Chapter 176

Perhaps for the sake of the show's effect, everyone's clothing had exceptional insulation; as night fell and temperatures dropped to around minus thirty-five degrees, as long as one wasn't facing the wind, the cold was barely noticeable.

The most severe cold problem didn't pose much difficulty for them.

That night, apart from the unlucky Hanson, everyone successfully built their shelters.

Yet among the forty-nine people, over ten still hadn't found enough food to replenish themselves, but since it was only the first day, though hungry, they could still endure.

Among them, Emily was one of those ten or so.

Her spawn point was also in the forest, but her luck was poor—though her check-in point was only about forty kilometers from his, it lay deep within the endless woods.

If she walked straight through the forest toward her destination, she'd easily get lost, so after consideration, she could only use Lake Atlin as a reference, which ironically increased her distance to eighty or ninety kilometers; if she wandered further in the forest, it could even exceed one hundred kilometers.

That day, after calibrating her direction, she had walked only two or three kilometers when she unfortunately encountered an adult Arctic wolf.

Facing such a fierce beast, it was impossible for Emily not to be afraid, but fortunately, this Arctic wolf had likely just finished eating and didn't attack her—only trailed her from afar, making her tense to the point of panic.

This trailing lasted a full three kilometers.

Throughout, Emily had no time to search for food; she had to remain constantly alert for the wolf's possible attack.

As darkness fell, Emily used a match to light a torch; the moment the torch ignited, the Arctic wolf clearly startled, hesitated outside for a while, then reluctantly left.

Though the danger was gone, Emily had missed the chance to search for lost items and build a proper shelter.

In the end, she could only hastily find a small embankment, use fallen leaves on the ground for basic cover, and light a fire around the perimeter.

With her stomach growling, she shut off her device early and chose to sleep.

As for moving through the night holding a torch, she dared not—this darkness affected her too severely; the torch's visibility range was too narrow, and if she were bitten by something or accidentally encountered another predator, she'd likely be eliminated.

There were many like Emily, but most survivors got through smoothly, and some even had excellent luck—like Jack, who found a snowshoe rabbit that had died by crashing into a tree stump, and gathered plenty of mushrooms nearby, enjoying a hearty meal.

At the production team's camp, a massive screen displayed fifty signals; apart from one gray dot representing Hanson, all others had green dots in the lower-left corner, indicating all participants' vital signs were healthy.

"How's Hanson doing?"

Daniel sipped his coffee and asked casually.

George chuckled: "He scared himself—the snake's venom isn't strong; even if ignored, his body would metabolize it. What a waste."

"Heh, he just had bad luck." Daniel's gaze fell on the screen—by this point, most people's livestreams had ended, with only a few still broadcasting.

"George, who do you think will open the treasure chest this time?"

George immediately pointed to the avatar labeled 32 on the left side of the screen: "Him—Qin, China's extreme sports expert and top-level wilderness survival specialist."

Daniel pointed to an avatar on the right: "Tang Mu—I think he has the best chance. Want to bet?"

"What's the wager?" George's interest sparked.

"We each pick three people and see who makes it to the end—the winner treats the entire production team to dinner."

"No problem, Daniel—get your dollars ready."

"Hahaha."

Quickly, both men selected their contestants: Daniel chose Tang Mu, Jack, and Xiao En—Tang Mu was a retired Navy SEAL, Jack a wilderness survival streamer, and Xiao En a professional hunter.

George chose Qin Yun, Gerard, and Kun Tai—all content creators, one from China, one from the U. S., one from Thailand.

"George, in wilderness survival, Asians can't compete—you wasted two slots," Daniel said with a smirk at George's choices.

"Not necessarily."

Though Daniel was the director, he hadn't personally handled contestant selection—the associate director had also participated, so he'd never actually watched Qin Yun's livestream.

If he had, he wouldn't think that way.

"If we hadn't partnered with TikTok this time, we wouldn't have had these two slots from China."

"Hahaha, no point arguing—Daniel, just don't back out later."

That night, Qin Yun slept fitfully, occasionally rising to add more firewood to keep the external bonfire burning steadily.

Yet despite this, his sleep quality remained high—his powerful cardiopulmonary control allowed him to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and nighttime awakenings affected him not at all.

As dawn's light appeared on the horizon, Qin Yun swiftly exited his shelter and activated his drone and action camera to begin day two's activities.

After a night of air-drying and freezing, the lichen laid aside had hardened like stone; Qin Yun tossed one into his mouth—it was slightly sticky, tasteless, but with cloudberries mixed in, it offered a faint tart-sweetness after chewing.

Good as a snack.

"Good morning, everyone—this is my second day at Lake Atlin. I still have some leftover ptarmigan from yesterday; a bowl of chicken soup and some meat for breakfast—no one could refuse that."

While preparing breakfast, he directed his drone to fly out and capture stunning aerial footage of the forest.

"So beautiful—I'd love to walk there."

