WS - Chapter 109
Chapter 109
The Mingtan Aerospace Bureau wasn't far from the Yao Group building. Ye Liu decisively abandoned her car, took a shortcut through the alleys to bypass several completely jammed streets nearby, and ran toward the Yao building.
By the time Ye Liu, drenched in sweat, pushed open the door to Yao Yuxi's office, she immediately saw that something seemed off about Yao Yuxi's current condition.
Although the two of them were face to face with nothing in between, Yao Yuxi tilted her body as if she were avoiding something, glanced at her, then waved her over, quickly sat upright again, and stared intently ahead, appearing utterly tense.
In the StarNet era, when two people sit face to face with seemingly nothing between them, they might be smiling and gazing at each other as if they could do so forever, but in reality they might each have their personal StarNet mode on, happily watching their own content.
Normally, Ye Liu wouldn't have thought Yao Yuxi's actions were out of place.
But this moment was different. What was it that held Yao Yuxi's attention so fixedly and nervously?
A bad guess suddenly crossed Ye Liu's mind.
As Ye Liu walked toward Yao Yuxi, Yao Yuxi raised her hand and touched the StarNet client on her wrist.
So when Ye Liu stood beside Yao Yuxi, she saw the video footage Yao Yuxi had just shared.
"This is..." Ye Liu couldn't help leaning forward. After carefully studying the scenes playing in the two video windows, she couldn't help but sigh softly. "So you still used those semi-finished products..."
Even on the drive over, Ye Liu had taken a moment to check on The Wilderness Journey.
After the Yaoxing Storm, The Wilderness Journey's livestream page had nothing but one dark, empty video window after another. Whether the production team and the Mu Group behind it were busy discussing what to do next or just chickened out, the furious audience danmaku were scrolling so fast they left afterimages, yet the livestream page still hadn't posted a single notice.
Yet now, the two video windows side by side before Yao Yuxi were actually showing what was happening on Wilderness Planet after the Yaoxing Storm. Ye Liu immediately thought of that matter from a few days ago, something Yao Yuxi was supposed to have given up on after her strenuous objections.
"Mm..." Yao Yuxi responded, as if she hadn't noticed the disappointment and complexity in Ye Liu's words.
In fact, Yao Yuxi truly had no more attention to spare for anything outside the screens. The two side-by-side screens before her had always had a white line separating them, and now, combined with the images on the screens, that white line rather ironically resembled the stone wall that separated the inside and outside of the cave...
Yes, a stone wall.
A flashlight illuminated the pile of collapsed stones ahead. Director Zhang clutched his arm, staring at the completely blocked stone pile, his hands trembling, at a loss for what to do.
If these stones had fallen at the cave entrance, they would have posed no obstacle at all for an opening wide enough for five people to pass through with arms outstretched, and as tall as six or seven stories.
But as it happened, they fell and piled up here, at this narrow passage near the cave mouth where it curved slightly.
Director Zhang pressed his right arm, which had been hit by falling rocks earlier and was still numb, painful, and immobile. He was trembling with anger.
Judging by the faint light he had seen from outside before the earthquake, this place was likely near the cave mouth, the curved passage that had looked like a round floral gate when Director Zhang entered, one he had thought had some artistic charm.
Back then, going from the large cave into the narrow part had felt like an adventurous thrill.
Now looking back, it was infuriating enough to die of rage.
They had almost run out just moments ago; they could already see that little bit of light from outside. If only they had turned the corner a bit more, taken twenty— no, just a dozen more seconds— they could have dashed out...
Then they ended up trapped here.
If Director Zhang hadn't chickened out and stopped to cover his head the moment the earthquake hit, he might not just be blocked here— he might have been buried here.
But to be so close to the cave mouth and unable to get out— Director Zhang was unwilling, truly unwilling to accept it.
Enduring the pain in his arm, Director Zhang carefully examined the stone pile before him again.
Director Zhang could no longer remember how wide or tall that curved passage had been. The only thing he could recall was that it was roughly wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side, and the height was much lower than the six or seven stories at the cave entrance...
From the look of it now, the stone pile blocked about that width, and as for the height...
