WS - Chapter 88
Chapter 88
Song Shiyue watched Yu Nianbing climb the spiral staircase on the neighboring tree, then zipline and rappel, landing before her once again.
"Just try one last time," Song Shiyue said, stepping forward to take her hand before Yu Nianbing could begin climbing, reiterating.
Yu Nianbing lowered her head to look at her wrist encircled by Song Shiyue's hand. Song Shiyue's grip was not tight, soft and loose as if she could break free with a casual struggle. But Yu Nianbing knew it was all an illusion—this was the tyranny that would restrain her again if she did not nod her consent!
"Last time," Yu Nianbing nodded in agreement.
Besides yielding once more to the law of the jungle, what other choice did Yu Nianbing have? Besides, the sky was indeed getting dark, and she couldn't make everyone wait while she tried again and again.
Song Shiyue released her hand, unable to resist muttering a few more words about safety first.
It was amidst this familiar nagging that Yu Nianbing began her second tree-climbing attempt.
Fortunately, with her previous experience, Yu Nianbing climbed boldly yet carefully this time. Though it took quite a while, in the end she safely reached the platform.
It was only when Yu Nianbing rappelled back to the ground holding the little ball marked "Lean-to Shelter" that Song Shiyue finally let out a long breath of relief. Who knew watching someone else climb a tree could be so nerve-wracking? It was truly many times more exhausting than climbing herself.
By the time Yu Nianbing steadied herself and turned around, Song Shiyue had already relaxed, so she missed the earlier sight of Song Shiyue so tense she dared not blink.
"Teacher Yu, what did you get?" Ning Chuyang asked, approaching with curiosity.
"A lean-to shelter," Yu Nianbing replied.
Ning Chuyang: "..." Seeing Yu Nianbing come down with such a happy face, she had thought she'd gotten something else, but it was still just a lean-to shelter. Getting a lean-to and still so happy—Yu Nianbing really was quite Zen about it.
At this moment, Yu Nianbing didn't care what others thought; she was delighted to have secured Song Shiyue's tent.
In any case... this time she had repaid Song Shiyue a bit.
Ever since they entered this Wilderness Planet, Yu Nianbing had received a great deal of care from Song Shiyue. Even counting that Song Shiyue was repaying a life-saving debt, Yu Nianbing felt she had already repaid it with the king cobra incident. Everything after that, Yu Nianbing owed.
The more time they spent together, the more Yu Nianbing did not want to unilaterally owe Song Shiyue.
No, or perhaps it should be said that deep down, Yu Nianbing did not wish for her relationship with Song Shiyue to remain one where Song Shiyue endlessly repaid a favor.
Of course, the subtlety within this was something that Yu Nianbing, in the midst of trying to change, had yet to see clearly.
Regardless of these subtleties and changes, after a long delay at the tree-climbing challenge, the guests finally all had their accommodations for the night and could continue forward.
Ascending the spiral staircase again, the guests felt far more at ease than when they had come up before to secure their safety ropes.
This platform had two ziplines: one leading to the nearby platform where the benefit balls had been placed earlier, and the other going to the next platform farther ahead.
Guan Yongyi gazed into the distance and shook his head. "Ziplines, ziplines, truly an endless series of ziplines."
The ziplines were not truly endless, of course, but though they were nearly halfway, the sky had darkened considerably.
If they calculated based on the time they had taken on the earlier platforms, it was absolutely impossible to finish all fifty platforms before dark. Even if, as Zhao Da had said, there was only one more place left to get benefits, they still wouldn't make it in time.
"I really suspect the production team calculated the time long ago, figuring we couldn't finish all fifty platforms on time, so they put the benefit challenges toward the front," Ning Chuyang said, far more fatigued today than yesterday, unable to keep a slight temper from her words. She added, "Those benefit challenges must have been deliberately placed to stall us, just so we couldn't finish the platforms and would have to walk on the ground."
Though Ning Chuyang's words were blunt, everyone actually thought the same.
This was the production team's cunning.
