While Bai Youwei’s side was analyzing Ye Chong, Ye Chong’s people were analyzing Bai Youwei.

“Those people are such idiots! Ha ha ha — they actually split up! Now that we’ve knocked one of them out, they must be in a complete panic!”

“Don’t get too pleased with yourself. Whoever Tian Li eliminated clearly wasn’t a powerful animal — the truly powerful ones haven’t made their move yet…”

“That’s a fair point, but still, they’re one person down regardless.”

“I just wish we knew what animal got eliminated. Best case scenario, it was a mouse!”

“A mouse? As if a mouse would be so easy to run into…”

“Hey, which of those people do you think is the mouse?”

The group chattered on in a jumble of voices.

Ye Chong sat to one side, both hands interlaced, index fingers gently rubbing together, as though deep in thought.

“The mouse is among those we couldn’t see,” he said.

Everyone looked toward him. “…Among those you couldn’t see?”

Ye Chong said slowly: “When we attacked, two people came over to try to rescue their teammate. Animals qualified enough to come to the rescue would be elephants, bears, or lions. The mouse is among the rest of them.”

The stocky muscular man nodded vigorously. “Exactly right! The mouse is at the absolute bottom of the food chain — it would never be foolish enough to charge out and save anyone! From here on, as long as we keep up this kind of offensive pressure, we can figure out everyone’s animal role just from watching how they react!”

“We can’t sustain it.” Ye Chong gave a faint smile. “They’ve been burned this time — they won’t split up again. But there’s no rush. Let them stew in their panic for a while. If it ends too quickly, where’s the fun?”

The group responded with a variety of expressions.

Some showed a flicker of dread in their eyes, unable to grasp his idea of fun.

Others forced stiff smiles and went along with him: “R-Right… we can’t let them off easy — we have to show them what we’re made of.”

“That’s for sure. Who does some little girl think she is, daring to go up against us? She’s embarrassing herself…”

The group offered hollow flattery.

Ye Chong looked toward the tall, slender young man in the baseball cap beside him and gave instructions: “Tian Li — when we go to collect food at noon, you go alone. And take the opportunity to probe them — see if they’ll attack you.”

“Oh… m-me again?” Tian Li, as this young man was called, shifted uncomfortably and bowed his head. “What if I get eliminated…”

“It’s fine.” Ye Chong patted Tian Li’s shoulder with an easy smile. “Even if you get eliminated, you’ll be contributing to everyone else’s victory.”

Tian Li’s expression looked awful. He turned and looked toward his other teammates.

Everyone kept their heads down. No one said a word.

Tian Li laughed awkwardly. “Well… it’s not that I’m unwilling, but this kind of probing — won’t it be too obvious? What if they don’t take the bait?”

“I see… you make a valid point.” Ye Chong thought it over seriously, then turned to look at another person among the group. “Then let the wolf go. Little Qi — can you handle it?”

Little Qi was a small-framed young man. The moment he heard those words, his face froze solid.

Hu Dashan quickly spoke up: “Little Qi is slow on his feet — Tian Li is much better suited for this! Tian Li was just the one who eliminated one of their people, and if they spot Tian Li alone, the grudge from that will definitely make them chase him down for payback! That’s our opportunity!”

Ye Chong, the corners of his mouth lifting, regarded Hu Dashan with the air of someone watching an entertaining play, then turned to look at Tian Li.

“Hear that?” he said to Tian Li with a smile. “You’re still the best fit.”

Tian Li pressed his lips together and managed a strained smile. “Well… I am the fastest runner, after all…”

Ye Chong looked back at Hu Dashan and asked with a smile: “Speaking of which — that man with the black-and-white streaked hair seems to be your brother?”

Hu Dashan’s eyes flickered. He stammered: “Oh… I suppose, though we’re not that close really, not that close…”

Ye Chong watched him, smiling.

……

—