Back on the Island
As the Highland team finished their meal and settled into a comfortable silence, the "Villainess" of the island was experiencing a very different reality.
Wang Bai sat in the dark of the Lowland camp, her stomach cramping with a dull, persistent hunger. The small portion of food Chen Jue had brought her earlier had been a momentary relief, but it had only served to awaken her appetite, making her more aware of the void in her belly.
Zhang Rui was lying on his back nearby, staring at the stars with a hollow, angry expression, his pride wounded even more than his stomach.
"She’s doing it on purpose," Zhang Rui hissed into the night, his voice raspy. "The scallion pancakes... I can smell the toasted oil from here. She’s flaunting it. She wants us to know exactly what we’re missing."
Wang Bai clutched her jade pendant, her knuckles white. She felt weak, the artifact’s energy flickering and cold, like a dying candle in a drafty room. She had tried to "bless" the team’s latest forage, but her luck had run dry.
All they had found were more of those sour, green berries and a patch of tough, stringy wild yams that tasted like dirt and were almost impossible to swallow.
"She won’t win," Wang Bai whispered, her voice cracking with a mixture of exhaustion and spite. "She thinks she’s so smart, taking Jue-jie away from me and playing the hero. But the fans... the fans love me. They’ve seen me cry for her. They’ll see her cruelty soon enough when she refuses to share her ’Golden’ prize with the starving. I just need one more chance to show the world how ’evil’ she really is. A single slip-up, and I’ll take everything back."
She didn’t know that the "fans" she was relying on were currently flooding her social media pages with demands for her to be removed from the show for child endangerment and manipulation. She didn’t know that the brands she represented were already scrubbing her face from their websites with a panicked urgency.
[System: Ding! Target Wang Bai’s ’Luck Reserves’ are at a critical 5%. Warning: Probability of ’Total Misfortune’ has reached 80%. Backlash imminent.]
Chen Ying, sitting by her warm, crackling fire, heard the notification in her mind. She looked toward the Lowland, where a single, pathetic spark of fire flickered in the dark like a dying star.
’The fall is always faster than the climb,’ she thought, sipping her hot tea.
Zhou Yaya leaned her head on Chen Ying’s shoulder, her stomach full and her heart at peace for the first time since the show began. "Ying-jie? Thank you for the food. It tasted like... like the home I wish I had."
Chen Ying didn’t reply with words, but she reached out and patted Yaya’s hand with a rare, gentle touch. The coldness in her eyes softened, just for a moment, as the Highland team settled in for their first night of true, well-earned rest, unaware that the world outside was already preparing a throne for their leader.
[Current Balance: 1022 Points.]
[Public Opinion: "Chen Ying’s cooking is a weapon of mass destruction. I’m eating instant noodles and crying while I watch her pull dough."]
The tropical sun was a relentless golden eye in the sky. The humidity had reached a fever pitch. Despite the heat, the Highland team moved with a quiet efficiency that had become their trademark. Since the "Golden Ticket" feast, the atmosphere had shifted; they were no longer just a group of strangers trying to survive—they were a unit.
Director Zhao’s voice, now carrying a tone of almost breathless excitement due to the astronomical ratings pouring in from across the globe, crackled through the hidden speakers nestled in the banyan trees.
"Survivors, the struggle for food is over for some, but the struggle for supremacy continues. Today, we test your minds as much as your physical endurance. In front of each of you, the crew has placed a manual: *The Medicinal Flora of the Southern Isles*. You have exactly thirty minutes to memorize the contents—the appearances, the soil preferences, and the pharmacological values of the herbs hidden within this sector of the island. Following this, you will head out on an ’Individual Foraging Mission’. You will be judged on both the total quantity and the specific medicinal value of your haul. The winner receives a personal ’Sponsor’s Care Package’—a luxury reward that remains a surprise."
In the Highland camp, the air was immediately thick with focus. Chen Ying sat cross-legged on a woven mat, flipping through the manual with a speed that suggested she wasn’t just reading, but scanning the data directly into her soul.
