Chapter 81: Stand Me Up, Lying Down Doesn’t Look Good

Chapter 81: Stand Me Up, Lying Down Doesn’t Look Good

Chu Ya was conversing with Rong Chen when they both turned at the sound behind them. The entire group had stopped, all eyes fixed on the rising dust. Before Rong Chen could ask, a figure darted past him, and Chu Ya had already rushed out.

Black Wolf also charged from the rear of the group, its rider jolted into the sand, then tumbled up, sitting bewildered on the ground.

Chu Ya stopped where Shen Juanjuan should have been, turning to search around, his gaze falling on the nearby frightened young students, breathing heavily.

Without waiting for his question, one of the young students pointed to an indentation in the sand: "Right there, they disappeared."

Shen Juanjuan felt himself plummet, darkness enveloping his vision, children's screams ringing in his ears. The fall lasted only a few seconds before he landed on a not-so-hard surface.

"Ouch."

"Ouch!!"

Splash!

Covered in sand, Shen Juanjuan hurriedly crawled out. He heard the cries of pain from Chen Hongliang and Tang Yuanyuan and called out as soon as he emerged from the darkness: "Tang Yuanyuan! Chen Hongliang!"

"Shen Juanjuan," both responded.

"Whimper... whimper..."

"Wang Xiaoxi, you're here too?" Shen Juanjuan reached out toward the crying sound, grabbed Wang Xiaoxi's arm, and pulled him out of the sand pile.

The sudden change left the children completely bewildered. After crawling out of the sand pile, they sat in the darkness for a few seconds before starting to shout for the administrators and Chu Ya.

"Administrator Wu, Chief Administrator Chen."

"Shen Miaomiao, brother, Shen Wangwang."

"Chief Administrator Chen, Administrator Wu, Administrator Shi..."

Their voices echoed, as if they were in an enclosed space. When they quieted down, there was no sound except for their own and each other's rapid breathing. The air smelled of sand and an indescribable stench.

"Where are we?" Wang Xiaoxi sobbed.

Tang Yuanyuan said, "I think we fell underground."

"What?!"

"What? We fell underground?"

Tang Yuanyuan clarified, "Under the sand."

The children fell silent for a moment, pondering Tang Yuanyuan's words. It took a while for Shen Juanjuan to react, fear surging within him.

"Ah!!!"

"Whimper... whimper..."

They all cried and shouted, reaching out blindly, searching for the others, and clinging to each other's arms.

"Shen Miaomiao, brother, Shen Wangwang, I fell under the sand, whimper..."

"I want to go up, I don't want to be here, ah..."

Shen Juanjuan raised his hands, feeling a face, and asked through tears, "Who are you?"

A muffled voice replied, "Yu Datou."

"Yu Datou, how did you fall down too? Why didn't you say anything?" Tang Yuanyuan choked out.

Yu Datou said, "You didn't ask if I was here."

With familiar faces around, the initial panic subsided, and the crying gradually lessened. Tang Yuanyuan was the first to calm down: "Let's feel around and figure out where we are, see if we can find a way out."

The children began to explore their surroundings. Shen Juanjuan quickly found solid ground, which felt like a wall, but when he prodded it with his fingers, fine sand trickled down.

He explored the area in front of him and then turned back to say, "I didn't find a door here."

"I didn't find a door either, just walls," Chen Hongliang said from the other side.

Wang Xiaoxi: "I found a wall, no door."

Tang Yuanyuan: "This isn't a room, there won't be a door."

"Then what do you want us to feel for?" Chen Hongliang asked, puzzled.

Shen Juanjuan: "Yu Datou, what did you find?"

Yu Datou's voice came from a bit further away: "It's still open in front of me, I'm still exploring."

Tang Yuanyuan called out to Yu Datou: "Wait, let's move together, don't get lost."

The children moved toward Yu Datou's direction, and someone kicked something, causing a clattering sound.

"It's a stick, the stick fell down too."

"Pick up the stick, what if there are ghosts inside?" Chen Hongliang said.

The children screamed in terror, and Tang Yuanyuan shouted sharply, "Chen Hongliang, stop talking, okay?"

Despite her words, everyone still felt for the wooden sticks that had fallen with them, each holding one in their hand, huddled together, and moved toward Yu Datou's position.

Tang Yuanyuan: "We've arrived, Yu Datou, where are you?"

Yu Datou: "I'm just a little ahead."

...

Tang Yuanyuan: "We're here, Yu Datou, why can't I find you?"

