." After saying this, he fell into a stupor, and the Black Wolf, which had been patrolling, returned to his mental domain.

Chu Ya remained in a semi-comatose state. He knew he had a fever and was carried to a soft place. The surroundings became quieter, and the noise diminished. He could feel someone feeding him water and wiping his forehead with a cold towel.

He seemed to float in a vast cloud, which made him feel very comfortable, wanting to drift forever. But he would always hear that familiar voice softly calling Shen Miaomiao, asking if he was thirsty or needed to urinate. He could always hear the sound of water, a small hand pressing a cold towel to his forehead, making him feel very comfortable...

When Chu Ya opened his eyes again, his mind was clear, feeling refreshed and without any discomfort. He turned his head to look around, seeing himself lying in a small tent, with Shen Juanjuan sleeping beside him.

The tent was sewn from some strange hides, clearly made by the manager using the skins of the mutants they had stripped over the past few days, to avoid disturbing him from other children. Although Shen Juanjuan was sleeping beside him, his brows were furrowed, and he still held a wet towel in his hand.

The tent door was lifted, and the Black Wolf's large head poked in. Chu Ya mouthed, "Are you okay?"

The Black Wolf nodded and then pulled its head back.

Chu Ya took the towel from Shen Juanjuan's hand, undressed him, and covered him with a blanket. He picked up the half-basin of water next to him and walked out of the tent. He found they were still on the same lawn; the team must have stopped moving because of his coma, camping by the stream.

Rong Chen was walking toward him with a porcelain basin. Seeing him, he asked in surprise, "Awake?"

"Yes, awake."

"How are you? Anywhere uncomfortable?"

"No, I've completely recovered."

As Chu Ya said this, he could still feel Shen Juanjuan lingering in his mental domain, having already sorted it out and now playing around.

"It's good that you've recovered, good that you've recovered." Rong Chen walked toward his tent with the basin, "You must have used too much mental energy today. We caught fish in the stream, come drink a bowl of fish soup to replenish yourself, and then have a good sleep."

"Thank you, Uncle Rong."

"What are you thanking me for? It's really thanks to you. Otherwise, what would we have done today, all of us might have been left here." Rong Chen lifted the tent flap and saw the sleeping Shen Juanjuan, sighing softly, "He was the one scared by you, and he was the one taking care of you, not letting us interfere, constantly cooling you down and feeding you water."

Chu Ya also looked at Shen Juanjuan, "Has he eaten anything?"

"No, he wouldn't eat anything until you woke up. Wake him up now and let him eat something. There are plenty of fish in the water, enough for everyone tonight."

"Alright, Uncle Rong, you go about your business, don't worry about us." Chu Ya took the fish soup and two small empty bowls from him.

"Okay, I need to inform Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen. Those kids are also worried about you, always hovering around here. I didn't let them come in for fear of disturbing you."

After being woken by Chu Ya, Shen Juanjuan gave him a drowsy smile, "Shen Miaomiao."

Chu Ya patted his head, "Mm-hmm."

"Shen Miaomiao." Shen Juanjuan yawned, stretching his arms out from under the blanket, "Grandpa's little car goes beep beep beep, da da da, beep beep beep..."

After Shen Juanjuan finished singing, Chu Ya gently asked, "Are you hungry?"

Shen Juanjuan rubbed his stomach and nodded, "I'm hungry, why am I so hungry?"

"If you're hungry, get up and eat."

Shen Juanjuan sat up, suddenly remembering what happened before he fell asleep, and the drowsiness vanished, "Ah! Were you sick this afternoon? You had a fever."

"I wasn't sick."

"Weren't you? But you couldn't be woken up, and you had a fever."

Chu Ya ladled a bowl of fish soup. Seeing Shen Juanjuan lost in thought, he picked up a piece of fish and fed it to him, explaining, "Because I'm a sentinel, when I fought those tree mutants this afternoon, I consumed a lot of mental energy. Without a guide's assistance, my mental domain became disordered."

"But how did you recover without medicine?"

Shen Juanjuan was a guide, and Chu Ya needed to teach him these things. Normally, he didn't like listening, but since he showed interest now, Chu Ya explained in detail.

"So, it was because I combed your hair, right?"

"It's called sorting the mental domain," Chu Ya corrected.

"I'm very capable, I just comb like this..." Shen Juanjuan raised both hands, mimicking holding a comb, slowly combing the air, "Your hair—your mental domain gets better."

The Black Wolf peeked in, and Shen Juanjuan grabbed a handful of its neck fur, "Shen Wangwang, come in, I'll comb your table fur, I'll comb it slowly..."

"Roar!"

The Black Wolf freed its tail, swatting Shen Juanjuan, and hurriedly retreated from the tent.