Director Zhang took a few steps back. It was a bit hard to see clearly whether the top of the roughly four or five meter high stone pile was fully blocked or not.
Just as Director Zhang was about to step back further for a better look, a beam of flashlight light shone from behind.
Director Zhang instinctively turned his head and saw Wang Daming, flashlight in his right hand, his left hand shielding his head, creeping over from behind, pressed against the rock wall.
In this cave, did hugging the rock wall versus not actually change the odds of being hit by a falling rock?
Director Zhang's right arm still ached and felt numb, and seeing Wang Daming, who clearly hadn't run as fast as he had, now looking perfectly fine, he couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation.
"It's blocked ahead. I think there's a gap up top— not sure if someone can fit through. You go up and take a look." Director Zhang pointed at the roughly four or five meter tall stone pile before them.
Wang Daming glanced at Director Zhang and didn't argue. He only cautiously approached the stone pile, which looked far from sturdy, and tentatively touched it.
But the moment his hand made contact, a small rock tumbled down from above. Even though it was still some distance from Wang Daming, he recoiled as if scalded by boiling water, pulling his hand back and leaping far backward.
"Let's wait for Zhao Da and Zhao Er to try first." Wang Daming gave Director Zhang a cowardly yet friendly smile.
"You..." Before Director Zhang could say more, they heard Zhuang Jiachuan shouting for help from behind.
Both turned to look back at the same time, then turned their heads forward again.
"They're rescuing people back there, and we're here looking for a way out. Splitting up makes us more efficient." Wang Daming smiled ingratiatingly at Director Zhang.
Those words struck a chord with Director Zhang, but he couldn't help mentally spitting at Wang Daming. If you want to get out quickly, just say so— why so much blather? It's a Yaoxing Storm; even if you don't go rescue people, no one's filming that you didn't go. What's with the pretty speeches?
Thinking so, Director Zhang naturally didn't give Wang Daming a kind face.
At this moment, Zhao Da, Mu Xingzhou, Zhao Er, and Guan Yongyi were all heading back the way they'd come, following the sound of Zhuang Jiachuan's voice.
When they had all discussed earlier and decided to follow Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing back to the cave mouth, the formation had been Zhao Da in the lead, followed by Director Zhang, Feng Qianqian and Ni Jinghe, then Zhao Er and Wang Daming, with Ning Chuyang and Mu Xingzhou in the middle, and finally Zhuang Jiachuan, Guan Yongyi, and Captain Yang at the rear.
But when they were still some distance from the cave mouth, a faint female voice came from outside, and Director Zhang shouted "Yaoxing Storm!" After everyone started running in chaos, the previous order was naturally lost, and kept shifting wherever the passage widened a little.
By the time the earthquake ended, Director Zhang, trapped near the stone pile, had become the one closest to the cave mouth— even Zhao Da had fallen behind him by one spot.
Zhao Da had started groping his way back even before Zhuang Jiachuan's cry for help, right after the earthquake ended. A couple of steps behind him was Wang Daming, who was basically unhurt, and then he passed Captain Yang, who had twisted his foot and was inching forward. By the time he saw Mu Xingzhou clutching his right shoulder, Zhuang Jiachuan's shouts were just starting to ring out from somewhere further back.
The names of the three girls were mentioned repeatedly in Zhuang Jiachuan's voice.
Before Zhao Da had a chance to reach Mu Xingzhou, he saw the other's face turn pale and stiff, and then Mu Xingzhou spun around and sprinted backward.
"Fuck!" Zhao Da couldn't help cursing under his breath.
A sharp, sizable rock slid from Zhao Da's hand, which he had been holding behind his back.
Zhao Da knew he had lost another perfect opportunity.
Just like a few minutes ago, when he had been about to slowly fall behind, but Wang Daming from behind had clung tight and pushed him forward, making him lose an equally perfect opportunity.
What rotten luck, to get tangled up with that coward Wang Daming. And what the hell was Zhao Er doing behind?
Zhao Da's face darkened, and he also quickly followed the direction Mu Xingzhou had taken.
Soon, he saw Zhao Er also heading back toward Zhuang Jiachuan's calls for help, with Guan Yongyi clinging tightly to his side.
