After pulling Huang Yan up, Wang Tianwei turned her head and saw that the person tugging the vine was indeed Jian Jingyu.
The three of them sat together, panting heavily. Wang Tianwei didn't forget to take out the scent-masking spray and spritz it all over them.
Huang Yan saw the name on the bottle and understood; so this was what she had just sprayed on him.
"Thanks..."
"Don't mention it."
Jian Jingyu and Wang Tianwei turned to each other at the same time and spoke in unison,
"Why did you come back?"
"Why did you come back?"
The curly-haired boy laughed, leaning back on his hands,
"I thought about what you said. With one less person, the two of us would have to face more 'enemies'."
Huang Yan couldn't help but chuckle. Did this guy not know how to say anything polite?
Wang Tianwei was even more straightforward,
"While running, I bumped into a beehive. The 'main force' wasn't inside, only a few guard bees. I figured they wouldn't be too far away and thought it might be of some help."
Jian Jingyu nodded repeatedly as he listened, then looked at the bottle in her hand,
"Scent-masking spray... I'll remember that."
The air fell silent for a moment. Jian Jingyu and Huang Yan both cast their gazes in the same direction.
"Another team is coming..."
Wang Tianwei closed her eyes,
"To be honest, I'm getting a bit annoyed."
Huang Yan was soaked to the bone, his blonde hair plastered obediently to his head. He looked up at the sky and took a deep breath,
"...Me too."
When he opened his eyes again, he said calmly,
"I have an idea..."
**********
Class S's Bian Ruiming had assembled a squad of six people. Originally, they thought there was strength in numbers, but they quickly discovered the downside.
Hunting a mutant beast only yielded 2 credits, which wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth...
A star beast was only worth five points. Not only was it time-consuming and strenuous, but even if they succeeded, the points split among them would be less than 1 point per person. This was why they had targeted the three students: Huang Yan and Jian Jingyu.
Anyway, Yama Chao had said so himself. Even if they didn't make a move, other teams would.
They had more people, so their chances of winning were higher!
Therefore, over the past two days, aside from traveling, they had been searching for traces of those three people, barely looking for mutant beasts or star beasts at all.
Actually, they had spotted Jian Jingyu on the first day, but he had managed to escape by diving into the water...
Today, they had finally found Huang Yan with great difficulty; they couldn't let him get away again!
After realizing that another team was also chasing Huang Yan, they changed their route to flank him up the mountain, thinking that by trapping him in the middle, they would definitely be able to eliminate him.
Even if they were forced to split the points evenly with the other team, each person would still get at least two points!
But now, how had the person disappeared again? Could another team have beaten them to it?
Huang Yan was so slippery, and there hadn't been any broadcast announcing his elimination!?
"Ahhh!!!"
A terrified scream came from not far away!
Bian Ruiming exchanged glances with his team members; their 'credits' were still there!
Further ahead was a narrow path that only allowed one person to pass at a time. The team of six formed a single file line, eager to push deeper.
They were completely unaware that just as they stepped onto the path, the last member of their team had his mouth covered, was dragged away, disarmed, and then the alarm clipped to his waist was swiftly pressed.
That student stood empty-handed with his mouth wide open, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
Jian Jingyu, meanwhile, had already deftly started rummaging through the backpack, dumping everything out.
"Potatoes, potatoes, and more potatoes? ...Just how many potatoes did you guys dig up?"
"Class S Cao Chi, eliminated. 20 points deducted, hunting points cleared to zero."
Bian Ruiming's team came to a bizarre halt. Zheng Yunyun, who was second in line, asked in confusion,
"Class S Cao Chi? How many people named Cao Chi are in our class?"
"...Just one, right?"
Bian Ruiming finally turned his head,
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Holy crap! Where's Cao Chi!?"
Zhang Jia, standing in the fifth position, saw nothing behind him and took a step back in disbelief, bumping into Eve in the fourth position.
"What the hell! Where is Cao Chi!? I didn't hear a thing!!"
"..."
"Forget it, let's chase Huang Yan first and get the credits!"
After walking a bit further, a figure suddenly dashed through the adjacent woods. The blonde-haired boy was running incredibly fast.
"Huang Yan!! Over there!!"
"Chase him!"
