WS - Chapter 92

Chapter 92

All along the way, whether it was the cattle in the thermal storage boxes, the tent equipment at the camp, or the gear at the zipline launch pavilion, the production team's habit of burying things underground had already been exposed more than once or twice.

But Yu Nianbing's conviction that they could get another flashlight on the way to camp still took Zhao Da somewhat by surprise.

Neutral, friendly, well-meaning.

Zhao Da silently repeated his designated role to himself, his smile undiminished, and answered softly, "About half an hour."

"Thank you." Yu Nianbing nodded, returning Zhao Da's friendliness without reserve. She quickened her steps to walk beside Song Shiyue again and said, "Half an hour — I think we can hold out. Stopping now to make torches would take quite a bit of time too."

Song Shiyue lifted her head, quickly did a mental calculation, and also agreed.

Even with quick hands, starting a fire wouldn't take long, but gathering enough suitable materials for torches would be quite a task. Taking a dozen or so minutes for that delay would be less worthwhile than just pressing on.

"As far as barely sufficient lighting goes, one more flashlight — one at the front, one at the back — would be enough. But who knows if they'll just hand it over or make us do another challenge." While grumbling, Song Shiyue began to unwrap the oxhide that had been bound around her hand the whole way.

"Let me..." Yu Nianbing's words trailed off halfway as she watched Song Shiyue casually tear the ox sinew binding the oxhide with one hand, and her voice came to an abrupt halt.

"What?" Song Shiyue looked up while still unwrapping.

Unneeded, Yu Nianbing shook her head. "Nothing."

The oxhide had been bound on her hand for quite a while, and at the time she hadn't had time to do it properly. Now as Song Shiyue unwrapped it, many overlapping marks from the oxhide were left on her left hand.

Watching this, Yu Nianbing barely managed to hold back from asking anything more.

Before the zipline, when Song Shiyue had done that, everyone had asked, and Song Shiyue had only smiled and said she was afraid of chafing, for safety.

That explanation might be believed by others, but Yu Nianbing didn't believe it.

With Song Shiyue's overly obliging personality, if it were really for safety's sake, there's no way she'd only wrap her own hand.

Having freed herself from the binding, Song Shiyue was flexing her left hand, and she never imagined that her image in Yu Nianbing's heart was actually this good.

Having the oxhide bound on her left hand the whole way hadn't been unbearable, but that extra layer of constraint was after all not entirely comfortable. Now that it was gone, her left hand felt very free, and her whole body seemed much lighter.

But speaking of constraints...

Song Shiyue shifted her waist a bit awkwardly and twisted her upper body.

"What's wrong? Is your waist uncomfortable?" Yu Nianbing looked over quickly.

"No... it's nothing..." Song Shiyue stopped moving.

Yu Nianbing took advantage of the last bit of daylight to glance at Song Shiyue's somewhat stiff back, then considered her just-now movements, and lowering her voice asked again, "Is your back itchy?"

"No... not that." Song Shiyue shook her head.

Yu Nianbing said no more.

But a few steps later, Yu Nianbing's pace slowed half a beat, and the next second, someone's hand like a little cat's paw quickly scratched a few times on Song Shiyue's back with a rustling sound.

If Song Shiyue hadn't reined herself in, she would have turned around and grabbed the attacking paw...

"Thanks." Song Shiyue glanced at Yu Nianbing, who had walked back to her side, her gaze lingering for a moment on those slender wrists.

Good thing she controlled herself; otherwise, that would have been one pitiful little hand.

Utterly unaware that her hand had just skirted such a dangerous situation, Yu Nianbing simply lowered her head to watch the path, shook her head without saying much, but the corners of her lips slowly lifted.

From the patch of lamb's quarters, about ten minutes later, the sky had completely darkened.

The group was no longer walking in a single file as before; they all bunched together as they moved forward, relying solely on the flashlight in Captain Yang's hand to barely keep going.

After another ten minutes of walking like this, Yu Nianbing turned her head to Zhao Da again. "If Captain Yang passes by the spot with a flashlight, could you remind us?"