"You see, you see, it's always like this, doesn't like to be clean, won't even comb its head." Shen Juanjuan shook his head, "It probably never went to school, can't even count one, two, three."

Since the topic of combing hair was brought up, Chu Ya untied the leather cord at the back of his head, combed through it, and tied it up again. He then took apart the two ponytails on Shen Juanjuan's head and combed through the messy strands.

"Do you want to tie them up again?" Chu Ya asked.

Shen Juanjuan shook his head vigorously. "Yes, I want to tie them like yours."

"Your hair is still a bit short; we can only make two."

"Alright, then let's do two more."

Suddenly, a voice called out from outside, and Rong Chen's intermittent words drifted in: "Don't rush, the fish have bones, the sharp spines are their bones, don't bite..."

Chu Ya lifted the tent flap and peeked out, seeing Rong Chen standing on a large rock, shouting. Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen stood on either side of him, each holding a fish and using chopsticks made of wooden sticks to demonstrate the stiff motions of picking out the bones, complementing Rong Chen's explanation.

Not far from them, several students were looking up with their cheeks pinched by the managers, who were removing fish bones from their mouths.

"Don't just start biting, don't treat it like other meats. You won't starve if you take your time. Eat slowly, use the chopsticks to pick out a piece of fish, remove all the bones inside, and pay attention to their actions..."

The next morning, the group set off again. After what happened the previous day, everyone seemed less afraid of animal mutants and more wary of plant mutants. They avoided strange plants as they passed by.

Chu Ya continued to clear away the wild animal mutants, and nothing unusual happened along the way. Before nightfall, they found a place with an open area and a water source to set up camp. After the managers cleared the grass with snake repellent sticks, the students did not collapse on the ground as usual but rushed to the river to catch fish.

This forest was uninhabited, and the fish in the river were both plentiful and fat. Rong Chen found Chu Ya and asked him, somewhat worried, if there were any mutants among the fish.

Chu Ya inspected the river section and found no signs of mutation in the fish, and the water was clean and clear.

"These fish are fine. Do you need me to catch them with my mental power?" Chu Ya asked.

If he used his mental power to catch fish, he could net several at once.

Rong Chen looked at the children playing in the river. "If there's no danger, let them play. It's a good way to relax, and it's warm here, so they won't catch a cold."

"Alright."

"Do you want to go?" Rong Chen asked with a smile.

Chu Ya replied, "I'll pass."

The older and middle-class students took off their shoes and socks, jumped into the water, and began to chase the fish back and forth. The younger students ran along the riverbank, shouting, "Here, here, here, over there, over there, over there."

Shen Juanjuan and Tang Yuanyuan, along with a few other children, joined in the chase. The older students threw the caught fish onto the shore, and they scrambled to catch them.

Chu Ya sat in front of the tent, smiling as he watched the playful scene, while a thread of his mental power remained vigilant, scanning the surroundings.

"Shen Miaomiao, Shen Miaomiao." Shen Juanjuan held a fish and waved it excitedly from afar. Seeing Chu Ya nod, he walked over and tossed the fish into a specially dug pit filled with water.

After throwing the fish, he didn't return to the water but ran toward Chu Ya instead. "Shen Miaomiao, come catch fish, come on, let's go catch fish together."

Chu Ya hesitated, but Shen Juanjuan, undeterred, dragged him toward the river. Despite his resistance, Chu Ya ended up going with him.

Chu Ya was not accustomed to taking off his shoes and socks in front of so many people and only wanted to stand by the water. However, Liu Zhen saw him and called out from the water, "Brother Chu Ya, come on, come catch fish."

Although Chu Ya was about the same age as the older students, he had been protecting everyone throughout the journey, exuding a maturity that surpassed his years. Unlike his peers, he never argued or fought, earning the respect and admiration of the students. His good looks and unique demeanor also set him apart from the other boys, and the girls naturally included him in their circle, calling out, "Come on, Brother Chu Ya, come catch fish."

"Shen Miaomiao, hurry up and catch fish, hurry up," Shen Juanjuan urged, jumping up and down.

Chu Ya hesitated for a moment before finally taking off his shoes and socks and entering the water.

He joined a group of older students, initially feeling a bit restrained, but after catching a couple of fish, he gradually became more relaxed.

Shen Juanjuan cheered from the shore, encouraging Shen Miaomiao, and the younger students, including Chen Hongliang, joined in, shouting, "Shen Miaomiao, Brother Chu Ya, keep going."

Chu Ya reached into the sand pits, chasing the fleeing fish in the current, splashing water all around. He threw a fish onto the shore, watching Shen Juanjuan and the others bend down to grab it, wiping the water from his forehead with a bright smile.

This smile erased his usual solemnity, revealing a touch of youthful innocence.

