Chapter 013

Qiao Man’s fish was finally done. Lu Jianxing divided the grilled fish in two and placed the portions on clean, large leaves. Using sharpened wooden sticks as chopsticks, the two were just about to start eating when they looked up and saw two people emerging from the forest.

Their eyes met, and it wasn’t just Lu Jianxing who was stunned – even Xie Yunqian and Pei Xiwang were frozen in place.

Although they had taken different paths when they set out, they were all active on the same mountain, so the possibility of running into others wasn’t zero. However, this mountain was vast. Having just separated yesterday, to meet again so soon could only be described as a stroke of fate.

Lu Jianxing stood up as Xie Yunqian and Pei Xiwang walked over toward them.

“Xingxing, what a coincidence,” Xie Yunqian greeted him warmly. “I didn’t expect us to meet again so soon.”

Lu Jianxing nodded to him. “Brother Xie.” He then looked at Pei Xiwang. Pei Xiwang’s expression was cold, but the two exchanged a brief nod of acknowledgment.

“I was just saying that I thought I smelled grilled fish. I assumed it was my imagination, but I never expected…” Looking at their lunch – fish, eggs, and vegetables – and then comparing it to his own situation, Xie Yunqian felt a pang of envy. The sun was high in the sky, and the two of them hadn’t eaten a thing all morning. “You guys are living the good life.”

The fragrant aroma of the grilled fish was enough to tempt anyone. Pei Xiwang took off his backpack and bent down to roll up his pant legs. “Brother Xie, let’s go catch some fish too.”

“Alright.”

Xie Yunqian also set down his pack, rolled up his sleeves and pants, and joined Pei Xiwang to try and catch some fish.

But catching fish was no simple task. Not everyone possessed Qiao Man’s agile movements. Lu Jianxing sat back down and took a few bites of his lunch, then thought of something and pulled out the paracord from the supplies provided by the production crew.

Since they couldn’t catch fish with their bare hands, they obviously needed tools. While Pei Xiwang and Xie Yunqian were sharpening long sticks to try and spear the fish, Lu Jianxing wove a makeshift fishing net and brought it over to them.

Xie Yunqian said gratefully, “Thank you, Xingxing. Neither of us knows how to do this, you’ve really saved us.”

Pei Xiwang also added, “Thanks.”

“It’s nothing. It’s my first time making one too, so I’m not sure if it’ll actually help.”

After delivering the net, Lu Jianxing returned to his spot and continued enjoying his lunch.

Qiao Man had already finished his portion. Having eaten his fill, he didn’t wander off, but sat obediently in place. His dark, round eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Xie and Pei’s movements. Even with the net, their fishing expedition wasn’t going smoothly. By the time they finally managed to catch some fish and return, they were both soaked from head to toe.

After clumsily cleaning the fish and placing them over the fire to roast, the two finally let out long sighs of relief.

Now that the two groups had met up, their livestream rooms merged as well.

• That’s more like it! This is the normal style for Wilderness Challenge! –

• Just watching Lu Jianxing and baby Qiao Man’s group made it feel like everything was too easy. –

• Seeing Xie Yunqian and Pei Xiwang looking so pathetic while catching fish makes me realize how strong the baby is! He caught a big fish all by himself! –

• Baby is so amazing! –

• Baby Qiao Man has been staring at Xie Yunqian ever since he arrived. Is he a little fanboy? –

• Regardless of anything else, these four together are really easy on the eyes. –

The three men on screen were all handsome with faces that could hold their own in the entertainment industry. Even the youngest, Qiao Man, was an exquisite and adorable little boy. Appearing together on screen, they were a feast for the audience’s eyes.

As the four of them sat together, it became very obvious that the child was tilting his head back, staring unblinkingly at one person in particular.

Xie Yunqian teased him jokingly, “Are you a fan of mine? Do you want me to give you an autograph?”

“…”

Lu Jianxing looked down. “Xiao Man?”

Qiao Man seemed to snap out of it, turning to him with a dazed expression. “What?”

Lu Jianxing repeated in a low voice, “Brother Xie’s autograph, do you want one?”

“No.” Qiao Man asked in confusion, “What would I want his signature for? Does he want me to do a character analysis¹? I don’t do readings for free.”

Lu Jianxing: “…”

Xie Yunqian: “…”

Lu Jianxing apologized sincerely, “Brother Xie, he didn’t mean it like that.”

Xie Yunqian shook his head, indicating he didn’t take it to heart.

In truth, he was long accustomed to being the center of attention, but for some reason, being stared at by the child gave him an inexplicable sense of unease. Especially since, when he looked back, he couldn’t quite meet the child’s eyes.

