After just finishing applying the ointment, Xia Yan waited another hour before going to freshen up.
When he lay back in bed, it was already past 9.
The host had reminded them to sleep early, which meant that the so-called “mysterious mission” could happen at any time.
Xia Yan, feeling no worries, closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep once the pain in his back eased.
Time slowly passed, and it was already 3 a.m.
A loud knocking sound echoed from their fragile room—knock knock knock, unmistakably clear.
Both Xia Yan and Xu Cong were quickly awakened.
They sat up in bed and exchanged a glance, taking a few seconds to fully wake up.
“I’ll go open the door,” Xu Cong said.
But when Xu Cong opened the door, there was no one outside, just an envelope left on the ground.
He picked it up.
Xia Yan followed him and looked around suspiciously, not seeing any staff, but he did spot an unmanned drone with a camera.
Xia Yan opened the envelope.
Inside was printed text:
“Dear Guests, hidden on this increasingly desolate island is an unknown treasure, left by a king from hundreds of years ago. He left seven medals and an eternal candle, hidden by the sea. For centuries, brave warriors have come to search, but all have failed. We hope you can break the curse.
At the bottom of the letter was a treasure map, showing the locations of the medals. If you and your partner can bring back two or more medals within an hour, you will have completed the task.
Along the way, you and your partner can only rely on each other. The staff will not participate, and a ‘drone’ will follow you, recording your heroic deeds. There is also a bag of tools provided for your use.”
“Good luck to you.”
The content of the envelope was simple and clear.
It was obvious who the partner was; everyone in the same room formed a team, and Ling Du, who was alone, must have teamed up with Ge Qianyi.
The bag of tools was also quite simple: a shovel, a flashlight, and a walkie-talkie with a note stating that if used, it would be considered as abandoning the task.
Xia Yan examined the map carefully. He raised his eyebrows when he saw the marked treasure locations.
“These places are hard to find. It’s midnight, pitch black, and the staff isn’t following us, just a drone,” he thought for a moment, then looked up at Xu Cong. “But do you really believe they don’t have cameramen or staff following us?”
“I don’t believe it.”
Xu Cong was also studying the map. “They’ve definitely hidden away for now. What if something happens to a guest? Plus, a drone can’t replace a real follow-up.”
Xia Yan nodded in agreement.
He glanced at his watch. It was 3:15 AM. He had only slept a little over four hours.
“Help, I’m not rested at all. Now we have to do this mission in the middle of the night. I really wonder what bad karma I must have committed in my last life,” Xia Yan stretched lazily, looking pained, but didn’t waste any more time. He said to Xu Cong, “Let’s go. If we finish quickly, we might even have time to take a nap.”
As they walked, they confirmed their first target, a forest nearby.
Under the tallest tree in the forest, the map suggested a medal was buried underground.
But when Xia Yan finally located the tree, his hand went into a tree trunk that had been hollowed out by insects, and his face froze for a moment.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Cong asked.
Xia Yan pulled his hand out and showed Xu Cong.
It was empty.
“Someone took it,” Xia Yan said with a frustrated face. “Who moved so fast?”
Xu Cong hadn’t expected this either.
Neither he nor Xia Yan lacked physical strength, and the other two teams didn’t seem likely to get ahead of them.
But there was no use talking about it now.
He patted Xia Yan’s shoulder. “Don’t think about it. Let’s move to the next one.”
The next location was under a rock by the beach. Since it was night, with only the faint moonlight, Xia Yan took a while to find it.
But fortunately, this one hadn’t been taken by anyone else.
Xu Cong shone the flashlight, and Xia Yan searched under the rock for a long time before finally touching a cold corner.
“It’s the medal.”
Xia Yan carefully pulled it out.
It was a golden medal in the shape of the sun, with a blue gemstone in the center.
It was covered in sand. Xia Yan washed it with seawater, then placed it into his backpack, but he was a bit puzzled. He said to Xu Cong, “Is this mission really just about digging for treasure? There’s not much difficulty. Do you think the program team is really that kind-hearted?”
