Wang Bai, leaning heavily on Zhang Rui's arm and looking pale and "weak," led a group of three crew members toward the pool. "I'm sure I heard a man's voice!" Wang Bai cried, her voice high and theatrical. "Oh, I hope Yingying is okay! We have to check on her!"
She threw back the canvas flap with a flourish, her heart leaping with the anticipation of seeing Chen Ying's reputation in ruins.
Instead, the lanterns revealed Chen Ying standing in the center of the area, fully dressed, her arms wrapped protectively around a weeping Yaya. Xiao Li lay crumpled on the ground at their feet, his face bruised and unconscious.
"Y-Yaya?" Wang Bai's voice died in her throat. The "scandal" she had manufactured had caught the wrong prey.
Xiao Li groaned, his eyes fluttering open as the artifact's influence began to drain away with his physical trauma. He saw the grim faces of the crew and the Director. He looked at Wang Bai, his eyes filled with a sudden, desperate clarity. "Miss Wang... you... you said she was the one..."
Wang Bai didn't let him finish. Sharp panic took over. As Xiao Li tried to struggle to his feet to reach her, she subtly shifted her weight and stuck out her heavy hiking boot.
"Stay away from me, you creep!" she shrieked.
Xiao Li tripped, his balance already compromised by the concussion. His momentum carried him backward, he rolled out of the stall and the momentum pushed him right over the low, jagged edge of the cliff bordering the spring. A sickening, hollow *thud* echoed from the rocks thirty feet below.
"He's down!" a medic screamed, rushing toward the ledge.
[System: Ding! Favorability: Zhou Yaya: 95 (Loyalty Level: Die-Hard). Public Opinion: "Chen Ying is the Guardian of the Highland!"]
[Current Balance: 562 Points.]
Wang Bai began to shake, her eyes darting between the horrified crew and Chen Ying. She had silenced the only witness, but as she looked into Chen Ying's eyes, she saw no fear—only a promise of what was coming.
After administering first aid, the medical team took Xiao Li to the medical tent. Everyone waited with bated breath to know if he was still alive after the harsh fall. Aside from Wang Bai, no one really wished for him to die.
After an hour, a medic came over to report,"He's alive, but he's non-responsive. He's in a deep coma, we have to take him back to the mainland for hospitalisation!"
Everyone let out a sigh of relief, the director was especially thankful that there was no actual death on his watch.
As he sent everyone back to their camps safely, he wiped his sweat and thought, 'This is the most heart attack-inducing show I've ever filmed'.
---
The morning after the incident everyone at the spring woke up to an unusual sound: silence. There was no crackling drone overhead, no booming announcement from Director Zhao, and no frantic scramble for supplies. Following the chaos of the bear and the security breach, the production team had issued a mandatory forty-eight-hour "rest and recovery" period.
Chen Ying sat on her favorite flat stone, the early sun warming her skin. She wasn't wearing the tactical gear today, but a simple, clean shirt from the crate. Beside her, the Star-Light Orchid glowed a soft, contented blue.
"Ying-jie, the tea is ready!" Zhou Yaya called out. The girl looked remarkably better today. Though there was a slight lingering shadow in her eyes, her smile was genuine. She had spent the morning carefully arranging wildflowers around their makeshift "dining" stone.
Wu Haoran emerged from the tent, stretching his arms over his head. "Two days of nothing? I think I've died and gone to heaven. I might actually start liking this island if we just get to sit around and eat steak leftovers."
"Don't get too comfortable, Haoran," Yang Zixuan said, stepping out of the woods with a bundle of dry firewood. He looked relaxed, his usual guarded expression softened by the lack of cameras for the first few hours of the morning. "But for now... let's just enjoy the quiet."
The Highland team spent the afternoon in a state of rare, domestic bliss. They used their extra time to improve the camp—braiding better floor mats, sharpening tools, and sharing stories. There was a genuine warmth in their interactions, a sense of "harmony" that didn't need a script.
---
Meanwhile, in the Lowland Camp...
If the Highland was a sanctuary, the Lowland was a pit of misery.
The "Lucky Goddess" aura that usually protected Wang Bai's team had vanished. Because of the massive backlash from over-using her artifact, Wang Bai lay in her tent, her skin sallow and her head throbbing. Every time she tried to focus her mind on the jade pendant, a sharp pain shot through her temples, forcing her to stop.
Without her siphoned luck, the team's incompetence was laid bare.
"Is this it?" Zhang Rui hissed, staring at a pile of small, shriveled green fruits on a leaf. "We've been out for four hours! Where are the fish? Where is the meat?"
"The fish won't bite, and every time I find a berry bush, it's already been picked clean by birds," one of the other teammates muttered, clutching his stomach. He picked up one of the fruits and took a bite, only to immediately spit it out with a grimace. "God, it's sour! It's like eating a lemon."
Wang Bai emerged from her tent, her eyes sunken and red-rimmed. She couldn't use her power to find food, but she could still use her tongue.
She sat down by their pathetic, smoking fire, ensuring the nearest drone was positioned to catch her "aggrieved" profile.
"I'm so sorry, everyone," Wang Bai whispered, a single tear tracking through the dust on her cheek. "If only I hadn't been so focused on making sure Yingying was safe... I wouldn't have exhausted myself. I never thought she would be so... so cold-blooded. Did you see how she looked at me when that poor crew member fell? It was as if she *wanted* him to die so he couldn't speak."
Zhang Rui's face darkened. "She's a viper, Xiao Bai. Don't blame yourself. She probably sabotaged our gear when we weren't looking. Why else would she be living like a queen while you're suffering?"
The Lowland team, hungry and bitter, began a coordinated campaign of badmouthing. They didn't dare go to the Highland—they were too weak and too intimidated by Chen Ying's aura—but they spoke to the cameras as if they were confessing to a priest.
"Chen Ying has changed," Wang Bai told the lens, her voice trembling artfully. "She used to be difficult, but now... there's a darkness in her. She's manipulating Yaya and Zixuan. I'm scared that by the time this show ends, they won't even recognize themselves. She's destroying everyone to get what she wants."
[User 'LogicFirst': "Wait, are they really blaming Chen Ying for the fact that they can't find food? That's some Olympic-level reaching."]
[User 'Bai-er's Shield': "Poor Xiao Bai... she's so worried about her sister even when she's starving. Chen Ying really is evil for not sharing that feast."]
[User 'TeaSpiller': "Notice how Wang Bai hasn't mentioned the bear footage again? She's just trying to bury the truth under a pile of fake tears."]
---
Back at the spring camp...
Chen Ying was oblivious to the slander, or perhaps she just didn't care. She was sitting with Yaya, teaching her how to identify edible mushrooms.
[System: Host, the 'Bitter Lotus' is currently broadcasting a smear campaign. Your 'Villainess' rating is climbing! Do you want to purchase the 'Public Relations Counter-Strike' for 200 Points?]
'No,' Chen Ying replied, her eyes focused on a small, orange fungus. 'Let them talk. The hungrier they get, the more their masks will slip. A lie told on an empty stomach eventually tastes like ash.'
[System: (Disappointed beep) You're so boring! We could have had a dramatic reveal! Fine... stay relaxed. By the way, the 'Influencer's Sparkler' is fully recharged. Just in case you want to start a 'party' later.]
Chen Ying leaned back against the cool stone, watching the sunset. For the first time in two lives, she wasn't thinking about the next move. She was just breathing.
[Points Earned: 10 (Passive Relaxation). Current Balance: 572 Points.]