Although Qiao Man was looking at him, he wasn’t looking at his face, but at the Amulet tucked inside his clothes.

Ever since they met yesterday, he had sensed an ominous aura coming from that Amulet. However, the aura had been faint and not very obvious, only making Qiao Man feel instinctively uncomfortable. As the program began, he had quickly pushed that strange feeling to the back of his mind. Who would have thought that the strange sensation would reappear so soon?

Unfortunately, the Amulet was kept close to Xie Yunqian’s body. Through the layers of clothing, Qiao Man had no way to see it more clearly.

He widened his eyes, wanting to get a better look, but Lu Jianxing turned his head back. “Don’t stare at people, it’s rude.”

“Oh.”

Qiao Man gave an obedient reply and stopped looking.

Though his head was lowered, his toes remained restless, wiggling around. One moment he was poking the pebbles on the ground, the next he was stepping on Lu Jianxing’s foot, and before he knew it, he bumped into a pair of hiking boots.

Qiao Man turned his head and met the gaze of a white-haired older brother.

Pei Xiwang’s lips curled slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his cool face.

While he didn’t have a good impression of Lu Jianxing, Pei Xiwang didn’t harbor any negative feelings toward the child. He had a younger sister at home around the same age, so seeing a child of a similar age, especially one so cute, naturally made him feel a bit of kinship.

Furthermore, his teammate Xie Yunqian was currently talking to Lu Jianxing. Pei Xiwang didn’t want to join in, mainly because he didn’t care for Lu Jianxing and didn’t want to say a single extra word to him. The wait for the fish to cook felt exceptionally long.

And so, after locking eyes with the child, Pei Xiwang took the initiative to strike up a conversation: “You can tell fortunes?”

Qiao Man replied, “I can.”

“Really?” Pei Xiwang said. “You’re so little, and you know how to do that?”

Qiao Man stared at him intently for a long while before suddenly saying, “Ten yuan per reading. Do you want one?”

“I don’t have any money.” Pei Xiwang pulled out his empty pockets. Aside from the supplies provided by the production team, they weren’t allowed to bring anything.

“Then there’s nothing to be done.” Qiao Man shook his head and let out a regretful sigh. “There is no fate between us². I cannot save you.”

Pei Xiwang: “…”

He searched through every pocket and his backpack, finally fishing out a few wild fruits left over from when he was being chased by hornets. He had originally intended to keep them as emergency rations.

He held out the wild fruits. “Will these work as payment?”

[Hahaha, first it was the talismans, then the Luo Pan, and now he’s starting with the fortune-telling?]

[I see it now, baby Manman loves playing the little Taoist! He’s such a good actor. There’s a charlatan living downstairs from me who also loves telling everyone he meets that a great disaster is imminent.]

[Ten yuan a reading? What happened to ‘if it’s not accurate, it’s free’?]

[Pei Xiwang, you’re being way too cooperative.]

[Is it really okay to teach such a young child how to swindle people?]

Qiao Man sized him up for a long moment before finally accepting the wild fruits. He didn’t forget to add, “Normally, this wouldn’t be enough, but a great calamity is about to befall you. Since our paths have crossed, it is fate, so I will help you this once.”

Pei Xiwang almost burst out laughing at his deadpan expression. Even being told a disaster was coming didn’t make him angry. He played along, saying, “Alright… then, can you calculate how old I am?”

Qiao Man: “…Even though you’ve gone gray at such a young age, I can tell at a glance that you’re only in your twenties!!”

Pei Xiwang adopted the tone he usually used to coax his younger sister: “Wow, you actually guessed right… wait, no!” He snapped in embarrassed frustration, “What do you mean ‘gone gray’? This is dyed!”

“Dyed?”

Pei Xiwang lowered his head and ruffled through his hair, pointing it out to him. “Look closely. Aren’t the roots that just grew in black? Besides, this color is silver-gray!”

Lu Jianxing suppressed a smile and helped explain, “It’s true, he dyed his hair that color.”

Qiao Man looked at his head with deep suspicion. He really couldn’t see any difference between this silver-gray and the white hair on his master’s head. But since even Xingxing said so, he had no choice but to reluctantly believe it.

Sigh, the future world really had so many things that Qiao Man didn’t recognize.

In the live stream’s comment section, there was nothing but a screen full of laughter.

Pei Xiwang had the face of a “cool guy,” with sharp, cold features. He had recently debuted as a trainee through an idol survival show. His cool appearance had won him many fans, and his silver-gray short hair was his trademark. His fans loved it, and he usually took great care of it.

Who would have thought that a child would turn around and call it premature graying? But the other party was just a five-year-old kid, so what could he really say?

Pei Xiwang fixed his hairstyle again, looked at the wild fruits by the child’s hand, and asked somewhat gloomily, “So, what else did you see?”

