WS - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

When Captain Yang first jumped out to provoke her, Song Shiyue had thought, she still had to spend over ten days with this expedition leader, so it wouldn't be good to make things tense right from the start—better to just endure it. So she had only offered a mild rebuttal.

She hadn't expected that within just a few sentences, the artists and the production team would be at odds, with Yu Nianbing taking the front line against Captain Yang.

Song Shiyue knew in her heart that the reason Yu Nianbing acted this way was most likely... probably to help her.

Whether it was directly confronting Captain Yang earlier, or now seemingly just chatting with the two of them while actually drawing out her explanation of what happened before.

It was all to help her.

Song Shiyue was not the type to endure silently in the first place. Once Yu Nianbing had stepped forward, there was no reason for her to shrink back and let someone else take the brunt.

Since Yu Nianbing asked, she answered.

Although this answer, to some ears, was truly rather unfriendly.

"The stone I threw before should have struck its critical spot and pinned it firmly into the dirt. But when Captain Yang slashed at the stone with his blade, it was probably the combined force of the stone and the blade that severed the snake. As for the snake, even if it's cut in two, it still has a reflex—the motion of continuing to strike upward and forward to bite—so it will lunge upward and forward." Song Shiyue raised her hand and made a low-flying gesture in front of her chest, but after a moment's thought added, "Though it can't lunge very high or far, it's still quite dangerous."

Dangerous indeed—it scared her half to death, at least.

Yu Nianbing once again recalled the scene she had seen when she turned around and couldn't help but shuffle half a step closer to Song Shiyue.

As far as Yu Nianbing was concerned, the matter was more or less explained at this point. Or rather, it was even more thoroughly explained than she had imagined.

Perhaps it was the trust born from that collapsed wall; from the very beginning, Yu Nianbing had a feeling that Song Shiyue could save her. As it turned out, Song Shiyue had indeed hit the snake and saved her.

But what Song Shiyue described—being able to precisely pin the snake's critical spot into the dirt without breaking the snake with the stone—that was rather impressive.

Of course, whatever Song Shiyue said, Yu Nianbing believed it.

However, great strength and good aim were one thing; being able to apply force with such finesse was another matter entirely.

Yu Nianbing believed her, but she felt that if she put it that way, some people would surely raise doubts.

She didn't know when it started, but Yu Nianbing had already become more concerned about the livestream audience's reactions than Song Shiyue herself. The mere thought that someone on StarNet might voice doubts, which in turn would mobilize a crowd of haters saying Song Shiyue was exaggerating, made Yu Nianbing deeply uncomfortable.

But those who raised doubts were hardly limited to the viewers on StarNet.

Because of what had happened, the artists who had originally scattered had now all gathered around Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing.

Everyone heard their questions and answers, and through the various cameras, it was streamed out.

Director Zhang, naturally, heard everything clearly through the controller.

But... they had only just arrived, and the production team had already hit a series of problems. It really wasn't appropriate to clash with Song Shiyue again now.

Director Zhang had not, of course, forgotten the fright he had received the night before. But at least he still remembered that he could not ruin this show because of personal feelings.

As for whether Song Shiyue truly possessed the skill she claimed, there would be more than ten days of filming—plenty of time to verify it.

Unfortunately, while Director Zhang, in consideration of the filming outcome, could endure...

Others could not.

A team requires only one voice.

If there are other voices, that is the team leader's incompetence.

Originally, upon discovering that the snake which had nearly bitten Yu Nianbing was a wild venomous snake, not a defanged venomous snake released by the production team, Captain Yang inwardly panicked and curbed his earlier idea of using Song Shiyue to establish authority and complete his entrance showcase.

But as it happened, Yu Nianbing picked up the thread again, her three questions never straying far from the snake-striking incident.

Captain Yang stood not far from them, and if he paid a bit of attention, he could catch the gist.

The first part was tolerable enough—just talking about throwing something to hit the snake. But as they kept talking, something became off.

Did the implication of their words mean that that girl Song Shiyue had already pinned the snake, and instead, it was his appearance that had put Yu Nianbing in danger a second time?

Captain Yang lifted his head to glance at the apparently empty sky above.

They did it on purpose. They deliberately spoke such dialogue so it would be filmed.

Earlier Captain Yang had looked at the snake corpse in the grass, and it was indeed severed into two pieces. But how could it be because of him?

Even if he had slashed the stone with his blade, perhaps the stone had already broken the snake, and it wasn't as Song Shiyue said, that it was just perfectly pinned...

But could that seemingly delicate young girl possess the strength to break a snake with a stone?

