Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 113
by Little PandaA Late-Night Shock Encounter with Wild Elephants
Who understands this miserable feeling of being both exhausted and sleepy, yet too excited to fall asleep?
Liu Yinxi lay inside the shelter. Despite her utter exhaustion, she couldn’t just drift off the moment she lay down like she normally did.
After lying there for an unknown stretch of time, she rolled onto her side and sneaked a look at her bracelet. It was 11:30 PM. They had gone to sleep just past nine, meaning over two hours had gone by and she still hadn’t fallen asleep. For someone like Liu Yinxi, this was incredibly rare.
Liu Yinxi had insomnia.
Being tired but staying up to play on your phone or play games is called staying up late. Wanting to sleep, closing your eyes and lying down properly, yet still being completely unable to fall asleep—that is called insomnia.
The last time Liu Yinxi had experienced insomnia seemed to be when she was waiting for her Gaokao1 results.
But what was it for this time around?
Just because Nan Huaixu had chatted with her about her family situation?
Because Nan Huaixu said she would come hang out with her during the New Year?
Because Nan Huaixu praised her as the most interesting person?
These things made her very happy, but not to the point of giving her insomnia.
Why on earth was that?
Liu Yinxi couldn’t figure it out.
Maybe the weather had been too hot these past couple of nights, making people restless.
Nan Huaixu was sleeping quite soundly.
Liu Yinxi figured that Nan Huaixu was sensitive to the cold but didn’t mind the heat. She had caught a chill in the cave that night and hadn’t slept well. Now that their shelter was built and the night was warm, she could finally sleep soundly.
Every day of survival required physical exertion like hiking, draining a massive amount of energy. Even if she couldn’t sleep, she needed to close her eyes and rest her mind to keep her body in a state of repose. Once the nervous excitement passed, she would be fine.
Liu Yinxi lay there for a while longer. As midnight approached, she got up to use the restroom and catch a breath of fresh air to cool off.
Upon returning to the shelter, Liu Yinxi drifted off into a fitful, light sleep. Her dreams were disjointed and bizarre, a chaotic blur of her past life before transmigrating and her new existence after. Her own memories tangled with those of the original host as scenes shifted constantly. One second, she was buying tickets and touring a museum with her mama and mami; the next, she was standing next to Nan Huaixu for a photo at a film festival… The dreamscape slowly collapsed, giving way to a new sequence of images. She was back in the cave on that night of torrential rain, her na.ked back pressed flush against a scorching warmth. A soft, gentle sensation slowly slithered down her spine, tangling with her like a nimble serpent…
Her throat felt as if it had been scorched by fire.
Liu Yinxi bolted upright.
She had been startled awake.
“Phew…” Liu Yinxi swept her hair back from her forehead. Her temples and neck were drenched in sweat, and her T-shirt was damp and clinging to her skin. She caught the scent of her own pheromones.
What was going on?
She did the math in her head. It was only early June, well before her rut2 was due. Why was there a scent?
Could it have been triggered by emotional fluctuations?
Liu Yinxi stared blankly into the pitch-black rainforest, grabbing her hair with both hands, utterly dazed.
She didn’t know why she had dreamt of such a thing. Although she couldn’t see behind her in the dream, she knew exactly how messy the situation it depicted had been. She felt deeply ashamed of the dream’s inappropriate nature—it was incredibly disrespectful to her.
No matter what, she could never cross the line again.
Liu Yinxi wanted to grab a leaf to fan herself and cool down.
She quietly slipped out of bed. Just as one of her feet touched the ground, a noise coming from deep within the rainforest caught her attention.
The sound wasn’t particularly loud, but it carried a heavy resonance, like rolling stones accompanied by the snapping of thick branches.
Tonight was peaceful, with no strong winds or rain. There was no way a strange noise would occur without reason. Liu Yinxi surmised that a medium-to-large animal was very likely passing nearby.
Having dealt with the Siamese crocodile and the Asian golden cat, Liu Yinxi no longer trusted the production team of this survival show. Even if a large predator like the Jinzhou tiger actually appeared, the crew would likely dismiss it by claiming the contestants had signed a liability waiver. Of course, Jinzhou tigers were critically endangered and extremely few in number; they avoided humans and remained highly vigilant. Since this area was close to an indigenous tribe, it was indeed highly unlikely for a tiger to roam around where humans were active.
