Although his heart rate dropped, Su Er clearly felt that the eyes around him were all looking at him strangely, only Ji Heng looked at him the same as before.
Su Er raised his eyebrows... Sure enough, you are the only one who understands me.
Ji Heng nodded slightly...precisely because he knows what kind of person you are, he is not surprised at all.
Understanding the underlying subtext, Su Er curled his lips and looked away.
By the time Mr. Rose asked him to remove the finger clip, his heart rate had dropped to seventy.
"The previous guest seemed unsatisfied with the person they were attracted to," said Mr. Yue, who personally helped Lu Quanqiu put on the finger clip. "I hope you are truly attracted to the woman you chose."
Lu Quanqiu shuddered as the cold air sprayed on his face, tilting his head to avoid it. The physiological resistance caused his heart rate to drop before it even rose. It wasn't until Mr. Yue took a step back that the tension in his mind eased a little.
Lu Quanqiu didn't look at Man Jiangshan first, but instead cast a strange look at Su Er...
What kind of mentality does a person have to have to have his heart rate soar to 130 when facing the host?!
Man Jiangshan coughed softly, calling Lu Qunqiu's attention. He smiled apologetically, and their eyes met mid-air. Lu Qunqiu tried to hypnotize himself to increase his heart rate, but unfortunately failed.
Man Jiangshan has delicate features, is tall, has short hair, and exudes a unique charm. Naihelu Global doesn't like this type of person, and chose her as her crush because Man Jiangshan gives people a very clean and neat feeling, making her suitable as a partner.
Gentleman Rose tutted his words twice: "This heartbeat index isn't very high."
Lu Quanqiu was a little nervous, worried the host might be hinting at something. The dungeon had many strange settings, and his slow heart rate might put him at a disadvantage. He swallowed hard and tried to make amends, "I personally believe in love growing over time."
Gentleman Rose did not expose the truth.
Only one player from each group was picked to measure his heart rate. He clapped his hands, and suddenly soft music sounded around him. Sur looked at the staff who was fiddling with the sound system in surprise. Aren't BGMs added later?
Apparently the staff had their own unique ideas and played a classic old song.
Rose Gentleman continued to fulfill his duties as a qualified host, ensuring the atmosphere remained lively. "Whether it's love at first sight or developed over time, to determine whether two people are suitable for each other, they must interact with each other. To help everyone develop a good rapport, the program team has specially arranged a small competition."
He led everyone to a lawn where three round tables were placed, each decorated with roses, hyacinths, and... thorns.
Qu Qingming waved her big wave and enthusiastically pulled her partner to the table with roses. Man Jiangshan and Lu Quanqiu looked at each other and chose the table with hyacinths.
Su Er had no choice but to stand in front of the round table covered with thorns and said to Ji Heng, "Actually, I prefer mint."
Refreshing and nice smell.
The staff changed the music to an exciting one, and then a row of beautiful women in cheongsams and high heels came over from the other end of the lawn. They smiled at them and put down the trays in their hands one by one.
However, the moment he lowered his head, the first thing that caught people's attention was not the abundant hair, but the several eyes on his forehead.
One of the beauties stared at Soul greedily: "You smell more delicious than the others."
She leaned closer as she bent, and Soul leaned back with a frown.
The beauty smiled with her eyes curved, and said in a gentle tone: "I will definitely eat you."
Su Er seemed to be really attractive to her, like a plate of delicious braised pork. For a moment, he could even hear the other party swallowing his saliva.
"Everyone, please cooperate and strive to prepare a dish within 20 minutes." Mr. Rose ignored the scene and explained the rules: "The judges will give scores. The highest scorer will receive an information card."
Qu Qingming: "Information card?"
Gentleman Rose snapped his fingers: "It contains information about the Love Killer."
The atmosphere was a little solemn.
Only Suer looked around, more concerned about where the judges were.
Gentleman Rose held up three fingers. "The judging panel will give scores based on a comprehensive consideration of the partners' creativity, chemistry, and the taste of the food."
After all the rules were introduced, the judges finally arrived.
There are four judges in total.
The one walking in front had a wide mouth, the corners of his mouth almost reaching behind his ears. He said suggestively, "I haven't eaten human flesh in a long time."
The blonde girl next to him was wearing sunglasses. Her slender fingers pushed them down slightly, revealing two bloody holes. "The smell of blood is the most fascinating."
"All you do all day is eat people," a disdainful voice followed, and the dark-skinned man in animal skins bared his sharp teeth: "I prefer to eat ghosts."
The last little girl said delicately, pointing at her finger: "I...I like it too."
It was obvious that the blonde and the loudmouthed man were very wary of these two people, and they moved their chairs aside without making a sound.
Gentleman Yue smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Everyone, please hurry up and get started. Just a reminder, if your dishes are just to the judges' taste, you'll get extra points."
The malicious intent was evident; to get high scores, one had to cater to the judges' preferences. The last two weren't even a consideration, and as for blood and human flesh... were they supposed to take it from them themselves?
