WS - Chapter 104
Chapter 104
When Zhao Youxiang was little, he always felt his name was a bit rustic. Especially when his family moved from the Mingtan No. 323 Agricultural Subsidiary Planet to Mingtan Prime during elementary school, he felt his name didn't match the names on the class roster—names like Hongyu, Haoming, Tianjie, Ruilin...
This sense of being out of place accompanied him through much of his youth. Even after graduating from university, he still resisted this name that carried the flavor of an agricultural subsidiary planet.
But now, he's quite fond of his name.
After all, back when he was taking the exams for the Mingtan Planet Aerospace Bureau, the person who tied with him for first place in the written test couldn't beat him in the interview, and it's said that his name helped.
He learned about it in his third year of working hard at the Mingtan Planet Aerospace Bureau. Zhao Youxiang, at a young age, had squeezed from an ordinary post into the bureau's Business Negotiation Office and became a clerk there. At that time, when their department was collaborating with other departments, he happened to meet the interviewer who had recruited him. After several rounds of drinks, the interviewer laughed and said that when they recruited Zhao Youxiang, the other person who tied for first in the written test was also quite good. Unfortunately, there was only one spot. Since Zhao Youxiang's name looked rather auspicious, and a place like the Aerospace Bureau cared about smooth sailing, when two people were similar, they picked the one with the better name.
If Zhao Youxiang had been young and headstrong, he probably would have sulked. But after rolling around in the Aerospace Bureau for three years, the Zhao Youxiang who could roll into the Business Negotiation Office was already well able to distinguish pros and cons. Not only did he not feel insulted, but he instead made peace with his rustic name.
Just as that interviewer said, Zhao Youxiang's name had good fortune, and the fortune was still to come. This year he just turned forty, and he had firmly secured the position of deputy office director of the Business Negotiation Office on Mingtan Planet. Although it wasn't a technical position and his work content didn't quite match the lofty word "aerospace", the Business Negotiation Office, as the name implies, was the interface between the Aerospace Bureau and outside enterprises. The companies that dealt with the Aerospace Bureau were all large, wealthy enterprises, and as the second-in-command of the office, one could imagine the perks.
Setting aside whether there were collaborations or whether they succeeded, even just an occasional harmless bit of small information was enough for Zhao Youxiang to nicely pocket a sum.
And this most recent sum came from the other end of the voice call, the current young head of the Yao Group, Yao Yuxi.
"Good afternoon, President Yao." Zhao Youxiang put on his earphones, answered the voice call, and greeted her familiarly yet without fawning. His fingertips gently tapped the office desk as he looked at the photo on it.
A family-of-three photo taken on the lawn just a few days ago, taken at the villa Yao Yuxi had recently given him.
"Director Zhao, I'd like to confirm once more whether the space conditions around Wilderness Planet are still showing as normal. I wonder if Director Zhao has been following a recent variety show called The Wilderness Journey. Last night, a huge flock of bats flew over the production team's camp, and this morning at the pond they passed, the fish the production team had been raising swam upstream against the current, even at the cost of injury. These situations seem somewhat abnormal." Feeling inexplicably uneasy, Yao Yuxi skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.
"Ah, normal, definitely normal. President Yao came to ask last time, just over a month ago, right? I specially went up to ask the technical staff then. Are you worried this is an earthquake precursor? Haha, no. There are several monitoring stations on Wilderness Planet. If there were any changes, they would have been detected months ago." Zhao Youxiang laughed reassuringly. "President Yao, rest assured. It should be just a coincidence. Didn't they say Wilderness Planet has been returning farmland to forest and introducing plants and animals in recent years? Maybe some other animal just disturbed the area."
Yao Yuxi pressed the StarNet client with one finger, not speaking for a long time.
Zhao Youxiang didn't know the specifics of The Wilderness Journey, which was why he could say something about other animals causing a disturbance.
But according to the information Yao Yuxi had received, the route for this season of The Wilderness Journey had been meticulously designed. From the starting point where the guests disembarked, to the Old Castle, to the final destination, this long stretch of road, along with the nearby hills, was all covered by a protective shield.
