Chapter 29: The Princess's Edict

  Everything returns to calmness. Liu Ya helplessly looked at Li Jin Yi and Xiao Yu, who were also shocked, "We've really gotten ourselves into a big mess this time, this is a real adventure! You two are from military families, it's time to test you. Please come on stage!"

  Li Jinyi and Xiao Yu were, after all, members of the Crown Prince Party. Apart from eating, drinking, and playing, they were proficient in everything, but their wilderness survival skills were probably somewhat lacking. However, at this moment, it was not the time to shirk responsibility. Li Jinyi quietly made a mark on a certain door and gave the order: "Today's expedition activity has officially begun! Take care of every companion around you, follow the team closely, and don't get lost!" He chose a door and led the team in, while the others behind him took turns taking chalk from Liu Ya's hand and making marks on the walls and floor. Liu Ya still walked at the back of the team because the beautiful sisters in front had been scared by those things earlier and needed the boys to lend a helping hand.

  "Wow! They really aren't afraid of death!" Liu Ya looked at the marks they had drawn on the wall, a mess of simple turtles, flowers, birds, and whatnot. She didn't know if they thought this was some kind of art gallery or something! In her heart, Liu Ya silently lamented, "Can't you guys even draw a map?! This is a maze! You're not afraid of walking in circles and ending up back here?! Later on, when there are marks all over the place, will you still be able to find your way out?! Sigh... Forget it, I won't remind them. Let them suffer a bit and learn their lesson!" Liu Ya thought this, silently following behind the group without making a sound. She took out her notebook and pen, marking out eight tunnel entrances around the circular hall, then marked the entrance they had just come in from. No matter whether they turned left or right, Liu Ya carefully observed to see if there were any easily memorable landmarks, such as: at one corner there was a group of mice and a skeleton, with the skeleton facing the left side of the door; above this doorway there was a protruding black rock, next to which was...; another doorway had a small, smooth cave beside it. Liu Ya walked while slowly drawing out the route they had taken in simple strokes on her map.

  After walking for about half an hour and turning around countless times, Li Jin finally made a move.

  "There's an exit ahead!" Li Jin said excitedly as he walked out of the small opening at the front.

  "Wow, we finally made it out!" Mu Linfeng and Zi Qing were the second to walk out, "Hurray!" The two high-fived each other. Others also started walking out of the small exit one after another. When everyone looked around, they fell silent. As it turned out, be careful what you wish for! Our beloved Yuan Yuan Hall, we're back again! Looking at the crowd that was cheering and rejoicing just a moment ago, now so quiet that even a needle dropping could be heard, with lines of grey and black etched on their faces.

  "Impossible!" Li Jin exclaimed in surprise. "I remember, we were heading in one direction, walking straight ahead! Their own mothers! How did they turn back again?"

  "You must be dizzy! " Xiao Yu twitched the corner of his mouth, questioning, "If we were heading in the same direction just now, how could we have returned? I think you're leading us astray!"

  "It shouldn't be, right?" Lu Xuan said uncertainly as she walked behind Li Jin Yi, "Although there are turns, the general direction should not be too different, I also feel like we're heading in the same direction."

  "That can only mean you both got your directions wrong." Xiao Yu said with certainty.

  "Or else, you lead the way for once, let's go?" Li Jin and Lu Xuan also had some doubts about themselves, wondering if they really took a wrong turn somewhere.

  "Alright!" Xiao Yu responded, thinking to himself, "Let's see how I'm going to get you all out of here. If I can really get all of you out, Ya should be pretty impressed with me, right?" Then, he smiled foolishly.

  "Are you leading a team? You're scared silly?" The seagull beside Xiao Yu couldn't help but strike him once, seeing his foolish look.

  "What! What's going on!" Xiao Yu swore loudly, "Watch me!" He also chose a door and led the team forward. Liu Ya still walked at the back, silently drawing the map. If, unfortunately, they had to go through all the tunnels and still return to the hall, they would be the 'lucky' ones that appear only once in hundreds of years! Liu Ya's heart was always uneasy.

  Time flies so fast, 2 hours have passed. When everyone gathered in the round hall again, they lost their morale from just now.

  "Can't we take a break? We're almost exhausted!" Liu Fang and Hai Ou were so tired that they couldn't help but ask for a rest when they appeared in the hall again. Maybe, they had never walked so much in their lives.

