Chapter 191: A Hair

«Roar!

The roar echoed through the forest, terrifying animals into trembling retreats.

But facing the enraged brown bear, Qin Yun showed no fear—he charged straight toward the charging beast. This was the first time he had not retreated from a brown bear's assault, but instead met it head-on.

Watching this scene live, everyone in the stream froze, forgetting to breathe.

The drone's camera hovered beside the man and the bear: the man on the left, the bear on the right, tiny versus massive, like needle against point—a visceral, overwhelming visual impact even through the screen.

Qin Yun held his dagger with icy calm. Even though a single brush from the bear's dying thrash could instantly end him, he did not retreat to wait for the ice-sleep herb's alkaloid to take effect—he stood his ground.

Not out of recklessness, but because the bear's movements were visibly slowing, while he remained at his peak.

Except for strength and weight, Qin Yun held every advantage.

If that was the case, not putting on a show would insult the hundreds of millions watching.

The bear's eyes held complex emotions—it knew better than anyone else the strange weakness creeping through its body, the fear of fading energy.

Since adulthood, it had never known fear—but today, it knew it.

That fear made it want to flee, to put as much distance as possible between itself and this two-legged creature.

Though it seemed long, the two leapt and collided in less than a breath.

«Whosh—!

The terrifying paw swept past, missing its target entirely, yet the air cracked with terrifying force—clearly, this blow could crush anything. Qin Yun, even if he weighed three hundred jin, could not withstand this beast's strike.

Viewers watched as Qin Yun, barely avoiding the paw, twisted his body midair in an unnatural pose, then drove his dagger straight into the bear's forearm. Using the blade's penetration as leverage, he spun backward, landing squarely on the bear's back.

Then he yanked the dagger free and plunged it deep into the bear's temple.

Sensing mortal threat, the bear thrashed wildly, collapsing onto the ground to crush the two-legged creature beneath it.

Qin Yun's expression shifted slightly—he kicked hard and launched himself into the air.

«Boom!

The bear's back hit the earth, shaking the ground as if it trembled three times.

Qin Yun landed lightly, then exploded forward with his legs, leaving a blur behind him like a cold-blooded butcher—his dagger silently climbing toward the bear's belly.

«Plop!

The strike was clean, brutal—under his terrifying strength, the blade pierced straight through.

«Aaaagh!

The bear's eyes turned red. The agony shattered its reason—it swung its paw without hesitation toward him.

Qin Yun spun nimbly, evading again—but left his dagger embedded in the bear's belly.

«Thud!

«Ugh!

The first sound was the paw striking the dagger's hilt; the second, the bear's muffled groan as the hilt sank fully into its belly.

Front and back, his dagger had driven almost entirely into the bear's abdomen—this final wound became the straw that broke the camel's back.

Simultaneously, the ice-sleep herb's alkaloid, stirred by violent motion, began taking effect.

From within and without, the bear felt its strength draining.

Qin Yun stood three meters away from the bear. He glanced at the nearby drone and said calmly: «This battle, I won.

He checked the timer on his locator—less than half an hour remained before auto-shutdown.

At that moment, the production team overlaid the locator's auto-shutdown time on his live stream, making the urgency unmistakable.

Qin Yun did not rush—he stood quietly, waiting.

Another ten minutes passed. The bear's struggles grew weaker, then ceased entirely. Only then did he approach.

Standing before the monstrous beast, Qin Yun felt a surge of emotion.

He had taken down this terrifying bear alone—without tools, without aid. Had it not been witnessed by countless eyes, no one would believe a human could kill a 400kg adult brown bear using only primitive means.

The bear was still conscious, but its gaze was hazy.

It stared at the two-legged creature before it, wanting to crush it—but had lost control of its own body.

All it could do was glare, furious, terrified, and unwilling to yield.

Looking at this scene, no one would think the bear was the aggressor—it looked far too broken.

Its entire body was drenched in blood, riddled with arrow wounds. Six or seven arrows still jutted from its flesh—how pitiful. In contrast, Qin Yun's clothes were intact, untouched. Only smudges of dirt and leaves clung to him—he looked nothing like the man who had slain this giant.

Seeing the bear's gaze, Qin Yun's emotions grew complex.

«Sorry. Blame the production team. I'm actually a good person.

As he spoke, he gripped the dagger, yanked it free, then drove it straight into the bear's neck—fully embedded—ending its life.

Viewers heard his words. PETA's furious curses aside, netizens were stunned.

«OMG, how could Qin say that?

«Hahaha, Qin's right—he's a good person. Blame the production team for dropping the key right in this bear's territory.

«FUCK, Qin's line is so slick.

«newbility!

«Master Qin is legendary, hahaha.

«Master Qin's line almost gave me a back spasm.

«Forget whether Master Qin is good or not—this fight was incredible. I doubt any future wilderness survival challenge will ever top this human-versus-beast battle.

«6666, I'm convinced.

Having ended the bear's life, Qin Yun quickly turned the camera and began butchering—it was time, less than ten minutes left.

Butchering was too bloody—he'd avoid it if possible.

This giant beast had thick fat and fur—he had to exert full strength with every cut, or he couldn't even pierce it.

As time ticked toward zero, countless netizens grew tense.

