Chapter 83: Crises Everywhere!

Several vice squad officers immediately gave chase, but Xiao Fen turned around without hesitation and started climbing upward.

The initial path was easy to climb, with footing everywhere. The vice squad officers moved quickly and were about to catch up, but Xiao Fen above them immediately picked up his pace.

Gradually, those vice squad officers began to struggle.

Chasing from directly behind, they could never catch up. Trying to circle around from the side to grab him was exhausting just to find handholds.

The distance between Xiao Fen and the vice squad officers grew wider and wider.

On the ground, a few vice squad officers held blank cartridge guns in their hands, hesitating whether to fire.

“Boss, are we just letting him go?” Tang Shen said, knowing full well that in the end, this episode would still end with Little Fen successfully escaping.

“Truly brave. He can actually climb this.”

Fang Si Ting snatched the gun from the person next to him and fired without hesitation in Xiao Fen’s direction.

Xiao Fen caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye and immediately predicted their aim. He let go with one hand, flipped his body, and grabbed a protrusion on another part of the cliff.

The next moment, the bullet struck where his body had been, sending rock particles flying.

The program crew staff and vice squad officers all jumped in shock.

【I’ll remember this shot for you, Brother Fen.】

【He’s really going for the kill, no mercy at all.】

【This is a variety show and a competition. Letting a criminal slip through your fingers is something no vice squad officer can tolerate.】

【It’s understandable from Fang Yama’s perspective.】

【Heart aches for Brother Fen.】

Fang Si Ting fired another three or four shots in quick succession. Seeing it was bad, Xiao Fen scrambled upward amid a shower of rock chips and soon moved out of the gun’s range.

Fang Si Ting expressionlessly tossed the gas gun back to the person beside him, instructed Tang Shen to wait here, and turned to leave without hesitation, continuing to track the other guests.

Tang Shen gave Xiao Fen a distant thumbs up from afar, and he and the vice squad officers gradually returned to the woods one by one. They set up tents to spend the night, ready to grab him the moment he came down.

The staff stood at the base of the cliff. Seeing that he had already climbed over a hundred meters, they packed up the air cushions and left one after another.

Now, only Xiao Fen remained, both in sight and underfoot.

The first-person view showed a pair of hands covered in dust and dirt, slightly rapid breathing, and endless gray rock.

The rocks, weathered by wind and rain, were jagged and uneven in some places, smooth in others.

The close-up view was far more dangerous.

Above was an endless sheer cliff face.

Below were tiny figures like ants and trees.

Xiao Fen was stuck in the middle.

“Mr. Black Cat really overthought it. Even if I go down, I’m still within Tengcha’s range. I still wouldn’t win; everything would start over.” Xiao Fen muttered to himself at the camera.

“Now it’s just you guys accompanying me, Little Fire Seeds. I wonder what you’d say now—overestimating myself? I think I have a pretty good sense of my own limits.”

“If my stamina hadn’t held up, I definitely would’ve chosen the highway or Guiwu Forest, even breaking through the defensive line to take the forest route. But after going a few rounds with Inspector Fang later on, I decided on the cliff. Think about it: it only took a few days from the Deep Mountains to the cliff. As long as I climb to the top, I’ll be out of Tengcha’s range, and the escape will be a success.”

This cliff happened to be the boundary between the two areas.

【In such a hurry—are you rushing off to reincarnate? Stinky Fen Treasure, wuwuwuwu, so worried about you.】

“You guys can relax. I’ve been eating well these past few days, with plenty of salt and water supplements. I have some confidence in myself, so I wanted to challenge it.” Xiao Fen eyed a rock diagonally above, reached out with his left hand to grab it, kicked up with his rear leg, and shifted his entire body’s weight onto that hand.

Suddenly, disaster struck!

The rock under his left hand suddenly loosened, wobbled, and finally crumbled into fragments that tumbled down the cliff.

Xiao Fen’s left hand grasped at empty air. With his center of gravity shifted, his whole body tilted backward along with the falling rock.

The live stream chat erupted in cries of alarm.

When they looked again, Xiao Fen had already plastered himself back against the cliff wall.

His right hand had exerted force in time, steadily gripping the rock.

“Good thing my right hand didn’t let go.” Xiao Fen let out a sigh of relief, unscathed, and broke into an easy smile again.

This body’s constitution was still a bit lacking.

He continued climbing upward with hands and feet, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding rocks for stable footholds.