And Mu Xingzhou had actually already gone further ahead.
"Fuck." This time, Zhao Da cursed silently in his heart.
What was with this production crew— did they have a habit of grabbing onto people whenever something happened?
That Zhuang Jiachuan was really annoying too. Now that everyone was gathering together, how were they supposed to make a move?
Such a perfect opportunity from the earthquake, completely wasted. After all the risk they had taken— Mu Xingzhou really had a lucky life.
Now they could only wait for aftershocks and see if they could make another attempt.
Just before turning back, Zhao Da had seen that not far ahead of Director Zhang, the way leading to the cave mouth was already blocked by stones. Now he could only hope that those stones were neither too easy nor too hard to move.
Sigh, this time they were really earning blood money.
Still, there was something Zhao Da couldn't quite figure out. The intel they'd received was that the Yaoxing Storm should have occurred around 18:20 this afternoon, happening on the road after they passed through the cave but before reaching the camp. How had it suddenly arrived nearly three hours early?
Wasn't it said that Yaoxing Storms could be predicted roughly two years in advance, and even down to the hour several months ahead?
They hadn't set out late that morning. At noon, they hadn't caught fish, but they'd wasted a bit of time by the pond, plus the time eating boxed meals— that part shouldn't have been too much ahead. Later, at the cave, they'd dawdled at the entrance for quite a while... All things considered, if they had set out normally, caught fish for lunch, and not loitered at the cave mouth, they probably would have entered the cave around the same time as today. If they hadn't followed Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing back, they'd likely be right in the middle of the cave now...
Zhao Da couldn't help but wonder: was the Yaoxing Storm just inaccurate, or did their employer have some trick up his sleeve?
He hoped it was the former. If not, once he got out, he'd make sure that someone learned exactly what tricks smelled like.
Zhao Da didn't speed up, but still caught up with the three ahead in just a few steps.
Another narrow passage blocked by fallen rocks, but it didn't seem as high as the pile at Director Zhang's side— only about three meters tall, with a big gap on top that one could climb through.
When Zhao Da arrived, Zhao Er was already climbing up.
Mu Xingzhou, who had originally been running at the very front, and Guan Yongyi, who had been holding onto Zhao Er earlier, both stood to one side.
Zhao Da's gaze drifted between the two, focusing a bit more on Mu Xingzhou, who was visibly anxious as he watched Zhao Er.
Hah, these rich people.
Zhao Da sneered coldly in his heart.
Laugh as he might, people still needed saving.
They couldn't exactly wait until the Yaoxing Storm's aftereffects died down and then go back with just him and Zhao Er left on Wilderness Planet.
Ni Jinghe was a doctor— quite useful.
As for Feng Qianqian, that girl was a bit interesting. Zhao Da touched his left sleeve, his fingertip brushing over a rather conspicuous seam mark. It had been torn by a branch when he went to fetch food from the thermal storage box at noon. A rough man like Zhao Da naturally wouldn't care about it, but Feng Qianqian had brought needle and thread after lunch to help sew it up.
Her survival value might not match those stars with huge fan bases, but if it didn't get in the way, giving her a hand wasn't out of the question.
Just as Zhao Er was climbing up the stone pile there, at the stone pile near the cave mouth, Director Zhang also had a new idea.
After shining the flashlight at the top of the stone pile for a good while, Director Zhang looked at Wang Daming. "If you're not going up to take a look, then carry me on your back so I can look."
Wang Daming: "..."
Heh, so if I look it's me climbing up, and if you look it's me carrying you.
How long would this Yaoxing Storm last? If it went over three months, screw this, I'm done playing with you.
Wang Daming was inwardly running his mouth off, but outwardly he obediently squatted down in front of Director Zhang.
"I need to sit on your shoulders," Director Zhang added.
Wang Daming silently adjusted his posture.
Both men— with Director Zhang sitting on Wang Daming's shoulders, their combined eye level was over two meters.
Looking this way, things were indeed much clearer.
"Director Zhang, can you see? I can't hold on much longer." Wang Daming couldn't help leaning his whole body toward the rock wall braced by his left hand.