At the start, the three routes had seemed like a good deal—the zipline route seemed to require less walking and no need to build your own shelter—but after traveling it, they realized it was full of traps.
If not for Song Shiyue, they would likely have been stuck in the predicament of both walking and building their own shelters—practically combining the worst aspects of the other two options.
Even though they had already thanked Song Shiyue the whole way, at this thought they still couldn't help but praise her again and again. They even felt a surge of gratitude in their hearts for the absent Yao Mingzhu's belly—that baby had come at just the right time.
After leaving the tree-climbing challenge, the group went through three more short ziplines. According to the earlier pattern, after two more short ziplines and one long zipline, they should be able to see the final benefit challenge.
Of course, that assumed the ziplines and benefits were arranged according to the pattern.
Song Shiyue stood on the platform, catching Yu Nianbing and Ning Chuyang one after another, then moved to the edge and looked into the distance.
Yu Nianbing followed and looked in the direction of Song Shiyue's gaze for a moment, then raised her head to glance around before softly saying, "It's about around here, right? Getting down here would be the most cost-effective."
"You noticed too?" Song Shiyue turned to Yu Nianbing, pleasantly surprised.
Yu Nianbing nodded. "Mm, earlier on a platform with a more open view, I saw it when you were looking toward the cable-car route."
That early? So sharp, so impressive, Song Shiyue smiled.
Yu Nianbing was right; earlier, Song Shiyue had observed the direction of the production team's cable-car route.
With the contrast between the guests having to kill and eat their own snakes and the crew enjoying boxed meals with meat and vegetables, this show was clearly designed to make things hard for the guests while treating the traveling crew well.
From what Captain Yang said when introducing the three options, one could deduce that the end point of the crew's cable-car route was likely very close to the camp.
The crew's cable-car route ran straight from this hilltop to a spot just below the midway point of that shorter mountain ahead.
But their path via ziplines and platforms was not a straight line; it was more of a zigzag.
Because there were many platforms and zipline cables, the route was more convoluted; at times, after descending, the elevation wasn't sufficient, so they would have to leave the platform and climb back up to a higher one to continue ziplining down.
This was the case with the earlier rope bridge and the later spiral staircase up the tree.
If one didn't consider that after dark they'd be forced to walk on the ground, ziplining the whole way in a zigzag and covering a bit more distance wouldn't matter. After all, the most important thing was the zipline connecting the two mountains—that was what truly saved distance, effort, and time, and was a key reason for choosing the zipline route. Once on that zipline, judging by sight, you'd already be very close to the end of the crew's cable-car route.
Unfortunately, as they ziplined along, they discovered that they simply could not reach that inter-mountain zipline before dark.
This time, the rules had been stated clearly from the start.
When it got dark, Captain Yang would certainly make them get down immediately, and he would never agree to let them reach that platform and take the zipline to the next mountain...
Thus, they had to consider the sky and ziplines to choose the most suitable point to descend.
In Song Shiyue's view, the most suitable point was the very platform beneath her feet.
Because the sky was genuinely reaching the point where it would soon turn dark at a moment's notice.
But it wasn't yet time.
There was still one more benefit point they hadn't gone to.
Judging from the items they had obtained so far, the final obtainable benefit should be a quilt.
They had shelter from the wind, beds, and pillows—wasn't the only thing missing a quilt?
The temperature difference between day and night in the mountains was considerable; even if they might have to backtrack after going forward, they still had to go get the quilt.
Now Song Shiyue only hoped that this final benefit also followed the earlier zipline pattern and wasn't far away. Otherwise, it was very likely they wouldn't even reach the benefit point before the sky darkened and they had to descend.
So when Captain Yang once again ziplined alone to the next platform, Song Shiyue used that gap to share her thoughts with everyone.
Setting aside Zhao Da, who kept silent due to his role, the others all followed Song Shiyue's lead, and their movements on the subsequent ziplines were noticeably more efficient than before.
Fortunately, this time the heavens did not disappoint everyone's expectations.
