Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Issuing Tasks and Punishment

Shen Zhiyao smiled faintly. “I’m not uncomfortable. I’m not a difficult person to get along with. You don’t have to be so careful around me.”

Chen Yan asked tentatively, “So… you don’t hate me, do you?”

Perhaps it was the sincerity in Chen Yan’s expression that made Shen Zhiyao let down all her guard. “That’s right,” she replied.

A huge smile spread across his lips, making him look like a naive young man who had never seen the world, descending from the mountains for the first time.

Shen Zhiyao patted him lightly on the shoulder and said, “Get some rest. Good night.”

Then, she ducked into her tent and began to cultivate.

He stared at her tent, his face filled with infatuation. ’Not hating me means she likes me. Liking me means she loves me. Loving me means she’s madly in love with me. Being madly in love with me means I’m the only one for her. And if I’m the only one for her, it means she can only love me for her entire life…’

At this thought, Chen Yan stood rooted to the spot, smiling foolishly. ’So, there’s only one possible conclusion… She’s in love with me!’

Then, he returned to his own tent, humming a song.

At eight in the morning, all the guests woke up one after another and quickly ate in the cafeteria.

After breakfast, it was about time to start.

The production team first briefed them on the upcoming schedule, getting everyone on the same page for what was needed.

Just then, someone asked, “Where’s Zhou Ye?”

Only then did Zhao Jing realize Zhou Ye was gone again. He really had no presence at all.

They had already finished breakfast, and only then did Zhao Jing realize Zhou Ye was missing.

Zhao Jing glanced around and said deliberately, “How is Zhou Ye missing again? Don’t tell me he wet the bed again and is too embarrassed to come out?”

The cameras weren’t rolling yet, so everyone was speaking much more casually.

Meng Xiaoxiao said with a look of disgust, “How is it him again? Why is there always so much drama with this Zhou Ye?”

Actor Sun asked Shen Zhiyao and Chen Yan, “Weren’t the three of you tenting together? Where did Zhou Ye go? Did you see him?”

Chen Yan calmly shook his head, acting as if nothing had happened last night.

But Shen Zhiyao screamed internally: ’Oh no!’

’When I woke up this morning, I forgot to wake Zhou Ye up. Something bad can happen if a person is trapped in a nightmare for too long.’

“Um… I’ll go get him!” After saying that, Shen Zhiyao ran toward the sea cliff.

The other guests ran out after her.

At that moment, Zhou Ye had been tormented by a full night of nightmares to the point where he barely looked human.

In his dream, his head was detached by Shen Zhiyao, he was hacked to death by Shen Zhiyao, bitten to death by poisonous snakes, and hit by a car the moment he stepped outside…

In one night, Zhou Ye had experienced nearly every possible form of death.

But the nightmare wouldn’t end, leaving him no way to escape the dreamscape. He kept dying and coming back to life, over and over. In just one short night, it felt as though a century had passed.

However, after going through countless near-death experiences in the dream, he had also picked up a few survival skills.

He would hide in a closet whenever possible, so the dream version of Shen Zhiyao would stop chasing and trying to hack him to pieces.

Hiding in the closet, Zhou Ye finally realized: the Shen Zhiyao in his dream wasn’t a person… she was a ghost…

Just as he was about to run, he was bound by the Shen Zhiyao behind him.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream as the female ghost’s hair wrapped tightly around his body, dragging him forcefully into the wall. The wall began to secrete a thick, viscous liquid.

Although Zhou Ye couldn’t see anything, he could feel the dense, sticky liquid smearing all over his face.

So this time, it wasn’t a physical attack, but being strangled to death by her hair.

A single minute in reality felt like a century to Zhou Ye. Just when he thought he was about to die again, a clear voice rang in his ear, “Wake up! Zhou Ye, wake up!”

Immediately after, he heard many people calling his name:

“Zhou Ye!”

“Zhou Ye!”

“Zhou Ye! Wake up! Are you sick? Why aren’t you awake yet?”

…

After everyone had been shouting for a long time, Zhou Ye slowly pushed himself up from the sleeping pad.

