Everyone tried hard to suppress their laughter, not daring to let their expressions show. The cameraman raised his camera, and Wang Qinqin swallowed back the words that were right on the tip of her tongue.
In the end, the flasks for all the girls were whittled by Wei Yan. Lin Yue tried whittling half of hers herself, but the wood was simply too hard and she ultimately had to ask Wei Yan for help.
Hu Lu completed hers entirely on her own without asking anyone for assistance.
Noticing that she hadn’t eaten anything since the previous night, Zhang Tongtong specially saved an entire fish for her, but Hu Lu coldly refused it.
They stayed an extra night before setting off. When they departed the next day, everyone filled their flasks to the brim with water before hitting the road.
With water in hand, they no longer had to worry about water sources the moment they started walking, and their marching speed was noticeably faster than before.
Time arrived at the seventh day.
They had reached the center of the jungle, and it was clear they had been far too optimistic in thinking they could move faster just by carrying water.
However, the center of the jungle was an area rarely set foot upon by humans. The vegetation here grew freely and densely, occupying every single inch of soil, and simply clearing a path took up a massive amount of time.
Because they couldn’t be sure if they would suddenly encounter trenches left behind by earthquake faults, which, although covered on the surface with lush trees, could cause someone to take a wrong step and plunge into a deep ravine, or if they might run into a cliff edge, even though the surroundings were overgrown with tall, towering forests everywhere they looked.
They had to reselect a route simply because the previous one led to a cliff edge, forcing them to detour back to the base of the mountain on one side and climb back up to cross the forest on the opposite mountain.
The guests grumbled all the way, yet they had no choice but to keep walking.
The wound on Chen Nan’s face had not yet healed, and throughout the entire day, it kept scraping against plant leaves. Soaked in sweat, the spider-bite wound on his face ached and itched, burning with pain.
Irritably, he raised his walking stick and swiped at the thorny branches and leaves. “How are you people leading the way? Can’t you properly look at a map, or are you just stumbling around blindly with your eyes covered?”
Up ahead, Zhou Youlan and the others heard the commotion and turned back. Li Xiaohuan nudged Chen Nan, signaling him to keep his voice down.
“What are you saying? You’ll say anything.”
In reality, Chen Nan wasn’t accusing Zhou Youlan and Zhao Guanjun as team leaders, as he wouldn’t dare. He was simply targeting Wei Yan.
Because Wei Yan had been trying to ride on Zhou Youlan’s popularity by hyping up male-to-male CP topics and constantly cozying up to and protecting Zhou Youlan, he always rushed to the front. Since he dared to lead the way up front, why couldn’t people complain if he led them the wrong way?
“If you’re tired, let them stop and rest for a bit.”
Hu Lu was walking right behind Chen Nan. They were moving the slowest, gradually falling to the back of the queue.
Hu Lu let out a sudden retch. The others turned back to see her clutching a tree and vomiting continuously.
Hearing the commotion, the rest of the group stopped one by one.
“What’s wrong? Why is she vomiting like this? Is she having a fever?” Zhao Jie patted her back. “Where does it hurt?”
Hu Lu shook her head, her face turning so pale she couldn’t speak.
She was completely unsteady on her feet. Zhao Jie was almost pulled down with her until Kang Xiang stepped in to steady her from the side, helping Hu Lu sit down nearby.
“Daodao, you understand traditional Chinese medicine, right? Come over and take a look at what’s wrong with Hu Lu.”
Wang Daodao squeezed his way through the crowd. He pulled Hu Lu’s hand over to check her pulse, while everyone else watched in silence, terrified that disturbing Wang Daodao would interfere with his diagnosis.
Big Mac craned his neck to peer inside. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. We’ll only find out once Wang Daodao takes a look,” Zhang Tongtong said. “Could she be suffering from extreme starvation?”
As entertainers, they had to strictly control their food intake, and situations where they went days without eating did happen. When people went without food for a long time, symptoms like vomiting and dizziness from prolonged hunger would occur.
Hu Lu hadn’t eaten anything for the past few days, or rather, she refused to eat the food Wei Yan found, though nobody knew what she was angry about.
Zhou Youlan pushed his way through the crowd and squatted down beside Wang Daodao to assess the situation.
When Wei Yan saw the vomit at the base of the tree, his brow twitched slightly.
“Well?” Zhao Jie pressed. “Is she suffering from heatstroke because it’s too hot?”
In truth, Wang Daodao wasn’t certain either. He had only picked up a bit of traditional medicine growing up from his family’s subtle influence, and after growing up and gaining some sense, he only cared about playing music. His understanding was extremely shallow, so there was no way for him to definitively diagnose the cause of Hu Lu’s symptoms.
