Chapter 011

The turn of events happened in the blink of an eye.

One second, the audience was screaming and tagging others to watch, the screen flooded with messages like [Dodge!], [Help!], and [Watch out!]. The next second, as those frantic subtitles drifted past, a brief silence fell over the screen.

Just like Lu Jianxing in the video, everyone was stunned into silence, feeling as though their own throats had been seized, much like the snake currently being held by its vital spot.

What just happened?

A snake? Oh, right, there was a snake!

Where was the snake?

The kid caught it!

Lu Jianxing opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Being so close, he had received the greatest shock. At this moment, looking at the long snake coiled in Qiao Man’s hand and then at the genuine worry on the child’s face, he suddenly felt a bit dizzy.

[No, you, I, you???]

[He… I… Huh???]

[Snake snake snake…]

In the bullet comments, almost every viewer had lost the ability to form coherent sentences. They hammered randomly at their keyboards, sending strings of gibberish across the screen.

This has to be fake, right?

Is it scripted?

Otherwise, how could they be seeing a child subdue a long snake with his bare hands? The snake was so long and looked so terrifying, yet in the child’s hands, it was being handled like a piece of string in a game of cat’s cradle. Even an adult would have been scared out of their wits, yet a child had taken it down with ease.

But they quickly remembered that this was a live broadcast. Wilderness Challenge claimed to be unscripted and completely authentic. The scene they had just witnessed was something that had truly happened somewhere on Earth.

[My mom asked why I’m watching TV on my knees¹…]

[I suddenly feel like my previous worrying was totally unnecessary…]

[How, how, how, how does he dare to catch a snake with his bare hands!]

[And he actually caught it!]

[Holy crap! I’m the one who should be getting comforted for the scare!]

[I must be dreaming. Otherwise, how could I see a five-year-old protecting an adult, and then comforting him by telling him not to be afraid… Who’s the adult here exactly?!]

Lu Jianxing wanted to ask that too.

After the massive shock, his back was drenched in cold sweat. His breathing hadn’t even steadied yet, but the danger had already been neutralized.

The snake was gripped tightly in Qiao Man’s hand, hissing at the boy. Perhaps finding the noise annoying, Qiao Man slammed the snake heavily against the ground. The long snake, which had been acting all high and mighty just a moment ago, instantly went limp and dangled lifelessly from his hand.

Seeing this, Lu Jianxing felt his head spin even more.

It was only after Qiao Man asked again with concern that he slowly managed to say, “I’m… I’m fine.”

“That’s good.” Qiao Man held up the snake and said happily, “Then let’s eat this tomorrow, okay?”

Lu Jianxing: “…Okay.”

He hadn’t expected ingredients to deliver themselves right before bedtime. Qiao Man carried his prey around happily, plucked a few long blades of grass from the bushes, and casually wove them into a rope. He tied the snake to a tree branch, leaving it to be dealt with tomorrow.

After putting away his prey, he trotted back on his short legs and dove straight into Lu Jianxing’s sleeping bag.

“Xingxing, Xingxing, let me sleep with you.” Qiao Man blinked his eyes, acting like a spoiled, pitiful child. “I’m still just a little kid. If I sleep alone, I’ll be scared.”

Lu Jianxing: “…”

[Who exactly is the one who’s scared here!]

[Even though he’s adorable when he acts spoiled, my mind is still full of the image of him catching that snake bare-handed. What do I do? QAQ]

This time, Lu Jianxing didn’t refuse. He opened his arms and pulled the boy, sleeping bag and all, tightly into his embrace. Qiao Man snuggled into his chest, rubbed his cheek happily against him, and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

A long while later, just as he was about to drift off, he felt someone whispering in his ear, making his ears itch.

“…Xiaoman? How did you dare to catch a snake? How did you even do it?”

“Hmm?” Qiao Man replied groatily, “It’s very simple.”

There wasn’t much else on the mountain, but there were plenty of snakes and insects. They often squeezed through the gaps in the chicken coop to steal the chickens he and his master raised. Xiaoman had lost many eggs because of them.

His master had taught him how to identify venomous snakes long ago. He had even helped his master catch many snakes to soak in medicinal wine².

Right, Xingxing’s hands were ice-cold, and his health seemed a bit poor. One of these days, he would have to catch a big, fat snake for Xingxing to nourish his body. How did one make medicinal wine again? It seemed his master had taught him that too…

Qiao Man let out a tiny snore and fell into a deep sleep.

“…”

[…]

All the live streams went dark as the contestants fell asleep, but in Lu Jianxing’s channel, the bullet comments remained lively.

The viewers who had witnessed the snake-catching scene were still shaken. Since the first season of Wilderness Challenge, there had been more dangerous situations, but the protagonists had always been adults. This time, the protagonist was a five-year-old, which doubled the shock factor.

After the shock came a profound sense of questioning reality.

While all the contestants were sleeping early to conserve energy, the internet was at its peak traffic hours. The clip of Qiao Man catching the snake was being shared across various social media platforms.

The first viral trending topic for Wilderness Challenge was born.

#Wilderness Challenge Kid#

#Kid Catches Snake#

Uninformed passersby clicked on the tags. After seeing the trending topic, they watched the video – first with their hearts in their throats, then with looks of utter shock, and finally leaving comments of absolute reverence. The content of the video was so bizarre that people watched it over and over again.

