Chapter 93
"We are here, here."
"We are here, here."
Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen jumped up, shouting and waving their hands, but the foliage was so dense that the drones flying overhead couldn't capture them at all. As for the sound...
"Stop shouting! The trees are too tall here, and your voice won't get through." Chu Huaiqin looked up and down at the drone in his hand, then handed it to Lin Zhinan. He looked up, thinking about some way to get out, maybe even a way to notify them.
"Huaiqin, it's three o'clock. I think we should look for a water source nearby." Su Huaichen suggested.
"Okay." Chu Huaiqin nodded. The appearance of drones exposed a big problem. Using technological means to find people did not seem to be feasible. Once it turned into the most primitive search and rescue method, in this scorching weather, by the time people arrived, they would probably have been dehydrated.
Chu Huaiqin bit off another piece of gauze and tied it to a branch. Then the three of them searched nearby for water, but they found nothing, not even a bit of food. The drone continued to shout from above, and Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen occasionally responded. Even Chu Huaiqin, knowing his voice might not be heard, couldn't help but shout a few times, but it was still useless. Instead, their mouths became increasingly dry and their throats became hoarse.
"Huaiqin, I have an idea. They can't hear us, so we can shake the tree!" Su Huaichen's eyes lit up and he felt that he was extremely smart.
"Brother, all the trees we can shake are blocked by this towering tree, but you can indeed shake the towering tree." Lin Zhinan said slowly.
"That's right, but what can we do? Our voices can't reach up there at all," Su Huaichen sighed softly, "Do we have to stay here forever?"
"I think we can't stay here any longer." Chu Huaiqin stretched out his hand and pulled Lin Zhinan back two steps, his eyes fixed on a place in front of him, with a vigilant look.
Su Huaichen exclaimed, "Ah, no way! Didn't the drone tell us to wait here for them to arrive? We can..."
"Brother Huaichen," Lin Zhinan interrupted him with a low cry, his terrified eyes fixed on the front, his voice trembling slightly, "Don't, don't say anything, front, front..."
"What's going on up ahead?" Su Huaichen turned his head and took a breath as he followed Lin Zhinan's gaze. In the distance, a huge snake head was lying on the bushes, like a child watching a lively scene. Its cold and narrow snake eyes were staring at them. He didn't know how long it had been there. "Huai, Huai, Huai Qin, Qin, it, it..."
"Hush, don't move," Chu Huaiqin sighed softly, asking Su Huaichen to remain calm. He lowered his voice and said, "Let's retreat slowly. Don't make any noise. When I say run, you pull your sister and run first."
Hearing Chu Huaiqin say don't move, Su Huaichen really didn't dare to move. His whole body was stiff, his eyes were wide, his breathing was light, and he didn't even dare to move his eyeballs. The words seemed to be squeezed out from his teeth, "What about you?"
"I'll be the last one," Chu Huaiqin replied. If they ran, the snake would chase them, and they would definitely not be able to outrun it. Now their only hope was the anesthetic needle. He was running last, so he was confident that he could give the snake a few injections.
When Su Huaichen heard this, he no longer objected. Instead, he slowly put his hands behind his back, quickly took off the watch, passed it from behind the middle sister, and stuffed it into Chu Huaiqin's hand. "You take it. If you don't take it, I won't agree. What's more, I will definitely hold my sister tightly, so I have protection."
Chu Huaiqin didn't refuse and took it.
Lin Zhinan, who was standing in the middle, imitated Su Huaichen's movements, staring at the snake intently. He put his hands behind his back, took off his watch with trembling hands, and stuffed it into Su Huaichen's hand. "Brother, brother, I know you like playing real-life CS, and you must be better at it than me."
It’s common knowledge in the circle that Su Huaichen likes to play real-life CS.
"Sister, that gun is different from this watch!" Su Huaichen stared at the snake motionlessly, wanting to push the watch back to Lin Zhinan. Lin Zhinan didn't want to take it either, so he clenched his fists and pushed it back.
The three men stared at the big snake, their bodies motionless, their eyes unblinking, but their hands were stretching and retracting privately. The big snake in the distance was spitting out its tongue, its eyeballs moving around with the hands of the three men, its posture more relaxed than the three men.
