Xiao Fen and the others followed the straight path through the weeds for nearly ten minutes, climbed over a gentle slope, and a sheer cliff appeared before their eyes.
A different scenery.
Dark green, damp moss clung to the bluish-gray jagged rocks. They looked up and could only see dense branches and leaves stretching to the sky, with no idea how tall it was.
“Go this way.” Tang Qin Xin gestured. It turned out there was a cave in the middle of this cliff.
The group walked inside. The cave was very short; they could see the light from the other end’s opening right from the entrance. Xiao Fen estimated it was less than ten meters long.
They exited the cave mouth and hopped down a few toehold rocks onto another gentle slope. The scene before them was completely different from before—the leaves on the trees gradually thinned out. Walking through the woods, sunlight bathed the surroundings, making everyone’s mood exceptionally cheerful.
The roar of a helicopter came from overhead. The program crew had found them.
Wang Ze’s voice came through Xiao Fen’s earpiece, almost in tears. “Teacher Xiao, you guys absolutely must not do anything dangerous anymore. We’ve only done two episodes, and I’ve already got five or six knots on my neck and chest from stress.” The logistics work pressure was too much.
“Alright, alright, this was just a mishap. It won’t happen again next time.” Xiao Fen laughed.
By the time they made it back to town, it was nearing evening, with the sun setting in the west. The little kid slowly woke up on Lu Jin’s back.
“That’s great. Are you okay?” Tang Qin Xin’s suspended heart finally settled.
The little kid shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “Why do I feel like I saw something dirty?”
“That was just a dream you had,” Xiao Fen said. “After we brought you out of Lakeside Village, you cried yourself to sleep from exhaustion.”
Tang Qin Xin thought about it and agreed with the explanation. For such a weird incident, it was better if the little kid remained oblivious. Kids didn’t remember things well anyway and would forget it soon enough.
The little kid murmured, “No wonder. I think I saw my sister.”
“You’re missing her too much,” Ou Yu said. “Don’t get tricked so easily next time.”
“Where’s my protective bracelet?” the little kid asked. “My sister braided it for me. I need to find it.”
With that, he twisted his body and struggled down from Lu Jin’s back, determined to go back the way they came to search.
“I’ve got it here,” Xiao Fen said, pinching his cheek. “Little brat, if you don’t behave, I’ll burn the bracelet so you never see it again.”
The little kid cried again, looking at him with resentment and fear.
But he didn’t make a fuss anymore.
By the time they entered the town, it was already dark. Xiao Fen spotted several vice squad officers lurking around the Five Directions Stream Bridge from afar—they were waiting to tail them.
If the kid had come via the highway and bridge, he definitely would’ve been caught on the spot.
What they didn’t know was that there was another route between Purple Gold Village and the town: through Guiwu Forest.
After reaching the back door of Brother Hao’s house, the group sneaked inside and felt a bit more at ease. Tang Qin Xin gave her home address and parted ways with them.
“Wait.” Xiao Fen said, “You forgot the kid.”
Tang Qin Xin had already reached the living room. Hearing this, she turned back.
She reached out, but Xiao Fen said, “Forgetting something this important? You don’t seem like a contestant at all.”
This woman had acted completely normal all day, but he always felt something was off.
Especially when she led them through Guiwu Forest—he kept feeling like Tang Qin Xin wanted to harm them somehow, but she never made a move.
In a flash, he thought: if a criminal’s task had been taken over by someone from the pursuit team, then this Tang Qin Xin was a pursuit team informant.
As an informant, she should’ve infiltrated the group chat to pass intel to the team. But he’d waited all day, and she never mentioned joining the chat at all. She just led them into Guiwu Forest.
And now, if she wanted to sabotage their task completion, she could’ve easily taken the kid away.
“What are you talking about? This is my criminal task.” Tang Qin Xin laughed.
“What’s your online alias for adding me?”
Tang Qin Xin’s expression stiffened slightly.
“You don’t have my contact at all.”
Ou Yu and Lu Jin sensed something wrong and slowly closed in on her from both sides.
“Wait, I’m one of the good guys. I mean you no harm.” Tang Qin Xin panicked a bit, gripping the little kid’s shoulders tightly.
“Every bad guy thinks they’re a good person.” Ou Yu said.
“I really didn’t plan to do anything to you. I just wanted to gain some goodwill. I watched the first episode and wanted to ask for your help, but it backfired. Still, I helped get the kid safely to town, didn’t I?”
Lu Jin scoffed. “What kind of help is that? Taking people to a place like that.”
“I’d only been through that place twice myself and didn’t know something like that would happen.” Tang Qin Xin spoke nervously, knowing she’d been reckless. “The superstition in this town has reached an incurable level. I used to despise it too, but after what happened today, I can’t help but believe…”
“Then stick to your convictions. Don’t waver.” Xiao Fen said. “Didn’t that cave give you any ideas?”
Tang Qin Xin looked puzzled.
“What does that cave have to do with anything?”
“That cliff is very thin, especially around the cave—if viewed from the air, that section is as thin as paper. The cave we passed through is less than ten meters, and light can easily pass through it. The weather was great today: bright and sunny on this side of the cave, but the other side is dense forest, so it’s dark with no light penetrating. If the afternoon sun shines straight through the cave, the town scenery gets projected into the forest. Commonly known as pinhole imaging.”
【What?! That’s it?!】
【Thinking about it, yeah, that’s exactly it.】
【What’s pinhole imaging?】
【Caught an airhead red-handed.】 The live stream chat started with more detailed explanations.
