Chapter 92
"Woof woof woof."
Several dogs barked, and in the pitch-black woods, the only sound was the wind. Unlike the nights filled with the chirping of insects, the silence was now as if there were no life.
"Brother, that feeling is coming back," the little monk said, leaning on Chu Huaiqin's shoulder, his round eyes darting around, trying to see something, but seeing nothing. "It's so annoying."
"Well, we should be almost at the watchtower," Chu Huaiqin said, still calm despite his doubts. He pulled the little monk hiding behind him to sit beside him and said with a smile, "It seems we don't even need a map. We can just rely on the little monk to find the place."
After Chu Huaiqin finished speaking, he looked down at the watch on his wrist and found that the compass, which had been spinning wildly since entering the island, had stabilized, and the magnetic needle on the axis was pointing in a certain direction at a forty-five degree angle.
"Brother, it's quiet here." Xia En came to Chu Huaiqin with a bundle of firewood, put down the dry firewood, picked up a few big ones and threw them into the fire. The flames suddenly rose high.
"What do you think the reason is?"
"That big snake might be here."
Chu Huaiqin nodded and turned to look at the director team. A group of people were gathered together, chattering in a serious manner. It seemed that they also had an opinion about this place.
"Well, be alert when you sleep tonight." Chu Huaiqin was not worried about the safety of the program crew, but if an accident occurred, being instantly awake would help them take control of the situation more quickly.
Su Huaichen, Lin Zhinan and others on the side nodded repeatedly. The little monk suddenly felt ambitious and patted his chest, "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely not sleep tonight."
"Well, I'll leave my sister to you." Chu Huaiqin still trusted the little monk's vigilance.
In addition to Chu Huaiqin's side, Japan, the Sheep Team, and the Camel Team also felt something was wrong. However, there were still two days before the end of the game, and now it was the final competition period, so everyone was not in a position to share information with Chu Huaiqin. Each team gathered around the fire with serious expressions.
After dinner, Lin Zhinan counted the water and food. He still had five coconut milk bottles left, and six potatoes and a dozen sweet potatoes left, barely enough for two meals. They had barely found food since crossing Crocodile Bay, especially since they had been traveling for the past few days, eating and drinking without any food. Having these leftovers was a good thing.
"Brother, do we need to find something to eat tomorrow?" Lin Zhinan asked Chu Huaiqin before going to bed. This made her decide whether to get up tomorrow to find something to eat, or to light a fire and prepare food directly.
"There's only enough food for two meals. We still have to find another one tomorrow morning." Xia Entang continued. According to the itinerary, they would reach the watchtower the day after tomorrow. If possible, he hoped to have enough food on the last day so as not to waste time in this place.
"Well, let's listen to Xia En!" Chu Huaiqin understood what he meant and agreed.
Others have no objection.
Chu Huaiqin and his companions drifted off to sleep, but the other three teams didn't sleep so well, their stomachs rumbling. Food was scarce to begin with, and even after leaving the ship, it wasn't plentiful on the road. Most of what they found were bananas, and the occasional sweet potato was a meager sight. Almost everyone ate only enough to fill themselves up, drinking the most plentiful water possible, and forcing themselves to keep going.
When they arrived here today, the three teams were all a little overwhelmed with hunger and unanimously decided to stop and look for food, waiting for Chu Huaiqin and the others to arrive and sprint together. Unexpectedly, they arrived before they even started waiting. And it seemed that the Gun Gun team was doing much better than them.
At least they won't have to go hungry tonight.
In the early morning light, when Chu Huaiqin and the others were still asleep, the hunting dogs started barking, waking everyone up from their dreams. When they got up, they found nothing, except that the sun had not yet come out and the fog was a bit thick.
The drowsy group fell back into the haystack to take a nap, not getting up again until the sun came out. They also discovered that the other three teams had already set out to find food. Xia Entang picked up the still drowsy little monk and joined the group in the search for food, yawning.
