When he said the last sentence, the staff turned off the speakers around the lawn, leaving only Sur's loud and clear voice echoing between heaven and earth.
When he stopped, no one around responded and the atmosphere fell into silence.
A few minutes seemed like an eternity before Mr. Rose finally took his eyes off the spider and commented, "This is a truly creative dish."
Lu Quanqiu, who was implicated and needed to be introduced last, could clearly sense the low pressure emanating from the host and spoke cautiously, "Braised toad meat contains a small amount of human flesh and blood."
The staff brought the food trays to the judges' table. This task was originally handled by the previous row of beauties, but because of Suer, the staff had to take over temporarily.
The dark-skinned man in animal skins was completely unconcerned. He discarded his chopsticks and directly dug out the spider's innards with his hands, stuffing them into his mouth. "Not bad."
The delicate girl next to her stuttered a little: "Here, leave some for me."
The blonde and the loudmouthed man were a little timid in front of them. They waited until the main portion was finished before they started to eat.
Judging from the color alone, Lu Quanqiu and Man Jiangshan were the best. However, ghosts have different tastes than humans, so the judges were most satisfied with the braised spider and toad meatballs. Su Er and Ji Heng took first place with a score of 36 out of 40.
The staff were not real people and were very efficient. As soon as the results were announced, they easily carried the tables away. When they came back, they played the music used for the award ceremony at the host's instruction.
The Rose Gentleman maintained his professional fake smile and handed Soul an envelope with a rose painted on it. "As I said before, it contains information about the Love Killer. As for whether you want to share it with others..."
Mr. Rose deliberately lengthened his tone: "The decision is in your hands."
The eyes of the other two groups of members fell on the envelope at the same time, making the thin piece of paper seem to have weight.
Ji Heng folded the envelope in half and put it in his pocket to block any prying eyes and declared his attitude with his actions.
The benefits of teaming up were fully realized at this moment. As long as the teammates were strong enough, others would have to think twice before making any bad moves. A line of poetry suddenly popped into Su Er's mind: "Steal a half day of leisure in this busy life."
Maybe once in a while he should enjoy a win without doing anything.
"After this brief period of collaboration, I believe we've already established a preliminary understanding," said Mr. Rose, his temper quickly subsiding. His words lacked any hint of apprehension. "There will be even more interesting projects later."
The filming came to an intermission, and Sur had every reason to suspect that this was a temporary break... because the host put down the microphone and rolled up his sleeves to catch the escaped spider spirit.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but worry, wondering what kind of host would be assigned to him in the next copy.
"You're just worrying about nothing..."
Su Er looked up at the sky and muttered, "Now the focus should be on how to survive this game." He glanced at Ji Heng and asked, "Do you want to open the envelope?"
Ji Heng nodded.
Su Er unbuttoned the buttons and spread his clothes like a roc spreading its wings: "I'll cover it for you."
"…"
Su Er's thinking was simple and intuitive. Without knowing for sure who the love killer was, he naturally couldn't leak the information. Ji Heng had the same idea, but he hadn't expected the other party to be so obvious.
"What's wrong?" Suer asked when he saw that he hadn't opened the package.
"Nothing." Ji Heng: "You are very thoughtful."
It was clearly opening the 'trophies', but the process was completely like stealing. Qu Qingming, who had originally wanted to use her beauty to see if she could get some, gave up completely. Every action of Sul conveyed the same message: Don't get close to me.
A small card in the envelope was pulled out, with two words printed on it: Ugly.
Expecting that he wouldn't be able to provide much useful information at first, Soul controlled his expression and didn't let it change.
Ji Heng put the things away.
Suer: "Not destroyed?"
Ji Heng: "Keep it for now, we can exchange information later."
After saying that, he took out a large green vegetable leaf from his pocket. When he opened it, he found two spider legs wrapped inside. Sur's eyes widened, and he almost asked directly what the thing was for?
Ji Heng: "Give it to your cameraman."
Soul: "To please the cameraman?"
Ji Heng spoke vaguely: "I guess so."
Soul hesitated and wondered, "Will it seem a little... contrived?"
Ji Heng smiled: "It's good for you."
Sur had a feeling that smile concealed some crucial information, but unfortunately he couldn't parse it. The spider's leg shell was very hard, and even after stewing it, it didn't soften much. He handled the leaves carefully, fearing they would rot.
The cameraman was wiping the lens when he saw someone approaching. His stern face showed no sign of changing.
Sur handed over the vegetable-wrapped spider legs.
The cameraman opened it and took a look. His gaze lingered on the spider's legs for a few seconds. He said nothing and then put it aside and continued with the task at hand.
Seeing that the items were not returned, Su Er left empty-handed. He walked back to Ji Heng and sat down cross-legged.
Ji Heng: "What was his reaction when he received it?"
Sur even described the details clearly, and at the end he mentioned that the cameraman took a few more glances at the spider's legs.
Ji Heng nodded slightly: "The cameraman is better at capturing details than the average person."
