The deep mountains in November carried a chill at night. Xiao Fen wore a green sport jacket with the zipper revealing a black tank top underneath, paired with black fitted casual pants. The four large pockets swayed with his steps.
In the pitch-black night where he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, only his flashlight emitted a beam of light, illuminating the small patch of ground ahead.
As for the areas not illuminated, they brimmed with unknown dangers.
The hills near the town were mostly contracted by locals for fruit trees and bamboo, with small paths cleared between the slopes. Less than an hour later, Xiao Fen easily bypassed two mountains.
Gradually, the path underfoot disappeared, and the surrounding bushes grew wilder. Before he knew it, he had truly entered the uninhabited deep mountains.
Xiao Fen climbed a tree and pulled out his sleeping bag.
His backpack contained a pile of beef jerky and pork jerky handmade by Sister-in-law Jinlan—stuff unavailable even for purchase in town—along with some bread and crackers she had packed. They were lightweight but only enough for three or four days.
Besides food and lighting gear, the bag held several new small knives, a water bottle, the sleeping bag, and a flint.
He had no intention of going hungry in the wilderness.
The live stream chat was relatively quiet in the late night and early morning, mostly occupied by foreign viewers on the opposite time zone from H Country. They loved this wilderness escape segment.
But seeing how much food and gear Xiao Fen had prepared, they felt a bit disappointed.
【Finally, we see Brother Fen in a field he’s not good at. Wilderness survival requires not just stamina but all sorts of skills. With that big pack, he clearly sucks at foraging in the jungle.】
【I refuse to believe Xiao Fen can escape this time. If he does, I’ll go live doing handstands while spinning and shitting.】
【How do you always eat and take everything? I’m almost embarrassed to call you out.】
【First broadcast those times you owed from before, and I’ll spam you with aircraft carriers if you do.】
【Ignore him. He’s Brother Fen’s most loyal hater—black turns to fan eventually. Last time Brother Fen felt guilty thinking he hadn’t rescued Guo Dongying, this guy was more anxious than anyone, screeching like a monkey. Early fans of Brother Fen’s stream know him: nickname “Turn-Shit Bro.”】
That person instantly left the live stream chat.
【Xue Cong from the first episode would’ve dominated this segment wildly, but he got eliminated too early.】
【Dozens of huge mountains await him. It’ll take at least a month or two to escape, and that bit of rations won’t cut it. Can’t wait to see how he survives later.】
【I checked the satellite map—that uneven green patch made my eyes blur counting. How long will it take them to get out? And they still have to deal with pursuers. These criminal guests are legit brave.】
【Know your limits. Why not pick the forest? Sure, it’s dark and spooky, but is this barren wilderness any less scary?】
Nighttime clearly wasn’t suitable for traveling, especially in such rarely visited areas. Xiao Fen wasn’t in a rush, so he picked a tree, slept to recharge his stamina.
The sun rose after just two hours of sleep, with ample light overhead. Even if he wanted to stay in bed, he couldn’t.
He took out rations for a hearty meal, finished the water in his bottle, then found a stream to refill it with clean water. He fashioned a rack with sticks, lit a fire to boil it, tossed in a few fuzzy chestnuts he’d picked up along the way, and munched on some fresh red wild berries he’d grabbed while explaining to the camera.
“These berries are non-toxic. Not very sweet, but juicy—they help replenish sugar and water. In the wild, pick them to keep your energy up.”
【Now I wanna eat some too.】
【Is this an escape or a picnic?】
【My urge to go camping is stirring.】
“Xiao Fen?!”
As he spoke, a puzzled yet delighted voice called from behind.
The man slightly bowed in greeting, excitedly introducing himself. “I’m Ling Xiang. Didn’t expect to run into you here. Please take care of me these next few days.”
“I could’ve pictured this.”
Xiao Fen had chosen the shortest route to the edge of Tengcha’s jurisdiction.
And this guy had followed him all night—Xiao Fen scouting ahead, him trailing behind.
He’d figured the man would stick with him for days before showing up. But here he was after just one night.
Ling Xiang smiled politely, set his bulging backpack on the dry leaves, and pulled out plenty of food to share proactively.
In these deep woods, food was crucial.
“Thanks.” Xiao Fen took a rice ball, used a stick to shift the roasted chestnuts aside to cool.
Ling Xiang took a rice ball and started eating too.
“Can I travel with you? Two people together won’t be so boring on the road.”
“No.” Xiao Fen rejected him flatly.
Just because he could tolerate Ou Yu didn’t mean he wanted anyone else.
Ling Xiang pulled out his phone. “I’ve got real-time satellite maps.”
“I memorized the map.”
“I have a compass.”
“My sense of direction is good.”
Ling Xiang looked at him, then suddenly said, “I know you knifed Lu Jin.”
“And?” Xiao Fen grabbed a roasted chestnut, peeled off the charred, split fuzzy shell. The inside was still hot; he blew on it, popped it in his mouth, and bit down. A rich, fresh aroma burst forth.
“Because you knifed a guest, we lost 1 point and couldn’t escape via highway. The other criminal guests hate your guts. You’re not just facing the pursuit team now—you’ve got other guests too. If they spot you, they’ll tip off the pursuit team or set traps.”
