“Gu Yue, walk twelve steps from right under our feet here, and you’ll find the scale.”
One step, two steps… eleven steps, twelve steps.
Not one more, not one less—just exactly twelve steps.
Lu Nan stopped her steps and lifted her gaze, fixing it on that section of the wall.
Earlier, when You Hui had led them to the sand wall, she had secretly calculated the time and steps. If she hadn’t miscalculated, this was the spot corresponding to where the scale tray was placed on the opposite side.
She clenched her hands into fists. Whoosh—one punch flew out. Gu Yue only heard the sound of wind whistling past her ear as that fist smashed straight into the wall. The sand wall enveloped her hand.
That section of wall collapsed instantly, revealing a sand cave. The sand kicked up earlier blinded their eyes. Lu Nan narrowed her eyes slightly. Inside the sand cave sat a silver scale tray.
Lu Nan placed the stone fragments from her pocket onto it. A chill from the scale tray crept up her hand as the stone fragments scattered across it with a ding.
“There’s a scale here too. I almost forgot earlier—it’s mirrored, so everything they have over there, we have here.”
At the same time, the third painting slowly unfurled before them.
…
[142.8…150 grams.]
Tang Qi, who had been staring intently at the scale, suddenly jumped and shouted, “It changed! It changed!”
She shoved Song Wenwei.
“Wenwei-jie, look! The scale changed—it’s already 150 grams now. We can wake the princess!”
The scale, which had previously read 148.2 grams, now displayed a new number.
Song Wenwei examined the numbers on the scale carefully and confirmed it was indeed 150 grams.
Tang Qi clasped her hands together in a praying gesture. “Princess, princess, wake up quick. Princess, princess, wake up soon…”
At the same time, the cold AI voice rang out—
[Congratulations to Group A for clearing the stage. Members Xia Yubing and Xia Zhengyun receive a hotel luxury double room.]
The six of them turned their heads forward.
“They cleared it that fast?!” Gu Yue exclaimed.
You Hui said, “We need to step it up too.”
“It’s almost done, almost done.”
…
The knights shook their bodies as they charged madly toward the rolling shutter door, raising their longswords high. They raced toward the rolling shutter door like madmen.
“What the hell? Didn’t that painting say that as long as we woke the princess before the knights reached the rolling shutter door, everything would be fine? How is the painting lying now?” You Hui quietly took a step back as he spoke.
“You mean the third painting?” Song Wenwei asked.
“Yeah.”
Song Wenwei glanced at him, paused, and said, “The third painting shows evil dragon knights, not human knights.”
“What?” Ren Bahai chuckled in disbelief. “So we spent all that time blocking the knights earlier, and they were actually here to help us…”
You Hui: “This is bullshit, seriously…”
Lu Nan and Gu Yue walked toward them, the countdown in their minds drawing ever closer to zero.
The two of them stopped in front of the four others. Lu Nan reached into the scale—nothing at first. Gradually, the scale tray descended, and then a jar bottle emerged.
Lu Nan pulled it out and held it up for everyone to see.
It was a transparent glass-like jar, allowing anyone to clearly see the white tablets stacked inside.
“A medicine bottle?” Tang Qi’s eyes widened as she confirmed that what she saw wasn’t fake.
Ren Bahai pushed up his glasses and examined the transparent glass bottle closely.
Medicine…
Only the sick needed medicine.
“How could it be medicine tablets…” You Hui said in disbelief. He raged, “What kind of bullshit treasure is this?”
“This is the knights’ treasure—medicine…” Song Wenwei stood beside Lu Nan and drawled, “It really is their treasure.”
“There was never any evil dragon to begin with. This was a mutation—a mutation belonging to them.” Lu Nan stepped aside, allowing everyone to clearly see the final painting that had appeared on the wall behind her.
The fourth painting depicted a half-human, half-beast form.
One side of her face was snow-white and beautiful, while the other was covered in pitch-black scales. Her round eyes turned slit-like, her ears became horns on her head, and her tongue stretched longer and longer…
The knights were the same. Their tough, impenetrable armor transformed into thick, blade-proof scales.
They were all evil dragons and knights alike—evil dragons guilty of heinous crimes that people hated; a princess who had saved the people but lost all her divine power and was forced into slumber; knights who slew evil dragons.
“So the medicine… is their treasure.”
…
[Congratulations to Group D for clearing the stage. Members Yi Xiao and Mo Zhiting receive a hotel luxury double room.]
Xia Yubing stood nearby, her gaze sizing up the woman separated from her by a chasm. If they still had ropes tied around them, she might have kept even more distance.