  "I don't believe it!" Liu Jiawei said somewhat irritably and impulsively, "You guys wait here, I'll go take a look around!"

  "No way!" Xiao Yu immediately opposed, "One person going is too dangerous! On this road, we've encountered quite a few dead ends and caves, although we haven't met the traps mentioned online yet. What if something happens to one person who goes alone? It would be very difficult to get in touch with them."

  "What should we do then? What exactly should we do?" Liu Jiawei was getting impatient. Looking at the girls they had brought out, each sitting on a rock, exhausted, some regretful, and some heartbroken.

  "How about this? Let's take a break and try again?" Li Jin also felt some unease in his heart, silently scolding himself, "Usually when the old man taught me wilderness survival skills and stuff, I didn't think much of it. Ah, if only I had learned more back then, I wouldn't be stuck here now! What an idiot I am!"

  "Let's take a break and move around. We must be able to get out!" Liu Fang also spoke up, although this dark environment made her very afraid, but now it was also an unavoidable situation, the mobile phone had no signal, the compass was malfunctioning, and most importantly: the torches were almost used up! If they didn't get out soon, this circular hall might become their burial ground!

  "I've rested enough, how about you?" Liu Fang stood up and gently patted the mud off her body. Although she was very tired, she had to keep going. Once the torches were used up, the pathfinder and even everyone would be in danger, such as lack of oxygen!

  "Have a rest." "I've had a rest too." "Me too." Everyone chimed in with their answers.

  "Let's go." Mu Lin Feng also patted the mud on his body and asked, "This time, I'll lead the team?"

  "I hope you can take us out of this haunted place." Zi Qing said to Mu Lin Feng with full expectation.

  "I'll do my best!" Mu Lin Feng replied with his mouth, but he had no confidence in his heart. Liu Ya, who had been quietly staying in the corner without speaking, occasionally looked at the map she drew and felt that it was similar to something, but also felt that something was missing. She thought, let's take another trip, maybe we can find something else. So the team set off again.

  When the team had walked for half an hour, a faint dripping sound suddenly came from a small cave on the left. This was the first time they had encountered a water source after walking so many times. So, they walked towards that cave. Liu Ya was walking at the back, and suddenly, she heard what seemed to be footsteps coming from behind. Liu Ya shone her miner's lamp and torch on the road and walls behind her, but didn't find anything unusual. However, a voice directly told her that something was following them, and had been doing so for some distance! Liu Ya had actually felt this when they left the great hall over 10 minutes ago, but that thing was just following them from afar and hadn't attacked them. Although Liu Ya's heart was also a bit afraid, the current situation wasn't suitable for a battle to occur. That thing hadn't attacked their team, so Liu Ya didn't mention it to anyone in the team. However, now the situation seemed somewhat different - this footstep sound should be 20-30 meters away from them. To avoid causing panic among the team members, when Liu Ya saw Hai Ou and the others enter the cave, she quietly reached out and gently pulled back Xiao Yu, who was just about to enter the cave.

  "Yah, what's wrong?" Xiao Yu discovered Liu Ya's movement, he also knew that now was the crucial period, so he quietly came out and asked softly, "What did you find?"

  "Boss, I think we're being followed by something!" Liu Ya said with a faint smile. She believed that Xiao Yu, who came from a military family, should still have some courage, so she told him directly, "That thing has been following us for a while now, my intuition tells me it's hiding in a certain cave entrance about 20-30 meters away from us. We're in the light, they're in the dark."

  "Unbelievable?!" Xiao Yu was truly shocked. On one hand, he admired Liu Ya's calmness, that thing had been following them for so long, and she hadn't said a word or made a move, if it were him, he would have already alerted the team; on the other hand, he was surprised that he himself was also walking in the back, being followed by the thing, and yet he hadn't noticed at all.

  "En!" Liu Ya nodded affirmatively towards Xiao Yu.

  "Shall we go take a look?" Xiao Yu asked Liu Ya indecisively, "Or..."

  "I think, let's not disturb it for now." Liu Ya looked at the crowd in the cave and then in that direction again, saying, "It's still unclear what that thing is. We can't just kill it offhand, I'm afraid it would be very disadvantageous to us. Let's observe carefully first and see who's following us. Don't make any noise for now, let's pay attention and find an opportunity to figure out the other party's intentions!"