He certainly didn’t think the program team was that generous.
Xu Cong thought the same, but there was no staff to ask about it now.
“Who knows? Let’s find more first,” he said.
The third destination was a cave by the sea.
Or rather, all the remaining destinations were caves by the sea, large and small, scattered around the beach, with varying distances.
These caves looked beautiful during the day, with sunlight pouring in, and the clear blue sea outside. Xia Yan and the other guests had even checked in here before.
But at night, these eerie caves looked completely different, now resembling silent, dark abyssal mouths.
The sea had risen, and the ground was wet, but it wasn’t too cold since it was summer.
With the flashlight, Xia Yan and Xu Cong walked through the cave. The small drone flew behind them. The cave was long, the light dim, and the wet ground made walking uncomfortable.
Xia Yan searched the stone walls of the cave, checking every crack, but still didn’t find the hidden medal.
As for the other clue on the envelope—”The eternal candle,” there was no sign of it either.
“Let’s split up,” he decisively told Xu Cong. “This cave is too big. We won’t be effective crowded together. I’ll go inside, you stay outside, and we’ll search towards the middle again.”
Xu Cong didn’t want to.
Though the program team had likely explored the cave in advance to ensure it was safe, Xia Yan was in a vulnerable differentiation period, and his physical strength was weaker than usual. The cave was dark, and it wasn’t as safe as it was in daylight. What if something unexpected happened?
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he knew directly telling Xia Yan would make him upset, so he opted for a more tactful approach. “It’s too dark in the cave. It’s not safe for us to split up.”
But Xia Yan glanced at Xu Cong and immediately understood what he was thinking.
Since they were in front of the cameras, he couldn’t say much, but he pointed the flashlight at Xu Cong and arrogantly raised an eyebrow. “Stop looking at me like that. I’m not feeling the best right now, but don’t underestimate your captain. This isn’t some dragon’s den; what’s there to be afraid of? It’s decided. We’ll split up.”
As he spoke, he walked into the cave and flashed his flashlight at Xu Cong.
“Don’t follow me.”
He smiled slyly and threatened, “Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”
Xu Cong took two steps forward, but meeting Xia Yan’s narrowed, warning eyes, he stopped.
He sighed. There was no way to deal with Xia Yan. Falling for someone like him was just his bad luck.
Xia Yan moved deeper into the cave. The farther he went, the darker it became. To make searching easier, he tucked the flashlight between his chin and neck, extending his hands into the cracks in the stones.
He vaguely felt like he had touched something.
But with several attempts, the hard object kept slipping out of his hands, which frustrated him.
At this moment, he vaguely heard a sound—soft splashing water mixed with a man’s heavy, panicked cries.
Xia Yan instinctively straightened up. He thought, No way, right? He had just confidently assured Xu Cong that there was nothing dangerous. Surely he wouldn’t be proven wrong this quickly?
But soon, he understood the source of the shouting and commotion.
This cave, being so long, had more than one entrance. Xia Yan had considered the possibility of other guests finding their way here.
What he hadn’t expected was that it would be Jiang Chuxin—panicked out of his mind, his hair a complete mess, and running for his life.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!”
Jiang Chuxin was sprinting at full speed, completely ignoring his surroundings, diving into every opening he saw. Despite running for ages, he couldn’t find his way out of the cave.
From a distance, he spotted Xia Yan.
In the dim light, Xia Yan, holding a flashlight, looked as though he were bathed in a divine glow.
Jiang Chuxin didn’t care about whatever grudges they had. He flung himself at Xia Yan.
“There’s a ghost!!!”
He spat out the words with all the conviction in the world.
Xia Yan barely managed not to throw Jiang Chuxin off as he latched onto him.
But then he remembered the hidden cameras likely lurking in the darkness.
He held back.
“A ghost, my ass.”
Without any pretense of kindness, he pried Jiang Chuxin off him, shining the flashlight in his face. Annoyed, Xia Yan said, “It’s me—Xia Yan. Look properly before you speak.”
Jiang Chuxin was on the verge of collapse.
