You Yi’s arrival immediately resolved the crisis, almost taking down the bear, preventing everyone from facing the danger of a rollback. As for Xin Meng, just avoiding the bear was still manageable.
However, this was not a solution. With one little black boy dead, it should have counted as clearing the level, but the remaining two were still locked in their cage. If they couldn’t get out of the zoo, they couldn’t enter the next scene, and the progress remained at a standstill.
The first issue to resolve was the cage. They had to get out.
Previously, the bears inside had easily gotten out, but now it was their turn, and Xin Meng exerted all his strength but couldn’t budge it an inch.
There were no keys or any strange, obvious mechanisms around.
Xin Meng calmed down and carefully observed the bear in front of him.
The bear was the most traditional Asian black bear, with a face resembling a dog, a white crescent on its chest, and a very unfriendly gaze. However, its nose and ears were quite sensitive; it could sit and stand like a human, with thick paws.
He looked at those furry bear paws and suddenly recalled that the previous bear had stood up and pushed open the iron bars to get out. It had looked so easy. What if he let the bears push now?
In a moment of evasion, Xin Meng took off his shirt, rolled it into a ball, and then took out a wet condom from his storage compartment, placing it on the ground. He curled up and barely squeezed inside, then tossed his jacket over the iron bars.
This action might not be effective, because although ordinary Asian black bears had poor eyesight, the bears outside had shown completely different behavior; their eyes were bright, and their gazes were sharp, accurately landing on the few of them.
However, Xin Meng also noticed that the bears that had fallen into the cage later were not quite the same as before. Their eyes weren’t as bright, their gazes less spirited, and their movements were relatively sluggish.
So he decided to take a gamble, using the condom filled with seawater to temporarily mask his scent, then throwing his clothes away to see if it would work.
However, no one expected that this method would actually work!
The black bear turned towards the scent and sound, stood up, and with a clap of its paws, pushed down the iron bars!
After stepping over the fallen iron bars, the black bear walked out, but it moved like a controlled marionette, heading straight towards the group of bears in the center and plopping down among them.
“Just like that!”
Xin Meng excitedly crawled out of the condom and called to the others. They quickly followed suit, imitating him, and one by one, the bars fell down, and they all got out!
Only Luo Yingying had a bit of a problem. It wasn’t anything else; after all, she was a woman and was only wearing a skirt. How could she take it off?
Unlike Qi Xiaokui, who also wore a skirt, but You Yi was still in her cage, so he could take off his jacket for her.
Li Wenjun was also anxious for her, reaching into the cage with one arm to shake his clothes vigorously, but it was no use; the bear had locked onto Luo Yingying’s scent and ignored everyone else.
It seemed they could only open it from the inside. Luo Yingying saw that everyone else had gotten out and felt like a burden. With a determined heart, she gritted her teeth and stomped her foot, bending down to take off her underwear from under her skirt!
Her face turned bright red, and the other men quickly turned their heads, being considerate not to look in that direction.
Luo Yingying pressed her legs tightly together, hiding in the condom, and threw her underwear outside. Li Wenjun reflexively caught it, holding it in his hands, momentarily stunned.
Fortunately, he was indeed standing outside the cage. The bear rushed over and slapped the bars, and Li Wenjun quickly dodged.
“Creak—”
A sound of metal grinding that made one’s teeth ache rang out, and everyone turned to see the zoo’s gate opening!
“We can get out!” Dou Dou exclaimed excitedly, rushing to the door and waving at everyone.
However, Xin Meng inadvertently looked back and found that the bears, which had originally been sitting quietly, had stood up again. The other bears in the cage also pushed open the bars and walked out, gathering around the group.
“The bears are coming! Run!”
They bolted outside, and Luo Yingying didn’t have time to think; survival came first!
When the last person exited the zoo’s gate, the iron door closed silently behind them.
The crisis was averted.
Li Wenjun was still tightly clutching Luo Yingying’s underwear and quickly handed it to her, “Put it on quickly!”
The others turned their backs again, and Luo Yingying, blushing, put on her underwear.
With a sigh of relief, the two little black boys happily began to sing again, continuing to run:
“Three little black boys, in the zoo met misfortune; suddenly the bears came down from the sky, three left with two… two little black boys, sighing under the sun; sunburned and roasted, sorrowful and sad, two left with one…”
They ran around the zoo, leaving through a vast expanse of barren land, arriving at the edge of the desert.
“It’s actually a desert!” Xin Meng immediately realized! “We’re doomed!”
You Yi remained calm and inserted a knife, “We have to rollback.”
“What do you mean?” Li Wenjun and the others were slower to react, not understanding why the desert meant a rollback.
