WS - Chapter 52
Chapter 52
The dog, having failed multiple times but still fighting, kept working hard. Even though none of the people who came offered a helping hand, it didn't give up and persisted in frantically digging with all four paws.
A person's hard work will eventually yield results, and the same holds true for a dog.
The dog's perseverance finally produced a glint of silver beneath its paws.
It was precisely this glint, distinct from the surrounding soil, that caught Yu Nianbing's attention at the last moment.
Yu Nianbing said "wait," so Song Shiyue and Guan Yongyi naturally turned back. In that brief moment, the silver patch beneath the dog's paws had grown considerably.
"What's that?" Song Shiyue followed Yu Nianbing's gaze and also noticed something unusual.
"Is it some kind of metal?" Guan Yongyi walked over to the dog and bent down to look, then nodded as if answering his own question, "It looks like metal. Could it be something left from the old agricultural planet?"
"No..." Yu Nianbing shook her head. Just as she was about to continue, Captain Yang's voice came from behind.
"What are you all doing? Running off into the woods on your own again. Don't waste everyone's time, or we won't reach camp before dark." Captain Yang's voice didn't sound angry, but it carried some displeasure.
Yu Nianbing turned to look and saw Captain Yang with the rest of the group, standing just over ten paces away at the edge of the woods.
"Should we go?" Guan Yongyi straightened up and looked at Yu Nianbing.
Song Shiyue did the same.
Perhaps without realizing it, they had come to greatly value Yu Nianbing's opinion, and this regard had nothing to do with the hierarchy of celebrity status that the production team had anticipated.
"Don't you think this metal is rather special?" Yu Nianbing didn't look at Captain Yang again. She turned back and lowered her voice to a whisper, speaking to the two of them. "Look at this metal. It seems to have its own pattern, like tiny droplets alternating with curved lines, evenly distributed."
That intricate?
The two bumpkins looked at each other, then simultaneously focused their attention on the spot beneath the dog's paws.
Guan Yongyi was standing close, and Song Shiyue had keen eyes. They hadn't paid much attention before, but now upon closer inspection, sure enough, it was exactly as she described.
Both nodded, but remained in their clueless-question mode.
Hearing Captain Yang still urging them from behind, Yu Nianbing had no intention of giving a lecture. She simply looked at Song Shiyue and said, "The last time I saw metal like this was on thermal storage boxes used to preserve food. As long as there's enough energy, those boxes can keep food in the condition it was initially placed for nearly ten days before it begins to change over time."
As Yu Nianbing spoke, Song Shiyue's eyes grew brighter.
The moment the words ended, Song Shiyue impatiently pulled out the stone knife hanging from the side pocket of her backpack, crouched down, and extended a helping hand.
Instantly, dust flew everywhere.
Yu Nianbing and Guan Yongyi instinctively stepped back two paces.
"We need to keep moving." Captain Yang, who had somehow come up right behind them, spoke expressionlessly, startling Guan Yongyi.
Yu Nianbing, on the other hand, didn't seem very surprised. She merely gauged Song Shiyue's speed through the flying dust, then unhurriedly turned to Captain Yang. "Sorry about that. Just two more minutes," she said.
"Don't waste time on pointless things. Save your energy for the camp; there's a lot waiting for you there," Captain Yang said, with a tone of earnest persuasion. Then he said to Song Shiyue, who was working alongside the dog, "Song Shiyue, stop messing around. Everyone's waiting for you to get moving."
Originally, Yu Nianbing had only made a casual guess, but seeing Captain Yang patiently persuading them while reining in his temper, she felt more certain.
As for Song Shiyue, she was only expending a negligible amount of energy on the off chance of a pleasant surprise. How could Captain Yang's few words dissuade her?
Even the dog, after Song Shiyue joined in, seemed to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Its paws moved so fast they blurred, paying no mind to the nagging man.
Damn it, Captain Yang cursed inwardly.
"Man proposes, heaven disposes." Up ahead, the group had stopped. Director Zhang took the opportunity to lean against a tree and sit down, but as he watched the display on his screen, he couldn't help sighing.
Ever since Yu Nianbing had called out "wait" and one of the windows had captured the metal under the dog's paws, Director Zhang had opened viewing permissions for Wang Daming, confirming that Yu Nianbing and the others' current location was exactly where the cow was buried.
He never expected that after abandoning the plan to dig up the cow and place it in the woods ahead of time, it would still be found. Truly, it was fate.
"I feel like Captain Yang won't let them take the cow," Wang Daming said as he sat down next to Director Zhang, his eyes glued to a few of the windows.
"Him? Of course he doesn't want that. But unfortunately, he spent the whole afternoon not taking them through the forest paths, and in the end they went on their own." Having given up on cooperating with Captain Yang, Director Zhang now viewed the situation with calm detachment. "Just watch. Since they've found it, Captain Yang won't be able to stop them. Don't you see he can't even force them to leave right now?"