"Stop it," Chu Huaiqin gently stopped the two of them, "If I say retreat, then retreat quietly. If I say run, then run away. Got it?"
"Understood." Su Huaichen and Lin Zhinan answered in unison, clasping their hands tightly.
"Three, two, one, retreat."
Following Chu Huaiqin's command, the three stiffened their bodies and took a large step back in unison, their eyes fixed on the snake, fearing it would suddenly charge forward. Seeing it lay motionless, the three breathed a sigh of relief.
"Three, two, one, retreat."
The three of them took another big step back, but the snake remained motionless. However, it changed its posture, from resting its chin on the bushes to tilting its head slightly. For a moment, Chu Huaiqin actually saw that it looked a bit cute.
But it wasn't cute anymore when it swallowed people. Chu Huaiqin quickly woke himself up. He shouted "retreat" again, and the three of them took another big step back in unison.
"Brother, are you going to run away?" Lin Zhinan asked when he saw that the big snake did not come over and was still staying where it was.
Chu Huaiqin shook his head, "Since he won't move, let's continue to retreat slowly."
"Continue to retreat in the woods?" Su Huaichen felt a little desperate. The snake didn't move, it felt like it was watching a show. He bet that as long as he got out of its control, it would definitely chase him.
"We may have to go into the stone house forest." If they compete with the snake in the forest in speed, they will definitely die. If they can find a stone house, they may be able to stop it.
"Stone houses!" Su Huaichen turned his head cautiously, looking at the stone houses not far from them. He became even more frightened and said in a low voice, "There won't be more big snakes in there!"
Chu Huaiqin: ...
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Chu Huaiqin felt that this was quite troublesome. The stone houses had been abandoned in the forest for a long time. It was not realistic to say that there was nothing inside, but no one knew what was inside. It was like Pandora's box. Who knew whether it would be opened by a devil or an angel?
"Then, isn't the scariest thing about not being able to open the door?" Lin Zhinan interrupted.
The two were stunned for a moment, then looked carefully and saw that the doors of the stone house were all closed. For a moment, they were worried that if the big snake was really chasing them and they ran over but couldn't open the door, that would be a tragedy.
"Is the plane okay?" Lin Zhinan bit his lip tightly and continued.
"Plane?" Chu Huaiqin wondered. He couldn't see it from his position, so he leaned closer to Lin Zhinan and followed her gaze, turning his head to look behind him. Sure enough, he saw an abandoned small plane parked at the edge of a small square, its hatch wide open and a ladder. It was a small civilian plane, and judging by the cracked nose and broken wings, it must have been forced to land in an accident.
"Very good, our target is the plane." Chu Huaiqin immediately made a decision. This was their best option at the moment. "Let's retreat in the direction of the plane."
The other two nodded and began to retreat hand in hand. Perhaps because they were too anxious and retreated too fast, the big snake really moved.
"run!"
At Chu Huaiqin's command, Su Huaichen turned around and pulled Lin Zhinan towards the plane, and the big snake also swam out from the bushes. The snake's head stretched out, and it felt like the whole body slid out in a flash. The distance was so far that the staff screamed.
That’s right, the drone has a signal.
Lin Zhinan's drone swayed as he ran, the camera panning from the sky to the ground, from the running Chu Huaiqin to the menacing snake. Some staff members vomited from the shaking, and the director jumped up in shock, looking at the red dot on the instrument and hurriedly urging the technicians to locate it.
Although the plane was not far from where they took off, the speed of the giant snake was too terrifying. As soon as they stepped into the stone houses, the giant snake was about to catch up. Chu Huaiqin, who had been holding up his wrist while running and using the reflection of his watch to confirm the distance between them, saw that it was about to catch up, so he suddenly stopped, placed the watch horizontally in front of him, and quickly pressed the launch button.
The snake was large, and its target was also large. The silver needle pierced it instantly as it flew out. The snake hissed, raised its head, and paused. Chu Huaiqin quickly jumped into the forest of stone houses and ran towards the square.
As Chu Huaiqin ran, he called out to the two people who had stopped to wait for him, "Hurry up and get on."
Although the snake had been injected with an anesthetic, it was too large for the needle to take effect. It had stopped because it was traumatized by Chu Huaiqin's previous two beatings. However, the snake quickly reacted and swam towards the figure again. By the time it caught up, the three had already boarded the plane and were standing in front of the cabin door, gasping for breath as they looked down.
