The Eunuch Is A Heartthrob On A Survival Variety Show [Ancient To Modern] - Chapter 6

Early the next morning.

When Wei Yan woke up, everyone else was still fast asleep. He got up to wash up by the river, only to find the river water muddy and the water level noticeably higher than the day before.

Heavy rain must have fallen upstream or further up the river channel, washing down the banks and surrounding soil and sand. Fortunately, the storm hadn’t reached downstream yet.

Any chance of catching fish was gone; nothing could be caught in water this murky.

He turned and walked into the pine forest, collecting some tree resin.

People woke up one after another. They originally planned to wash up by the river, but the water was too filthy to even approach.

Damahou came over to wake Zhou Youlan. “With so much commotion from so many people, how could you still not wake up?”

Zhou Youlan rubbed his head. He hadn’t fallen asleep until three or four in the morning.

Seeing his exhausted face and the dark circles under his eyes, Damahou asked, “Why do you look like your essence was sucked dry?”

When Zhou Youlan remembered waking up vaguely near dawn and realizing he had been sleeping nestled in Wei Yan’s arms, he grabbed his hair in pure frustration.

His sleeping posture had always been terrible. He had stayed tense through the first half of the night, but crashed completely during the second half, instinctively seeking warmth when he felt cold.

“Help me pack my bag. I’m going to wash my face.”

Damahou grabbed his arm. “Don’t go. The river water is filthy as hell.”

Seeing the reddish mud churning through the river water, Zhou Youlan said, “Either there’s heavy rain in the main river channel area, or it rained upstream. We can’t stay here. Tell everyone to pack up quickly and leave this place.”

The group resumed their journey forward.

Fearing that the rising water might catch up to them, and with only two people carrying rainproof gear, they had no choice but to quicken their pace.

After marching all morning under an increasingly fierce midday sun, and having gone without food for a long time, everyone was growing too hungry to walk well.

“What’s that sound?”

Someone heard what sounded like voices, though they were too distant to make out clearly.

Zhang Tongtong climbed up to a higher vantage point before spotting people in the distance.

“Looks like, could it be the other guests?”

Indeed, it was Wang Ren, Old Ghost, and their group.

After automatically dividing into four groups, Wang Ren’s group had broken away from the main body, though they hadn’t expected to run into each other here.

However, it looked as if the production team had arranged for them to cross paths, because Wang Ren and the others didn’t look surprised upon seeing them; in fact, they looked quite reluctant.

They were unwilling to travel together with the others, especially since they were all gunning for the hefty prize money, and the rules for winning it were intensely competitive.

This inexplicable chain of disdain made the atmosphere strange, but at least everyone was gathered together again.

Zhao Guanjun proposed first: “How about this? Each group splits into two halves—one half goes to find water, and the other half goes to find food. An hour from now, whether you find anything or not, everyone returns here to regroup.”

They split into their respective groups. In Zhou Youlan’s group, Hu Lu volunteered to look for water, and Zhang Tongtong went along with her.

Damahou naturally followed Zhou Youlan, leaving only Wei Yan, whom Zhou Youlan assigned to the group with Zhang Tongtong and the others.

Seeing how sluggishly they were handling their grouping, Old Ghost sat off to the side like a spectator watching a show.

Though Wei Yan was always silent among the crowd, Old Ghost had a deep impression of him.

He grinned maliciously, whistling to draw everyone’s attention. “The place where we fetch water has plenty of frogs and poisonous bugs. Do you dare go?”

“Frogs?” A few people spoke up, looking somewhat hesitant.

Ruan Mengmeng shook her head repeatedly. “No, no, I’ll go find food instead. I get goosebumps all over just looking at frogs.”

Old Ghost glanced over at Wei Yan and called out twice, “Hey, the long-haired guy with the high ponytail. Hey, pretty boy.”

The chatter gradually died down. Everyone could tell Old Ghost was deliberately stirring up trouble, but since they weren’t close to Wei Yan, no one stepped up to speak for him.

Old Ghost narrowed his eyes with a contemptuous tone. “You shouldn’t go. If you go there and a caterpillar crawls on you, you’ll probably get so scared you’ll scream at the top of your lungs: Ahhh, I’m so scared!”