After sliding through two more platforms and a long zipline, a single iron rope bridge appeared before them, accompanied by a safety line above for clipping carabiners and the sparse little envelopes hanging from the iron rope below.
That's right, envelopes—envelopes again.
Mu Xingzhou and Yu Nianbing, who had worked themselves to exhaustion on the wooden bridge only to draw blank envelopes, felt somewhat conflicted.
"Alright, now it's time for our new benefit challenge," Captain Yang said, glancing at the sky before continuing. "I believe everyone has seen this session's benefits. Six envelopes, six benefits, no blanks. The time limit is two and a half minutes, and as before, exceeding time means no benefits for the entire group. However, this time it's not required for both people to obtain benefits for them to count. But each person can only take one envelope, and the bridge must not be damaged."
Everyone now understood that Captain Yang's final addendum was aimed solely at Song Shiyue.
It had to be said, Song Shiyue was truly the kind of person who turned seemingly flawless rules into sieves that constantly needed patching.
At first listen, this benefit challenge seemed a bit more humane than the wooden bridge's; at least the envelopes had no blanks, eliminating the luck factor.
But when you actually looked at it, that was simply not the case.
That iron rope bridge—the iron cable you could step on was only about as thick as a thumb, just a bare cable, and not even stretched taut; one could imagine how swaying it would be...
The cable above was even higher than a person's head; even if you could hold it for balance, how were you supposed to get the benefits tied to the lower iron cable?
The envelopes were strung on a cord, one end of which was tied to that lower iron cable... to get them, you would have to let go of the upper cable and squat down completely...
Captain Yang, after explaining the rules as usual, went onto the bridge first to demonstrate.
The moment he stepped on, it became apparent how truly treacherous the iron rope bridge was. Even Captain Yang walked step by step with extreme caution, and by everyone's count, it took him nearly two minutes just to reach the opposite platform.
In other words, even if they had Captain Yang's skill level, they would have only thirty seconds left to attempt retrieving an envelope.
It was truly... somewhat wishful thinking.
"Maybe while standing, you could reach a foot down and hook the cord upward, hopefully catching it on your instep, then lift that foot up and finally use your hand to pull the envelope off?" Ning Chuyang sat on the platform floor, muttering as she watched the iron rope nearby, but eventually sighed and said, "I don't think I can do it. Is it a quilt this time? I'll just cover myself with the clothes I'm wearing today..."
"Maybe we can ask Doctor Ni for some cold-prevention medicine in advance," Mu Xingzhou said, still standing but looking quite dejected at the sight of a so-called bridge consisting of only two iron cables.
"What does Teacher Song think?" Guan Yongyi still had the will to try.
"The iron cable is a bit loose, so it should sway when you're on it; standing on one foot might not work. If you can hook the cord with your instep and your hand can reach it, you don't need to break the cord—just pull the envelope up along it and tear it off," Song Shiyue said, frowning slightly. She added, "Still, I'm afraid the swaying will be too much; it's hard to do. After all, two and a half minutes isn't long."
"But if you squat down to get it, that's even more impossible," Zhuang Jiachuan imagined, feeling the difficulty was indeed very high.
Just stepping on one iron cable and holding the other, managing to get across within two minutes would already be an achievement. Letting go? Forget about letting go to squat down; the moment you let go, you'd probably just hang. They weren't professional tightrope walkers; how could they possibly manage it?
"It's not impossible," Song Shiyue thought for a moment and looked at Zhao Da. "When Captain Yang explained the rules earlier, he didn't say only one person could go on at a time, right?"
Zhao Da: "..."
"He didn't," Yu Nianbing answered, but she furrowed her brow and glanced at Song Shiyue.
Song Shiyue continued looking at Zhao Da.
"He didn't..." Zhao Da sighed but added, "But with two people, it'll be even wobblier."
"True," Song Shiyue nodded without denying it.
"This time it's timed; if you slip, you'll be hanging halfway. Even if you can struggle back on, I'm afraid you won't be able to cross within two and a half minutes even without taking an envelope," Mu Xingzhou remained pessimistic.