Aside from venomous insects, snakes, and carnivorous beasts, the tropical rainforest of Jinzhou Island harbored many massive herbivores whose combat and destructive power were not to be underestimated. An adult two-horned rhinoceros could easily shatter a human’s bones.
She couldn’t afford to let her guard down at any time.
Liu Yinxi crouched and slipped into the thicket, focusing her mind to search for any abnormal sounds among the trees, letting not even the slightest rustle escape her. Amidst the chirping of insects and falling leaves, she picked up the heavy footfalls of large animals. Moreover, these steps were relatively dense, definitely not coming from a single individual. It had to be a herd.
Large bodies, able to break thick branches and displace stones, moving in a group—the possibility immediately struck Liu Yinxi.
—Jinzhou elephants.
The Jinzhou elephant was one of the endemic species of Jinzhou Island, a subspecies of the Asian elephant. Within the elephant family, it belonged to a smaller branch, but it still stood about two to three meters tall, making it an absolute giant compared to a human.
In her previous life before transmigrating, Liu Yinxi’s hometown had been a village situated on the edge of a tropical forest. Wild Asian elephants would occasionally wander out there. Sometimes, the leading elephant grandmother lost her way; other times, when food in the forest grew scarce, they would descend the mountain to raid the villagers’ crops.
During her college breaks, she had joined her mami in operations to disperse invading elephant herds, learning the basic facts about Asian elephants. Although they were not the exact same species, their habits were largely similar.
Since the competition guidelines hadn’t mentioned keeping an eye out for elephant herds, it indicated that the competition area wasn’t part of the wild elephants’ usual habitat. They must have suddenly migrated from higher up or further away.
Elephants kept to fixed territories. This tropical rainforest was rich in resources, and there was no human poaching or harassment. There was no reason for the herd to leave their familiar domain. Furthermore, their footsteps sounded incredibly hurried, as if they were in a rush to get somewhere… Could they be fleeing a disaster?
From the current situation alone, the cause remained unclear. In any case, if a herd of elephants was truly passing through, then she and Nan Huaixu would be in extreme danger, and they had to relocate immediately.
Liu Yinxi walked over to the bed and gently patted Nan Huaixu’s arm. “Teacher Nan, wake up. We need to find somewhere to hide.”
She hurriedly packed their backpacks and supplies, leaving behind bulky or non-essential items while taking everything else they could manage. Otherwise, their gear might get trampled to pieces by the herd.
“Mmh… Don’t pull me…” Sound asleep, Nan Huaixu rolled over and continued to sleep.
Holding the open backpack, Liu Yinxi turned back and applied a bit of pressure to her philtrum. “Up!”
Nan Huaixu felt a jolt of energy shoot straight to her head, and she snapped her eyes open. Liu Yinxi handed her a backpack. “Wake up, we have to go right now.”
Nan Huaixu blinked hard a few times and slapped her cheeks to rouse herself quickly.
She looked at Liu Yinxi’s hurried movements, swept up in the panic herself. “What’s wrong? Why are we leaving all of a sudden? Where are we going?”
Liu Yinxi brought her shoes over and set them at her feet. “Hurry up. I’ll explain on the way.”
“Mmh… Alright.” Nan Huaixu swiftly slipped into her hiking shoes, threw on her pack, grabbed the packed box and vine basket, and followed Liu Yinxi into the woods.
They headed toward a slightly higher ridge. About twenty minutes later, the sounds of a massive herd echoed near their camping spot. The beasts marched with heavy steps, letting out occasional low and high rumbles as they cleared away obstacles with their long trunks, parading past in a grand procession.
Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu crouched low in the bushes. Under the bright moonlight and starlight, they witnessed the magnificent spectacle of the migrating Jinzhou elephants.
The elderly elephant grandmother commanded the entire herd, leading her sisters, daughters, nieces, and newborn calves through the dense forest illuminated by the bright moon.