"Sure." Zhao Da nodded amiably.

The muscular man, under the faint light spilling from the flashlight ahead, had a face full of understanding and accommodation.

"Thanks." Yu Nianbing's tense expression in the night eased a little.

While Yu Nianbing spoke with Zhao Da, Song Shiyue also looked over. But from beginning to end, she didn't interject.

Some people, some things — no matter how hard you try to see them clearly, it's futile.

When the time comes, if it's meant to be, it will be there. If not, then it won't be, no matter what.

Just that vague, contradictory feeling alone was enough to double Song Shiyue's wariness toward Zhao Da.

After all, a person who came from the apocalypse never saw anyone as a genuine good person. She was just passing through this journey, and as long as they didn't hinder her, Song Shiyue didn't care whether these people were truly good or only superficially good. They weren't partners who would share life-and-death trials, nor were they bound to live together forever — who had the time to analyze and adjust little by little?

As long as in these dozen or so days they all had food and drink without getting sick or injured, that was already a big success. As for whether everyone was satisfied and happy, Song Shiyue wasn't very interested — after all, she was here to earn money.

Of course, this was Song Shiyue's general approach, but some people and some things were still different.

"Careful." Since the sky had fully darkened, Song Shiyue had been holding Yu Nianbing's hand, and now as she spoke, she suddenly pulled her closer.

"What? What is it? Is there something?" Without the slightest resistance, Yu Nianbing used the force of Song Shiyue's pull to press herself tightly against Song Shiyue, her three rapid questions trembling with unmistakable nerves.

"It's nothing. I just thought I saw a branch sticking out of the ground and was afraid you'd get scratched." Song Shiyue, with her eyesight better than others', looked at the large spider on the ground that Yu Nianbing had almost stepped on. She made up the lie without batting an eye, while also leading her a few steps to the side.

Such a big spider, not staying up in the trees or grass spinning webs, just sprawled across the ground — what was the point? Song Shiyue frowned slightly in displeasure.

"You scared me to death... Next time don't shout 'careful,' shout 'branch.'" With her ordinary vision now unable to see the ground beneath her, Yu Nianbing let out a huge sigh of relief. However, she did not pull away from Song Shiyue again.

"Alright, we should be able to get a flashlight soon. Bear with it a bit longer, just follow me like this." Song Shiyue glanced at the light ahead led by Captain Yang's hand, only hoping that Captain Yang would be decent and the process of getting the flashlight wouldn't be too complicated.

Unfortunately, after walking forward for less than two minutes, Zhao Da, who had been walking behind Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing, suddenly spoke in a low voice: "We passed it."

Both Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing stopped in their tracks and looked back together.

In the night, Zhao Da's smile was somewhat helpless.

"Where?" Yu Nianbing asked.

Since Zhao Da was willing to remind them, he certainly wouldn't wait until they were long past it — that would be pointless.

Sure enough, when Yu Nianbing asked, Zhao Da stretched out his hand and pointed to a large tree a few steps behind them.

"See that forked tree? The production team deliberately made it a landmark that's easy to recognize." Zhao Da paused, then explained, "Maybe it was too dark and Captain Yang didn't notice it."

Heh, the guy holding a flashlight up front couldn't see it, but someone walking in pitch black behind him did.

But at this point, there was no need to confront Captain Yang over whether he truly didn't see it or was pretending not to.

"Do you know where it's buried? Under the tree?" Yu Nianbing asked again.

Zhao Da seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then quickly answered, "Right at the spot directly below where the two branches fork. Originally, at this point... you would have needed to trade a benefit you got on the zipline route for the flashlight."

Having heard the first part, Song Shiyue was about to walk toward the forked tree behind them, but she pulled back her leg and turned to smile. "Then many thanks to Captain Yang. Since he already passed it, it's unclaimed — finders keepers."

With that, Song Shiyue quickly strode back into the darkness behind them.

Before letting go, Song Shiyue had lightly patted the back of Yu Nianbing's hand to signal her to stay. Yu Nianbing's gaze followed Song Shiyue, but her mind kept turning over whether Captain Yang had forgotten or simply hadn't seen that tree.