  "Alright, I'll do as you say!" Xiao Yu looked in that direction and then at Liu Ya again. He was so calm, wise and meticulous that Xiao Yu admired her wholeheartedly, and his fondness for her grew even stronger.

  "Ah——""Lei Zhengzi! Lei Zhengzi!""Lei Zhengzi, are you okay?!""Lei Zhengzi, Lei Zhengzi!" The people in the cave were frantically shouting.

  "Something's happened!" Liu Ya and Xiao Yu exclaimed in unison to each other, "Let's go! Go take a look!" And with that, the two of them quickly ran towards the cave.

  "What's going on?" Liu Ya pushed through the crowd and asked, "Where is Sister Zi Qing?"

  "Down below!" The Oriole and the Seagull answered in unison, anxiously. "She fell down!" It was then that Liu Ya discovered a pit about 1 meter in diameter right in front of her. Whether it was a trap or a well in an underground tunnel, she had no idea.

  "Zi Qing, how are you doing down there?" Liu Ya hastily lay down at the edge of the pit and loudly called out to Zi Qing while shining her light downwards. All she saw below was the dark ground, but no sign of Zi Qing. Luckily, there's no water! Liu Ya secretly rejoiced in her heart. Just how deep is this hole? Judging from the beam of light emitted by her headlamp, the depth should be around 4 to 5 meters.

  "I'm fine, but my leg seems to be sprained! I can't get up!" Zi Qing said with a sobbing tone, slowly crawling towards the light shone by Liu Ya. "The ground below is loose mud, and I looked at the wall earlier, it's made of stone bricks, I won't be able to climb up... Waaahhh..."

  "Cheer up, we'll think of a way to get you out." Liu Ya let Mu Linfeng hold the miner's lamp and shine it downwards while continuing to talk to Zi Qing, this way could reduce Zi Qing's fear in the cave.

  "Take a look, do you have anything like rope in your bags?" Liu Ya called out to them to gather around, and everyone opened their backpacks to search. According to the original distribution, each person had brought rope, which was put there by Lu Xuan. Later, they exchanged things at Lei Ling Temple, and Liu Ya wasn't sure if the rope was still there or not.

  "My rope." Xiao Yu said, taking out a rope from his backpack.

  "My rope is also here." Li Jin took out a rope from his backpack as well.

  "And mine." Liu Ya held up her rope and looked at the others, "How about you?"

  "We don't have any either." The others looked at each other and said in unison. It was only then that they realized how precarious it was to not bring anything with them. But realizing the crisis couldn't resolve the crisis, which was the most fatal thing of all.

  "Mu Lin Feng, do you have a rope in your bag?" Xiao Yu asked Mu Lin Feng, who was lying on the edge of the pit.

  "No, they're all snacks!" Mu Lin Feng regretted his intestines, and he shouldn't have taken the things away in the first place. Mu Lin Feng replied helplessly, "They were all lost on the temple's cart."

  "It's useless!" Liu Ya said calmly, "This strip of cloth rope with a diameter of less than 1 cm and a length of about 2 meters has some signs of wear and tear." As she spoke, Liu Ya rubbed the rope in her hand vigorously, and some lint fell off. She told everyone firmly: "It's completely unusable! The tensile strength and safety factor are not enough!"

  "What to do?!?" Mu Lin Feng listened to the painful moans of Zi Qing in the trap and anxiously asked them, "Can't we just let Zi Qing stay down there like this?! If her feet become congested to a certain extent, she'll..."

  "I'll go down!" Xiao Yu also had a straightforward personality, looking at the urgent situation, he said without hesitation, "Just use this rope, all consequences, I will take responsibility myself!" As he spoke, he took the ropes from his own hand and Li Jin's hand as well as Liu Ya's, tied them together, handed one end to Li Jin and the others, and prepared to go down himself.

  "Wait!" Liu Ya hastily reached out and grabbed Xiao Yu, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! If you keep going down like this, not only will our rescue efforts above be reduced, but if something happens to you, our workload will increase by 100%! Do you understand?! If you don't, then step aside!" Liu Ya's angry roar stunned everyone present.

  "Yah, what can you do?" Liu Fang looked at the furious Liu Ya, although a little intimidated, still asked.

  Liu Ya lowered her head, covering her mouth with her hand, and fell silent in contemplation: How can I get down?! How can I save them?! At this moment, her mind was also a complete blank. Seeing the scene before her, Liu Ya felt a bit anxious, lifted her head, looked at their worried faces, and shook her head slightly with some embarrassment. Suddenly, Liu Ya's gaze fell on their clothes, and an idea flashed in her mind.

