The scratches on the bus were not made by animals but by Yin Minglu, deliberately, with the purpose of limiting the boys’ vision to within the bus. He wanted them to shift their gaze to the entire mountain wilderness because, after all, if one’s perspective is too narrow, internal conflict is inevitable.
How to avoid internal conflicts? Introduce an “external enemy,” and the fierce wild beasts in the mountains are perfect candidates. Teenagers of this age tend to be a bit combative; it’s best not to let them target their own kind.
When they’re hungry, let them realize that this seemingly desolate mountain forest is actually a vast treasure trove of resources. If they want warmth and sustenance, they have to unite.
Sure enough, at the mention of digging traps, everyone became enthusiastic, and in one morning, they dug seven or eight pits of varying depths. Some were shallow, some were deep, and then they covered them with almost convincingly deceptive weeds. Next to the weeds were some enticing props. There was also a classmate with strong hands-on skills who made several “sharp and massive animal traps” using readily available tools.
After finishing digging the pits, everyone climbed up the trees exhausted, panting heavily in anticipation of the catch. According to classmate Yin, they had already placed food as bait. As long as they patiently waited for a while, something was bound to fall into their trap. Yin Minglu claimed he came to observe the environment, but only he knew that it was his internal alarm that alerted him to the specific location and movements of the wild boar.
Coincidentally, the same sharp tool, in another bus that had crashed, ended up being gripped between someone’s fingers. With it, they slashed the throat of a boy, who, before dying, clutched his heavily bleeding throat, staring wide-eyed and unblinkingly as he collapsed.
However, this bus that hadn’t fallen off the cliff became the center of ingenious ideas to deal with the wild beasts in the mountains.
The gruesome scenes that netizens had complained about earlier quickly unfolded. A fat and robust wild boar let out a mournful cry, flailing its hooves as it fell into a huge pit, firmly caught by the animal trap.
“Yeah!!” Cheers erupted from the crowd as each person ran down to the pit, patiently waiting for the wild boar to thrash and howl until it ran out of breath.
“Too cruel,” a classmate, unable to bear the sight of all living things suffering, tried to walk away to avoid it. His actions were noticed by other classmates, and one of them snorted, saying, “Such a sentimental bookworm!”
The classmate accused of being sentimental suddenly blushed, defending himself, “I’m not being sentimental. In our tribe, we can eat animals, but when we do, we must give them a ‘humane death,’ peacefully passing away so that we can enjoy them with a clear conscience. That way, we can avoid getting blood on our hands and accumulating guilt.”
As he listened to the pitiful cries of the wild boar and saw the ground stained with dark blood, his heart pounded, feeling that his body and soul were tainted, and naturally, he couldn’t bear it.
“Mercy killing and being killed by someone, what’s the difference? In the end, isn’t it just the word ‘death’? Ultimately, it will still be consumed by humans, right? Your tribe emphasizes those boring rituals, ultimately just to soothe your own souls, to feel morally justified when eating animals! Fundamentally, it’s a kind of hypocrisy!”
“Yeah, exactly! If you’re truly kind and can’t bear to see the wild boar suffer, then don’t eat the meat we barbecue. If you want to eat but don’t want the wild boar to suffer, aren’t you being hypocritical?”
“I’m not! I didn’t! Stop making things up!” The student attacked by the crowd had teary eyes, but unfortunately, with clumsy articulation, could only keep denying in a stammering manner.
Seeing the conflict about to escalate, Luo Yuan, as the teacher, immediately stepped in to mediate, “If Student Fang is unwilling to take a life, let’s not force him. Why argue over such a simple matter?”
“Teacher, we didn’t want to argue. Just listen to what Fang Kai said. He called us cruel, begged us not to starve to death, and accused us of having ‘blood’ and ‘guilt’ on our hands. Who do you think he’s indirectly insulting? Isn’t that being overly sentimental?”
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just feel…” Fang Kai quickly tried to defend himself, but it had little effect. The spirited male students had no interest in continuing to listen to his excuses.
【Fight! Fight!】
【Fight! Fight! Fight!】
【Wow, this Fang guy is really bizarre. In such dire circumstances, he can still be so sentimental. I really want to give him a beating. I bet a hundred bucks he’s the first one to die】
【Upstairs, why did the amount you bet decrease?】
【Hehe, you got it. It’s because their class has the illustrious and ambitious Yin Minglu, who wants to lead his classmates in surviving in the wilderness. If he doesn’t kick the bucket, I don’t dare to bet big】
As the argument was about to intensify, Yin Minglu arrived just in time. He had just spaced out for a moment, processing the additional plot information from the system. Since the original host died before the assessment arrived, they were unaware of these developments. Not wanting to remain in the dark, Yin Minglu naturally paid a price to exchange for the subsequent plot. Consequently, he knew what was about to unfold.
