Chu Xiang remained hidden behind a tree with a thick and solid trunk. Dense and lush with greenery, vines trickled down like river streams from the top. Staying still while sticking herself to the tree, anyone on the other side would definitely not be able to notice her presence.
At that moment, the strongest out of the five groups — consisting of the host, nicknamed Iron Ox, and his athletic esteemed guest — walked past the tree while eating the fruits in their hands.
Iron Ox swept his gaze over the area and pointed at a particular tree with a curious expression. “Is that a card over there?”
“It seems to be within that bundle of vines. Let’s go.”
With that, the two of them ran over and confirmed that the card was indeed hidden behind the vines, subconsciously letting down their guard.
In a flash, Chu Xiang grasped onto a thick, sturdy vine and swooped down towards them at an incredible speed. After swinging around the tree three times and tying Iron Ox’s team up, she stopped back at her initial hiding spot and tied the vine back onto the tree.
“What the hell just happened?”
“What?”
Dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events, Iron Ox and his partner — still holding onto the fruits in their hands —stared at Chu Xiang who suddenly appeared behind the tree.
“Please excuse me for my sudden actions. Life isn’t as easy as it seems, so the only thing I can do for now is steal.”
Taken aback by her teammate’s actions, Xu Qian walked out from around the corner towards Iron Ox to assess his reaction. She then tested the strength of the vine that Chu Xiang used to perform the stunt. “Chu Xiang, you actually managed to trap Iron Ox! Over the past three seasons of this show, you’re the first person to ever accomplish such an unthinkable feat!”
Iron Ox suddenly exploded into laughter. “It seems that I have been utterly bamboozled today. That was hella awesome! Who knew that a brave woman like you would show up in our live broadcast?”
His partner joked, “Who told me that victory was guaranteed just now? We’re going to fall down the standings at this point.”
Chu Xiang held up the card she obtained from the vines and chuckled. “Mission accomplished~”
Xu Qian applauded as she grabbed the fruits from Iron Ox and his partner’s hands. “It seems that luck is on my side in today’s live broadcast. Rather, I managed to discover quite a capable disciple for today. To think that I would ever feel the satisfaction of stealing from Iron Ox. This feels… absolutely wonderful!”
Iron Ox quickly replied, “Qian Qian, how about this…? Why don’t you let the two of us go this time? In exchange, we will help you steal some cards from the other groups. Doesn’t an alliance sound good?”
Xu Qian remained unfazed as she reached into Iron Ox’s pocket and lifted out the cards he discovered along the way here.
“Hmm… a total of four cards. Taking our two cards into account… my dear disciple, we can escape the maze now.”
Hearing those words, Iron Ox interrupted, “How about this instead? Our two groups will form an alliance and find enough cards to escape the maze together. In exchange, the two of us will be willing to assist you in the tasks after this one. Just think of it as gaining the two of us as your assistants. How does that sound?”
Xu Qian chuckled. Taking three of the four cards away, she squeezed the remaining one back into Iron Ox’s pocket.
“I’ll gladly… refuse your offer. You will definitely steal from us when you get the opportunity to in the future if we do accept your deal.”
“We won’t steal from you… We definitely won’t. What if the two of you end up facing a task that you aren’t capable of completing? I don’t want to end up in last place either…”
Chu Xiang exchanged nods with Xu Qian. “Alright, we’ll accept your offer. However, to make sure that you don’t end up stealing from us, the two of us will be taking our leave first. I’ll hand the head of the vine over to you. You guys should be able to untangle the vines by yourselves.”
After loosening the head of the vine and throwing it on the ground, Chu Xiang quickly dashed away with Xu Qian, bursting with wild laughter.
Iron Ox and his partner dragged over the head of the vine with their feet and started to untangle it. By the time they managed to escape from the grasp of the vines, Chu Xiang had long since escaped from their sights.
He patted his partner on the shoulder. “Let’s go and get our cards back!”
“Didn’t we form an alliance with them?”
“We’ll only do that if we fail to steal the cards back. As long as we reach back to the top of the standings, we won’t need to form an alliance with anyone else. Doesn’t getting first place sound like a much better idea?”
Upon arriving at a fork in the maze, they noticed a certain fruit left behind on one of the paths in addition to the unusual marks of the foot of the wall. Iron Ox immediately said, “They should’ve taken this path. Let’s pick up the pace.”
Meanwhile, the bullet screen suddenly filled with “666.”
T/N: “666” in Chinese media means something along the lines of “awesome.” Or in modern-streaming terms, “POG.”
[Hasn’t Iron Ox displayed enough of his low IQ yet? How did he fall for such an obvious scheme?]
[Sister Xiang seems to understand Iron Ox quite well. She must have definitely watched her fair share of “Outdoor Missions.” She will surely be the undisputed champion during this live broadcast.]
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