"Brother, brother, there's a signal," Lin Zhinan, holding the drone, exclaimed. Now, even the giant snake swimming below with its tongue spitting out couldn't attract her attention. "But why is no one talking?"
Director Li in the director's office was also in tears. They wanted to talk, but as soon as they started talking, the frequency band became unstable. Director Li didn't dare to speak for fear of interrupting this weak signal.
"Maybe the signal is bad." Chu Huaiqin said casually and asked the two to stand at the cabin door. He turned on his watch and shone it inside. The broken chair was covered with a thick layer of dust. Unknown insects and spiders fled away instantly when they were illuminated by the light.
Although this is a small plane, the space is not small. The cabin is gloomy and gray, and occasionally there is a rustling sound. Chu Huaiqin doesn't know what it is and has no intention of exploring.
Su Huaichen and Lin Zhinan sat tiredly in front of the cabin door, their eyes fixed on the drone, hoping that some sound would come from inside.
The big snake swam around for a while, then tried to stretch its head out, but was hit on the head by a piece of debris picked up by Chu Huaiqin from the ground. It stretched its head out again, and was hit again...
“Hiss!”
The big snake was angry and spit out its tongue at Chu Huaiqin, its cold eyes looking sinister and scary.
Two hours ago
The search and rescue team entered the maze and after searching for half an hour, someone found a piece of gauze tied to a branch. It was obviously torn from Chu Huaiqin's arm. Before the captain of the search team had time to report to the director team, two figures rushed out and snatched the gauze away in an instant.
"It's my brother's, it's my brother's, Xia Entang, hurry up, let's go in and look..." The familiar voice of the little monk rang out, and the search and rescue team took a closer look and saw that it was indeed these two people. They had found two sets of search and rescue team clothes from somewhere, but because they were wearing helmets and had high collars, it was really hard to find them without looking carefully.
"Why are you two here? I'll have someone take you back." The captain of the search and rescue team quickly called the two team members over. Before he could even ask for someone to escort them back, Xia Entropy refused.
"I won't go back. If you don't let me go, I'll go find it myself." Xia En said firmly, and the little monk nodded repeatedly.
For a moment, the captain was in a dilemma and had to contact the director team. He only nodded in agreement after receiving a reply.
The group continued to search inside, and received a call from the director team, saying that Chu Huaiqin and the others had been located. However, when they rushed over, they found that the scene was completely different from the video recorded by the technicians. For a moment, everyone's heart sank. This place was called the "Devil's Palace" and it was not in vain.
The team went deeper and deeper into the depths. Even with the presence of specialized personnel, the search and rescue team got lost twice. As time went by, the sky gradually darkened. The young monk paced anxiously, while Xia Entang sat silently under a tree, staring at a single spot, his thoughts unsettled. His hands clenched into fists, his eyes red, his emotions deep and unfathomable.
The little monk hesitated and sat down not far from him.
"Brother, there's no signal." When the daylight thread disappeared from the horizon, the drone's signal light dimmed. Lin Zhinan waved it several times but there was no movement. For a moment, his eyes reddened. "Brother, isn't there a signal during the day? Could it be that the production team didn't see it?"
"They must have seen it, and they must have come in to look for us. It's just that the terrain is a bit strange, so they are slow to come. Don't worry, you will see them as soon as you open your eyes tomorrow." Chu Huaiqin half hugged Lin Zhinan, trying his best to block the wind for her. It's not that he didn't consider entering the cabin, but he only took a few steps in before he saw several wriggling snakes under the seats in the cabin. As for how many more were inside, Chu Huaiqin didn't dare to confirm.
The snakes were able to stay there because of the appearance of this giant snake. If Chu Huaiqin and the others went any further in, they would be prey that came right to their door. Helplessly, the three of them could only sit at the hatch.
After nightfall, the temperature here dropped, and the wind was strong at high altitude. Without water to drink and food to eat, Lin Zhinan's physical strength declined. She felt a little cold and had nothing to cover herself with, so Chu Huaiqin could only half-hugged her.
"I don't dare to sleep," Lin Zhinan looked at the big snake under the plane. She had been watching the snake for an entire afternoon, but for some reason, she wasn't so scared anymore. "Is it guarding here because it's hungry?"