Finally, with only two minutes left, Qin Yun found the key lodged in the bear's rectum—nearly flushed out.

He ignored the filth and odor, placed the key against the locator's sensor, and waited for it to read.

On-screen, every eye locked onto the locator.

«Ding!

The locator reacted. With a chime, the original dot vanished. Instantly, the device zoomed in—a new dot appeared on screen.

But the moment the dot appeared, the locator went black.

Time's up!

«Shit! What the hell? I didn't even see anything before it died!

«Damn, did Qin see it?

«Who could see anything? The spot appeared and then it went black.

«Jesus, is Qin going to lose?

«So close! Master Qin, just one more second!

Qin Yun stared at the black screen, shoved it into his backpack, and turned to the drone's lens.

His expression remained calm—no trace of disappointment.

«Lucky. I found the treasure's location at the last second.

Hearing this, viewers paused.

«What does that mean? Master Qin knows the location?

«No way—I recorded it. Only three or four frames. How could you remember?

«Trust Master Qin.

Qin Yun said nothing. He squatted and began drawing on the frozen ground with his dagger.

«I'm here. The locator's signal appeared here. North is here. The straight-line distance between them, judging by the grid, is about 25 kilometers.

Soon, a rough, crude map appeared on-screen.

«Plop!

He stabbed his dagger into the spot marked as the treasure and smiled faintly: «So I said I was lucky—this spot is only 25 kilometers from the treasure. If I head straight this way, I'll reach Atlin Lake soon.

Watching Qin Yun pinpoint the location in seconds, netizens stared in disbelief.

Holy shit—he memorized so much detail in such a short time. What kind of mind does he have? Terrifying.

For Qin Yun, the locator's dot had flashed briefly—but clearly. Using image memory, he effortlessly imprinted the entire scene in his mind. To him, this was basic. Nothing extraordinary.

But timing was indeed hair's-breadth—just barely.

Had he not seen the location, he'd have had to quit the wilderness survival—and the two million dollars would be gone.

Qin Yun packed up, chopped off a pair of paws, took some back fat, sliced two pieces of hind leg meat, then reluctantly left.

He hated to abandon such delicious food—but time didn't allow it.

Compared to two million dollars, these meals weren't worth keeping.

Qin Yun quickened his pace.

Back in time, Emily successfully retrieved the key—but Guo Yao failed. Not only failed, she suffered serious injuries.

Had she not fled fast enough, she'd have been devoured by the lone wolf.

She helplessly pressed the rescue button.

Looking at the camera, Guo Yao shook her head—no real regret.

«Huh… I don't know how many are left, but Master Qin is definitely among them. I believe he'll win the championship. I'm already satisfied just to have lasted this long. I never expected to win—only to keep going.

She touched her wounded waist, leaned against a tree, her face pale from blood loss.

"Thank you all for your continued support. I'm Guo Yao, Chinese, and I'm signing off today."

Seeing this, Guo Yao's follower count on Douyin in China surged. Over time, many had grown fond of this beautiful and capable outdoor girl. Though she couldn't compare to Qin Yun, for a girl to reach this point was no small feat.

With Guo Yao offline, the number of viewers still in the livestream stabilized at seven—this second round had an exceptionally high success rate.

The seven were Tang Mu, Jack, Xiao En, Gerard, Emily, Justin, and Qin Yun.

Aside from Qin Yun, who was East Asian, the other six were all white.

Moreover, apart from Qin Yun and Justin, all others were native American contestants—in terms of numbers, the United States had won decisively.

But there was only one treasure chest, and under the winner-takes-all rule, there could be only one victor.

Yet under these circumstances, something astonishing happened.

Tang Mu was the first to reach the location marked by the locator, and before him rose a lake mountain nearly ten kilometers in radius, towering over a thousand meters above the water.

Gazing at the mountain before him, he furrowed his brow.

At the same time, another figure arrived from a different direction—it was Xiao En.

The two were barely a kilometer apart; Tang Mu spotted him immediately.

Soon after, two more figures appeared along the lake's edge: Gerard and Jack.

Quickly, these four met for the first time on the show.

"Why not go up?" Gerard smiled at Jack. "Maybe the chest is on the summit—the sooner you climb, the sooner you get it."

Jack's lip twitched. Fuck, how do you climb a thousand-meter ice mountain? With your head?

Seeing he didn't answer, Gerard turned to Tang Mu, his gaze serious—this man was his greatest rival in this competition.

Tang Mu scanned the four of them; each looked in decent condition. He nodded silently: "Do you think the chest is inside the mountain?"

"What do you mean?" Xiao En frowned. "The locator clearly shows it's inside the mountain—could it be wrong?"

"Tang Mu, just say what you're thinking," Jack crossed his arms, eager to hear his theory.

Tang Mu didn't hesitate. He pointed to the lower slope of the distant mountain: "Don't forget—the lake extends beneath this mountain. The locator only tracks horizontal coordinates, not elevation. So the chest could be on the summit—or at the bottom of the lake."

The group fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Impossible? If the chest were at the bottom of the lake, how would you retrieve it? Are you going to scuba dive…"

Xiao En trailed off—he realized this possibility wasn't entirely out of the question.