Chapter 34
After breakfast, someone cooked a pot of winter melon for lunch before we started our journey. This time, everyone was determined to reach the shore before sunset. Plus, they had a full breakfast, so they moved much faster. The journey went smoothly and everyone was in a good mood. Led by Su Huaichen, they started humming songs.
The bamboo rafts and small boats, the endless green mountains reflected in the water, a vibrant color, the lake and sky blending into one. Occasionally, a bird flew by, stirring ripples in the water. Those resting with their oars sang, those rowing chorused, and at the stern, someone was fishing. From time to time, laughter and joy filled the air, creating a harmonious and beautiful scene. But the livestream audience was going wild. Through the drone's camera, they could clearly see a looming figure following the raft. Less than half an hour after they set out, someone had spotted them.
"Did you see it clearly? It just appeared again. The shadow is so huge, at least ten meters long!"
"The sunlight refracted a bit just now, so I couldn't see clearly. Ahhh, no, I need to watch the replay. What on earth was that? It couldn't really be a water monster!"
"I saw its back, which was bumpy as it floated to the surface. It looked a bit like a crocodile's back, but also like scales. Oh my God, I was going crazy. That thing had been with them for so long, how come they hadn't discovered it yet?"
"Wow, this isn't really a water monster!"
"I believe the production team has seen it, but there's no movement right now. It should be something under control, right?"
"Thinking about the tigers and leopards that appeared ahead, I no longer trust the production team."
The thing did not float on the water all the time, but would appear occasionally, revealing its back or its huge body looming through the water. However, it did not make any sound in the water from beginning to end. It was like a most outstanding hunter, tracking the two bamboo rafts.
No one on the raft noticed anything unusual. At noon, we could vaguely see the trees on the distant shore. Our mood brightened, and we chose a quieter spot, decided to rest, eat lunch, and then set off again.
The winter melon stewed in the morning was already cold when I took it out, but now that the weather is hot, it tastes refreshing.
"My hands are getting rougher." Su Huaichen said while chewing the winter melon. This winter melon meal was also good, melting in the mouth, but it was less flavorful than the one I had this morning, and not as delicious as the one with meat. "Huaiqin, how are your hands?"
"It's also become thicker." Almost everyone here has experienced the process of blisters on their hands and feet breaking and forming calluses. It depends on the severity of the situation. Those of them who practice martial arts are not so bad. The worst hit are Su Huaichen and his sister.
"Let me see." Su Huaichen moved closer to Chu Huaiqin, put the bowl aside, and took Chu Huaiqin's hand to look at it. The joints were distinct, the skin was white and slender, and it was particularly beautiful.
Su Huaichen couldn't let go and couldn't help but pinch it a few times, but Xia En came over and grabbed him and pulled him away, glaring at him angrily, "You..."
“Crash!”
Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden loud splash on the bamboo raft. The water was surging, and the bamboo raft, which was moving slowly with the current, swayed greatly. Xia En, who was standing, lost his balance and staggered a few times before falling down. Chu Huaiqin quickly reached out to support him.
"What's going on?"
Everyone exclaimed and looked around, only to see that the water had returned to calm. At this time, everyone in the live broadcast room also understood what had appeared on the screen, and the live broadcast room was boiling with excitement.
"I saw it. It really showed up."
"It's a fish tail. A really big fish tail. It must be a meter long out of the water."
"No way, are they preparing to take action and attack my brothers and the others?"
"Ahhh, what should I do? This bamboo raft will capsize if it is lifted."
Chu Huaiqin and the others could think of anything that the people in the live broadcast room could think of, so when the long tail hit the surface of the water for the second time, everyone's first reaction was to run.
"Hurry, go!"
Chu Huaiqin shouted, picked up a long pole and stood behind the bamboo raft on guard. Su Huaichen and the others threw their bowls into the shed, picked up the oars and quickly returned to their positions. This time there was no division into batches, and the five of them started rowing together.
The sound of splashing water was heard, and the bamboo raft quickly swept towards the distant shore. The water monster seemed to realize that its "prey" had escaped, and swam over quickly, flapping its tail. Its speed was not comparable to that of a man-made bamboo raft. In a few moments, it was already close, and its pointed mouth was exposed above the water, as if it was about to show its fangs. Chu Huaiqin, who was standing at the stern of the raft, took a long pole and hit its mouth, instantly knocking it into the water.
