CH 84.1

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Shen Xingsui was very anxious. He hurriedly stood up to get back his phone that was in the staff member’s hand. “Wait a minute, don’t post it!” 

The staff froze.

She didn’t expect Shen Xingsui to have such a big reaction.

Shen Xingsui rushed over to get the phone. The staff thought he didn’t want to post the link, so she tried to reason, “Teacher Shen, no need to worry, we will just post a template poll…”

Shen Xingsui knew he was being misunderstood. So he quickly explained his behavior, “I’m not worried about that. But… uhm… my mobile phone might be logged into my trumpet, so… let me check first.”

The staff did not expect this to be the case. She hastily handed the phone back to Shen Xingsui. “I’m sorry.”

Because of this heart-thumping incident, a thin layer of sweat broke out on Shen Xingsui’s forehead. He panted lightly as he said, “It’s okay, it’s fine. Now that I’ve changed it, you can send it out.”

However, the audience in the live broadcast room was not calm. Like the sharks they are, they got excited when they got a whiff of blood. 

[Trumpet, you say?]

[Suisui, you still have a trumpet behind our backs?]

[Tell me, what did your trumpet do?]

[Hahaha, did you use it to download your wallpaper?]

Although everyone regretted that they didn’t find out Shen Xingsui’s trumpet, those who were still very interested in guessing which trumpet it was had already started doing detective works. 

[I don’t know if it’s just an illusion, but Madam went online just now.]

[ I thought I was the only one who found out that Madam went online just now…]

[How could it be such a coincidence?]

[Pure passerby here, who is this “Madam” you are talking about?]

[One thing to say, about Suisui’s phone wallpaper, I think I saw it posted by a big Weibo account not long ago.]

[Does anyone know which account it is?] 

The witty detective fan had already started to solve the case according to the clues given, while Shen Xingsui thought he had escaped a catastrophe.

After the director asked everyone’s main account to post the Weibo link, they all patiently waited for ten minutes before the result came out. 

[Freedom in Choosing] 

This result surprised all the guests.

The director stood up and began to say, “We have to explain this matter to everyone. Yesterday’s voting was found to be maliciously manipulated by bots. And for today’s voting, our server just detected an unusual activity. So, in order to prevent and prevent this from happening, we will no longer form a team today. All guests will be able to travel freely. The missions are all individual-based.” 

Everyone nodded to express their understanding.

It is true that there will be some fans who will do whatever they can to make their idols be combined with what they want to see. But thankfully, the crew is skillful enough to detect them and prevent them from happening again. 

The crowd was dispersed. 

The director took everyone to the back of the village, and said, “The treasure you are looking for is hidden in this forest. Now everyone must complete the task as soon as possible to obtain the mirror and find out the undercover villain among you. However, if they managed to enter the treasure cave first, it would cause chaos in the world.”

In front of everyone, there were different forest trails at the fork, so the guests all acted separately.

Shen Xingsui also randomly chose a small path. As he walked, he asked the cameraman assigned to him. “Is the problem that each of us faces different?” 

The cameraman said, “There are many challenges prepared.”

Shen Xingsui knew that the cameraman wouldn’t spoil anything, so he didn’t expect much of an answer. 

Walking along the road, he soon saw a woman clad in the Miao’s tribe traditional clothing in a small, beautiful pavilion not far away. The pavilion matched with the woman’s look, and as Shen Xingsui walked closer, he could even detect a hint of calming scent – probably some kind of traditional incense. He politely greeted her, and the woman smiled back and said, “Welcome, young man, to our tribe’s holy ground. I am one the guardians of this forest. If you want to go farther from here, you must pass my test.” 

Shen Xingsui knew this would come. He was prepared. “Alright, I accept the test.” 

The woman made a gesture of invitation, took his hand and pulled him up. “Now please come to the middle of the pavilion and give me your token, and I will tell you the task .”

Shen Xingsui went up to the pavilion, full of doubt.

The woman moved closer to unlock the token around his waist, and after getting the token, she said, “Please turn around and wait for five seconds, the test is about to begin.”

Seeing that she was looking at him, Shen Xingsui turned around and waited patiently. Soon, he heard multiple footsteps getting closer. When he turned around, there were more than 20 women who were wearing the same clothes and jewelry. They were also similar in height. 

There was also a staff member assigned to this test. He said to Shen Xingsui, “Find the woman who just took your token. You have 3 tries.” 

Shen Xingsui was shocked. He had been focusing on the conversation with the woman just now. Although he also remembers her appearance, he didn’t expect that the crew actually asked him to find her!

The staff member reminded him, “You have 5 minutes.” 

After Shen Xingsui received this order, he started to try. There were more than 20 girls, all dancing in a similar posture. They all wore veils on their faces, making him couldn’t see their faces clearly. He wanted to try to see if he could pull off the veil but was reminded, “You are not allowed to touch girls’ bodies.”

Shen Xingsui paused again.

When the dance ended, more than 2 minutes had passed.

The staff asked him, “Have you found her?”

Shen Xingsui pointed out to the woman he felt most similar to his memory. “This one?” 

The staff shook his head. “Wrong.”

Shen Xingsui felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.

This time, the audience sympathized with him. 

[They’re all exactly the same!]

[The height and appearances are all similar.]

[Plus, they’re all wearing a veil. I don’t think normal people can tell the difference.]

When the timer restarted, the second dance was about to be performed. At that time, Shen Xingsui was really anxious. He paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pot. Then, the dark sky started to rumble, and a light layer of misty drizzle wetted Shen Xingsui’s head. The coolness actually helped calm his mind down.