  "I have a plan!" Liu Ya said excitedly, "We need your cooperation, guys!"

  "As long as we can save people! Set whatever conditions you want!" The boys replied in unison, urging him to continue, "Hurry up, hurry up..."

  "Uh, that, that..." Liu Ya looked at Liu Jia Wei and Xiao Yu, her face showing difficulty in speaking. Hai Ou, being the oldest among the girls, noticed Liu Ya's situation and guessed that there was something she couldn't say out loud. The matter of saving people is more important than anything! Hai Ou anxiously said to Liu Ya, "Ya Er, saving people is urgent, you tell me, I'll go tell them." Then, she leaned in close. Liu Ya took advantage of Hai Ou's ear and softly told her her idea.

  "Uh..." Seagull heard Liu Ya's words and looked at the boys who stretched their necks to think of an answer, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.

  "Seagull, Aya, why are you two blushing?" The oriole next to Seagull asked in confusion, looking at the red-faced Liu Ya and Seagull. When Liu Ya heard this, she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

  "What are you doing? Speak up!" Mu Linfeng looked at the scene, anxiously shouting, "What time is it now, and you're still hesitating?"

  Seagull was shouted by Wooden Forest Maple, returned to reality, and announced to the boys: "The princess's edict: All boys will take off all their clothes! Obey!"

  What the...?! Strip them all! Liu Jiawei, Xiao Yu, Xia Tian and Mu Linfeng stared incredulously at the seagull holding the 'imperial edict'. The seagull glared at them, "What are you looking at? This is the young princess's decree! You'd better strip quickly and throw yourselves into the cave to lure the monster."

  "What, what, what?!" Mu Lin Feng looked at Liu Ya in surprise. "Really going to take everything off? Confirm it's all off? Not leaving a single bit?!"

  "Ge!" Liu Ya shyly hid behind Liu Fang, poking out her head to say, "I just wanted to borrow your clothes! That's all! It's not as serious as Lu Xuan said!"

  "Why?" Liu Jiawei asked in surprise, stripping naked was no big deal, the problem was that there were so many girls on this side, it's always a bit awkward. After all, we're not exhibitionists.

  "Roll up your clothes and ropes into thick ropes, so you can safely go down to rescue people!" Liu Ya adjusted her expression, took a deep breath, walked out from behind Liu Fang, and said seriously.

  "Strip!" Li Jin gave the order to the other boys while demonstrating himself, quickly stripping down to nothing in three seconds. Because, apart from Liu Ya's idea, they couldn't think of any other way. The other boys looked at Li Jin and also stripped down to nothing in three seconds. Of course, their underwear was still on, that was a must!

  "Twist the rope!" Liu Ya taught them to separate the two pant legs and twist them together with the rope. This can prevent the pants from suddenly tearing at the seams. Everyone worked together, and soon the rope was twisted out. It looked very safe. From time to time, they would sneak a peek at the white flashes of the male bodies in the dark, causing the girls' faces to blush! And the boys were also embarrassed to show off in front of so many girls.

  Later, Liu Ya felt that she was relatively light and could rescue others more easily, so she went down into the trap. First, Liu Ya tied a rope around Zi Qing's body, then put Zi Qing on her back, wrapped the rope around to the front, and tied it to herself. Because Zi Qing's foot was injured and she couldn't climb up by herself, they had to ask the people above to pull harder and pull both of them up together. Finally, through their joint efforts and teamwork, they were able to rescue Zi Qing. Thank God, except for her injured foot, Zi Qing was otherwise unharmed. Later, Liu Ya secretly asked Mu Linfeng, who had a lot of strength, to reset Zi Qing's dislocated ankle when she wasn't paying attention. Although Zi Qing cried out in extreme pain, after the reset, the pain decreased and she felt much more at ease. Afterwards, the boys took turns carrying Zi Qing as they searched for a way out. Fortunately, this ordeal came to an end, and everyone was able to escape danger.

  Digression

  Friends, in the future if you have any adventure activities, be sure to bring all the necessary equipment. Safety is the most important thing! Next, let's take a look at our little princess - Liu Ya, and see how she picks them out and brings them out! If you think it looks great! Then please recommend this website to your friends to watch together!