Chu Huaiqin's hand was not fully healed yet, so he could only wander around. Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen began to pack up, light a fire and boil water, throw the sweet potatoes into the fire to roast, and then leave Chu Huaiqin to watch the fire while they walked around nearby to see if they could find anything to eat.
After Xia Entang and the young monk walked for a while, they discovered that the vegetation was sparse, making it difficult to find food. However, the land was moist, suggesting a possible source of water. Water was the last thing they needed.
After searching for a while, they found nothing and had to return to camp. After eating the roasted sweet potatoes, the other teams also returned. It seemed that they had not found anything either. They just saved two bananas and set off together before Chu Huaiqin and his team left.
Because the people in these three teams were really hungry, their physical strength decreased, and they had to look for food while walking. Now, even if Chu Huaiqin walked slowly, his speed was almost the same as theirs.
The group moved slowly towards their destination like a snail.
At noon, the sun was too strong, forcing several people to stop. The three teams went to find food, while Chu Huaiqin and his companions rested and ate some roasted sweet potatoes. Xia Energ urged the young monk to climb a tree to see how far away they were from their goal.
The little monk was afraid of the watchtower, but he had to climb it. After a while, he climbed down and muttered, "We will definitely get there before noon tomorrow."
Xia Entropy nodded in satisfaction. After finishing his meal in a few bites, he saw Chu Huaiqin still chewing slowly. Xia Entropy thought for a moment and dragged the little monk to find something to eat.
"Don't go too far, come back in ten minutes." Chu Huaiqin shouted.
"Okay." Xia Entang responded and walked away with the little monk.
The vegetation here is even worse than at the campsite in the morning. Apart from the tall trees, there is not much grass on the ground, and the shrubs that belong to tropical islands are even rarer.
The two walked for a while and turned back. Halfway through, they saw three teams of people huddled in a rare bush, chattering about something in one direction.
Xia En and the little monk exchanged a glance, then crouched down and snuck up behind them. Following their gaze, he gasped. He saw several enormous beehives hanging from the tall trees. Densely packed with black and yellow bees, they were clinging to them and wriggling. The surroundings were buzzing with buzzing bees, a sight that made his scalp tingle.
"What are you doing?"
The little monk suddenly spoke, scaring the people squatting in front. They exclaimed, turned around and found that it was the little monk, and patted their chests.
The people of the Sheep Country said, "We have honey. Do you want some?"
Their food was gone, and the few remaining bananas had been eaten this morning. After walking all morning, they were about to faint if they didn't eat something.
The young monk's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. They had been participating in the competition for almost a month, either starving or eating starchy foods, or the occasional banana. Of course, they liked the sweetness of honey. However, the young monk still looked at Xia En and asked for his opinion.
Xia En frowned as he watched the nest of creatures, eager to stir. When he was a child, he had read an article about poking a beehive and had been quite envious.
"I want to drink honey water."
Chu Huaiqin's sigh from two days ago suddenly came to his mind. Xia Entang turned his gaze to the hive of bees and nodded.
Seeing that Xia Entang also agreed, the people from the three teams immediately gathered together and chatted for a while.
The audience in the live broadcast room watched several adult men excitedly discussing how to take down this huge beehive. Some people cheered, some offered ideas, and some were worried. With so many black bees, are you really sure you can outrun them?
No matter what the live broadcast room thought, an idea had already been discussed on the spot. The most basic operation to poke a beehive is to release smoke, and then poke it again after the bees are smoked away. This is much simpler.
Eight men, one to set the fire, one to poke the fire, and one to catch the fire with a large leaf. After assigning tasks one by one, they began to act.
Xia Entang and the little monk, who were the most agile, were given the task of picking up the beehive. As long as they poked it down, they would catch it and run away.
Great, perfect plan.
