WS - Chapter 31
Chapter 31
For Captain Yang, whatever his gut feeling might be, he still had to walk over and see for himself at close range to be sure.
But for the viewers on StarNet, the moment the stones that Song Shiyue had hurled with both hands struck, they had once again witnessed a rare skill.
The reason it could be called "once again" deserved another round of praise for how intelligent StarNet's computation was.
Each artist's Livestream Window, most of the time, naturally broadcast the scenes they appeared in. Yet there were also special moments when, through StarNet's intelligent computation, it would broadcast a small number of other matters or figures closely related to that artist's current state.
For example, earlier on the spaceship, when Yu Nianbing and the others were making food, occasionally the livestream footage would cut to close-ups of their hands or detailed shots of the dishes. Or, for instance, when Director Zhang was scared into screaming in the basement, Director Zhang's own livestream feed, with a touch of mischief, cut to the basement doorway and that somewhat innocent face of Song Shiyue peeking out.
To give another example, when Song Shiyue killed the king cobra with a stone earlier, both of her throws— though Song Shiyue's livestream feed remained trained on her the entire time— at that very moment, a picture-in-picture appeared on screen for the first time, simultaneously showing the state of the king cobra after it was struck.
The crushed seven-inch spot, sinking into the mud, the stone level with the ground, was met with a blow from the machete.
Everything happened in a flash, so fast that probably not even Captain Yang, the one who struck, saw it clearly. But the viewers on StarNet did see it. Even those who had been careless and hadn't caught the picture-in-picture content in time could later review it by clicking the "King Cobra Killed by Stone 1" link in the sidebar of Song Shiyue's Livestream Page, or the "Narrow Escape From the King Cobra's Jaws" link in the sidebar of Yu Nianbing's Livestream Page.
And what the viewers could see was far more than just close-up footage of stones killing venomous snakes.
After entering the Old Castle the previous night, the artist group had split off from the Production Team to act independently, and during that time, there had even been the incident where Zhuang Jiachuan and the others went out looking for someone but couldn't find them. From that point on, quite a few people, while watching the livestream, also kept an additional Production Team window open on the side.
Especially later, when the news of the timid Director Zhang being scared into screaming by a knock on the door spread across every Livestream Page of The Wilderness Journey, even more people, as a matter of habit, pinned a small window of Director Zhang's livestream next to the main Livestream Page they were watching.
Originally, watching a livestream was about timeliness and novelty. If you wanted to see more things comprehensively, it certainly couldn't compare to watching the integrated version or waiting for the nightly daily-edited version. At times like these, viewers had to rely on opening several windows themselves, occasionally glancing over, and promptly clicking to take a closer look wherever something big seemed about to happen.
Careful viewers had noticed the Production Team's little moves early on after they got off the spacecraft.
No, perhaps even earlier. Before getting off the spacecraft, when Wang Daming opened the iron cage and put those two snakes into a cloth bag, there were already people in the Danmaku guessing that the next part was going to be a "scare the artists and show them who's boss" scenario.
What they hadn't expected was that Wang Daming's Livestream Window showed him, along with the cloth bag, crouched behind a large boulder the whole time.
Yet in Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue's Livestream Windows, a snake appeared.
One was captured directly while filming the artists; the other was given a close-up, following the direction of Song Shiyue's gaze.
StarNet, after all, was not a person. It only captured meaningful moments and did nothing more.
By the time the other members of the Production Team on Mingtan Planet monitoring the show's progress discovered this and prepared to dial Director Zhang's communicator, things had already escalated to the point where a hair tie was used to smack a snake's head flying.
Whether that communicator was dialed or not no longer mattered.
Any viewer on StarNet only had to click the StarNet-generated "King Cobra Killed by Stone 1" link, or the "Narrow Escape From the King Cobra's Jaws" link, and slow down the playback. They could easily see how the snake that had originally been pinned by the rock was severed by the force of the machete and how it had nearly posed a threat to Yu Nianbing.