"By the way, why can't we tip in this livestream?"

"It's official—what's the point of tipping?"

After eating and drinking his fill, he didn't leave immediately—he cleaned the stone trough, boiled water, and went into the forest to gather several pieces of wood.

"You might not know—I'm also a qualified carpenter in China," Qin Yun said with a faint smile, wielding his dagger as he worked. "In the wild, water is vital. Though it's frozen here and snow is everywhere, you still need to boil it before drinking, so I plan to make a container to store drinkable water."

Qin Yun's carpentry skills had rarely been used—he was a master, but his daily livestreams rarely required them, since he usually went to snow-capped mountains or uninhabited zones with no materials to work with.

His dagger was razor-sharp, and his strength immense.

Under the camera, as his wrist moved, wood shavings flew—soon, a comma-shaped water flask took shape.

He held the finished product up to the lens, proudly saying: "How's that? Beautiful, right? With this flask, I won't have to worry about water anymore."

Then he carved the Chinese character for "Qin" onto the flask.

"666, Brother Qin's craftsmanship is insane—this flask is gorgeous. When the show ends, can you give it to me?"

"Someone's got a big face—give it to you? Better give it to me."

"Go check out others' livestreams—foreigners are so professional."

"No matter how professional they are, who's more professional than Brother Qin? You're just worshiping the West."

"F*** you."

At this moment, the water in the stone trough had already boiled; Qin Yun rinsed the flask, then poured the scalding hot water inside.

He kept the canteen close to his body.

"The temperature here is far too low—left anywhere else, the water would freeze easily, so I need to keep it against my skin to maintain its warmth with my body heat."

After saying this, he extinguished the campfire, put the smoked grouse into his backpack, re-smoldered a fire starter, and then packed up his things and prepared to set off.

"According to my estimate, I'm now less than ten kilometers from the shore of Atlin Lake—I need to pick up the pace and aim to arrive before one o'clock. Let's go!"

"The environment around Atlin Lake is a highly rich ecosystem; the forest teems with animals. This season, we might encounter Arctic wolves, lynxes, snow hares, lemmings, sables, moose—even accidentally stumble upon a brown bear awakened by hunger—so we must be cautious."

"Moreover, this forest holds many hidden crevasses formed by frozen ground collapse, or steep, treacherously slippery slopes—so we must observe every step carefully and never grow careless."

"Wilderness survival is an extreme sport of humanity readapting to nature's limits—you must maintain sufficient reverence."

Qin Yun talked nonstop like a chatterbox, reciting every plant visible on camera as if he knew them all by heart, spouting details effortlessly, as if nothing escaped his knowledge.

Since he'd signed on—and to open up overseas markets—he took this wilderness survival seriously; winning the championship was mandatory, and showcasing his abilities during the livestream was equally important.

In his domestic livestreams, he never explained things in such meticulous detail.

'Snap—!'

Suddenly, the crack of a snapping branch rang out; Qin Yun instantly reached out and seized the flying drone.

The moment he grabbed it, the propellers halted instantly, and silence engulfed the surroundings.

He squinted toward the source of the sound and whispered, "I just heard movement—probably some animal snapping a dry branch."

After saying this, Qin Yun crouched down, hid himself in a thick cluster of bushes, and then peeked cautiously in that direction.

Then his eyes lit up, and he brought the action camera closer.

"Look—you see? A snow hare. In China, there are many ways to cook rabbit meat—braised rabbit, spicy diced rabbit, spicy rabbit head, and more—I'm getting hungry just talking about it…"

Before he finished, a shadow shot out from the opposite side of the snow hare and lunged onto it.

Then—the snow hare went still!

"..."

Qin Yun stared, dumbfounded, utterly speechless.

"Hahahaha, Qin Ye, what's that face for? Why'd you stop laughing?"

"I'm dying laughing."

"Already screenshot—saving it as a meme."

"Qin Ye wanted rabbit head, hahahaha."

"You could just kill that lynx."

He released the drone, letting the camera encompass the scene.

"Guess my braised rabbit's out of the question—the lynx stole it."

Hearing the drone's hum, the lynx, still clutching the hare, lifted its head, eyes brimming with wariness.

Then it turned and bolted back into the woods, vanishing from the frame.

Qin Yun stood up and spread his hands.

"Bad luck—I stumbled upon a lynx hunting. I could've shot it with an arrow, but this lynx didn't offend me, and I'm not hungry, so I'll show mercy and let it go."

Qin Yun continued forward.

He walked for three hours straight; when a sudden gust of cold wind swept over him, a look of delight appeared on his face.

He quickened his steps—and before him, the view suddenly opened wide: a vast ice plain stretched between earth and sky; distant snow-capped mountains loomed, their snowlines undulating along the slopes, merging seamlessly with Binghu, vast and desolate.

"Hahahaha—I've reached the shore of Atlin Lake!"

As he spoke, a distinct, crisp chill brushed his face, invigorating him completely.