They were surrounded by waist-high shrubs, so the team had to reverse their order and run back. Zhang Jia was now at the front.
"Hurry up!! We need to beat the other teams to him!"
Just as Bian Ruiming shouted this last sentence, he tripped over something. Zheng Yunyun sensed something and was about to turn around when she heard Bian Ruiming say,
"Don't worry about me! Chase Huang Yan first!"
At that, she didn't look back again, concentrating entirely on running forward.
It was a heavy fall. Bian Ruiming propped himself up to see what had tripped him.
Halfway up, he met Jian Jingyu's strange gaze... It was him crouching by the edge of the bushes just now!
Then, his mouth was covered and he was dragged into the bushes. As the other party snatched his alarm, they even muttered,
"Six."
From spotting Jian Jingyu to being eliminated took only a dozen seconds. Another one taken out without a sound...
"Class S Bian Ruiming, eliminated. 20 points deducted, hunting points cleared to zero."
Before Bian Ruiming's team could even catch up to Huang Yan, they heard that their captain had also been eliminated!
Looking back, sure enough, they were down another person!!
"Ah! Hurry!"
The two people at the very front gritted their teeth and picked up their pace. With their captain out, they had to take down Huang Yan!
Zheng Yunyun, who had just been in the second position, stopped in her tracks and looked back at the path they came from in disbelief!
There was no sign of their captain behind them anymore!
Just a moment ago, Bian Ruiming had told her to keep running... Was the place haunted???
Who exactly had said that sentence?
Zhu Yu'an, originally in third place, noticed Zheng Yunyun stopping. To ensure her teammate's safety, she also halted her steps.
It wasn't safe right now; stopping here was not a wise move!
"Yunyun..."
Before she could finish, she saw a masked person tackle Zheng Yunyun into the nearby bushes!
"!!!"
Zhu Yu'an quickly ran over, using her laser gun to push aside the branches blocking her view, only to see a terrified Zheng Yunyun sitting up from the ground, with no one else around her!
"What happened!? Who was that just now?"
Zheng Yunyun said in confusion,
"I don't know! ...I didn't see anything!"
All she knew was that someone had tackled her, then she closed her eyes to dodge the branches, and when she opened them again, the person was gone!
"Where is your gun!?"
Only then did Zheng Yunyun look down at her hands,
"Where is my gun!!!"
A strange noise came from the woods on the left. Zhu Yu'an's hair instantly stood on end, and she instinctively turned sideways to aim at the opposite side,
"Who's there!"
But suddenly, she felt a tug at her waist.
Oh no! The alarm!
Turning around, she saw a person whose head was tightly wrapped in a training t-shirt press the alarm in their hand without any emotion...
"You're dead now, you can't shoot me anymore."
The broadcast chimed in at the perfect moment,
"Class S Zhu Yu'an, eliminated. 20 points deducted, hunting points cleared to zero."
Zhu Yu'an stared blankly at the alarm in the person's hand, frozen in place. What had just happened!? How could she not have noticed someone was there!?
Immediately after, Wang Tianwei stood up holding her laser gun, looking at Zheng Yunyun, who was still on the ground with an equally blank expression.
"I've taken your gun apart, and your teammate has already been eliminated... Tell you what, head back, take a shower, and get a good rest."
"..."
"Holy crap!! Did the Young Lady just use a trick she learned on the fly!?"
"These two are clearly way more gullible than Huang Yan. They've been completely bamboozled!"
"Poor kids, must be your first time dealing with something like this, huh? Just wait until you run into your seniors on the real battlefield—we'll definitely teach you a proper lesson on how the world works!"
"Class S, Zheng Yunyun, eliminated. Penalty of 20 points; hunting points reset to zero."
Wang Tianwei pressed the second distress beacon. Taking advantage of the time before the rescue craft arrived, she began rummaging through the duo's backpacks.
She quickly looted four water pouches, a small bag of pitch-black jerky, and a mid-length dagger that was actually far better suited as a weapon than her own small knife.
Two sets of water purifiers? Might as well pack them for now.
Finally, she even fished out Zhu Yu'an's spare training t-shirt.
"I'm borrowing your shirt. I'll wash it and give it back to you once we get out of here."
"..."