"Just a bit longer." Director Zhang grabbed Wang Daming's hair to steady himself, then shone the flashlight over the top layer of the stone pile again before reluctantly saying, "Alright, let me down."
Once Director Zhang was on the ground, Wang Daming finally couldn't hold back— his legs gave out and he collapsed against the rock wall.
That kind of weight really wasn't something a person could bear.
"Director Zhang, how was it up there?" Having barely steadied his breathing, Wang Daming naturally wanted to ask about the fruit of this hard labor.
"There's a gap, but it's too narrow to get through." Director Zhang was thoroughly disinterested, looking thoroughly defeated and irritable.
Wang Daming: "..."
Just as the two of them were at a loss for words, stewing in their frustration, from the other side of a stone pile, the sound of knocking on stone came from outside.
"Who's that?" Director Zhang quickly backed up, but then couldn't help taking a step forward, a look of surprise appearing on his face. "Is that Song Shiyue?"
At that moment, standing on the other side of the blocked stone pile were precisely Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing.
Mm... and a Dog too.
"Yes." Song Shiyue was tapping and feeling the stones as she asked, "How are you all? Are you okay?"
Wang Daming, who had eagerly stepped forward as well, briefly explained the situation Zhuang Jiachuan had been shouting about from behind.
Song Shiyue's stone-tapping hand paused for a moment.
Although men were physically stronger, when it came to trust, Song Shiyue was still more inclined to trust Ning Chuyang and the seemingly friendly Feng Qianqian.
Now even the only doctor was in trouble, and all three girls were affected— the situation was really not optimistic.
From what Song Shiyue had felt through her groping, this stone pile was piled high, but fortunately, it wasn't very thick.
How to put it... it was probably the kind that, at the peak of her strength, Song Shiyue could have shattered with a few punches.
Of course, that was impossible now.
The stone pile was so high— even if they could dig a tunnel out from the bottom, it wouldn't be of much use, and they also had to worry about rocks falling from above due to the vibrations...
Song Shiyue thought for a moment, then first had Yu Nianbing lead the Dog aside, then told Director Zhang and Wang Daming to step back a few paces, before attempting to climb up the stone pile a little.
"Director Zhang, don't Zhao Da and the others have long knives? Look at the far right, about two meters up— there's a gap here on this side. See if you can push a long knife through." Song Shiyue shouted this, then landed back on the ground.
Director Zhang turned his head toward Wang Daming.
Wang Daming, not minding the silent way Director Zhang ordered him around this time, immediately turned to go get the knife.
At about this time, Captain Yang also came limping over, dragging his injured leg.
While people inside and outside the cave on Wilderness Planet were all trying to rescue others or save themselves, outside Wilderness Planet, many were also racking their brains.
The management companies of the six guest participants in the show were, on one hand, pulling every string they could to ask the Mingtan Prime Aerospace Bureau for information, and on the other hand, holding emergency meetings at breakneck speed on how to soothe fans, whitewash their own images, and even leverage this crisis for positive PR.
The stance of these companies was slightly more upright than the production team's, and their reaction speed was much faster. Soon, one after another, official posts appeared on their company homepages, filled with timely self-criticisms about insufficient scrutiny of partners, brimming with self-blame, concern, regret, comfort, encouragement, and hopeful anticipation. No need for paid commenters— with such a hot topic, a wave of organic traffic pushed those posts to the top of StarNet's trending topics.
They claimed to be taking responsibility, but the way those management companies wrote— all deft with the subtle brushwork of propaganda— every piece read as though the blame was squarely on the production team and the Mu Group.
Such posts naturally couldn't pull the wool over fans' eyes.
It was just that fans had no time to attack the management companies right now. Their fury was directed at the Mingtan System government and the Mingtan Prime Aerospace Bureau, though of course, the Mu Group and the production team would have to bear their fair share as well.
The management companies clearly knew this too, and their posts even had a whiff of shared enmity. After posting, they went right back to further discussions on how to preserve themselves while maximizing the benefits from the crisis.
Some people saw only money, while others saw only lives.
