Chapter 1044: Oh my, encountering an ex on a survival variety show! 14

Lin Gui was so frightened his voice trembled; as he wiped the mud off his face, tears slid down his cheeks, his expression still somewhat wooden.

He used He Chao's arm to pull himself up, but just as he straightened his legs gave out and he knelt, falling to the ground, dazedly reaching for his right foot, sobbing, "My foot… my ankle hurts."

"Let me check."

He Chao pressed on it and said, "It's probably just a strain; the bone is fine."

"Stand up slowly; there's only a little distance left."

He Chao had wanted to say he'd just carry him over, but this road was littered with bomb ambushes, and everything happening now had already surpassed his understanding and control.

Without Lin Gui leading the way, it's truly dangerous.

Lin Gui also didn't want to entrust his life to someone without luck.

He slowly watched He Chao's strength move forward, but he no longer had the earlier smug confidence, each step taken cautiously.

〖Laughing to death, didn't we say good luck? 〗

〖Schrödinger's luck. 〗

〖What's so funny? Everyone has moments of clumsiness! 〗

Jin Chen withdrew his gaze from observing the two protagonists, and upon turning his eyes saw Yu Sui's puzzled expression.

Yu Sui: "You're paying a lot of attention to them."

From the first day onward I discovered that, although I thought it was a mission requiring protection, at every crucial moment Jin Chen would trip them up.

Jin Chen wanted to speak but suddenly stopped, turned his gaze, and continued walking forward with big steps, "I won't talk to you until your tongue heals."

Yu Sui: "……"

The already staunched tongue tip licked his lips, feeling somewhat gloomy.

He followed closely behind, inexplicably feeling guilty after making a mistake.

But clearly he hadn't made any mistake.

Yu Sui walked while observing the terrain, nerves taut, keeping pace with Jin Chen without rushing or lagging.

Many times he wanted to reach out and grab Jin Chen's collar, but each time he pulled back, the pressure around him growing ever lower.

On this road everyone walked with difficulty, as if treading on thin ice.

As they were about to reach the endpoint, Jin Chen suddenly stopped, glanced downward, and Yu Sui immediately rushed over anxiously, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm… I stepped on a landmine."

Jin Chen's tone remained calm.

Only Yu Sui was frightened by those words; he stared at Jin Chen's left foot, which he dared not move, his breathing somewhat difficult, his throat tight.

So Yu Sui didn't follow the original route forward; he stepped beside Jin Chen, raised his head firmly, "Let me do it."

Who would have thought that just two steps forward, Jin Chen wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him into his embrace, Yu Sui completely leaving the intended path and falling into Jin Chen's arms.

As his nose bumped into the broad shoulder, Yu Sui was still a bit dazed, instinctively grabbing Jin Chen's arm and blinking blankly.

"What are you doing…"

"I was just teasing you, I didn't actually step on it."

Jin Chen's tone was teasing, his eyes holding a sharp glint, yet he swept his gaze toward the spot where Yu Sui had been standing; there was a deep, sharp gouge, so sharp that taking another half step forward would trigger it.

It seems not only the surface of this forest, but also underground there's something.

Upon hearing that, Yu Sui's first reaction was to sigh in relief, then emotions welled up, and he no longer remembered that Jin Chen was angry with him.

He shoved the person away forcefully, his nose and eye rims turning red, which became even more noticeable against his pale skin, "You lied to me again!"

"Again…?"

Jin Chen raised his brows in surprise, arms crossed, "Again deceiving you, when did I ever deceive…"

He was saying that when he suddenly realized.

Perhaps it was when he was about to leave the organization, deceiving the little brat into doing other tasks, and after going, he never came back.

Feeling guilty, he rubbed his nose, Jin Chen gave a light cough, "Alright, I really did deceive you."

Yu Sui stared at him, normally not good with words, but now his emotions were agitated, his speech becoming incoherent, he casually wiped his forearm across his face, smudging the corners of his eyes red.

"You're still angry… I'm actually not angry at all, you've been gone so long my anger has faded… I just wanted to find you."

"Alright, alright, don't cry."

Jin Chen cupped the youth's tense cheeks, his thumb wiping away the tears, then directly reached out and pulled the person into his embrace, his chin rubbing against the top of the head.

"Isn't this finding you? And no arms or legs broken."

But other than that, he didn't say anything further.

Yu Sui rubbed his tears dry in Jin Chen's embrace, took a few seconds to straighten up, his tone awkward.

"You… you're not allowed to stay silent."

He licked his lips again, voice soft, "It'll be fine soon."

"Hmph, we'll see how you behave."

Jin Chen lightly scratched the youth's perky nose, yet he didn't immediately promise either.

"Coaxing you is coaxing you, but there's still no cream cake at noon; if you don't improve your memory, next time you might bite off your tongue."

Yu Sui curled the corner of his mouth, wearing a sullen frown.

He kept his eyes on Jin Chen's moved foot, confirming there was really no danger, then put his mind at ease and continued forward.

〖Surely they're a little couple!! What's the difference from having done it?! 〗

〖It also counts as letting Chengzi experience the feeling of a wife acting spoiled! 〗

〖A hundred thousand curiosities, what exactly happened between those two before?! 〗

〖Completely disrespecting the level's duo, other guests trembling, lives hanging by a thread, these two lovebirds chatting and flirting, still quite lively. 〗

The third level's explosions filled the sky; fortunately the triggered ones were just a few duds, the mental devastation far outweighing the physical impact, but even so, several guests were injured, shrapnel blasting different body parts.

After all that, it's already getting close to evening.

The guests' stamina has been pushed to the limit, but the fourth stage is right before them; if they rest for a night like this, they'd probably waste a lot of time.

After discussion, they decided to clear the fourth stage before setting up camp to rest.

——

"Wow... what a huge stone."

Su Nai stood with hands on her hips, head tilted up, her gloved hand shading her forehead to avoid being dazzled by the sunset's light.

Around them, many such huge stones were scattered, each of different shape, strangely rugged, and their distribution was also quite odd.

Standing among them, they felt only a sense of oppression.

"So what does the fourth stage mean?"

Shen Yi muttered the question, the swelling having gone down somewhat, but his speech was still unclear.

Jin Chen laid the map fragments on the ground, the guests gathered around to look, and they all chimed in with their thoughts.

Xie Shao: "Could it be that we're supposed to walk a maze?"

Su Nai: "Not likely; the production crew wouldn't be that kind, and besides, you could just walk around a few times and get out."

Lin Gui didn't join them in guessing; instead, as if to test his own luck, he walked a few circles around the huge stones. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he pulled a mission card from a crack between two stones.

"There's a mission card here."

Lin Gui waved the thing in his hand, and the foul mood from almost being blown up just vanished.

He tore open the envelope card and read out the rules written on it.

"Solve the formation and escape the Stone Array. Note: Please do not attempt to force your way through; you bear the consequences."

All the guests froze.

Shen Yi: "... Break the formation?"

This is no longer something that can be accomplished purely by stamina and willpower.

Damn it, who knows what kind of formation is here!