Chapter 448: Fatty Wakes Up

Fatty woke up for the first time four hours later. Xiao Hua had already made all the preparations, and we were anxiously waiting for him to give us some clue, but after he woke up, he only lasted ten minutes before falling asleep again. During that time, he woke up three more times, but each time he was in a daze and completely unable to communicate.

Ya Jie said his body was severely exhausted, so she hooked him up to some protein. During that period, we kept studying the "map" on his stomach. Based on the age of the wounds, we determined the general direction. Each turn in these carvings should be a fork, and judging by the complexity of the pattern on Fatty's stomach, there was no way to remember that labyrinth of cracks without a map.

I was extremely anxious. I didn't know if our waiting was a waste of time. Fatty told us to follow the map to rescue people. Shouldn't we be able to save them just by relying on this map? Was I being too cautious? If the people below ended up in trouble because of our hesitation, I would definitely regret it so much I'd bang my head against a wall.

Xiao Hua was the calmest among us. He felt that aside from a route map, we hadn't obtained any more useful information. The danger of going down now was too great. Maybe we wouldn't just fail to rescue them but would also get ourselves trapped.

Panzi had warned me earlier, and I kept telling myself that I had to be responsible for everyone's lives. So what Xiao Hua said was right. But no matter how many times I told myself, my mind was filled with nothing but intense restlessness.

We waited another four hours, but Fatty still showed no signs of waking up. Only then did Xiao Hua decide to make a move.

He and Panzi would go down first with some people to check out the route map and see if it was accurate. I would stay up top and wait for Fatty to wake up as soon as possible. That was Panzi's plan from before.

I told him to be extremely careful. The two of them, him and Panzi, were too important to me. I couldn't play this game alone. Xiao Hua told me that as soon as he sensed any risk, he wouldn't take chances; he would send someone back with news and wait at the spot for my second team to arrive.

After they left, I went to Fatty's tent and kept Xiuxiu by my side to take care of Fatty, to prevent Ya Jie from causing trouble when she and I were alone together.

I originally thought it would be at most another two hours before that damn fat guy woke up. But I didn't expect that he wouldn't be fully conscious until the evening of the next day.

After Xiao Hua and his group went down, things seemed to go relatively smoothly, and no bad news came back. That barely kept my anxiety at bay. So when Fatty finally woke up, I was patient enough to let him recover.

I'd never seen anyone wake up the way he did. First, he opened his eyes and stared at the top of the tent. Ten minutes later, his eyeballs finally moved, slowly scanning across us. After the scan, he closed his eyes again.

We thought he was going back to sleep. I could barely restrain myself from splashing cold water on him, but then he opened his eyes again and said, "There are old-timers in this dream, so it can't be a dream."

Ya Jie asked, "Do you have any discomfort anywhere?"

"Yeah, I really want to rub that spot, but if I tell you, you'll call me a pervert," Fatty said very slowly.

Ya Jie glanced at me, obviously never having met such an unreliable person.

Fatty's eyes circled again. "Third Uncle, weren't you dead? What, did Fatty die too, and you came to pick me up? Damn, that bitch wouldn't even come see me before she died?"

"Less nonsense," Xiuxiu said. "Can you do this or not? If you can, hurry up and tell us the situation. We need to go down and rescue people." At that, Fatty's eyes went blank for a moment. It took a long time before he reacted. "Shit, I almost forgot. How many days have I been out?" After saying that, he seemed to snap out of it and tried to sit up. But his muscles were numb from sleeping too long, so he couldn't get up at first. Ya Jie pulled him up and stuffed a few backpacks behind his back for support.

He was a bit dazed again. Ya Jie put a towel on Fatty's head, opened the window on the side of the tent, and let the sunlight in to stimulate his spirits.

Xiuxiu briefly told him how we found him and the time. He looked up at the sky as if thinking silently. After a while, he said, "Then I've been away from that place for twelve days." He turned his head. "Tianzhen? I thought I heard his voice earlier."

"He's already gone down. You told him to follow the map to rescue people. He and Panzi both went. It's been almost forty-eight hours," I said.

Fatty muttered after hearing that, "How many people went down with them?"

"Four," Xiuxiu said.

Fatty thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I still have some time. That kid finally got his act together. I thought this time it would be a disaster. Third Uncle, what's your story? How did you show up again?"

I gave a dry laugh. "It's a long story. You need to tell us what exactly happened to you guys."

Fatty made a gesture like he wanted something to drink. Pibao immediately went to brew a cup of coffee. Fatty said, "I'll tell you in a bit. First, tell me how many people you still have?"

I told Fatty, and he said, "We need to set out within twelve hours. I'll lead the way, and you might still catch up to them."

"You're going back inside?"

"The situation in there is very peculiar. You'll understand once I tell you. There's basically no danger if you follow my map. Tianzhen should be able to handle it. But they definitely won't make it past the last barrier."

I know Fatty well. From the look on his face when he said that, I could tell he wasn't joking. So I gave Pibao a look, signaling him to start preparing again immediately.

Fatty moved his arms and legs. He was still a bit sluggish. In the sunlight, his face became clearer, very puffy, making him look even more exhausted. I asked if he wanted to sleep some more. He shook his head, downed the super-strong coffee, and began to speak: "There's not much time. I need to tell you right now what we encountered."

I nodded, and he sighed. "Holy shit, Third Uncle, this time I really had my eyes opened. I never imagined there could be such a strange place in the world."