3: Chapter 3 The Descendants of the Wilderness

His head was splitting.

It felt as if someone was sawing back and forth inside his skull with a rusty, dull blade.

Wang Sheng frowned and slowly opened his eyes. A purple-red sky burst into his vision, with two suns hanging in the air—one red, one blue—looking down upon the land like two giant eyes.

He sat up abruptly, his head buzzing, and the world before him swayed.

When his vision refocused, the scene on the fluorescent grass made his heart tighten. Sixty-two girls were scattered about in disarray, all unconscious.

Wang Sheng looked down at his hands.

His body didn't feel as bad as he had imagined; instead, there was an indescribable sense of lightness, as if he had been reborn, with a strange power permeating his limbs and bones.

He tried clenching his fist, and his knuckles let out a crisp crack; the strength was significantly greater than it had been on Earth.

But he couldn't afford to study the changes in his body right now.

He turned around and looked at Shen Xun'er first.

She was lying on his left, her long, jet-black hair scattered among the fluorescent blades of grass, her face pale and quiet. Wang Sheng checked her breathing; it was steady and long.

Half of the weight in his heart lifted, and he went to gently pat her cheek: "Xuner? Wake up."

Shen Xun'er's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. There was confusion in her almond eyes at first, then her gaze focused on Wang Sheng's face, and her pupils constricted sharply.

"What happened?" Her voice was a bit hoarse, but the composure belonging to a class monitor returned almost instinctively.

Wang Sheng shook his head: "I don't know. But it seems like… we aren't on Earth anymore."

Shen Xun'er propped herself up with her arms and looked around. The fluorescent grass, the blue glowing stream, the purple-red sky, and the twin suns hanging in the air—her pupils contracted again and again.

But it only took her three seconds to force herself to calm down.

"Let's confirm everyone is safe first." She stood up, brushed the grass off her skirt, and her voice returned to its usual low but exceptionally clear tone.

Wang Sheng nodded, and the two began to wake the students around them one by one.

Zhao Linger was the second to wake up.

The moment she opened her eyes and saw the strange purple-red sky, she was so frightened that she bolted upright. Her baby face went blank for a second, then terrified for two, and her large, watery eyes instantly filled with tears.

Her gaze landed on Wang Sheng, and the next second she lunged at him, clutching his arm tightly, shrinking against his side and trembling.

Her cropped hoodie had ridden up during her unconsciousness, and her fair, slender waist and rounded, full curves pressed against him without reservation, the warmth of her trembling body seeping through.

"Senior… Senior, where is this… I'm so scared…" Her voice was filled with sobs, her sweet, soft tone shattered, like a frightened little animal looking for shelter.

Wang Sheng patted her back: "It's okay, we're here. Don't be afraid yet."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was woken up by Su Mengyao.

The moment she opened her eyes, her long, silver-white hair spread messily over the fluorescent grass, and the terror still lingered in her ice-blue pupils, but that fragility lasted less than a second.

She took a deep breath, as if pressing all the panic into the deepest part of her chest, and put that cold, distant expression back on her face.

She slowly sat up and looked up at the twin suns. Her long, silver-white hair slid from her shoulders, gleaming with a cold luster in the blue-green fluorescence, and she said coldly:

"This celestial configuration does not exist on Earth."

Wang Sheng watched her; she was terrifyingly calm.

Su Mengyao woke up on her own. When she opened her emerald eyes, there was no panic; her first reaction was to reach out and touch the grass beneath her.

The fluorescent grass blades glowed slightly at her fingertips, as if responding to her touch.

Her long, emerald-green hair fell over her shoulders, framing a face as white as porcelain with a faint green hue, giving her an otherworldly, fairy-like quality in the light of this alien world.

She crouched down, dug her fingers deep into the soil, closed her eyes to feel it for a moment, and then opened them. Her emerald eyes were full of wonder: "The soil here… contains some kind of energy. It's not minerals; it's… alive."

Murong Xue's first reaction upon waking wasn't fear, but a reflex to scan her surroundings.

Her brown ponytail was half-undone, and her windbreaker was covered in grass, but her gaze was sharp as an eagle's. After determining there was no immediate threat, she immediately stood up to organize the girls: "Everyone, gather together! Do not spread out!"

When Hua Jieyu woke up and saw a girl nearby had cut her finger on the fluorescent grass, she instinctively grabbed the girl's hand to check.

