Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 89
by Little PandaBoth the Fish and the Meat Jerky Were Saved
Liu Yinxi and Nan Huaixu were stopped by Huang Heshan, while Yuan Fang, who had just crossed the river, was blocked in the middle of the rocky shoal by Yu Yan.
With Huang Heshan’s back turned to the river, Liu Yinxi, facing the rocky shoal, suddenly put on a look of sheer panic. “Yu Yan! Watch out, don’t fall in the river!” She grabbed Nan Huaixu’s hand and bolted toward the woods diagonally ahead.
Hearing Liu Yinxi’s cry, Huang Heshan immediately looked back toward the river. Seeing Yu Yan standing perfectly safe and sound on the rocky shoal, she instantly realized she had been tricked and whirled around to give chase.
Those brief one or two seconds bought Liu Yinxi enough time to make a break for it, but Nan Huaixu could not move as fast as her. The two of them were quickly overtaken by Huang Heshan.
Huang Heshan, whose expression had merely been cold before, looked absolutely grim after being tricked. She snatched Liu Yinxi’s backpack, forcing her to a halt.
Yanked backward by Huang Heshan’s immense strength, Liu Yinxi nearly lost her footing. She steadied herself against a tree and pleaded for mercy. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Huang-jie, spare my life! You want the meat, right? We’ll give it to you.”
Huang Heshan glared fiercely at her. “No tricks.”
Liu Yinxi offered an innocent, honest smile. “How could I? Huang-jie, you know me. Just look at my faceโI’m a law-abiding, honest citizen.”
Huang Heshan tugged sharply on her backpack strap. “Hurry up.”
“Alright, alright, here!” Liu Yinxi replied generously. She lifted the woven vine basket in her hand and shoved it into Huang Heshan’s grasp. “The meat. Consider this the protection fee from Teacher Nan and me. You’re not allowed to give us any more trouble for the next few days, okay? And remember to return my basket when the next airdrop comes. You have absolutely no idea how exhausting it is to weave one. All you care about is your meat. Huang Heshan, you are a bad woman.”
Nan Huaixu watched Liu Yinxi’s actions with a frown. If she understood correctly, the meat Huang Heshan was demanding was the jerky that Yuan Fang had just given them. Butโฆ
Before Nan Huaixu could wrap her head around it, Liu Yinxi grabbed her hand and ran.
Huang Heshan opened the vine basket and saw the two small fish inside. “?”
Being played for a fool a second time, and even mocked with that playful banter, genuinely infuriated Huang Heshan.
With a toss of her hand, Huang Heshan hurled the basket back at Liu Yinxi. Since the two ahead of her were still running, the basket nearly struck Nan Huaixu. Fortunately, Liu Yinxi reacted quickly, turning around to catch it.
Holding the basket, Liu Yinxi asked Nan Huaixu with concern, “Are you alright, Teacher Nan?”
Nan Huaixu shook her head.
Liu Yinxi handed the basket to Nan Huaixu and walked back toward Huang Heshan, her brows furrowed.
Liu Yinxi’s face fell, and her eyes grew dark. “Huang Heshan, I gave you the meat. Why are you trying to hit her?”
Huang Heshan said coldly, “I only want the jerky.”
Liu Yinxi looked completely baffled. “The jerky is with Xue Yunshao. Go find her.”
“Now I want yours.”
“Fine, if you don’t want the fish, then forget it.”
Liu Yinxi walked back to Nan Huaixu’s side, raising an arm to shield her from behind. “Teacher Nan, let’s go.”
Nan Huaixu glanced back. Huang Heshan’s face was dark, and her eyes resembled a wolf lurking in the shadowsโpredatory and aggressive.
Nan Huaixu felt a pang of unease, but she trusted Liu Yinxi’s actions and followed her lead.
Whooshโ
A powerful gust of cold wind whipped past.
Liu Yinxi pulled Nan Huaixu aside to dodge. When she looked up, a bamboo arrow was embedded deep into the tree trunk directly ahead of them.
Bow in hand, Huang Heshan advanced on them step by step, like a wolf hunting a lamb.
Liu Yinxi yanked the bamboo arrow free, closed her fist around it, and held it right in front of Huang Heshan’s nose.
Their eyes locked. Faced with Huang Heshan’s fierce, ruthless gaze, Liu Yinxi did not back down in the slightest.
“This is a pretty well-made arrow,” Liu Yinxi said, raising her eyebrows. “Where did you find the bamboo?”
Huang Heshan lowered her gaze. “If you don’t hand over the jerky, don’t think you’re going back today.”