“Because it’s a desert, there’s no way to stop them from dying of sun exposure!” Dou Dou immediately understood, covering his face and wailing, “I thought there would be trees!”
Indeed, the places they had passed before were either towns or forests, or water; they never expected to encounter a desert. Moreover, the song only mentioned, “sighing under the sun,” and when connected with the previous series of lines, it was impossible to think it was a desert!
But that wasn’t the most important reason.
Extreme fatigue had dulled their judgment, making it impossible to calm down and analyze various possibilities, even overlooking simple problems that should have been considered. That was the most terrifying aspect.
“Is it still too late to go back to the beach and fill up with water?” Xin Meng asked You Yi in disappointment, but You Yi shook his head.
It was too late; before he could run to the beach, the little black boys would be sun-dried.
But now that it had come to this, they still couldn’t easily give up. They followed the little black boys, seeing them sitting closely together on the ground in a daze, so those who could take off their jackets did so to shield them from the sun, and those who could fan them did so.
However, even though they received treatment akin to Empress Dowager Cixi, it couldn’t save their lives. In the end, only two black raisins were left, and the group returned to the save point in silence.
“Wuwu…” Luo Yingying couldn’t help but cover her face and cry, but her parched body couldn’t produce tears, only dry howls, making everyone feel even heavier in their hearts.
“I can’t hold on much longer…” Qi Xiaokui also sat on the ground, her face pale.
Originally lacking water and exhausted, they had just spent nearly half an hour in the scorching desert to save the little black boys. The blazing sun had almost drained all the remaining moisture from their bodies, and now everyone had pale faces, cracked and peeling lips, and some even bled when touched.
Even You Yi’s condition was not as good as at the beginning; dehydration was a fatal issue, causing his physical state to decline. Not to mention the others, if this continued, they might not even be able to pass the bull level.
“Let’s go; when we walk from the sea, we should fill the condoms with water!” Xin Meng gritted his teeth and said, “Everyone hold on; we can see the finish line soon! The last level, hanging and committing suicide shouldn’t be a problem. In other words, this is the last rollback; we must hold on!”
Even if it wasn’t the last time, he had to say it; otherwise, if their confidence collapsed, no one would survive.
They truly experienced the saying, “A journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step.”
The further they went, the harder it became.
“It seems like drinking water; seawater will do…” Qi Xiaokui looked at the blue sea, murmuring, but her throat was so dry that she could only emit hoarse sounds. Even that hurt her throat, so she quickly closed her mouth and couldn’t help but walk towards the sea.
“Don’t go!” Xin Meng quickly got up and pulled her back, “You’ll only get thirstier! Hold on a little longer; we’re almost through!”
He just lightly tugged at Qi Xiaokui’s clothing, and she collapsed to the ground. When he touched her, her skin was burning hot; she had a fever!
“Sister Qi! Sister Qi!” Dou Dou rushed over, calling out to Qi Xiaokui, but she was delirious from the fever and couldn’t hear anything.
“We can’t delay; we need to clear the level quickly!” Xin Meng urged. If Qi Xiaokui had a fever, she would dehydrate and die more easily!
“I… can’t lift it…” Li Wenjun stared blankly at a pack of water, hoarsely saying.
To be honest, this pack of water was only about the size of a large bucket of mineral water. In the past, even Luo Yingying could lift it, but now, even Li Wenjun couldn’t pick it up after trying for a long time; his hands were shaking, and he had no strength at all.
Fortunately, Xin Meng had the item slot from the previous game. He directly stored the six packs of water in the item slot, solving a major problem. Otherwise, they would have to carry the water while dealing with the bears, which would have been enough for them to rollback several times.
They entered the zoo, but this time the condoms were used to hold water, so everyone had to use their bodies as bait to lure the bears to pounce on the bars. In the end, the nearly exhausted Luo Yingying almost became a victim under the bear’s paw, but You Yi quickly rescued her after getting Qi Xiaokui to safety.
You Yi’s stamina was also depleting rapidly. Although he rarely spoke, he was doing more work than anyone else. It was hard for others to take care of themselves, yet he still had to save Qi Xiaokui and Luo Yingying. By the time they left the zoo, his complexion was also quite poor, drenched in sweat.
Xin Meng was also exhausted but still felt very sorry for him, moving closer to wipe his sweat, “Are you okay?”
You Yi grasped his hand, holding it in his palm, “I’m fine; I can hold on for one more time.”
What he meant by one more time, Xin Meng naturally understood, and he knew he wasn’t being negative but was trying to reassure himself. He felt a sense of relief; if it weren’t for the situation, he really wanted to kiss the other person.
You Yi seemed to have noticed and lowered his head, gently pressing his cracked lips against Xin Meng’s similarly cracked lips.
Xin Meng felt a pang in his heart.