“Looks like she’s not that impressive after all.” Xia Yubing’s words carried a barb—the “she” naturally referring to Lu Nan.
She had no idea why Xia Zhengyun would take a liking to someone so weak. Seven years ago, they’d argued over exactly this kind of person.
It was the first time in all those years they’d clashed. How laughable.
Xia Zhengyun’s gaze fell to the ground, her tone flat. “So?”
What exactly did she want to say? Couldn’t she just shut up?
Xia Yubing was about to blurt it out, but this was a live recording site, and there was a camera on Xia Zhengyun’s head. She swallowed her words. “Nothing, no ‘so’ about it.”
“Mm.”
[Congratulations to Group E for clearing the stage. Members You Hui and Ren Bahai receive one homestay.]
[Congratulations to Group B for clearing the stage. Members Lu Nan and Gu Yue receive one wooden house.]
[Congratulations to Group C for clearing the stage. Members Song Wenwei and Tang Qi receive one tent.]
[Due to timeout, Groups E, B, and A lose the homestay and wooden house. One team receives one tent and a Night on the Mountain Experience Card. Congratulations to Group C on new neighbors~]
The six of them exchanged glances.
You Hui grinned cheekily. He didn’t care where they slept anyway— all six of them were in the same boat, with a dead pig not fearing scalding water mindset.
Tang Qi let out a heavy sigh and slumped to the ground dejectedly. “I knew it. I’m dead last… Sorry, Wenwei-jie…”
“What’s there to be sorry about?” Song Wenwei squatted down and helped her up. “Wins and losses are normal. We all put in the effort—no need to apologize to me.”
“Thanks. Wenwei-jie, you didn’t even mind that I’m dumb.”
Lu Nan: …
Lu Nan stood there with a cold face, racking her brain for words to comfort her.
If it were Song Wenwei, she could spit them out without thinking. But this was someone she wasn’t that close to—someone close to her own girlfriend… None of that mattered. The main issue was why Tang Qi wouldn’t let go of Song Wenwei’s hand.
Why!!
She had to find a way to make her let go.
Even if you say you’re a student, even if you’re a beast, it’s not okay.
Over the years, this face of hers had been a huge help. As soon as she put on a cold face, no one talked to her, and she didn’t have to think.
If before, Lu Nan had been a single-celled organism who only responded in two or three words, now her cells had divided.
Oh, got it.
She was about to speak.
But unexpectedly, Tang Qi looked up and saw that expression on her face—it was even scarier than just cold.
She startled. “I just said a few words. Why are you looking at me like that? It’s so creepy…”
Lu Nan forced a fake smile, all skin and no heart.
Since she was delusional enough to try comforting her.
She deserved it.
Also, first, get those stinky hands off my wife’s hand.
Song Wenwei glanced sideways at her. Lu Nan’s fake smile vanished instantly, replaced by a sincere one that felt like a spring breeze.
Tang Qi: ?
What the hell.
Lu Nan, why are you smiling?
Xia Yubing’s cold eyes swept over the people nearby—no telling if she’d noticed.
Xia Zhengyun just felt a pair of eyes staring at her back. She ignored it, simply untying her waist belt. With a yank of her hand, the rope snapped at the notch she’d gnawed earlier.
“Sorry about that,” Xia Zhengyun said.
Xia Yubing smiled and waved it off repeatedly. “No problem.”
She said it with a smile, but anyone with eyes could see frost forming on her face.
Xia Zhengyun smiled back, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Mo Zhiting glanced at the two whose atmosphere was icy cold, then looked straight ahead.
The director spoke up—[Please come claim your respective room cards.]
At those words, Xia Zhengyun felt a weight lift. Normally, in situations like this, two people went up together, but Xia Zhengyun didn’t care how others saw it.
Finally, a chance to get away from her. She stepped forward first, reaching the director and taking both their room cards.
Xia Zhengyun looked down. One flip—hotel luxury suite, even the cards had fancy designs.
Too bad it was a double suite. A single room each would have been better.
She’d endure. Just two days left. She’d endured before; a few days more wouldn’t kill her.
After grabbing the cards, she stood at a distance from Xia Yubing that wasn’t too far to seem deliberate, but not close either.
Xia Yubing hugged her arms and leaned against the wall, her eyes appraising the feet not far away.
Everyone removed their head cameras and waist gear. Lu Nan’s hair was flattened. Song Wenwei stood beside her and naturally fixed it for her.
“Do our tents come with room cards too?” You Hui said cheerfully. “So fancy!”