The movements were quick, clean, and decisive, looking as though they had been practiced countless times. Are kids these days really this overpowered?

Wait, hold on!

Wilderness Challenge?

Isn’t that a survival reality show? Why is there a five-year-old in it?!

Consequently, when the contestants woke up the next morning, the popularity of the live streams had undergone a world-shaking change. Lu Jianxing’s channel, which originally had the fewest viewers, saw its traffic explode overnight as countless newcomers flocked in, drawn by the video.

However, having had their phones confiscated and losing all contact with the outside world, the contestants knew nothing of this. Qiao Man had even less of an idea about the impact his actions from the previous night had caused. He only knew that when he woke up and crawled out of his sleeping bag, the prey he had tied to the tree branch was nowhere to be found.

Qiao Man burst into tears. “My snake!”

Lu Jianxing crawled out of the tent behind him and saw the discarded grass rope on the ground. It seemed the snake hadn’t been crushed to death the previous day, but had only been knocked unconscious. After waking up in the middle of the night, it had struggled free and vanished without a trace.

When Lu Jianxing took him to wash his face, the tears on the child’s cheeks were still wet. “I didn’t even get a single bite.”

“Next time, next time,” Lu Jianxing said, wiping his face. “There will be other chances in the future.”

“That was for you to eat.” His little face crumpled as if he were about to cry again. “It was meant to help you build up your strength.”

Lu Jianxing: “…”

Lu Jianxing wiped his face once more. “My health is perfectly fine.”

While gnawing on leftover bread for breakfast, Qiao Man was so choked by the dry food that his eyes welled up, yet he still couldn’t stop thinking about his loss. “My snake…”

He planned to catch another one to replace his escaped breakfast, but the nearby snakes seemed to have been tipped off by yesterday’s unlucky fellow. No matter how much Qiao Man rummaged through the surrounding bushes, he couldn’t find a single long, slender shape.

Just as he was about to pull out his Luo Pan, Lu Jianxing had already packed their luggage, put on his backpack, and taken out the map and compass. “Xiao Man, it’s time to head out.”

Well, Qiao Man had no choice but to give up on that plan.

Their task today was arduous. While traveling, they not only had to find the next campsite but also look for food and water. Therefore, as they walked, Lu Jianxing kept a careful eye on their surroundings.

They had woken up very early. In the early morning, the forest was filled with mist, and the leaves were still hung with fresh dew. Collecting that dew could serve as a water source. The forest was a vast treasure trove; as long as one identified things carefully, they could find edible wild vegetables among the weeds. At the very least, the insects found everywhere could be used to stave off hunger.

Before setting out, Lu Jianxing had made a point of studying this knowledge. Now, as they traveled, he searched the ground for edible plants.

Of course, he didn’t forget to interact with the audience behind the livestream camera. When he picked wild vegetables, he would introduce the varieties and how to identify them to the camera. Although he didn’t know if anyone was watching his stream, he explained everything very thoroughly.

[He really wants to teach me…]

[Am I the only one who noticed that while Lu Jianxing was picking vegetables, baby Xiao Man snuck away?]

[Where did the baby go? The forest is so dangerous, stay close to Xingxing and don’t run off!]

[Lu Jianxing, look back! Stop picking vegetables, your kid is about to get lost!]

Once Lu Jianxing had picked enough wild vegetables for a meal for the two of them and filled his backpack, he stood up straight with satisfaction and called out casually, “Alright, Xiao Man, time to keep moving.”

“…”

No one responded.

“Xiao Man?”

Lu Jianxing looked back, but the child was nowhere to be seen.

He panicked instantly and began searching the surroundings, raising his voice. “Xiao Man? Xiao Man, where are you?”

“I’m over here-“

The child’s tender voice came from a distance. Lu Jianxing quickly followed the sound and found the child’s Little Yellow Duck Backpack under a large tree. He bent down to pick it up; the Little Yellow Duck Backpack was heavy, and the zipper hadn’t been opened, but Qiao Man was still nowhere in sight.

Lu Jianxing was at his wits’ end. “Xiao Man?”

“I’m here!” The child’s voice was clearer now. This time, it came from overhead. “Xingxing, I’m up here.”

Lu Jianxing looked up, and the camera followed his gaze.

The canopy was dense, so thick that even sunlight could barely filter through the gaps, leaving only a deep green shade. He squinted, searching through the lush foliage for a long time before finally spotting a cluster of rustling branches.

Rustle!

A fluffy head popped out from between the leaves.

“Xingxing!” Qiao Man waved at him happily. “I found a lot of eggs up here.”

Seeing him, Lu Jianxing finally felt a bit relieved, but then he estimated the height. The child was several stories above the ground. He immediately sucked in a breath of cold air. At such a height, how on earth did he climb up there?!

“Come down quickly,” Lu Jianxing couldn’t help but say. “Take it slow, be careful.”

“Okay!”

Qiao Man pulled his head back. A moment later, he gripped the trunk with all four limbs and slid down nimbly. As he reached the ground, Lu Jianxing instinctively reached out to catch him, ending up with a heavy bundle in his arms.

The child’s hair was a mess, with a few leaves still stuck in it. After landing, he gave Lu Jianxing a wide grin, then turned around as if presenting a treasure. “Xingxing, look!”

His jacket hood was stuffed full, hanging behind him like a pouch filled with bird eggs.

Translator’s Notes