He lost the battle but not the battle. Even when he was hit head-on, Su Er kept smiling rationally.
Everyone put down their wine glasses one after another. The food on the table was mostly seafood, half raw and half cooked. The staff started to eat first.
The exception was a row of water ghosts; they didn't move at all, sitting there quietly like puppets, their red eyes staring straight at Sur.
"What a delightful evening." Mr. Yueji's glass was empty. He stood at the main seat, gazing at all the players with a smile. "The only downside is that two days have passed, and not a single guest has discovered the altar's whereabouts."
Man Jiangshan and Lu Quanqiu's eyes flickered for a moment, then they tried to control their expressions. They had no idea that the altar they had found that day was a fake, and like a dragon guarding a treasure, they were wary of being noticed.
"To help everyone speed up the process, we'll play some small games later." Just as Mr. Rose was about to explain the rules, he suddenly clapped his hands exaggeratedly. "Look at my memory! Tonight's rewards are quite generous, including the opportunity to exchange partners."
The atmosphere in the restaurant was silent for two seconds, and the players' eyes subconsciously focused on the judges.
No one would want to be a partner with a ghost.
Qu Qingming showed a hint of relief, and seemed to be a little impatient.
What superb acting skills!
Su Er thought to himself that it was almost impossible to find any clues from her behavior.
The cameraman stood up and picked up the camera again to prepare for filming.
When they found the right angle, Mr. Rose produced a bamboo tube in his hand and shook it twice, making a clattering sound.
He didn't say what was inside, but only asked, "Who wants to draw first?"
Suer thought about it and was the first to stand up and express his opinion.
Mr. Rose handed the bamboo tube to him with a smile.
Soul: "What you draw depends entirely on luck?"
Rose Gentleman: "Deception is not a gentleman's virtue."
The host would not lie, which Suer had already seen during the novice field. He no longer hesitated and took out a cigarette at random.
Lu Quanqiu was close enough to just make out a few words: "Truth or Dare?"
Su Er shook his head and read out the entire text on the bamboo stick: "You tell the truth, I dare you."
"You're lucky," Mr. Rose retracted the bamboo stick, "If you're lucky, you can get through it in one go."
Suer did not show any joy after hearing this. High returns and high risks, this formula basically applies to any occasion.
Mr. Rose's next words further confirmed this point: "The rules of the game are simple. After completing the corresponding adventure, you can choose any member of the staff, including me, to ask a question. The person being questioned must answer truthfully as long as they know the answer."
By this time, Soul finally understood the true meaning of the phrase "you can complete the level in one go." If he chose to ask Rose Gentleman, he would know the true altar's location. However, he would definitely die in the process of completing the adventure.
"Don't worry too much," Gentleman Yue explained coldly, "Each adventure project provided by the staff has been carefully evaluated. They have different levels of difficulty, but none of them are guaranteed to lead to death."
After thinking independently for a few seconds, Su Er paused for a moment and murmured, "The lower the difficulty level, the less valuable the intelligence obtained."
Gentleman Rose nodded.
Sur's eyes swept over the staff one by one, and he could roughly make a difficulty ranking: ordinary staff < judges < host.
"Must complete the grand adventure first?"
Gentleman Rose: "Of course."
Su Er suddenly thought of something: "Suppose the other party is unaware of the question I asked, is it equivalent to completing a great adventure for nothing?"
"right."
Although he knew it was almost impossible, Soul still asked, "Can we first..."
Mr. Rose knew what he was about to say and interrupted him directly: "The scope of their answers will not be announced."
He paused and said, "But I know everything."
In other words, as long as he dares to ask, he can answer it.
Suer glanced at Ji Heng, who shook his head, indicating that he should not choose Mr. Rose as the subject of the question.
Suer shared this sentiment. The grand adventure project the host required must be incredibly difficult. Accordingly, selecting the staff should be much easier, but judging by their daily status, they probably wouldn't have much useful information.
After careful consideration, his eyes could not help but linger on the four judges.
The seemingly weak judge raised his hand shyly: "I... I know quite a lot."
Sur did not hesitate to exclude her and the dark-skinned man as options.
Rose Gentleman: "Wealth and honor are found in danger."
Su Er said in a particularly unpromising way: "I don't seek wealth and honor, I seek stability."
As soon as he finished speaking, he walked up to the blonde with a glass of wine.
Blonde: "You're going to choose me?"
Su Er nodded. "Every word I said that night at the beach was from the bottom of my heart."
After clinking glasses gently, he recited the corny love poem again.
Having an affectionate suitor standing in front of her, even if it was an illusion, was enough to make her feel happy. The blonde took off her sunglasses, revealing the two bloody holes on her face again.
"Guess why my eyes look like this?"
Soul: "Love makes people blind?"
"…"
The blonde girl tightened her fingers around the legs of her sunglasses and spoke with hatred, "I was deceived by a man who has a habit of collecting eyeballs. He drugged and gouged out my eyes."
Su Er frowned: "You want to get your eyes back?"
"It's my fault for being blind and falling in love with the wrong person," the blonde put her sunglasses back on. "I want you to find that man and kill him again."
Suer's attitude changed to a positive one: "Where does he live now? Does he need to go to sea?"
The sound of a goblet being crushed could be heard clearly. Sur noticed Mr. Yue's movements out of the corner of his eye, and he wisely shut up.
The blonde girl tilted her head. Although she had no eyes, she seemed to be staring at Soul. "That cunning bastard, he is hiding on this island."
"What happens if I can't find it?"
The blonde girl smiled cruelly. "One hour. The price of failure is your eyes."