Wang Chengcai, however, remained quiet. He did not join in the fishing but sat on the bank, digging a small pool in the pebbles and placing a few small red fish inside for Lin Duozhi to play with.

Hearing the cheers from the river, he asked, "Do you want me to catch some fish?"

"I'm happy playing with these little fish," Lin Duozhi said, pointing to the small red fish and smiling broadly.

"Just don't get that hand wet."

Wang Chengcai picked up Lin Duozhi's bandaged hand and checked it, finding it dry, before letting him continue playing with the fish.

Dinner consisted of roasted mutant meat and fish soup, and everyone ate until their bellies were full. Despite the earlier instructions on eating fish, some impatient students still got stuck, causing the managers to pat and dig for a while to remove the fish bones.

Every morning when they set off, the older students would complain and grumble about wanting to return to the orphanage. But once mealtime arrived, all complaints and dissatisfaction vanished, and they happily patted their full stomachs, feeling they could walk another day.

"Traveling is great, this fish is really delicious, I could eat it forever."

"Yes, I like traveling, but it would be better if we walked less each day."

"When are we going back to the orphanage? We should bring some fish for the director."

"Sure, tell him to spit out the bones, don't get stuck."

They would leave the forest the next day, and everyone went to bed early that night. Even Black Wolf lay down to rest outside the tent, while the managers took turns keeping watch.

Chu Ya and Shen Juanjuan shared the small tent. In the middle of the night, Chu Ya suddenly sensed something amiss and woke up.

The light from the energy lamps seeped through the fur gaps in the tent, and the surroundings were quiet, with the soft voices of the night guards occasionally breaking the silence. Although everything seemed normal, Chu Ya felt a sense of danger. Black Wolf, lying outside the tent, also stood up, staring intently across the river.

A thread of sentry mental power extended from the camp, crossing the river, sweeping over the grass and trees, and speeding forward until it paused above a bush.

Chu Ya saw several dark figures leaping through the trees ahead, swinging rapidly toward their direction.

It turned out to be a large group of monkey mutants, numbering in the hundreds, perhaps even more.

Shen Juanjuan was still fast asleep, deep within his mental domain, continuously sorting through his thoughts. With no concerns, Chu Ya generously used his mental energy to form short swords, which he scattered and thrust into the skulls of the monkey mutants.

However, there were too many of these mutants for him to handle alone. Seeing them about to break out of the forest, Chu Ya quickly got up and rushed out of the tent, urgently shouting to the night supervisor, "Mutants are attacking! There are so many! Get everyone up and ready!"

A sharp whistle sounded, and the supervisors began waking the students. The older students were the first to emerge from their tents, clutching their coats and pants, standing anxiously on the lawn. The younger students, exhausted from the day's activities, slept soundly, unresponsive to the whistles. The supervisors had to carry them out one by one, handing them over to the older students: "Wake them up quickly and help them get dressed."

The monkey mutants rapidly approached, their silhouettes already visible in the forest across the river. The supervisors started firing at them, while Chu Ya continuously released his mental energy. However, with too many monkeys, as soon as one fell, another would rush forward, forcing them to kill those that reached the riverbank first.

About ten monkeys crossed the river and landed on the shore, causing the students to scream and retreat. Black Wolf leaped up, biting through the neck of a mutant and simultaneously slashing with its claws, tearing another mutant in half.

While maintaining his mental energy attacks against the distant monkey group, Chu Ya used a dagger to fend off the mutants that came close. The students, terrified, scattered, and even the drowsy younger students woke up, though a few stubbornly continued to sleep, being dragged along by the older students.

"Quickly hide behind the tents, don't go inside, or the monkeys might get in. Hide behind the tents..." Rong Chen ordered while firing her gun.

Despite the ongoing battle, Chu Ya kept an eye on the small tent, wary of any mutants trying to enter. Shen Juanjuan was still in his mental domain, indicating he hadn't woken up yet.

Hearing the click of triggers beside him, Chu Ya glanced over and saw Wang Chengcai and Liu Zhen. The two hadn't retreated with the older students but stood not far behind him, each with a gun, shooting at the distant targets.

Chu Ya immediately understood; they hadn't handed over the guns to the supervisors but had secretly kept them.

"What's wrong with this gun? It won't fire," Liu Zhen asked anxiously.

Wang Chengcai pointed the muzzle at his own face: "I don't know. Let me check."

Chu Ya pulled his dagger out of a mutant's abdomen and swiftly redirected Wang Chengcai's wrist, aiming the gun skyward.

"Never point a gun at yourself or others, no matter what, to avoid accidental discharge," Chu Ya sternly warned.

"Okay, I understand, but why won't it fire?"

"You two haven't taken off the safety."

After briefly instructing them, Chu Ya returned to fighting the mutants, and the sound of gunfire resumed beside him.