Ren Bahai silently gave him a look and sighed helplessly, his eyes full of two words: Give up.
“Yes, yes, yes!” the host shouted. An assistant nearby carried over their “room cards”—six packs of various sizes, just right for one per person.
Song Wenwei saw it clearly: one pack held three green tents, another had sleeping bags.
“Ta-da! These are your one-of-a-kind room cards!” The host set the tents on the ground. They weren’t small—big enough for two people.
The tents were unpacked. Song Wenwei got it—for the show’s effect, they’d probably have to pitch them themselves.
The host handed out twelve boxes of self-heating rice, two per person, as if afraid they’d go hungry.
“Hang on, director…” Tang Qi pointed at the tents, then at her dusty clothes, asking sincerely, “Food and shelter are sorted, but where do we shower?”
You Hui nodded vigorously in agreement. “Yeah, yeah, director, I need a shower. I crawled out from under that giant pendulum—clothes all dirty, running around, I’m covered in stinky sweat.”
“Well…”
“Director, keep this up and I’ll protest. I’ll rise up…”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The host smoothed things over. “There’s a little wooden shack by the mountain— you can wash up inside.”
…
The six of them hiked up the mountain road with huge backpacks, photographers trailing behind to film.
“The director didn’t say where to set up. Otherwise, let’s pick a spot with fewer mosquitoes.”
“Keep going, up ahead! That spot’s good—wind sheltered, won’t get cold at night.” Ren Bahai pointed to the small hill ahead.
“Wow! Bahai, you’re so smart!” You Hui said, then bolted toward the direction he pointed, kicking up dust like a lone rider.
“Awesome! No cold wind tonight~”
His voice faded farther and farther away.
Everyone confirmed the spot and unloaded their packs.
Lu Nan and Gu Yue stood by Song Wenwei, eyeing the approximate distance. They set up the frame, spread the tent, and hammered in the stakes.
The tent interior was decently spacious. They unpacked the sleeping bags and laid them out.
After they finished, Lu Nan crawled out of the tent and walked over to Song Wenwei.
Song Wenwei and Tang Qi were assembling theirs. Lu Nan grabbed stakes from their pack on the ground and helped prop up the tent.
“I’ll help you guys,” Lu Nan said.
Tang Qi, holding the metal frame, quietly shoved her aside with her body and mumbled, “No need for your help.”
After saying it, she felt her tone had been too harsh. Would Lu Nan feel down? She quickly added, “I mean, everyone’s tired. Thanks, Lu Nan-jie, but we’re good.”
Song Wenwei chimed in, “It’s fine. We can handle it. Why don’t you go shower first?”
Everyone had been busy all day. A shower, meal, and good sleep would feel great.
Lu Nan glanced at her and nodded. “Okay.”
But even as she said it, her hands didn’t stop helping.
Song Wenwei paused mid-motion with the tent fabric, then reacted. Right—Lu Nan couldn’t be dissuaded.
—
Night fell. Only a few fixed cameras stood in front of their tents, with small night-vision cams hanging inside.
After dinner, Lu Nan lifted the flap of the adjacent tent.
She poked her head out and asked—
“Wanna take a walk?”
Without waiting for a response, Lu Nan grabbed Song Wenwei’s hand. She gave her no chance to refuse and pulled her outside.
Tang Qi watched the two departing figures and Gu Yue, who was gazing at the scenery outside. They stared at each other with wide eyes.
She hesitated, the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat. She looked rather comical.
Gu Yue waved her hands repeatedly to distance herself. “I don’t know anything. Don’t ask me.”
Tang Qi turned her back, cheeks puffed out in anger.
Damn Lu Nan. She dragged someone away without a word, not even giving Tang Qi a chance to stop her.
Inside the tent, Tang Qi paced in circles, muttering to herself, I’ll draw another circle to curse you.
Once the pair left, they quickly moved out of the camera’s range.
You Hui glanced at the tent, then at Lu Nan, then back at the tent, then at Song Wenwei—like a robot swinging back and forth nonstop.
Ren Bahai slapped a big hand over his face. “Stop staring. Time to sleep. With them heading out, you’ll have fewer chances to peep.”
“Peep? Me, peeping?” You Hui’s expression grew complicated. “This is me looking openly and aboveboard!”
“Yeah, right. Go to sleep already!”
“I’m going to wash up first. Smack…” You Hui swatted a mosquito that was buzzing annoyingly around. He grumbled, “These mosquitoes in the mountains are really plentiful.”
Ren Bahai shrugged. “Not too bad. You’ll be anemic soon enough.”
