Chen Ying was woken in the middle of the night by a frantic notification from the System.
[System: Ding! Target Chen Jue's Vital Signs are dropping. Severe Heatstroke + Viral Infection. If he stays in that Lowland mud for another six hours, his 'Golden Voice' might be permanently damaged by lung inflammation.]
Chen Ying stood up silently. She didn't wake anyone up and just grabbed her medical kit and a flask of clean, boiled water.
When she reached the Lowland camp, the scene was pathetic. Wang Bai was fast asleep, having exhausted herself with her "crying performance," while Chen Jue lay in the dirt, shivering and delirious.
Chen Ying knelt beside him. She pressed a cold cloth to his neck. Chen Jue's eyes flickered open, glassy and unfocused. "Xiao... Xiao Bai?"
"No," Chen Ying said, her voice like cool silk. "It's the sister you said was evil."
She didn't waste time with words. She hoisted his arm over her shoulder. Despite her slender frame, her improved physique made her deceptively strong. She practically carried the semi-conscious idol back up the to the Highland.
For the next six hours, Chen Ying didn't sleep. She sat by the fire, feeding him spoonfuls of a bitter herbal decoction she'd brewed and wiping his brow. When he woke up screaming from a nightmare, she didn't scold him. She simply pressed her hand to his forehead until he calmed down.
As the sun began to rise, Chen Jue's fever finally broke. He opened his eyes to see the interior of a clean, sturdy tent. He smelled something incredible—chicken broth (from the Highland's saved rations).
He saw Chen Ying sitting nearby, her eyes tired but her posture straight.
"Why?" Chen Jue whispered, his throat raw. "I was so mean to you. I chose her."
Chen Ying didn't look at him. She was busy stirring the broth. "You're an idiot, Chen Jue. You always have been. You think a few tears mean love, and a few hard words mean hate."
She handed him the bowl. "Eat. And when you're done, you can go back to your precious 'sister' if you want, I won't be stopping you."
Chen Jue took the bowl, his hands trembling. As he looked at the sister he had spent years insulting, a crack appeared in the "Lotus Fog" over his heart. It wasn't a total collapse yet, but for the first time, he felt a cold, sharp clarity. He had been dying in the mud, and the person he called "sister" had only used his pain as a backdrop for a performance.
The person who saved him was the one he had tried to destroy.
[System: Ding! Target Chen Jue's Brainwashing Level: 60%. Internal Conflict: Rising.]
[Points Earned: 150 (Life Saved + Seed of Doubt). Current Balance: 722 Points.]
The next morning..
The air at Chen Ying's camp was fresh with lingering warmth from the fire. Chen Jue sat on a smooth, weathered log, his fingers tracing the rim of a wooden bowl that had recently held Chen Ying's life-saving broth.
His fever had retreated, leaving him with a clear-headedness that felt both refreshing and deeply uncomfortable. For the first time in years, the "noise" in his mind—that frantic, buzzing compulsion to shield and serve Wang Bai—had dimmed to a low hum.
However, peace was a fragile thing on this island.
The silence was broken by the sound of frantic, performative sobbing drifting up from the trail. Chen Ying, who was busy sharpening a flint knife, didn't even flinch. She simply adjusted her grip, the stone rasping against the blade in a steady rhythm.
"Jue-jie! Oh, my poor Jue-jie!" Wang Bai burst into the clearing, her face artfully smudged with dirt, her eyes red-rimmed and brimming with tears. Behind her, Zhang Rui followed, looking more like a man annoyed by a delayed flight than a worried teammate.
Wang Bai didn't wait for an invitation. She scrambled toward Chen Jue, her hands fluttering like wounded birds before she grabbed his shoulders. "I woke up and the tent was empty! I thought the jungle had swallowed you whole! How could you just leave me alone in that dark place?"
Chen Jue looked at her, and for a split second, he saw the dirt on her face not as a sign of struggle, but as a costume. "Xiao Bai, I had a fever of 103 degrees," he said, his voice raspy. "I couldn't breathe. Yingying brought me here so I wouldn't die in the mud."
Wang Bai's grip tightened, her knuckles turning white. A subtle warmth began to radiate from the jade pendant hidden beneath her shirt. The "brainwashing Fog" surged, thick and cloying, wrapping around Chen Jue's senses.
"She only did it to humiliate me, Jue-jie! She wanted to show everyone that I couldn't take care of you. She's trying to isolate me, to peel away the only person who truly loves me. Please... you have to come back. Our camp is so cold without your light."
Chen Jue felt his resolve softening like wax near a flame. The logic of the previous night—the realization that Wang Bai had eaten his portion of the fish while he shivered in the dark—began to feel like a hallucination. "I... I should go back," he whispered, his eyes losing their focus. "She needs me."
