Sha Qing

Chapter 61: Hunting Day (1)

"Get up! Everyone, get up now! Put on your work clothes!"

Many jumped up from their beds in shock when they heard the abrupt shouting, and some of them rolled over and buried their faces in their blankets, pretending not to hear.

A couple of big men in camouflage uniforms impatiently banged on the metal bed frame with their batons, the iron door was wide open behind them, "Hurry up! Starting today, you're going to work! Whoever dawdles, will be sorry later!"

Many mouths were chattering about the poor attitude of the company overseer, but a sentence afterwards made them act immediately: "Breakfast is on the square, so don't blame us if you're late and don't get it!"

A few minutes later, people swarmed into the square in front of the barracks to grab a packet of hot dogs or sandwiches from a cardboard box, along with two small bottles of water for moistening their throats.

They were stared at by the camouflage men as they gobbled up their share. The vast majority of them complained because they were only 60-70% full, but those who dared to come forward for more were knocked back by a few hits with the rod.

The head of the camouflaged group raised his wrist to glance at his watch and said in a booming voice, "It is now 7:45, you have fifteen minutes to rest. You must leave the camp and enter the jungle by 8:00."

"Why in the jungle?" Someone asked, "What exactly are we being asked to do?"

The camouflage man's bored eyes swept over the crowd, "You don't need to do anything- just survive."

"...Survive? What do you mean? "People whispered.

The buff man didn't answer and instead continued to announce, "Dinner will be handed out at camp at 20:00, and those who will miss it won't have any food. You have a compass in the pocket of your overalls so if you get lost, keep heading south. If I were you, I'd hurry back to the camp before dark, or otherwise you will experience the jungle at night, which I assure you, is far more terrifying than during the day."

"You're only going to give us two meals? What about lunch?" The man from earlier cried out in dissatisfaction.

The man glared at him fiercely, "There's plenty of food in the jungle, get your own if you can, or starve if you can't! I'm warning you in advance: don't go into the water easily. The shallow waters around the island is full of sharks- tiger sharks, bullhead sharks, great white sharks- any one of them will kill you. So if you don't want to turn into a shark shit, you better behave and stay on the island obediently."

He raised his wrist to look at his watch again, then he shouted impatiently: "The time is up! Come on! Hurry and go run!"

The crowd was whispered with each, and none of them moved. The jungle that surrounded the camp was thick, deep, and looked treacherous. No one was willing to give up their safe haven to go into the sunless, dense forest.

The camouflaged man, who seemed like he had anticipated something like this before, winked at his companion with a sneer. The electronic locks on several small doors on the side of the barracks then opened, and with the clang of metal door panels hitting the walls, twenty large ferocious dogs burst out of the cage. The salivating pack of dogs with bare fangs rushed towards the square in a frenzy.

People were stunned by this sudden scene, and it wasn't until the fishy smell in the wind hit their faces that they began to scramble and scream, "Run! Run!" and one after another, they ran out of the camp.

Outside the camp was a sparsely vegetated clearing, and the crowd scattered away in panic, chased by fierce, barking dog behind. Fortunately, the well-trained dogs didn't seem intent on actually attacking-they only herded them all into the jungle, and returned immediately after to the camp with wagging tails to claim their reward.

"Good work, boys." The camouflaged man tossed them a bucket of raw, bloodied meat and bones.

.
.
.

Daniel pulled Luo YI along and ran as fast as he could deep into the jungle. They only slowed down when their surroundings have become densed with layers of vegetation, and they were stepping on soft, slippery ground.

Guessing that the dogs did not catch up, he stopped and held on to a tree trunk to catch his breath, "...... Shit, what the hell do those bastards want? How dare they let the dog chase and bite us! Why do they want to force us into the jungle?!"

"Who knows." Luo Yi replied smoothly as he scanned the area: grass and shrubs as high as a person occupied the ground interspersed with countless climbing plants and there was almost no place to stand. Unknown trees stood upright towards the sky, towering at the height of more than two meters, each competing for the precious sunlight.

They were standing beneath a large camphor tree with sinuous roots rising out of the ground at their feet.

"Don't you think all these are both weird and familiar? Think of all those movies like 'The Condemned' and the one I forgot the name of ...... where a group of people were thrown on a deserted island to let them fight each other, and only the one who wins gets to leave alive. Countless hidden cameras were filming, making the life-and-death struggles into reality shows and uploading them on the internet, earning tens of millions of clicks and huge advertising revenues...Oh hell! I don't want to be a cash cow for a bunch of inhumane idiots ...... " Daniel spoke excitedly to Luo Yi, only to see the latter's suddenly frozen expression.

"-Don't move." The young Asian man whispered, "Don't move."

Daniel also froze,and an ominous omen surged into his mind.

Why? He asked with his lips without making any sound.

Luo Yi approached him slowly, before suddenly reaching out to the top of his right shoulder to grab something, then slammed it against the tree trunk.

The set of movements was completed in a flash that Daniel didn't even see his arm clearly. He just heard the sound of the wind whistle past his ears.

When Luo Yi's hand appeared in his sight again, there was an emerald green slender snake in his palm. The green snake, shaken loose of its spine, drooped limply, still twitching unwillingly.