Logically, Captain Yang should have been more than happy to deduct a benefit from them...

Could it be that they had gotten too many things, like that pillow, and Captain Yang felt it wasn't worth the trade, preferring to let them stumble blindly the whole way instead?

But Yu Nianbing didn't ponder for long.

Earlier, when Zhao Da spoke, he had kept his voice very low, so only Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing at the back had heard.

The noise of the three people talking and moving at the back was a bit loud, so Ning Chuyang and Mu Xingzhou, who were closest up front, heard it first and stopped. Then one after another, the entire group straggled to a halt.

"What's going on?" Captain Yang's flashlight swept toward the rear.

Several people instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.

Captain Yang turned back, walked a few steps, and immediately noticed someone was missing.

Even before anyone else could say anything, Captain Yang's mind had already flagged Song Shiyue's presence again and again, and now with almost a single glance, he spotted her absence.

"Where's Song Shiyue? What has she gone off to do now?" Captain Yang's expression was extremely displeased.

Of course, that displeasure wasn't purely out of concern.

Those in front didn't know, those at the back knew but kept quiet, and the scene fell into an awkward silence.

"Zhao Da?" Captain Yang's flashlight swept straight to Zhao Da's feet, and he asked somewhat irritably, "Aren't you supposed to be keeping the rear? Where is she?"

Captain Yang might not like Song Shiyue, but the livestream was still filming. If someone got lost under his lead, the trouble would be far greater than this bit of dislike.

"She'll be right back." Unwilling to watch Zhao Da, who had helped them, be targeted and berated by Captain Yang, Yu Nianbing finally stepped forward and spoke up.

Captain Yang felt a bit of relief in his heart, but his face only grew angrier. "What exactly did Song Shiyue go off to do? Can't she have a bit of team spirit, a bit of big-picture thinking? If there was something that required leaving the group, why didn't she report it in advance? What if something happened? And if it wasn't necessary to leave, why go? It's already so late, with so many of us waiting just for her — do you think that's appropriate?"

The string of questions, like the beam from Captain Yang's flashlight, landed squarely in front of Yu Nianbing.

But for Captain Yang, this wasn't enough.

Captain Yang turned his hand, and the flashlight beam swept toward the others. "What do you all think? Isn't that so? The most important thing right now is to push on and get to camp to rest, isn't it? Has Song Shiyue considered everyone else who has been tired all day?"

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Whether it was Yu Nianbing or those later swept by Captain Yang's flashlight, no one spoke.

But Captain Yang didn't mind.

After all, he hadn't expected this one move to destroy Song Shiyue's standing in the team. But given the chance, a little shaking was still fine.

Captain Yang had also gradually figured things out. The three male guests were relatively easy to handle. Among the female guests, Yu Nianbing and Ning Chuyang were just a bit sharp-tongued, which was actually not very useful in wilderness survival. As long as he tweaked certain segments and took slight detours in certain places, he could guarantee they wouldn't have the energy to keep their tongues sharp.

Among all these people, the most thorny, the most troublesome, was actually just one — Song Shiyue.

Without Song Shiyue, these people wouldn't eat well, wouldn't sleep well. There was no rush; give it a few days, and he'd wear them down easily enough.

Recalling how he had tried to get along well with the guests in the morning, only to be forced into catching just two frogs by Song Shiyue by noon, Captain Yang thought that the best outcome now would be for Song Shiyue to fall out with the others and stop interfering, so he could lead the team more comfortably.

People's wishes are infinite.

Each day brings countless new wishes, too many to count.

And Captain Yang was no exception. But unlike others, for some time now, his wishes seemed to be shattered especially often and especially fast...

Just as Captain Yang was seizing the chance to sow discord, a light suddenly shone from the opposite direction.

Captain Yang's flashlight had just been pointing at Yu Nianbing's feet again, and now a beam shining directly at his own feet cut off his unfinished words.

The figure approaching with that light source was all too familiar, all too... annoying.

