Chapter 22: Running Man Release Date Announced

……

……

“I got it!”

With her tall stature and excellent physical stamina, Zhang Lanxin secured the victory.

After the five girls climbed ashore, every one of them had faces flushed like peach blossoms and eyes shimmering like autumn waters.

Gu Qing, who had been pulled ashore, stood in stark contrast to them.

His tight-fitting short sleeve had been pulled so loose that it was barely different from the "clothing burst" incident from the previous episode.

“Does it have to be this ruthless?”

“Hahaha, a genius! Yilin is truly a genius.”

“We should invite her to the show more often in the future.”

Behind the camera, Lu Hao was slapping his thighs in delight.

This was exactly the kind of scene he wanted to see.

The only problem was that the level of exposure was a bit high.

In front of the lens, they had clearly captured several girls' hands being "unclean," taking quite a few liberties with the boys' "little brothers."

He estimated that they would need to edit and blur the footage during post-production before it could be aired.

Lu Hao raised his megaphone, announcing the end of the pool battle.

“Director, is that it?”

“Can we have another round?”

Xie Yilin complained dejectedly; she hadn't had enough fun yet.

Although the girls beside her didn't speak, they also looked unsatisfied.

Who would have thought that although Gu Qing's younger brother looked slender and delicate, his physique was actually quite well-endowed?

Abs, lines, firmness...

He had everything he was supposed to have... so much power~

“You'll have to ask Little Gu about that.”

Lu Hao picked up the megaphone with a smile, playing the part of the meddler who loves a good spectacle.

“Next segment! Next segment!!”

Gu Qing shook his head like a rattle.

“Look at how you're scaring the kid.”

The crowd burst into laughter again.

Lu Hao blew his whistle, declaring the game over.

The third-place team, Team Zhulan, opened their clue hint first

“Currently, exchanging the True Love Water is in your favor.”

“Pink is not it!”

Wang Zhulan and Zhang Lanxin exchanged astonished looks.

Based on this deduction,

Team Li Chen had the highest probability of obtaining the real True Love Water.

“But we are ranked third. Even if we exchange, it's useless. We might as well take a gamble!”

After a moment of thought, Wang Zhulan chose to exchange for the yellow bottle from the underdog Team Deng Chao.

Subsequently, Gu Qing and Yang Ying stepped forward and received their own hint

“You have not obtained any True Love Water today!”

“We haven't obtained any?”

Yang Ying's eyes widened. She leaned forward to look at the hint on the card and hurriedly approached Gu Qing. “Qingqing, the True Love Water for us and the Blue Team are both fake!”

“Since Brother Blue chose to exchange bottles, it means their True Love Water is also fake. That leaves only two possibilities...”

Gu Qing's gaze swept over the bottles of the 'Yellow' and 'Green' teams.

Although he had watched *Running Man* in his past life, it had been nearly ten years, and only a few iconic scenes remained in his memory.

He truly didn't know the answer to the game.

“How about we exchange for Brother Chao's yellow bottle?”

Yang Ying suggested. “Zhulan just chose to exchange for it, so the probability of the yellow bottle being the correct one among the remaining two must be the highest.”

“No, Sister Baby. If we exchange, Brother Chen and the others will definitely become suspicious.”

Gu Qing shook his head, whispering his thoughts.

“It can be like that?”

Yang Ying's eyes lit up at his words, and she covered her mouth with a giggle. “Qingqing, you are so smart.”

“Director, we choose to exchange with the Blue Team!”

The two spoke their answer in unison and exchanged their red bottle back.

“What's the point?”

“Won't it just end up being ours anyway?”

Li Chen and Xie Yilin stepped forward with their hands spread, looking triumphant as they opened their card

“You can designate one bottle of True Love Water to determine whether it is the real True Love Water.”

“Testing the red bottle...”

Before Li Chen could finish, Xie Yilin interrupted him in a low voice, “Why don't we test our blue bottle first? What if our bottle is the real one? Then we're doomed!”

“The red bottle is being fought over by so many teams; it's almost certainly the real one.”

“Yilin, you're the smart one after all.”

The "Big Black Bull" thought it made sense and directed the director to test the result.

Seeing Lu Hao shake his head, the two were overjoyed. “Director, we want to exchange back for the red bottle!”

“Brother Chen, what's wrong with you? Why are you targeting us all day?”

Gu Qing and Yang Ying put on a full performance, complaining incessantly from behind.

“Can't help it. Who told you guys not to be first?”

Li Chen shrugged provocatively.

As evening arrived, the recording reached its conclusion.

It was time for today's final mission: Name Tag Ripping!

The rules were slightly different from the previous episode

“You need to protect your Princess and ensure her name tag is not ripped. If the Princess's name tag is removed, both are out. If the boy's name tag is ripped but the Princess's name tag remains, the game continues!”

“Honey, let me teach you a few name-tag-ripping techniques first.”

Before the mission began, Deng Chao did some last-minute coaching, teaching Nazha how to dodge attacks.

Gu Qing and Yang Ying's group had it relatively easy, as they were both "veterans" at name-tag ripping.

The familiar men in black appeared again, scattering the five teams to different corners of the manor.

“We want revenge!”