The fire with wet wood started burning under the big tree, and thick smoke billowed. Sure enough, in a short while, the group of bees began to feel dizzy, and some were even smoked to death and fell to the ground, forming a layer of black, which made the people in the live broadcast room feel numb.
In the rest camp, Chu Huaiqin finished eating sweet potatoes and saw that no one had returned yet. He was wondering whether to go find him. He saw that some people from the other three teams had returned, but they were also missing a few people.
"Haven't Xia Entropy and the Little Monk from your team returned yet?" Bu Er Shenzhi asked. Seeing Su Huaichen nod, he was also surprised and said, "Three people from our team haven't returned either. I found Tian Guo and wanted to cheer them up."
"Two or three people from our team haven't returned yet." The Camel Team and the Sheep Team said in unison.
Then, several people looked at each other and felt that something was wrong.
"Ahhh, here it comes, run! Quick!"
Just as they were wondering, they heard shouts in the distance. They looked closely and were stunned. The grown men they had been worried about were being chased towards them by a swarm of bees. They were going crazy.
"run."
Someone yelled, and all the teams, including the director's crew, erupted in chaos. Seeing the dense swarm of bees about to fly over, Chu Huaiqin grabbed Lin Zhinan and ran away, Su Huaichen following behind. They didn't even have time to pick up the frames on the ground. They rushed around without even paying attention to their route. The enraged swarm attacked indiscriminately, and screams rang out at the scene. The buzzing sound was like a death warrant, and no one could stop.
Chu Huaiqin pulled Lin Zhinan and ran out of breath. When the buzzing sound around him stopped, he found that the forest he was in was different from before. Although there was still sunshine, it still felt gloomy and there were gravel everywhere.
"Huaiqin, where is this place?" Su Huaichen's voice rang out. Chu Huaiqin turned around and saw that Su Huaichen was also here. Chu Huaiqin frowned and shook his head. He didn't know where this place was, but it didn't look like a good place.
"Where are the others?" Lin Zhinan grabbed Chu Huaiqin's hand and looked around fearfully, but there was no one there. It was extremely quiet. The drone that had been following them was nowhere to be seen, and neither were the filming crew from the director's group.
They got separated from the others.
The director was also stunned. The massive swarm of bees had caught them completely off guard. By the time they had released smoke to repel the bees and regained control of the situation, recovering each contestant and staff member one by one, they discovered that Chu Huaiqin, Lin Zhinan, and Su Huaichen had disappeared, and they couldn't even be contacted. Everyone was running around in the chaos, and no one knew where they had gone.
"Ah, that hurts."
"Gently, gently."
"ah!"
Cries of pain rang out one after another, coming from more than a dozen staff members, the sheep team, the camel team, and the Japanese. In addition to the staff, a total of nine contestants were stung. The doctor had given them injections, but the bees were poisonous, so they had to return to the hospital for further treatment, which meant they were out.
Xia Entropy and the young monk, who had taken over the hive, had managed to "survive" the onslaught of bees thanks to their agility. Currently, apart from the Rolling Team, two members of the Sheep Team remained, three members of the Camel Team, and the entire Japanese team was eliminated.
Live broadcast room:
"Very good, the bees eliminated nine people in one go, haha!"
"Who would have thought they would be defeated here? You're so greedy."
"It can't be helped. These three teams are out of food. How can they not be tempted by the only food they have, honey?"
"Okay, their behavior is understandable. But what about Xia Entropy? Why? Now that my brother is missing, what should I do?"
"Oh my god, where did Chu go? The last shot was him running into a dark forest with his sister! Why did we lose the signal all of a sudden?"
"Ahhh, Xia Entropy, I'm going to kill you and the little monk too. I'm so angry!"
"Where is my brother? Director team, can you give us an explanation? Why haven't you sent anyone to look for him yet?"
"Don't worry, there's a drone following us. Stay calm, we'll definitely find it."
The audience in the live broadcast room kept comforting themselves, but their bodies kept twisting in front of the computers, and they were very agitated.
