As Hu Feifei struggled with the chicken leg in her hands, the viewers in the livestream could no longer hold back.
“Is Hu Feifei sick? She was the one who asked for the chicken leg, and now she’s acting all delicate about it?”
“I used to just think she was a bit of a white lotus, but isn’t she overdoing it a bit now?”
“You see the look on her face, like she can’t even swallow it down? I’ve had enough of this!”
“Hu Li even considered her feelings and went to get her bread, if it were me, I would have just slapped her and said eat it if you want it!”
“If you really feel guilty about it, then don’t ask for it in the first place. It’s so disgusting how you’re acting all remorseful on the outside while eating it up happily.”
“Ugh, just seeing Hu Feifei’s green tea persona makes me so angry!”
…
The livestream was in an uproar, and the guests seated around the campfire also felt somewhat awkward.
While they were outwardly comforting Hu Feifei, they were actually having a hard time understanding her.
Su Mengran was fine. After all, he had seen those strange black and red mists around Hu Feifei before, so he had always considered her a non-human existence. Now, seeing her ask for the chicken leg, he even secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
As long as she could still eat the chicken leg, she probably wouldn’t direct her twisted thoughts towards the humans for the time being.
So when he heard Hu Feifei’s artificial coyness, he really took it at face value and was earnestly expressing his sincerity.
However, Ling Mei didn’t think the same way. As a woman herself, her intuition and sixth sense were quite strong in certain aspects.
Although her outward personality was straightforward, she wasn’t without discernment.
At first, she truly treated Hu Feifei as the only sister on the team and took good care of her, tolerating her timidity and fragility. But as time passed, she gradually sensed that something was off, especially after witnessing Hu Feifei’s entire performance in the chicken leg incident. She felt slightly uncomfortable.
This pretentiousness was just too much.
And she had a hunch that the viewers in the livestream would definitely criticize Hu Feifei mercilessly after seeing this.
So, whether for her own comfort or to distance herself from this messy situation, it would be best for her to keep her distance from Hu Feifei.
However, given that they were still livestreaming, she didn’t show it on her face, but the tone of her subsequent words was noticeably less enthusiastic than before.
Jing Li didn’t pay much attention to the undercurrents here, his mind only focused on Hu Li’s situation.
He noticed the change in Hu Li’s complexion when he hurriedly got up just now.
He also detected that faint unpleasant odor. Although it was indeed somewhat hard to describe, he could still barely tolerate it. But for Hu Li, who always had a keen sense of smell, he might not be so lucky. Though not as dramatic as being trapped in the stench at the bottom of the sea, it was probably not much better.
Jing Li frowned, seeing that Hu Li had not come out for a long time. He was about to get up to check on him when Hu Li walked out of the tent. Apart from a slightly pale complexion, there was nothing unusual about him.
“I checked, and the production team has mostly provided whole-wheat bread. I just randomly grabbed a couple of bags.” Meeting Jing Li’s concerned gaze, Hu Li nodded slightly at him as he walked back to his seat, “But this can only temporarily satisfy our hunger. If we want to maintain our strength, I think we’ll have to find a way to get something else to eat.”
“But we have to continue walking tomorrow. We will definitely get farther and farther from the sea. It’s not realistic to run to catch seafood.” Ling Mei frowned, then glanced at Jing Li, joking, “It would be great if we could find a pheasant like Jing Li tomorrow.”
“I’m afraid that might be a bit difficult.” Hu Li laughed, then suggested, “But we can try setting some traps to see if we can catch rabbits or something.”
Setting traps and hunting was indeed a major highlight of the livestream program, and the others perked up at the idea, discussing and coming up with a seemingly feasible plan.
In the midst of their conversation, Su Mengran suddenly reached down, grabbed the beggar’s chicken, and forcefully tore off another leg, ripping a large chunk of skin and meat off the bird’s body.
“I see Hu Feifei has finished eating.” Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Su Mengran pressed his lips together and carefully handed the chicken leg to Hu Feifei, “You said you were quite hungry, so you can have the rest of my share as well.”
Just wait until you’ve had your fill, then don’t even think about hitting anyone.
Hu Feifei, who had just heaved a sigh of relief after finishing one chicken leg: “…”
“…Haha.” Seeing Su Mengran’s actions and Hu Feifei’s almost contorted expression, Hu Li couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, “Xiao Mengran, you’re just too adorable, hahahaha.”
Turning to Hu Feifei, he echoed, “Yes, eat up, have more, I’ll leave my share for you too.”
Ling Mei had been the first to give Hu Feifei her share, so she naturally didn’t say anything this time.
Jing Li smiled and also didn’t speak, but he directly placed the whole beggar’s chicken in front of Hu Feifei, clearly intending for her to finish the entire chicken.
Seeing his gesture, Hu Feifei almost couldn’t hold back her tears this time.
But the mess was of her own making, and with Jing Li’s hawk-like gaze on her, even though she was unwilling, she could only grit her teeth and continue eating.
And so the entire beggar’s chicken was placed before Hu Feifei, and she was forced to painstakingly finish it all in front of everyone.
Seeing this scene, the viewers who had previously been mocking Hu Feifei on the livestream immediately burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, serves you right for pretending!”
“Weren’t you so hungry? Eat, hurry up and eat, a whole chicken is given to you, is that enough?!”
“Hahaha, Jing Li actually directly placed the whole beggar’s chicken in front of Hu Feifei?!”
“Hu Feifei’s face turned green instantly!”
“Hahaha, I can’t stop laughing.”
“If the world had more straightforward men like these three guests, where would the green tea and white lotus types even survive?”
“I’ve decided, I’m staying up just to watch Hu Feifei finish the entire beggar’s chicken, I won’t sleep until the livestream ends!”