Gentleman Rose seemed to understand everyone's thoughts, and his smile grew even brighter. "In the last game, a clever player cut off one of his teammate's fingers, and received a near-perfect score from one of the judges."
Suer whispered, "Are you encouraging us to kill each other?"
Ji Heng: "A common trick."
At this time, the staff brought in a large timer. Every time it moved a small grid, it would make an exaggerated "click" sound, creating the illusion that time was running out.
Lu Quanqiu was an impatient person, and he was the first to uncover the tray that the beautiful woman had brought him. With a quack, a toad jumped out, hopped twice on the lawn, and in the blink of an eye it was several meters away.
Neither of them had expected the food to be alive. Man Jiangshan glared at him angrily, displeased with his recklessness. But there was no time for argument. One of them grabbed the lid from the tray, while the other swooped down to catch the escaping toad.
Learning from their experience, the others were very cautious when opening it again.
Ji Heng took out a white lace tablecloth to make a simple net, then put a plate in it and poured the toad in, struggling hard.
Su Er was helping out when he heard a strange scream from his right. Turning his head, he saw Qu Qingming slaughtering the toad with a single blow of his knife. The blood splattered on the swan's neck, creating a cruel beauty.
As if noticing his prying gaze, Qu Qingming raised his head and smiled seductively.
Suer's first reaction was that this woman was poisonously beautiful.
Afterward, he felt a faint sense of despair. After spending so much time in the dungeon, he had seen all sorts of strange players and knew that appearances were not to be judged. He became increasingly cautious around strangers, fearing that if he continued like this, he would eventually become lonely.
Perhaps to ensure freshness and cater to the judges' palates, Qu Qingming's group opted for a clear stew. By the time the water in their pot had boiled, Man Jiangshan had successfully caught the toad. She whispered a few words to Lu Quanqiu, who, though somewhat reluctant, reached under the table and plucked a small amount of meat from his fingertips with a knife.
He thought he was doing it very secretly, but he didn't know that he had been seen.
"I guess your head was kicked by a donkey." Ji Heng said.
His expression was very calm when he was satirizing people, but the sarcasm was even stronger.
Sur also disagreed. If everyone did nothing, a delicate balance could be maintained. This group had set a bad precedent. Once the first one to cut flesh and bleed, the others would be forced to follow suit in order to obtain the information card. Such comparisons would only deplete the players' own strength and even exacerbate mutual resentment.
Qu Qingming slammed the kitchen knife on the table and said coldly, "I'm just afraid of stupid teammates."
Zhang Baitian didn't want to make the atmosphere too awkward, so he whispered a few words. If he hadn't said something to comfort her, Suer had no doubt that Qu Qingming would be sharpening his knife and attacking the other two in a few seconds.
Ji Heng: "Who's the surgeon?"
Sur glanced at the toad in the net. It had three legs and its body was covered with bumps similar to transparent fish bubbles. It looked like a mutated monster no matter how you looked at it.
"You come and kill it." He was a little resistant to this thing.
Just as Ji Heng was about to swing his knife, Su Er said, "Try not to get any of these bulging things on you."
"It's okay if it gets on you," Qu Qingming said quietly, "It contains a mild toxin. At most, it will cause a small rash."
Soul noticed that her neck was a little red.
Qu Qingming stopped paying attention to their actions and instead engaged in a discussion with Zhang Baitian, debating whether or not to cut their losses. Undoubtedly, if they also cut their losses, a vicious competition would ensue. But doing nothing would be tantamount to ceding the opportunity to the other side.
Zhang Baitian gave people a very gentle feeling and said something softly.
"Don't be fooled by illusions." Ji Heng saw Su Er's wait-and-see expression and said calmly, "If Zhang Baitian and Qu Qingming really can't do it, kill those two at the end of the game."
Soul paused, remembering that he could speak, "...the game forbids players from killing each other."
Ji Heng nodded: "Qu Qingming said the same thing, so Zhang Baitian changed his mind and prepared to snatch the dishes prepared by Man Jiangshan at the last minute."
The Rose Gentlemen hadn't explicitly forbidden fighting over each other, and Soul realized the loophole: "What about you? What are you going to do?"
Ji Heng: "Of course, they destroyed all the works of both groups."
"..." Having seen the dangers of the world, Su Er lowered his eyes: "Unless it is absolutely necessary, I want to try my best to be kind to others."
Ji Heng raised the corner of his mouth: "Oh?"
Su Er nodded. "Actually, we can think about it another way. Didn't two judges say they like eating ghosts?" He paused and said, "It seems that no one on the field is human except the players."
Ji Heng nodded.
Soul asked quietly, "Which one do you think is the weakest?"
Ji Heng glanced at the row of beauties standing there.
Su Er believed his judgment, looked up and smiled, and without any warning, he suddenly pulled over the beautiful woman who had just spoken so arrogantly to him, and used his charm value -
Before the beauty could react to what was happening, she felt the ghost energy in her body dissipate a little.
Her waist was slender and her skin was snow-white, but Suer ignored it.