The little monk at the scene pouted and cried secretly. Xia En, with a sullen face, lowered his head and stared at the ground, motionless. Director Huang contacted the director's office to inquire about the situation.
Director Li was also anxious at this time and was confirming the situation with Director Huang.
"Director Li, can you confirm now that the three of them are together?" Director Huang was most worried about this. If the three of them were separated, it would be troublesome. If they were not separated, he would feel much more at ease with Chu Huaiqin around.
Director Li also understood his concerns and replied, "They disappeared from the camera at the same time. The location is 32°16′N 64°52′W. Look in that direction and release the hounds."
Director Huang exclaimed, "32°16′ North Latitude, 64°52′ West Longitude?" Director Huang's heart sank. "Is that the edge of the base's maze?"
Director Li nodded heavily.
Director Huang took a deep breath before saying, "They shouldn't have gotten far. There was only five or six minutes of confusion, and the distance is limited. I'll send someone to look for them immediately."
Director Huang was in a heavy mood. Someone in the livestream had previously claimed that the story about the crying woman was fake, but the military base did exist. The base was surrounded by a maze of trees. Rumor had it that once you entered the forest, no matter how you walked, you would only reach the base. The base itself was built like a maze, with complex terrain and a strange magnetic field. Getting in was easy, but getting out was difficult.
The most important point is that the production team had no information about this base. They had planned to take a different route to the watchtower, which did not pass through the base. However, the swarm of bees had caused Chu Huaiqin and his team to stray from the route and might have even gone inside.
"The most important thing right now is to prevent them from going any deeper. Use the drone to tell them to stay put and organize a search and rescue operation," Director Li arranged. "If you have any news, notify me. I'll be there right away."
After Director Li hung up the phone, he asked his assistant to notify the captain to go to Lookout Island immediately, and then asked the technicians to activate the trackers on the wrists of the contestants, telling them not to stop trying to contact them even if they could not get in touch now.
Chu Huaiqin was still unclear about his own situation, but he couldn't stay here any longer. In the faint sunlight, small spiders were crawling on the ground one after another. Stepping on one would kill two, attracting more spiders.
Chu Huaiqin thought for a moment and said, "Let's see if we can return to where we came from."
Su Huaichen agreed, "Okay, you decide."
Lin Zhinan had no reason to object.
Chu Huaiqin bit off a piece of gauze and tied it to a branch, then left with the two of them. The three of them began their return journey with only their confused memories. Chu Huaiqin attempted to use his watch to contact Xia Entang and the others, but it was of no use.
Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen each broke off a branch and held it in their hands, walking close to Chu Huaiqin while shaking off the grass.
"Brother, will they come to find us?" Lin Zhinan licked her dry lips. She was very thirsty now, but she could only endure it. She looked around and found that the forest was silent and frightening.
"Yes."
Chu Huaiqin agreed, but stopped walking with the two of them. Su Huaichen, who was following behind, almost bumped into them before he could stop. He hurriedly asked what was going on. "House? Watchtower?" Lin Zhinan muttered, stunned by the scene before him.
Not far ahead, I saw rows of stone houses, some high and some low, and opposite the stone houses was a watchtower.
"Brother, it's the watchtower. We're here." Lin Zhinan grabbed Chu Huaiqin's hand and jumped up happily, his face flushed with excitement.
Su Huaichen was also surprised to see the scene in front of him, but he just asked, "Is there something wrong in this room?"
"Yes, it's a maze house." Chu Huaiqin had played this kind of game before and was quite experienced in it. "It seems we have entered an incredible place."
"What do you mean?" Su Huaichen's heart sank. He always felt that what Chu Huaiqin said was not a good thing.
"Since we entered the forest, we have entered this maze." Chu Huaiqin felt a little headache. This island is not big, why are there so many mazes?
"Can we get out?"
"I don't know. If you can't get out, the production team will come to rescue you. Don't worry!"