Wang Mancang had basically kept the livestream open these past two days whenever he wasn't too busy to spare a moment. He had witnessed the Yaoxing Storm on Wilderness Planet firsthand, and the pork-filet-and-egg sandwich he'd been holding for his afternoon snack just rolled right onto the floor.
On his way back to the company after being summoned, Wang Mancang was like a fat ant on a hot pan in the height of summer, so frantic he could nearly drop dead on the spot. But he was only an ordinary agent; no matter how anxious he was, he could only rely on the company for more information.
Even though he knew that after a Yaoxing Storm, all the cameras were scrapped and no more images would come through on the livestream page, Wang Mancang still couldn't bring himself to close that black screen.
Worry, regret, self-blame— Wang Mancang broke out in cold sweat that streamed down, soaking the socks in his shoes.
Wang Mancang wasn't the only one who wished he could drive his car at spaceship speed.
The calls Ouyang Hui dialed— whether to Shi Senxin or Qiu Yishan— were all hung up without being picked up. It wasn't until Ouyang Hui called Shi Senxin's secretary and was hung up on again that she received a text saying they were in a meeting and could talk later.
Yet, facing the pitch-black livestream, Ouyang Hui couldn't wait another moment.
When Wang Mancang, drenched in sweat, charged into Wanshan Entertainment, in a building several streets away, Ouyang Hui also pushed open the door of Senxin Entertainment's meeting room.
Regardless of whether their past relationships had been mutually supportive or were starting to turn confrontational, at this moment, in different places, they held the same conviction.
Making money is fine, but get the people back to me safe and sound!
Compared to Wanshan Entertainment, which was holding a meeting while waiting for Wang Mancang, Senxin Entertainment's meeting room was met with a collective shock at Ouyang Hui's sudden arrival.
Though medical technology was advancing daily, was it really okay for someone who had just given birth two days ago to run out of the hospital?
Looking at his wife— the mother of his child— at the door, Shi Senxin's face immediately darkened, and he could barely maintain even superficial composure.
Ouyang Hui, however, acted as if she didn't see everyone's astonishment and paid absolutely no attention to Shi Senxin's expression. She gave a very natural, gentle smile to the people in the meeting room who were looking at her, as if apologizing for the disturbance, then walked to the outermost edge of the meeting table, found an empty seat among the secretaries and assistants who didn't even have a seat at the table, and calmly sat down.
"Madam..." The middle-aged man who half-rose from his seat at the meeting table and looked toward Ouyang Hui as if to offer her his place was the publicity department manager of Senxin Entertainment.
But he had barely started speaking when Shi Senxin, face dark, cut him off: "Continue the meeting."
The middle-aged man seemed taken aback for a moment, then gave Ouyang Hui an apologetic look and sat back down.
In the past, if Shi Senxin had humiliated Ouyang Hui like this in front of so many people, she would have either made a scene on the spot or at least given him a cold look.
Now, however, Ouyang Hui acted as if none of it had happened. When Shi Senxin said to continue the meeting, she just looked over attentively, with not a trace of displeasure on her face. Only her hand, placed beside her chair and clenching tighter and tighter, bore all her current discomfort and anxiety.
The Yaoxing Storm on Wilderness Planet had arrived so suddenly that, although the news spread quickly because the livestream was ongoing, in that short span of time, there were still some people who hadn't received the news yet.
For example, Old Master Mu, lying in a hospital on Mingtan Prime, who had taken an afternoon nap and still hadn't woken up.
Or, for another example, a woman who had fallen into a comfortable sleep during a massage at a high-end clubhouse inside the villa district by Luwei Lake on Beichen Planet.
Yu Haoyan was about to lose it as he looked at yet another unanswered call.
In the past few days, whenever he had a spare moment, he would secretly follow Yu Nianbing's livestream. Even though Yu Nianbing had almost cut ties with the family, to Yu Haoyan, she would forever be the older sister he envied and admired. And blood ties could never be changed. For years, Yu Haoyan had been hoping, waiting for the day he grew up enough to have sufficient standing, and his parents, who might slowly age and perhaps become less stubborn, would reconcile with Yu Nianbing.
Even though he was in his twenties and had joined the company now, dabbling in complex business he didn't really like, he still held onto a bit of that innocence in his heart.