Over a dozen mountains, or perhaps more, were covered with signal devices, forming a protective shield that living things couldn't enter or exit. Then the Mu Group spent a large sum to hire several teams to clear out the enclosed area.
Not to mention fierce beasts that might disturb animals, even ordinary animals were probably mostly gone. What remained, like the bat cave, was there to serve the show.
Things like the frogs, fish, and later the chickens and rabbits in certain segments were all set up later by the production team.
Given these arrangements, there shouldn't have been anything that could disturb the animals.
Of course, that's not to say the cleanup was completely flawless.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the matter with that king cobra at the starting point.
"President Yao? Are you still there, President Yao?"
Zhao Youxiang's voice rang out again.
Yao Yuxi sighed, thought for a moment, and still persisted: "Could I trouble Director Zhao to go check the data from Wilderness Planet again now?"
"..." Zhao Youxiang glanced at the photo on his desk again, then immediately agreed without any reluctance. "Alright, I just finished a meeting and have nothing to do, so I'll go take a look. I'll call you back in a bit, President Yao."
The call ended.
Yao Yuxi leaned back in her office chair, furrowed her brows, and continued scrolling through the livestream.
On Wilderness Planet, Captain Yang's explanation about the cave's safety clearly did not satisfy the guests, and for a time they were deadlocked over whether to enter or go around.
Behind them, among the production team, Director Zhang actually quite liked this scene of the guests confronting the leader. However, hearing Wang Daming and Zhao Da beside him mention that it was getting late, Director Zhang felt they had filmed enough of the standoff and needed to move things forward.
After all, they had been up late the night before and no one had rested well. Director Zhang personally had no desire to detour over the mountain or around its base.
Led by Director Zhang, the production team, which had originally been some distance behind the guests, moved forward.
Director Zhang spoke up, and Wang Daming naturally chimed in to help. Together with Captain Yang, the three earnestly advised, stoked the fire, and continued with sound reasoning and evidence...
With such a lively discussion, the guests could certainly argue back directly, but that scene would really be... rather unsightly.
This time, Director Zhang and Captain Yang were united in opinion, and quite firm.
They couldn't help but suspect that if they didn't go through the cave and instead chose to go over the mountain or around its base, the production team probably wouldn't give them maps or hints.
It was even possible that they'd be perfectly happy to watch them get lost and miss that night's camp.
Perhaps because the production team had been too tormenting at the very start, even though Director Zhang's performance earlier today was quite good, they still found it hard to immediately remove the filter formed on the first day.
So after further discussion, they decided they would still enter the cave.
While everyone opened their backpacks and added layers of clothing, Song Shiyue took a couple of steps into the cave to look at the environment.
Inside, the cave didn't stay at a constant level.
Just a few steps in from the entrance, it began to slope downward. Judging by the trend, it was very likely that further in, they would be not only inside the mountain but underground. From what Song Shiyue could hear, there was definitely an underground river deeper inside.
But it was more spacious than Song Shiyue had imagined once she entered. Walking in a little further brought her to a wide, open cavern. Both sides near the rock walls were walkable, but it was obvious that the ground on the right side was neater and more even, with traces of artificial excavation and maintenance.
The ceiling above was currently about six or seven stories high, though she didn't know how it would change further on. If Song Shiyue wasn't mistaken, the ceiling on the right also had some grinding and chiseling marks that looked quite fresh.
This made Captain Yang's earlier claim—that before filming began, a professional team had come to assess and maintain this cave passage—much more credible.
Soon, Captain Yang's voice came from outside, calling Song Shiyue back.
Song Shiyue didn't go further in. She just shined her flashlight into the distance one last time.
She didn't see any bats, but deeper inside, she did see what looked like steps. It seemed the artificial work was quite thorough.