Yet with so many pairs of eyes watching him and placing complete trust in him, if he said something wrong, wouldn’t he…
“Uh,” Wang Daodao hesitated for a moment. “The weather is too hot, and her body has been constantly depleting water, so heatstroke is practically inevitable. Moreover, since her body hasn’t received an effective nutritional supplement over a prolonged period and her nutrients are draining too fast, symptoms like vomiting can happen.”
The others gave an understanding “Oh.” “Then does she just need to eat a little something to get better?”
Wang Dao dao nodded. “Yeah, eat a little food to replenish her bodily functions, and drink plenty of water.”
“I still have water here, I’ll give it to you.” Lin Yue was the first to share her water.
Ruan Mengmeng also shared a bit of hers with her, and Hu Lu nodded. “Thank you.”
As long as it wasn’t a major issue, the others gradually dispersed and sat down to rest.
Wei Yan, however, kept his gaze fixed on Hu Lu, his expression calm yet clearly lost in thought.
Zhang Tongtong asked softly, “Brother Wei, what is it?”
Wei Yan lowered his gaze and pulled his eyes away. Zhang Tongtong motioned for him to sit aside, while Big Mac shared some wild berries they had picked along the way with them.
Big Mac called out to Zhou Youlan to come over and sit. Seeing that Wei Yan was also sitting there, he initially hesitated, wanting to stay further away from Wei Yan, yet his feet still carried him toward that spot without listening to his brain.
With Big Mac sitting between them, Zhou Youlan sat on a rock, deliberately turning his back sideways as if that could shield him from Wei Yan’s gaze.
Yet upon closer observation, as long as they were in a completely safe environment, Wei Yan hadn’t even spared Zhou Youlan a single extra glance.
“She’s poisoned,” Wei Yan said.
“Huh?”
The people around him looked at him with blank expressions. “What do you mean, poisoned?”
Wei Yan glanced at Hu Lu, who was leaning against a tree looking miserable. Hearing this, Zhou Youlan turned his head and frowned. “You mean Hu Lu?”
Wei Yan gave a slight nod.
[What the heck? Poisoned?]
[For real? How does Wei Yan know?]
[Wang Dao dao comes from a traditional Chinese medicine family, you know. Even he didn’t spot any poisoning, is Wei Yan just talking nonsense?]
[What kind of poisoning is this? Did she eat something or get bitten by a bug?]
[666, Wei Yan takes one look and knows someone is poisoned. He’s more awesome than a doctor, 666.]
“You’re talking nonsense. Wang Dao dao understands traditional Chinese medicine, and he said it’s heatstroke. How would you know it’s poisoning?” Big Mac completely refused to believe it.
Zhang Tongtong also chimed in, “Brother Wei, Wang Dao dao checked her pulse himself. Don’t make it sound so terrifying.”
Yet Wei Yan only looked at Zhou Youlan. After all, as the vice team leader, whether to handle the matter was up to him; he had simply noticed something was wrong and offered a warning.
Zhou Youlan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, driven by his sense of responsibility for the personal safety of his team members, he went to ask Hu Lu about her condition once more.
It wasn’t because he blindly obeyed Wei Yan, but Wei Yan’s capabilities were truly obvious to everyone. Perhaps Wei Yan had noticed details that none of them had caught, and what if they ignored it and ended up delaying treatment for Hu Lu?
The members of their group gathered around once again, and Zhou Youlan squatted down in front of Hu Lu. “Are you feeling any better?”
Hu Lu shook her head.
“Why don’t we look around nearby to see if there’s any food so she can at least eat a little,” Big Mac suggested.
Zhang Tongtong sighed. “We offered you food before and you wouldn’t eat it. With your body expending so much energy, you definitely can’t hold up without eating. Just hold on a little longer, we’ll go find some food for you.”
“You haven’t been eating anything?” Big Mac’s tone rose. “Why wouldn’t you eat?”
Hu Lu pressed her lips tightly together, clearly unwilling to talk about it.
“She can’t eat,” Wei Yan said. At least, not right now.
The others turned back, and Big Mac said, “She’s starved to the point of vomiting. If she doesn’t eat something soon, she’s going to kick the bucket.”
Zhou Youlan pressed Hu Lu further, “Did you eat something else?”
Hu Lu looked somewhat unnatural, shifting her gaze away. “I was just… too hot and too tired.”
Wei Yan stated, “You ate blackberry lily.”
“I,” Hu Lu’s eyes darted around evasively, “n-no, I just have heatstroke.”
“Blackberry lily? What’s that?”
“Blackberry lily is poisonous.”