On StarNet, layer upon layer of overlapping Danmaku expressed adoration and gratitude for Song Shiyue's stone-throwing skill. And there was a blanket tide of complaints and resentment directed at the person who had delivered that machete strike.
Who was right, who was wrong, whose skill was superior, whose action was superfluous— the viewers saw it all clearly and knew exactly in their hearts whom to side with.
From that moment on, the Production Team members on Mingtan Planet who could see the state of StarNet knew that Captain Yang had not merely lost the flashy show of authority they'd planned for his opening. He had already lost the entire program, and even... more.
Only, the Production Team on Mingtan Planet, unlike Director Zhang and those on Wilderness Planet, was concerned with the show's watchability and its topicality. As for everything else, it was all just expendable material. Just like the previous night, when they had made no attempt to cover up Director Zhang's loss of composure.
In fact, if Song Shiyue really did have that kind of skill, and if she were at odds with Captain Yang, the show's watchability could multiply several times over even without a script.
And... why not?
Unfortunately, on Wilderness Planet, Director Zhang and Captain Yang had not anticipated this, and they were still struggling desperately.
Captain Yang's footsteps as he walked toward those two snakes were somewhat heavy.
But the distance was really not far. Walking, walking, he soon arrived.
The stone was solidly smashed onto the seven-inch spot, deeply embedded in the mud, and at a glance, it was nearly flush with the ground...
Exactly as Song Shiyue had said.
What kind of stone-throwing technique was this!
Captain Yang was inwardly shaken, and only by great effort did he manage to maintain control over his expression.
Then, earlier...
Even if Song Shiyue truly possessed the skill to strike snakes with stones, Captain Yang still refused to believe that the final lashing-out of that king cobra had been because of him.
Aware that the Production Team's two snakes here had both had their venomous fangs removed, Captain Yang directly lifted his foot and nudged the snakes' heads. Seeing that the two snakes were indeed no longer moving, he then crouched down and reached to pry the stone pressing down on one of them.
The stone was wedged in very tightly. It took Captain Yang considerable effort and strength to dig one out. The moment the stone was flipped over, a thick wave of bloody stench hit him in the face, making Captain Yang cough involuntarily before he could examine it closely.
He saw that the part of the snake pressed into the soil was already a mangled mess of flesh and blood.
But...
Captain Yang picked up the stone, prodded at the bloody wound a few times, then froze with the stone in his hand for a long moment before finally, slowly, setting it back down.
As early as when Captain Yang had first appeared, caught in other people's Livestream Windows, some astute viewers had realized: since they had now officially entered the wilderness, how could this newcomer not have his own Livestream Page?
Sure enough, when they returned to the main page, they saw a newly created nineteenth Livestream Window, belonging to the expedition leader, Captain Yang.
Instantly, viewers spread the word, and after advertising it across the other Livestream Windows, this newly opened nineteenth window was overrun.
And this was still back when Captain Yang had just challenged Song Shiyue, saying she shouldn't have thrown stones recklessly.
As Yu Nianbing fired back, directly pointing the finger at the Production Team; as the Production Team, to prove their innocence, proactively showed the snakes; as Song Shiyue spoke up to prove her own innocence; as Captain Yang made another move, demanding Song Shiyue strike a snake again...
Each incident added another layer of Danmaku smeared across the nineteenth Livestream Window.
If not for the limit on the number of Danmaku lines that could float across each Livestream Window per unit of time, the screen would have long since been so plastered with Danmaku mocking him that the man himself would be invisible.
Others might not know, but the viewers had watched the entire process with perfect clarity from start to finish.
When Captain Yang demanded that Song Shiyue strike a snake again, all that floated across the Danmaku was...
"Song Shiyue, go for it! Smack his face!"
"Song Shiyue, smack his face hard, don't be afraid!"
"Here, take a Little Ice Bucket, and throw it right at his face!"
"What an ego— add my Little Ice Bucket on top, okay!"
"One on the left, one on the right, and count mine in the middle! Three Little Ice Buckets, throw them at him!"