Everyone: ...
Director Huang: …
"It's a big fish."
Chu Huaiqin spoke, startling the people who were paddling desperately with their heads down in fear.
"Will that hurt anyone?" Xia En asked breathlessly.
"I don't know. I saw hard scales when it swung its tail just now." Chu Huaiqin couldn't remember what kind of fish had hard scales.
"It can't be a water dragon!" Su Huaichen exclaimed. His guess was similar to that of some people on the live broadcast. Whether in China or abroad, there were no legends of water monsters in large lakes, so when this thing appeared, everyone speculated in this direction.
"You thought it was Lieta Lake." Chu Huaiqin chuckled and looked at the calm water surface warily. It dived down. Chu Huaiqin was not afraid of it appearing, but afraid that it would dive into the water.
The two bamboo rafts were moving quickly towards the shore, but due to excessive force, some people could no longer hold on when they were still some distance from the shore, and the speed gradually slowed down.
"It's time to go!" Su Huaichen was panting, sweat dripping from his forehead, and he had no time to wipe it off.
Chu Huaiqin shook his head, knelt on the bamboo raft, and lay down to listen. After a moment, his whole body was shocked. "It's down there, swimming along."
When these words came out, everyone was shocked.
"What the hell, what's going on? Is it looking for an opportunity to attack?"
"You can't be that smart!"
No one could tell whether this thing was that smart or not, but for safety's sake, Xia Entang put down the oars in front of everyone's surprised gazes, drew out his dagger, and suddenly jumped into the water.
"Xia En?" Chu Huaiqin called out in disapproval, wanting him to come up, but Xia En spoke first, "I won't go in the water. I'll just follow the bamboo raft. If it gets close, I'll take action."
His dark, deep eyes were firm and gleaming with light, unexpectedly making people believe him unconsciously. Chu Huaiqin gave up letting him come up and took his place paddling.
With someone monitoring the underwater situation, everyone's tense mood relaxed, but the rowing speed did not slow down. The shore was right in front of them, and no matter how tired they were, they would wait until they got ashore.
Xia Entropy took this opportunity to dive slightly underwater, hoping to get a better look at what was in the water. However, due to its depth, all he could see was a large, dark shadow. It was about seven or eight meters long, with what looked like a spiky, hard shell. It was dark and swam alongside the bamboo raft. Xia Entropy was momentarily confused. What did it mean?
The bamboo raft was getting closer and closer to the shore. Victory was just ahead, and everyone couldn't help but smile. At this moment, an accident happened. The big fish that had been swimming quietly suddenly rushed up from underwater.
"Here I come."
Xia Entropy yelled, staring intently at the huge head underwater as it charged towards him. He pulled out his dagger and held it high. He was about to wait for it to get close enough to strike when Director Huang's voice suddenly appeared over the drone, "Xia Entropy, don't hurt it."
Director Huang's voice made Xia Entang startled. The water monster quickly rushed under the bamboo raft and was about to rush up, but suddenly it bit the shrimp cage tied under the bamboo raft and pulled it down. The bamboo raft could not withstand its force and shook rapidly.
The water in this lake is clear, and as the sun suddenly hid in the clouds, there was no sunlight reflected on the water surface. When the water monster floated close to the water surface, everyone could see its figure clearly. It was not a water monster, but a big fish, a very big fish.
"We can't let it eat the shrimp cage. It's a protected species, the sturgeon, it won't hurt anyone."
Director Huang's voice came from the drone again. Everyone was stunned. It didn't hurt anyone, so it followed them all the way for the shrimp cage?
There was no time to think at this time. The shrimp cage was tied with vines. It had already eaten half of the shrimp cage while biting it, and at the same time it was shaking and pulling it underwater. The people on the bamboo raft were swayed from side to side and screamed instinctively.
"You go to the little monk's boat and go ashore first," Chu Huaiqin said to Su Huaichen and the others, then turned to look at "Xia Entropy."
"I understand," Xia En replied, "Bingxiang, Fengshan, come down and help me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xia En dived into the water. The two people on the other bamboo raft also jumped in at the same time and dived into the water.
The others jumped into the water and swam towards the little monk with their things, but Su Huaichen saw Chu Huaiqin still on the bamboo raft and called out.
"You go first, I'll help them here."