Compared to Song Shiyue and the dog still working hard for an unknown object, the StarNet audience, via Director Zhang's livestream, had already confirmed what was beneath the metal. At this moment, the livestream page was full of screenfuls of gushing praise.
"Witness the ultimate victory of the simp dog."
"The simp dog simped and simped, and in the end, he even got a cow."
"Never expected: after hours of shouting 'stay strong, dog, don't be a simp,' it turns out I was wrong."
"You could say this dog really, really wants to feed Song Shiyue. What kind of perseverance is this? Even the heavens couldn't stand it anymore."
"Hahaha, Captain Yang must be regretting letting that dog run wild all this time."
"Didn't Captain Yang seem pretty pleased earlier when the dog kept dropping weird stuff for Song Shiyue? Now that they've found the cow, he's got this sourpuss face. Can't take the bad with the good. Look down on him!"
Amid the flood of praise for the dog, there were also plenty of comments giving Yu Nianbing likes.
"Little Ice Block truly has sharp eyes—above, she can find food; below, she can identify metal."
"The kind of thermal storage box Yu Nianbing mentioned sounds amazing. Do such powerful thermal storage boxes really exist?"
"Exactly. I've only heard of ones that can keep temperature for three or four days, and even those can't guarantee that the contents stay in the exact condition they were put in."
"Anonymous here from a specialized industry: yes, they exist. But they're usually not for preserving food... they're for preserving lab supplies."
"Anonymous wealthy person here: yes, it's not cheap, and I have one at home."
"???"
"The specialized industry comment is one thing, but wealthy person, are you serious?"
"What kind of wealthy is this..."
"Wait, connecting the dots: could it be that our Little Ice Block saw and learned about this kind of metal thermal storage box when she was filming that documentary Star Wars: Twenty-Four Stratagems?"
"??? What is Star Wars: Twenty-Four Stratagems? Even an old Ice Bucket like me doesn't know about it..."
"Confused old Ice Bucket +1"
"Same confusion..."
"Never heard of it. Is it a movie? One that hasn't been released?"
"A qualified old Ice Bucket here: it's a star war documentary from a few years back, rather niche. Little Ice Block had a cameo as a ground crew member for a few minutes in one episode. Probably because it's so niche and wasn't promoted, some people don't know about it."
"Yeah... the kind of ground crew that handles food. I only saw it because I deliberately went through all of Little Ice Block's works."
"It was before her first Golden Planet Award. As an old fan, I only stumbled upon it last year. Not sure why it isn't listed on her StarNet profile."
"So why is that?"
"Awesome!"
"Awesome awesome awesome!"
"Documentary cameo is awesome?"
"Awesome! They dug it up!"
"!!!"
Fortunately, the achievement replay feature allowed the viewers engrossed in discussing the documentary not to miss the next highlight.
With Song Shiyue's help, the dog, which had been digging for ages just to expose the metal plate, suddenly became as fierce as a tiger with wings.
One person and one dog, working together, dug out the metal crate right in front of Captain Yang.
And it was quite a large crate—big enough to fit a person inside. It was a good thing Yu Nianbing had noticed; otherwise, with just the dog digging, it probably wouldn't have been unearthed even by nightfall.
Yu Nianbing stepped forward to examine the side of the metal crate closely, and sure enough, she immediately spotted the slightly protruding energy cell. It was definitely a thermal storage box.
"Don't go opening unfamiliar things. For safety's sake, let the production team handle this," Captain Yang said, unaware that his scheme had long been seen through on StarNet. He was still trying hard to bluff.
Having come this far, Song Shiyue wasn't about to give up easily.
But... this really wasn't something familiar.
Song Shiyue placed a hand on the crate and subconsciously looked toward Yu Nianbing.
Yu Nianbing had an idea in mind, but a thermal storage box could indeed hold things other than food...
After some thought, Yu Nianbing didn't nod right away. She first walked around the crate once.
On this trip around, she spotted another oddity.
"What's this?" Yu Nianbing crouched down, wanting to touch it.
But her outstretched hand was caught midair by another person, who grasped her wrist even faster.
Yu Nianbing followed the hand upward. For some reason, she felt a pang in her heart as well as some irritation. So cautious and protective... was this an endless repayment for saving a life? If you have the ability, follow me around like I'm porcelain for the rest of my life. Doing it just a few times, what's the point?
"I'll check." Song Shiyue, who had been staying close to Yu Nianbing, didn't know what she was thinking. But she had noticed a small dark red patch on the other side of the crate.
This side had been dug out by the dog, and dust was still swirling. Song Shiyue hadn't noticed it before, but now that she did, she grew more cautious.