"From what I can see at the cave entrance, the environment is okay. Everyone can stick to the right for now. It seems someone has maintained the floor and ceiling. When we get further in, just be a bit careful and change paths if needed." Song Shiyue said, then glanced at the woods not far away. "What do you think? Should we get some wood to make helmets? Wooden ones wouldn't be very sturdy or protective, but better than nothing. But homemade ones might not be very refined, and if we're not careful, they might even hurt us."
As she spoke, Song Shiyue's gaze landed on Yu Nianbing.
Actually, Song Shiyue herself found it a dilemma. Wooden helmets couldn't be too thick, or the neck wouldn't support them, but if they were thin, they could at most offer a little protection against bats. If rocks fell from that high, thin wooden helmets probably wouldn't be much use...
What Song Shiyue thought of, everyone discussed briefly and probably also thought of.
They had already spent too much time lingering here. Rather than waste more time making a bunch of helmets that wouldn't be very effective, they might as well just go and get it over with sooner.
Actually, if the production team hadn't made everyone so resistant from the very beginning, and if they trusted the team a bit more now, they wouldn't have so many worries.
After all, this was a livestream show. If the production team and the Mu Group didn't want to mess things up beyond repair, they wouldn't send them into a dangerous place without even providing full protective gear.
Everyone finally agreed.
To ensure the guests' safety, Zhao Er proactively suggested that the production team members also join the guests' group to add an extra layer of security.
So when they followed Captain Yang into the cave, the order of the group changed somewhat.
Captain Yang still led, followed by Zhuang Jiachuan, Guan Yongyi, Ning Chuyang, and Mu Xingzhou. In the middle were Zhao Er and Wang Daming, then Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue. Behind them were Feng Qianqian and Ni Jinghe. Director Zhang walked second to last, and Zhao Da brought up the rear.
Although it was to increase safety, in truth only Zhao Da and Zhao Er among the production team were of any real use.
But it was still a gesture from the production team. Since it didn't cause any trouble, everyone just went in like that.
And just as on Wilderness Planet the two groups merged into one and entered the cave, on Mingtan Prime, inside the Aerospace Bureau, the elevator Zhao Youxiang was in had stopped at the monitoring department's floor.
The monitoring department was actually the division on Mingtan Prime that monitored the various subsidiary planets and surrounding space conditions. The information inside wasn't exactly top-secret, but it wasn't something that could be accessed casually.
For someone like Zhao Youxiang, whose position wasn't high enough, he could only request some data by filing a report when it was needed during cooperation with external enterprises.
But Yao Yuxi wasn't actually cooperating with the Aerospace Bureau; she had just dealt with Zhao Youxiang before and asked him for a favor.
Wilderness Planet had belonged to the Mu Group for over ten years. Even the Aerospace Bureau only conducted safety monitoring and didn't have the authority to give Wilderness Planet's data to anyone outside the Mu Group.
Naturally, Zhao Youxiang wasn't going through the proper channels of filing a report either; he had just come to casually chat with someone.
When the elevator doors opened, just as Zhao Youxiang was about to step out, he saw the Aerospace Bureau's second-in-command right at the entrance of the monitoring department ahead.
The timing was bad. Next time.
Zhao Youxiang had climbed to the deputy position in a lucrative department; he certainly had this much perceptiveness.
Back at his office door, Zhao Youxiang's heart was still pounding a little.
Fortunately, this time he had only intended to ask.
Over a month ago, Zhao Youxiang had used documents with detailed data to trade for a villa from Yao Yuxi.
That had been the biggest risk he had taken in his entire career.
Now, having just gotten the villa, and Yao Yuxi asking the same question again without even requiring specific data, Zhao Youxiang felt embarrassed to negotiate a price. He had simply wanted to ask as a freebie for Yao Yuxi, to form a good relationship with the Yao Group.
But clearly, this good relationship wasn't worth Zhao Youxiang taking a rushed risk for.
Zhao Youxiang's decision was correct.
After the Aerospace Bureau's second-in-command, Deputy Director Sun, entered the monitoring department, he didn't leave for a long time.