"Right," Song Shiyue nodded again.
Seeing that even Song Shiyue seemed to have no solution, everyone felt even more disheartened.
"Forget it, we have the shelter; no quilt is fine. We still have clothes..." Guan Yongyi rubbed his face, forcing optimism. "This set on me, plus the set at camp, covering with all that should keep us warm. Besides, we haven't tried yet; maybe if we try, we'll get it."
Yu Nianbing glanced at Song Shiyue.
Honestly, Yu Nianbing was a bit worried that Song Shiyue's actions on this zipline route had been too excessive and too frequent, revealing too many anomalies. But then again, after this whole journey, even Yu Nianbing couldn't help but develop a certain reliance on Song Shiyue. Now, seeing that Song Shiyue seemed out of ideas, Yu Nianbing's heart was truly quite conflicted.
But for Song Shiyue, solutions did exist.
But that Captain Yang was really a bit of a problem.
For example, going across and then turning back to strip off everyone else's envelopes and reattach them to the starting point of the iron cable—Song Shiyue felt Captain Yang would definitely veto it using the rule "each person can only take one envelope."
You couldn't go too far outside the rules; with too many restrictions, solutions became hard to think of.
But then, there were always more solutions than problems.
Just...
Song Shiyue looked up at the sky; it seemed the fading light wouldn't give her more time to think of a more convenient and effective method.
"I have two ideas right now," Song Shiyue decided to hurry; it was fine if the methods weren't mature—having a method was better than none. "One is that after I go across, I'll pull the iron cable straighter, so when you go across, it might be less wobbly, and you can walk faster and have more time to get an envelope. The other is that after I go across, I'll come back and wait for you at the spot with the envelopes. When you come over, I'll take the envelopes and hand them to you; to save time later, you'll have to pass me and go ahead."
"I choose option two," Ning Chuyang raised her hand immediately, adding, "If we choose one, no matter how much time we save, I still wouldn't be able to get an envelope."
"But with option two, won't having two people on the iron cable make it even more unstable?" Mu Xingzhou hesitated.
"Possibly, I'll try my best not to move," Song Shiyue said thus, without making any grand promises.
"Two," Zhuang Jiachuan knew his own abilities, about the same level as Ning Chuyang.
After Zhuang Jiachuan, Mu Xingzhou hesitated a moment and also chose two.
Guan Yongyi, on the other hand, hesitated, then chose one.
"Teacher Yu?" Song Shiyue looked at Yu Nianbing.
"I'll also go with two," Yu Nianbing glanced thoughtfully at Guan Yongyi, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end turned to Song Shiyue and made her choice.
Alright, one for one, four for two.
"Then I'll go first, and Teacher Guan can come next. That way they can see how the first method works, and there's still time to change their minds later," Song Shiyue said, not daring to waste any more time, as she walked toward the iron rope bridge and turned to look at Guan Yongyi.
"Okay," Guan Yongyi nodded.
Song Shiyue, it was Song Shiyue again.
Captain Yang watched the young woman walking steadily on the iron cable, feeling rather unsettled inside.
At another time and place, Captain Yang might have praised Song Shiyue for her skill. But for such a capable person to appear in the team he was leading—it was truly a case of two tigers on one mountain, nothing but trouble.
Song Shiyue walked to the first envelope but didn't stop. She continued until she was at the middle of the iron cable, then slowly released her grip on the upper cable, holding only her own dangling safety rope as she squatted down on the somewhat swaying cable.
Squat, pull cord, tear envelope, stand, continue walking.
One minute fifty seconds.
Captain Yang tightened his grip on the timer in his hand.
Among the two platforms present, only Captain Yang knew that the benefits for this stage were actually intended by the production team to never be obtained by the guests.
Not just this stage, but several earlier ones as well; according to the production team's calculations, the guests would actually obtain very few items. A benefit challenge where one or two guests got something was already considered a success. After all, there would be other segments at camp to supplement the items needed for the guests' overnight stay.
What did the production team call this tactic...
Suppressing before promoting?
