Chapter 65

“Don’t even think about bribing me!” The man’s head sneered coldly again. “No matter what kind of gift it is, you must eat it right now!”

Lu Li exchanged for a small knife and began to scale the fresh fish.

These eight fish had been brought in by the Player.

They also possessed the attributes of a Key Item.

So no matter how much the villagers drooled, even pressing their mouths to the fish, they could not eat it.

Only the Player could cut the fresh fish.

Lu Li sliced off a piece of fish as thin as a cicada’s wing and stuffed it into the head’s mouth.

“You must now-”

The head didn’t finish speaking; the freshness of the fish rendered him speechless. He chewed hard, a genuine smile spreading across his face as he teared up uncontrollably. “I finally get to eat it! It’s so delicious. How long has it been since I’ve eaten such fresh fish?”

After chewing, the head spoke again:

“You must now-”

Lu Li sliced off a second piece for him.

The head was interrupted again, but kept chewing earnestly; his angry tone gradually softened, and the repeated sentence slowed:

“You now-”

Lu Li sliced off a third piece.

After eating, the head kept smacking his lips, staring eagerly at Lu Li’s hand, longing for the fourth piece.

“You-”

Luo Jia Bai stared, dumbfounded. “Interrupting spellcasting?”

The fish slices were so thin and perfectly intact, the force controlled just right.

So far, the fish had only suffered superficial injuries.

In Lu Li’s hands, this arm-length fish could be sliced into at least a thousand pieces.

“You’d be perfect at a Michelin restaurant, slicing potatoes. One potato could be served to thousands of guests.” Luo Jia Bai remarked as he also exchanged for a small knife.

After scaling his fish, Luo Jia Bai steadied his hand and sliced off a piece, feeding it to the female villager beside him who kept clamoring for him to eat the vegetables.

Lu Li reminded him, “Cut it smaller.”

He fed the fourth slice to the head.

He held the fifth slice in his hand, placing it in front of the head’s eyes. “Want to keep eating?”

The head’s eyes were red. “Yes! Yes!”

The fresh fish was being sliced layer by layer, a unique aroma spreading across the dining table.

The villagers caught the scent and grew restless.

“Go over to them, and we can eat fish!”

“Don’t push me! Let me go first!”

“My child is growing, give him a slice! Make way!”

Lu Li paused in his slicing. “It’s a mess. Everyone, sit down.”

All the villagers and Player Corpses at the table stood up, scrambling to get to Lu Li’s side, their loud clamoring drowning out Lu Li’s attempts to restore order.

“No one is listening to me?”

Lu Li suddenly threw the knife onto the table.

The noise startled the head so much that he jumped. When he saw what Lu Li was about to do next, he nearly fainted with fright.

“No! No, no!”

Lu Li casually tossed the fifth slice under the table into the black water.

The villagers surged forward, crowding beneath the table, frantically searching the water for that slice of fish.

They fished out Fish Bones, rotten shrimp, shell-less crabs, and headless jellyfish, but couldn’t find what they were looking for. In despair, they shouted, “It’s gone! That precious piece of fish is gone!”

Lu Li sat calmly.

One hand holding the nearly whole fish, the other exchanged for a Lighter.

His pupils looked deep and unreadable in the flickering light of the Lighter.

“If no one listens to me, then I’ll burn this fish.”

He pointed the flame of the Lighter at the center of the table.

“The other seven can be burned along with it.”

“Guest! Please, calm down!” The man’s head anxiously rolled from one end of the table to the other, banging forcefully as he shouted, “Idiots! Brainless fools! Sit down quickly and listen carefully to every word the guest says!”

The villagers and Player Corpses obediently sat back down.

Lu Li’s gaze fell upon the fish. He brought the fish closer.

Even though he had already sliced quite a few pieces,

the lines of the fish were not smooth.

He placed the fish back onto the plate, carefully feeling along its body.

At the fish’s belly, he felt a bump.

A small, round bump.

The head rolled back, ingratiatingly addressing Lu Li, “What were you about to say just now?”

Mirella pressed her hands together and moved her lips in prayer.

When she finished, she brought her own plate of fresh fish over, looked in Lu Li’s direction and smiled, “He’s not only smart, but also very cute. What do you think?”

Black Bird irritably kicked over the other plates on the table without saying anything.

The wound under his eyes, still not fully healed, began to throb faintly again.

He guessed who the Underworld King was watching in the livestream.

So, though angry, he dared not speak.

–

Lu Li picked up the small knife again. “I need you to answer a few questions for me.”

A slice of fish dangled in front of the head.

Lu Li asked, “The black water on the ground right now-is that the sea?”

The head bit into the fish, uncommonly eager. “That’s right, guest, you’re so smart! This sea runs through the entire country. Without the sea, we couldn’t survive at all.”

“There are only a dozen or so villagers in the whole country?” Lu Li calculated. “Even counting the Hunters, that’s still very few.”

“Of course not. We’re the poor. If you pass through where the Hunters live and keep going, you’ll see a towering city wall. Inside live the rich people of this country. A single Pearl can open the door in the wall-Pearls are the ticket for the poor to become the rich.”

Lu Li remembered what he had heard when first entering the Instance.

“You thought we stole the Pearl, didn’t you?”