Sur wanted to ask more questions, but he saw that Mr. Rose had already returned from the woods, holding a bucket with several spiders scrambling to get out of it.
"This one is much smaller than the one we cooked." He shook his head.
Ji Heng: "Maybe that's just the leader of these spider spirits."
The leaders have been eaten, so it is normal for the rest to want to escape.
The return of Rose Gentleman meant the show would continue filming. Ji Heng stood up and said to Su Er, who was adjusting his clothes nearby, "Take your time and observe the golden-haired judge more." He then added, "Remember, try not to look at anyone else besides her, especially that fragile-looking girl."
Su Er wondered: "Is there something special about it?"
Ji Heng nodded, with a hint of sarcasm: "Yes, there is a lot of knowledge in it."
On the other side, Mr. Yue took the handkerchief handed over by the staff and wiped his hands. Su Er stopped looking at him, fearing that he would receive a death stare from the host.
"It's been a very fulfilling morning." Mr. Yue threw his handkerchief aside, and the staff quickly went about their business as if they had received a signal.
Although he had a professional smile on his face, the players felt like they were walking on thin ice, and no one dared to interrupt.
"In order to bring everyone the best blind date experience, the program team specially chose a scenic island as the recording location."
After he said that, everyone realized that they were on an island.
Right now, I'm standing on the grass, surrounded by dense forests, so I can't feel anything at all.
Rose Gentleman was very considerate. He led them through the grove. Occasionally, when they saw some brightly colored mushrooms, he would remind them not to pick them privately, as they might accidentally eat poisonous mushrooms.
As the view gradually widens, I can faintly smell the scent of the sea breeze. The scenery at the seaside is beautiful, and the most eye-catching thing is a beautiful sea view villa.
"Now let me formally introduce the four judges. Their true identities are actually relationship counselors."
The four judges just now laughed at the same time, among which the big-mouthed man laughed the most terrifyingly. The blonde took off her sunglasses, revealing two bloody holes, and blew him a passionate kiss.
Most people subconsciously avoided looking, but Su Er followed Ji Heng's instructions and did not look away.
Even though he had no eyeballs, the blonde seemed to be able to see him, and was stunned for a moment when he noticed that Soul didn't avoid his gaze.
Gentleman Yue Ji ignored their strange interaction and continued, "The relationship counselor will give you some advice in due course."
The camera then focused on the ocean view villa at the back: "Next is room selection time. The chosen guest will first choose the room they most want to stay in, and the other party will compete to win the qualification for them."
The staff brought in a few chaise lounges from somewhere. Qu Qingming was the first to react, twisting his hips as he walked over and leaned on one to rest. Man Jiangshan and Lu Quanqiu exchanged a few words before choosing a chaise lounge.
Ji Heng turned around and prepared to rest. Suer's mouth twitched slightly, and he stood there waiting for Gentleman Yueji to read out the rules of the game.
The captured spider turned into a beautiful woman and resumed her business. She sent photos of several rooms with different decoration styles.
Ji Heng took out one of the cards and put it down casually, as if he had chosen it perfunctorily.
Qu Qingming consulted his choices and picked one with a simpler decoration style. However, Man Jiangshan, contrary to his usual preference, had a special liking for gorgeous houses.
Judging from the choice of photos alone, there is no competition between the three.
Gentleman Rose first exaggeratedly praised their vision, but soon lowered his tone: "It's a pity that only one of you can stay in the room you like."
He didn't say where the remaining two would stay, but instead looked at Soul and the others: "I hope you will all do your best to ensure that the desired guest can get a good room!"
Soul would steal a glance at the blonde from time to time, but he really couldn't see anything worth exploring about her.
The blonde was obviously the weakest among the four judges. The loudmouthed man didn't speak to her politely at all. On the contrary, he didn't even dare to breathe too loudly in front of the delicate girl.
Ji Heng would not do anything without a purpose. Su Er thought that he was not observing carefully enough, so he kept keeping an eye on him out of the corner of his eye.
Rose Gentleman was still introducing the game seriously: "This game is very simple, it's called 'Touch Me'."
Lu Quanqiu repeated doubtfully, "Moving... me?"
Rose Gentleman: "As the name suggests, do something you think is the most romantic and let four relationship experts rate it."
Qu Qingming never forgets to exude her charm. She curled a strand of hair from her temples with her fingers, covered her mouth and smiled, "I've seen a lot of men's tricks, not to mention these emotional experts..."
Looking at Mr. Rose, his eyes flickered: "Shouldn't we give them some time to come up with some different methods?"
Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, this is indirectly buying time for the players who want to participate in the evaluation and invisibly winning their favor.
Rose gentleman was particularly generous: "The production team will give us fifteen minutes."
Zhang Baitian suddenly asked, "Can I communicate with the guest of my choice?"
Gentleman Rose nodded: "It's only natural to understand the preferences of the guests you admire."