As the mission began, Yang Ying clenched her small fists and said indignantly, “Team Li Chen is too much of a bully. We have to take them out first!”

Gu Qing naturally agreed. “But Brother Chen's team has too much combat power. We need to find Brother Chao first and join forces against them!”

Back when they were hitching a ride in the rain this morning, the two teams had already discussed their alliance strategy.

As they advanced toward their agreed-upon location, they encountered Deng Chao and Nazha's team halfway.

The four of them gathered, and while passing an attic, they successfully caught Li Chen's team crouching by a window.

“Oh no, Yilin, run! They've formed an alliance!”

Li Chen's expression changed drastically. He grabbed Xie Yilin's hand, intending to flee.

“Quick, little brother!”

“Block them!”

Deng Chao and Gu Qing accelerated into the attic, successfully cornering Li Chen and his partner at the stairs.

“Jie jie jie! Chen, aren't you supposed to be very powerful?”

Deng Chao brandished his hands with a wicked grin. “Come on, show me some struggle!”

“MOU!!!”

Li Chen's Martial Soul True Body descended, unleashing incredible combat power. Even while being besieged, he could still protect his name tag and even have enough strength to rip others.

But alas, no matter how strong the knight is, he cannot withstand a weak princess.

The "Big Baby" hid behind Gu Qing and, with a sudden move, ripped off Xie Yilin's name tag.

“Xie Yilin is out! Xie Yilin is out!”

“Li Chen is out! Li Chen is out!”

The announcements rang out continuously.

“Damn it!!”

Li Chen gripped Deng Chao's name tag in his hand and threw it forcefully to the ground, looking utterly despondent.

He was the strongest player in the game!

How could he be eliminated in the opening move?

“Little brother, take care of Honey for me!!”

As Old Deng departed, he acted as if possessed by Er Kang, reaching out his hand in a reluctant farewell to Nazha.

“Take care, Brother Chao. Unless I die, I will definitely protect Sister Nazha.”

Gu Qing bid farewell with "teary eyes."

“Little brother, you must protect your sister, okay?”

Once Deng Chao was dragged away by the men in black, there was no trace of sadness on Nazha's face. Instead, she skipped over to Gu Qing and hooked her arm through his.

Yang Ying: “???”

“Sister Baby, if you both hold onto my arm, how am I supposed to fight anyone?”

Gu Qing felt a massive headache coming on.

Only then did the two women sheepishly let go.

Afterward, they successfully encountered Wang Zhulan's team.

“Brother Zhulan, sorry about this.”

Gu Qing stepped forward to initiate the fight.

Yang Ying and Nazha were also highly coordinated, joining forces to target Zhang Lanxin.

As a Taekwondo world champion, it wasn't actually difficult for Zhang Lanxin to fight two "weaklings."

But just as she was about to exert her strength...

“Wang Zhulan is out! Wang Zhulan is out!”

Her own "Princess" had already been ruthlessly picked off by Gu Qing.

The good news was that their allied team, Team Qiang, suddenly charged out from behind a flower bed.

Wang Qiang wrapped his arms around Gu Qing's waist, his hand reaching directly for his name tag.

Gu Qing looked down; his reaction was equally fast, and his hand grabbed Wang Qiang's name tag.

*Rip! Rip!*

The two name tags fell almost simultaneously.

“Gu Qing is out! Gu Qing is out!”

“Wang Qiang is out! Wang Qiang is out!”

After the two boys were eliminated from the field, the scene immediately turned into a 2v2 battle between the girls.

Tang Yixin had the weakest combat power and was the first to be eliminated.

Nazha was also ripped by Zhang Lanxin.

In the final battle between Yang Ying and Zhang Lanxin, Yang Ying clearly couldn't hold her own.

To everyone's surprise,

Team Zhulan became the ultimate dark horse!

Deng Chao, who finished third, chose to exchange for the red True Love Water.

“Brother Chao, what's the use of taking the red one? Brother Blue's team will just exchange it back later.”

Gu Qing and Yang Ying exchanged glances, both looking dejected. “Just pick one randomly. Director, we want the yellow one.”

Finally, the Zhulan team, without dispute, chose the red bottle.

However, when they poured the water from the bottle into the contaminated large vat,

The dirty water did not change; it remained murky.

“Ah! Why is this happening?!”

Wang Zhulan and Zhang Lanxin were struck by lightning; their smiles froze on their faces.

At that moment,

Gu Qing and Yang Ying could no longer hold back their laughter, raising their hands to high-five in celebration.

“What's going on? The red bottle was fake?!”

Even Li Chen and Xie Yilin in the back were stunned.

“Of course! You fell for it.”

Yang Ying playfully stuck out her tongue, took Gu Qing's hand, and walked to the vat, pouring the yellow True Love Water into it.

In the next instant,

The murky, dirty water underwent a transformation, turning into crystal-clear, pure water.

With that, this episode's recording concluded.

The official Moon Platform also began setting the broadcast schedule for *Running Man*.

In South Korea, *Running Man* was basically one episode per week.

In China, since they had plenty of manpower, they had even specially invited a South Korean production team to assist.

With two episodes already under their belt, they could proceed directly to setting a premiere date!

After some discussion,

The broadcast time for *Running Man* was set for next Friday at 21:00!

……

……

(End of Chapter)