Old Ghost’s exaggerated performance elicited loud laughter from some, while others simply cast sympathetic glances at Wei Yan, preferring not to get involved.

Wei Yan slowly raised his gaze. His posture was exceptionally poised, standing tall like a green bamboo, and his striking features remained calm and unruffled, showing not a shred of panic or anger at being mocked and provoked.

“A real man is afraid of even these things? Why even come here then,” Zhao Guanjun remarked.

During his own acting career, he always despised young actors who were fussy, delicate, and incapable of enduring the slightest hardship, lacking any sense of professional dedication.

Damahou nudged Zhou Youlan and winked at him secretly, thinking to himself that a good show was about to start.

Zhou Youlan frowned and turned away, clearly refusing to join in on mocking anyone.

With his back turned, he said in a low voice, “Cut it out. Hurry up and get moving. Do you think time is endless?”

Wang Chunqin hurriedly intercepted Ruan Mengmeng and the other female members, finally seizing the chance to display his gentlemanly side: “Girls, stay here and wait. We’ll go.”

Ruan Mengmeng said, “We should go together. We can’t always rely on you guys to take care of us.”

“Alright then, stick close to me. I’ll protect you.”

As everyone set off, Wei Yan didn’t follow Zhou Youlan’s directive to look for water; instead, he directly tailed behind Zhou Youlan and Damahou.

Seeing Wei Yan latching onto Zhou Youlan yet again, Niu Xixi tagged along too.

Noticing Wei Yan trailing behind them, Damahou complained, “Didn’t they tell you to go find water? Why are you following us again? Can’t you follow instructions?”

Wei Yan gave no reply.

Wang Ren’s group had brought water with them, proving there was a water source along the path they had taken. Zhang Tongtong and the others only needed to follow the location pointed out by Wang Ren’s group to retrieve water; there was no need for him to tag along with them.

Noticing Zhou Youlan’s displeasure, Damahou tried to persuade Wei Yan with kind intentions: “Stop following us. Our Brother Zhou is very popular, but he really doesn’t want to manufacture a shipping pairing with you. Save yourself the trouble; there are plenty of famous major stars in this show. If you want hype and resources, go latch onto them instead of chasing after our Brother Zhou.”

He lowered his voice: “Our young master hates hype the most, especially shipping pairings with men. Don’t walk into the line of fire—just keep your distance voluntarily.”

Wei Yan: “It’s just on the way.”

“Sigh.” Damahou was genuinely helpless this time, wondering if Wei Yan simply couldn’t comprehend human speech or what.

He caught up to Zhou Youlan. “Brother, I delivered the message to him, but it doesn’t seem to have done any good.”

Seeing Niu Xixi trailing after them as well, Zhou Youlan quickened his pace to shake them off, acting as if in flight.

Noticing Zhou Youlan changing direction, Wei Yan tried to follow, only to have his path blocked by Niu Xixi.

“I really haven’t seen anyone with thicker skin than me.”

Niu Xixi inspected Wei Yan closely. There wasn’t a single trace of plastic surgery on his face, nor any makeup applied. His skin was clean and translucent, his brows and eyes gorgeous, and his bone structure flawless. His face lacked any excess blemishes, and the red mole between his brows served as the ultimate embellishment.

The more Niu Xixi looked, the more envious and jealous he felt. How did someone like Wei Yan end up with a face like that?

That heavy, pungent perfume drifted in the air, causing Wei Yan’s brow to furrow slightly.

“Did you fall for Zhou Youlan? Are you here for him too?”

At first, Wei Yan’s behavior could be interpreted as wanting to drum up some trending hype for himself on the first day of the show. But since Wei Yan had stuck to Zhou Youlan the entire way, that momentum went far beyond simply riding someone’s traffic for attention.

Wei Yan could tell Niu Xixi was a pursuer of Zhou Youlan and thus viewed him as a rival, but he had no desire to entangle himself with Niu Xixi.

Wei Yan sidestepped to walk forward, only to be blocked by Niu Xixi once more.

“I’m warning you, I came here specifically for Zhou Youlan. I’m definitely going to sleep with Zhou Youlan.”

