50,000 for a piece of meat, with a free bottle of mineral water

Xie Lin shook off his goosebumps and stalked through the woods, swearing under his breath.

Lu Ye smiled and ruffled his hair.

Wu Xinyou stared at that large hand, her expression somewhat unreadable.

Yue Lan handed everyone a dead branch.

"With woods this dense, there are bound to be snakes."

At those words, Xie Lin's irritation instantly lifted.

"That's fantastic!"

The organizers had placed supplies in the woods, many of them hidden in trees.

In less than two hours, Xie Lin's group found several supply packs.

There were even cupcakes inside!

Xie Lin licked his lips and put the little chocolate cake in his backpack.

Lu Ye could not help feeling a pang.

"Eat it if you want. There'll definitely be more up ahead."

"No, we need to save sweets for an energy boost at the end."

Wu Xinyou could not help giving him another look.

Before coming, he had crammed in the previous episode and the variety show from two days ago.

He had assumed that was just a persona Xie Lin had crafted, but now, that did not seem to be the case.

"Don't move!"

Suddenly, Xie Lin and Lu Ye barked the warning in unison.

Yu Zhiwei still had her head turned toward them, and her expression changed at their words.

"What's wrong?"

Lu Ye was about to speak when Wu Xinyou drew a gleaming boning knife from her waist and held it out behind her.

"Use this!"

"No need!"

Before the words had faded, Lu Ye flashed forward, sweeping like a ghost to Yu Zhiwei's side and thrusting his long arm out.

Something cold and slippery swept across Yu Zhiwei's arm, and she went rigid.

Yue Lan reacted swiftly, rushing forward to pull her behind herself, her expression grave.

Lu Ye was gripping a large patterned snake as thick as the mouth of a bowl and a full two meters long. With a flick of his wrist, he slammed it against a tree trunk.

The snake immediately passed out.

Wu Xinyou suddenly felt her hand empty.

"Huh?"

At some point, Xie Lin had taken the boning knife. His eyes shone as he raised the blade and chopped off the snake's head.

"Fantastic, we've got meat!"

Yu Zhiwei had been bitten by a snake in the previous episode, and now she could not help trembling whenever she saw one.

"Is... isn't that thing venomous?"

"Nope. Black whip snake. Super tasty!"

Xie Lin slurped back his drool as he spoke, his hands never stopping. He neatly chopped the entire snake into sections, dug out plastic bags to pack them separately, and stuffed them into their backpacks one by one.

"Come on, come on! I remember there's a stream up ahead. Let's wash the meat and build a fire to roast it."

Wu Xinyou raised an eyebrow slightly.

At the gathering point, Director Diao had used a holographic projection to give everyone a look at a map of the mountain.

It really had been just a look-five minutes at most before he switched it off.

He had only remembered a few key landmarks, including the stream they would soon pass.

Yu Zhiwei hesitated.

"If we build a fire, won't we attract the Red Team?"

"Even better!"

Xie Lin readied his knife eagerly, spreading his mouth in a toothy grin.

"If one comes, we kill one. If two come, we kill both!"

"..."

Lu Ye reached out, took the knife away, and put it in his backpack.

"Be good. This thing's dangerous. I'll hold on to it for you."

Wu Xinyou: Has it occurred to you that the thing might be mine?

They walked a little farther before the rush of flowing water reached them.

They passed through a stretch of dense woods and were almost at the stream.

Lu Ye held out an arm to stop them.

"Wait here. I'll check up ahead."

"No need for all that trouble!"

Xie Lin took off his backpack, shoved it into Lu Ye's arms, and scrambled up a nearby large tree in a few quick movements.

Wu Xinyou looked bewildered.

"...Was he born in the Year of the Monkey?"

The corners of Lu Ye's mouth lifted slightly as he looked up, scattered sunlight reflecting like little stars in his curved eyes.

"Him? He can do all sorts of things!"

Shading his eyes with his hand, Xie Lin watched solemnly for quite a while, then swiftly climbed back down.

"There's nobody by the stream, but there are people in the woods farther ahead."

Yu Zhiwei looked curious.

"Is your eyesight that good?"

Xie Lin quirked his mouth.

