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Qin Yu wasn't sure if it was her imagination running wild or if she was overthinking, but she was feeling a bit uneasy. So, she mentioned the incident to Wu Han in front of her.
Wu Han was surprised. Was there such a thing?
"Are you sure?"
Qin Yu was certain, as it wasn't just her who had seen it, there was also a cat!
"I saw it too." Su Qing suddenly spoke up, and only then did Wu Han's expression turn serious, and he went to talk to the PD about it.
As he left, Su Qing said, "It's not looking good. A show involves capital, and if this matter is taken seriously, it could mean the entire show is scrapped, and that wastes capital."
With her experience in the industry, she knew what she was talking about.
Qin Yu understood this, so she wondered how important this show was to the people involved. If the show had to continue...
As expected, Wu Han came back and told her that the show's explanation was that the wreckage in the water might have been bitten by the East Timor crocodile.
East Timor crocodile?
At first, Qin Yu thought this explanation was reasonable and perhaps even plausible.
She wasn't the type to stir up trouble, but she still had her concerns.
"Forget it, let it be. By the way, what happens if I fail this dungeon?"
"Nothing much."
"Oh, that's good."
"You just get erased."
"..."
Well, it seemed like she still needed to prepare for the worst with the utmost caution...
The show went on, and Qin Yu and her team had to give it their all. They eventually managed to KO the Zhang Li family, who had uncooperative faces and hearts. Chen Yifeng and Han Kun were their toughest rivals, and it was hard for Qin Yu to keep up, so she had to rely on her cunning to fight against their senior tricks.
It wasn't until the last day that they finally secured first place, thanks to the show's hidden rules regarding "Wu Han".
Although it wasn't very dignified, Qin Yu knew the final edited result would make it seem justified, considering Wu Han's excellent performance and Su Qing's near-squeaky clean image—unless the editor messed up.
"Cat, am I done yet? Why haven't I been notified?"
"Not sure, you should know tonight. Maybe you have to wait until you're back in the country. They can't just make you vanish on this deserted island."
Hmm, that made sense.
The final day was a group survival event, and the results were announced at noon. In the afternoon, everyone went hunting to celebrate.
But the effects of the hidden rules surfaced. Qi Zhiyuan also secretly manipulated things so that he would go diving with Wu Han to catch fish in the sea.
Wu Han had originally intended for Su Qing to join, but she declined...
Han Kun took Qin Yu and Chen Yifeng together to the east of the jungle while Zhang Li and Jia Sheng went to the west with Su Qing.
After they split up, Qin Yu felt uneasy, but Chen Yifeng mocked her, implying that he looked down on her for gaining the championship by hooking up with Wu Han.
"I don't think you should say such things. When you say them, I think you're praising me, and you're just envious of this advantage, which you don't have the conditions to achieve. Why bother hurting others and damaging yourself?"
Qin Yu didn't hold back, knowing these words wouldn't be edited into the final show anyhow.
But it definitely pissed off Chen Yifeng, who couldn't help but mock her in front of the cameramen. "I thought you were a clean and well-behaved girl at first, but it turns out you're just like Su Qing."
Qin Yu stopped in her tracks, glanced at him, and with a gentle smile, replied, "It's better for a woman to be forced to be bad than for a man to fail at being fake-kind."
This sentence was quite powerful, not something a seemingly innocent and weak young woman like her should have said.
Chen Yifeng was choked up once again.
But their conflict led to them finding nothing during their hunt, which Qin Yu didn't really care about anyway. After all, once the night was over, she'd complete her mission and go home. Screw the show!
However, what was this? Qin Yu stepped into the mud and didn't realize anything until she saw a large footprint in the mud ahead.
Was the footprint strange?
Of course, it was!
At that moment, they ran into Zhang Li and the others who were returning as well.
Qin Yu's heart raced as she looked up and furrowed her brow. "Where's Su Qing?"
Zhang Li and the others looked back and seemed confused and indifferent.
"She was just here."
"I don't know, maybe further back."
"She always walks at the back."
"No problem, there's a cameraman following."
The three of them talked to themselves, thinking that there was nothing wrong, or maybe they hoped there was something wrong.
"When was the last time she spoke, or how long has it been since you last saw her?"
The three of them looked at Qin Yu with a stern face, frightened. Zhang Li said in an annoyed tone, "What's the matter? She's always been unsociable, taking care of herself and not talking to others... about half an hour ago, I guess."
So it must have been more than half an hour or even an hour.
