Chapter 31: Xiong Zai

The world does not pause for anyone’s departure.

The wilderness challenge show will not halt either because of Mo De Kai En’s departure.

Instead, those who remained carefully learned from his failures after he left, refining their survival skills in the wild.

They strive to stay longer in the show until they claim the final prize of ten million.

As for Xiao Yi, after drinking the now-warm fish soup, he immediately began his task for the day.

Today, he would retrieve the clay from that cave and build a heated bed.

After tidying himself up, he picked up four grass baskets with a wooden stick and headed straight toward the cave.

Since he had left marks on the tree last time, Xiao Yi no longer needed to rely on memory or scent to find it.

“Hmm! This smell is familiar? It’s that dumb bear’s scent.”

Approaching near the cave, as he stared at the dark entrance, his keen sense of smell delivered the most direct feedback to his mind.

Instantly, Xiao Yi’s expression changed; his entire body tensed with caution, and he unconsciously set down the baskets, gripping his wooden stick tightly.

The excitement from finding the clay the day before, and the clay’s own odor, had caused him to instinctively ignore the bear’s scent.

Now, returning here today, the difference between the clay’s smell and the bear’s scent made it immediately obvious to him.

What bad luck— he had thought he’d never see that dumb bear again, yet today he smelled it again in this very cave.

Truly, whether lucky or cursed, he could not tell.

Yet Xiao Yi’s actions triggered immediate discussion among everyone in his livestream.

Xiao Yi’s livestream, after its initial peak from the official account’s promotion, has gradually seen a decline in viewership and popularity.

But this decline is only relative to when his stream reached its highest numbers.

For the past two days, his livestream viewership has remained stable; about one million people still stay up all night just watching him sleep.

Then the numbers slowly rise, fluctuating around four million until he sleeps again, when they begin to drop.

“What’s the master doing? Why is he dragging his feet? Didn’t he smoke out the cave the day before?”

“Normal! You forgot the master always plays it safe. Mo De Kai En was just eliminated today—how could the master not be cautious?”

“Cautious is expected, but Xiao Shen seems off—too cautious, like he’s facing a deadly enemy.”

“Huh? Now that you mention it, I feel the same.”

“Damn, is the master encountering another giant predator again? That’s too brutal.”

“No way! He’s just getting clay. Besides, my Ningning didn’t even milk the master today—can’t be this unlucky.”

…

…

At this moment, the three hosts in the main livestream also looked puzzled—why had Xiao Yi stopped just before the cave instead of advancing?

“Qinglin, what do you think contestant No. 6 Xiao Yi is doing?”

Cai Luo Han asked Yang Qinglin, having recently become superstitious about Lemon Theory.

He knew Yang Qinglin liked Xiao Yi, so he hoped she’d say something good about him.

“Damn, Qingjie, don’t say too much! The master’s heated bed and wooden hut plan is hard enough already.”

“A ten-year fan just dropped in—please, if you can’t say anything good, say something bad! I’ll switch sides right after.”

“Support Qingjie praising Xiao Shen a bit—what’s the point watching him build a house? Give us something more thrilling.”

“I wonder what’s wrong with you? What did the master ever do to you?”

“Support Qingjie saying something bad!”

“Yes, the worse, the better!”

“Qingjie, you’re a positive idol—don’t screw over the master. Say the worst possible things, hope he’s in mortal danger.”

…

…

Yang Qinglin “… ”

After hearing Cai Luo Han’s words, Yang Qinglin immediately frowned.

If she couldn’t see through Cai Luo Han’s petty schemes, she never would have risen in the cutthroat entertainment industry.

Thus, she felt strong disgust toward his behavior—and toward him personally.

People like him, with only petty cleverness, never last long in entertainment.

Yang Qinglin knew silence was the wisest choice now.

If she said something good, Xiao Yi’s wilderness fans would roast her.

If she said something bad, new viewers who didn’t know the context would roast her too.

Still, what the hell were these people in the chat trying to do?

Seeing the comments in the livestream, she couldn’t help but laugh and sigh.

The “poisonous blessing” persona was so frustrating.

It should’ve collapsed long ago, yet it somehow held strong.

Worse, it had grown more believable, even influencing the mindset of those around her and in the livestream.

But Yang Qinglin was no fool—she smiled and said:

“I’m still new to the wilderness, so I won’t rashly judge Xiao Yi’s current state—would only invite ridicule.”

“But isn’t there another wilderness master in our livestream? Bo Ye, can you share your guess?”

Seeing Yang Qinglin pass the topic to Bo Ye, Cai Luo Han felt a pang of disappointment.

Bo Ye’s translator relayed Yang Qinglin’s words to him; upon hearing them, Bo Ye spoke with absolute certainty:

“Based on my instinct, Xiao is facing a formidable enemy.”

Xiao’s expression and movements were nearly identical to how he looked when he first encountered a lion.

That’s why Bo Ye spoke so confidently.

Soon after Bo Ye finished speaking, Xiao Yi grimaced and spoke directly toward the drone:

“Everyone, our luck might be bad—I smelled that dumb bear’s scent inside the cave.”

“Ohhh! I was half-asleep, but now I’m wide awake.”

“Damn, the master and Xiong Zai really are locked in love-hate—what incredible fate!”

“Haha, this is my favorite part of the show—but master, be careful.”

“Exactly! I came here because of Xiong Zai. I thought the master and Xiong Zai would never meet again—looks like fate loves this couple.”

“Clearly, Xiong Zai is the master’s lifelong nemesis!”

…

…

Xiao Yi’s words sent waves through the livestream.

He thought encountering the dumb bear was bad luck, but the audience didn’t agree.

That dumb bear had amassed countless fans in Xiao Yi’s livestream—half the viewers came just for him.

Now that they heard Xiao Yi had found him again, everyone erupted in excitement, shouting “Thrilling!”

At this moment, Yang Qinglin in the main livestream stared in shock. She had originally dismissed it, thinking Xiao Yi was just overthinking—how could one person be this unlucky?

Had her “poisonous blessing” ability reached this level now?

She silently thanked her luck for not falling into Cai Luo Han’s trap.

Otherwise, her “poisonous blessing” reputation might have grown even stronger.

Who would’ve thought her lifelong reputation would be ruined by this show?

What did the outside world used to say about her? A representative of the new generation’s acting talent, one of the Four Little Fairies, heir to the Best Actress title, one of the rare young actors with both skill and popularity.

Now? Yang Qinglin? Oh yeah—the poisonous blessing girl.

…

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