Zhou Yaya stepped forward, her face flushed with indignation. "Are you serious? You were literally dying yesterday! Ying-jie stayed up all night—"
"Yaya, let him go," Chen Ying interrupted, her voice cool and devoid of emotion. She finally looked up from her knife, her dark eyes pinning Chen Jue to the spot. "A man who chooses to walk back into a swamp after being pulled onto dry land isn't a man you can save. He's a volunteer."
Chen Jue flinched at the word "volunteer," but the mental tether was too strong. He stood up, his legs still a bit shaky, and followed Wang Bai out of the camp. He didn't see the way Wang Bai's tearful expression vanished the moment her back was turned to the cameras, replaced by a smirk of sheer, possessive triumph.
The leisure time didn't last much longer. As soon as the two teams were separated, Director Zhao's voice boomed from the hidden speakers scattered across the trees.
"Survivors, listen up! Today is the Golden Ticket Challenge. Hidden along the treacherous North hills are fragmented clues. These fragments, when pieced together, reveal the location of a Golden Ticket.
The winning team receives a Premium Ration Crate: fresh eggs, flour, smoked ham, and two gallons of filtered water. This is team-versus-team. No alliances. Move out!"
Chen Jue leaned against a tree, his chest still tight from the lingering lung inflammation. Director Zhao had pulled him aside earlier, noting his medical record. "Chen Jue, as you are still in recovery, you are officially exempt from the physical portion of this task. You can remain at camp; your team will still share the prize if they win."
"Exempt?" Zhang Rui spat, kicking a pile of dry leaves. "Must be nice to be a coddled idol. We're out here starving and climbing cliffs, and you get to sit in the shade like a prince. You're nothing but a freeloader. A pretty face with zero use."
Chen Jue's face burned with shame. He looked toward Wang Bai, hoping for a word of defense, but she was busy adjusting her backpack. "Jue-jie," she said softly, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. "Zhang Rui is just stressed because we're hungry. But he's right about one thing—we need every pair of eyes we can get. If you stay behind and we lose by just one clue, I don't think I could ever forgive myself. You'll come for me, won't you?"
"I'll come," Chen Jue muttered, his pride overruled by the compulsion to please her.
The hike was a study in contrasts. On the Highland path, Chen Ying moved with the steady, effortless grace of a mountain cat. She focused her attention on Zhou Yaya, whose stamina was low due to the humidity.
Chen Ying didn't say much, but her hand was constantly on Yaya's back, providing a physical anchor, or she was quietly pointing out the firmest footholds.
"Deep breaths, Yaya," Chen Ying murmured. "Match my stride. Don't look at the summit, just look at my feet."
Meanwhile, the Lowland team was a disjointed mess. Zhang Rui surged ahead, shouting at the others to keep up. Wang Bai followed, taking frequent "recovery" breaks that she used to check her reflection in her portable mirror. Chen Jue trailed at the back, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
He reached for his water bottle, only to find it lighter than a feather. "Xiao Bai... did you take my water?"
"Oh! I must have grabbed the wrong one in the rush!" Wang Bai said, handing him an empty plastic container. "I was so thirsty, Jue-jie. I'm sure you don't mind. You're so brave, you can handle a little thirst for your sister, right?"
Chen Jue stared at the bone-dry bottle. His throat felt like it had been scraped with sandpaper. For the first time, a flicker of genuine irritation pierced through his hypnotised brain."
---
Near the halfway point of the hill, the Highland team had already secured two clues. Chen Ying was crouched over a scrap of parchment, her mind working through the riddles.
Across a small ravine, Chen Jue was desperately scouring a thicket of ferns. He wanted to prove his worth, to show Zhang Rui he wasn't a burden. Suddenly, he spotted a glint of white paper tucked into the crevice of a rock.
"I found one!" he shouted, his voice cracking with excitement. "Xiao Bai! Over here! I found a clue!"
The Lowland team scrambled toward him. Zhang Rui pushed Chen Jue aside to get a better look. "Don't touch it yet, you'll tear it!"
Chen Jue reached down again, his fingers inches from the paper. He didn't see the shadow shifting beneath the rock. He didn't see the emerald-green coils tightening.
But Wang Bai, standing a few feet back, saw it clearly. A long, slender Green snake was coiled in the shadows, its head raised in a defensive curve.
"SNAKE!" Wang Bai shrieked.
But instead of pulling Chen Jue back, her instinct was pure, unadulterated self-preservation. She recoiled with such force that she tripped backward, her scream echoing off the walls. The sudden, high-pitched vibration startled the creature.
The snake lunged.
"AH!" Chen Jue let out a strangled cry as the snake's fangs sank into the fleshy part of his forearm. He recoiled, clutching his arm, as the green blur vanished back into the deep undergrowth.