NOVEL NEXT Chapter 284 - 281: Tearfully Finishing Three Bowls of Rice (Alliance Leader's Additional Chapter)
Chapter 284: Chapter 281: Tearfully Finishing Three Bowls of Rice (Alliance Leader’s Additional Chapter)
Lisa’s hand, clutching the spear, trembled slightly, proving that her current mood was anything but calm.
The noise grew closer and the shrieks more piercing.
Until a dark shadow burst forth from the cave!
Now was the moment!
Her arm muscles contracted in waves, the force traveling along the shaft of the spear, culminating in a lightning-like thrust, aimed at the panic-stricken groundhog!
A squeal of pain.
The feel of leather rebounded, and Lisa’s face lit up with delight—what a big fat rat!
But it wasn’t over yet; there were more than one inside the hole!
Several smaller shadows shot out from the bottom of their coats, scurrying in all directions. Ava was quick to act, swiftly gathering her coat around and capturing three in one move.
“There’s more!”
More shadows darted out and Ava cried out excitedly, reaching out her hands to catch them.
Lisa pulled out her remaining spears, spearing one with each throw. Apart from a few that got away, they snagged three more.
By the time they looked up to catch the other escapees, they had vanished without a trace—almost a dozen had escaped.
“They sure can run fast.”
Ava felt a bit disappointed, but her regret was quickly drowned by excitement as they counted their haul—eight groundhogs in total!
One groundhog was the size of a forearm, extremely plump, enough to feed both of them for four or five days!
The audience shared in their joy, as the two seemed to be the first among all contestants to catch such a large number of prey.
Having snagged so much game, Lisa and Ava couldn’t wait to sit down on the ground. They moved the still-burning fire over, adding a substantial amount of firewood, intending to roast one of the catches right there and then!
After a simple skinning, the fat groundhog was skewered on a stick from head to tailbone and set above the fire, sizzling away, soon oozing golden grease.
At this scene, many female viewers found it unacceptable. Subconsciously, they still saw groundhogs as little different from the usual rats, albeit somewhat cuter, but still rats.
[Can you really eat groundhogs?]
[Yeah, it looks kind of gross, and they’re so cute—can’t imagine eating one]
[I force down three bowls of rice, tears streaming]
“Of course you can eat them, and they’re delicious,” Bi Fang’s memory drifted to the distant past. “On the Tibetan Plateau, groundhogs are a delicacy, especially each autumn, when they are fattest, like little fat bears. Deer meat and lamb don’t even compare. The roasted meat is very tender, bursting with rich fatty flavor; you bite into it, and your mouth is filled with oil.”
Wild groundhogs were amongst the most delicious things Bi Fang remembered eating, surpassing even rabbit meat, which seemed tough by comparison and only tasted good because it had been a long time since the last meal.
Many viewers were drawn in by Bi Fang’s description, swallowing saliva involuntarily.
But soon enough, a lot of viewers realized something.
Wait, Master Fang’s taste buds aren’t like normal people’s—if he thinks it’s delicious, the average person might not be able to stomach it.
What was that saying again? Crunchy and tastes like chicken?
“I’m serious. Why won’t you believe me?”
Bi Fang felt a bit exasperated. And when had he ever mentioned that it tasted like chicken? How had the joke from his previous life followed him here?
Was it brought over by another host?
After capturing the groundhogs, Bi Fang turned his attention to the other contestants. Ji Zuodong followed the river, attempting to catch fish at a bend and managing quite a haul.
They were Arctic aniseed fish, large and fast-growing with firm muscles and delicious taste.
Mugalen, with the power of his bow and arrow, had successfully hunted a jackrabbit and immediately roasted it, mixing it with the leftover sauce from a can, relishing a delightful meal.
It seemed he was adopting a live-off-the-land approach, showing no intention of rationing his food, a robust and bold strategy.
The rest of the contestants had not been as successful. Those who achieved anything had smaller gains, including two who had remained in place and found a stream. They fashioned a small fish trap, baited it with some earthworms, and managed to catch a few small fish.
By afternoon, Marcus’s cold had worsened significantly, his complexion was very pale, and his temperature rose to 39 degrees Celsius. At this point, his stubbornness was of no use, and he was compelled to press the rescue button.
It was then that the audience realized: only half of the second day had passed, and already three people had been eliminated. From the original sixteen contestants, only twelve remained.
“The early stages of survival are always the most difficult, testing the willpower, skillfulness, and adaptability of individuals. If you can endure the first five days, the rest will be much easier. I bet there will be another wave of eliminations tomorrow and the day after. By the fifth day, I estimate that only seven to eight will remain.”
Seven to eight?
Many viewers fell silent. It sounded like a lot—half the contestants remained. But they hadn’t forgotten that these sixteen contestants were no ordinary people. Most were ex-military; even those who weren’t had related professional experience.
And only seven to eight might survive five days?
What if they were all ordinary people?
Would that mean total annihilation?
By the end of the competition, could they not even muster the top three?
Moreover, they heard from another safety advisor that the black and brown bears might awaken earlier than expected, adding a sinister element to the already silent forest.
Just watching the live stream was thrilling enough. This was the greatest charm of wilderness live streams, something past shows never achieved, far surpassing the tension and excitement of recorded programs.
