Night grew deeper and deeper.
The eleven girls felt utterly drained, sitting on the floor, barely able to hold on.
Despite removing so many items, their shared package was still over by 25 kilograms.
"Coach, we really can’t take anything else out," Zhang Zijing pleaded with a pitiful look.
"Coach, could we ask Brother Cal to help carry a bit more?" Lai Ruoxuan tried deploying her adorably innocent charm.
The coach, stone-faced, rejected her outright:
"No, absolutely not."
"Those animals carrying our gear are essential to our survival in the wild."
"Their load has been calculated precisely; we can’t add to it."
Everyone exchanged glances, understanding there was no way to persuade him otherwise.
"Let’s remove so of the food then—snacks, bread and the like. Try taking those out," Yuwei suggested.
"But we can’t go without food! There are eleven of us!" Fu Xiaoyu protested, utterly against the idea.
"Yeah, without food, we’d collapse out there!" Wu Zixuan voiced her objection too.
"We’ve brought rice and flour—small in volu but plentiful when cooked."
Yuwei’s remark made everyone realize she was right.
A bag of rice and a large bag of instant noodles occupy the sa space but feed vastly different numbers—one serving four people and the other just one.
"These rice cakes are a no-go. Eating rice cakes in a desert? Just the thought feels suffocating."
"And, uh, children’s ropes?" Yuwei’s eyes widened upon spotting the item.
"I was scared you might run away while sleeping at night," Qiqi replied, blinking her innocent big eyes.
The utterly exhausted group burst into laughter: "Qiqi, that’s so ’taking one down with ’ ntality you’ve got there!"
After their relentless efforts, they finally t the weight standard at around 2 a.m.
The coach let out a subtle sigh of relief; true survival in the wild follows a strict schedule.
Tomorrow, they’d have to set off at 9:30 a.m., so all the girls returned to their rooms in mingled states of exhilaration and exhaustion.
"So tired!" Yuwei stretched her back.
"Want to take a shower?" Zhang Zijing offered a towel.
"Definitely. Once we’re in the desert, there won’t be a chance to bathe," Yuwei said, drained but determined.
Riiing! Riiing!
Just as Yuwei finished her shower and thought about resting, the phone suddenly rang.
But it wasn’t her mobile—it was the room’s landline.
"Hello, this is the front desk. Are you Miss Ye Yuwei?"
"Yes, that’s !"
"The information on your passport doesn’t match the registration records. Please co down to the ground-floor lobby to verify."
Before Yuwei could inquire further, the caller hung up directly.
"What’s happening? The hotel front desk says there’s an issue with my information, and I need to go down to the lobby to confirm it."
"Could it be a mistake by the staff?" Zhang Zijing speculated, just as puzzled.
Their information had been collectively registered before they signed off on it personally.
"Forget it. I’m so sleepy—I’ll deal with it tomorrow!" Yuwei plopped straight onto the bed.
Zijing lay down as well, ready to rest. But roughly five minutes later, the front desk called again.
"Miss Ye, please cooperate. A patrolling officer has approached us."
"An officer?"
Upon hearing that, Yuwei instantly grew anxious. She didn’t want her situation delaying the filming.
"Maybe I should go have a look," she said aloud.
"Then I’ll accompany you!"
"No, it’s fine. This is a five-star hotel, and we’re part of a filming team. Nothing should happen," Yuwei reasoned, reassured by the hotel’s high-end status and their production crew’s foreign visibility.
But as she put on her clothes and took the elevator down, her heart inexplicably raced.
An overwhelming sense of unease suddenly crept over her.
She instinctively glanced up, noticing that the elevator cara had adjusted its angle.
"Soone’s watching !" Yuwei imdiately realized.
Her entire body tensed, yet she deliberately remained calm. Calling for help now wasn’t an option.
The elevator signal reception was extrely poor, and making a call would reveal her awareness of the situation.
Then it struck her—it’s likely there were caras in her room too.
Otherwise, why would the call co imdiately after she finished showering?
Before that, staff mbers had been awake, and she’d certainly have asked one of them to intervene.
Their oversight was only in not ambushing her directly in the elevator.
Though, it wasn’t exactly oversight, since the corridors and elevators were rife with caras.
Leaving evidence behind would be incredibly troubleso.
After all, she wasn’t just anyone—she was well-known, and given the production crew’s prominence, an incident would have severe consequences.
Even international authorities wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye.
The twenty-fifth floor elevator descended rapidly—barely a minute and so seconds until it reached the ground floor.
Yuwei desperately hoped soone would call the elevator to an upper floor so she could escape.
But her chances were slim—it was past 3 a.m., after all.
Would they make their move in the lobby?
No—that area had surveillance caras. They’d have arrived early and mingled among tourists to avoid suspicion.
If that were the case, the only place they could act would be the instant she stepped out of the elevator.
That mont would surely be a blind spot for the security caras.
Ding!
As the elevator doors opened...
Hyper-alert and poised, Yuwei suddenly leaped up and kicked violently mid-air.
Years of relentless training had made her body exceptionally strong and agile, particularly her legs—her strength was nothing short of remarkable.
This urgent kick, fueled by fear, pushed her beyond her physical limits.
She was betting on the attacker being right where she anticipated.
Bam!
As her body rebounded back, she heard the sound of bones fracturing.
When she pressed the elevator button and the doors began closing slowly...
She saw a towering, muscular Black man clutching his chest, struggling to rise.
His black-and-white intense gaze burned with a beast-like ferocity.
Yuwei’s face turned pale too.
She hadn’t expected her full-force kick—the strongest attack of her life—would fail to incapacitate him.
Clearly, this man had undergone rigorous special forces training.
A normal person hit by that would’ve either been immobilized or coughing up blood.
As the elevator doors shut completely, Yuwei threw her jacket over the cara and frantically pressed the buttons for the 24th and 25th floors, making her whereabouts ambiguous.
This was a high-grade elevator; its exterior display showed the floor where it stopped.
If her pursuers attempted to follow using the ergency staircase starting from the ground floor...
Even if they began sprinting imdiately, after three floors, not even an Olympic sprinter could catch up.
If others were lying in wait, it’d likely mirror the earlier ambush at an elevator exit.
Once again, Yuwei gambled—such sches rarely employed large teams overtly.
Given this wasn’t a conflict zone, so semblance of law and order still prevailed.
Exiting the elevator on the 24th floor, Yuwei moved quickly but doubled back and re-entered after re seconds.
Simultaneously, she sent out a pre-edited alert.
Her suspicions proved correct.
The corridor caras had also been taken over by her pursuers.
The mont Yuwei exited on the 24th floor...
A masked individual stationed on the 25th floor sprinted toward the ergency staircase, descending swiftly.
But Yuwei’s decisive return bought her just enough ti—barely three seconds before the elevator reached the 25th floor.
Dashing out the mont the doors opened, she saw the masked pursuer had already made it halfway down the ergency stairs, climbing back in pursuit.
Still, it wasn’t fast enough—Yuwei darted into the corridor.
The masked man started after her, but upon noticing a girl wielding a desk lamp storming through from another direction...
He halted, his eyes filled with frustration and rage.
It was evident he understood: despite his training and the advantage of carrying sedatives...
Trying to subdue two physically capable girls in direct combat wouldn’t be fast.
Moreover, the entire floor was filled with their team.
If a fight broke out and soone heard it, his escape would be impossible.
The other girl had certainly alerted authorities too.
Without hesitation, the man pivoted and fled swiftly.
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