But look.
Look at now!
At the wooden bridge they got four, at the rope bridge and tree climbing they got a clean sweep... And now on this iron rope, which was pre-set with a zero probability of success, Song Shiyue had already achieved the breakthrough from zero the moment she went up.
Captain Yang was both irritated inside and somewhat eager to see just how frustrated Director Zhang, who had been watching the entire way through the camera control, must be at this moment.
It was a pity, however, that Captain Yang's wish seemed destined to be dashed again and again.
At this very moment in the camp, Director Zhang was comfortably seated on a small mat laid out by Feng Qianqian, snacking on treats that Zhao Er had dug out of the thermal storage box, and watching the camera central control screen with great satisfaction. At amusing parts, he would occasionally turn to Wang Daming, who was busy pitching a tent, and say: "See? Didn't I say that with Song Shiyue, their zipline journey would be anything but boring? Looks like the afternoon livestream ratings might just have a little explosion."
Wang Daming naturally smiled and echoed the sentiment, but inside he couldn't help repeatedly grumbling about Director Zhang's volatile temperament—sometimes nasty, sometimes delighted—truly a difficult person to serve.
Song Shiyue reached the platform via the iron rope and, as Captain Yang announced the time, swiftly tore open her envelope.
"It's a quilt," Song Shiyue turned and shouted to the platform across.
Captain Yang: "..."
Undisturbed by Captain Yang's stern expression, Song Shiyue didn't even unhook her safety clip. She squatted down right at the platform's edge and grabbed the lower iron cable with one hand.
"What are you doing? Didn't I say you mustn't damage this bridge?" Captain Yang instinctively sensed something wrong and stepped forward to stop her.
Song Shiyue looked up and asked back with a hint of confusion: "Is it broken? Isn't it made of iron? Is this a jerry-built project? It'll break just from me pulling it?"
The rapid-fire questions left Captain Yang momentarily speechless.
Over there, Guan Yongyi was about to step onto the bridge.
By now, Captain Yang had figured out what Song Shiyue was doing and couldn't help mentally calling her a crazy fool.
Did she really think she'd eaten spinach? She thought she could pull the iron cable taut now, and still keep it tight once someone stepped on? What a pointless waste of energy!
Captain Yang thought this, and a trace of disdain showed on his face.
Yet the iron cable remained taut, remained taut... until Guan Yongyi stepped onto this platform, still tight.
"Two minutes twenty-one seconds," Captain Yang announced evenly, though his heart was not nearly as calm as he appeared.
"Ah, looks like I still can't do it," Guan Yongyi came up empty-handed, somewhat dejected. Several times earlier his foot had almost managed to hook the cord below, but always fell just a bit short. Later, with time running out and unable to try again without dragging down Zhuang Jiachuan, he could only give up the envelope and come across first.
"You did very well, you walked steadily and quickly," Song Shiyue, not quite sure how to comfort him, just picked a random point to praise.
In truth, Song Shiyue couldn't guarantee the success rate of these two methods; she just wanted to give them a bit more assistance.
To be precise, it was because she wanted to help Yu Nianbing... so she had to help the others along the way.
As for the methods and path, everyone chose for themselves; there was no right or wrong. At this moment, Guan Yongyi could only digest the failure on his own.
Thankfully, it was only a quilt.
Guan Yongyi having come over, Song Shiyue re-boarded the iron rope once he unhooked his safety clip.
Captain Yang stepped forward again, but as he watched Song Shiyue's figure disappearing in the blink of an eye, he ultimately said nothing.
What was there to say? Though Captain Yang couldn't yet see what Song Shiyue was planning, it was true that walking backward hadn't been forbidden earlier...
Because Song Shiyue had been striving so hard the whole way, everyone also wanted to repay her, so they stopped Yu Nianbing from being the first to try method two.
Zhuang Jiachuan, as the elder brother, naturally took on the role of guinea pig. When Song Shiyue had steadied herself halfway along the iron rope and the cable had stabilized somewhat, he took a deep breath and stepped onto it.
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