"Little Sister Dull..."
Zhou Niannian slumped to the ground, her expression vacant.
In just a moment of carelessness, a teammate was lost.
How could she accept this?
She even wondered if she could have caught her if she had been a little faster.
"It's all my fault..."
Zhou Niannian's eyes were red, and she bit her lower lip.
"If only I had grabbed her..."
"You would have been taken up together."
Jiang Fan quipped, his face cold and his expression still calm.
"There's no need to feel so guilty. What's happening here has long surpassed our imaginations. The only thing we can do is preserve ourselves."
"And besides..."
He glanced behind the waterfall.
It was still a bottomless abyss, unchanged.
There was no way back to where they came from.
Go up with the waterfall or wait to die here.
Two choices, hardly requiring much thought.
"Let's climb the waterfall. It's the only way now."
"Are we really going up the waterfall?"
"Yes, as quickly as possible. We don't know when this upward waterfall will end."
Jiang Fan was rational enough.
When everything around him was urging him forward, he would follow the plan and move ahead.
Jiang Fan strode towards the makeshift camp with the bonfire, packing his parachute bag.
"But..."
"There's no 'but.' We go forward, and maybe we can meet up with Little Sister Dull ahead."
Jiang Fan offered some comfort, packed his things, and put on his parachute bag.
Zhou Niannian's body still trembled, and fear flickered in her eyes.
The sight of Little Sister Dull being swept away by the waterfall was too vivid, leaving her with a significant psychological shadow.
But this waterfall was the only path they could take.
No matter what awaited them ahead, they had to move forward resolutely.
Gritting her teeth, Zhou Niannian walked over, securing the remaining water with a bamboo lid and wrapping the uneaten jerky in broad leaves before putting them into her backpack.
Seeing them regain their composure, the viewers also felt a surge of hope.
As Jiang Fan had said, by following the waterfall, they might see Little Sister Dull.
This became their glimmer of hope.
The live stream was filled with "praying for luck" bullet comments.
At the school, Lin Yang and Zhou Ye, who had just finished another round of seeking shelter, saw the two packing their things.
After a brief understanding of the situation from the bullet comments, they could only offer their blessings, not knowing what else to say.
Lin Yang casually switched to another live stream and happened to see that wild child Yao standing before the salt mine cave, communicating with a group of soldiers.
Various professional pieces of equipment were being installed on Yao.
Headlamp, climbing rope, pickaxe, the 'Observer' camera sphere, earpiece, various medical supplies...
Yao appeared somewhat impatient but eventually accepted everything and entered the cave with the soldiers.
They finally got a clear view of this peculiar space.
To the soldiers, it was just a dimly lit cave of moderate size.
But to Yao and the camera sphere, it was a darkness that swallowed all light.
Upon stepping inside, they were enveloped by an boundless darkness, and all senses of sound, touch, and smell vanished.
In less than a second, they began to fall.
The screen clearly broadcasted his passage into that darkness.
The soldiers witnessed with their own eyes as the person disappeared from the cave wall, but when they reached out again, they could not touch anything, a truly desperate situation.
Seeing this, Lin Yang was taken aback.
As if a possibility dawned on him, he perked up and called out to his roommate.
"Zhou Ye, come look! Sharks are deploying troops, they must be looking for Yao who went in."
"Only these streamers who stayed on the deserted island are qualified to enter that place! That's right! How did I not think of this!"
"No wonder the rescue team hasn't arrived, this is the reason!"
Lin Yang stated with certainty, then turned his head, only to see Zhou Ye's inquiring gaze, realizing he might have revealed something he shouldn't have.
"Uh..."
"Zhou Ye, let me explain."
"Your sister sent a message in the group earlier, saying she was forced to participate in this show, and then quickly withdrew it. I asked people in the fan group, and they told me not to say too much, it felt a bit off."
Lin Yang briefly recounted the message Zhou Niannian had sent in the fan group.
Then, he looked at Zhou Ye with concern.
"I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to act impulsively over this."
"And I saw some people saying that without special reasons, so many streamers wouldn't willingly participate in this wilderness survival competition."
"That's why I thought, perhaps their selection has some special meaning."
As for what kind of special meaning it was, it wasn't hard to guess, with Yao being invited by those soldiers.
Zhou Ye finally understood the whole story and fell into deep contemplation.
The officials invited people to participate in the competition to discover the secrets of the island, and now that they knew the entrance, only specific individuals could enter.
No wonder, no matter how much they urged, the rescue team hadn't gone in.
It wasn't that they didn't want to go, but that they couldn't.
But why were they broadcasting this to them?
Dragon Country's secret realm was being broadcast so openly to ordinary citizens?
What was the intention behind this?
Once this thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.
Countless thoughts tangled in his mind, forming a mess he couldn't unravel.
Zhou Ye felt a headache coming on and rubbed his temples irritably.
"No matter what arrangements Sharks has, I hope my sister is alright."
"She will be."
Lin Yang patted his roommate's shoulder, offering comfort.
He switched back to the main live stream.
Under the gaze of fifty million viewers, the two were ready.
Jiang Fan securely tied the parachute rope he brought to a protruding stone spike at the edge of the waterfall and tugged hard to ensure it was fixed.
Having done this, Jiang Fan turned, lowered his head slightly, and looked at Zhou Niannian in front of him, his tone earnest.
"Listen carefully, we'll use the parachute bag as a buffer, holding the rope, keeping our backs submerged while our heads remain out of the water to breathe."
"Protect your mouth and nose, don't swallow water, don't panic, understand?"
His speaking pace was not fast, allowing Zhou Niannian enough time to process.
Yet, looking at Jiang Fan's serious gaze and earnest attitude, she still felt a moment of distraction.
Before her was a waterfall with reversed gravity. Jiang Fan, with his 185 cm height, completely enveloped her.
That warm feeling was so reassuring.
It was as if the panic of moments ago had completely vanished. As long as Jiang Fan was there, nothing was impossible.
Jiang Fan interpreted Zhou Niannian's daze as confusion and blankness brought on by excessive nervousness.
Such teammates often became a burden. The best approach was through 'verbal therapy' to make them understand that life and death were critical, and their lives were in their own hands.
Jiang Fan had conducted such 'verbal therapy' more than once, sometimes even with 'physical therapy.'
But this time, looking at the dazed Zhou Niannian.
He simply reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Don't worry, I'll lead the way."
"You came to save me, and I will get you out safely too."