Chapter 295: Chapter 292 What’s the Rush

“Okay, okay, let’s take a break, I can’t run anymore.”

Goulbin knelt on the ground, tugging at his collar, gasping for air. His lips were completely chapped, covered with peeling white dead skin, looking both horrifying and pitiful.

They had been in a state of thirst, and had suddenly run two or three kilometers, which was really too much for them. The air they breathed into their lungs didn’t feel like air at all, but rather a ball of fire, scorched their nose, mouth, and throat to ashes.

His companion stood with hands on hips, equally short of breath, but still clutched at Goulbin’s right hand, wanting to leave this place quickly.

It was said that brown bears could smell scents from twenty miles away, and the distance they had covered was certainly not enough.

The discovery of the bear cave really scared both of them. They sprinted for a few hundred meters, then ran for a long time. If it wasn’t for the brown bear not showing up yet and the lure of 100,000 Ugly Gold, they would have pressed the rescue button by now.

But, Goulbin was an adult male after all, and he also was out of strength. After pulling for a while, he had no choice but to give up.

After taking a few steps, his companion looked up. They were on high ground, but looking out, it was still all forest, impossible to discern any direction, the sunlight unable to penetrate the dense canopy.

“This is bad.”

His companion murmured, the two of them had been only focusing on escaping and had suddenly forgotten to check their direction. Now, they were actually lost.

Earlier, on the hillside, they had seen a valley, planning to cross it before dusk. Now, finding it was a problem.

After a mental search for ways to determine their direction turned up empty, the companion turned to Goulbin, placing his last hope on him: “Do you have a way to determine the direction?”

“We’re lost?”

Goulbin seemed to realize only afterwards, followed by a surge of anger. This guy in front of him had been dragging him around, and they had ended up not even knowing their direction?

He had really hit a streak of bad luck; had he known, he would not have formed an alliance with him. Apart from a couple of bird eggs, he had gotten nothing for free, had lost a lot of gear, and now he was hungry, thirsty, and had lost direction, and there might even be a bear chasing them…

Dammit!

He plucked a handful of grass, the stems and leaves snapping, the broken foliage was thrown violently to the ground.

Well, it seemed there was no way to deal with this. They were truly lost.

The audience present had seen wilderness live streams before and realized that they had no options left; the two were thoroughly lost.

In the past, watching Master Fang in the wilderness, he seemed to never lose his composure, even in the face of setbacks, he didn’t get too disheartened, his mood was eerily stable, leading many to mistakenly think the wilderness wasn’t that scary.

Now, with over a dozen people for comparison, the differences really showed.

[These two are not good, their psychological quality is too poor, how could they even participate in the competition? They better go to sleep.]

[I feel the next one to be eliminated will be them.]

[They can’t even determine their direction, aren’t they done for? Old Fang probably could come up with three different solutions at once, without any repeats.]

[Speaking of which, if the sunlight is blocked by the trees, what can they do? Where’s Master Fang? Come out and tell us.]

The audience discussed animatedly, all talking about the current predicament of the two men. After all, they had come across a bear cave, and even if the bear hadn’t really appeared, it was enough to draw the spectators’ attention.

Not only was the viewership in the live stream room continuously increasing, but it had returned to the two million baseline, and the ratings were also climbing steadily.

Jerret tapped his pen on the desk, uncertain whether this was good or bad. Normally, an increase in viewership should be cause for celebration, but thinking about the possible appearance of a brown bear always brought a sense of dread.

Especially since Bi Fang was alone in the forest, it heightened his worries. What if something went wrong?

What if rescue came too late?

Pondy noticed Jerret’s unease and laid a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him.

“It’s okay, you know, this isn’t his first time facing this kind of situation. You need to believe in him.”

“Right,” Jerret hesitated for a moment, then smiled. He was worrying over nothing—since Bi Fang had chosen this arrangement, it was likely he wasn’t joking with his own life.

Elsewhere, Bi Fang slowed down, reducing the motorcycle’s noise to the lowest, searching the area on the live map on the screen: “It should be right here.”

The forest was silent, not a sound from the two quarreling.

Yes, quarreling.

It hadn’t even been two minutes since the scene changed when the disheartened pair began to speak with heavier and heavier tones, eventually devolving into insults.

But their vocabulary for cursing was quite limited, just FUCK this and FUCK that, utterly soulless.

On the screen, Goulbin had already started arguing with his companion, shoving the blame onto each other, even believing that without the other, they might perform better, that even if they couldn’t secure the first place, second or third were still possible.

Bi Fang wasn’t surprised by this scene at all. Under high pressure, people need an outlet for their emotions. It’s the same principle as many who get bullied outside and come home to snap coldly at their families.

“Just stay here by yourself!”

His companion’s face turned extremely ugly as he turned and prepared to leave in a different direction.

It was Goulbin who had approached him to team up initially, and now, when things went wrong, blame fell on him, as if somehow their failing was his fault, not to mention not seeing what ‘Goods’ he was himself!

“Hmph, without you, I wouldn’t have encountered the Brown Bear. That’s all you’re good for. Go ahead, leave. I’ll be better off without you. Maybe I’ll even catch some prey by the afternoon.”

Goulbin saw the other leaving and his heart sank. He felt a significant loss of security, knowing that, despite everything, two were better than one. He was just venting; he hadn’t expected the other to actually walk away.

He thought about calling him back, but remembering the insults thrown at him, he was torn and didn’t know how to choose. He could only stiffen his neck and continue with the mockery, hoping the sting would bring his companion back.

The next moment, his companion indeed halted.

Hmm?

Goulbin was startled; he hadn’t expected it to actually work. Joy surged in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to scoff, “Why’d you stop? Did you run into a Brown Bear or something?”

“Shut up! Perk up your ears and listen closely!”

His companion was indescribably furious. As he looked at Goulbin, the rage in his pupils seemed capable of spewing forth, burning him to cinders!

Goulbin jumped, swallowing down the words and saliva he had readied. Yet, embarrassed by being scared off with a single sentence, he was fuming and just about to retaliate when he was drawn by a sound from the woods.

He suddenly stood up, scanning the surroundings like a hamster whose nest has been discovered.

The noise in the woods grew louder, as if some heavy object was trampling over the dry leaves and branches, completely crushing everything in its path.

What was it?

Goulbin swallowed hard, cold sweat drenching his back. He could even hear his heart thudding, as if some terrible event was about to happen.

The sound became clearer and its direction more discernible.

Both men turned to look behind them…

Behind them, the forest was the same as before, but at its heart was a strikingly noticeable shade of brown that drew everyone’s gaze, snatching away one’s attention with brute force.

It was a bear.

A giant bear over two meters in length!

Goulbin swore he had never encountered such a huge Brown Bear; it seemed not so much an animal as an armored tank!

Despite the distance being over fifty meters, they felt as if they could smell the bear’s bloodthirsty scent wafting through the air.

No one knew how it had caught up to them; its black eyes glistened, and its fangs, fully bared, seemed to wear a mocking smile.

An overwhelming terror exploded, flooding over Goulbin like a tidal wave. His legs shook, wanting to run, but they were as if frozen, unable to lift even for the simplest of steps.

One can’t outpace a bear. At the moment of encounter, the death sentence was already pronounced; the eternal spear was thrust, and even before the strike, death had arrived.

He was going to die.

Goulbin’s vision darkened, his body uncontrollably wobbling and falling, but suddenly, a sturdy palm braced his lower back, gently and forcefully steadying him.

“What’s the panic? I’m still here.”