"What kind of 'Captain Yang' is this? Can't even out-throw Song Shiyue with stones and he's supposed to be the expedition leader?"
"Get fired!"
"You've hit the snake, now hit the man too!"
"Hit him, hit him, just hit all of them!"
"The earlier Danmaku is a bit hostile. True, Song Shiyue can hit snakes with stones, but that snake might also have been broken by the stone hitting it, only the snake's reaction wasn't fast enough and it sprang up later..."
"???"
"Is the earlier Danmaku from hired trolls?"
"She can throw that accurately, but she can't control whether the blow breaks the snake? I! Little Moons! Don't believe it!"
"Right, me, another Little Moons, don't believe it either!"
"..."
"???"
"Although I also think, if she can pin it that steadily, she shouldn't fail to consider whether the snake might break... but wait, what's 'Little Moons' supposed to be?"
"Same question..."
"Is that what Song Shiyue's fans call themselves? Didn't I see some calling themselves 'Little Moon'? Or was it 'Little Mooncakes'? How did it become 'Little Moons'?"
"A group that can't even unify their internal fan name looks a bit tragic. A Little Ice Bucket proudly leaves their mark."
"Doesn't 'Little Moons' sound really full of power though?"
"So what the earlier person meant is, you're willing to be the little sphere that Song Shiyue uses to smash snakes?"
"..."
"Please don't derail the topic. Whether it's Little Ice Buckets, Little Mooncakes, Little Moon, or Little Moons, can you all unite and properly curse Captain Yang together? Oh, right, what are Captain Yang's fans called? Come out and get beaten together!"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Mooncake"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Ice Bucket"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Moons"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Sunshine"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Stars"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Chuyang"
"Curse Captain Yang— by Little Cross-Shipper"
...
Perhaps because although Yu Nianbing had walked through danger, nothing serious had happened, the attitude of most viewers, including Yu Nianbing's fans, toward Captain Yang at this moment was still mostly venting and ridicule, not quite cursing. Occasionally, the flow of their mockery would pause briefly for some more interesting topic.
But Captain Yang just had to stir up trouble, insistently provoking Song Shiyue to strike another snake.
The rare skill reappeared, and using both hands to strike simultaneously not only confirmed Song Shiyue's true ability but also directly exposed Captain Yang's petty narrow-mindedness for all to see.
After Captain Yang went to move the stone off the snake, the viewers could finally hold back no longer and shifted from mockery to outright cursing.
"The snake's body is beaten to bloody pulp, but the snake's bones aren't broken!"
"Only the flesh at the seven-inch spot was damaged, the snake bones are still intact. It must have been the same when Song Shiyue struck that king cobra earlier!"
"That king cobra was broken by Captain Yang's strike. Cast in stone."
"Ugh, don't call him Captain Yang. 'Captain' my foot. Call him Yang the Fool!"
"**** Captain Yang!"
"****"
"Yang!"
...
On StarNet, because of Captain Yang's act of carefully examining the snake's body under the stone, the uproar reached a peak unseen in recent days.
As public resentment exploded, some of the words typed became rather crude, and for a time, many Danmaku, due to too many censored words, looked like a screen full of asterisks.
Of course, there were also some who felt things were going too far. After all, Captain Yang's action at the time could also be interpreted as aiming to strike the seven-inch spot of the snake, only to be half a second slower than Song Shiyue and hit the stone instead. Who could have imagined that the stone would just happen to crush the snake like that? Though Captain Yang's subsequent provocation was indeed a bit excessive. But still, you couldn't just curse him as a villain who deliberately wanted Yu Nianbing to be bitten by a snake, right...
So this portion of people, who considered themselves to still have rationality, gradually withdrew from the battlefield.
Pity, they really didn't know. Captain Yang had indeed seen how deeply that stone had pressed down and had enough time to stop.
Only, he had thought he should add one more strike himself.
It was his trophy.
And those words cursing him weren't exactly unjust, after all.
On Wilderness Planet, Song Shiyue gave Captain Yang ample time and space to confirm the state of those two snakes. Seeing him stand up after crouching by the two snakes for a long time, she finally walked over.