Chu Huaiqin said as he jumped into the water, but in an instant, everyone in the live broadcast room could see his face turn pale at a visible speed. Chu Huaiqin did not leave the bamboo raft, but instead clasped one hand on the raft. The coldness quickly cooled his body, and his strength returned to his body, but he could not control the shadow in his heart, which made his body tremble unconsciously.
"What is Chu Huaiqin doing in the water?"
The people in the live broadcast room didn't understand what Chu Huaiqin meant for a moment, but when they saw the bamboo raft shaking again, the knots of the vines that tied the shrimp cages came loose. Everyone exclaimed, and when they saw the vines sink into the water, Chu Huaiqin quickly grabbed them. At this time, another force pulled over, and Chu Huaiqin was dragged into the water, and the bamboo raft he was holding turned over instantly.
"Ahhh, help! My brother has been dragged down."
"It seems Chu Huaiqin went into the water to grab this vine to prevent the sturgeon from taking it away and buy time for Xia Entang and the others. But that sturgeon is seven or eight meters long. Can he hold it?"
"He's crying! Xia En, hurry up! He won't be able to hold on for much longer."
Xia En, underwater, also noticed Chu Huaiqin had gone in, and he was momentarily anxious. Two of the three of them were now holding the sturgeon's head, trying to pry open its mouth, while Xia En was pulling at the shrimp cage, trying to free it. But the sturgeon, like a child guarding its food, refused to let go. Chu Huaiqin, on the surface, was being pulled around, occasionally bumping into the bamboo raft.
The three men and the sturgeon instantly reached a stalemate. The live broadcasters, watching the scene through Xia Entropy's chest camera, were also anxious and offered suggestions. In the end, they realized that there seemed to be no other way except surgery. However, Director Huang had said in advance that this was to protect the fish.
Xia Entang was instantly furious and pulled out a dagger. Just when Bingxiang and the others thought Xia Entang was going to kill them, he used the handle of the dagger to hit Sturgeon's upper lip, once, twice, and three times. Just when the three of them were about to run out of oxygen, Sturgeon opened his mouth and the shrimp cage was quickly pulled out. Xia Entang tore the shrimp cage open with his backhand, and the fish and shrimp inside fell out. Several people thought Sturgeon would open his mouth to eat the fish, but they saw it take a look, turn around and swim away.
Three people: ...
Chu Huaiqin, whose head was bruised by the bamboo raft, said: ...
The noise returned to calm, and the four people surfaced one after another and lay on the bamboo raft to catch their breath. Only then did everyone realize that Chu Huaiqin was in a miserable state. His face was covered with wounds from being hit by the bamboo raft, and even his neck was not spared.
"The production team is such a scumbag. They knew it was a sturgeon from the beginning."
"The shrimp cages have been taken away, so why do we have to take them back?"
"Didn't I tell you to be afraid of it swallowing you? The shrimp cage is made of bamboo strips, and if it swallows it, it will scratch your intestines."
"I'm so angry. Why didn't someone from their production team go and save the sturgeon?"
"It's the show effect!"
"I just want to know what that sturgeon meant. What did that last look mean? Was it contempt?"
"It's probably like: I just want to play with a toy, and you think I want to eat fish? This lake is contracted by Mr. Sturgeon, so what do I need to eat?"
"Hahaha, I have the picture, let's crowdfund and publish the book!"
The four of them turned the bamboo raft over, climbed on it, and slowly paddled to the shore. Everyone had already unloaded their belongings, and when the younger sister saw the wound on Chu Huaiqin's face, her eyes turned red.
Chu Huaiqin comforted her with a few words and sat on the grass to calm down. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of going into the water. After all, it was a shadow in his subconscious that he couldn't control. He was able to overcome it at the time, but it was because he was suppressed by his reason. In just a few minutes, his energy seemed to be exhausted. Chu Huaiqin was now in a very bad state of mind, even worse than before he fell into the water.
Chu Huaiqin lay down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
"Let's set up camp right here!"
Xia Entang spoke in a low voice, turning back to set up the tent. The others checked the time. It was only three in the afternoon, over an hour earlier than expected. They decided to split up and work in batches, with those whose clothes were soaking wet changing first.
Xia En set up the tent, walked over to Chu Huaiqin with a blanket and squatted down. He was about to wrap him up and pick him up, but he was stunned when he touched him. In the end, he didn't do anything. He just pushed him awake and asked him to go to the tent to change clothes and sleep.