The head banged his head repeatedly on the table in apology. “Guest, this is a huge misunderstanding. Our Village had found a Pearl, but it went missing last night, so we mistakenly thought you were the thief and locked you up. Please forgive us!”
A constant ‘clatter’ sounded in Lu Li’s ears.

Lu Li looked up and saw the chef staring eagerly at the fresh fish. Both hands holding the tray were trembling uncontrollably, and drool was running down his neck.

Lu Li asked the chef, “Do you want to eat?”

The chef leaned forward forcefully, shaking with desire.

Lu Li turned his knife.

He tapped the table lightly with the knife handle. “Put the dish on the table for me first.”

With a loud bang, the chef immediately threw away the tray corresponding to the wrong answer and respectfully placed the correct tray on the table for Lu Li.

Lu Li sliced off a piece of fish, but the distance across the table was too far.

He simply tossed it over.

The chef jumped up and caught it.

Lu Li sliced another piece of fish and asked the head, “Now I want to set this dish aside and eat it later. Do you think that’s okay?”

The head shouted, “Of course! No problem, guest!”

The Bullet Comments in Lu Li’s Live Stream Room were stunned.

[Reward: Spirit Money *10,000. Good, good, good, a real dog trainer, huh.]

[This move feels familiar! There really is a bug in the Instance, and the Streamer is exploiting it!]

[Who is supposed to be asking the questions? How did the Streamer become the quiz master?]

[Reward: Spirit Money *8,888. I’m sweating-so this is the world of the strong? Turning the tables, truly a living legend. I’ve watched two Instances with the Streamer and never seen him lose composure; he’s always this elegant and dominant.]

[Reward: Spirit Money *15,000. Just realized the Streamer changed to a new skin-looks great! This outfit costs 200,000 Points. I’ll help the Streamer buy more new skins! Beautiful clothes for beautiful plays.]

[Reward: Spirit Money *6,666. My Underworld job changed from a civil servant to a 996 model employee. I’ve been working overtime every day this week! Heard my boss’s boss is going crazy! With no legs, I crawl in the dark and twisted every day, but after watching the Streamer’s Live Stream Room, my work resentment has lessened a lot! Now I crawl happily in the sunshine every day. Thank you, Streamer!]

Feng Shan’s Live Stream Room remained at third place in popularity.

Watching Lu Li’s eye-catching moves, Feng Shan squeezed his dinner knife in jealousy until it snapped.

Song Changrong whispered, “Young master, since Lu Li did it right, we should hurry and slice the fish too. All the villagers are watching you.”

Feng Shan gritted his teeth. “I know.”

With Lu Li’s demonstration, soon everyone’s first dish was placed on the table.

Seven chefs appeared before them.

The chefs now held two new trays, still offering a left and right choice.

The head announced the second question.

“We live by the grace of the Moon. How do we obtain our main food source?”

Feng Shan was unwilling to let Lu Li steal all the spotlight.

Even his own teammates dared to openly say they wanted to cozy up to Lu Li right under his nose.

He didn’t want Lu Li to get extra rewards.

The second question was so simple that he answered without hesitation, “You’re fishermen, so of course you get food by going out to sea and fishing.”

The head turned, face stern. “Incorrect answer.”

Feng Shan’s chef opened the tray for the wrong answer and handed over a plate of foul-smelling food. “Eat it now!”

The previously calm villagers stood up as well.

“Eat now!”

“You must eat!”

Feng Shan panicked, but forced himself to stay calm, imitating Lu Li’s earlier manner. “I don’t want to eat right now. Put it aside for me, I’ll eat it later.”

He then sliced a piece of fish for the head.

The head refused his bribe.

“Your answer is wrong.”

Sweat broke out on Feng Shan’s forehead. “What do you mean, there’s no room for negotiation if the answer is wrong? You have to answer correctly to communicate with you…”

Song Changrong stepped in front of him. “I’ll eat it for him.”

The head sneered, “Everyone has their own chef. Don’t think you can steal someone else’s dish.”

Feng Shan frantically opened his Wristband again and again. He sent a detailed message to Master Lyle, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea.

His Master hadn’t replied.

The phone couldn’t get through either.

Could it really be as he feared, that his Master thought he was performing too poorly and was going to abandon him?

“Life-Saving Item, my Item…” Feng Shan spent a huge amount of Points, constantly redeeming Items. Seeing the villagers approaching him, he stood up and backed away, shouting, “Song Changrong! You can’t keep your Points either, exchange them all for Items for me! Give them all to me!”

Song Changrong stood up as well, a shadow passing through his eyes. He redeemed a Weapon, preparing to face the enemies together with Feng Shan.

A calm voice came from not far away, answering the head’s second question.

“You get food from the tides. When the Moon rises, the tide comes in and washes food onto the shore. When the Moon sets, the tide recedes, and most of the food remains.”

Feng Shan gripped his Weapon tightly, looking over in disbelief.

He hadn’t expected that, at such a moment, the one willing to speak up and save him would be Lu Li.

The head looked at Lu Li.

“Correct answer.”

Lu Li’s chef opened the tray, but this time did not place the dish on the table.

“But guest, both your dishes are ready. Now you must eat them all.” The head licked his lips. “This time, you have no reason to refuse.”

Lu Li calmly picked up his knife.

He made a cut at the fish’s belly.

With a crisp ‘ding,’ a Pearl rolled into the tray.