"I'm just a bit ahead."

Tang Yuanyuan, exasperated: "Yu Datou, please don't move! Just stand there and wait for us, okay?!"

"Okay, sure."

...

"Huh..."

Shen Juanjuan said, "Wang Xiaoxi, don't cry."

"Huh..."

"Don't cry, I'll hold your hand."

"Huh-huh-huh..."

Shen Juanjuan's voice trembled with tears, "Wang Xiaoxi, you're making me want to cry too. I miss my brother so much, huh-huh..."

"You two, stop crying, huh-ah-ah..."

All the children stopped, standing still and crying sadly. After they had their cry, they continued on their way.

After walking for a while, Tang Yuanyuan finally got a better sense of the surroundings: "Don't you think this place looks like a mole's home?"

"Yes, I've been feeling that it's familiar. It's just like the mole's home in the cartoon."

"So we're inside an underground tunnel."

"We have to dig our way out."

Shen Juanjuan perked up: "I'm the best at digging. Remember the hole at the orphanage? That was me."

"Alright, let's start digging!" Chen Hongliang declared loudly.

"Chen Hongliang, don't talk!" Tang Yuanyuan waited until the ringing in her ears subsided: "There's still a path ahead, let's feel our way forward. We'll dig if we hit a dead end."

The children finally caught up with Yu Datou and together they felt their way through the darkness.

After spending a long time in the dark, even a tiny bit of light became very noticeable. Yu Datou, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

"Why did you stop?" Tang Yuanyuan gently pushed his back.

"There's light," Yu Datou replied.

Everyone looked ahead and saw two red spots deep in the darkness, like two glowing little bulbs.

"Right, there's light," Shen Juanjuan exclaimed with surprise.

"Yes, I see it, there's light ahead."

"Huh..." Wang Xiaoxi was still crying.

The children hurried toward the light. As they got closer, Shen Juanjuan suddenly stopped and pulled Yu Datou, who was still moving forward: "Wait."

"What is it? What is it?" Chen Hongliang, already on edge, nearly jumped.

Shen Juanjuan lowered his voice, "The light is blinking, didn't you notice?"

"How is it blinking?" Chen Hongliang asked.

Yu Datou, who had been silent, spoke in a low voice, "It's like a pair of eyes, blinking."

"Ahh!!"

"Ahhh!"

The children felt a chill run down their spines and screamed in unison, quickly running back. If anyone fell, they would cry out and be pulled up by the others, continuing to run in the dark.

Shen Juanjuan turned his head and saw the two red spots rapidly approaching, which terrified him.

"Is it a ghost?! It's coming, and it's coming fast!"

"Aaaaah! A ghost!!!"

"Waa..."

The children kept tripping over each other, and Shen Juanjuan was also tripped. He lay on the ground, turned his head, and saw the red spots getting closer, shouting frantically, "Psychic attack! Thick-skinned one, don't come any closer, psychic attack!"

The other children also came to their senses and began their psychic attacks in high-pitched voices, with Wang Xiaoxi crying and shouting at the same time.

In this moment, Shen Juanjuan remained calm. He quickly got up, grabbed a stick, and stood in front of the others, yelling at the red spots, "I'm the guide, I hit the punching bag every day, I'm practicing boxing. If you, thick-skinned one, come any closer, I'll beat you to death. My brother is coming soon, and he will beat you to pieces!"

He started swinging the stick, poking forward, and shouting, "Poke you through three times! Poke you through a hundred times!"

The other children also got up, holding their sticks and swinging them forward, "Don't come any closer, we'll beat you to death, I'm the lookout, psychic attack!"

"Psychic attack!"

"Waaa... Psychic... Waa... Attack."

The two red spots were now close, and the air was filled with a strong, foul smell. Shen Juanjuan finally saw clearly that they were not red lights but two eyes the size of cups, with a black vertical pupil in the center, which was truly terrifying.

"Don't come any closer! Thick-skinned one!"

The two eyes suddenly enlarged before them, and the ghost on the other side lunged at them. Shen Juanjuan screamed in shock, gripping the stick and thrusting it forward. He then felt the wooden stick hit something that wasn't particularly solid, producing a muffled thud.

The two red lights paused, and Shen Juanjuan pushed the stick forward with all his might, shouting shrilly, "Come and beat it to death, beat it to death!"

