BXBX NOVEL Chapter 113 - 110: Traffic Light
When Bi Fang crawled out of the quicksand, he looked up at the sky, took deep breaths, and each breath went deep into his lungs.
Oxygen traveled through his blood into his whole body, quickly relieving his fatigue and soreness.
A refreshing vigor surged up, as if a martial arts master had just unleashed the power in his lower abdomen, or as if he had just devoured a bowl of piping hot tofu pudding.
Unobstructed and exhilarating!
In the live-streaming room, needless to say, another barrage of gifts rained down.
This also set Bi Fang apart from other streamers.
While other streamers danced energetically, many viewers remained free-riders, sneering at the streamers’ pleas for gifts, but what they saw from Bi Fang genuinely impressed them.
Capable people always find it easier to earn respect from others.
He deserved it!
“Did you get it?” Stiff-necked and within the quicksand, Du Chuan asked. “Probably… I guess?” Du Chuan hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. He looked up at the edge, a dozen meters away, then at the car beside him. He felt a direct escape was unrealistic; it might be better to get onto the roof of the car and wait for rescue.
Ten minutes later.
The sky had turned a dark red hue.
The evening breeze brought a chill.
With sweat pouring down like rain, Du Chuan gently pulled on the car door, trying to pull himself out of the quicksand.
When he finally managed to get more than half of his body onto the hood, he pushed hard against it, hoping to break free entirely, only to slip due to the great resistance from the quicksand on his legs, and he slid back into it.
Bi Fang watched the others still floundering and smiled, occasionally providing commentary. Seeing that Du Chuan had squandered his previous effort, he certainly wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass.
“You see, actually, Glasses Guy was too hasty there. Just now, he should have stepped up with one foot first, but he wanted to get up all at once, too eager for quick success. As a result, he didn’t hold on and fell back in, all effort wasted.” [Hahaha, it’s like a pig rolling in a mud pit.]
[The difference is clear, all thumbs.]
[Ultimate effort!]
[He’s getting anxious, he’s really anxious now.]
[Nice, so satisfying, suddenly they don’t seem that annoying anymore.] “Actually, the best method of escape is still to be preventive and avoid getting into dangerous situations. When we feel our feet starting to stick, we should immediately move back a few steps to avoid falling into quicksand.” “Generally, the transformation of sand and soil into a liquid mixture of water and particles takes about a minute, so escaping promptly before then is the best strategy to evade quicksand.”
“That’s also why I like to have a walking stick prepared. You see, a stick is very useful even in quicksand.”
Observing the disheveled few, Bi Fang decided to explain a few more points to his audience.
“If I had had a stick just now, I could’ve laid it across the quicksand, then used the stick as a support under my back.”
“After doing that, within a minute or two, our body would achieve balance and stop sinking. Then, you place the stick under your buttocks, stopping them from sinking too. Next, gently pull out one leg, and then the other.”
“This method of escape would save a lot more energy than what I did just now. Unfortunately, this place is too barren, and there isn’t even a tree to be found, so I can’t demonstrate it to everyone.”
Bi Fang’s voice carried a hint of regret. The importance of a handy tree stick was hard for someone who hadn’t experienced the outdoors to imagine, and he had turned the tree stick into a recurring joke, always needing to remind people of its presence.
Having lived through the previous era when online traffic was king, Bi Fang was well aware of the power of memes, so he kept fostering this concept.
From the tree stick to the fixed few words he always said at the start of each stream, to his advice on not running away in fear when facing wild animals, all of this would become significant personal trademarks, ones that people would remember for a lifetime.
Years later, when he’s old and grey, the younger generation will repeatedly attempt to conquer the wilderness, and the audience in front of the screen will naturally recall these lines, and thus think of him, the pioneering Wilderness Survivalist.
These were indelible memories.
[Amazing, the essential tool might be late, but it never disappears!]
[Tree stick: Who would’ve thought that in almost ten chapters, I’d still have a chance to make an appearance?]
The Shuiyou audience thought the desert tree stick joke wouldn’t show up this time, but it still made an appearance. They launched into a barrage of danmaku, teasing the streamer.
When it comes to playing with memes, they were professionals.
But soon, a dense torrent of danmaku obscured Bi Fang’s view.
[Wait, damn, isn’t that one climbing up over there?]
[Damn, he actually is. Tall Guy is tough!]
The Shuiyou danmaku alerted Bi Fang, and when he looked up again, he saw that one of the four, the tall one, had already climbed out of the quicksand and was standing on the car roof.
With one person out, it meant they could help each other. Du Chuan and Pan Wei felt much lighter, reaching out for the tall one to pull them up.
But a single comment from Bi Fang made the tall one freeze.
“Everyone should take note that it’s actually very dangerous to rashly reach out to pull someone out of quicksand. As I said earlier, quicksand has great suction power. Unless there is a crane, it’s absolutely impossible to pull someone out with human strength, and it’s easy to be dragged down as well.”