Upon reflection, Captain Yang was somewhat inclined to believe that perhaps his blade really had contributed to the snake being severed.

But Song Shiyue's words—those he absolutely could not acknowledge.

If he acquiesced just like that, where would his authority be? How could he still lead this team? How could he still hold his ground in the wilderness survival field?

"You just said that you could use a stone to pin the snake's critical spot precisely into the dirt and hold it firm?" Captain Yang stepped forward two paces and stood in front of Song Shiyue. The tone he used to speak was considerably better than the lecturing attitude he had right at the start. "As it happens, the production team still has snakes. Safe ones, without venomous fangs. I wonder if Song... Song Shiyue, you would be willing to give it a try?"

His attitude was good, but the words themselves sounded rather like he was looking for trouble.

Yet Captain Yang had no choice but to say these words. Because he did not believe it, and he didn't want everyone to believe it just on the basis of Song Shiyue's scattered remarks. But as he spoke, facing Song Shiyue's steady gaze, for some reason he nearly followed the entertainment industry convention of addressing people as "Teacher" and almost called her "Teacher Song." Thankfully, he caught himself in time.

As a wilderness survival expedition leader, to establish authority and status, how could he open his mouth and call her Teacher Song? That would be lowering himself who knows how many rungs.

Song Shiyue had no idea how much scheming lurked behind that hitch in Captain Yang's words. She merely looked toward Director Zhang in the distance.

However, before her question to Director Zhang could even leave her mouth, Ning Chuyang behind her gave a cold snort. "Just because you people say 'strike the snake,' Song Shiyue has to go strike the snake? It's not some circus act... Captain Yang, you're the expedition leader, surely the most capable among us. How about you show us a demonstration instead?"

What did that mean? Striking a snake was a circus act, and then telling him to show his skills—was she saying he was a circus performer? Captain Yang's somewhat rough and dark-complexioned face instantly flushed red with anger.

"Speaking of which, I'd like to ask Director Zhang: in the wilderness, do items that individuals acquire belong to those individuals?" Song Shiyue looked toward Director Zhang.

Director Zhang poked his face out from behind the monitor screen and frowned slightly. "Acquire what?"

"What Song Shiyue means is, in the wilderness, if we find something useful, does the right to decide what to do with that item belong to the person who found it?" Yu Nianbing made Song Shiyue's question sound a bit more pleasant.

After all, one way sounded like the item was given to a single individual.

While the other sounded like that person gained the right of disposal. This "disposal" sounded like it could involve many possibilities, such as giving away, sharing, and so on.

Of course, neither Song Shiyue nor Director Zhang paid much attention to these small nuances Yu Nianbing had touched up.

Director Zhang's first reaction was that Song Shiyue was up to some little scheme again.

Rationally speaking, a team has an expedition leader, so no matter who found something, it should be a shared resource under the leader's control.

But those were words Director Zhang could no longer say now.

The snake incident earlier had not only pitted the artists against the production team, but now it was clear the artists also lacked sufficient trust in Captain Yang. It was a pity. Originally, the plan was for Captain Yang to kill the snake and save someone, precisely to establish his authority as the team leader right from his entrance. The chaos would have been fine—if he promptly dealt with the snake's head afterward, no one would discover it was a defanged snake... Ah, who would have thought human calculations fall short of heaven's designs.

"For the time being, they can be handled by the individual." Director Zhang spoke these words reluctantly, but didn't make them absolute.

For now, he could only do this. Later, once Captain Yang used his professional skills to win these people over, they would obey the expedition leader's every instruction without needing to be told.

It's just that some words, once spoken, leave little chance to take them back.

When Song Shiyue heard Director Zhang's answer, her eyes brightened considerably. She quickly looked toward Wang Daming standing by the large rock in the distance. "Come, release the snakes."

Wang Daming, holding two cloth bags, looked toward Director Zhang in confusion.

Director Zhang looked toward Captain Yang.

Captain Yang gave a slight nod.

Having received the order, Wang Daming reopened the cloth bag he had just tied shut.

"I'll go and be right back. If you're afraid, step back a little further, or turn around." Amidst her excitement, Song Shiyue didn't forget to reassure Yu Nianbing beside her. As she spoke, she reached to tug Yu Nianbing's sleeve. "It'll be quick. I'll call you when it's done. Don't worry, with me here, none of them will get within ten meters of you... mm, thirty meters..."

"Isn't that one enough for you to eat... why do you want more of those terrifying things..." Yu Nianbing was somewhat reluctant, yet still followed Song Shiyue's urging and turned around, though she couldn't resist pushing away the hand tugging at her sleeve and muttering quietly, "And you said 'them'..."