Qin Yu was exasperated. He glanced at the two cameramen following them. The two were also somewhat embarrassed because the three participants were amateurs, and they didn't take it seriously, especially since the main content of the show had been shot, focusing on Wu Han and Qi Zhiyuan's underwater shooting.
They didn't really pay attention to Su Qing who was behind them...
But there was a cameraman with them, so why the rush? They were also unhappy with Qin Yu's making a fuss about nothing, just an amateur after all.
MD, a group of idiots!
But Qin Yu's mind was buzzing. Since the beginning of the show, he had noticed something was wrong, and combined with Su Qing's cautious nature, how could she suddenly disappear for so long.
Moreover, the biggest danger was that up to now, Golden House had not given any evaluation or reminder of her task performance, even the cat had disappeared without a trace.
Not normal, definitely not normal!
"If you don't want your show to get into big trouble, follow me right now. You, yes, you! Show me the way! What are you looking at, hurry up!"
Qin Yu suddenly grabbed the walkie-talkie from the tall cameraman's waist and started running, turning it on and shouting towards PD: "If you don't want your variety show career to end, don't hang up now, listen up! First, on the first night we came to the island, I saw some animal remains, all separated heads and limbs, with ashes from a fire nearby, only humans would roast meat! It means there are people on this island! Second, the second day, we found a banana tree, the tree fell down when I pushed it gently, that's because the trunk had been severely chopped and the cuts were still fresh, if it was chopped before, it wouldn't be like this and there's no reason for someone to chop half and leave. I'm pretty sure it wasn't our people who did it, and there's a possibility that another person was there and left in a hurry when they heard us. Third, I and Su Qing found a cave, which the cameraman had also seen at the time, the entrance was covered with traces of blood, both old and new, indicating that someone or wild beasts had taken their prey into the cave, and it has been happening recently. Fourth, the most serious possibility, I don't dare to imagine it will come true, that is, this lake indeed used to be the water burial site of the local people, but the skulls and limb remains of those bodies are very similar to the animal remains in the first point, which means, these people, and those animals, are very likely to be killed by the same person.... or...."
Eaten.
When those two words were spoken through the walkie-talkie.
PD was utterly dumbfounded. Lin PD was stunned for a while and cursed: "Bullshit! No one would believe that! Qin Yu, you're too bold, don't you..."
While he was cursing, Wu Han, who had just gotten out of the water and heard the whole conversation, threw his diving gear away, his face pale, and cursed: "Holy shit!"
PD also came back to his senses with a serious look, organizing people while saying to Qin Yu: "I got it, Qin Yu, don't run around now, stay with the others, we'll be there soon, you were just with Zhang Li, right?"
PD contacted Zhang Li and the others.
The whole crew was in motion, but everyone was skeptical, is it true or false? True... how could it be true!
"Why even bother talking! At least it's possible that there's a primitive person on this island who's not part of the plan, with a lethal weapon and an aggressive attitude. If anything happens, are you going to take responsibility for me?!" The PD was a woman, but she cursed out loud as well.
At this point, Qin Yu had been running through the dark night for a while.
The cameraman behind him was panting heavily, but after hearing what Qin Yu said, he immediately put his camera down.
If there's no problem, he can come back and get it later. But if there is a problem...
His conscience wouldn't let him.
The two of them ran in the dark, not knowing how long it had been when they suddenly heard a sharp, yet faint sound piercing their eardrums.
It was a scream of terror.
The two of them felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.
It's happened.
"Quick! Grab something!" Qin Yu sprinted towards the sound. His body was even more agile than before, desperate as he was!
The scream came a second time just as Qin Yu thought he was getting close, the sound suddenly disappeared.
The worst part was that the cameraman tripped and fell, breaking the flashlight as it hit the ground, plunging them into pitch darkness.
The whole jungle was enveloped in terrifying darkness.
There were two people breathing, or... maybe more than two.
Was someone hiding?
Suddenly!
"Xiao Yu, watch out!" A faint voice broke through, Qin Yu's nerves tensed up, and she instinctively twisted her body...
Swish!
An axe came swinging at her from the left, incredibly vicious. If it hadn't been for that shout just now, her head would have been separated from her body. At the same moment, thunder flashed across the sky.
As the thunder swallowed and spat out, both Qin Yu and the cameraman saw a sinister, dirty, monster-like savage.
He was hunchbacked, with thick limbs, sharp teeth dripping with blood, and of course, there was blood on the axe too.
It wasn't Qin Yu's blood, so it had to be someone else's!
Could it be Su Qing's?