Her almond eyes were full of gentle concern, and her voice was soft but firm: "It's okay, the wound isn't deep. Let me stop the bleeding for you first."

She tore a small strip of fabric from her hem and wrapped it carefully, her movements as gentle as if she were afraid of hurting a flower petal.

There was no smile in the shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, yet it made the panicked girl feel inexplicably at ease.

Liu Ruyan woke up the most quietly. She didn't cry or scream; she just slowly opened those hazy, mist-like eyes and observed everything calmly—the sky, the twin suns, the fluorescent grass, the distant forest—as if building a map in her mind.

Her gaze swept over the panicked crowd, finally landing on Wang Sheng and Shen Xun'er. She paused for three seconds, then looked away.

Sixty-two people woke up one after another. Crying, screaming, and questioning voices rose and fell, and the fluorescent grass was a mess.

Shen Xun'er stood in the center of the crowd. When the last wave of screaming subsided, she clapped her hands.

The sound wasn't loud, but it made everyone instantly quiet down—the same action and the same effect as on the school bus.

Even on the fluorescent grass of an alien world, this reflexive response still worked.

Sixty-two pairs of terrified eyes looked at her in unison, like drowning people looking at the only piece of driftwood.

"Sixty-three people in total, not one missing."

Shen Xun'er began to take roll call, her voice steady and clear, each word driving into people's hearts like a rivet.

"Now everyone listen to me. We don't know what happened for the time being, but panic won't solve any problems. Let's confirm three things first: Is anyone injured? Does anyone have any tools? Do the phones have a signal?"

Three minutes later, the results were summarized.

No one was seriously injured; the crossing seemed to have repaired everyone's physical state, even the mosquito bites from the field trip had disappeared.

Murong Xue had a Swiss Army knife. Zhao Linger had a power bank, but it was useless because no one's phone had a signal. GPS was completely broken, and the location icon on the screen spun wildly before turning into a gray X.

"No signal… there's no signal at all…" Zhao Linger clutched her phone, the expression on her baby face shifting from terror to despair, and her large, watery eyes began to well with tears again.

"Stop checking, it's useless." Frost Mage Lin Shiyun stood on the side with her arms crossed, her long, silver-white hair gleaming with a cold light under the twin suns. Her ice-blue eyes swept over the phone screen, her tone cold and certain.

"The twin sun system, the purple-red sky, the fluorescent vegetation—this is not Earth at all. Cell towers are Earth-based things; of course there's no signal."

Her words were like a bucket of ice water poured over everyone's heads. Several girls with weaker mental fortitude burst into tears on the spot, huddling together and trembling.

The crowd's reactions began to stratify.

Shen Xun'er, Murong Xue, Heavenly Strategist Shangguan Xuan, and Liu Ruyan almost instinctively entered problem-solving mode, dividing the work to check supplies and injuries.

Murong Xue's brown ponytail was tied neatly. As she took inventory, she whispered to Heavenly Strategist Shangguan Xuan to exchange opinions, her athletic, powerful silhouette under the windbreaker casting a long shadow in the twin suns' light.

Zhao Linger, Tang Waner, and some of the other girls fell into complete panic. Zhao Linger hugged her knees and curled into a ball, her slender shoulders heaving, her fair waist beneath her cropped hoodie rising and falling with her sobs, her rounded curves partially visible in the fluorescent glow.

Tang Waner hugged her backpack, her round face covered in tears. She looked soft and helpless, yet she subconsciously blocked the front of several younger girls, holding her backpack like a shield with a stubbornness that showed through.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun, Su Mengyao, and Qin Luoxi were observing the environment in silence.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun crouched by the stream and cupped a handful of water, her ice-blue eyes staring at the glowing blue spirit water: "The water temperature is about eight degrees higher than on Earth, and it contains unknown dissolved substances."

Su Mengyao crouched at the edge of the grass, her long, emerald-green hair hanging down among the fluorescent blades. Her emerald eyes were full of curiosity rather than fear. She reached out to touch a glowing mushroom, and the mushroom actually tilted its head slightly, as if it had consciousness.

Qin Luoxi stood quietly at the back of the crowd, her classic beauty profile sharply defined in the purple-red skylight. Her gaze swept over the ground, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, but she said nothing.

Xiao Yuqing and Chen Siqi had already started searching the surroundings. Xiao Yuqing's short, sharp hair flicked back and forth, her slender, honey-colored legs under her shorts striding across the fluorescent grass. Her sports bra outlined her tight waist and abdominal lines, and the smooth muscles on her arms gleamed with a healthy luster under the twin suns.

Chen Siqi followed behind, bouncing, her twin tails swinging. She looked innocent, but her eyes were constantly scanning the terrain. It wasn't until she stepped on a stone and almost fell that she revealed she was actually nervous enough for her palms to be sweating.

Wang Sheng stood beside Shen Xun'er, cooperating with her to comfort everyone.

He noticed a strange detail: whenever he walked near a girl, her gaze toward him would change subtly: her breathing would speed up, her pupils would dilate slightly, and her body would subconsciously lean toward him.

It wasn't a matter of charm, but some kind of… supernatural power, attracting them like a magnet.

Wang Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he clenched his fists; there was a faint, burning sensation in his palms again.

The fire in his palm before the crossing, that golden rune, that old voice… none of this was a coincidence.

But this was not the time to investigate these things.

The twin suns began to set in the west, and the sky gradually turned from purple-red to deep blue. The fluorescent grass emitted an even brighter green light, as if something was being awakened by the night deep within the grass blades.

In the primitive forest in the distance, a low howl suddenly sounded—not a wolf's howl, not a tiger's roar, but a tremor from the depths of the wilderness that had never existed on Earth, carrying primitive intent to kill and hunger.

The howling made all the girls huddle together, instinctively leaning toward Wang Sheng. He was the only male; humans in fear would instinctively seek shelter.

The second howl was closer, and the third was closer still.

Wang Sheng looked around and spoke.

"We will spend the night here." His voice was steadier than he had expected, as if it were surging from some unknown place deep in his chest.

"Murong Xue, take a few people to collect dry firewood—find as much as you can. Su Mengyao, see if there's anything edible nearby. Shen Xun'er, help me comfort everyone."

The three nodded at the same time. Shen Xun'er looked at him, her eyes filled with surprise, relief, and a hint of indescribable pride.

As the night deepened, the campfire was lit, and the orange-red flames danced on the fluorescent grass.

The girls sat around the fire, some hugging their knees and sobbing softly, some huddling together for warmth, some still clutching their signal-less phones.

Wang Sheng sat by the fire, and his palms began to burn again.

He opened his palms and looked down by the firelight. There was a faint golden pattern on his right palm, like some kind of ancient rune, flickering in the firelight.

The shape of the pattern was extremely complex, with lines intertwined like long-lost text or fragments of some kind of seal.

Before he could look closely, the howling in the distance sounded again, closer than before, so close that he could hear the snapping of branches.

Wang Sheng looked up at the edge of the forest in the darkness, his pupils slightly constricted. He clenched his hand, and the golden rune faded beneath his skin.

At dawn, Wang Sheng was awakened by an unusual chill.

He opened his eyes abruptly. The campfire was still burning, and the girls were scattered around it, asleep.

Shen Xun'er was leaning on his left shoulder, her long, jet-black hair hanging over his arm, her breathing steady and long.

Zhao Linger was curled up on his right, her fair waist and rounded curves visible beneath her hoodie, her small body curled into a ball like a sleeping kitten.

Everything looked peaceful.

But Wang Sheng's attention was on the grass by the campfire. A trail of giant claw marks extended from the direction of the forest, leaving deep indentations in the fluorescent grass.

Three-toed, deep in the soil, with a stride of over a meter between each step. The edges of the claw marks carried a faint, dark red light, as if branded by some kind of scorching power.

Something had come in the night.

He looked at the campfire; it was still burning. The thing hadn't come to attack, or they wouldn't have been unscathed. It had come, stayed on the periphery of the firelight, and left.

Was it… observing?

Just as he was thinking, the golden rune in his palm suddenly lit up, a faint light seeping out from between his fingers, as if responding to something.

At the same time, a vague voice sounded in his mind, like a whisper coming from deep underwater, intermittent:

"Host… verifying…"

Wang Sheng shuddered and clenched his fist tightly.

The golden light dissipated, and the voice disappeared, only the burning heat in his palm intensified a little more than before.

He looked at the trail of claw marks that were gradually fading, then looked at the pitch-black primitive forest under the sky, his heart beating like a drum.

Something was watching them.

And the golden rune in his hand seemed to be the key to it all.