Chapter 282: Chapter 279: Death Cap Mushroom

After listening to Bi Fang’s explanation, even those who initially didn’t believe began to doubt, and when some netizens went online to check and came back, their doubt turned into shock.

Unbelievable!

The common cold actually has no cure!

“Treating the common cold relies on the body’s own immune mechanisms, and the main physiological effect of echinacea is to directly enhance immunity.

You may see the phrase ‘boosts the immune system’ on the descriptions of many health products, but most health foods, like ginseng, wheatgrass, and antioxidative phytochemicals, have relatively indirect effects on immunity enhancement.

They strengthen the physique first, and then the immune system naturally improves.

The mechanism of echinacea’s immunity boost is much more direct and fast-acting. Upon intake, it quickly stimulates the immune system, allowing the body to enhance its ability to fight pathogens in the shortest time, comparable to a miracle drug. Because of this, echinacea is not suitable for long-term, uninterrupted use at medium and low doses. You should take it when you need it.”

[Awesome! Has Master Fang secretly studied medicine?]

[You can’t survive the wilderness without medical knowledge!]

[You always show off like this. The second company commander is tired of holding the tray, the oranges are tired of being traded around every day, and Mr. Chen Duxiu is weary of handing out awards daily and just wants to go back to writing his articles]

[…It’s really tiring to draw the forty-meter-long sword and then sheath it again. The price of Detergent of Flower Beauty has gone up, and the trophies are all worn from being touched. Have you ever cared about these? No, you only care about yourself!]

[But is it still useful without flowers?]

“This is another feature of echinacea, it is useful for both the flowers and the roots, so it is just as useful even without blooming flowers. As long as you find the root, you’re good.

What’s crucial is that it’s a perennial herbaceous plant, which means it can live for more than two years. Its roots are always there, you can find it no matter what the season, but unfortunately, Marcus didn’t recognize it, or to be precise, he didn’t know it at all.”

There was a hint of regret in Bi Fang’s tone.

The audience could understand, even feeling a bit like hating iron for not turning into steel. If you hadn’t found it, it would have been one thing, but to have it right in front of your eyes and not recognize it!

What’s the difference between that and leaving a treasure mountain empty-handed?

They gave you a chance, and you’re still not up to it!

At this moment, countless people felt regret, but it was soon replaced by admiration for Bi Fang. Would they have recognized it if they were in his place?

Without the flowers, even a student of Chinese medicine might not be able to tell it apart from a bunch of weeds, right?

[Old Fang is awesome, knows everything, unlike me, who thinks everything looks like weeds]

[Plus one, I was driving past a farm with a friend last time and he couldn’t even tell the difference between wheat and rice, not to mention any herbs.]

[When can I be as excellent as Master Fang?]

[Stop it, I still can’t tell the difference between leeks and weeds]

[Whatever can be harvested is leek, what can’t be is weed (dog’s head for life)]

[Weeds can be harvested too (playful)]

Bi Fang remained indifferent to the audience’s praise; it was nothing new to him.

Since acquiring the orange skill Wilderness Traveler, his ability to differentiate various plants had greatly improved, and he could basically identify many common medicinal herbs, which was an extremely practical ability.

What are you most afraid of in the later stages of Wilderness Survival?

Nothing more than injury and illness, understanding how to use medicine is even more powerful than learning how to farm.

It seems he won’t make it through the day.

Marcus’s condition was worsening by the minute, and it’s likely that he would hit the rescue button this afternoon, initiating his withdrawal voluntarily, instead of being forced to quit.

Just as Bi Fang was pondering this, a slightly urgent alarm suddenly sounded.

“What’s happening?” Bi Fang immediately took off his headphones and asked the staff.

“Someone pressed the distress button.”

Bi Fang looked immediately to Marcus but noticed no abnormalities. Marcus was still propped up against a tree, looking as if he was about to fall asleep.

“Not him, someone else.”

The staff quickly switched the screen to another participant – Moyo, who was about forty years old, one of the older ones.

The participant who hit the distress button didn’t show any signs of distress, just a lost look in his eyes, slumped to the ground motionless.

“Did he give up voluntarily?”

Bi Fang narrowed his eyes. This participant, who wasn’t sick nor in danger, just gave up like that?

He had thought that Marcus would be the first to be eliminated, but it turned out there was someone who gave up even earlier than him, and in a better condition at that.

Since there were no abnormalities, Bi Fang stayed inside the cabin and didn’t join the rescue team.

After the helicopter brought the participant back, the medical team found no anomalies, aside from having not eaten for two days and low blood sugar.

The participant was currently on the helicopter munching on bread, wiping tears while murmuring, “It’s too exhausting, really too exhausting, I can’t hold on anymore…”

Jerret stood beside Bi Fang, feeling slightly contemplative, “Unexpectedly, the first one out isn’t Marcus.”

“The wilderness is always heartless, his will was a bit weak.”

Bi Fang’s thoughts wandered; the wilderness was merciless, and not everyone could withstand that pressure.

Even with the production team on standby, many dangers might not be reactable, let alone when you’ve been hungry for two days and both your body and mind are exhausted.

Moreover, the pressure is even greater when you’re alone. Barrages of comments are just that, but when it comes to taking action, the sense of loneliness that you have to rely on yourself is indelible.