"Won't Captain Yang come take a look at my big-picture thinking?" Song Shiyue walked up in front of Yu Nianbing, partially blocking the light Captain Yang's flashlight cast on the ground before her, then waved her own flashlight, its beam scattering at Captain Yang's feet.

Captain Yang stiffly turned his neck to look at Zhao Da.

Zhao Da, as if troubled, turned his face away, unwilling to meet his eyes.

The production team folks, really, just great, just great.

"You have to give that flashlight..." Captain Yang took a deep breath and looked at Song Shiyue.

"What a stroke of luck. I just went to the back to take care of some personal business, and accidentally discovered these." Acting as if she hadn't heard Captain Yang, Song Shiyue raised her voice slightly and spoke to the others while opening her other hand.

Six small flashlights lay obediently in Song Shiyue's palm, the same model the production team had issued on the first day.

Actually, this time it was also an oversight on Song Shiyue and the others' part. At the zipline start, they only heard Captain Yang say that the waist packs could hold a water bottle and two portable toilet kits, and as a result, not one person remembered to bring a flashlight...

Of course, a big part of the reason was that their backpacks were full of food, and the flashlights, unused the day before, had been pushed to the very bottom. Later, following Song Shiyue's example, everyone stuffed their waist packs as full as possible with jerky, so they didn't think about what else in their backpacks they should have brought...

Having walked in the dark the whole way, everyone deeply regretted it.

But now, the problem was solved.

A flashlight for everyone, darkness begone.

Everyone happily took a flashlight from Song Shiyue, and Zhao Da also got one.

Only Captain Yang was so furious his nose was practically bent out of shape.

What personal business, what accidental discovery!

Zhao Da! It was Zhao Da!

He genuinely hadn't recognized that as the tree with the buried items — it should have been a bit further ahead! How could one momentary misread... and Zhao Da turned it into this!

Making it look like he was deliberately targeting them, forcing them to walk in the dark!

Captain Yang was both annoyed at Zhao Da for meddling, regretful that he hadn't observed carefully enough, and angry that Song Shiyue's lies sounded so grand and plausible. For quite a while, he couldn't even speak.

"Let's keep going." After distributing the flashlights, Song Shiyue saw that Captain Yang seemed frozen in place, so she asked, "Is Captain Yang tired? Should Zhao Da take over leading the way for a bit?"

Ha, take over what? Lead what?

Is this a threat? Threatening me that you still have Zhao Da who knows the way, warning me not to detour?

Captain Yang's eyes nearly blazed with fury. He spun around with such force that he almost twisted his ankle, but he strode back to the front and began leading again.

Song Shiyue, who had only meant to urge Captain Yang to get moving and whose words hadn't carried such loaded meaning, was honestly baffled by the look Captain Yang gave her.

But whatever, as long as they kept walking.

Song Shiyue skillfully took Yu Nianbing's hand again, no longer bothering about Captain Yang's inexplicable reaction.

One, two... eight.

Eight flashlights lit up, the already bright beams overlapping into an extraordinarily brilliant glow.

This situation, even brighter than walking in the daytime — was there really still a need... to hold hands?

Yu Nianbing lowered her head, her peripheral vision lingering on their clasped hands. The way Song Shiyue had taken her hand was just too natural; if she deliberately avoided it, it would look... a bit awkward, wouldn't it?

Watching and thinking thus, Yu Nianbing gave herself a reason to keep holding hands.

Just as Song Shiyue was striding forward with her hand in hers, she suddenly felt the hand she was holding move a little, as if returning a bit of grip.

What's wrong? Did she see something scary?

Song Shiyue instinctively looked carefully at the ground near Yu Nianbing.

Only grass, very clean...

So what was that just now? Song Shiyue was a bit puzzled.

Even though Song Shiyue had determined the most advantageous zipline dismount point early on, they still walked downhill and then uphill for over two hours before they saw the camp's perimeter fence up ahead and the large lights the program had turned on.

Drawing closer for a better look.