But today, reality slapped him hard in the face— with a cold, ice-barbed palm.
The moment Yu Nianbing looked at that bright spot in the sky during the Yaoxing Storm on Wilderness Planet, Yu Haoyan almost flipped his office desk in shock. Yet when he dialed calls to his grandfather, father, and mother, not a single one went through.
Yu Haoyan instinctively bolted out of his office. Not even waiting for the elevator, he directly charged up three floors through the stairwell and burst into the office of Old Master Yu, who was old but refused to retire.
By the time he projected the video in front of Old Master Yu, it was right when a blinding light erupted, and then the screen went black.
Faced with Old Master Yu's displeased look that practically said "what the hell is this?", Yu Haoyan was incoherent. Only after stumbling over his words several times did he finally manage to explain things clearly.
Yu Haoyan had thought about Old Master Yu's reaction. Compared to his mother, who was in an extremely tense standoff with Yu Nianbing, his father and grandfather actually had far fewer conflicts with her. Yu Haoyan felt that Yu Nianbing was facing an unprecedented crisis, with even her life being tested, so Old Master Yu should be just as worried and nervous as he was. He had even braced himself, ready to talk Old Master Yu down right away should the news cause too great an emotional shock for the old man's health to bear.
In that flash of a moment, Yu Haoyan had thought of many things.
But the one thing he had never imagined was that after a brief silence, Old Master Yu's first words would be: "Tell me, what's the influence of this show right now? Yu Nianbing must have quite a fan base by now, right? She's never spoken to the media about her family before. Do you think if we step forward now, it could give the company a positive boost? This is an opportunity. We don't know how long that Yaoxing Storm will last. During this time, I hope we can seize the moment to work the PR angle. Go get Secretary Wu for me; we'll hold a meeting. Your father went to the subsidiary planet to talk cooperation with the Liu family— call him back for me."
Old Master Yu said a great deal, his face full of composure and... calculation.
Of all those words, so many words, not a single one fell within Yu Haoyan's expectations.
He didn't even know how he had mechanically and numbly answered Old Master Yu's questions, or how he had walked out of the office and called Secretary Wu in.
Standing at Secretary Wu's workstation, Yu Haoyan fell silent for a long, long time.
When he dialed his father's and mother's communication numbers again, what he carried in his heart was no longer just simple worry and concern for his sister.
He was waiting, he was searching, he was hoping for proof that he hadn't always been deceiving himself.
One ring after another, but no one picked up.
Yu Haoyan's heart sank bit by bit, and his blood ran cold drop by drop.
"If you don't have the courage to escape, then you must bear the consequences of being controlled."
Yu Haoyan remembered this line Yu Nianbing had once said to him.
But, while he had always envied Yu Nianbing's freedom, envied her doing the things she wanted to do and living the life she wanted to live, he never felt that he himself was being controlled because he lacked the courage to escape.
Yu Haoyan had always believed that family, blood ties, would eventually bring back those who left. He simply hadn't left; he just believed that everything was fundamentally good, that what ran counter was always only ideas and never love...
But...
Now...
Yu Haoyan desperately wished that someone would pick up the phone, say something, give some response, to wash away the words of Old Master Yu that he didn't want to recall in his mind.
Yet, no.
Even his sister, who on regular days, though she looked down on his resigned acceptance of things, was still willing to pick up his calls and listen to his outpourings— even she didn't answer.
Yu Haoyan looked at the pitch-black screen before him. After being empty for a long time, a single danmaku finally slowly scrolled by.
"?"
Just like his current mood.
Anxiety with nowhere to invest it, worry with nothing to anchor it. On The Wilderness Journey livestream page, one purely black livestream screen after another went from being briefly empty of danmaku to later having them scroll so fast the text was nearly illegible, yet still couldn't summon any news.
Yes, a Yaoxing Storm. Aside from waiting for the aerospace bureau to monitor and assess how long the aftereffects would last, they could do absolutely nothing to help the people they were so worried about.
