Chapter 4: Such Audacity!

This action struck like a bolt from the blue!

Inside the production van, everyone—including the busy technicians—seemed to freeze, as if someone had hit the pause button. All eyes locked onto the screen. Even Captain Yan, usually famed for his composure, abruptly lifted his chin, squinting as he fixed his gaze on the figure on the monitor.

Yes, Chen Yu was on the move.

This time, there was not the slightest hesitation in his actions—each movement crisp, decisive, and with clear intent. He strode directly toward the solitary picture frame on the wall, his steps firm and unhurried, no trace of uncertainty.

Inside and outside the live broadcast, countless pairs of eyes watched him intently. In that moment, a question arose in everyone’s heart: What is he going to do?

Before anyone could guess, Chen Yu provided the answer with his deeds. Reaching out, he removed the wooden picture frame from the wall with one hand. Then, with a sudden burst of force, he smashed the frame violently onto the ground!

A sharp, jarring crash echoed through the silent room. The wooden frame shattered on impact, splintering into countless pieces of various sizes, mingled with fine sawdust, scattering in all directions.

“Outrageous!” Captain Yan slapped his thigh and sprang to his feet, veins bulging on his forehead. “This is sheer recklessness! He’s destroying evidence!”

“This behavior is illegal! He must be held legally responsible for this! And your production team isn’t off the hook!”

The director, startled by Chen Yu’s sudden action, felt his heart leap into his throat. Had the boy gone mad? Did he not realize that these items were genuine evidence sealed by the police? And he just… smashed one?

This was far more serious than the earlier incident where the “corpse” suddenly sat up. That could at worst be chalked up to unprofessional acting—a broadcast mishap. But now, on national live television, he had brazenly destroyed key evidence!

How was the investigation team supposed to explain this to their superiors?

Furious, Captain Yan ignored the director’s face, now black as the bottom of a pot, and barked furiously, “I told you from the start I was against this ridiculous program! The higher-ups insisted it was good for police-community relations, good for legal education!”

“And now? The actor you brought in has destroyed the only piece of evidence before a nationwide audience!”

“How are we supposed to solve the case now? Tell me—what do we do?!”

“Captain Yan, please, calm down!” Host Lin Bing quickly stepped forward, gently guiding the enraged Yan Zheng back into his seat.

She forced a smile, trying to smooth things over. “Captain Yan, look, we still have three other outstanding contestants who haven’t yet taken the stage. Even if there was… a small accident with the evidence, as long as the case is ultimately solved, isn’t that a good outcome for everyone?”

“Solved? How?!” Yan Zheng grew even more incensed. “The real contestants haven’t even reached the crime scene, and your extra playing the corpse has already destroyed the only clue in the sealed room! That was the only thing! Now it’s gone! Completely gone!”

“Next, your production team can expect to be investigated and dealt with severely!”

He was so angry that he turned away, facing the window, clearly unwilling to say another word to them.

Lin Bing’s smile froze on her face. She glanced awkwardly at the fuming captain, then looked toward the director for help, at a complete loss.

Yet at that moment, the director’s face showed not the slightest sign of worry. Instead, a flush of excitement crept over his cheeks. Eyes glued to the backstage data monitor, his heart pounded like a motor in his chest.

“Fifteen million! The number of online viewers has broken fifteen million!”

The instant Chen Yu smashed the frame, the number of viewers in the live broadcast skyrocketed as though shot from a cannon, soaring past the previous ten-million peak set during the “resurrection” incident to an unprecedented new high.

Beautiful! What a glorious smash!

To hell with whatever evidence that was! To hell with whether the case gets solved! As long as the ratings shoot through the roof, even if the King of Heaven himself arrives, this broadcast isn’t stopping!

Tension filled the van, but Chen Yu in the sealed room didn’t pause for a second. After shattering the frame, he immediately squatted down, swiftly sifting through the scattered fragments. He picked out two larger, more regular wooden strips, then carefully retrieved the slightly dusty photograph, folded it, and tucked it into his pocket.

Just now, as he subconsciously felt his pocket, he had unexpectedly discovered a small tuft of dried moss left inside—perhaps a forgotten snack, perhaps dropped in a panic. In an instant, a bold idea took shape in his mind.