He looked at Fang Kai, a male classmate with a somewhat conservative and eccentric personality, possibly influenced by the education in his ethnic tribe. He was inherently kind, whether towards animals or people. Even at the point of utter desperation, when a former classmate threatened him with a knife, he couldn’t bring himself to harm them.
The outcome was being killed in retaliation. Indeed, he was among the first casualties.
His persistence and “conservatism” somewhat garnered Yin Minglu’s favor. People like him were the ones you never had to worry about suddenly being stabbed in the back.
So, naturally, he spoke up to speak in favor of Fang Kai, “Every ethnic group has its own unique customs. I remember that Teacher Luo is from the Tamu tribe, where dogs are sacred, so they don’t eat dog meat. As for Zhang Hui, he’s from the Shangge tribe, where one’s maternal uncle holds a higher status than one’s own father, so they deeply honor their blood-related uncles…” Regardless of what kind of person their uncle might be.
Surprised by the mention, Zhang Hui quickly added, “That’s right! You can insult me, but never insult my blood-related uncle, or I’ll fight to the death with that person!” In the original plot, this student with the surname Zhang got into an argument with a classmate. The other person insulted his entire family, leading Zhang Hui to fly into a rage and accidentally kill the offender.
Teacher Luo was also surprised, “Minglu, how do you know that I’m from the Tamu tribe?” Not only did he avoid eating dog meat, but he also couldn’t stand anyone who had a record of mistreating cats or dogs. Consequently, he always had some remarks about the behavior of certain students in the class. He could tolerate it, but he preferred not to witness it.
Yin Minglu blinked his eyes and innocently said , “You mentioned it the first time you taught us.”
Luo Yuan had completely forgotten about it, but upon hearing this, he patted the slender shoulders of the young man and spoke with delight, “I didn’t expect that I only mentioned it once, and Minglu, you remembered.”
Yin Minglu gradually mentioned a few more people, and their reactions were similar—most were excited and even a bit pleasantly surprised.
“Minglu, you’re really impressive. So, you’ve been paying attention to me even during normal times?”
“I indeed don’t wear black clothes; black is inauspicious. But you guys can wear it, I don’t mind.”
As each person watching the virtual image, separated by the large screen, could almost sense the joy of these individuals, the overall atmosphere became much more harmonious.
Yin Minglu brought up these points to let others know about these psychological taboos and points that absolutely should not be offended. By openly discussing them, it would be less likely to lead to conflicts or arguments in private.
“It seems we all have habits that shouldn’t be offended. Let’s respect each other,” Yin Minglu said in a teasing tone.
It was evident that Yin Minglu was speaking up for himself, and Fang Kai looked touched. “Minglu, it’s great that you can understand my cultural beliefs. It doesn’t matter if other classmates don’t understand, as long as you do.”
Fang Kai blushed, finally showing a smile. When he smiled, he revealed a canine tooth, making him look more handsome than usual. It brought a smile to others’ faces as well, and those who were originally at odds with him felt a bit petty, realizing that it wasn’t so hard to understand someone who didn’t like the killing of animals, just like a young lady.
Fu Jinxiu also made a final decision, concluding, “Fang Kai, go to logistics.”
And that settled the matter. After this incident, no one dared to bring up the dog meat festival in front of Teacher Luo, and no one dared to insult Zhang Hui’s uncle, even if his uncle was a well-known actor with many scandals.
【I thought there was only one weirdo in the whole bus, but it turns out I was too naive. There are so many weirdos. What does Yin Minglu mean, hoping these weirdos respect and tolerate each other?】
【This Yin student is really impressive, turning so many incentives for violence into peaceful resolutions.】
【I really didn’t come here to watch him flirt with girls and guys.】
【He’s the thirteenth most popular on the internet, and those ranked higher all have a few lives on their hands, more or less.】
At this moment, Fu Jinxiu walked towards Yin Minglu, his expression cold and serious. He said, “I found a police-grade stun baton and several knives under a pillow, along with a note with your name on it. I suspect someone knew about the assessment in advance and made preparations to harm you.”
“But I don’t know whose pillow it is.”
Yin Minglu furrowed his brow slightly, recalling the plot.
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