“This rock material isn’t suited for climbing. It’s prone to weathering, brittle in texture, and the weathered surface becomes smooth.”

“I haven’t given a friendly reminder until now, but this kind of extreme sport isn’t something most people try, right? Little Fire Seeds, stay safe at home. I’ll give you a virtual experience.”

“I’ve never climbed a cliff before either. This is a pretty novel experience for me too.”

“I’ve got the feel for it now. Climbing faster.”

At first, Xiao Fen climbed nimbly, but gradually, the energy in his body depleted. His hands began to tremble.

He looked up, and the path still had no end in sight, seemingly infinite.

A suffocating sense of despair washed over him.

In the live stream chat, people started saying discouraging things. Mockery and belittlement flooded in, immediately drawing counterattacks from fans and passersby.

【It’s been so long already. If you’re masochists, just say so. I’ll slap you twice directly—no need to perform so hard.】

【Jumping around like fleas, zero damage, full clown points.】

【If you can do it, go ahead. What are you saying from the sidelines? At least Xiao Fen tried.】

“Look, there’s a bird nest here,” Xiao Fen said. “Little Fire Seeds, did you see it?”

【Don’t look, keep climbing. Give us some payback.】

【These people are just begging to be scolded.】

【Slowing down to look at birds?】

Xiao Fen laughed. “This is a golden swift nest. They usually build in caves and on cliff faces. The saliva glue they spit out to bind their nests is what we call bird’s nest.”

He picked up an egg from inside. “Not sure if this is nutritious.”

With that, he cracked one open and ate it.

【Golden Swift: ?? Did I just get raided?】

【Eats whatever he finds wherever he goes.】

【Late at night, you scared them off, and now you’re eating their eggs?】

【The creepy uncle who eats kids’ stuff is here.】

Xiao Fen ate three or four bird eggs, leaving a lone survivor in the bird nest. He wiped his mouth. “Stamina replenished. Now, continuing.”

He switched hands on the rock wall, bit off the half-finger glove that was worn to shreds with his teeth, and gripped the rock barehanded for friction.

It held much more securely.

In the distance, a helicopter flew away and then approached again, but didn’t get too close, afraid the noise would disturb his focus.

Looking down, Xiao Fen had reached a heart-stopping height.

Wang Ze said in his earpiece, “Teacher Xiao, you’ve climbed half the distance.”

【Only half? Oh god, any full panoramic view?】

The close-up camera wisely flew farther and farther away until the mud-covered figure became a tiny yellow speck like a grain of rice on the thousand-meter cliff. Only then could they barely see from the base to the cliff top.

【My legs are already jelly.】

【No idea if there were benefits I didn’t know about. Just climb blindly. If I’d known it was this high, I would’ve called the program crew back then.】

【Brother Fen listens to them? Hasn’t the program crew suffered enough?】

【If Brother Fen makes it to the top this time, I’ll follow him to the death.】

【Your little bro fan is too weak. He wouldn’t even look at you.】

Xiao Fen gradually felt his stamina draining.

His breathing grew more rapid, scorching hot.

The sweat loss brought dehydration and salt depletion, making his mouth thirstier and his mind hazy.

Without the glove’s protection, his still somewhat tender palms were ground bloody. Tiny pebbles mixed with flesh and blood, impossible to pick clean.

Every time he gripped a protruding rock, stones embedded into his meat.

When his palm pulled away, a faint trail of diluted blood remained on the gripped stone.

And he’d only passed half the height.

Xiao Fen blanked out for a moment. His hand missed a grip, his foot lacked strength and didn’t step firmly upward, and he slid down instantly.

【Aaaahhhhh————】

His over-one-hundred-jin body dangled, supported only by his left hand, swaying lightly in midair.

The muscles in his left arm ached to the bone marrow from overuse and overstretching, as if the tendons had snapped. His fingers clenched the rock desperately, but they still slipped inexorably.

“Teacher Xiao, open the parachute quick!” Wang Ze’s anxious voice came through.

Xiao Fen pursed his lips tightly and stared at the handhold above without speaking.

Everyone watched as his fingers and the back of his hand, tensed white, trembled violently. Slowly, the contact area with the rock dwindled.

The bluish-yellow rock bore a heavy bloody gash.

Stark and shocking.