Song Shiyue crouched down again, leaned close to the crate, and sniffed twice.
Seeing this, the dog suddenly came over and sniffed too. After sniffing, it let out a few excited barks, seeming quite stirred up.
"It's blood. And not human blood," Song Shiyue said, then suddenly laughed. "No wonder. I saw that this box is tightly sealed. With thermal insulation, it definitely wouldn't leak any smell, and its airtightness isn't comparable to those snacks from before. I was wondering how the dog could smell what's inside. Turns out it was this."
"Whatever kind of blood it is, it's not up to you to decide. This matter should be handed over to Director Zhang. He'll contact the production team on Mingtan Prime, and they'll decide how to handle it." Captain Yang's face was full of righteousness and goodwill, so much so that not a trace of his previous irritation from all the friction could be seen.
With acting skills like that, he should be in a drama.
Yu Nianbing also trusted Song Shiyue. With blood and not human blood, she was ninety percent certain that the contents were food supplies hidden by the production team, specifically meat. Originally, it should have been given to the guests as a reward or something through some program segment. Perhaps because today had so many unexpected developments, the production team made an agreement with Captain Yang to withhold it. And that agreement was likely reached when Captain Yang and Director Zhang both disappeared for a while near the wild ginger patch.
No one present knew that while Yu Nianbing had ninety percent certainty, she had actually guessed the whole truth.
"I'll open it then." Song Shiyue had no desire to argue with Captain Yang. Though her hands were itching to open it, she didn't forget to glance at Yu Nianbing for her opinion.
With something important right in front of them, Yu Nianbing didn't have time to dwell on the momentary confusion she'd felt when Song Shiyue grabbed her wrist earlier.
Ninety percent certainty, but what if... that ten percent.
Yu Nianbing hesitated. "That blood, if not human, what kind of blood could it be? I can't quite tell. Could it be chicken blood?"
As she spoke, she looked at Guan Yongyi. There was no need to look at Song Shiyue; if she knew what kind of blood it was, she would've said so earlier.
Suddenly put on the spot, Guan Yongyi couldn't help but straighten up, then, like a student caught sleeping in class and called on to answer, shook his head with a mix of shame, embarrassment, and honesty.
As expected... this question was too hard.
Yu Nianbing knew Captain Yang knew, but he definitely wouldn't say.
Just as she thought of Captain Yang, he spoke up: "Blood from an unknown creature, and who knows how long it's been there. What use is opening it? What if inside there's..."
"Whatever's inside has been dead about two days," Song Shiyue cut in, interrupting Captain Yang before he could say something that might affect their appetite. She added, "Although I can't guess what it is, from the state of the blood, the timing should be about right."
Two days...
This time, it was Yu Nianbing's eyes that lit up.
Before, she'd been worried it might be something left over from the old agricultural planet's terraforming. If it was from three days ago, then whoever landed on Wilderness Planet, took this route, and buried a crate here could only be the production team.
"Open it." Yu Nianbing's tone was firm.
"Got it." Smiling, Song Shiyue lightly brushed aside Captain Yang's hand that was trying to hold the crate shut, flipped open the movable lock, and lifted the lid.
Captain Yang didn't even have time to be surprised at how easily Song Shiyue had pushed his hand aside before a thick smell of blood overwhelmed the area.
"So it's a cow." Completely unfazed by the overwhelming bloody smell, Song Shiyue looked at the contents with curiosity and praised, "This thermal storage box really is as impressive as Teacher Yu said. Even after all this time, the blood on the cow hasn't clotted. It must have been put in right after it was slaughtered."
Compared to the completely unfazed Song Shiyue, the other three were more normal. Even Captain Yang instinctively covered his nose at the first moment.
Yu Nianbing suppressed her discomfort and stepped closer for a careful look.
It was a small cow, slit open and stuffed into the crate. Cow blood was smeared everywhere inside, no wonder the smell was so overpowering the moment it was opened.
"Cough..." Yu Nianbing tried to speak, but she started choking first.
"Stand back a bit," Song Shiyue immediately said.
Hmph, who asked you? Repaying kindness again?
Yu Nianbing shot Song Shiyue a glance, but ultimately yielded to the odor assault and took two steps back. Then she said, "Use a tree branch to poke around. I saw earlier that the internal organs in the cow's belly seem incomplete."
"I thought so too." Song Shiyue nodded, but obediently went to find a branch and took another careful look.
"You dare dig up anything, and you're even planning to eat it?" Captain Yang's tone carried a note of disappointment. "When the time comes, a helicopter will have to come and take you out midway."
Midway exit?
Yu Nianbing couldn't help but laugh.
Ever since she saw the cow, she had a suspicion, and now she was just waiting for Song Shiyue to confirm it a little.
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