After getting a positive answer, Zhang Baitian walked up to Qu Qingming and whispered in her ear without any hesitation.
Suer did not act arbitrarily, but also walked over to communicate with Ji Heng.
"How about I sing you a song?"
Ji Heng shook his head and motioned for him to come closer.
As the whispers continued, Su Er's eyes became more and more suspicious, and he looked at him deeply.
Ji Heng: "Go ahead and do it. I'll explain it if there's enough time."
Soul then walked up to the sound engineer and stopped.
The players were communicating in a very low voice. It was mainly the cameraman who was working and there was no need to record the sound for the time being, so the sound engineer had a short break.
Soul: "I'd like to read a poem later."
The sound engineer frowned... What does it have to do with him?
Su Er lowered his head shyly. "I've never done this before, and I'm a little nervous. Could you please be my practice subject first?"
The sound engineer sat aside indifferently.
Su Er cleared his throat and spoke very gently: "That day I saw you in the crowd at a glance. You were wearing a very ordinary leather jacket..."
The sound engineer glanced down subconsciously... coincidence? He was wearing a leather jacket.
"I really, really want to find an excuse to ask you out."
After reciting the last line of the poem, Suer looked at him with eyes that seemed to want to say something but stopped, then turned and ran away.
"…"
When the sound engineer turned around, Su Erren was already standing next to Ji Heng. From a distance, he could see that the two of them were deliberately avoiding physical contact. Recalling the heart rate measurement, Su Er didn't have much emotional fluctuation towards the guest he was attracted to. Instead, when facing the host...
Wait, I was standing behind the host at that time. Could it be that Suer was not looking at Rose Gentleman, but him?
Not far away, Su Er estimated that there were only five minutes left and looked at Ji Heng.
Ji Heng said bluntly: "The rule of the copy is to dig out the heart of the love killer and place it on the altar."
Soul reacted: "The game prohibits players from killing each other."
So far, he has only come across a relatively exceptional copy, which is the welfare field. However, even in the welfare field, if a player wants to kill someone, he must make a deal with Gou Baopu to obtain the right of exemption.
Now according to the requirements for passing the level, don't they have to kill a player?
Ji Heng: "There are many possibilities. Maybe there's something fishy going on among us. Maybe we're trying to exploit loopholes in the rules to achieve our goals..."
If you want to kill someone in the game, there are many ways to do it without holding a knife yourself.
"But one thing is certain, the love killer will not sit there and wait to die."
Sur's eyes flickered: "He also has a way to kill players?"
Ji Heng glanced at the four judges and said, "There wouldn't be so many ghosts appearing in a dungeon for no reason." He paused and said, "If someone dies, who do you think is the most suspicious?"
Seeing his own reflection through his deep pupils, Soul said: "...Me?"
Ji Heng: "Compared to other boy/girl groups, we seem a little weird."
Suer admitted that it was true, and the way he came in was different from others. He used a card provided by the game.
Ji Heng smiled and said, "The host also emphasized that the love killer had been hurt in love."
Su Er was stunned for a moment, helplessly holding his forehead, and recalled the history of ghost marriage.
Combining several pieces of information, he is quite suspicious.
Ji Heng: "If we choose the love killer by voting, it will be disadvantageous to you. So we have to pick all the candidates from the beginning."
If you want to completely eliminate suspicion, you have to produce solid evidence.
Soul reacted to something: "You asked me to bring food to the photographer, look at the blonde more, and read love poems in front of the sound engineer. Was it to win their favor?"
"Not only that," Ji Heng shook his head: "The message engraved on the spider's legs is about a date..."
Soul draws an analogy, that is, looking at the blonde is to successfully attract her attention, and the same is true for the sound engineer.
Ji Heng bent down and picked up a branch: "I have already made an appointment for you. From midnight to two o'clock tonight, go out with the cameraman to watch the stars..."
As he spoke, he stuffed two props into his hand to save his life.
"Remember to send a message to the blonde girl while we're playing games later, and ask her to meet you at the beach at 2:05..."
Soul: "...and stay together until 4:05?"
Ji Heng nodded: "As for the recording engineer, the appointment is at 4:10."
By six o'clock, it was already daybreak.
Su Er frowned: "What if it doesn't take long enough?"
Ji Heng glanced at Mr. Yueji and said, "Consider him as a substitute." After a moment's hesitation, he said, "The host is more dangerous. I'll be watching from the dark just in case."
However, there were some things that neither of them said.
As early as in the novice field, Su Er had the experience of spending a night with the Rose Gentleman. It was obvious that he had some support, but Ji Heng just didn't explore it.
Thinking about everything, Soul pursed his lips and said, "If someone dies, I will have a perfect alibi."
But this is just speculation, and it is not certain whether everyone will survive tonight.
Seeing his thoughts, Ji Heng said, "Then let's make an appointment for the second night."
It doesn't seem dangerous during the day. Night is the best time to kill people. It is almost impossible to go through several consecutive nights without any accidents in the dungeon.