As Niu Xixi continued his harassment, Wei Yan looked up again, only to find Zhou Youlan completely out of sight.

A stray partridge perched on a tree had apparently lost its flock and was calling incessantly. Niu Xixi’s habit of speaking in an affected, nasal tone made his voice sound neither male nor female, grating harshly against the nerves. The noisy clamor mixed together, easily stirring up irritation.

“He is my primary target.”

Wei Yan plucked a leaf and rubbed it between his fingertips. Niu Xixi arrogantly proclaimed his sovereignty over Zhou Youlan, “I don’t play by any fair competition rules, so you’d better bow out voluntarily.”

“Once I make my move, no man can escape the palm of my hand.”

“So you’d better know what’s good for you—Zhou Youlan is mine beyond a—Ouch!”

A suddenly falling black object startled Niu Xixi into a shriek. He clutched his head and leaped to the side. The falling bird had blood flowing from its neck, staining the grass below. After a few twitches of its legs, it stopped breathing entirely.

With lingering terror, Niu Xixi slowly turned his head to look at Wei Yan, as if Wei Yan had just casually waved his hand a moment ago, causing the bird overhead to instantly shut its trap and drop right beside him.

He hadn’t even caught a glimpse of what Wei Yan used to strike it down.

Absurd.

Wei Yan picked up the dead bird and held it up slightly in front of Niu Xixi, then walked off into the deep forest without another word.

Niu Xixi parted his lips, his throat moving, but in the end, he didn’t dare utter another syllable.

Wei Yan traced the direction where Zhou Youlan had vanished. Fortunately, Zhou Youlan hadn’t walked fast and hadn’t gone far.

Taking a closer look, Wei Yan realized Zhou Youlan had been blocked by a snake. Fortunately, it was a non-venomous snake of considerable size, and Zhou Youlan seemed intent on catching it to take back.

The snake clearly hadn’t noticed him yet. Zhou Youlan crouched low, appearing ready to capture the snake with his bare hands.

Although this black rat snake was small, not very aggressive, and non-venomous, if Zhou Youlan reached out and got bitten, his wages would suffer.

Zhou Youlan had already timed his moment to strike, but someone beat him to it, directly pinching the snake right by its seven-inch mark with a speed too fast for Zhou Youlan to react.

It was Wei Yan again!

He thought he had managed to shake Wei Yan off, so how on earth had Wei Yan found him again?

Unflustered, Wei Yan let the dark snake body coil around the back of his hand. The serpent wound across the back of his hand where clear, delicate veins stood out against his skin—a stark contrast of black and white forming an ultimate cool tone. His fingers lightly brushed the snake’s head, petting it as if playing with a trinket, creating a bizarrely harmonious picture.

Noticing that Wei Yan was already holding a dead bird, Zhou Youlan hadn’t expected Wei Yan to move faster than them. How had Wei Yan managed to catch it?

“You already have a bird, why are you snatching the snake too?”

Wei Yan tapped the snake’s head with his fingertip. “Although it’s non-venomous, it can still bite people.”

He was simply worried this snake would bite Zhou Youlan.

Zhou Youlan: “”

But Zhou Youlan didn’t need the help; getting bitten by a non-venomous snake was no big deal, and besides, he wouldn’t have gotten bitten anyway—Wei Yan was vastly underestimating him.

With a flick of Wei Yan’s wrist, the small snake darted rapidly back into the grass, instantly rousing Zhou Youlan’s temper.

“What are you doing?”

They hadn’t found food for a long time, and this was the only thing they had encountered the entire way around. Not only had Wei Yan snatched it, but he had also let it go.

Wei Yan handed the bird he was holding over to him as compensation.

“I don’t need your care or your good intentions.” Zhou Youlan slapped the bird out of Wei Yan’s hand, sending it flying to the ground. Faced with someone who constantly clung to him like an unshakeable ghost, he had completely lost his patience. “Stop dreaming about dragging me into trending topics for attention or using me as a stepping stone into the entertainment industry.”

“And another thing,” seeing Niu Xixi catching up from behind, Zhou Youlan’s brow furrowed into a deep line. Disgust surged in his eyes as he issued an angry, fierce warning: “I’m allergic to men. Stay the hell away from me. Understood?”