Whether it was Wanshan Entertainment, whose topic focus tilted toward forcing a statement out of the aerospace bureau, or Senxin Entertainment, whose discussions centered on milking this last big opportunity before Yu Nianbing's contract expired, whether it was the reasonably wealthy Yu family on Beichen Planet or the filthy-rich Mu Group on Mingtan Planet, whether they were worried or had ulterior motives, in the face of the Yaoxing Storm, all they could do was wait.
On Wilderness Planet, there were also people waiting.
Yu Nianbing and the Dog were waiting for Song Shiyue; Song Shiyue was waiting for Director Zhang; Director Zhang was waiting for Wang Daming; Wang Daming...
"Zhao Da, hurry up— Song Shiyue's waiting!" Wang Daming had hastily relayed Song Shiyue's request for a knife from outside the collapsed cave, and when he saw Zhao Da just looking at him without handing the knife over, that dawdling manner made Wang Daming so frantic he itched to just grab it himself.
Zhao Da: "..."
If Song Shiyue were just a girl of unremarkable ability, Zhao Da could've said now, "Aren't you afraid she's just here for the knife and has no intention of actually saving us?"
But Song Shiyue was not that.
Over these past two days, Song Shiyue's performance had long since gone beyond what could merely be described as commendable— she was nothing short of a godsend.
Anyone in the team with eyes could see Song Shiyue's capability. Take this Wang Daming— right now, just because he'd gotten one sentence out of her, he didn't even ask what her plan was, but came charging over like his pants were on fire, fully trusting that Song Shiyue was that life-saving straw.
Song Shiyue... ah, Song Shiyue. With this person around, things might get a bit troublesome.
Zhao Da began slowly mulling over another plan in his mind, and then, under Wang Daming's intense, wide-eyed stare, he unbuckled the long knife and threw it on the ground.
Wang Daming: "..."
The hell... Director Zhang is one thing, but do I live off you two brothers? And now you're throwing it on the ground for me to pick up! What kind of attitude!
His internal discontent had long since gone off the charts, but Wang Daming still forced a not-very-pleasant smile onto his face. Without further words, he picked up the knife and quickly headed back.
Zhao Da naturally didn't miss the anger that Wang Daming hadn't bothered to hide very well.
But who would care about whether a guy like that was angry or not, to the point of handing a knife directly into someone else's hand at such close range.
At the very least, Zhao Da wouldn't.
Wang Daming returned to Director Zhang's side with the long knife, and brought back the latest update on Zhuang Jiachuan's side.
Ning Chuyang had been cut on the forehead by a rock. The wound wasn't deep, but it had bled quite a lot and looked pretty bad. Zhuang Jiachuan had already applied medicine and given her a simple bandage; the bleeding was now slowly stopping. However, Ning Chuyang was still a bit dizzy— it was hard to say yet whether there were aftereffects like a concussion.
Ni Jinghe, who had collapsed on the ground, had likely been knocked out when her forehead hit the floor. Her forehead had a cut and a large patch of bruising and swelling; Zhao Er had also bandaged her up. Her breathing and vitals were currently fairly normal, but she still hadn't woken up.
The most serious... was Feng Qianqian.
Feng Qianqian, whose legs were pinned under a massive boulder, had probably fainted from the sheer pain.
The terrible part was that the rock was truly enormous. After Zhao Er climbed over, he felt that even if he teamed up with Zhuang Jiachuan, they couldn't budge the rock safely. And if they tried repeatedly, pushing and shoving, then Feng Qianqian's legs would certainly be lost.
During the Yaoxing Storm, they couldn't leave Wilderness Planet, and outside rescue couldn't get in. Even if Ni Jinghe was an excellent surgeon and managed to wake up fine later, the conditions on Wilderness Planet were limited, and the medical supplies were mostly for first aid. Feng Qianqian's situation was already extremely critical; if anything went slightly wrong, never mind her legs, her life might not even be saved.
When Wang Daming had gone to get the knife, Zhao Er had been telling Zhao Da the situation across the stone pile, and Zhao Da was about to climb over to take a look. As for whether the three of them together could manage it afterward, Wang Daming didn't know.
But for the whole team, aside from Song Shiyue, Yu Nianbing, and the Dog who had gotten out first, the people in the cave— except Feng Qianqian— were all suffering from relatively minor injuries. One really couldn't say whether the heavens were looking out for them or not.