“Oh, so we’re not going back,” Liu Yinxi countered. “And you’re going to block us all night? Are you going to make Yu Yan stand here with you like an owl? Do you really want a girl as beautiful as Xiao Yu-jie to stay up all night and get dark circles under her eyes? It’s bad for her skin, and it could easily affect her period, making her stomach hurt terribly. Or were you planning to let her walk back to your shelter alone in the dark? Don’t you know how dangerous the rainforest is at night? Do you even know how to care for someone? All of Xiao Yu-jie’s care for you is completely wasted on you. Huang Heshan, you are a bad woman.”
Nan Huaixu’s eyes widened. Liu Yinxi actually dared to open her mic1 on Huang Heshan so boldlyโฆ
“โฆ” Huang Heshan silently pulled the bamboo arrow out of Liu Yinxi’s grip.
Liu Yinxi smiled at her, then let her expression turn icy cold as she whispered in Huang Heshan’s ear, “It’s a good thing that basket didn’t hurt Nan Huaixu. Otherwise, I would have had to do something that would make her very angry.”
Huang Heshan’s gaze turned puzzled.
Liu Yinxi backed away with a grin. “Teacher Nan doesn’t like it when I fight.”
“Let’s go, Teacher Nan.” Liu Yinxi placed a hand on Nan Huaixu’s back, gently guiding her forward.
Nan Huaixu did not say a word, simply walking forward, guided by her touch.
Huang Heshan followed them for a couple of steps, her voice cold. “If you don’t hand over the jerky today, you’ll lose other supplies in your shelter sooner or later.”
Nan Huaixu’s heart instantly tightened. She instinctively shot Liu Yinxi a worried glance, but Liu Yinxi returned a reassuring smile.
Liu Yinxi turned her head back and tilted her chin up at Huang Heshan. “You’re welcome to drop by for a visit.”
Then she leisurely spun around, the slight upward tilt of her eyes flashing with a bright, confident swagger. “That is, if you can find it. You didn’t actually think I hadn’t noticed you the day before yesterday, yesterday, and today, did you? If I were you, I wouldn’t hide in a tree every single time.”
“โฆ” The person who loved lurking in trees fell silent.
“Goodnight in advance, Huang-jie. We’ll be passing through here tomorrow morning at nine. Hope to see you then. Bye-bye~”
Liu Yinxi waved a cheerful farewell, ushering Nan Huaixu ahead while she guarded her from behind, quickly slipping out of Huang Heshan’s line of sight.
After they had walked for about ten minutes, Nan Huaixu kept looking back, scanning their surroundings for fear of being followed by Huang Heshan.
Liu Yinxi soothed her. “Don’t worry, Teacher Nan, she isn’t following us. Yu Yan is still blocking poor Yuan Fang back on the rocky shoal. It’s dark now; Huang-jie won’t make Yu Yan stay out there.”
Nan Huaixu finally let out a sigh of relief. “But what if she tracks us down in the future? And why did you tell her we’d be passing by the rocky shoal tomorrow?”
“Teacher Nan, let’s talk when we get back.”
Liu Yinxi did not give a detailed answer.
The sky was pitch-black now, and they needed to return to the shelter as quickly as possible. Wasting precious breath on conversation while rushing along was not a wise choice.
The fish and the meat jerky were both saved. It was a close call, but they were safe.
But whether Yuan Fang managed to keep her meat jerky was another story. After all, Yuan Fang was entirely on her own, lacking both a teammate and supplies. She couldn’t afford to offend such a formidable opponent.
Compared to the blunt, heavy-handed Huang Heshan, the meticulous Yu Yan was far more difficult to handle.
Under the current circumstances, they could only look out for themselves. It was no longer possible to casually chat and cooperate with their rivals like before.