Of course, he knew it was Xia Yan in front of him.
“I wasn’t talking about you! There’s a ghost in this cave!” he said, exasperated, his voice trembling as he recalled what had just happened. His heart was still pounding. “Hu Fei and I found the candle, but when I looked up, there was something clinging to the wall, staring right at us…”
As Jiang Chuxin spoke, he couldn’t help but shudder.
It had been horrifying.
Just when he was feeling smug about finding the hidden treasure, he looked up and saw something he’d never forget. It was enough to scare the soul right out of him.
“We got separated when we ran,” he murmured.
Now, completely disregarding any grudges, he clung to Xia Yan, conveniently forgetting that Xia Yan was an omega. He refused to let go.
“Let’s just leave,” Jiang Chuxin stammered, trembling. “Forget the mission. This place is haunted. Let’s get the staff to rescue the others.”
Xia Yan nearly laughed.
At least he was considerate enough to think of saving others. Not entirely bad.
He shone the flashlight on Jiang Chuxin. “You’re afraid of ghosts?”
Jiang Chuxin froze.
Of course he was.
He was a pampered rich boy, scared of ghosts and all things creepy.
He hadn’t wanted to join this program in the first place. His uncle had practically tricked him into participating.
But standing in front of Xia Yan, he couldn’t bring himself to admit it. His lips moved, but no words came out.
Xia Yan chuckled softly and didn’t press him further.
From Jiang Chuxin’s story, Xia Yan quickly pieced together what had happened. Ghosts? Yeah, right. He was a staunch believer in science.
This was obviously the program’s doing.
The cave was clearly rigged with mechanisms, set up to spook the guests during their midnight exploration.
Shameless. These producers are the worst.
But when he thought about the candle Jiang Chuxin mentioned, his eyes narrowed slightly. Hidden treasures like these often played a big role in final scores.
His competitive streak flared.
With three teams in the competition, he and Xu Cong clearly had the best overall strength. It wouldn’t make sense not to take first place.
Determined, Xia Yan calmed himself and explained to Jiang Chuxin, “Stop scaring yourself. That wasn’t a ghost—it’s just some trick set up by the crew. If you’re too scared, stay here. I’ll go get the candle myself.”
Jiang Chuxin looked at Xia Yan like he’d gone mad.
“Are you insane?” he blurted out. “That thing definitely wasn’t some crew setup!” He gestured animatedly. “It looked like a person—someone who could climb walls…”
The more he spoke, the more his voice quivered. Under the flashlight’s beam, his face was pale and full of fear, his whole body trembling slightly.
Gone was the cocky alpha who had taunted Xia Yan in the lounge earlier. Now, he looked almost pitiable.
“…”
Xia Yan raised an eyebrow.
If he had a weakness, it was his soft spot for the vulnerable.
Jiang Chuxin, annoying and sharp-tongued as he was, looked so helpless now that Xia Yan couldn’t help but relent.
“Alright, stop being so scared. You’re an alpha, aren’t you?” Xia Yan sighed, softening his tone. “Here’s the deal: you have two choices. Either come with me to get the candle, or stay here while I give you my walkie-talkie to call the crew for help. If you’re afraid of the dark, I’ve got a spare flashlight in my bag. Consider it a good deed on my part.”
As he spoke, he rummaged through his bag, pulling out a small flashlight and the walkie-talkie. After a moment’s thought, he added his shovel to the pile.
“Here, take the shovel too. It’s for self-defense. If anything jumps out, you can whack it. Surely you’re not scared of that?” Xia Yan teased.
Jiang Chuxin was speechless.
He couldn’t understand how this omega—Xia Yan of all people—could be so fearless.
What good is a shovel against a ghost?!
But when he looked up and met Xia Yan’s gaze, he saw how serious he was. Xia Yan was already packing up, ready to move forward.
Before Jiang Chuxin could think, his hand shot out and grabbed Xia Yan.
Xia Yan looked at him, puzzled.
“…I’ll come with you.”
Jiang Chuxin mumbled softly, barely audible, like the buzzing of a mosquito.