What Wang Daming didn't know, however, was that after he had left, just as Zhao Da was about to climb the stone pile, Mu Xingzhou had volunteered to climb over and take a look, too.
This caught Zhao Da a bit by surprise.
Going by the information from their employer, Mu Xingzhou was not the type of person so full of sympathy or such an overwhelming sense of duty that he'd be willing to climb a three-meter-tall, still somewhat unsteady stone pile.
Of course, it was also possible that, since Mu Xingzhou was the target the employer wanted taken out, the description of him as selfish and self-centered in that file might have been a bit too biased.
But a dangerous task that Mu Xingzhou volunteered to do— Zhao Da certainly wasn't going to stop him.
If it weren't for Guan Yongyi still being on this side, and there being two awake people on the other side, this would have been the perfect moment to make a move.
The employer was really too inadequate; there were just too many people on this show.
Zhao Da raised a hand, signaling for Mu Xingzhou to go first, then watched him tremble and slowly climb over the stone pile.
Mm... didn't get hit by a falling rock, didn't fall and bash the back of his head... truly a lucky life, and what a pity.
Zhao Da glanced at Guan Yongyi.
The latter raised his left hand, which was covered in bruises and still oozing blood, indicating that he wouldn't be climbing up.
Hah.
Another sneer echoed in Zhao Da's heart. He rubbed his hands together and quickly disappeared over the stone pile.
As early as the first time Zhao Da had run into Mu Xingzhou after the earthquake, when the latter had quickly left and Zhao Da had released that rock in his hand, Yao Yuxi knew her suspicions about the two Mu brothers were absolutely correct.
In a huge incident like a Yaoxing Storm, putting aside the bodyguards here not thinking of rescue— just looking to save themselves was only human nature— but he'd actually been trying to kill someone. Staying that calm and still trying to kill in such a situation, even a professional hitman would be thrown into a panic for a bit by a sudden Yaoxing Storm, right?
Unless... Zhao Da had known about it beforehand.
Mu Xingzhou's public identity was nothing more than a massively popular singer. Even if he had antis and haters, they wouldn't have the ability to suppress news of a Yaoxing Storm and also slip killers into the production team.
Only those two Mu brothers had both the motive and the capability.
So the question now was.
They dared to do this— once the matter of Mu Xingzhou being Old Master Mu's illegitimate son got out, anyone with half a brain would suspect them. Didn't they... worry?
Yao Yuxi rallied her energy and exchanged what they each knew with Ye Liu. The more they thought about it, the less they understood where the two Mu brothers got their confidence.
Were they sure that no one outside the Mu family could uncover that Mu Xingzhou was Old Master Mu's illegitimate son? True, it hadn't been easy when they'd investigated, but if one was willing to pay a sufficient price, it wasn't entirely impossible to discover.
Or did they plan, with Mu Xingzhou stranded on Wilderness Planet, to conveniently take care of Old Master Mu, who was already at death's door in the hospital? Then after seizing control of Mu Group, they'd figure out the next steps? If it were a regular small case, maybe with the status of head of the Mu family, suppressing it wouldn't be too hard. But this was a Yaoxing Storm— and it had been livestreamed on such a massive scale... Even if they took over Mu Group, they probably couldn't suppress those suspicions, speculations, and investigations.
Unless...
"Unless they've already found a scapegoat," Ye Liu said quietly, staring at the two screens before her.
Ye Liu's words matched Yao Yuxi's conjecture.
As long as the two Mu brothers weren't incredibly stupid, they definitely had a backup plan.
Yet, no matter how much Yao Yuxi and Ye Liu saw, how close their conjectures came, they had absolutely never imagined that the two Mu brothers' backup plan... was actually aimed at Yao Yuxi.
An internal phone call interrupted their intense focus on the video.
"President Yao, a squad of armed forces just asked reception which floor you're on. They're already on their way up now," came Secretary Qian's anxious voice over the phone.
Ye Liu instinctively seized Yao Yuxi's hand and clutched it tight.
At that very moment, the office door was slammed open with a bang from the outside.
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