"That should be it!" Su Huaichen sat on the other side, leaning against the cabin door, looking behind him from time to time, afraid that a snake would suddenly appear.
"Can the three of us feed it?" Lin Zhinan asked curiously.
"That shouldn't be possible. In the animal world, a snake this big can at least eat a cow. The three of us combined definitely don't weigh as much as a cow."
"Ah, does it have such a big appetite? No wonder it follows us. There are no large animals on this island, so it must often not have enough to eat."
"Maybe, if I could eat enough, I might grow bigger."
Chu Huaiqin: ...
As the night deepened, only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard. This night was destined to be a sleepless night for no one. Beyond the competition grounds, the disappearance of Chu Huaiqin, Lin Zhinan, and Su Huaichen caused a stir both domestically and internationally. Screenshots of the final disappearance were even shared, and the official websites of domestic and international wilderness survival programs were hacked and their servers crashed. Countless posts on various forums regarding this incident were pushed to the top of the pile, with some criticizing the production team, others criticizing the group that provoked the bees, while others, calm spectators, passersby, and professionals, all emerged to analyze the incident.
Various video websites, including Weibo, and various UP hosts are trying to gain popularity. Some people speculate that the possibility of their deaths is very high. The reason is that in general, when accidents occur in the wild, few people who are dispatched to the search and rescue team can survive. Such unfounded speculation is bound to be criticized.
Professional UP hosts are not optimistic about this incident either. They mainly draw conclusions based on analysis of the island and the crash site. The evidence is from news reports of accidents that happened there in the past few decades, and they calculate how many professional explorers died there. Chu Huaiqin and the other three rookies would definitely be abused if they went in.
There are more rumors, saying that there are ghosts, giant snakes, wild beasts, some weapons that can kill people directly, etc.
After analyzing all the posts, the final result is death.
Fans of the three cried bitterly, posting prayers one after another. Many passersby were also worried. Even those who didn't watch the show knew Chu Huaiqin after his several viral hits. They knew he was participating in the Asian Games. While not an official event, it was still an international competition, and winning a prize would bring glory to the country. For a time, they also joined the prayers.
Chu Huaiqin's agent, Chen Guo, was frantic and begging for the fastest flight to the competition area. Meanwhile, the eldest brother of the Xia family had already departed on a private jet, bringing with him a planeload of professionals.
Director Li's phone was about to explode with calls, and Director Anthony also called and said that he would arrive after the next flight, and if necessary, he would ask local officials to borrow military satellites to find people.
It was a mess outside, and Chu Huaiqin wasn't doing well either. In the early morning, when the sun shone through the forest, he opened his eyes first and saw snakes crawling out from the broken chair one after another. The sight was terrifying.
"Wake up," Chu Huaiqin didn't have time to yell at anyone. He stood up and suddenly pulled Lin Zhinan up, then kicked Su Huaichen in the calf. "The snake is coming."
Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen screamed at the same time. As soon as they opened their eyes, Chu Huaiqin pulled them down the ladder. They were in a daze and almost stepped on their feet several times. When they got to the ground, they saw small snakes crawling to the cabin door one after another. They were so scared that their faces turned pale.
"Ah, a big snake." Lin Zhinan exclaimed, grabbed Chu Huaiqin's hand and looked around, and found that the big snake in the square had disappeared.
"We can't stay here anymore, let's go." Chu Huaiqin pulled Lin Zhinan and called Su Huaichen into the stone house forest.
"Where are we going? Aren't we going to wait for the director team to rescue us?" Su Huaichen hurriedly followed Chu Huaiqin's footsteps. He was so hungry that his legs felt a little weak.
"We can't wait here." Although Chu Huaiqin didn't know why the snake left, he was sure it would come back. "Zhi Nan, do you still have the bow/crossbow I made for you?"
"Here." Lin Zhinan took it out quickly. She had kept it with her since Chu Huaiqin gave it to her.
Chu Huaiqin: "Take it. If anything happens, use this as a bow/crossbow to save yourself, okay?"
Lin Zhinan: "Well, don't worry, I will."
Chu Huaiqin: "Senior, you should also be more vigilant. We are about to start a great escape."