He began to think, ‘What would Fu Jinxiao do in this situation?’

‘Will Teacher Fu be in a hurry.’

‘Certainly not.’

‘He’ll be able to calmly judge and think…’

‘What’s that woman’s most discerning feature…?’

Shen Xingsui began to recall the woman’s every move when he first arrived. When the five-minute countdown was about to end, his eyes lit up, he stood up straight and said, “Excuse me, stop dancing.”

The women all stopped.

The staff reminded again, “No contact.”

Shen Xingsui walked towards the dancers. He was closer, but still kept a proper distance and didn’t touch anyone. After stopping in front of everyone at least once, he finally gave his answer. “The original woman who took my token… is not here.” 

The staff was slightly surprised. “You are sure?”

Shen Xingsui nodded. “I am sure.”

The staff showed a mysterious smile, and finally snapped his fingers. “Congratulations, you passed the test!”

In the barrage area, rows of question marks flooded the screen. 

Even the staff member found it a bit strange. He didn’t expect anyone – bar Fu Jinxiao – to actually win it in one go. “How on earth did you find out?”

From the foliage, the woman came back. She returned the token to Shen Xingsui, with a strange, curious look directed at him. She echoed the staff’s sentiment. “Can you tell us?”

Shen Xingsui scratched his head in embarrassment and said, “Smell.”

Everyone was taken aback.

“The pavilion has an aromatherapy incense burning, and her body is naturally clad with that scent. When she got close to me, I could smell it from her body,” Shen Xingsui pointed to the crowd of dancing girls, “But none of the girls had this smell.” 

The woman and the staff member smiled. The woman especially praised him. “Young man, you already have the qualification to continue exploring. The road ahead is very dangerous, so be careful. The mirror is in the cave 300 meters ahead. It is possible to go from here. However, I know you will encounter danger; therefore, I will give you a talisman to resist the evil’s attack.” 

Shen Xingsui bowed at them. “Thank you.”

After he got the clue, he ran to the cave quickly. On the way, he met Anran. 

Anran enthusiastically approached him, “Suisui, have you completed the task?”

Shen Xingsui hesitated for a moment. He had some reservations about Anran after all, but he knew he couldn’t show it. So he instead asked back, “What about you?”

“I didn’t, it’s too difficult.” Anran sighed, “I really can’t tell which of these people is real, they all look the same.” He continued after some time, “But she let me in anyway. I just failed to get the extra reward.” 

Shen Xingsui understood. Anran didn’t have the talisman.

When the two of them continued to walk forward, an electronic voice suddenly came from the forest. It was an announcement. [Someone entered the cave first and got the magic mirror.]

Shen Xingsui was surprised. 

He thought that his progress was already fast. He didn’t expect that someone could be faster. 

Just as he wondered which guest was it, suddenly, Fu Jinxiao approached them from a different trail. He had nothing in his hand.

Still, Anran took the lead to ask, “Teacher Fu, you’re the one who took the mirror, right?” 

Fu Jinxiao looked as usual. He raised his eyebrow as he replied. “Well, I’m not.” 

“!”

Shen Xingsui didn’t believe that. He anxiously said, “Isn’t it you?”

If he asked this question, he would get more important information. Fu Jinxiao’s eyes fell on him, and he answered his question in a mysterious manner. “The mirror has been destroyed.” 

Shen Xingsui was confused even more. 

“When I got there, the mirror was already broken.” Fu Jinxiao took two bottles of water from the cameraman. After a long inhale, he calmly said, “They should be one step ahead of me.” 

‘Someone could beat the Fu Jinxiao?’

‘Furthermore, the mirror was broken. So it’s the villain – the so-called evil forces, then?’

Anran was thirsty, and asked, “Teacher Fu, can I ask you for a bottle of water?”

When he asked that, Shen Xingsui noticed that he actually felt thirsty too. At this time, the water in Fu Jinxiao’s hand was very tempting. But, although he was also thirsty, Anran spoke first, making him too embarrassed to say the same. He could only pursed his lips and said nothing.

He’s just a habit he got from long ago.

The crying children who never got candy. 

Fu Jinxiao’s eyes fell on Shen Xingsui meaningfully. He handed the only unopened bottle of water to Anran. “Here you go.”

Anran didn’t expect that Fu Jinxiao would really give it to him!

He was overjoyed and took the water, and said to Fu Jinxiao. “Thank you, Teacher Fu~!”

After taking a few sips, Anran deliberately looked at Shen Xingsui again. The desire to provoke became too strong, making him purposefully say, “Oh Suisui, I’m sorry, I almost forgot about you. Do you want a drink? I’ll share this bottle with you.”

Although Shen Xingsui was thirsty, he shook his head. He didn’t look at Fu Jinxiao again, and instead said, “No need, I’m not thirsty. I’ll go ahead and see if there are any clues about the mirror.”

Passing them by, Shen Xingsui felt that he had exhausted all his strength.

He was a little thirsty and tired at first, but he didn’t know where he got the energy to move forward. As he walked, he suddenly heard another broadcast from the forest: [Because the mirror has been destroyed, and the infected young heroes failed to complete the test within the prescribed events to rescue themselves, they have died. The list of the eliminated will follow shortly.]

[Shen Xingchen is out]

[Feng Fan is out.]

[Instructor Li is out.]

‘All three were infected and eliminated? How did they get eliminated?’ Shen Xingsui wondered, eyes bulging in shock.

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