The difficulty of this adventure was obvious. Time was only one factor, but the main reason was the blonde's insistence on 'killing him again.' There was a possibility that the unfaithful man was already dead, so Soul would have to find a ghost. Whether he could find one was another matter, but even if he did, he would still have to kill the ghost head-on.
The King Kong girl took out a pocket watch and started counting time impatiently.
Soul stood up calmly, and instead of going out, he walked towards the blonde's room.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place..." Qu Qingming rubbed the edge of the cup with his fingers: "A bold and reasonable guess."
The blonde sneered, "It's useless."
The guest room the judges stayed in was much larger than the players', and there was no mirror in it, so the blonde probably didn't need one.
Sur looked around and found only a ring under his pillow, with the word "eternity" engraved on it. He didn't dare use his eye rashly, fearing it would become inaccessible again. There were a whole house of ghosts outside, and spying on too many at once would be extremely harmful.
I tried taking two puffs and found that the negative energy was evenly distributed where the ghost lived, which showed that there was indeed no other presence in the guest room.
Before leaving, Suer took the pinky ring with him.
Seeing that he got nothing, the blonde girl was surprised. The water ghosts sitting in a row showed no sign of hiding their gloating on their faces. One of them even gestured to indicate that a quarter of an hour had passed.
Su Er walked out of the villa silently.
He came back again twenty minutes later with a rather gloomy expression.
Just when everyone thought they had failed, Soul suddenly looked at the blonde and said, "I found him."
The blonde was agitated for a moment, but quickly composed herself: "Where?"
Su Er: "I'll take you there, so everyone can feel at ease."
What if he killed the ghost and the other party denied it and said there was no evidence? Wouldn't that be a big loss?
The blonde girl and Soul left one after another, and the atmosphere at the dinner table became a little weird.
Lu Quanqiu drank the red wine in one gulp and exclaimed, "What a great skill!"
It's such a big island, but we can actually find a person so accurately.
"The calculation is also very clever." Man Jiangshan said.
It would be very difficult to deal with it alone. If I could mobilize the blonde's emotions and use her to do it, it would be much easier.
The dark-skinned man in animal skins sneered, "That woman would first threaten the heartless man to kill the guest, and then kill him, killing two birds with one stone."
Only the judges know the judges best. As soon as he finished speaking, Man Jiangshan's expression turned a little ugly... It seemed that the so-called great adventure was a complete trap. Thinking of this, he subconsciously looked at Ji Heng. They were on the same team. Could Ji Heng really just sit there and watch, waiting for bad news to come?
However, Ji Heng didn't react at all. His focus was different from that of others. There was only a fork left next to Suer's plate, and the knife used to cut the steak disappeared at some point.
Tick.
Tick.
The blonde girl did not take her pocket watch with her before she left. Every time the second hand moved one tick, the subtle sound seemed to be infinitely amplified in everyone's ears.
Gentleman Rose shook the bamboo tube and asked, "Anyone else want to draw lots?"
With the precedent of Sur, no player took the lead for a while.
Mr. Yue's gaze fixed on Ji Heng: "Is this guest worried about the person he's attracted to?"
Ji Heng nodded calmly: "A little bit."
Gentleman Rose picked up his pocket watch and said, "The scene over there must be quite spectacular." He smiled and said, "Luckily, the cameraman went with them. The camera will capture these precious images."
Ji Heng suddenly raised his head, his expression finally changing: "Why do we have to wait for the cameraman?"
There was a hint of joking and mocking in his tone, whether directed at the game or the host's recent remarks: "I can probably guess what happened."
He suddenly stood up and looked at Qu Qingming: "Would you mind cooperating?"
Qu Qingming was stunned and asked, "How can we cooperate?"
Ji Heng: "I will play Su Er, and you will play the role of the judge."
On the other side, Mr. Rose pulled up a chair and sat down, looking like he was waiting to see the show.
Seeing that the host did not stop him, Qu Qingming nodded after a slight hesitation, and walked to a slightly more spacious place with Ji Heng.
"In the silent forest, we were walking side by side..." Ji Heng quickly took on the role and began with a narrative style: "We walked for a long time, but didn't see a single ghost. At this time, you would..."
Qu Qingming reacted quickly, feigning anger: "Where is that man?"
Ji Heng asked back: "Do you love him?"
Qu Qingming shook his head subconsciously.
Ji Heng: "Do you hate him?"
Qu Qingming guessed the blonde's thoughts and nodded.
"Love and hate are the two strongest emotions," Ji Heng said before suddenly grabbing a dinner knife and pressing it against Qu Qingming's chest without any warning, with the tip of the knife about to pierce him.
Qu Qingming was startled and his breathing became tight.
Ji Heng: "In reality, the judges are not as easy to deal with as you. At this time, Su Er will probably use some props and attack them unexpectedly."
Qu Qingming opened his eyes wide.
Ji Heng imitated Su Er's tone: "I don't know where that unfaithful man is, but he must have never left your heart. When I pierce your heart, it will be equivalent to killing him again."
"..." Qu Qingming swallowed his saliva and insisted on playing the role of the blonde: "If I die, all your efforts will be in vain."
"It's okay." Ji Heng said calmly, "If you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who asked the question. Of course, if you admit that I have completed the adventure and answer a question for me, then everything will be a different matter."
Qu Qingming's lips kept trembling and he couldn't utter a single word.
The whole room was silent.
Ji Heng put down the knife, sat back down, and looked at Mr. Yue. "If everything goes as I expected, given Su Er's vindictive nature, I'll probably have to borrow your opening remarks from before the dinner when I come back... What a delightful evening."
In the silence so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, the door suddenly opened.
Bathed in moonlight, Soul walked in from the entrance, approaching the crowd with a pure and flawless smile. He paused and slightly opened his arms: "What a delightful evening!"
"…"