Chapter 252 - 246: Wilderness Survival
"Okay, okay." Tan Qing nodded hastily.
"Jiang Li, her withdrawal symptoms haven’t started?"
Tan Qing was stunned. "I... I’m not sure either. Jiang Li wasn’t in good shape when she returned to the station that day, but she hasn’t shown any symptoms since.
Officer Lu and the others said it might be a latent period, so I... I don’t know."
The woman’s eyes narrowed sharply as she considered her words, then she pulled a thumb-sized vial from her pocket.
"The next time you see Jiang Li, put this in her water."
Tan Qing took the vial with trembling hands, cradling it carefully in her palms. "Okay, I promise. I’ll drug her. She likes milk tea, so I’ll just pour it directly into her milk tea next time."
Satisfied, the woman patted her cheek. "Do this well, and forget about just being an intern. I can help you climb as high as you want."
"Okay, I... I’ll follow you with my whole heart. I’ll do whatever you say."
Jiang Li looked at Tan Qing on the ground. ’So the person in front of her is Kun Sha?’
"Go on back. If I find out you haven’t done as I said..."
"I won’t, I won’t..."
Jiang Li’s consciousness returned with a jolt. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
’I won’t, I won’t... The last part must have been some kind of title.’
’Their conversation... it didn’t sound like Kun Sha. What was that title?’
"She’s at the house now. When are we making our move?"
"No word from the higher-ups yet. Just keep her calm for now."
Jiang Li opened her eyes, listening to the whispering outside. After a moment, she couldn’t make out anything important, so she simply closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
The sound of RUSTLING filled her ears, and a bone-chilling gust of wind washed over her, shocking her eyes open.
When she saw her surroundings clearly, she froze. ’This... the middle of nowhere?’
’What is this person doing out in the wilderness for no reason?’
"Are we... are we really going to freeze to death out here?"
Her gaze shifted, and only then did she realize there were three other people with her—two men and one woman.
"We were supposed to just follow the director’s lead and act out our roles for this survival show. But what happened? What is this godforsaken place?
It’s all Chang Siqi’s fault for giving bad directions! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have wandered out of the safe zone. Now what are we going to do?"
The woman in white, Cui Yun, immediately aimed all her accusations at her.
All they had to do was follow the route set by the organizers and stick to their scripts for a week.
But who would’ve thought this nobody, Chang Siqi, would lead everyone astray? And look at them now, trapped here for a whole day and night.
They were cold, hungry, and terrified. They couldn’t even start a fire. It was getting colder and colder; if this kept up, they might die of hypothermia.
"Chang Siqi, you bitch!"
Cao Yue shot up in a rage and stormed over to her. He lifted her up like a chick and slapped her hard across the face. Her cheek instantly flushed and burned.
Jiang Li was immediately incensed. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to hit her like that.
Just as she was about to retaliate, a chorus of wolf howls suddenly erupted around them.
Everyone’s hair stood on end. They huddled together in fear.
"Wolves! Th-there are actually wolves here!" Cui Yun shrank into Cao Yue’s arms in fear.
Hearing the howls surrounding them, Cao Yue was also scared to death.
"Fuck! Wolves! From the sound of it, there’s more than one. We’re screwed. Are we really going to die here tonight?!"
The more Cao Yue listened, the more he panicked. The howls were all around them, but they didn’t seem to be getting any closer.
"Alright, quiet down. What if you attract the pack?" Gao Bo, who had been silent until now, warned in a hoarse voice.
Maybe the pack hadn’t approached because they hadn’t noticed them yet. If they drew their attention, they would surely be dead.
The three of them instantly fell silent, huddling together for warmth and glaring at her with vicious, hateful eyes.
She pushed herself up from the ground and leaned against a nearby tree. Logically, being outnumbered, she should have kept a low profile. Instead, she leaned against the tree and grinned.
Cao Yue, who had a fiery temper to begin with, warned in a low voice, "Chang Siqi, are you trying to die?"
Cui Yun and Gao Bo were also stunned. Chang Siqi was a nobody with very little fame; she’d only gotten on this survival show to chase clout through sheer dumb luck.
From their time with her, they’d thought she was just a weak, foolish idiot. But now, she was smiling with such a wicked expression.
Cui Yun suddenly pointed at her. "I get it! Chang Siqi, you did this on purpose, didn’t you?
You knew there were wolves here, you deliberately led us here, didn’t you!
At the beginning, you said you grew up in the mountains and knew them well enough to lead us back, but instead we just got more and more lost!"
Chang Siqi looked at the three people before her. "Yes. I did it on purpose."
Gao Bo stared at her, aghast. "We barely know you. Why would you be so malicious?"
She took a slow breath and looked at them. "No. The faces of the three of you... I’ll never forget them as long as I live."
The group looked bewildered. No matter how hard they thought, they couldn’t remember how they had ever offended her.
She saw the confusion in their eyes and let out a mocking laugh. "HAHAHA! You destroyed my family, and you can’t even remember it.
You deserve to die!"
Cui Yun suddenly remembered something. She gripped Cao Yue’s hand, looked at both men, and said fearfully, "Is... is it about two years ago...?"
"How is that possible! It was just an abandoned house! How could anyone have been inside?"
With Cui Yun’s prompting, Cao Yue suddenly remembered too.
Two years ago, the three of them had gone on a road trip to the snowfields. They pitched a tent on an empty lawn, had a barbecue, and were having the time of their lives.
But after nightfall, just like tonight, they had encountered a pack of wolves.
They ran around in fear and finally spotted a house.
At that time... at that time...
Cao Yue looked up at her. "It was Gao Bo! Gao Bo said wolves are afraid of fire.
But we just gathered some firewood, held up torches, and left! We didn’t do anything else!"
It had been a heart-pounding escape, which was why he could still remember it now.
’They didn’t do anything, so how could Chang Siqi’s family have died?’
"Is that so?" She used the tree to pull herself up, her eyes red as she stared at them. "Really? You didn’t do anything at all?"
Jiang Li keenly noticed a flicker of guilt in all three of their eyes.
She laughed wildly, pointing at Cui Yun. "You! You fell when you got to the door and dropped your torch. Do you remember where it landed?"
Cui Yun’s eyes darted away. ’It landed in the woodpile next to the house and started a fire.
But they were all focused on escaping. Besides, there were no lights on in the house, and no one reacted to the wolf howls, so she just ignored it.’
Her finger swung to Cao Yue. "And you? Do you remember what you did?"
Cao Yue’s arm tensed. ’Back then, the house had caught on fire. The wolves stopped chasing them and instead surrounded the house, howling wildly.
Did he see something then? It was too dark, he couldn’t see clearly.’
"I didn’t know anyone was inside." Cao Yue fumbled behind him, his hand tightening around a rock as a vicious glint flashed in his eyes. ’So her whole family was wiped out.
She should go down and join them for a family reunion.
As for those wolves... he had a way to deal with them back then, and he can do it now, too!’