Chapter 191: The Final Moments Before Auto-Shutdown (All Support Appreciated)

'Roar—!'

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

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

Watching this moment on the livestream, everyone froze, forgetting to breathe.

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

Qin Yun held his dagger with icy calm. Facing the bear's final, desperate thrash—even a graze could instantly end his life—he chose not to retreat and wait for the alkaloid in the Ice-Sleep Grass in its body to take effect, but to face it directly.

Of course, not out of recklessness—because the bear's movements were visibly slowing, while he remained at his peak.

Beyond strength and weight, Qin Yun held every advantage.

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

The bear's eyes revealed complex emotions—it knew better than anyone else the abnormality in its body, the creeping fear as its energy slowly drained away.

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 made contact in less than a breath.

'Whosh—!'

The terrifying paw swept past—missing everything—but a dreadful rush of air followed, revealing the sheer force of the blow. Qin Yun, even at 1.85 meters and 85 kilograms, or even three hundred jin, could not withstand this beast's strike.

Viewers on the livestream watched Qin Yun narrowly dodge the paw, twisting his body midair in an unnatural pose, then driving his dagger straight into the bear's arm. Using the force of the blade sinking into flesh, he spun backward, landing squarely on the bear's back.

Then, he pulled the dagger free and drove it hard 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 pushed off hard with both feet, launching himself into the air.

'Boom—!'

The bear's back hit the ground, shaking the earth 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 cut was brutally clean—under his terrifying strength, the blade plunged straight in.

'Aaaow—!'

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

Seeing this, Qin Yun spun nimbly, dodging 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, its eyes bulging.

Front and back, his dagger had nearly vanished entirely into the bear's belly—this devastating wound became the final straw.

Simultaneously, under violent exertion, the Ice-Sleep Grass alkaloid in its bloodstream began to activate.

From within and without, the bear began to feel weakness.

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

After saying that, he checked the time on the locator; there was less than half an hour left before it would automatically shut down.

At this moment, the production team timely overlaid the drone's auto-shutdown timer on his livestream, making the urgency unmistakable.

Qin Yun did not act rashly—he stood quietly to wait.

Another ten minutes passed; the bear's struggles grew weaker, until it fell completely still. Only then did he approach.

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

He, alone, had actually brought down such a terrifying bear. Had not countless witnesses seen it, even he himself would not be believed—humanity, without tools or technology, could kill a 400-kilogram adult brown bear using only primal methods.

The bear was still not unconscious, but its eyes had grown hazy.

It stared at the two-legged creature so close, wanting to swipe and kill it—but had lost control of its own body.

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

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

Its entire body was drenched in blood, riddled with arrow wounds—six or seven arrows still stuck in its flesh, pitiful beyond words. In contrast, Qin Yun's clothes were untouched, no tear or rip—only smudges of dirt and leaves. No one could tell this man had just defeated the beast.

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 and yanked it free, then plunged it deep into the bear's neck—fully embedded—ending its life.

Listeners on the livestream, aside from PETA's furious curses, were all stunned.

'OMG, how could Qin say that?'

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

'FUCK, Qin's line is so slick.'

'newbility!'

'Master Qin is awesome, hahaha.'

'Master Qin's line almost twisted my waist.'

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

'6666, I'm convinced.'

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

Butchering was too bloody; better to avoid it if possible.

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

As the time slowly ticked toward its end, countless netizens grew increasingly tense.

Finally, with just two minutes left, Qin Yun located the key near the brown bear's rectum, just before it would be expelled.

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

On camera, everyone's gaze locked onto the locator.

"Ding—!"

The locator responded; with the alert tone, the original dot vanished, and the device rapidly zoomed in, a new dot appearing swiftly on the screen.

But the instant that dot appeared, the locator suddenly went black.

Time's up!

"What the fuck, my phone just died without me seeing anything!"

"Shit, did Qin Ye see it?"

"Who could see anything? The spot showed up and then it went black."

"Jesus, is Qin gonna lose?"

"So close! Qin Ye, at the last second—just a little faster and he'd have made it!"

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

Yet his expression remained calm, showing no trace of disappointment.

"Lucky break—I found the treasure's location at the last moment."

Hearing this, the livestream viewers paused, stunned.

"What do you mean? Qin Ye actually knows the location?"

"No way—I just recorded it. Only three or four frames—how are you supposed to remember that?"

"Trust Qin Ye."

Qin Yun said nothing. He squatted down and began carving into the frozen ground with his dagger.

"I'm here. The locator's dot appeared right here. North is directly this way. The straight-line distance between them, judging by the grid, is about 25 km."

In no time, a rough, simplified map appeared on camera.

"Puff!"

Stabbing his dagger into the spot marked for the treasure, Qin Yun smiled faintly: "That's why I said I was lucky—this spot is only 25 km from the treasure. If I head straight this way, I'll reach Lin Hu quickly."

Watching Qin Yun pin down the location in mere seconds, netizens stared in disbelief.

Holy shit—he memorized that much info in such a short time? What kind of brain is that? Too terrifying.

For Qin Yun, the dot's appearance on the locator had been brief, but crystal clear—he effortlessly imprinted the entire image into his mind using visual memory techniques. To him, it was basic memory work.

Still, the timing had been razor-thin—just barely missed.

Had he not learned the location, he'd have had to end this wilderness survival—and the two million dollars would've been out of reach.

Qin Yun packed up, chopped off a pair of bear paws, took some fat from the bear's back, 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 foods weren't worth keeping.

Qin Yun quickened his pace.

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

Had she not fled fast enough, she might've been swallowed by the lone wolf.

She helplessly pressed the emergency beacon.

Looking into the camera, Guo Yao shook her head, showing little regret.

"Phew… I don't know how many are left, but Qin Ye is definitely among them. I believe he'll win the championship. I'm already satisfied just making it this far—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 support. I'm Guo Yao, from China. Signing off today."

Seeing this, Guo Yao's follower count on Douyin in China surged. After so long, many had grown fond of this beautiful, capable outdoor girl. Though she couldn't match Qin Yun, for a girl to reach this point was extraordinary.

With Guo Yao's exit, the livestream's active viewers stabilized at seven. The success rate for this second stage was remarkably high.

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

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

Moreover, except for Qin Yun and Justin, all others were native American contestants—by numbers, the U. S. had won decisively.

But there was only one treasure chest. Under winner-takes-all rules, only one victor would emerge.

Yet under these circumstances, an astonishing scene unfolded.

Tang Mu was the first to reach the locator's target location. Before him stood a mountain rising over a thousand meters above the lake, with a radius of nearly ten kilometers.

Gazing at the mountain, he frowned.

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

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

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

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

"Why aren't we climbing?" Gerard smiled at Jack. "Maybe the treasure's on the summit. The sooner we go up, the sooner we get it."

Jack's lip twitched. Fuck—how do you climb a thousand-meter Bingshan? With your head?

Seeing Jack silent, Gerard turned to Tang Mu, his gaze grave—this man was his greatest rival in the competition.

Tang Mu scanned the four of them. Each looked in decent shape. He nodded silently: "Do you think the treasure's inside the mountain?"

"What do you mean?" Xiao En frowned. "The locator clearly showed it's inside. 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 long, pointing toward the base of the distant mountain: "Don't forget, there's still a portion of this lake below. The locator only tracks horizontal position, not altitude, so the chest could be on the mountaintop or at the bottom of the lake."

Upon hearing this, the others first froze, then burst into laughter.

"How could that be? If the chest is at the bottom of the lake, how do we retrieve it? Are we supposed to dive deep…?"

Xiao En stopped mid-sentence—he realized this possibility wasn't entirely impossible.