Chu Huaiqin was not too worried about this, but they could not go any further inside. The outer forest was fine, but the stone house inside had obviously not been inhabited for decades, so who knew what was inside.
The three of them found a place to sit down and prepared to wait for rescue.
"Huaiqin, let me give you my watch!" Su Huaichen took off his watch and handed it to Chu Huaiqin, "It will be more useful to you than to me."
There are only three anesthetic needles in Chu Huaiqin's wrist. If something happens, it may not be enough. Adding the five needles in his watch will be more reliable. There is not much use for him to keep them.
"No, you have to keep it for yourself."
"But,"
"No, I don't know the situation here either. You should trust yourself more than me to protect yourself."
Chu Huaiqin refused. He hadn't told them one thing: judging from the situation at the camp yesterday, the snake was likely nearby. If they didn't get rescued before nightfall, they might be in trouble. The anesthesia in the watch was their last resort, and Chu Huaiqin couldn't take it away.
However, for now he can only keep it a secret from the two of them until dark. If the people from the program crew haven't arrived by dark, he will tell them even if he knows they will be scared.
After receiving Director Li's information, Director Huang's first order of business was to search for the person at the location where the footage disappeared, using the latitude Director Li provided. However, only one drone had fallen to the ground, and none of the three had seen it. A professional was called in to investigate, and based on signs of trampled vegetation, they suggested they had entered the maze.
This forced the production team to pause and race against time to plan a search. First, over a dozen drones were launched, controlled by the director's office, who called out to Chu Huaiqin and the others. According to Director Li, a helicopter was also on the horizon, and the decision on whether to fly would be made based on the actual situation. Meanwhile, three professional search teams had already assembled at the scene.
"Very good, divide into three teams. Remember, the most important thing is to find people, okay?" Director Huang felt heavy-hearted as he looked at the three teams ready to go.
"Don't worry! We will complete the mission." The three teams are all professionals and are very confident about entering the maze to look for people.
Director Huang nodded and ordered the three teams to set off with their hunting dogs.
"Oh my god, what should I do? I'm getting more and more nervous. Why do we need a search and rescue team?"
"Why don't the directors explain the situation clearly? What's going on? What's the point of only focusing on these few people? We don't want to see them at all. We just want to know if Chu Huaiqin and the other two are safe."
"I hope Chu Huaiqin won't have any accidents!"
"Ah, I remember now. There's a military base next to the watchtower. Rumor has it that people can only enter but not leave. I wonder if Chu Huaiqin and the others have gone in there!"
"No way, that place is known as the Devil's Palace. I heard that many explorers went in just for the thrill and never came out alive."
"Please, don't scare me, okay? Even if I really go in, my dear brother will be fine."
"Believe in Chu, he is very strong, don't worry."
"Yes, believe him. He always gives us surprises, and I believe this time will be no exception."
"Ah, if something really happens, I, I, I will cry in front of your production team."
The audience in the live broadcast room became more and more nervous as they watched the tense atmosphere on the scene, especially now that the camera was frozen and only focused on the few remaining people, and those people also had sad faces, as if the sky was falling.
"Chu Huaiqin, don't move. The search and rescue team is coming to look for you."
"Chu Huaiqin, don't move. The search and rescue team is coming to look for you."
The drone flew above the woods, shouting words over and over again, and then, in full view of everyone in the chief director's office and the sub-director team, a drone fell down, losing control and falling down.
Director Li repeatedly asked the technicians, "What happened? Why did it suddenly fall?"
The technician was also stunned, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard. After a while, he replied: "It's a magnetic field problem."
Director Li's heart sank.
At this time, Chu Huaiqin and others who were sitting on the ground also heard the cry of the drone. Before they could be happy, a drone fell from the sky, hit the lush leaves, and then fell into Chu Huaiqin's arms. This accident made the three of them stunned. What was going on?
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