“Your career is facing obstacles coming from your family. Your parents don’t want you to be a big star?” Qiao Man asked curiously. “Why? Isn’t being a big star good? Xingxing is a big star, and I support him very much.”

Pei Xiwang froze. “How… how do you know that?”

He shouldn’t have mentioned this to anyone.

In fact, just before starting the show, he had just gotten off the phone with his family. His father had been pressuring him again to quit the industry and come home. The two had argued and ended the call on a bad note.

He never liked talking about his family matters to outsiders. Even his friends in the industry didn’t know about this.

Qiao Man didn’t need to be told; he could calculate it himself. He pinched his fingers together in a series of rapid movements, then came to a realization. “Your father wants you to go home and inherit the family business… Your family makes cars? Wow!”

Pei Xiwang: “…”

He suddenly felt a bit restless, and cold sweat began to slide down his face.

How was this possible? He had never told anyone about his family background.

Knowing he was a “rich second generation³” was one thing, but how could the kid possibly know his family was in the automotive industry?

Could this child be a mole sent by his father to persuade him to go home?

In the comments, the viewers had been happily watching him tease the kid, but seeing his overly obvious look of guilt and shock, they suddenly felt something was off.

[Wait, why do you look so guilty???]

[Could it be that he actually got it right?]

[Pei Xiwang, you rascal, do you actually have a family fortune to inherit?!]

[I’ve been a fan of Pei Xiwang since before his debut, how did I not know about this?!]

[Didn’t you just trend on social media because you were caught asking for a ‘positive review’ rebate after buying clothes?!]

Even Lu Jianxing and Xie Yunqian, who had been chatting, stopped their conversation and looked over with great interest.

Lu Jianxing had already witnessed Qiao Man’s fortune-telling abilities and knew he was incredibly accurate. He asked curiously, “Is it true? If you don’t make it as an idol, you have to go back and inherit the family business?”

Since he had been exposed, there was no point in hiding it. Pei Xiwang nodded with a bitter face. “My father wants me to intern at the family company after graduation, but I don’t want to. We even had a fight about it. He still hasn’t agreed to let me enter the entertainment industry and has even frozen my cards… Strange, I haven’t told anyone else…”

How on earth did this kid know?

Qiao Man tilted his chin up, looking very proud of himself. “I told you, my readings are very accurate!”

Pei Xiwang hadn’t believed him at first, treating it as a child’s nonsense, but now he was starting to have doubts.

It couldn’t really be calculated, could it?

“Then… Master?” he asked hesitantly. “You said earlier that a great calamity is about to befall me? What did you mean by that?”

Surely that wasn’t just a scripted line?

“Your fortune is very low,” Qiao Man said. “Lately, haven’t you become very unlucky?”

Pei Xiwang was stunned, taking a moment to process before nodding his head. “Yes… yes, I have.”

It sounded like the standard script of a charlatan, but it struck a chord deep within Pei Xiwang.

Because lately, he really had been very unlucky.

First, the appliances in his home kept malfunctioning, nearly causing an explosion. Before joining this show, he was walking down the street when a falling billboard almost crushed him. Fortunately, he escaped with only minor scratches.

Being able to join Wilderness Challenge was the only stroke of good luck he had experienced lately. He was in the same company as the top star, Xie Yunqian, but the company had many newcomers around his age. Pei Xiwang was incredibly flattered to be chosen as Xie Yunqian’s teammate. Naturally, he planned to perform well on the show and not waste this hard-won opportunity.

But things did not go as planned. Despite his hard work, bad luck continued to haunt him.

When setting up the tent, he had clearly secured the support poles and double-checked them, yet the tent collapsed for no reason. While picking wild fruit, he had not even touched the hornet’s nest, but it fell down on its own.

Although the program had only been running for two days, there had been many such unlucky incidents. Beyond his own misfortune, he was dragging Xie Yunqian down with him. Forget gaining popularity; he would be lucky if Xie’s fans did not tear him apart.

Pei Xiwang was already planning to find a reputable temple to pray at once the show ended, hoping to wash away his bad luck.

Pei Xiwang could not help but say, “I have just been a bit unlucky lately. How is that a great disaster?”

Qiao Man kept his chubby little face straight, saying solemnly, “Because someone stole your luck. It was originally just a minor misfortune, but now, that minor misfortune has turned into a Calamity of Blood.”

Nearby, Lu Jianxing’s expression shifted slightly. He sat up straight, looking over with a flicker of doubt and alarm. “…Luck Borrowing?”

Opposite them, Xie Yunqian was also drawn into the conversation. He asked gently, “What does that mean?”

Translator’s Notes