The children finally reacted, each grabbing a stick and jabbing forward, poking the thing repeatedly. Fear made them burst with unprecedented strength and speed, actually pushing back the two red lights so they couldn't advance any further.

"Beat it to death! Beat it to death!"

"Class Two, cheer up, wuhu... beat it to death."

"Psychic attack, everyone attack!"

Everyone shouted as they fought, the entire space filled with buzzing echoes. Whether it was from being poked or intimidated by the noise, the thing didn't lunge forward again but retreated a bit. However, it clearly didn't want to leave; the two eyes flickered with a faint red light, as if making some other plans.

"I'm the guide, I'm the best at beating ghosts. My brother is coming soon, he's about to come and pick us up, and he'll tear you apart."

As Shen Juanjuan was shouting, he suddenly felt something light wrap around his arm. He touched it with his other hand and found it to be a cold, thin thread, slightly sticky.

"I'm telling you, my brother is coming in right now." Shen Juanjuan tried to pull the thread off his hand, but immediately felt something else attach to his other hand, light and cool. Without touching it, he knew it was another thread.

Shen Juanjuan quickly pulled his hands together, and the children around him asked, "What is this?"

"There's a spider web on me."

"I also touched a spider web."

...

Shen Juanjuan noticed the two red lights approaching again and quickly gripped the stick tighter, "It's coming again, it's coming again, poke it quick."

The red lights approached and were pushed back by the children's shouts and jabs. But Shen Juanjuan had more threads on him, as if trying to wrap him up entirely. Fortunately, his hands never left the stick, and even though he was entangled, he could still push it forward.

But he gradually realized something was wrong; his arms were almost unable to bend, and he could only move the stick with his body. The other children also noticed this and began to panic.

"I'm wrapped in a spider web, my hands can't move."

"Ah, my feet can't move either."

"I have it on my neck, I can't turn my head."

"Wuwu... wuwu..."

...

Seeing the red lights probing closer again, Shen Juanjuan quickly swayed his body back and forth, using the stick to push it back. Despite his fear, he loudly reassured the other children, "Don't be afraid, my brother will be here soon, don't be afraid."

"Will your brother really come? Wuhu..." Wang Xiaoxi hugged the stick and swayed her body, crying and asking.

Shen Juanjuan replied without hesitation, "He will definitely come! He's coming soon!"

His tone was so firm, full of trust in Chu Ya, which gave the other children renewed courage, and they continued to shout at the two red lights.

"Brother Chu Ya is coming!"

"Shen Juanjuan's brother is coming, he'll kill you!"

Chen Hongliang took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Shen Juanjuan's brother is coming... coming... now..."

Shen Juanjuan felt a buzzing in his ears, and all sounds disappeared, leaving the world eerily quiet. But at the same time, the left side suddenly brightened, dazzling light flooding the darkness. He blinked to adjust his eyes, and when he opened them again, he saw a figure standing in the light.

The figure was tall and slender, outlined by the light behind him. Shen Juanjuan didn't need to see clearly to recognize who it was; a surge of joy and relief flooded her heart, accompanied by a wave of grievance.

He wanted to run forward and throw himself into those safe arms, but his body was immobilized by the threads. He could only pout his lips and sob, "Shen Miaomiao..."

Chu Ya stood panting at the entrance.

They had been digging down from the surface and discovered an underground tunnel system beneath the sand layer, crisscrossing and winding. He led Black Wolf with a torch and several managers through these tunnels, his psychic power searching everywhere.

When he found this place, he heard faint collision sounds from the cave walls and quickly broke through, sending a thread of psychic power through the gap to kill the sand worm mutant.

The children were already wrapped in cocoons, their faces covered in white threads, only their eyes visible, looking at Chu Ya and crying softly.

"Don't be afraid, everything is fine, don't be afraid." Chu Ya approached, breathing heavily, and reached out to pull the threads off Shen Juanjuan, then used a dagger to cut them.

"What did you say? I can't hear you." Shen Juanjuan, tears streaming down his face, although his limbs were immobile, still swayed his body and lightly poked Chu Ya with the stick, "Miaomiao, I knew you would come, you would definitely come."

"Scared, huh?" Chu Ya's voice was still a bit hoarse.

"What?"

"My ears seem to be deaf, wuhu."

"Is Brother Chu Ya speaking?"

Hearing that they were deaf, Chu Ya's heart sank, but Tang Yuanyuan then said, "I can hear now, it's just that Chen Hongliang was too loud, we couldn't hear anything."