Hm, wonderful. The only small wooden cabin stood alone in the center of the camp. There was no need to go in and look; this solitary little wooden house was surely the washroom the production team had promised in the contract, where they could bathe every night.

To the left of the cabin was a cluster of tents, with production team members weaving in and out, and a rudimentary washroom similar to the one at the previous camp. To the right of the cabin, three tents were lined up, and in another row were three open lean-to shelters with bamboo floors raised above the ground and thatched roofs of leaves...

Upon entering the camp, everyone immediately went to check out the sleeping arrangements; as it happened, all their backpacks had been piled at the entrance of one of the tents.

There wasn't much to see about the tents; they were the same material as the previous night's, but already set up, no need to pitch them themselves.

All three were single-person tents, and the space inside was very small.

The three lean-to shelters, on the other hand, looked much more spacious.

Most of the materials for the lean-to shelters were bamboo, and they were constructed quite meticulously. The flat bamboo slat floors were raised up, about two hand's widths off the ground. The long branches and leaves used for the roofs were woven together, looking very dense and sturdy. Although they were all single-person shelters, inside they seemed somewhat roomier than the single tents.

"Aside from lacking a door, everything else looks decent." Mu Xingzhou circled a lean-to shelter, then tried sitting and lying on the bamboo slats inside, expressing basic satisfaction.

"We can find some of the leaves they used for the roof later and weave a leaf door to hang up, which will block a bit of wind." Ning Chuyang also chose a lean-to shelter, looking it over again and again.

"Xiao Ning, sleep in a tent tonight, I'll take this one." Zhuang Jiachuan said with a smile.

"No need, thank you Teacher Zhuang. I can't keep letting everyone give way for me, everyone's tired." Ning Chuyang shook her head and refused, adding, "I think this lean-to shelter is fine, quite good."

But Zhuang Jiachuan insisted, "This lean-to shelter doesn't even have a door; the bamboo walls, though dense, definitely let in drafts. It's no problem for grown men, but for a young woman, it's still not ideal."

"It's fine, I'll figure out a door later." Ning Chuyang was too embarrassed to keep swapping for other people's comfort, and added, "Having a lean-to shelter to sleep in is already good enough. The first day we had a cabin, the second day only tents and lean-to shelters... later on we might not even have lean-to shelters like this to sleep in. Better I get used to this kind of living sooner."

The two went back and forth trying to persuade each other.

Guan Yongyi, who had gone to the washroom, also returned.

After catching a few words, Guan Yongyi turned to Yu Nianbing and said, "Teacher Yu, switch with me today too. Teacher Zhuang is right, it's not convenient for you women to sleep in these lean-to shelters."

Yu Nianbing: "..."

"Thank you, Teacher Guan. But Teacher Yu doesn't dare sleep alone; she'll have to stay with me there today." Meeting Yu Nianbing's gaze, Song Shiyue smiled and declined Guan Yongyi's kind offer.

Guan Yongyi chuckled and didn't insist further, only adding, "If you find one tent not enough, let me know anytime."

"That tent is still a bit cramped for two people," interjected Zhuang Jiachuan, who had experience from the previous night.

"Then do you want to sleep in a lean-to shelter? I can make a door." Song Shiyue glanced at the tent, then at the lean-to shelter, and asked.

Yu Nianbing frowned slightly.

Song Shiyue quickly added, "I meant, do you want to sleep together in a lean-to shelter, or together in the tent?"

Yu Nianbing's frown, which hadn't had time to fully form, relaxed.

"The tent, then..." Yu Nianbing pointed to the tent closest to them.

Compared to the lean-to shelter with gaps on all sides, a sealed tent indeed offered a bit more sense of security. It was small, but then, the bed in the cabin the night before hadn't been very big either...

Song Shiyue naturally nodded, then looked at Guan Yongyi and Ning Chuyang, who were still discussing who should take the tent, and said with a smile, "Whichever of you ends up in the lean-to shelter, I'll make you a bamboo door."

Yu Nianbing: "..."

If you're talking about good-heartedness and a quick tongue, who else but Song Shiyue?

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