【Open the parachute now!】

【Parachute! Did you forget?!】

【Brother Fen, don’t push it! Your hand will be ruined.】

【I can’t watch. What if he opens it too late? Will he die?】

【Height’s suitable here, but too close to the wall. Opening rashly could cause accidents.】

【But if he doesn’t open it soon, the cliff isn’t smooth. So close to the wall, parts of his body could hit it easily. Once he hits, his trajectory shifts. In dizziness and pain, balancing to react is hard, and then it’s bumps all the way down until he’s smashed into meat paste.】

As they debated whether to open the parachute, Xiao Fen’s right fingertips finally couldn’t bear the downward pull and slipped from the rock.

The live stream exploded in screams.

Xiao Fen’s body plummeted rapidly, but in less than a second, his outstretched left hand seized a protruding rock on the cliff.

His arm carved long bloody gashes, blood pouring instantly.

That hand was grabbed in desperation. The audience watched as he held for less than two seconds before it slid off the rock wall again with the stone.

【Aaaahhhhh————】

At the last possible moment, Xiao Fen drew the dagger from his waistband and thrust it ruthlessly and precisely into a rock crevice.

He gritted his teeth, eyes fierce as he glared upward. His other hand stretched up and gripped a solid rock diagonally above.

The other hand followed, and he climbed up a section. Then, he probed with his feet, steadily planting them on a rock.

Only then did Xiao Fen exhale the breath he’d held. The grim, cold seriousness in his eyes returned to its usual teasing glint as he switched routes and continued upward.

“You were scared, huh? Pat your Little Fire Seeds. I’m drenched in cold sweat too,” Xiao Fen said with a laugh.

“That was close, almost smashed into meat paste.”

“You guys were probably all like Wang Ze, telling me to open the parachute.”

“Hey, regardless of whether this spot is suitable, I only wore the parachute because it’s a live stream—for the program crew’s sake. Before reaching the top successfully, I never planned to open it.”

“Some might ask why—arrogant and conceited? Chasing traffic and fame, even risking your life? For one show? This isn’t for the effect; it’s my own choice.”

“I know some of you have been cursing me harshly from the start.”

“But I don’t need understanding from that group, because I know what I’m doing.”

“I’ve always known.”

Stars burst in Xiao Fen’s eyes. His sweat-streaked face was full of firm, proud smile.

“Have you ever gone all out, risked your life for something?”

“Of course I’m not telling you to take risks. Little Fire Seeds aren’t allowed to do this, and no one watching the live stream except professionals—got it? Ordinary, mundane lives make us forget easily how precious our own lives are.”

“I’m just saying, in those countless despairing, collapsing nights that heal themselves, you probably haven’t faced a more perilous life-or-death crisis than mine.”

“Between life and death just now, only one thought filled my mind: what if I can do it?”

“And then…”

Xiao Fen could already see the cliff’s end connecting to the pale dawn sky.

At this moment, you sitting in front of your screens, along with the 1.5 billion other viewers watching the live stream, held your breath.

Hearts silently counting down as they watched Xiao Fen’s hands and feet slowly, arduously crawl the final stretch.

【5 meters.】

【3 meters.】

【2 meters.】

【1 meter.】

【10 cm!】

A blood-covered hand probed the cliff top’s edge and firmly latched onto the rock.

Next came the sweat- and mud-smeared face.

So young, brimming with youthful vigor, honey-sweet eyes sparkling with brilliant, captivating light.

His feet mustered their last ounce of strength, propping his body upward. Finally, half his torso cleared the cliff edge. He flipped over and sat triumphantly atop the precipice.

The first ray of morning sunlight illuminated his face.

His entire body bathed in the sunlight, gleaming radiantly.

Covered in mud and sweat, with scraped-raw hands and feet, his clothes torn to rags.

Yet he smiled.

With a mere mortal body, he had conquered a heavenly chasm no one had ever overcome.

The path had been one of bloodshed amid jagged rocks everywhere.

But in this moment, the world lay beneath his feet!

“Congratulations, criminal Xiao Fen, on a successful escape!”

Viewers outside the live feed cheered and hugged those beside them excitedly. Some wept with joy. After a night of nail-biting suspense and an evening of doubt and mockery, fans and onlookers alike finally got the result they craved.

Xiao Fen lay on his back atop the cliff, letting the breeze caress his cheeks.

He gazed at the clear blue sky, feeling his heart shift from frantic pounding to steady calm.

Life was truly wonderful.

Being alive was truly wonderful.

“I succeeded.”