【Aaaaah, Grandma, Mom, I’m seeing live wild elephants!】
【Give Dog 6 solar power, the elephants are shot so beautifully (heart)】
【The baby elephants are so cute! (love)】
【So dangerous, thank goodness Xixi reacted quickly.】
【Why is the elephant herd coming here?】
【Maybe they’re looking for food.】
【I originally came to watch a survival show, but who would’ve thought that Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu would end up dragging us to see so many rare wild animals (laugh-cry)】
【Totally worth the livestream membership fee, just enjoy it in secret (covering mouth to laugh)】
【I don’t think this campsite is suitable for long-term living anymore. It’s always getting ruined. (helpless)】
【@Admin, has the production team seen this? Send out a bracelet announcement to warn all the contestants to avoid the elephant herd.】
【What is the security team even doing? Honestly (roll-eyes)】
【Manman and Xixi must stay safe! (pray)】
Hiding on the high ground, the two of them could vaguely make out what the elephants looked like.
Nan Huaixu placed her hand over her wildly beating chest. “That was close, there are actually elephants. Why don’t any of them have tusks? Did they encounter poachers?”
Liu Yinxi shook her head. “No, they’re all female. Female elephants have very small tusks that are hard to see. There might be some males among the calves, but their tusks haven’t grown in yet.”
“No male elephants?”
“Once male elephants reach adulthood, they leave their birth herd. They only seek out other herds during mating3 periods, and then they leave again.”
“So that’s how it is. I only knew that the older female elephants lead the herd, but I didn’t know there are no adult males in the herd.”
They waited a bit longer. When they looked down at the mountain forest below, it had already returned to tranquility.
Nan Huaixu’s legs had gone numb from crouching. She whispered to Liu Yinxi, “Can we stand up now?”
Liu Yinxi nodded and helped her up. “Slowly now.”
“Mm… Hiss, my legs have turned into static4.”
Liu Yinxi leaned against the tree and laughed. “Me too, a little.”
Nan Huaixu chuckled along with her. She lifted her wrist to check the time. “It’s almost dawn. What do we do now?”
Liu Yinxi looked at the area trampled by the Jinzhou elephants, her brow furrowing. “I don’t think this campsite has good feng shui. We keep running into trouble here. We need to find our next shelter and build a cabin as soon as possible.”
“That’s true.”
“We’ll head back and have some breakfast first, then—”
Suddenly, a dark shadow darted past Nan Huaixu’s feet. With a soft gasp, she stepped aside. The dawn sky was beginning to glow with a faint, hazy light, allowing them both to clearly see it was a forest rat.
Nan Huaixu asked, puzzled, “Are these rats not afraid of humans? It actually dared to run right past our feet?”
Liu Yinxi’s brow furrowed deeper. Using her trekking pole to sweep aside the dense grass and shrubs, she walked a wide circle. She discovered countless insects crawling all over the ground, and a snake was writhing its way out of a burrow.
The sight made Nan Huaixu’s scalp tingle. “Why are there so many bugs and snakes?”
Liu Yinxi didn’t answer. Her forehead was tightly creased. She climbed up a tree and looked around. The songbirds weren’t chirping as they normally did upon waking; instead, flocks of birds were repeatedly flying across the sky.
“Elephants can hear infrasound waves,” Liu Yinxi said suddenly.
Nan Huaixu froze, panic flashing in her eyes.
Liu Yinxi rapidly climbed down the tree, grabbed Nan Huaixu’s hand, and ran in one direction. “This is bad, run!”
Footnotes
- Gaokao (gāokǎo) is China's standardized National College Entrance Examination, known for its extreme intensity and life-shaping stakes.
- Rut (yìgǎnqī), or the susceptibility period, is a physiological cycle in Alpha-Beta-Omega (ABO) fiction where Alphas experience heightened emotional vulnerability, aggression, and an intense urge to claim their partners.
- Mating (jiāopèi) refers to animal copulation or biological breeding.
- Static (xuěhuā píng), literally 'snowflake screen,' is Chinese internet slang comparing the pins-and-needles sensation of limb numbness to the static fuzz on an old analog TV.
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