Humans are social animals, always subconsciously relying on the strength of a group, and can panic when support is suddenly lost.

Being able to calm down under such circumstances is highly commendable.

Jerret patted Bi Fang on the shoulder, “Let’s go, there’s nothing else to do here.”

Bi Fang nodded, returned to his seat, put on his headset again, and looked at the other contestants. Currently, he did not need to worry about Marcus, the production team’s monitors would take care of him.

Today was the second day, and without finding food, many people would not be able to hold on, not physically, but mentally.

Fortunately, many had begun to try eating things they had never tried before, such as earthworms, moss, and lichen.

The audience was surprised to find that whatever Bi Fang had eaten before seemed quite good in comparison, rabbit meat, wolf meat, snake meat, deer meat, various fish meats—at least it was still meat.

Until the appearance of another contestant attracted the production team’s attention. In the frame, a participant was holding a mushroom with an indecisive look, seemingly struggling over whether it was edible or not.

“Wait, Bi Fang. Take a look at this.”

The director of photography immediately switched the shot to Bi Fang. Unsure whether the mushroom was edible, they asked Bi Fang to judge. At that moment, the contestant in the frame seemed to recognize the mushroom, and confidently began to bring it to his mouth…

“Stop! Quick, warn this guy to stop!”

Bi Fang suddenly bellowed, startling everyone, but the staff reacted very swiftly and immediately issued a warning to the contestant.

Bogdo’s wristband blared with a piercing and urgent shriek, causing him to flinch, and the white mushroom fell to the ground, gathering dirt upon it.

Seeing the mushroom fall to the ground, Bi Fang breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to the staff with a stern look.

“Tell him, he’s disqualified!”

Everyone was startled by Bi Fang’s stern demeanor. While they did not understand, no one questioned his decision; in everyone’s mind, Bi Fang had long since become an authority.

Only Pondy seemed thoughtful looking at the mushroom on the ground.

“Is there a problem with the mushroom?”

“Hmm, it’s a Death Cap mushroom,” Bi Fang replied, his complexion frighteningly grim.

Pondy was shocked. He had heard of the notorious Death Cap, and although he had not recognized it either, he vaguely understood the reason for Bi Fang’s anger.

What kind of reckless person would dare to sign up without any common sense?

Not recognizing it was one thing—normal even, with so many different types of mushrooms, it’s impossible to know them all—but not to even perform an edibility test?

That was a fundamental lack of basic knowledge!

[Death Cap mushroom? Damn, a poisonous mushroom?]

[Damn, is it poisonous? I actually thought it was edible, looks just like the ones we normally eat.]

Without Bi Fang’s detailed explanation, the viewer could tell this mushroom was bad news just from its name.

Would a proper mushroom have such a name?

“Death Cap contains amatoxins which inhibit RNA polymerases and interfere with various cellular functions. Poisoning often starts in the liver and kidneys, and can lead to death within 2 days; it’s a deadly poisonous mushroom.

It’s also one of the most common deadly mushrooms, and it closely resembles edible straw mushrooms and button mushrooms, making it easy to mistakenly consume and be poisoned by.”

“If I hadn’t stopped him just now, he would have swallowed it by now. Disqualifying him is not an overreaction at all! In Wilderness Survival, the last thing you want to do is to eat things randomly, especially mushrooms!

No matter how similar they look, you should always be cautious. If he had done an edibility test, I wouldn’t have disqualified him outright, but he didn’t do it! If this were real survival, he would be dead already!”

The aforementioned edibility test is a series of methods to determine if unknown plants are edible, through visual inspection, smell, skin contact, oral testing, chewing, and finally, consuming a small amount, to ultimately confirm that a plant is safe to eat.

If he had undergone a round of tests, he would have realized this thing was not fit to eat.

Viewers were seeing this severe side of Bi Fang for the first time, but they also understood his anger.

The contestant was too frivolous, even arrogant, when facing mushrooms that could easily lead to incidents.

The frame still showed the contestant arguing with the show’s staff, not believing that he was in the wrong and that his disqualification was unjust, thinking there must be some kind of conspiracy. That was until he was informed that it was a Death Cap mushroom—though he still didn’t seem altogether convinced, countering,

“Isn’t the Death Cap’s growing season during summer and autumn? We’ve only just entered spring; how could they possibly be here?”

Bi Fang massaged his forehead as if the contestant’s argument amused him. He pointed at the contestant onscreen unapologetically,

“This is a classic example of arrogance—learning things halfway, never understanding the characteristics of plants in depth.

The Death Cap mushroom may resemble straw mushrooms and button mushrooms, but the differences still exist, and those who understand can easily differentiate them.

Furthermore, mushrooms have a short growth cycle and do not have a set growing season; they can grow all year round, given the required nutrients, temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions are met. These past two days have seen warmer temperatures, fully meeting the growth environment for Death Caps.

You can tell him, if he doesn’t believe it, then just continue eating; if nothing happens, I’ll shell out a hundred thousand Ugly Gold myself!”

Well, that’s… something.

The staff on the other end of the walkie-talkie looked at each other. Of course, they wouldn’t do as such. Ignoring the contestant, they escorted him toward the helicopter. One of them even picked up the mushroom from the ground.

After all, they had to convince the contestant to give up.

The next morning, two more contestants were eliminated.