If someone were to film Deputy Director Sun now, they would see him pacing around, inspecting the screens in front of each technician one by one, and the time he spent in front of each screen was roughly the same. Among them was the screen that Zhao Youxiang had just wanted to look at—the one monitoring Wilderness Planet.
On Wilderness Planet, beams of flashlight illuminated the dark cave, half-lighting it.
No sign of bats for now. With so many people, it didn't feel so scary after entering, and with talking, it felt more like an adventure tour.
Although the cave was quite spacious, the path that was easy to walk on was actually quite narrow, just enough for one person to walk steadily. If two people walked side by side, one of them would likely have difficulty with their footing.
But Song Shiyue didn't care much about that.
Since the previous workers had repaired the path on the right, that meant any bats would only be on the left or on the rock walls above.
After entering the cave, Song Shiyue stepped to the left and walked side by side with Yu Nianbing.
The trekking poles that Song Shiyue had made earlier were quite useful in the cave as well. But since they also had to hold flashlights, everyone only held one pole in hand for support, while the other was temporarily hung on the back of their packs.
Song Shiyue had only made the two walking sticks to blend in, so she had long since insisted on hanging both on the back of her pack at the cave entrance, under Yu Nianbing's somewhat disapproving gaze.
After all, once inside, one hand held a flashlight and the other held a person—where would she get more hands for walking sticks?
They had been mere decoration for Song Shiyue anyway; now she naturally couldn't bother with them.
Because of Song Shiyue's sudden rebellion, Yu Nianbing had to grip her walking stick tightly with her right hand while also gripping Song Shiyue's hand tightly, striving to walk steadily with every step so that if something happened to Song Shiyue, she could support her.
There was quite a difference in combat ability. The silent protection of a little weakling was something the big tiger didn't notice for now.
Song Shiyue just felt that the hand holding Yu Nianbing's seemed to be squeezed a bit tight. She figured it was probably because the cave was too dark and gloomy, and with the talk of bats, Yu Nianbing might be scared. So she naturally returned a soothing squeeze.
Sometimes, when you overthink for the other person, mutual support can turn into a wrist-wrestling match, which is a bit inexplicably amusing.
Before the two could gradually adjust and return the grip to normal, a cold gust of wind, seemingly carrying some moisture, blew in from ahead, making people shiver. They couldn't help but pull the person they were holding closer and tighter.
"Don't be afraid. There should be an underground river ahead." As Song Shiyue spoke, the people ahead turned right and entered a slightly narrower cave entrance.
Sure enough, when they passed through, they saw an underground river on the left, stretching long into the distance.
"Walk behind me." Yu Nianbing's hand trembled slightly as she pulled Song Shiyue behind her.
"It's fine. It's still spacious on my side, several steps from the river." Song Shiyue smiled and shined her flashlight to the side, adding, "Look, they even installed some small railings."
Only then did Yu Nianbing shift her gaze from that deep, dark underground river of unknown origin and destination to the spot Song Shiyue was illuminating.
At a glance, Yu Nianbing grew angry and increased the force with which she pushed Song Shiyue behind her.
Although there appeared to be a continuous stone railing between Song Shiyue and the river, it only reached knee height—they were indeed small railings!
"Hey, hey, it's fine. There are still a couple of steps to the railing, and you'd have to climb over it to reach the river." Watching Yu Nianbing purse her lips in anger again, Song Shiyue found it inexplicably cute and couldn't help but take two steps to the left while speaking, teasing Yu Nianbing.
And sure enough, someone exploded with anger.
"I'm back, I'm back. I'll walk behind you." In the darkness, no one was bored enough to shine a flashlight on faces, but Song Shiyue's good eyesight didn't miss Yu Nianbing's eyes instantly reddening. Realizing she had gone too far, she quickly admitted defeat.
As expected, after Song Shiyue obediently walked behind Yu Nianbing, her right hand was given a not-too-light, not-too-heavy pinch before Yu Nianbing let go.
Walking one behind the other made it inconvenient to hold hands.
In such a dangerous place, how could you mess around!