A ghost is a ghost, no matter how beautiful its appearance is, it is just an illusion.
"I don't like being treated as a meal," Soul grinned, "but you said you wanted to eat me."
Realizing that the other party was devouring the ghost energy in her body, the beautiful woman made a creepy sound from her throat. Her soft body disappeared, replaced by a spotted spider with at least eight legs.
The spider was as big as an adult man. The sudden change made the people at the two tables next to it subconsciously take a step back.
Su Er didn't retreat. He trusted Ji Heng's judgment that the spider wouldn't be too strong. Besides, there was a big boss standing nearby, so his life was safe.
As he struggled to control the spider, Ji Heng swiftly swung the knife sideways. The next second, the spider opened its foul-smelling mouth and bit the knife in two. Ji Heng, expressionless, pressed hard, and the knife handle sank directly into the hard shell.
Sur looked on with great envy, it turned out that one could do whatever he wanted if one had extremely high fighting power.
Not wanting to waste too much time, he quickly took a few more sips. This time, instead of swallowing it directly, he tried to inject it into the three-legged toad's corpse. He then slapped it hard, looked around, and said to the staff, "Please provide two more knives."
The staff handed over two kitchen knives with a stiff expression.
"Thank you." Su Er was very polite.
He chopped the balls with both hands, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and asked Ji Heng: "Can you make them into meatballs?"
Ji Heng nodded and helped him add a little sugar to the meat paste to help the meatballs stick together.
Su Er was very experienced in making meatballs. Back in the welfare farm, he had made snow-white meatballs with monster meat and processed it into longevity noodles, but unfortunately he did not win the favor of the gardener.
Summarizing previous experience, he put in his utmost effort this time and showed great potential to become a great chef.
Ji Heng's technique was much gentler. He broke the dead spider's legs, folded them three times, and then formed them into the shape of a crab... and stewed them!
"It smells so good." The delicate little girl among the judges showed a greedy look.
"That's right." The dark-skinned man in animal skin also nodded.
The other two judges were different. They were the type who weren't very strong, and they loved to slaughter the weak to gain recognition. Suddenly seeing the scene of the demon being slaughtered in public, their expressions changed slightly. They looked at each other, and the doubts in their hearts were the same -
Are these two humans, ghosts, or animals?
His gaze fell like a knife. Sur glanced at the judges and continued to work. However, his ears were perked up, carefully paying attention to the movements around him. He heard the other two groups of players shift their positions and smiled. "There are a lot of spiders on the field, and they are not very strong. If you want to catch them, you should do it early."
However, when he looked up, he found that before he could finish his words, a row of elegant beauties in cheongsams had already fled like birds and beasts.
Su Er pursed his lips, began to shape the meatballs with his hands, and lowered his eyes again: "Those who want to get something for nothing and grab the ready-made dishes are also welcome."
The other two groups did have the urge to fight for it, but when they saw Ji Heng stewing the spiders with an expressionless face, and Suer calmly making meatballs with a weird smile on his face from time to time... their arrogance suddenly died down a little.
"Forget it." Zhang Baitian said softly, "Neither of them is easy to deal with. Besides, after dealing with this group, there are still two others."
Qu Qingming nodded, feeling a little hot, and rolled up his big waves. He glanced at the wound on Lu Quanqiu's hand, and the comparison made him feel better. At least they hadn't done anything that would have lost money.
Everyone was busy with their own work, the timer ticked away, and finally, it started to buzz and vibrate.
"Time's up."
I don't know if it was Sur's illusion, but the smile on Mr. Rose's face became much colder.
Suer was the first to submit his work, meticulously arranging the meatballs into a heart-shaped lace. Unfortunately, the spider was so large that, despite being smashed and folded in half several times, it still looked ferocious on the plate. Suer suspected it was only steamed to medium-rare.
Ji Heng said unconvincingly: "It tastes better this way."
Their conversation was interrupted, and Yueji's gentleman smile completely disappeared. "It seems that everyone is cooperating well. Now, please introduce your works to the judges in an objective manner."
Qu Qingming and his team were seated closer to the judges, so he was the first to speak. "Toad soup uses meat from toad thighs, simmered over a slow fire, guaranteed to melt in your mouth."
She didn't have high hopes for this competition, so she said a few brief words and then kept silent.
It was Suer and Ji Heng's turn. Ji Heng nodded, indicating that it was his turn to speak.
A high school student who spent his days studying the fifth grade, and was very good at reading comprehension, Su Er carefully considered the host's words and quickly grasped the key word: objective.
Being objective means stating the advantages truthfully and finding out the shortcomings, so that the evaluation can appear credible.
After choosing his words, Soul pushed the plate forward for better presentation. "Braised spider with toad meatballs. We guarantee the freshest ingredients. The spider is delicious, and the meatballs are chewy. The only downside is that it's quite labor-intensive."
As he said this, he glanced at the shivering beauty in the distance.
The bloody reality has proven that every time a dish like this is completed, there will be one less spider spirit in the copy.