The children gradually recovered their hearing, and Chu Ya finally relaxed. Black Wolf kept pulling the threads off Shen Juanjuan, who turned his head and touched its paw, "Wang Wang, I knew you would come too."

"Roar!"

The managers gradually crawled through the opening, startled by the sight of the children, but seeing they were unharmed, said, "Let's carry these cocoons out first, and then we'll take them apart slowly."

As Chu Ya carried Shen Juanjuan out of the cave, he saw a large insect lying on the ground ahead. Though not very long, it was as thick as a bucket, its cup-shaped eyes dull and lifeless, a strand of grayish-white thread hanging from its mouth.

"Look, look," he strained to turn his head and call to the other children.

"What is that? I'm most afraid of insects." Tang Yuanyuan, held by a manager, closed her eyes in fear.

"What does it look like? I can't see, can the manager change my direction? I can't see." Chen Hongliang strained to look up.

The supervisor said, "Stop looking and let's get you out of there."

Light filtered through from the top of the cave, revealing an opening. The large cocoons were passed up one by one, with people above catching them.

"Wow! Another one is up."

"This one is wrapped so tightly."

Under the supervisor's command, the students stood in a wide circle, cheering and clapping enthusiastically each time a cocoon was lifted up. A few children, who had not yet recovered from their earlier fright, now felt honored and delighted as if they were heroes returning with glory. Even Wang Xiaoxi stopped crying and looked around with wide eyes.

"Shen Juanjuan, Tang Yuanyuan, Chen Hongliang, Yu Datou, Wang Xiaoxi."

Those inside the cocoons turned their eyes to see Lin Duozhi being carried on Wang Chengcai's back, waving excitedly at them.

"Lin Duozhi, Lin Duozhi." Shen Juanjuan called out loudly from his cocoon: "We just killed a huge worm, bigger than you. I used my mental power to attack it, and I stabbed it a hundred times with a stick!"

Shen Juanjuan then said to Chu Ya, "Brother, can you stand me up? I don't look good lying down like this; they can't see me."

Chu Ya was speechless but still stood him up, holding him. Shen Juanjuan smiled drunkenly amidst the thunderous cheers.

The cocoons were placed on the sandy ground, and the supervisors each took a dagger to cut through the shells. Chu Ya carefully cut the fine threads around Shen Juanjuan, while Black Wolf tore at the cocoon with great force.

"What was that thing? I took a glance and my whole body went numb," one of the supervisors said.

"I don't know, maybe a spider demon."

"It doesn't look like a spider at all, just a big fleshy worm."

Chu Ya broke off a piece of the cocoon shell and replied, "It's a Sand Gorge Worm Mutant. They are rare and only found in this area, but their attacks are weak, making them easy to deal with."

"That's good. If they were strong, these kids would have been..."

"What would have happened?" Shen Juanjuan asked eagerly, not waiting for the rest.

The supervisor remained silent, and Chu Ya gently tapped his head: "They would have really become big cocoons."

"Since their attacks aren't strong, there's no problem," Rong Chen sighed in relief.

Chu Ya freed Shen Juanjuan's entire head from the cocoon and said, "But these mutants love to dig tunnels under the sand, using traps to catch prey. We don't know if there are more ahead, so we need to be careful when moving forward to avoid falling into them like they did."

Finally, the children were freed from their cocoons. Shen Juanjuan leaned against Chu Ya, looking at the white shells on the ground with a somewhat regretful expression.

"Can't I stay inside?"

"Why do you want to stay inside?" Chu Ya asked.

Shen Juanjuan twisted his hands in front of him and laughed shyly.

Seeing his demeanor, Chu Ya understood immediately and patted Shen Juanjuan's head: "They weren't cheering because you were in the cocoon, but because they were happy you're safe and praising your bravery."

"Am I brave?" Shen Juanjuan's eyes lit up.

"You told me you used a wooden stick to stab that mutant and encouraged the other children to join you," Chu Ya curled his finger and lightly tapped Shen Juanjuan's forehead, smiling: "That's bravery."

Shen Juanjuan became excited: "So I'm very brave, I'm too brave. I stabbed it a hundred times, and I said: 'You thick-skinned worm, come on, come on, I'll stab you to death.'"

Chen Hongliang was still sitting on the ground while a supervisor peeled the cocoon from his feet, chiming in: "I was also brave. I yelled at it, 'Aaaah—'"

"Enough, don't imitate him, we all know," the supervisor said, digging his fingers into his ears.