"What do you mean?" Su Huaichen was stunned.
"It's appeared again," Chu Huaiqin looked at the snake skin undulating in the grass in the distance, bent down and picked up a stone, "Run."
The three of them began to wander through the stone houses, Chu Huaiqin marking each one as he ran. Perhaps the snake hadn't noticed them, or couldn't find them, but they'd been wandering around the stone houses for almost two hours without seeing it catch up. Even so, the three of them were starting to feel the strain. From yesterday afternoon until now, they hadn't had a single sip of water, let alone a grain of rice. Their lips were chapped, and their mouths were sticky.
"Brother Huaichen, have you ever eaten plums?"
"Yes, you have to eat the green ones, the kind that's so sour that your teeth will fall off."
"Hmm! I want something really, really sour, the kind that makes your mouth water just by smelling it."
Lin Zhinan nodded repeatedly, and thinking of the sour taste, Lin Zhinan's saliva instantly flooded.
"You must be thirsty!" Chu Huaiqin looked at the two of them with a smile.
"It's still bearable." They said in unison.
"I'm thirsty too," Chu Huaiqin was the most thirsty. He was sweating a lot and his need for water increased. "Since people have lived here, there should be drinking water. Let's look for it."
The two nodded repeatedly, but unfortunately, they found nothing after searching around. They also tried to find a way to get into the stone house, but the door was too solid to open, and they didn't dare to make too much noise for fear of attracting snakes.
The three of them walked and stopped, and when they were about to give up the luxury of water, Chu Huaiqin smiled.
"I have water." Chu Huaiqin smiled mysteriously at the two of them.
Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen looked at each other and looked around, but saw nothing. "Where?"
There is nothing around except some trees and grass!
"come over."
Chu Huaiqin asked the two to walk forward for a while and then came to a tree. He picked up all the sharp stones on the spot and started smashing them at a light green tree, again and again.
Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen were a little surprised, but they soon became happy. They saw water overflowing from the place where Chu Huaiqin hit the ball, and then the water spurted out like a faucet.
Chu Huaiqin quickly covered the water and said, "Come and drink."
"Brother/Huaiqin, you drink first." The two said in unison.
Chu Huaiqin was not polite either. He squatted down and let go. A stream of cool water sprayed into the man's mouth, and the man came back to life instantly.
Eucalyptus is known as the faucet.
After Chu Huaiqin finished drinking, Lin Zhinan and Su Huaichen also drank their fill. Afterwards, the three of them sat at the door of a stone house to rest, looking at the scorching sun and smiling.
No matter what the situation was, it was at least beneficial to Chu Huaiqin and the others. Now that they had some water to drink, they were no longer so thirsty. They found that they were getting closer and closer to the watchtower, but...
"Fuck, here it comes!"
Before he could be happy, Su Huaichen saw the big snake's head again. Its head came out from the corner and was very close to them. Chu Huaiqin was also frightened by this accident. His first reaction was to stand up, turn around and kick the stone door behind him.
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, the door was kicked open by Chu Huaiqin, and the snake turned its head, looked at him with cold eyes, and stuck out its tongue, chasing after him.
The three of them were so frightened that they almost jumped up. Their instinct was to rush into the stone house and slam the door shut.
Su Huaichen exclaimed: "Ah, the door is not locked."
"Hurry, move that iron table over to hold the door." Chu Huaiqin pressed his hands tightly and pointed at the iron table next to him.
Lin Zhinan hurried over to push, but it was too heavy to move. Su Huaichen also ran to help, pushing with a creaking sound that nearly made all three of them grind their teeth. After finally moving the iron table over, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Zhinan said slowly, "Brother, why does it always chase us? Is it really not going to stop until it eats us?"
Su Huaichen: "I think it might have a crush on Huaiqin."
Chu Huaiqin: “…”
"Huaiqin, the lighting in this room is really good, it's quite bright."
"Yeah, why is it so bright?"
Chu Huaiqin replied blankly, and then the three of them looked up, stunned.
This house has no ceiling.
The author has something to say: There's only one chapter left to go for the Asian tournament, and next up is the International tournament. Guess where it'll be held (leave a comment in this chapter so I can send out bonuses). Guess right and you'll get a bonus. The deadline for guessing will be when I announce the venue!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
