[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds":3,"chapter-starting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds-starting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds-chapter-339":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from a Solitary Life in the Wilds",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2302724,4503,"Chapter 339: A Moment of Joy and Despair!","starting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds-chapter-339",339,"\u003Cp>While Shen Mengsan didn’t know what Hong Liu was thinking at that moment, he said nothing and immediately turned the snowmobile toward the location Hong Liu had pointed to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, Shen Mengsan silently muttered to himself, “Our lives are in your hands now, kid—hope you didn’t misread it just now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their voices were loud, but drowned out by the howling wind; the drone hovering precariously in the air couldn’t hear their conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the two turn back, viewers in the livestream erupted into a flood of question marks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are Senior Shen and his partner doing? Why are they turning around? Are they insane?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could Senior Shen and his team have given up hope of survival?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No! Even a sliver of hope must be seized! Senior Shen, don’t do anything stupid!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right! Even though the camera’s shaking badly, showing the superstorm drawing closer, there’s still a chance to escape—turning back now means certain death.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Please no! I can’t even watch this anymore!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t let Xiao Shen come out fine while the rescue team gets wiped out—that’d be truly fucked!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I hope God protects Xiao Shen and Senior Shen and brings them home safely!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Viewers in the livestream were saying all kinds of things, but most expressed confusion over why Shen Mengsan and his partner were turning back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, many also voiced concern for their situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, right now, their odds looked like nine deaths to one life—and if you were pessimistic, it was practically ten to zero.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, viewers clung to the hope that some miracle might occur at this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And everyone in the livestream knew full well that Xiao Yi and the rescue team were already in extreme peril.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Mengsan and his partner were now the only source of real-time information about the situation on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, it wasn’t just viewers who were agitated—it was also Li Yong in the base control room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the hell is Shen Mengsan doing? Is he trying to get the whole crew killed?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yong, at this moment, looked like a raging lion, as if he wanted to destroy everything around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him roar, none of the staff nearby dared to respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The atmosphere in the control room instantly froze to ice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some staff even felt the base interior was colder than the outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few even silently blamed Shen Mengsan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sudden blizzard had already thrown everyone at the base into chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Shen Mengsan’s “backstab” move had made the chaos worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Yong’s assistant finally spoke up to ease the tension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Has communication with Senior Shen been reestablished? Communications team, connect immediately—find out exactly what’s happening with Senior Shen!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the assistant himself was overwhelmed—he’d proposed the trip and was responsible for it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The program had been going exceptionally well, even delightfully so, until this unexpected disaster struck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this wasn’t handled properly, not only would he bear responsibility, but the entire show’s future—season two included—was at stake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sorry! This blizzard is too severe—all communications are currently down. The only reason we can still see Senior Shen’s location is because the Dajiang drone is exceptionally reliable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the assistant asked, the technician could only explain helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before a blizzard of this magnitude, even in the remote Arctic, communication failure was normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in inland regions with top-tier infrastructure, communication disruption was standard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, the assistant could only smile bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d known the answer already—not just him, but everyone on the crew had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in moments like this, people still secretly hoped for an unexpected piece of good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One could only say: against a disaster of this scale, human effort was pitifully small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps only in such moments did humans truly feel awe—and reflection—toward nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yong, meanwhile, slowly calmed down. He wasn’t a hothead, but the pile of frustrations had shattered his usual composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Li, everyone—look! What’s that over there with Senior Shen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, a staff member cried out in excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shout startled everyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All turned toward the voice and stared at the large screen connected to the drone—there, a surprising sight appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A cave! A one-meter-wide cave—maybe too tight for an adult to crawl into, but right now, it might save their lives!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Shen Mengsan and his partner had stopped the snowmobile—they’d found the cave Hong Liu had described.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But staring at the cave, both fell silent, for just beyond it lay fresh bear paw prints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cave filled them with both hope and dread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It might save their lives—but this was hibernation season, and the cave could very well house a bear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a bear was inside, hibernating, they still faced death—possibly a worse fate than freezing, since they weren’t monsters like Xiao Yi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior Shen, look at the size of those paw prints—this is definitely a black bear’s den. At least it’s not a grizzly—that’d be worse!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Against the howling wind, Hong Liu shouted to Shen Mengsan beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black bears and grizzlies differed greatly in size; for Hong Liu and others who lived long-term in the wild, paw print size was a reliable way to tell them apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Shen Mengsan just rolled his eyes—was this the time to debate what kind of bear it was?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shouldn’t they be praying the cave was empty of hibernating beasts?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though they carried pistols, if they didn’t hit a vital spot, a beast this close could still kill them easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look for any long branches nearby!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Mengsan shouted to Hong Liu, who immediately understood his intent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Liu trudged off into the wind, and Shen Mengsan didn’t waste a second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t the best method—if they had time, lighting a fire at the cave entrance and driving the bear out with smoke while lying in ambush would’ve been ideal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just half an hour, they’d know whether a hibernating bear was inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they had no time—not even half an hour. They might have only five minutes to test the cave. Now, they had to risk it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Mengsan didn’t hesitate—he began searching for branches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior Shen, check this out!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Liu returned, holding a two-meter-long branch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Mengsan nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll go in—you take position for the ambush!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1041,"2026-06-20T08:19:47.933Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","899ecc0a852f67e771955985d8cd890a80161cc1850d175bc85f173224c77647","starting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds-chapter-340","starting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds-chapter-338",366,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-a-solitary-life-in-the-wilds-cover.jpg"]