Chapter 126

Llan didn't notice anything, focused on tying the rope down. Odalys approached, rubbing her hands and stamping her feet excitedly. "This is my first time in a stream like this! I'm sure I can catch a lot."

"Me too," Selah said.

As they spoke, they pulled the rope and moved down the stream. The location wasn't very high, but it was covered in weeds and moss, making it slippery. Fortunately, they'd done wire work during filming, so Freya slid down smoothly.

"The stream is a little cold, but comfortable," Freya said, her eyes lighting up. She took off her slippers, placing them neatly beside the stream.

She vaguely felt small fish nibbling on her leg. When she noticed them, they dispersed, causing Freya to ignore the cold and pounce on them.

"How dare you bite me? I'll catch you all today!" Freya declared, immediately wanting to compete with the fish.

Seeing this, Selah quickly chased after her.

When Stellan started to go down, Odalys stopped him. He looked at her in confusion, and she whispered something to him. His body froze. Then, Odalys pulled the rope and slid down.

"Pass me the bucket," Odalys said.

Stellan, pulling the rope with one hand, handed her the bucket and then slid down himself. Not far away, the cameraman followed closely, watching the figures running in the stream, water splashing everywhere, their joyful voices echoing.

"I caught it! I caught a fish!" Freya exclaimed in disbelief, raising her small hand high, her face flushed with excitement. She held a tiny fish, about to crush it in her grip.

"Freya, you're strangling the fish," Selah gently reminded her.

Freya was stunned. She saw she'd crushed the fish's stomach, its intestines spilling out. She was about to throw it away when Stellan caught it with the bucket. "We can still eat it after washing it."

Nearby, Odalys held something woven from grass and walked along the stream's edge, stopping after a while. She watched prawns slowly float to the surface, swimming toward her woven plate, but Odalys remained still.

"That's a lot! What did she use to attract them?" Selah asked, stunned. She moved, feeling something against her toes. Lowering her head in shock, she raised her leg to find a fish between her toes.

"Don't move!" Stellan and Freya rushed over, afraid she would drop the fish. They grabbed her foot, pressing her toes tightly. Selah's face paled; flustered, she held Stellan's shoulder and swallowed hard.

"Squeeze it," Stellan instructed.

Freya held her breath, holding the bucket as they carefully placed Selah's foot inside. Selah's toes relaxed, and the fish fell in.

"This works?" They were stunned, excited as children.

They turned to see Odalys holding a pile of prawns. "We can eat prawns tonight!" Freya exclaimed.

Odalys chuckled softly and flicked Freya's forehead.

"At the bottom of the stream, there are some white shells that might be used to make soup," Odalys said, retrieving a few tiny shells.

"Let me see!" Selah and Freya immediately joined her.

[Online comments follow, expressing amazement and speculating about the characters' relationships and the actions of Caspian and the Bennett family.]

While they were discussing, Selah pulled on the rope to climb up, only to find it loose. She accidentally fell toward the stream, but Odalys reacted quickly, catching her. Selah pulled hard, realizing the rope had fallen. She examined the end: "Odalys, the rope seems to have broken."

"Broken? That's impossible! It was fine when we came down," Freya quickly denied, but upon closer inspection, saw it had been cut.

Her heart turned cold. "It was cut! Who was so disgusting to cut our rope? Fortunately, this place isn't high. If it was a cliff…" Freya trailed off, horrified. She swung the rope and turned to the photographer. "Sir, did you see who did it?"

The photographer shook his head. "No, I just followed you down."

"You have an invisible camera, right?" Odalys said sharply.

The photographer visibly sweated, clearly unprepared for her awareness of the hidden camera. He was speechless.

"Someone deliberately cut the rope," Odalys stated. "If we put it nicely, it's called being naughty. To put it bluntly, someone wanted to kill us. If the rain gets heavier, the water will be faster, and we might not be able to climb up in time."

The cameraman's expression changed drastically. "Yes," he whispered.

Odalys nodded, turning to Stellan. Stellan's eyes were gloomy. He hadn't expected someone to tamper with the rope. Odalys seemed to have anticipated this.

"I'll go first," Odalys whispered, putting on her slippers and agilely climbing back to shore. She tied a new rope to a tree. The others climbed up. After securing the rope, Stellan carried the fish and prawns, while Odalys, Freya, and Selah found mushrooms and pumpkins. "There are pumpkins!" Odalys exclaimed excitedly.

(End of Chapter 126)