Chapter 5: Desert Survival: A Live Challenge

If we’re talking about where people outnumber all others, a live stream with hundreds of thousands of viewers surely takes the crown!

As the doubts in the chat room grew louder, Xu Hao’s hidden background was quickly exposed!

“I just checked—this Xu Hao has zero experience in wilderness survival.”

“What? No wilderness survival experience? Then what exactly does he do?”

“He’s nothing more than a mediocre director!”

“Director? So this guy’s a director, huh? That explains his choice of tools. Did he think a survival challenge was just a TV shoot?”

“I just can’t understand why Tianchen Culture picked him.”

“Probably to boost their movie promotions.”

“Promotions? This guy is nothing but a leech riding on others’ coattails. A third-rate director from a minor school who hasn’t produced a single work.”

“No works? Then why pick him if he has nothing to show?”

“It just doesn’t add up!”

“Simple: just @ the officials and you’ll get your answer!”

“Yeah, let’s @ them all. They’ll definitely respond sooner or later.”

Within minutes, the live chat was flooded with @official comments, as if ready to blow the roof off.

Tianchen Culture, 26th Floor Conference Room

Xu Chen and other top executives were watching the live broadcast on a big screen, every comment from the viewers clearly visible.

“Boss Xu, what do we do now?”

After a long pause, a middle-aged, balding man in a suit looked at Xu Chen, clearly at a loss.

His name is Wang Wu, the Marketing Director of Tianchen Culture. It was he who confirmed Xu Hao’s spot in the competition.

Originally, the plan was to have Xu Hao flatter the Xu Family in his project, but now it seems the joke’s on him.

“Issue an announcement, saying Xu Hao earned his place through hard work, with a unique style of wilderness survival. Let everyone watch closely!”

After tapping his desk and pausing to think, Xu Chen turned to Wang Wu.

“This amateur Xu Hao has no real experience. I’m worried he won’t last till day two. What if—”

Wang Wu hesitated for a moment.

Even the company’s top brass know Xu Hao’s true capabilities. If we don’t give him a helping hand, surviving one night in the desert would be a feat.

“Don’t worry! Once the challenge starts, all the viewers’ attention will shift to Lord Bei, Lord De, Matt, and the other top contenders. No one will keep an eye on Old Six.”

If Old Six can’t last, we’ll send someone to pick him up at the rescue center and claim that he suddenly fell ill, forcing him to drop out of the contest!

Waving his hand, Xu Chen signaled to Wang Wu not to worry.

The viewers in the live stream aren’t as loyal as celebrity fans; a bit of shouting now and then, and soon they’ll forget all about it.

“Alright, I’ll go post the announcement now!”

Wang Wu agreed immediately, realizing it was the best course of action.

“Okay!”

Yet it seemed Xu Chen and Wang Wu had underestimated the viewers’ passion for this wilderness survival challenge.

Just minutes after the announcement went live, discussion about Xu Hao only grew more biting in the chat.

“Earned his place through hard work? What a load of nonsense!”

“Exactly! Don’t treat the live viewers like idiots!”

“How can you care about him? I want to see this guy struggle in the wild!”

“I want to watch too!”

“When the time comes, he’ll really get a taste of the officials’ wrath!”

“It’s simple. Aside from the official account, every contestant on the KuaiDou platform has their own live stream. Whether they broadcast or not is up to them—there’s no mandatory requirement from the officials.”

“But contenders like Lord Bei, Lord De, and Matt certainly won’t live broadcast,”

they’ll save their energy at all costs to last until the end.

“They might not broadcast, but Xu Hao certainly will. Just wait and see.”

“I agree!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Hit that follow button now!”

“Alright!”

“By the way, which Oasis did he draw?”

“I think it was Oasis No. 7!”

“No. 7? Got it!”

Time flew, and before they knew it, evening had arrived.

Su Province, Wei City, Mingsha County, Hongsha Gang Village

Thump, thump, thump! As a helicopter descended slowly, the dust stirred up by its rotors instantly blinded the hundreds of staff on site as well as several hundred local onlookers.

Clang!

Minutes later, the helicopter’s door opened slowly.

Ten wilderness survival challengers, equipped with their gear, disembarked one by one in the designated order.

Xu Hao drew Oasis No. 7, placing him in the seventh position.

“Oh my god, this is the outskirts of the Tengli Desert?”

Standing still and surveying the area, Xu Hao, who had been relatively calm, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Not far from the assembly point lay a village. The houses, built from adobe, looked primitive and eroded by relentless sandstorms. Many of the walls and roofs had accumulations of shifting sand, and the abandoned homes at the edge were mostly buried.

Only a few poplar and desert willow trees at the village entrance clung to the last bit of green—a final symbol of Hongsha Gang Village’s dignity.

Glancing at the onlooking locals, their dark, weathered faces and dusty clothing spoke of a life of hardship under the beating sun. Their occasional genuine smiles confirmed they were real people, not lifeless statues in a city plaza.

“I never imagined a place like this still exists in reality. I always thought it was something from the 70s or 80s!”

Snap out of it—Xu Hao’s companion ahead instinctively turned his head and muttered.

This man is Zhu Qiang.

He’s from the Long Kingdom. Whether it was the varied dialects among the challengers or the nature of this wilderness survival contest compared to previous team challenges, the ten participants barely exchanged words.

Only Zhu Qiang had spoken a few words with Xu Hao.

“Reality is still harsh—it’s just that the media isn’t paying attention. If possible, I truly hope their living conditions can be completely transformed someday!”

Xu Hao took a deep breath, feeling oddly oppressed.

In this moment, he thought of his rural home on Earth. As a kid from the countryside, he understood the genuine yearnings lurking beneath the youthful excitement of onlookers.

He also recalled an award-winning Western rural film that was mysteriously taken down—a film whose scenes weren’t much different from these barren surroundings. In fact, Hongsha Gang Village was even more impoverished than those movie sets.

“Maybe you’re right, but changing this environment is nearly impossible. The local authorities have poured in resources to combat the sand, but for us… lasting a month is a tall order.”

Zhu Qiang couldn’t help but scrutinize Xu Hao intently.

Hours earlier, when he saw the survival tools Xu Hao chose, both he and the live audience assumed Xu Hao was just an inside pawn seeking free publicity.

Yet Zhu Qiang’s words made him suspect that Xu Hao was not as simple as everyone thought.