After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows-Chapter 67 Swamp

Both of them had secrets in their hearts, so the journey ahead was unusually silent, and even the audience watching the live stream felt a subtle sense of strangeness and awkwardness.

The live stream didn’t convey any fun or excitement, so even Jiang Xiyu’s fans quietly left, let alone the casual viewers.

They came to watch the show, after all, and there were four other streams to choose from, so why not pick another one?

Every time Jiang Yuting glanced at the viewer count shown in the upper left corner of the live stream, she saw the number shrinking rapidly, and she couldn’t even enjoy her favorite sushi in front of her.

Switching to Jiang Lingxi’s live stream, she was greeted by a dense flurry of active comments, and the viewer count in the upper left corner had nearly reached ten million, still visibly growing, making her throat even tighter.

Has Jiang Lingxi taken some kind of elixir, or what? Otherwise, how could there be such a drastic change?

She even had a premonition that she didn’t want to admit, that the long-standing dominance Jiang Xiyu had over Jiang Lingxi might be about to be broken!

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard Jiang Xiyu start a topic in the live stream, "I wonder where Lingxi and Jiang Kaiyuan’s team are. I hope we don’t run into them."

In truth, she knew her performance in this survival show wasn’t great, but she was a girl, after all, and physical strength was her weak point, so the audience would be somewhat forgiving.

Besides, there’s someone even less formidable and less anticipated than her, Jiang Lingxi. In comparison, if anyone gets mocked, it would be Jiang Lingxi.

Now, even though she was already in such a sorry state, she really wanted to see Jiang Lingxi looking even more miserable than her.

Yu Hui was pulled back to reality by her words, paused briefly, and said, "We were delayed a bit earlier, so it’s unlikely we’ll run into them."

"Sister Lingxi is also a girl, and it was raining earlier, so their traveling speed couldn’t have been that fast either."

Jiang Yuting genuinely wished she could jump into the screen and cover Jiang Xiyu’s mouth. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

If Jiang Lingxi was truly performing poorly, then these words could be understood as a girl’s concern for another girl.

But now, Jiang Lingxi’s performance was remarkably ahead, even elevating Jiang Kaiyuan, who was already quite capable. Hearing these words, the audience would find it amusing, like a joke.

Fortunately, Yu Hui also didn’t think Jiang Lingxi could perform much better than Jiang Xiyu, "Let’s just see if we can run into them."

Jiang Xiyu smirked, already imagining in her mind Jiang Lingxi looking even more miserable than herself. By stepping on Jiang Lingxi’s misfortune, she could secure at least second place among the three female participants, even if she couldn’t get first.

She got distracted and didn’t pay much attention to her steps, nor did Yu Hui thoughtfully scout ahead this time.

So, one wrong step later, a scream pierced the sky!

*

The further they went, the tougher the road became.

Kai Yuan took the initiative to clear the path ahead, with Jiang Lingxi and Xu Zhao following suit, meanwhile picking some edible plants.

The plants had evolved over more than a thousand years, and Jiang Lingxi didn’t recognize many of the edible ones in this jungle.

That’s where Xu Zhao’s role came into play.

There was no need for the testing device distributed by the program team; he just needed one look to determine if a plant was edible and tasty.

Jiang Lingxi also picked quite a few edible ones.

Xu Zhao noticed something.

Although Jiang Lingxi’s knowledge of the jungle plants was far inferior to his, she remembered every plant he confirmed as edible. Without needing reminders afterward, she could accurately pick them out.

He checked several times out of caution, and she never made a mistake.

It’s worth noting that some plants looked very similar, and even when he was first learning to distinguish edible plants, he made several mistakes and was scolded many times by his old squad leader.

What a terrifying talent for identification!

"Huh?"

Just after his admiration, he heard Jiang Lingxi speak with some confusion, and he turned to look, "Is there a plant you’re unsure of?"

"No," Jiang Lingxi bent slightly and plucked a flower hidden beneath the grass leaves from a thick bush, "This is water hyacinth."

Xu Zhao looked at the flower with purple edges and a blue center in her hand, "The name is quite fitting."

"The key is, this kind of flower usually grows in wetlands or swamps."

As Jiang Lingxi spoke, she turned to look in the direction of Kai Yuan, and upon seeing a willow tree with branches drooping to the ground not far away, her pupils suddenly contracted, "Kai Yuan, stop!"

Although Kai Yuan didn’t understand why, he obediently stopped in his tracks, "What’s wrong, Sister Xixi?"

Xu Zhao had already guessed a possibility and picked up a stone from the ground, suddenly raising his hand to throw it in the direction ahead of Kai Yuan.

Kai Yuan watched as the stone flew over his head and landed in the grass ahead.

Yet, he heard nothing in return.

Even if the grass were the softest, a stone falling would make a dull thud, but there was no sound. Could the ground have swallowed the stone?

"Just as I expected."

"Wha-what?"

Jiang Lingxi walked to Kai Yuan’s side, glanced at the ground, and then took a few steps forward. She pulled out an arrow from the quiver on her back, crouched down, and thrust it into the ground.

Kai Yuan watched in disbelief as the arrow, which was at least fifty or sixty centimeters long, sank easily almost entirely into the ground, and when it was pulled out, it was coated in gray-black mud.

"This is a swamp?"

Jiang Lingxi used a leaf to clean the arrow before putting it back, nodding, "It’s a swamp."

Kai Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.

Even though he had never seen one in person, he knew from watching TV and reading books that swamps were terrifying. Getting stuck in one means there’s no way to escape, and the more you struggle, the more dangerous it becomes.

The danger is akin to quicksand in the desert, and without timely rescue, it would result in the most agonizing death.

Just moments ago, he was only two steps away from stepping right into it.

Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but swallow hard, "But aren’t swamps just muddy pits on TV? Why does this one look like normal ground?"

Had it not appeared so, he wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual.

Xu Zhao approached and explained, "That’s just one kind of swamp. There are also those covered by vegetation, making it hard to tell whether it’s swamp or solid ground. The soil here is very fertile."

Xu Zhao’s explanation was mostly clear to Kai Yuan, but Jiang Lingxi understood immediately.

The soil is fertile because it has sufficient nutrients provided by decomposing matter.

As for where the nutrients come from, there must be a lot of animal bones buried beneath this swamp.

"Shh, it sounds like someone is calling for help!"