Yu Nianbing's push was very light, more like a little fit of pique than a shove.

Only, Song Shiyue's mind was now entirely on the two snakes in those cloth bags and she failed to notice this small gesture from Yu Nianbing that was unlike her usual self.

Captain Yang stood quite close to Song Shiyue and the others this time, and he heard every word Song Shiyue said with perfect clarity.

Watching that petite girl, so brimming with confidence she seemed to glow, Captain Yang suddenly had an ominous premonition.

But by now it was too late to regret.

After settling Yu Nianbing, Song Shiyue happened to meet Ning Chuyang's gaze and couldn't help but smile. "If you're scared, you can turn around too. We'll all eat snake together later."

"Scared of what? This time it's so far away." Ning Chuyang lifted her chin. "Hurry up and strike them, or Captain Yang might finish them off first."

Captain Yang: "..."

Yu Nianbing at that moment happened to be standing facing Ning Chuyang. Watching that bold yet slightly sly look on Ning Chuyang's face, full of brave encouragement, Yu Nianbing slowly lowered her eyes.

"That won't happen." Song Shiyue crouched down to pick up stones as she spoke. "We're counting on this food. Captain Yang wouldn't fight us for it."

Captain Yang: "..."

Even though Song Shiyue's words were plain and she said them with a completely straight face, Captain Yang felt as though he had been mocked a second time.

The king cobra Song Shiyue killed earlier was probably slightly under one meter, but the two snakes Wang Daming tipped out of the cloth bags—one a silver krait, one a banded krait—were both over a meter long and looked very thick and robust as well.

Of course, in Song Shiyue's eyes, they probably looked, shall we say, nice and plump.

Song Shiyue watched the two snakes Wang Daming had released in the distance, her eyes growing even brighter, and quickly swapped the stones in her hands for two larger ones.

Fearing being accidentally hit by a stone, Wang Daming had run far away as soon as he tipped the two snakes out of the bag.

Because Wang Daming had just tipped them casually, the two snakes had landed very close to each other, with parts of their bodies even overlapping.

Clutching the two stones, Song Shiyue walked forward for some distance, then stopped and looked back at Captain Yang. "This is about the same distance from the snake as before, right?"

Captain Yang gauged the distance. It was perhaps even a few steps farther than before, but there was nothing to quibble about regarding that, so he nodded.

With that nod, Song Shiyue turned her head, narrowed her eyes, and looked intently at the two snakes.

Even though she was looking very intently, her mindset was entirely different from before.

One was saving a person, the other was hunting—obviously the latter relaxed a person much more.

Thinking of how Captain Yang had repeatedly questioned and provoked her, Song Shiyue couldn't resist being a little cheeky.

The two stones flew simultaneously but struck different places.

Steadily, they landed at the same time, both snakes reacting with the same upward-lunging motion upon being startled.

And then, the two snakes collapsed in unison.

Song Shiyue discreetly flexed her left wrist. As expected, her right hand was still more natural, but the left hand's performance this time wasn't bad either.

The moment the two stones were thrown, Captain Yang's expression had already turned rather ugly.

If it wasn't mere horseplay, then Song Shiyue, who dared to do this, was likely exactly as she had claimed...

Song Shiyue didn't go to touch the snakes, only waiting for Captain Yang to inspect them. She turned her head and first looked toward Yu Nianbing.

"It's..." Song Shiyue had intended to tell Yu Nianbing it was handled, but the words caught in her throat the moment her gaze met Yu Nianbing's. The next second, however, she smiled. "Weren't you scared? Why did you turn around?"

As she spoke, Song Shiyue quickly walked back.

Yu Nianbing lifted her eyes to glance at Song Shiyue, then averted her gaze again. "I was just casually looking."

"Ha ha ha, wasn't it a good show? Those two do seem a bit better-looking than the one before." Having acquired three snakes, Song Shiyue was utterly delighted and couldn't resist teasing Yu Nianbing a little more.

"What's good-looking about them?" Seeing the way Song Shiyue's brows danced and her eyes crinkled with joy, Yu Nianbing couldn't help but return the quip. "Is it that with ingredients, fat equals beauty?"

Hearing this, Song Shiyue laughed even more heartily. Far from feeling teased by Yu Nianbing, she even regarded her all the more as a kindred spirit—but that is a story for later.

Over here, cheerful voices and laughter had already painted a picture of celebrating victory.

Captain Yang thought for a moment, then still walked toward the two snakes.

The outcome seemed foreordained, yet there was always an unwillingness to accept it...

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