Even after giving Song Shiyue that hard pinch, Yu Nianbing still hadn't vented her anger. She let Song Shiyue mutter a few words about the underground river behind her and simply ignored her.
But soon, when Song Shiyue stopped talking, Yu Nianbing felt a bit uncomfortable.
She couldn't help but hesitate, wondering if she had been too cold to Song Shiyue just now...
Just as Yu Nianbing was wrestling with this, ahead appeared another wide-open cavern. Along with the wide-open space came a rather strange, unpleasant smell.
Everyone's expression turned grim, and from the front of the group came hushed murmurs; the keyword "bats" had started recurring.
Yu Nianbing unconsciously tightened her grip on the hem of her clothes.
At the same time, she felt warmth on her left—Song Shiyue had come up to the front again.
"The path is wider now. If it gets narrow again, I'll go back behind." Song Shiyue's voice was a little soft, a gentle concession.
What else could she do?
She could only forgive her!
Anyway, it wasn't the first time...
Yu Nianbing took the initiative to take Song Shiyue's hand.
"There are no bats here. It should just be a former habitat." Song Shiyue swept her flashlight back and forth toward the distant rock wall and ground on the left, saying this softly. After a pause, she added, "Maybe the bats here all flew away last night. We might not encounter a single one today."
Normally, such soothing words from Song Shiyue's mouth, whether well-founded or reasonable or not, would always have a temporary calming effect.
But this time, these seemingly reasonable words from Song Shiyue didn't get through to Yu Nianbing.
To be precise, Yu Nianbing's mind was no longer on the bats.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" The moment Yu Nianbing's hand had grasped Song Shiyue's again, she had felt something off.
Never mind before, over these past two days they had held hands more than just once or twice, and each time it hadn't been just for a short while.
Yu Nianbing knew very well what Song Shiyue's hand felt like when held and the force with which it responded.
But now, it wasn't right.
At first, Yu Nianbing had thought that Song Shiyue realized it had been wrong to deliberately walk toward the river earlier, so she was softening her words and even her hand, conceding to her.
But when she felt something was wrong and deliberately leaned her body slightly toward Song Shiyue, she knew that something was truly wrong.
In normal times, on difficult paths, although it looked like they were holding hands, it was really Song Shiyue supporting Yu Nianbing.
Whether it was a big pull for support or a small lean, Song Shiyue could always respond with a suitable force, more solid and intelligent than any walking stick, and steadily support Yu Nianbing.
Just now, Yu Nianbing had deliberately leaned slightly toward Song Shiyue, and Song Shiyue had indeed immediately responded with force to support her.
But that force was really... small.
A bit... weak?
Even if Song Shiyue had intentionally softened her hand to appease her, it shouldn't have been soft at this moment.
"It's nothing." Song Shiyue answered instinctively.
But the next second, as Song Shiyue looked at the deep, seemingly endless underground river ahead, her vision suddenly blurred. Her whole body seemed to waver, and she halted for a moment.
"Song Shiyue?" Yu Nianbing's hand holding Song Shiyue's suddenly tightened.
"Okay, there is a small problem." Song Shiyue paused, then said softly, "I seem to be losing my strength more and more."
If an ordinary person said this, or an ordinary person heard it, the first reaction would certainly be that losing strength meant being tired, so just rest a bit.
Yu Nianbing's first reaction was the same, but she immediately realized something was amiss.
Never mind how Song Shiyue usually was; just moments ago she had been full of strength, whether supporting someone or messing around, she had been very strong.
How could she suddenly...
"What do we do?" Yu Nianbing guessed that Song Shiyue might have a serious problem now, but she only understood the surface of it. Now, sweating, she could only ask this one question.
What Song Shiyue couldn't say was that her strength, the strength that had been with her for over seven years, had just now, ten-some steps ago, been gradually drained away, bit by bit.
"..." Song Shiyue looked ahead, at the path forward of unknown depth, unknown distance, and unknown darkness.
Was it there? Or somewhere else?
Taking away the only thing she had relied on all these years?
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