“Are you talking about yourself?”
“Of course not.” Ling Xiang said anxiously. “I want to team up with you, so I’m warning you about your situation.”
Xiao Fen ate one—the chestnut was fully cooked now. He handed over two roasted ones as thanks for the rice ball, not caring if he took them.
“Do you know how many the pursuit team arrested at the end?”
“No clue.”
“Then why do you say we couldn’t use the highway because I knifed Lu Jin?” Xiao Fen laughed. “I remember the criminal team had 22 points when Lu Jin got eliminated.”
“Must’ve been three more arrests after that.”
“So we’re at exactly 19 now?” The program crew hadn’t released data yesterday morning; the day before, everyone got 22.
“Probably.” Under his mild gaze, Ling Xiang felt a trace of pressure. “Everyone in our criminal team is badass this time—we’ve evaded them for so many days. If Lu Jin hadn’t been eliminated, they wouldn’t have panicked and slipped up.”
“Why did some panic the moment he was out?”
“He’s our leader.” Ling Xiang said puzzled. “I thought you knew. He rallied us in the group chat to turn against you and form a new one. If not for that, why would you knife Lu Jin?”
“Isn’t it only right I get revenge on Lu Jin and the rest of you for that?” Xiao Fen clapped his hands and stood.
Ling Xiang jolted, his upper body instinctively leaning back.
He had no idea how the conversation turned like this.
“You should be scared, not me.” Xiao Fen turned to wash his hands at the stream.
Watching his back, Ling Xiang’s hand slowly slipped into his pocket, a sinister chill flashing in his eyes.
【What’s this living ancestor up to now?】
【For real, stop messing around or you’ll get us killed.】
【Maybe weigh your own weight before planning?】
Ling Xiang hesitated, then finally pulled his hand out.
In it was a syringe from the program crew—an injectant.
He uncapped the needle and emptied a full tube into the kettle boiling over the fire.
Under program rules, that meant death.
Refusing the toast only to drink the penalty brew. He’d planned to use him to carry supplies, save his own strength to flee farther. No need now.
“By the way.” Xiao Fen looked up, pausing his actions without turning. “Mr. Ling, can you check if my water’s boiling?”
Ling Xiang nearly dropped the syringe in fright.
Steadying himself, he peeked. “Yeah… it’s boiling now.”
“This spring water looks clean, but it’s full of bacteria and microorganisms. Better boil it to be safe before drinking.”
The pursuit team hadn’t started tracking yet—no issue with smoke.
Xiao Fen casually wiped his hands, walked back from the stream. Seeing the water boiling, he capped the kettle strap, picked it up, and asked, “Want the fire? It’s yours.”
“Thanks, but no need.”
Xiao Fen extinguished the fire, dismantled the rack and tossed it, covered it with damp leaves, shouldered his pack with the kettle, and headed deeper into the woods.
Ling Xiang watched him go, a cold smirk curling his lips. He waited a bit, then stealthily followed, leaving traces along the way.
Two li away, Xiao Fen looked at the camera circling him, held up his kettle, and grinned. “The werewolf self-exposed.”
Ling Xiang was the spy.
He hadn’t planned to deal with these people, but he’d walked right into it.
A helicopter sound came from overhead, approaching then receding.
Sunlight filtered through sparse branches. It was morning already, with a hint of heat.
Xiao Fen muttered to the camera, “Wonder how many chose like me—planned to go solo last night, but now things got interesting.”
Nonstop travel was boring.
The pursuit team’s assault members had clear stamina advantages in these mountains. Their best shot to widen the gap was covering max distance in these 24 hours, ideally shaking the vice squad officers.
In these vast mountains, that seemed doable.
But the guests had been too optimistic.
Before noon, the pursuit team got word: a contestant had withdrawn.
He’d gotten lost and encountered a bear. Though he clumsily hid in a tree, the bear wouldn’t leave. Between life and prize money, he chose life and surrendered via earpiece.
A helicopter soon hovered overhead; a man rappelled down the rope to rescue the bear-trapped guest.
His live stream chat was chaos—scolds and sympathizers. In the face of death, all else was trivial.
The scolders mostly blamed his overconfidence in picking the deep mountains; otherwise, he might’ve succeeded.
See Ou Yu: he thrived in Guiwu Forest, the dim environment hiding his traces.
The sun rose in the east, slowly sank west, until night fell.
The pursuit team split into groups along planned routes.
Fang Si Ting, out of his suit and dress shoes, wore comfy sportswear and sneakers. With Tang Shen, he led over eighty vice squad officers, dividing into ten teams to search from the directions guests had fled last night.
Xiao Fen took it easy: normal pace by day, climbed trees at peaks to orient himself.
Surviving deep mountains meant ample food for stamina and navigation—everything looked the same, easy to get lost.
Getting lost led to breakdown.
At night, he rested or ate as needed.
He wasn’t rushed; his fans were.
Because Fang Si Ting found traces of Xiao Fen’s campfire before dawn.
Charred earth beside it, plus a few chewed chestnut shells.
“Two people’s traces.” He pointed to the rock Xiao Fen had sat on and where Ling Xiang had stood.
