Startled awake, Song Shi'an couldn't fall back asleep. The rain had stopped, and he sat on the dry fern leaves for a long time before his heart finally settled back into his chest.
As he packed his things to continue his journey, he took the opportunity to check on the shallow puddle where he had stored the food the night before.
It was completely empty; the wrapped shrimp were gone, and not even a single fish bone remained.
Sure enough, it was that old leopard who ate it earlier. Luckily, it filled its stomach first, otherwise it would have been next. The god of fortune was indeed looking out for it.
He suddenly remembered something and reached into his collar to pull out the yellow paper talisman pendant folded into a triangle.
This was given to him by the master during his last mountain climb. After returning home, Lin Fan specially found a waterproof case to make a pendant and forcefully hung it around his neck.
He turned the pendant over to look at it, muttering to himself, "I didn't expect it to be so effective. Is this talisman really that powerful?"
Meanwhile, the director had already woken up the simultaneous translator, and this sentence was translated verbatim into English bullet comments.
International viewers went wild instantly.
"That's it! That mysterious pendant! The thing that makes the jaguar obey!"
"What kind of magical item is this! We have so many wolves around here, can we really use this?!"
"Where can I buy this? Please! Name your price!"
Chinese netizens, never ones to shy away from a good spectacle, turned the barrage of comments into something completely off-topic.
"This is a specialty of our mainland, called a peace charm. It only works if you climb the mountain and go to a temple to pray for it; sincerity is key."
The master said, "A sincere person won't even be bitten by a leopard."
"What they said is right. I got one last time, and now no one crams me on the subway to work every day."
"Don't mislead our foreign friends. They might actually be buying plane tickets to come here seeking talismans."
Song Shi'an was completely unaware of the frenzy surrounding the bullet comments. He tucked the pendant back into his collar, packed his backpack, and continued on his way towards the coast.
Whether it was the master's talisman that was truly effective or not, he encountered many strange and unusual things along the way.
A large python lay across the middle of the road, a wild boar snorting in the bushes, and a dense thicket of poisonous vines that almost obscured the view ahead—but they all managed to avoid them perfectly each time.
He even found a fallen papaya tree on the edge of a swamp, with several ripe papayas hanging on it, thus getting a vitamin boost.
While munching on a papaya, Song Shi'an remarked that apart from some minor injuries and being very tired and hungry, everything was fine.
On the fifth night, two days later than expected, he finally crossed the last mangrove forest and saw the wooden huts and campfire built on the shore.
At the final stop, a group of people were already having a bonfire party. The staff and the explorers who had arrived sat around the fire. When they saw him walking towards them from the direction of the river, soaking wet, everyone stood up, applauded, and cheered.
This was also the first time the audience had seen Song Shi'an's face clearly.
Over the course of several days, his combat uniform was torn in several places by branches and rocks, and his face bore a few small scratches.
His soaked clothes clung to his waist and abdomen, and the light from the campfire shone from the side, making his muscle lines faintly visible beneath the damp fabric.
Water droplets dripped down the edge of the torn cuff, and the person standing between the campfire and the night exuded a wild beauty that seemed to have been forged in the rainforest.
The comments section was quiet for a moment, then started scrolling wildly.
"So this is what an angel has been doing in the wild these past few days! You should have told me sooner, I'd have followed you!"
"Our An'an is very shy about the external network's convergence point!"
"I should feel sorry for them, but I can't help but giggle!"
"It's finally over! An'an, go back and recover well. First, go to the hospital for a full checkup!"
Everyone warmly gathered around to greet him, some patting him on the shoulder, others offering him grilled meat.
Song Shi'an was invited to sit by the campfire and ate his first real meal in several days.
When he took his first bite of the grilled fish, he almost cried. It smelled so good, and he wanted to go home.
As soon as the variety show ended, I followed several big shots on D Station.
Lin Fan picked him up at the airport. The moment he saw Song Shi'an walk out of the exit, his eyes immediately welled up with tears. He rushed over and gave him a bear hug. "Brother! I haven't dared to close my eyes for a single day these past few days! This experience is enough. We won't come again next time. If you really like it, find something with a lower risk factor!"
Song Shi'an patted his back and said weakly, " Lin Fan, I really don't like him. Where did you see that I like him?"
When I got my phone and opened it, it was full of messages.
Chi Xun posted more than twenty links, all of which were screen recordings of his famous moments from his live streams.
Jiang Ye sent more than a dozen 60-second voice messages. When I opened the first one, I heard him shouting, "You've been targeted by a leopard, do you even know that?"
Song Shi'an sat in the car on the way to the airport, replying to messages one by one, and also posted an update on Weibo: "Finally back!"
Fans swarmed around immediately.
"My An'an is finally back! Did she go to the hospital? Was the injury on her face treated?"
"What injury? What did I miss?"
"You're a fake fan! I know An'an has been filming a variety show abroad for almost a week and has been offline for several days!"
Song Shi'an felt a warm glow in his heart as he read everyone's comments.
Open WeChat, and you're bombarded with messages from snack groups and class groups.
Following his instructions, Lin Fan has been sending messages to Mother Song every day to let her know he's safe, saying he's in a closed-off filming location and can't answer the phone.
I didn't dare let them know he was participating in this variety show, otherwise they would have been terrified.
He finally got back to China, and as soon as he got off the plane, he saw fans holding up light boards with his name on them outside the exit.
Song Shi'an was stunned for a moment. He even had fans coming to pick him up at the airport?
Lin Fan was clearly much more excited than him; his brother finally had someone to pick him up from the airport.
What does this mean? It means my status is rising!
Song Shi'an originally wanted to slip away quietly from the side, but he was spotted by a sharp-eyed fan.
The crowd surged forward. "Ahhh, An'an! We've finally seen you!"
Surrounded by people, Song Shi'an accepted the gifts and greeting cards they offered, thanking them one by one.
After thanking him for a while, Lin Fan tiptoed and glanced outside. There were more and more people. He quickly leaned closer and whispered, "Brother, let's go, there are too many people."
Song Shi'an looked up and realized that being crowded here was really not a good idea. He waved the gift in his hand at everyone and said, "Thank you for picking me up at the airport. I have to go now. See you next time!"
After saying that, he picked up his suitcase and started running like crazy.
The fan site admin had just taken a few front-facing photos and was looking down at the screen admiring An'an's stunning pictures when she looked up again and saw only a figure running away. She quickly grabbed her camera and followed.
I snapped a few more photos of him before he got on the bus, and afterwards he was panting heavily, leaning on his knees.
Being An'an site admin for An An requires a lot of exercise; I'm going to get a gym membership as soon as I get back!!!