【Damn, I was so scared earlier, I didn’t think of this simple principle.】
【That dim, unfamiliar environment naturally creates psychological pressure, shutting down rational thinking. If I were there, staying basically calm would’ve been good enough.】
【Right? This woman kept telling horror stories, and I was already scared just watching the stream.】
【This geography is so unique to create such a spectacle. I have to visit after the show ends.】
【Me too.】
In no time, news about seeing the “Upside-Down Man” from Tengcha Town’s Purple Gold Village hit the hot searches. Y Country’s tourism bureau gained tens of thousands of followers per minute on average. Seizing the momentum, less than an hour later, they @’d Xiao Fen and the others’ accounts on Weibo from afar, inviting them to be Y Country tourism ambassadors to uncover more unique landscapes.
Tang Qin Xin was stunned for a full ten seconds before bursting into laughter.
“I always called them superstitious, but I almost became one of them.”
Lu Jin and Ou Yu hadn’t thought of it either. When they emerged from the cave, they were just endlessly relieved and didn’t dwell on how the “Upside-Down Man” formed.
“Regardless, I still helped you out.” Tang Qin Xin insisted. “I got the kid to town for you.”
“You didn’t almost get us killed, and that’s already good enough.” Lu Jin curled his lip. Dragging them into that godforsaken forest—she just waltzed right in, nearly getting them lost and trapped inside.
“My husband was killed by them.”
The three froze in unison.
【This is scripted drama, right?】
【Program crew planted an NPC to release a hidden task?】
【Very likely. Otherwise, how’s it so coincidental? Plus, it hyped up Guiwu Forest. Now I’m tempted—when does the show end? I wanna go tourist there.】
“I just wanted to get on good terms with you…”
Tang Qin Xin choked up, about to say more when Sister-in-law Jinlan came out from the inner room. Spotting them, she warmly said, “Qin Xin, girl, why haven’t you gone home yet? It’s almost nine.”
“I’m heading back now.” Tang Qin Xin’s face stiffened as she replied.
“I heard your house caught fire today. Hurry back and check if anything’s burned. Always double-check before leaving—don’t forget to turn off the gas stove.”
“What?!” Tang Qin Xin didn’t even say goodbye. She shoved the kid to them and hurried off.
“Sister-in-law Jinlan, who is she?” Xiao Fen asked.
Wasn’t one of today’s tasks to burn the mayor’s house?
Was she the mayor? So leisurely?
“She’s the wife of the former mayor. Poor thing, widowed so young.” Sister-in-law Jinlan shook her head with a sigh as she headed back inside.
Xiao Fen immediately realized something and messaged the arsonist.
“Check your task carefully—is it the mayor’s house or the former mayor’s? You burned the wrong one during the day!”
“Damn, I just double-checked with locals, and you’re right. Shit!”
After that message, the guy never replied again.
Xiao Fen was about to head inside when he noticed the little kid looking up at him with grape-like big eyes.
He patted his head and contacted Blossoming Prosperity. “Come to me. Kidnapping the kid.”
The program crew didn’t care about the crime process, but key steps had to be done personally by the assigned criminal. Tang Qin Xin was probably just a regular in the fake group who saw his message and, leveraging her local status, easily lured the kid out.
Getting out of Guiwu Forest and bypassing the vice squad officers to bring them and the kid into town—that had indeed helped.
Less than thirty minutes later, a man in his thirties slunk over furtively. After verifying identities, Xiao Fen coaxed the little kid a bit to go obediently with him.
Before leaving, he quietly instructed, “Teach him a lesson. Don’t follow just anyone.”
The man nodded, saying he understood.
Once the man took the kid away, Xiao Fen prepared to go back in. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a shadowy figure moving at the street corner.
When he looked closely, the figure vanished.
He pulled out his phone and sent an address to the trafficking criminal—the place Tang Qin Xin had mentioned before leaving.
“You’ve been tailed. Drop the kid at this house and tell her I need her help. She owes us one.”
The criminal didn’t understand but followed orders anyway. “Got it, boss.”
Xiao Fen shivered all over at those last two words.
The title sounded natural on Fang Si Ting, but on him? So weird.
Soon, the trafficker replied that it was done, and Tang Qin Xin even gave her contact info.
Xiao Fen thought for a moment, added her, and pulled her into the group.
Over dinner, Xiao Fen heard from Sister-in-law Jinlan about all the things that happened in town today.
First, the fire at the former mayor’s house turned out to be a smoke bomb. The townsfolk finally realized it was the program crew’s stunt and dispersed.
Besides that, there were way more vice squad officers patrolling today than usual. Sister-in-law Jinlan didn’t know the exact number, but with the town so small, dozens standing around was enough to raise eyebrows.
But when asked if the vice squad officers caught anyone, Sister-in-law Jinlan shook her head, saying they hadn’t nabbed a soul.
Then there was the news about the town temple fair. Nearby villages and towns were already buying supplies, and Sister-in-law Jinlan’s paper crafts shop was swamped.
Every Lunar September 3rd was the local annual temple fair. The video that went viral online back then introduced this festival, drawing fans of folklore and putting the town on the map.
But last year, the first wave of visitors came back saying it was boring, nothing special—just like a regular rural market.
So not many tourists this year. They got lucky, coinciding with the program crew filming here.
————
Soon, midnight 12 o’clock arrived again.
The program crew announced the day’s results.
Criminal No. 3 failed the task and had not yet been arrested. The pursuit team would receive core clues on that criminal.
Criminal No. 4 completed the task. Crime successful.
The group chat filled with sighs.
“It’s only been two days, and we’ve already lost 2 points. Forget escaping via the highway—we might not even last 15 days without getting caught.”