Beside her, Chen Jue was squinting at a diagram of a fever-reducing root, his brow furrowed in a display of concentration that was entirely new to him. He was no longer the pampered idol who relied on others to tie his shoes. He wanted to be a brother who could stand beside Chen Ying without leaning on her.
"Don’t just memorize the pictures, Jue," Chen Ying said quietly. She didn’t lift her eyes from the page.
"Look at the soil types and the companion plants. You’ll find the *Lingzhi* near decaying oak in the shade, not in the open brush. If you find wild ginger, look ten paces to the north; the moisture usually collects there."
Chen Jue nodded vigorously, scribbling notes onto a piece of smooth bark with a charred stick. "Got it. Shade for the *Lingzhi*, north for the ginger. I won’t let the team down, Yingying."
Across the ravine, the Lowland camp was a picture of mounting desperation.
Wang Bai was staring at the manual, but her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Her "Luck System" was flickering like a dying bulb, and the "Lotus Fog" that usually granted her a strange, intuitive edge was dampened by her physical weakness and the growing resentment of her teammates.
Zhang Rui was simply flipping through the pages, complaining loudly that the book was too academic and that "real survival" shouldn’t involve a pop quiz.
"Thirty minutes are up! Put the manuals down!" Director Zhao’s voice boomed. "The sector has been swept for large predators and is deemed safe for individual travel. The drones will be your only companions. Move out!"
Chen Ying moved through the dense forest like a ghost. To the millions of viewers watching her through the drones, she seemed to possess a sixth sense. While other contestants—like Zhang Rui—were wandering aimlessly or accidentally pulling up common weeds, Chen Ying moved with a terrifying purpose.
She bypassed the common herbs and went straight for the hidden crevices of the limestone cliffs.
Her fingers moved deftly plucking rare herbs and placing them into her hand-woven wicker basket. Within twenty minutes, she had secured several high-value roots that would have made a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner weep with joy.
She was deep in a shaded grove when the silence was shattered not by a scream, but by a frantic splash, followed by the sudden, violent roar of rushing water.
Chen Ying froze, her head snapping toward the sound. Her internal map, perfected over weeks of scouting, immediately identified the location. The "Safe Zone" for the mission ended at the sharp bend of the Silver Creek.
Beyond that bend, the water picked up a lethal speed as the river narrowed, eventually plunging over a sheer drop known as the Maiden’s Falls.
She didn’t hesitate. She dropped her basket of priceless herbs and sprinted toward the sound, her boots thudding against the soft earth as she pushed through the ferns.
She broke through the treeline and saw a scene of impending tragedy. Zhou Yaya was standing on a dangerously slippery rock near the riverbank, her face as pale as parchment and her eyes wide with terror.
In her trembling hand, she clutched a rare, iridescent blue orchid—a medicinal treasure of immense value. But Yaya wasn’t looking at the flower. She was staring at the white water of the river.
Wang Bai was in the center of the current. It was clear what had happened: Wang Bai had spotted Yaya’s find, tried to snatch the orchid for herself to win the mission, lost her footing on the moss-covered bank, and had been swept into the deep, fast-moving channel.
"Ying-jie! Ying-jie, help!" Yaya shrieked, her voice cracking with hysteria. "I tried to grab her hand, but the water pulled her away! She’s going toward the falls!"
Chen Ying looked at Wang Bai, who was bobbing in the foam, her face a mask of fear. In her past life, and certainly in this one, Wang Bai was a parasite who had caused her nothing but pain. If Wang Bai disappeared over that edge, the "Lotus" would finally wilt, and the world would be a cleaner place.
But then, Chen Ying’s eyes caught the red light of the drone hovering directly above Zhou Yaya.
She saw the trap. If Wang Bai died today, and Zhou Yaya was the only witness, the media and Wang Bai’s fanatic fanbase would spend the rest of Zhou Yaya’s life accusing her of pushing the "nation’s sweetheart" to her death. It would destroy the girl’s future.
’Tsk. Truly a nuisance,’ Chen Ying thought.
Without a single word of hesitation, she dove into the freezing, turbulent water.