His tent had already been taken down, leaving him lying on the pad with a crowd of people surrounding him, which made him feel incredibly awkward.

Seeing him awake, the director let out a sigh of relief. “Whew, thank goodness you’re okay. You scared us to death!”

Zhou Ye was in a daze. Even though he knew he was back in reality, he could still vaguely remember some of what had happened in the nightmare.

Finally, his mind snapped. He grabbed the director and began to wail, “AAAAAH! Director, I’m so scared! There’s a ghost here! I don’t want to be on the show anymore, I wanna go home~”

The director was a bit speechless. “You only had to sleep in a tent for one night, right? How did you get this scared? Why are you pulling on my pants? You pervert!”

Zhou Ye clung to the director’s pants, crying incessantly. His mental state seemed very off.

The director resisted, repeatedly trying to pull his pants away.

With a RIIIP, Zhou Ye tore off half of the director’s pant leg.

“AAAAAH! Fuck! Let go!” The terrified director stumbled backward, and in the struggle to break free, one of his shoes went flying.

Zhou Ye had spent too long in the nightmare, and his mind couldn’t take it, resulting in some aftereffects.

Looking at his current state, it would probably take him ten-odd minutes to recover.

As for what he had dreamed about, he couldn’t quite explain it clearly right now.

Seeing his condition, the director told him to just stay put for now and rejoin the filming once he felt better.

Gu Shi found a place for Zhou Ye to rest. He would not be participating in the day’s filming.

The official announcement was: Zhou Ye has a high fever today and will be temporarily sitting out of filming.

At nine o’clock sharp, the production team began filming.

Just as the show started, a drawing box appeared in front of the guests. On it was written:

[Inside the box are the names of five people. You will draw to determine your teammate. The five of you will play rock-paper-scissors. Only the two winners will be eligible to draw for a teammate. One member will end up on a team by themself.

After the teams are formed, the guests who won rock-paper-scissors must lead their teammates to complete the corresponding task.]

The final team results were: Sun Yingbin and Zhao Jing on one team, Shen Zhiyao and Meng Xiaoxiao on another, and Chen Yan on his own.

Among them, Sun Yingbin, Meng Xiaoxiao, and Chen Yan, as the representatives of their teams, had to draw lots to determine their tasks.

Sun Yingbin and Zhao Jing’s task: Find Chi Ling’s ancestral formula in the library.

Shen Zhiyao and Meng Xiaoxiao’s task: Climb a two-thousand-meter-high mountain wearing specific outfits provided by the production team and take a photo as a memento.

Chen Yan’s task: Go to a field and dig up 3 tons of potatoes.

Chen Yan: “…”

After the corresponding tasks were drawn, the production team began to explain the rules:

[Each guest must lead their teammate(s) to complete the task before 5 PM. If the task is failed, you will receive the production team’s punishment: a manure dousing.]

The production team even provided a close-up shot of the punishment device.

In a transparent glass cylinder, a bucket of feces fell from a great height and smashed onto the ground. In just a second, the shit from the bucket was spread evenly across the inner walls of the cylinder.

Seeing this, all the guests present fell silent.

First, the tasks given by the production team were too unreasonable; second, the punishment was too severe.

This was the kind of motivation that left the guests with no choice but to try their hardest!

If they slacked off, the “reward” awaiting them would be a “manure shower.”

All the guests: “…If we run now, is it too late?”

Zhao Jing was the first to protest. “Director, when the show first started, you said Chi Ling’s formula was lost. Now you’re making me and Actor Sun look for it. Aren’t you just making things difficult for us?”

Chen Yan had no issue with his own task, but he had some objections to Shen Zhiyao’s. “Director, have you even looked at what you’ve prepared for Shen Zhiyao and Meng Xiaoxiao? You gave them two pairs of high heels, two pairs of skinny pants, and two wool sweaters. Do you think anyone can climb a mountain in that gear? Let’s not even talk about whether the clothes look good or not! I just want to know, could *you* climb a two-thousand-meter-high mountain in high heels? Is this a mountain climb or a fashion show?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep