Yi Xing, who was standing in front of her, wasn't paying attention to their conversation at all; instead, he lowered his head and stared at his hands, occasionally moving them a little.
His demeanor suggested he was recalling the feeling of Ju Jingyi's hand on his own just moments before.
Although it wasn't his first time holding a girl's hand, the feeling she gave him was different from anyone else's, and he didn't know how to describe it.
“Hey! What are you spacing out about?!” She stretched out her hands and clapped them loudly in front of him.
He was startled by the sudden noise, snapped back to reality, and looked at Ju Jingyi, who was staring at him with curiosity. A blush immediately spread across his face, and he spoke apologetically.
“Ah, sorry, I zoned out. What did you just say?”
“I said, you didn't see anything, right?!”
“I just got here, so of course I didn't see anything! But, did you forget that there's a camera behind us?”
“Ah ah ah! You mean?!”
“Yes, that's what I mean.” Yi Xing affirmed her thought.
Ju Jingyi quickly walked over to her VJ and, facing the camera, pleaded, “Director, can you please delete that part just now? Please!”
“Hahaha, don't worry about that. When the show airs, you'll know if the director listened to your request. Let's go, we should head out. They should be finishing up Task Two soon.”
No sooner had Yi Xing finished speaking than both their phones received a message.
“Zhang Liang, Huang Xiaoming, Du Chun, Jia Nailiang, and Yi Yang Qianxi, along with Little Junior Brother, operated the mechanism together, successfully freezing the guards, rescuing the five Senior Brothers, and preventing the release of the two hunters.”
“You speak things into existence, don't you? Whatever you say happens?”
“It's just a reasonable guess. Besides, my Qian Xi was already on his way to do the task when there were 65 minutes left. It's 52 minutes now, so he should be almost done.”
“Your Qian Xi?” Ju Jingyi asked, puzzled. She couldn't figure out the relationship between the two.
“He's my cousin.”
Yi Xing glanced at the camera behind him, leaned in, and whispered into her ear. His relationship with Yi Yang Qianxi was not suitable to be discussed on camera.
In a sense, exposing their relationship could be seen as leveraging his family's influence. He didn't want his father to have an excuse to disown him, and he didn't want external evaluations to say he was just someone who relied on his cousin.
“Oh, I see. Then what should we do next?”
“I don't know. Let's go for a walk outside. It's not good to stay in the same place all the time.”
“As you wish.”
...The five people who completed the task in the dungeon were not as relaxed as Yi Xing and his group. Before they could even celebrate their success, they were scattered by uninvited hunters.
In such a situation, whoever reacted the slowest was most likely to be caught. Jia Nailiang became the obvious choice and regrettably walked towards the termination room. He still wanted to complete another task, but unfortunately, he wasn't given the chance!
Currently, there were ten people remaining on the field. Before Task Three was even announced, Zhang Liang and Wang Junkai were successively eliminated, and the number immediately dwindled to single digits, making the atmosphere increasingly tense.
Yi Xing also learned that three people had been eliminated in less than ten minutes. He took Ju Jingyi back indoors to hide, realizing it wasn't suitable to continue strolling casually on the street.
“We'll wait here until Task Three is announced.”
A series of urgent rings sounded. The message wasn't Task Three, but an announcement to all accelerated teammates that a regional lockdown would occur before the 45-minute countdown.
It was divided into two areas: inside the city and outside the city. The large inner-city area currently had only one hunter, while the small outer-city area had three hunters. They had to choose whether to stay inside or outside the city.
“Yi Xing, we're outside the city right now. Should we go inside?”
“You go. Remember to be careful of hunters on the way. I need to stay outside the city.”
“Why?”
“I can't quite explain it, but my intuition tells me someone needs to stay outside the city. I'm guessing Task Three requires cooperation between both inside and outside the city.”
“So, after you enter the city, remember to find a place to hide, keep in touch with me, and synchronize all the information you get with me.”
Yi Xing frowned, staring at the published notification, and sighed. It was a pity Liu Xuhui wasn't here; he was missing someone who could analyze the current situation with him.
“Alright, then you also be careful by yourself outside the city. Make sure not to get caught by a hunter.”
“Can you go alone? Do you want me to escort you to the city gate?”
“Don't underestimate me!”
After saying that, Ju Jingyi walked out of their hiding place and headed towards the city gate. Soon after, she entered the city. Three other people made the same decision as her.
This meant that, including the accelerated team members already inside, the number of people in the city reached 7, with only Yi Xing choosing to remain outside the city.
As the officers came out and sealed the main gate, Task Three was also released.
“You must reach outside the main city gate before 20 minutes remain and find Fan Li's six brothers to obtain the clue to lift the curfew.”
Upon receiving this message, Yi Xing broke into a brilliant smile. It was exactly as he had guessed; it really did require cooperation to complete. He said proudly to the camera.
“My choice to stay here was truly the right one. I wonder if anyone else made the same decision as me.”
He quickly headed towards the city gate, being cautious all the way, constantly looking back, fearing a hunter might jump out from behind and catch him. After finding nothing, he patted his chest and said.
“Scaring ~ myself ~!”
If he had known that there was only one person outside the entire city, he would have definitely walked swaggeringly down the street, completely unafraid, before he had transmitted the message to the people inside the city.
He was absolutely safe; no one would come to catch him, as catching him would mean the subsequent recording couldn't proceed. But unfortunately, he didn't know; he thought there were still others who chose to stay outside.
“You must be Fan Li's six Senior Brothers. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Brave warrior, it's like this: we need to enter the city to help Fan Li, but the city gate is currently under martial law. To lift the martial law, we need to find General Qi at the General's Residence and get his order to lift the martial law.”
“What is the relationship between Fan Li and General Qi?”
Yi Xing didn't immediately call Ju Jingyi. He needed to ask for specific details, lest he find General Qi but couldn't get the order, making it a wasted trip.
“A life-saving favor.”
“Understood.”
He found a secluded spot to hide and contacted the person he had arranged.
“Xiao Ju, I just got the message. You need to go to Star Moon Pavilion now, find Fan Li, and tell him his Senior Brothers are in danger outside the city gate. Take him to the General's Residence to find General Qi and get the order to lift the martial law. Do you understand?”
“Wait, wait, you spoke too fast. I didn't catch some of it. Say it again.”
“Alright...” Yi Xing repeated it again.
“I understand. I'm going to Star Moon Pavilion now.”
“Be careful.”
Yi Xing finished the call after saying that, then dialed another person's number. He couldn't put all his hopes on Ju Jingyi alone; he also had to inform others of the information he received.
“Beep... beep... beep...” The sound continued for a long time until a voice on the other end said: “Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unreachable...”
“Why is no one answering? Could it be that they're being chased by hunters?” he muttered to himself. But time was pressing, and he couldn't afford to think too much. He continued to notify the others.
“Hello, Xiao Xing Ge, what's wrong?”
“Qian Xi, are you inside or outside the city right now?”
“Inside the city!”
“You do this...” Yi Xing repeated what he told Ju Jingyi to Yi Yang Qianxi.
Except for Huang Xiaoming and Shen Mengchen, whose calls didn't go through, he had notified everyone else. Only then did he check the notification sent by the production team and realized that both of them had been eliminated. He said apologetically to the camera.
“I'm sorry, Xiao Ming Ge, Sister Mengchen, it's my fault. I'm really sorry. I'll continue to work hard for both of you!”
“The current number of survivors is six: Yi Xing, Ju Jingyi, Wang Yuan, Yi Yang Qianxi, Du Chun, and Zhao Jiamin.”