Chapter 38

On the seventh day of living alone in the wilderness, nothing special occurred.

Xiao Yi focused on firing bricks, while Wu En’s gaze continually tracked the large predators; now free from food constraints, Wu En’s range of movement expanded greatly.

Wu De still prayed as usual that his trap would yield a good catch today, so he could have a full meal.

Wang Xing was still recovering from his injuries, but his rations were decent—he had rabbit meat and even made himself a mushroom soup.

The fat kid Mu Tingwei’s luck remained as dazzling as ever; every trap he set always netted at least one rabbit, sometimes two.

This made the livestream audience feel he had an unfair advantage in the competition.

But Mu Tingwei himself felt uncertain—he didn’t know how long his luck could last.

If he could choose, he wished for 100 days; if that was impossible, heaven could at least give him a discount—fifty days would suffice, so he could at least earn a decent prize.

The remaining three—Liu Hong, Jiang Yiyi, and Zhong Yicheng—still spent every day laboring for food, sometimes returning empty-handed and forced to go hungry.

They three were truly the ones who best reflected the most authentic side of the wilderness survival challenge.

The rest either had physical hacks, mental hacks, luck hacks, physical condition hacks, or real hacks.

…

…

Night fell again, darkness once more enveloping the earth; Xiao Yi’s three fire pits had now gone out, leaving behind piles of fired bricks.

Aside from the mud bricks destroyed last night, all the undamaged ones had been fully fired.

By the end, Xiao Yi’s entire face was blackened with wood ash.

And Xiao Yi himself delivered a non-bonus bonus to his livestream—he took off his clothes again today.

Instantly, the livestream erupted in chaos, with male and female fan camps restarting their battle.

The reason Xiao Yi’s livestream had so many female fans was largely due to his eight-pack abs; he’d become famous overnight after stripping.

There was no help for it—the day’s brick-firing left Xiao Yi drenched in sweat; his body odor was so strong even he couldn’t tolerate it.

Fortunately, the platform applied a mosaic blur, causing some fujoshi to curse loudly.

Yet the livestream’s donations surged geometrically, with Yeyu Tingfeng’s tips standing out especially.

Clearly, women still held the purse strings in most households.

Luckily, Xiao Yi didn’t know about this—if he had, why even participate in this wilderness show? He’d just pack up and go home to livestream swimming tomorrow.

…

…

“Aowu!”

A wolf’s howl shattered the silence of the night; wolves were pack animals, but lone individuals weren’t rare.

As a lone wolf in the wilderness, it was among the hardest predators to survive—after all, wolves were experts in coordinated hunting.

Yet lone wolves of the wilderness were also the most experienced warriors; their strength and cunning surpassed those of wolves living in packs.

Even so, the barrenness of the steppe made it difficult for it to fill its belly daily—that was nature’s rule.

Upon hearing the wolf’s howl, the sound of crow wings flapping soon followed.

These were the crow flock’s sentinels, specially assigned to watch for danger; soon after, an even denser flurry of wingbeats erupted.

Creatures like crows were by no means rare; most nocturnal animals, upon hearing the wolf’s howl, quickly took cover.

After all, wolves were absolute apex predators in this wilderness.

Even when facing the Arctic wilderness’s dominant force—the black bear—wolf packs dared to fight and even hunt.

Though a lone wolf posed less threat than a pack, it still maintained sufficient intimidation over most other wilderness predators.

But the proud, hungry lone wolf didn’t know that danger was drawing ever closer.

…

…

Deep into the night, only a few insects chirped; Xiao Yi appeared asleep, but it was all an illusion.

Inside his sleeping bag, Xiao Yi was fully alert, gripping a wooden stick, waiting for the clumsy bear’s return.

“Ssh-sh, ssh-sh!”

Xiao Yi, whose eyes had been tightly shut, suddenly snapped them open and gripped his stick tighter.

Just now, he’d heard a sound distinct from the wind rustling through the conifer forest—he knew today, he might finally get a reward.

“Damn, why did my god get up?”

“Oh! Looks like there are plenty of fellow cultivators here—not just me!”

“Did something strange happen outside? Did it wake up my god Xiao Shen?”

“Damn, is the bear back again?! I was half-asleep, but suddenly woke up as if I’d swallowed ice!”

“Looks like something serious’s coming—you can see how cautious my god looks right now!”

“Is the third battle between man and bear about to begin? I’m excited, I’m excited!”

“Holy shit, so pumped, so pumped!”

“But is my god okay? It’s pitch black and windy—remember, darkness doesn’t affect bears much; after all, his nickname is ‘Black Blind,’ his daytime vision’s terrible, but my god’s combat power drops sharply.”

“Don’t worry—my god always plays it safe and is a master of ambushes. Don’t fret—I’d bet my life that if Xiao Yi thought he couldn’t handle it, he’d never leave his shelter.”

Xiao Yi “….”

…

…

The lone wolf caught the stench of fish and slowly crept toward the tree’s base; looking up, it saw several strips of fish meat hanging above.

These were the leftover fish flesh and organs from Xiao Yi’s earlier catch of two fish; to prevent rats and the white weasel from stealing them, Xiao Yi had hung them all on the tree with rope.

It leaped repeatedly, trying to reach the meat, sensing it was enough for a full meal.

But the meat was hung at an infuriating height—always just out of reach by a fraction.

As the wolf’s entire attention fixed on the fish, it failed to notice a shadow approaching nearby.

Xiao Yi, meanwhile, caught a glimpse of the wolf’s form and felt a flicker of disappointment.

Just a meat thief? He’d thought the damn clumsy bear had returned.

But the wolf was unlucky—it had stumbled upon Xiao Yi, who was already in a foul mood today; tonight, he’d kill the wolf to vent his anger.

At the same time, the drone followed Xiao Yi out, its lights turning on instantly, flooding the area with brightness.

The lone wolf, fixated on the fish, noticed the light and froze in surprise, then turned sharply toward it with wary eyes.

Seeing Xiao Yi’s figure, it let out a fierce snarl, instinctively sensing the human was dangerous, trying to scare him off with noise.

But Xiao Yi was no longer the man who’d first arrived in the wilderness—he no longer feared wolves.

Now, Xiao Yi was confident: with his physical strength and speed, dealing with this big dog wouldn’t be a problem.

And he held a long defensive stick—he wondered how many blows this dog could take before it fell.