"Of course not. I just saw the trees moving over there, and birds flying up."

"Oh!"

Yu Zhiwei looked at him in admiration.

"Tao Miaomiao, you know so much..."

Before she finished, she clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in horror.

She had given herself away!

Xie Lin narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at her for several seconds before turning to continue forward.

[Hahahaha, Zhiwei's a Lu Lin shipper!]

[So this is where our number-one fan leader's been hiding!]

[Xie Lin's seriously brave. He chopped that snake's head right off without hesitation. I'd have died of fright.]

[Same world, different Omegas. Why am I so weak?]

[President Lu really lives up to being a top Alpha. I didn't even see him move before the snake passed out.]

[Puppy Lu and Tao Miaomiao work together flawlessly!]

Once they reached the stream, Yue Lan and Wu Xinyou each climbed into a tree to watch for enemies.

Xie Lin and the others hurriedly took out the snake sections, washed them clean, and skewered them. Then they gathered some dry branches, stacked and lit them, and began roasting the snake meat.

Before long, the aroma of meat drifted out, making both people up in the trees swallow.

Although they had eaten a feast last night, all they had consumed that morning was a few biscuits and a little water.

After their long trek, their stomachs were practically stuck to their backbones with hunger.

Suddenly, Yue Lan's gaze sharpened.

"Two people approaching at two o'clock. They're from our Blue Team!"

Xie Lin paused, then continued roasting the meat.

Lu Ye did not even lift his eyelids.

"Leave them. They probably got scattered by the Red Team and ran over here."

"The Red Team's already made it over here?"

"Mm..."

Xie Lin sprinkled some seasoning onto the snake meat.

"My guess is that the Red Team split into two or three groups. One's heading for the finish line, and the other two are responsible for taking us out."

[Is he guessing, or did someone give him spoilers?]

[??? Who'd give him spoilers? Aliens?]

[Got it. Tao Miaomiao guessed right, and the Red Team's fans can't handle it!]

[Tch, so what if he guessed right? Our Xiao Lie's worth eight people. Little Omegas, just pack it in and go to bed!]

[Are you seriously pretending our President Lu doesn't exist?]

[Our Xiao Lie's an S-Class Alpha too, and he's been through grueling military training. His advantage is obvious.]

[Against absolute strength, all technique is just flashy nonsense!]

Wu Xinyou glanced down from the tree, then continued watching in every direction.

"The Red Team's captain, Xiao Lie, is S-class too. We still need to be extra careful."

"Then they're done for!"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow at Xie Lin, his face full of grievance.

"Babe, do you have that little faith in me?"

"I didn't mean you. I meant Zhong Rui and the others are done for. Xiao Lie's definitely one of the people assigned to take us out!"

Then Xie Lin waved up at the trees.

"Come down and eat first!"

Yue Lan and Wu Xinyou jumped down from the trees and could not help swallowing at the fragrant snake meat.

"It's only been half a day. We need to make the food last."

"Mm-hmm, whatever you say!"

At some point, they had all tacitly accepted Xie Lin as their captain.

Although Lu Ye seemed more suitable, what could they do when he was utterly devoted to his wife?

Just as they were eating with grease coating their mouths, a trembling voice came from behind a tree.

"Why do you have meat to eat?"

Xie Lin stopped chewing and turned his head.

A man and a woman emerged from the woods, supporting each other. They licked their lips as they stared at the meat in the others' hands, their eyes practically glowing green.

Xie Lin raised his eyebrows.

"We caught it, of course!"

The man gave an ingratiating smile.

"Could you share a little with us? Since we're all on the Blue Team..."

"Weren't you following Zhong Rui? Didn't he find you anything to eat?"

The two exchanged a glance and gave bitter laughs.

"Don't even mention it. We'd barely gone anywhere before Xiao Lie's group surrounded us."

"How many of them?"

The man looked at Xie Lin and swallowed again.

They had run all this way thinking only of shaking off their pursuers, without any time to search for supplies. By now, their throats were parched.

"Let us have something to eat first. We can talk while we eat..."

Xie Lin promptly held up five fingers.

"50,000 for a piece of meat, with a free bottle of mineral water!"