Bi Fang, however, wasn’t worried; three could still make it to the end. With this thought, he pulled up the mini-map again, looking towards Bonuo, who had ventured the farthest.
This guy wasn’t just traversing the wilderness; he was heading towards the direction of the cabin.
Bonuo was one of the escapees, but his method of escape differed from the other two; he avoided a direct confrontation and vanished into the crowd, which led many viewers to underestimate him. But this was not a display of incompetence.
“`
At least the determination to head straight for the cabin with no hesitation isn’t something everyone possesses, which means a trek of a hundred kilometers would have gone to waste.
“We should be able to get there by tomorrow.”
Since today’s signal flare had vanished, Bonuo didn’t dare to proceed rashly. After closing in to less than twenty kilometers, he slowed down to wait until noon the following day to launch another red flare, which should get him there.
[The first one to find the cabin?]
[What’s inside anyway? I’m so curious, I really want to know (rolling on the floor)]
[Is there food inside? There isn’t a submachine gun in there, is there?]
“Submachine gun?” Bi Fang sweated, “You guys really dare to dream. If there was a submachine gun, we might as well just declare the winner right now.”
[Okay, no submachine gun, eliminating one possibility]
[Is it this kind of submachine gun, picture.jpg]
[I think it’s this, picture.jpg]
[When I have the money, I’ll definitely buy a phone that can view pictures]
“Mr. Bi, come take a look at this.”
A staff member suddenly called Bi Fang over and transferred the footage he had taken to Bi Fang.
This was a drone ascending high, overlooking a forest—a swath of boundless ash-green. Even further away were snow-covered mountains and ribbons of blue rivers, but none of these were the key points.
At the bottom of a hillside valley, a large herd of deer were grazing on shrubs, easily a hundred in all, leisurely and carefree.
Reindeer sighted again!
Not only Bi Fang but even the audience who had seen them once recognized at once that these were indeed a large group of reindeer.
Last time, Master Fang hunted reindeer with a short spear, then hid under the ice river to avoid being trampled. These scenes were still vivid in memory, and now they encountered another group?
“Is anyone nearby?”
“Bonuo, less than three kilometers away.”
The camera immediately switched to Bonuo, who at that moment seemed unaware that a large herd of reindeer was nearby, focusing solely on finding the cabin.
But it was already four in the afternoon, about to get dark, and it had been several hours since the last smoke release, making the exact direction a bit hazy.
“Where is it?”
Bonuo muttered, the prospect of supplies in the program-prepared cabin surely too tempting, possibly including food, which was why he had been hurrying along despite two days of hunger.
“Better look from higher ground.”
Ascending to higher ground was the best choice to identify direction and target. With a small expenditure of energy, one could determine the conditions ten or even dozens of kilometers away.
Bonuo looked around and chose a rock face.
What unfolded next was exactly as everyone had guessed—no cabin was found, but the large herd of reindeer was discovered instead.
Bonuo’s eyes bulged in disbelief; he hadn’t expected to be so lucky. He didn’t find the cabin, but he had stumbled upon a large group of reindeer.
How long could one reindeer last?
If he could catch one, without worrying about spoilage or carrying weight, there’d be more than enough food for twelve days!
Without any hesitation, Bonuo climbed down from the rock face and hurried towards the direction of the reindeer herd.
[Are we going to see hunting again?]
[So thrilling, how’s he going to catch them?]
[The terrain isn’t quite the same as last time, can he pull it off?]
Many viewers excitedly discussed how Bonuo would attempt the capture, then abruptly noticed a flood of gifts being sent, and upon closer inspection, it was filled with familiar top donor IDs.
[Lord Mu sends a Spaceship*1 to the host—The desire to collect deer heads is inflaming again]
[Lin Chang sends a Spaceship*5 to the host—Honestly, I want one too]
[It’s Nanana sending a Spaceship*1 to the host—He should be able to catch a few this time, right? After that guy’s done, can someone catch another? I want one too (pitiable)]
Bi Fang laughed, “Yao Jun, didn’t you get a deer head last time? Why do you still want to join in?”
[I wouldn’t mind having more.]
“We’ll see,” Bi Fang didn’t reject the idea, partly because he was itching to get involved and, on the other hand, he wanted to upgrade their food supply.
The audience grew even more excited upon hearing this.
Half an hour later, Bonuo met expectations and located the reindeer herd. However, he didn’t act immediately but stood on an upslope to observe the surroundings. After a long while, he stealthily moved to the downslope of the herd.
The viewers were puzzled by this move from up to down. What was he up to? They started asking Master Fang.
It had become habit—encountering something incomprehensible, they’d turn to Bi Fang, who could provide a comprehensive answer nine times out of ten, often even more thorough than what the contestant himself had in mind.
“Nylon Rope!” Placing himself in Bonuo’s perspective and considering the possessions he had while taking into account the characteristics of reindeer, Bi Fang made a likely judgment.
“He’s going to use the nylon rope to hunt reindeer!” Bi Fang pointed at the screen, certain in his conclusion.
“The spot where the reindeer are is an open field, but there’s forest below it. If it were me, I would wrap all twenty meters of nylon rope around the trees, then return to the upslope of the herd.
Reindeer are skittish. If you scare them into the forest, as soon as one runs into the place with the nylon rope, their antlers will get tangled in it. The wit of wild animals is limited; once their antlers are caught, they can’t escape!”
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