Maybe she really did have a secret weapon.

Maybe she was only bluffing.

After returning to camp, Yu Chaohui couldn’t wait and asked Bai Youwei what the secret weapon was.

Bai Youwei replied flatly, “You’ll find out in a few days.”

Yu Chaohui was agitated. “A few days? We barely have anyone left! How many more days do we even have?!”

Bai Youwei frowned, in no mood to deal with him. Her mind was consumed by the image of Tan Xiao being tortured, and thinking about how she’d been forced by Ye Chong to eliminate Shen Mo today made her feel utterly wretched.

In all her time playing games, had she ever felt this humiliated? Still—this kind of situation should have been foreseeable. After all, when you’re up against a psychopath, anything can happen.

Yu Chaohui said, “We only have five people left now! Aside from me and A’Long, there are only the three lowest animals—Mouse, Cat, and Fox! But over in that forest, they still have Wolf, Leopard, Lion, and Bear!”

The gap was glaring.

Lower animals in the food chain couldn’t attack higher ones. And right now, Ye Chong’s side had far more high-ranking animals than Bai Youwei’s. If this couldn’t be changed, Bai Youwei’s position was precarious.

“Let’s stick to the original plan.” Bai Youwei pressed her fingers irritably to her brow. “Stay at your assigned positions and avoid contact with higher-ranked animals. If a higher-ranked animal comes after you, use the traps to buy time. Also—Yu Chaohui and A’Long, your targets are the muscle guy and the ponytail girl. They should be your primary focus.”

Yu Chaohui frowned. “Eliminating those two is pointless. We can only win if we take down White Gloves. That’s the only way.”

Bai Youwei shot him a cold glance. “The precondition for that is Shen Mo being here. Without him, you’d be walking to your death. Or do you think you can take him down by yourself?”

Yu Chaohui gritted his teeth.

Bai Youwei looked away, not sparing him another glance. “Anyway—start by eliminating the other side’s Mouse and Cat. One step at a time.”

Everyone looked at one another, no one with any better ideas, so they dispersed according to Bai Youwei’s instructions.

Bai Youwei went alone to the hillside.

A severed hand was rolling around on the hillside, bored out of its mind, with a small flower plucked from who-knows-where pinched between its fingers. It was attempting to crush the petals and paint its nails with them.

Normally Bai Youwei would have mocked it, but she was in no mood for that now. She simply asked, “Is everything taken care of?”

The hand rolled upright in an instant and stood at attention, one finger bending slightly—its version of a nod.

Bai Youwei gazed into the distance, unlocked the dollhouse with the golden key, and said, “Go back in.”

The hand hesitated for a moment, then nimbly crawled back inside.

It was still afraid of Bai Youwei. Unless absolutely necessary, it much preferred staying with Teacher Cheng.

In the distance, between the two forests, several figures sprinted past.

Bai Youwei raised her wrist and spoke to the remaining four teammates: “They’re coming. Five people, approaching from the southeast. Destination unclear. Everyone find cover first. If you spot them, report their position to the others immediately.”

Everyone responded at once.

While she’d been speaking, Ye Chong’s team had already fully entered the southern forest.

Once inside, their movements became completely invisible. There was no telling where Ye Chong was headed or who his target was.

Bai Youwei thought it over…

Launching an attack this quickly—maybe it was because he knew he had the advantage and wanted to press it while he could?

It didn’t matter…

She scanned her surroundings and decided her best option was to find a place to hide. Without Shen Mo at her side, and without the rabbit, things were genuinely inconvenient.

She picked up her wheelchair with one hand, leapt lightly, and danced across the rocks like a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface—nimble as a small deer threading through the trees.

At that moment, urgent footsteps approached from her right front—the sound of several people.

—