ใAhhhhh! (shocked)ใ
ใThat’s terrifying. How could Huang Heshan draw her bow on someone? (skull)ใ
ใSo cool!ใ
ใโฆ (sweat)ใ
ใDid Huang make those arrows herself?ใ
ใYeah, she shaves the bamboo and puts them together with feathers. The bow is her starting item.ใ
ใDoesn’t Huang Heshan’s behavior count as a rules violation?! Why isn’t the production team doing anything!ใ
ใShe didn’t aim at them, she aimed at the tree. There was a safe distance.ใ
ใI really don’t get it. Since Huang Heshan is so strong, why doesn’t she just rob Xue Yunshao directly? Why is she here stealing what someone else stole?ใ
ใBecause directly robbing another contestant isn’t allowed, but taking what someone else stole is fair game.ใ
ใThen why didn’t she just steal from Xue herself?ใ
ใShe already knew someone was going to steal it. Directly taking it from them is way easier and asserts her dominance. Yu Yan taught her that (laugh-cry)ใ
ใI really hate seeing the gentle and cute Yuyu turn out like this, but she has to do what she can to survive. It’s not easy for her either.ใ
ใDoes no one feel bad for Xue and Luo, who got robbed in the first place?ใ
ใLosing a bit of jerky is a small price to pay for peace.ใ
ใDoes no one pity Yuan Fang?ใ
ใWell, yeah, but Yuan Fang can’t even get enough to eat. She’s not far from elimination at this rate (gently)ใ
ใSigh, so annoying. The ones who don’t want to leave have to go, while the ones who should leave just won’t (irritable)ใ
ใLiu Yinxi was so tough today!ใ
ใAwesome! Now our Manman doesn’t have to be afraid of Huang-jie anymore.ใ
ใLiu Yinxi has never been afraid of anyone from the start.ใ
ใExcellent. Xixi has basically grabbed Huang Heshan by her weakness.ใ
ใI think Xixi is fierce. If anyone dares to hurt Manman, she’ll beat the bad guys until they’re fluffy!ใ
They returned to the treehouse at half past eight in the evening. Liu Yinxi added firewood to boil water.
Nan Huaixu checked their surroundings several times to ensure there were no anomalies before locking the fence.
“Why on earth did you say those things to Huang Heshan? Can you tell me now?”
Nan Huaixu sat down next to the fire hole.
As Liu Yinxi scraped the fish scales, Nan Huaixu helped wash the rice.
“Yeah.”
Liu Yinxi scooped out the fish offal, stuffing it into a plastic bottle to serve as backup bait. “There are only two days left until the next airdrop.”
Nan Huaixu was puzzled. “Does that have something to do with Huang Heshan?”
Liu Yinxi paused her movements to take a brief rest. “I plan to go to the waterfall tomorrow to choose a spot for a transitional campsite. We aren’t familiar with that area yet. If Huang Heshan follows us, we’ll have an extra hand on the road. For example, if we run into wild beasts again, she can help drive them off.”
Nan Huaixu looked astonished; Liu Yinxi’s words were clearly beyond anything she had imagined. “An extra hand? You want to use her as a bodyguard.”
Liu Yinxi grinned. “Huang-jie is very good at it. Xiao Yu-jie mentioned that Huang Heshan’s original job was a bodyguard.”
The original book described her as a mercenary, but the profile Huang Heshan submitted to the production team listed her as a bodyguard, so Liu Yinxi only spoke of what could be publicly mentioned.
Confronting a formidable adversary, instead of fearing her, she figured out how to exploit her as a powerful bodyguardโso far, no one else in the competition had ever thought of doing such a thing besides Liu Yinxiโฆ
There was a sentence written in the production team’s rules: “Use every possible means to exploit all resources within the jungle.”
These resources included every guest; survivalists in nature were also a part of nature itself.
As Nan Huaixu saw it now, the only one in ใSurvivorใ who truly embodied this rule was Liu Yinxi, whether it was bartering supplies to hire Yuan Fang as labor, or using Huang Heshan’s tracking as protection for their trek.
Skewering the cleaned fish onto wooden stakes, Liu Yinxi said, “Though, I don’t think Huang-jie will follow us tomorrow. My actively telling her our itinerary makes it obvious that I’m plotting something. Yu Yan will see right through my intentions, and she won’t let Huang-jie waste her time.”
Cradling the mess tin of washed rice, Nan Huaixu looked up at the night sky. “I feel like if we want to take down their team, we’ll have to start with Yu Yan first.”
“Teacher Nan, you’re thinking quite far ahead.”
Nan Huaixu shrugged and began cooking the rice. “If a person does not consider what is distant, they will soon find sorrow close at hand.2“
Nan Huaixu circled back to her initial question. “You said it yourselfโthere are only two days left before the airdrop. Why aren’t you conserving your energy at a critical time like this, instead of dragging us all the way to that far-off waterfall to build a campsite?”
Liu Yinxi flipped the roasting fish over. “Teacher Nan, you might not believe me if I say this, but we have to try.”
“You haven’t even told me. How do you know I won’t believe you?”
“Then I’ll say it: I suspect the next airdrop point will be at the waterfall. So, I want to discuss with you if we can move there ahead of timeโฆ”
“We can,” Nan Huaixu replied resolutely.
“But I don’t have any proof.” Liu Yinxi had prepared an entire explanation, only for it to go completely unused.
Nan Huaixu’s eyes darkened. “I said we can. Even if you are wrong, what does it matter?”
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