"There's no way forward, we have to go back."
"They fell all the way down. There's no path back either, they have to jump off this waterfall."
"Give up. Humans can't get out of such a deep place, especially those who didn't even bring tools."
"It's been so long, why hasn't the rescue team arrived yet?"
Seeing the three of them stop before the waterfall, the audience couldn't help but worry.
It was a dead end, and they couldn't go on.
The rescue team hadn't arrived. Wasn't this suicidal?
Zhou Ye gritted his teeth and couldn't help but call the headquarters of the Shark platform.
"How do you people protect people? The contestants signed a protection agreement before going, and now you're not saving them?"
"Sir, please calm down. The situation in this cave is complex. Without complete preparation, it's difficult to rescue people."
"Preparation, how much longer do we need to prepare! You've all seen the situation below from the live broadcast, haven't you?!"
Zhou Ye's voice was filled with anger.
His sister had entered such a dangerous place and couldn't get out, with no rescue in sight. Anyone would be angry.
But the other party could only placate him kindly.
"Sir, please calm down. We will definitely rescue them, we definitely will."
Such appeasement did not calm Zhou Ye down.
He hung up the phone, took off his glasses which were in the way, and slicked his hair up from his bangs, revealing his forehead.
He had been taken care of by his sister since he was a child and was used to her cheerful and optimistic demeanor.
Zhou Niannian's smile replayed in his mind.
If she died, Zhou Ye didn't know how much pain he and his parents would suffer.
Facing Zhou Niannian in danger, as a brother, Zhou Ye could do nothing.
"Zhou Ye, relax, it'll be fine."
Lin Yang looked at his roommate worriedly, opened his mouth, and tried to comfort him.
"Jiang Shen is still here. You can distrust anyone, but Jiang Shen is trustworthy."
"Mm..."
Zhou Ye lowered his head and responded, completely uncomforted.
Lin Yang didn't know what else to say.
The next second, the earthquake started again.
...
While disasters were frequent outside, the three people in the cave found a small stone platform next to the waterfall and could finally rest a bit.
The food and water in their bags were fine, but the smoked meat was best not eaten raw.
Moreover, after the trek just now, their clothes were all soaked.
"It would be great if we had fire."
Jiang Fan looked at their stored food and sighed.
Zhou Niannian took out several thick wooden sticks, small planks, fine twigs, and some fluffy grass from her bag.
"Well, I put these in my bag casually before, thinking if I might need them for fire..."
The rest was self-explanatory, of course, they needed it!
Even Jiang Fan hadn't expected her to bring such things.
At the time, it might have seemed like a burden, but now, it brought them great surprise.
"Drilling for fire? Isn't that too difficult? Mu Zi and I tried for a long time before, and it didn't work."
Dai Xiaomei looked at the materials dejectedly, wondering if they could do it.
But she didn't know that there was a person with the talent of [Fire Starting Mastery] standing before her.
Facing Zhou Niannian's expectant gaze, Jiang Fan simply took the twigs and dry grass and walked to a dry spot on the ground.
"The rainforest is humid. It's best to choose dry places like this to start a fire faster."
"Tie a rope to the branch to make a bow, and use it to rotate quickly on the drilling board to create friction and heat."
Jiang Fan spoke as he untied his shoelaces, made a bow, wrapped it around the branch, and began to rub quickly.
The talent [Fire Starting Mastery] came into play at this moment.
With the best angle and appropriate speed.
Twenty minutes later, the fluffy grass clump in the small wooden board began to smoke.
Soon, a hint of orange-red appeared within it.
"Boom—"
The fluffy grass clump ignited and was placed into the triangle bonfire built with sticks.
The surrounding temperature began to rise, and the fire brought them warmth.
"Wow! It really lit up!!!"
Dai Xiaomei's eyes widened, almost disbelieving. Last time, she and Mu Zi spent half a day to successfully start a fire.
How did Jiang Fan manage it so quickly!
She stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Zhou Niannian, however, was very excited.
"See, I told you, Jiang Fan is amazing!"
"...Talk less, save your energy."
Jiang Fan looked at Zhou Niannian speechlessly and reminded her.
Watching the two women sitting by the fire, and Jiang Fan calmly roasting meat, the comments section was filled with ellipses.
After a long while, other messages appeared.
"Jiang Shen is awesome, Sister Zhou, what are you proud of!"
"I'm like a dog walking on the road, suddenly kicked by someone,呜呜呜."
"I'll never say Sister Zhou is useless again. She's the strongest at preparing supplies. Even Jiang Shen didn't expect the fire-starting part."
"I remember when I first watched Jiang Shen's wilderness live broadcast, he used wet logs to start a fire, and Sister Zhou didn't believe him. Now... tsk tsk."
The audience enthusiastically posted comments, and their perception of Zhou Niannian began to change.
At first, they only thought she was a burden, knowing nothing and causing trouble for Jiang Fan by getting lost.
But now, this woman was gradually growing.
Lele looked longingly at the three of them eating roasted meat and licked her lips.
"What's going on? They're trapped in such a place and still eating barbecue?!"
"No, I'm hungry, I want to order too!"
She really wanted to complain.
They all said that wilderness survival led to a decline in living standards, but why did she see these people eating meat at every meal?
As if ordering on a whim, Lele picked up her phone and opened the yellow rabbit ear delivery app.
"Meat skewers, lamb skewers, toothpick meat, leeks, potato slices..."
"Bear Grylls, do you want anything?"
Lele, while swallowing her saliva, did not forget to ask Bear Grylls, who was also a commentator.
He checked the time.
"It's almost 1 o'clock. Eating at this time isn't good for digestion."
"...Then I'll have squid tentacles, braised small yellow croaker, and steamed small koi."
After ordering several items, he stopped, still unsatisfied.
Their actions instantly triggered a barbecue ordering craze.
Looking at the wild boar meat, roasted to perfection by Jiang Fan on the screen, they also became greedy.
Suddenly, barbecue orders became popular all over the country. Late at night, everyone gained three pounds together.
The three trapped in the underground cave had no idea that because of them, the outside world was about to face the problem of weight gain.
Jiang Fan never imagined that a wilderness survival competition would suddenly turn into a journey to explore Hukaro.
It was too sudden.
Eating roasted meat, listening to the roar of the vast waterfall nearby, and looking at the small bonfire in front of them, Dai Xiaomei couldn't help but exclaim.
"Jiang Fan, you must be a seasoned explorer! The super cool kind!"
"Although Sister Zhou and I were very scared when we came down to find you at first, now it feels like an adventure!"
She became excited, while Zhou Niannian sighed with regret.
"We should be sleeping in the bamboo house right now. I shouldn't have come out."
"I don't know if we can still get out."
"It's such a waste of the bamboo house we just built."
As she spoke, she sniffled.
That was the house she and Jiang Fan had built together with their efforts!
Jiang Fan slowly tore off a piece of roasted meat, put it in his mouth, chewed, and after swallowing, said,
"There's always a way back. It might be revealed to you soon."
The black panther brought him here, certainly not to let him die.
There must be a way to continue.
He mused thoughtfully.
Who would have thought that as soon as he spoke, the surging undercurrent suddenly changed—