Fire by friction!

The iron door and frame fit together perfectly, leaving no gaps. If his deduction was correct, and the door had indeed been bolted from the outside by accident, all he needed was to create a gap wide enough for one or two fingers to reach out, lift the bolt, and escape.

With no tools at hand, the only way he could think of was to burn a hole in the wooden doorframe with fire—just large enough to fit two fingers through!

Four years of rigorous police academy training had not been wasted. Wilderness survival was a required subject, and making fire by friction, while simple in movies, was in reality far more difficult than most imagined. Without flammable tinder, it was almost impossible to create a spark by friction alone.

Yet the dried moss in his pocket was a perfect, natural tinder! Using photo paper as kindling, he would ignite the frame fragments, then use the burning frame to set the doorframe alight.

Perfect!

With the plan set, he wasted no more time. Half-kneeling, he fixed one strip of wood and began spinning the other rapidly between his palms.

A minute passed. Two. Five minutes went by. Sweat beaded on his brow, and his palms burned with pain, but not a wisp of smoke appeared.

The mood in the chat began to shift.

“So, he’s really trying to make fire by friction? Is this guy a fan of Bear Grylls?”

“Come on, look—his hands are about to bleed. No way this works! I bet a pack of spicy chips he fails!”

“Ugh, I thought he had some brilliant idea, but this? Forget it, I’m out.”

In the van, Yan Zheng’s demeanor eased, a mocking smile playing on his lips as if scoffing at Chen Yu’s overconfidence. The director’s heart sank as the viewership numbers dropped once more.

But on the screen, Chen Yu seemed oblivious. His focus was absolute. Sweat dripped down his cheeks to the floor, but he remained unaware. His movements were steady, rhythmic, unhurried.

Ten more minutes passed.

Just as everyone thought this was nothing more than a farce—

A thin wisp of smoke rose from the contact point of the wood.

“Holy crap! It’s smoking! It’s really smoking!”

“My god! He actually did it?!”

The live chat exploded. The previously subdued bullet comments flooded the screen with renewed frenzy.

Yan Zheng’s mocking smile froze on his face. The director shot from his chair, eyes glued to the monitor, practically bugging out.

A gleam flashed in Chen Yu’s eyes. He quickly brought the dried moss closer, lay down to gently and skillfully blow on it.

Huff… A tiny, flickering flame sprang to life!

“It worked!” Chen Yu finally smiled.

In that moment, the live viewership figure surged past twenty million, unstoppable as a tidal wave.

“A monster! This guy is a monster!”

“Is he really an actor? He’s more badass than a real special forces soldier!”

“My mom’s asking why I’m kneeling while watching variety shows…”

In the van, Yan Zheng was rendered speechless. Watching the man on the screen—from smashing the frame to starting a fire by friction with superhuman perseverance and skill—only two words remained in his mind.

Professional. This is what it means to be professional!

But when he saw Chen Yu, expressionless, begin tearing the sole “evidence” photo into strips for kindling, he nearly lost control, wanting to send someone in immediately to restrain this lawless “actor” on the spot.

At that moment, the three real contestants in the van looked stricken. To them, Chen Yu was as terrifying as a demon. While they were still outside carefully analyzing the case, this extra—playing the corpse—was about to escape the sealed room on his own wits!

The frame and photo he was burning were, in their eyes, the key to the one-million-yuan prize! Just gone, like that?

Time ticked by, agonizingly slow, for another quarter of an hour.

Finally, the wooden doorframe caught fire completely.

At first, the flames licked shyly at the dry wood, but soon, fanned by the thin air inside the room, they spread rapidly, growing stronger, crackling and popping.

Chen Yu stood by with a calm face, letting the flames consume the frame. Only when he judged that the gap between the door and the frame was wide enough to fit his fingers did he move.

He tore off his sweat-soaked, dust-stained white shirt, twisted it into a bundle, and beat out the flames on the doorframe.

The fire, subdued by his blows, eventually died, but thick, choking smoke instantly filled the sealed chamber.

Chen Yu was soon coughing violently, eyes streaming from the acrid fumes. Yet his eyes shone with an excitement beyond words.

His plan had succeeded!