“The sister above???? The livestream is supposed to end at 9 o’clock, so how could you have already gone to sleep before 9??”
…
Unlike the lively chatter on the livestream, the other guests no longer paid attention to Hu Feifei after shoving the beggar’s chicken at her, turning instead to discuss their afternoon findings.
“We didn’t find any useful clues in the sea, so I think the treasure won’t be hidden in the water.” Jing Li briefly described the situation in the sea, then continued, “Now it seems that the ‘Heart of the Ocean’ is more likely a description of the treasure, possibly just something related to the sea.”
Glancing at the others, he asked, “Did you all find anything this afternoon?”
“Yes, we also found two clue cards, both are with Ling Mei.” Hu Li nodded, then looked at Ling Mei.
“One says ‘dazzling as flowers’, the other says ‘priceless yet worthless’.” Ling Mei took out the cards and showed the contents to Jing Li and Hu Feifei, “We think ‘priceless yet worthless’ might mean the treasure is an extremely rare and valuable item, and ‘dazzling as flowers’ could be describing its elaborate appearance or a flower-like shape.”
“It could also be saying that its color is very dazzling.” Su Mengran added.
The group studied the three cards for a while, seeming to have some clues, yet unable to derive any truly useful information.
Finally, as the team leader, Hu Li was the first to speak up.
“Well then, tomorrow, let’s do this.” Hu Li pondered for a moment, then took out the map from his pocket, ready to share his idea.
However, just then, the clock struck 9, and the live stream abruptly ended.
The viewers on the livestream waiting to hear Jing Li’s plan immediately let out cries of lament.
“Does the program team really need to be this punctual?!!”
“Ahhh, I was just getting to the important part!!”
“Program Director, can you still be considered human?!”
“Cutting off the livestream at this time, director, do you want to get a knife shoved at you?!”
“I earnestly request that the livestream time be extended by ten minutes, no, even five minutes would do! Just let me hear what Hu Li was about to say first!!”
“Stopping here! The program team is just too damn shameless!”
…
However, no matter how much they wailed, the livestream screen remained black. The production team obviously did not intend to pay attention to the cries of the viewers.
However, the guests at the scene did not immediately end the session. Under the recording mode activated by the cameraman, they continued to discuss what they had not been able to finish saying before.
“Looking at the map, it seems we are around here.” Hu Li held up the map and pointed to a spot slightly to the left in the middle, “Tomorrow, we can set up camp at the central point of the small island and then search for clues from the left and right directions.”
“But regardless of the results of tomorrow’s search, everyone should gather back at the campsite before 6 PM. What do you all think?”
This plan was indeed the most secure option at the moment.
“Sounds good to me.” Jing Li looked at the map Hu Li had unfolded, nodding first, “But for safety, I suggest we split into two groups and keep an eye on each other on the way.”
“I’m fine with that.” Ling Mei readily agreed.
“…I don’t mind either.” Hearing Jing Li say they would split up, Su Mengran instinctively glanced at him, and after seeing the other’s encouraging expression, he also nodded.
After discussing, they all turned to look at Hu Feifei.
Hu Feifei shrank back under their gazes, swallowing the last bit of chicken meat with difficulty, weakly saying, “I, I don’t have any objections. It’s just that I was a bit too exhausted today, so I might slow down the progress tomorrow, as long as you all don’t mind me.”
Everyone: “…”
Ling Mei and Su Mengran were taken aback by her “delicate” manner, while Hu Li and Jing Li were struck by the stench emanating from her mouth.
“Then you can just stay behind and guard the campsite tomorrow.” Hu Li had no desire to spend the whole day tomorrow with the foul-smelling Hu Feifei, so he immediately said, “You can help keep an eye on the luggage and such.”
He originally wanted to suggest looking around for any wild vegetables or mushrooms nearby, but remembering her permeating stench, he immediately abandoned that idea.
Hearing Hu Li’s suggestion, the others naturally had no objections either.
The remaining four then divided into two groups, with Jing Li and Hu Li taking the slightly steeper left side, while Su Mengran and Ling Mei were assigned the relatively flatter right side.
With the division of tasks complete, everyone began to wash up and prepare to sleep.
The tents had already been set up, with the two female guests sleeping in the safer interior area, while the three male guests were on the outer perimeter, keeping a certain distance from the women’s tent to avoid impropriety.
After washing up, Hu Li followed Jing Li into his tent, immediately erecting a protective barrier around the two of them.
“Is Hu Feifei a weasel spirit?” Hu Li went straight to the point.
Seeing Jing Li nod in response, his expression immediately became troubled, and he then expressed some confusion, “It’s a little strange, I haven’t detected even a trace of a weasel’s aura from Hu Feifei, not even now.”
It would have been understandable if she had hidden her cultivation before, but now that Jing Li had extracted a large portion of her demonic energy, there was no way she wouldn’t be leaking out any at all.
Even the fart she had hidden in the chicken leg had been exposed due to the drop in her demonic power, right?
“You can’t sense her aura?” Jing Li’s expression also immediately became grave upon hearing this.
Carefully recalling the previous confrontation with Hu Feifei, he couldn’t find anything unusual.
“That’s right.” Hu Li nodded, then suddenly thought of something and added, “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever detected any aura from Zhang Guolin either.”
“I had thought it was because he’s a tree demon, so he wouldn’t have much aura. But now with Hu Feifei, I suspect there might be something else they’re using to conceal their auras.”
If that was the case, it seems an even bigger behind-the-scenes mastermind was backing them.
Jing Li narrowed his eyes, also sensing the seriousness of the situation.
He was about to say something when they suddenly heard the sound of someone stealthily approaching the tent outside, prompting him to hold his tongue for now.
Hu Li also immediately turned his gaze towards the tent, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
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