The tall one’s hand, which he had just reached out, spun naturally in the air, and without any obvious flaws, he scratched his head and muttered an apology. Damn it!
Green with frustration, Du Chuan had no choice but to continue struggling in the sandy sea with Pan Wei.
Finally, after another dozen or so minutes, the two managed to stand on top of the car roof.
The moment they escaped, Du Chuan looked up and took deep breaths, his smile returning, but then Bi Fang’s voice rang out again, nearly breaking his composure.
Damn, that guy was nothing but trouble.
The jeep was rented, and now it’s all gone. The money we made today will probably have to cover the loss. What a waste of time.
Damn it!
“Consider yourselves lucky, because of last time, I made sure to have the helicopter record the landing position. If someone in your live stream calls for help, and there isn’t a sandstorm, they might arrive within an hour or two.” “Of course, if not, then you’re on your own. You should know, it gets very cold here at night.”
Seeing that they were safe, Bi Fang turned around, waved his hand at them without looking back, and climbed up the sand dune to leave.
He might have felt relieved, but his seemingly mocking words echoed incessantly in Du Chuan and the others’ ears.
They were completely trapped in the quicksand and couldn’t possibly get out on their own.
[That’s so badass, Master Fang that move, Shrimp and Pig’s Heart!]
[I can’t wait either.]
(Pete not so tough gifted the host a Rocket*l—I feel like Brother Fang let them off too easy]
[Lin Chang gifted the host Spaceship*io—Little brother, you’re still too young, you don’t understand the intricacies here, this is on camera.]
“Little brother…” Hearing this nickname made Wang Xiaocong gloomy, though still quite angry, “I always feel like it’s letting those bastards off too cheap.”
“No choice, this is the limit of what can be done on a live stream.” Kong Chao was very calm, “Brother Fang is pretty smart, understands the game rules very well, almost a top-tier player. He has control over the situation, unlike you with your simple mind, a total noob.”
“???”
Even though Wang Xiaocong was used to Kong Chao’s daily mockery, he still responded with three question marks.
“What do you mean?”
“Literal meaning.”
“Damn!
In the quicksand.
On the hood of the jeep.
“Want a smoke, Brother Du?” Pan Wei offered a mud-covered cigarette, cautiously.
“You can’t keep a damn phone secure but can hold onto a pack of cigarettes that tightly?” Seeing Pan Wei, Du Chuan was nearly driven to fury.
That last wave, if the phone hadn’t fallen into the quicksand, they could’ve made at least tens of thousands!
Now look, no phone and no way to make a distress call!
After getting scolded, Pan Wei’s hand trembled and he almost dropped the cigarette; Du Chuan rolled his eyes and snatched away both the cigarette and lighter.
“Alright, alright, get lost, I get angry just looking at you! Always causing more trouble than you’re worth.”
Pan Wei nodded repeatedly and ran to the top of the jeep.
“Not going to save the fatso?” The tall guy glanced at the fatso still stuck in the quicksand and mentioned.
“Save what, with his big ass he can’t sink even if he tried, what’s there to save?” Du Chuan lit the cigarette and waved his hand impatiently.
Seeing this, the tall guy didn’t bring it up again.
The cold wind blew as he shrank his body, still uncertain about how to endure what was coming.
But no one noticed that the fatty, who had been unconscious for a while, blinked his eyelids.
Hmm…
Where am I?
Damn.
My head hurts, and it’s so tiring to breathe.
My face hurts too, is it swollen?
Did someone hit me?
The fatty slowly opened his eyes in pain and then felt a heavy sensation below him.
Where is this?
Right, there was an accident.
The fatty, still groggy, finally began to remember some things, but the slippery feeling underneath him was uncomfortable. He strained to pull out a hand and grabbed something at random, putting it to his nose to smell. A nasty odor hit him in the face.
Such a strong smell of gasoline, is there a leak in the tank?
This is, is…
Quicksand!
Finally recalling what happened, the fatty jerked suddenly, his entire body struggling violently, but the quicksand soaked in gasoline was even stickier than before. As he moved, the surrounding sand “liquefied,” and the jeep also started to become unstable.
This big commotion caught Du Chuan’s attention. He casually flicked away the burning cigarette and was about to tell the fatty to stop moving.
Unexpectedly, this motion was clearly seen by the fatty, who turned around to call for help. His pupils shrank sharply, and his heart pounded like it was going to explode!
An endless sea of sand with silhouettes swaying on the jeep, and above was the Milky Way spanning across the sky.
In the distance on the horizon of the sea of sand, a huge white moon was slowly rising behind the jeep, the craters on its surface distinctly visible.
Moonlight spilled down like an approaching tide along the coast.
The sound of the tide swept in, and that pinpoint of red light under the veil of sand was exceptionally clear, like…
The signal light of the Grim Reaper.