Today's dinner was quite rich, three fish stewed with winter melon. We felt full at first, but this food is easy to digest. When we were hungry in the middle of the night, everyone sighed and said that it was a good thing that the program was only for a month, otherwise they would have starved to death.
The next day, Chu Huaiqin was the first to get up. He was feeling groggy yesterday and even ate in a daze.
"morning!"
Chu Huaiqin looked at Xia En, who was walking up with his whole body wet. He had a fish on his harpoon. Seeing that Chu Huaiqin had woken up, he ran over quickly, splashing countless water.
"You, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere else?"
"I'm fine! Thanks for yesterday!"
After Chu Huaiqin changed his clothes, he couldn't bear the mental exhaustion and soon fell asleep again. Xia En helped him apply medicine on the wounds on his face.
"No, nothing." Xia En turned away, a little hesitant, his hands nervously picking at his pants, "You haven't thought about it yet..."
"Do I know you?" Chu Huaiqin was not stupid. Xia Entang had been very special to him from the very beginning. If he felt that Xia Entang disliked him when they first met, now he knew that it was just awkward and he seemed to be holding on to something.
When Xia En heard Chu Huaiqin's words, he went from staring at him in disbelief to anger overflowing in his chest. He panted heavily, stared at Chu Huaiqin intently, and said angrily, "What do you think? Humph!"
Xia Entang took the fish and turned away coldly.
Chu Huaiqin: ...
Breakfast was still fish stewed with winter melon. The half-meter-long winter melon was shared for the last time. Even though we had eaten it for several meals, everyone still loved this dish.
After the meal, the atmosphere was a little silent for a while. Everyone had said before that they would separate once they got ashore.
The production team presented a new map. Previously, each person had only one route. Park Pen and Tong Tiao were on route A2, and everyone else was on route A3. This time, the directors presented three routes, meaning you can choose whichever route you want.
After packing up, Tong Tao smiled and said to everyone, "Xia En, Bing Xiang, do you want to come with me? Feng Shan, come too!"
When Tong Tiao said this, everyone was stunned, because these people were the strongest.
"No need." Xia En said coldly, picked up his things and left.
Everyone: ...
The live broadcast room was also shocked.
"What's going on? Xia Entropy isn't going to go with his brother?"
"Wow, Tong Tao is so shameless, trying to get rid of the strongest people all at once."
"Since it's a competition, there's competition. The idea of friendship first and competition second is just a childish fairy tale. Tong Tao did a great job."
"The strong are respected, there's nothing much to say. It's just that Xia Entropy doesn't know what's good for him. If we go together, we'll almost have all four spots."
It was a bit surprising that Xia Entang left first, but Bing Xiang refused and asked Feng Shan if he wanted to go with him. Feng Shan agreed, and the two of them put on their backpacks, said goodbye to Chu Huaiqin, and left.
"Brother, I."
The young monk saw that the others had formed an alliance, and he was so happy that he wanted to form an alliance with Chu Huaiqin as well. But then Director Huang's voice came out, "Please pay attention, please pay attention, the maximum number of alliances is two people. Please pay attention, the maximum number of alliances is two people. Little monk, don't keep thinking about following Chu Huaiqin."
Little Monk: ...
"Pfft, what's going on? Why do we have to stick to two-person teams?"
"The little monk can be with Su Huaichen!"
"Actor Su, let's go together!" Tong Tiao suddenly spoke up, inviting Su Huaichen. This surprised Su Huaichen a little. Since Su Huaichen joined, he didn't think he knew him very well! Just as he was about to refuse, Tong Tiao spoke again, "When I got on the bamboo raft before, you gave me the first meal. I'm very grateful. If Actor Su thinks highly of me, don't refuse me."
What I said is that if I reject you, I will look down on you.
Su Huaichen was a little hesitant for a moment, but after thinking about it, he finally nodded in agreement.
Little Monk: ...
Three teams have been formed in the front, and it will be easy to divide the back. Chu Huaiqin and his sister, and the little monk who lost his sister first and then Su Huaichen, decided to form their own team. Later, Lin Yongfu and Su Feichen formed a team, and Pu Peng and An Shunan formed a team and set off.
Everyone embarked on the road to the final decisive battle.
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