Chapter 64
Luo Jia Bai asked nervously, “Are they fishermen?”
“When they go out to sea, they rely on the Moon to guide their way. To find a Fish Swarm, they have to cast and pull in their nets, then put on gloves to catch the fish. So they say everything is a gift from the Moon.”
Luo Jia Bai analyzed everything he knew, but he was still uncertain. “It’s extremely dry here. I saw fruit trees and fields behind the houses, but the fruit is shriveled and the crops are thin, which means there’s a severe lack of water.
If they really are fishermen, then where is the sea?”
Lu Li poked at the food on his plate with his knife and fork, lifting up a few drops of muddy water. “The villagers believe this is water.”
“Look under your feet.”
Luo Jia Bai looked down and lifted the tablecloth, only to realize he was standing in a large pool of filthy sewage without knowing when it had appeared. “When did all this sewage get here!”
It had risen silently.
And it covered a huge area.
The sewage was murky, reaching halfway up his shoes.
Garbage and dust floated on the surface, churning, making it impossible to see what else might be coming ashore.
Suddenly, Luo Jia Bai felt something bump heavily against his shoe in the water.
He reached his hand toward the surface, then hesitated and drew it back.
He grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the table.
Luo Jia Bai used the chopsticks to fish around in the sewage.
He actually managed to scoop something up.
A Bone Fish with two or three scraps of meat still clinging to it.
Its tail was still thrashing energetically, splashing sewage onto Luo Jia Bai’s face.
“Ptooey, ptooey!” Not knowing if the sewage would cause mutations, Luo Jia Bai hurriedly tossed the Bone Fish back into the water in alarm. “There are fish in the sewage!”
He glanced at the dining table again, his expression complicated. “Could this be the Material the villagers use for their lavish feasts?”
“If we follow the villagers’ logic,” Lu Li said, “where we’re sitting now is actually the seaside.”
“This Village lives by the water. All the villagers have the same profession: fishermen.”
But the Moon brought down punishment.
So they lost their food.
When the villagers welcomed them, they said it had been a long time since they’d eaten fresh fish.
Now, this Village survives on sewage and aquatic garbage.
Lu Li was thoughtful.
Punishment…
Did the villagers commit some crime before?
What crime did they commit?
“I heard what you were saying.”
The head of the man at the table shifted his expectant gaze from Feng Shan to Lu Li.
The head rolled around and grinned:
“Congratulations, you answered correctly.”
“Our profession is fishermen.”
The head stuck out its tongue, licking the fresh fish that Lu Li had brought.
He had only a head, no hands. His tongue drooled, and the fish scales left tiny cuts all over it.
The head’s eyes were red with hunger, dripping blood.
But no matter what, he couldn’t eat the fish.
Tentacles grew from the villagers’ necks, frantically devouring sewage and garbage. When they encountered fresh fish, all they could do was lick it over and over.
They couldn’t eat it.
“You’ve received the correct dish. Hurry up and eat.”
The chef in front of them opened the right-hand dish cover, but the dish for the correct answer was even more overwhelming.
The right-hand plate was piled high with abalone and sea cucumber, both in quantity and size twice that of the left.
The chef held the plate out to them, the smell of the sea thick in the air.
Just imagining swallowing it made Luo Jia Bai’s face turn pale and then green. “It would have been better to answer incorrectly.”
He watched the female villager beside him, who was still frantically sucking in sewage, with suspicion. “Are they going to force us to eat soon?”
The man promised, “After everyone has answered the first question, if you can also answer the second question correctly, I will give you an extra special reward. Now, eat.”
Two Players in Feng Shan’s team were whispering.
“Feng Shan, haven’t you managed to get help from Lyle yet? That Silver Hair has already given the answer!”
“It wasn’t a carpenter or a fruit farmer-it turned out to be a fisherman. How did they guess that? We were together the whole time. Could they have information we don’t? I saw Mirella take the initiative to talk to him, asking his name. I think his name is… Lu Li.”
“Lu Li! That name sounds really familiar. In my last Instance’s Live Stream Room, an official notice suddenly popped up clarifying that a Player wasn’t cheating. I think the name was Lu Li!”
Feng Shan tapped hard at his Wristband screen, gritting his teeth and saying nothing.
A red “not connected” notification kept popping up on the screen.
This was the first time Lyle hadn’t answered his call.
Song Changrong consoled him, “Mr. Lyle is also in the Instance right now. Maybe he didn’t see it…”
“I know! You don’t have to say it! How could Lyle possibly ignore me? He must just be too busy.” Feng Shan interrupted loudly. He put his Wristband away, looked at the plate the chef was holding in front of Lu Li, and smiled again.
“So what if they answered first?”
“They’re just in a rush to die.”
The chef’s plate was almost pressed against Luo Jia Bai’s face.
Luo Jia Bai had nowhere left to retreat, pressed back against the chair, and asked Lu Li, “Do we really have to eat this?”
Lu Li spoke, “Thank you for preparing the food. Please put it on the table; I’ll eat it in a moment.”
The man’s head thudded on the table in anger, making a “thud, thud” sound.
“Eat it now!”
“You must eat!”
The villagers around the two stood up, and their Tentacles turned toward them.
Feng Shan sneered, “Look at the time, and they’re still so calm. Looks like there’ll be two more empty seats at the table soon.”
His Wristband vibrated. When he checked the screen, his eyes lit up. “Lyle really was busy just now-he just replied! It’s not convenient to call right now, so I’ll talk to him by text!”
A Black Bird suddenly appeared, silently flapping its wings and landing on Mirella’s shoulder.
The ribbon hanging behind Mirella’s head was almost touching the dirty water on the ground.
As if she knew exactly where everything was, she reached out, grabbed the ribbon, wound it up, and tied it into a beautiful, elegant knot. Then she rested her chin on her hand and gazed in Lu Li’s direction, softly saying:
“The wrong ones must eat; those who are right will eat even more. So, what should we do now?”
The Black Bird thought she was talking to it.
It lightly landed on the dining table, avoiding the dirty spots, stood in front of Mirella’s plate of fresh fish, nudged Mirella’s hand with its head, and tapped the fresh fish on the plate.
“I’m not talking to you. I want to see if Lu Li is clever enough.” Mirella gently patted the Black Bird’s head and smiled. “You’re so cute. Has your wound healed?”
The Black Bird saw her smile and paused, slightly at a loss. It paced back and forth a few steps, brushed its face and body with a wing, then took out its phone and pretended to check the time busily. After patting around a bit more, it returned to Mirella’s side and let out a cat’s meow.
Mirella said, “I’m glad you’ve recovered. I was worried when you left just now.”
–
Lu Li said to the head, “Don’t be so hasty.”
“I’m not eating yet because I want to give you a present.”
He brought out the plate with the fresh fish he had brought.
Luo Jia Bai followed suit.
The two fish were moved to new positions.
The villagers’ movements stopped.
The head wiped its drool on the table. “What present?”