"Is it okay now?" Song Shiyue smiled, her expression radiant, and walked briskly to Captain Yang's side as she asked.
"What?" Captain Yang, quite shaken, couldn't immediately react when faced with the young woman's brilliant smiling face.
"These." Song Shiyue earnestly pointed at the two snakes on the ground. "Can you give them to me now? I've already beaten them to death, so they count as mine now, right?"
Saying this, as if afraid Captain Yang might go back on his word, she crouched down and picked up the stone pressing on the other snake. Looking up, she added, "Both were crushed like this by stones, clearly beaten to death. Aren't you giving them to me?"
"They're yours." Captain Yang gave a deep look at the stone in Song Shiyue's hand, still dripping snake blood, and stepped back two paces.
The same kind of stone, yet he had spent considerable effort to dig this one out of the ground. But the stone in Song Shiyue's hand— he had seen with his own eyes how this young girl had effortlessly plucked it from the ground, as easily as picking up a fallen leaf.
Song Shiyue brightened up again, glanced at the ingredients on the ground, and looked up to ask, "Then, is it still far to the place where we'll take our noon break?"
"..." Captain Yang wasn't very willing to tell her, but at this moment he didn't particularly want to keep tangling with this strange young woman. He could only shake his head. "Not far, just over an hour's walk."
Song Shiyue nodded, seemingly unbothered by Captain Yang's cold expression and poor attitude. With an air of casual familiarity, she pointed at the machete on Captain Yang's belt. "Can I borrow this?"
"No." Captain Yang quickly stepped back.
The action was so abrupt that even Captain Yang himself was a little surprised. Why did I just step back?
But since he'd already retreated, he could only put on a serious face and add with righteous solemnity, "We haven't yet reached the stage where you can be issued knives."
This was indeed the official line previously agreed upon with the Production Team for refusing artist requests.
"We haven't yet reached the stage where you can be issued XX," where "XX" could be swapped for fire-starting tools, knives, food, tools, or even all sorts of things.
Originally, following such an official sentence, there was another line: "You have not yet passed the trial."
"We haven't yet reached the stage where you can be issued knives. You have not yet passed the trial."
But honestly, if she could already kill venomous snakes by throwing stones, what trial would she still need to pass to be issued a knife? Kill a bear by throwing stones?
So Captain Yang truly couldn't bring himself to say that second half of the sentence.
Song Shiyue had absolutely no desire to try and understand the conflict written on Captain Yang's face.
A refusal was a refusal. She had no intention of pestering him further. She turned and looked toward Zhao Da and Zhao Er in the distance.
Speaking of which, those two bodyguards were rather interesting. They were supposed to be protecting everyone's safety, yet they always stood so far away...
That Zhao Da and Zhao Er had only come over for a look after the king cobra was killed, then went back to standing far off.
Dangers in the wilderness do not necessarily come from the outer perimeter, after all.
But... well, from the moment Captain Yang had appeared, Song Shiyue had already decided to treat all the protective measures arranged by the Production Team as nonexistent.
By not counting on anything to rely on, you could actually survive longer.
Song Shiyue merely glanced at Zhao Da and Zhao Er. Seeing that they had no intention of looking her way, she dismissed the tiny sliver of an idea she'd had about borrowing a knife.
All were people from the Production Team; who was any softer-hearted than the other?
Only after his refusal did Captain Yang roughly figure out that by asking first about the noon rest stop and then borrowing a knife, Song Shiyue probably wanted to process these snakes right here on the spot.
If that were the case...
It might have been better to lend it to her.
But...
He didn't want to in the slightest!
As Captain Yang struggled between the program's effect and his own wishes, Song Shiyue had already made up her mind not to count on the Production Team any further. She stood up and walked to the side.
Feeling for stones, feeling for stones...
Truly a day of feeling for stones...
Song Shiyue bent over, carefully searching for suitable stones, and thinking of those three snakes— two big, one small— her heart was brimming with motivation!
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