Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 79: Mushroom Soup
Captain Xu Wang attempted to alleviate the awkwardness of his wild speculation by suggesting they “save the girl”, but his teammates weren’t convinced. However, the girl on the cross looked over at them first.
Tears streaked her face, and her eyes were filled with confusion and a hint of fear.
Xu Wang confirmed that she was making eye contact with them.
“Hey.” Xu Wang didn’t shift his gaze, still staring at her while signaling the others with his hand. “She seems to be able to see us…”
The fourteen people, who had just been deceived by Xu Wang’s fictional script, were skeptical at first. But when they looked up, they indeed saw the girl looking right at them.
They glanced at each other and cautiously approached.
The girl’s eyes flickered as if silently pleading, “Save me.”
“Why are you standing there? Let’s save her.” Ji Yunlei, the tan-skinned classmate, kicked over half of the woodpile under the scaffold.
Teacher Wei looked at Feng Rang with a headache.
Dark Circles Classmate Fang was equally helpless. “I told you. I can’t keep an eye on him.”
“Keep an eye on Ji Yunlei” was a directive from the team captain, but as a mere human, Feng Rang’s success rate in supervising a teammate who was as quiet as a mountain eagle and as fierce as a tiger wasn’t high.
Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened.
Ji Yunlei cleared the area under the scaffold with his feet, and the others, clumsily, managed to rescue the trapped girl.
“Thank you for saving me…” The girl knelt on the ground, endlessly expressing her gratitude, her voice trembling with post-traumatic emotion. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was smudged with dirt and tear streaks, making it hard to see her features clearly.
“We’re not the ones who saved you,” Xu Wang said, removing a petal stuck in her hair. “It was this.”
The girl looked at the pale blue petal, seemingly seeing it for the first time.
Xu Wang was surprised. “Don’t you recognize it?”
He had just revised the storyline to “Unfinished Love between Human and Flower”. Was it wrong again?
The girl shook her head and responded hoarsely, “I’ve never seen a flower of this color.”
Xu Wang: “What about a boy who looks like a flower fairy?”
The girl: “……”
Wei Menghan’s team: “……”
Han Buting’s team: “……”
Someone, please throw an [(Illusory) Please Give Up Your Dream of Being a Writer] at the captain of this story line!!!
“What’s your name?” Wu Sheng approached and intervened in the conversation.
The girl: “Cornina.”
“Why did they want to burn you?”
“They said I’m a witch.”
“Did you do anything to make them suspect you?”
“No. Everything was fine yesterday, then suddenly this morning they burst into my house, insisting I’m a witch…”
“They?”
“People from the village, even though everyone was so friendly the day before…”
“What about your family?”
“I don’t have any. My parents died when I was very young.”
“The person who was burned… Her name seemed to be Amy. Did you know her?”
“She was my best friend…”
“Didn’t seem like it.”
“……”
“She said she would become an evil spirit and come back from hell to find you.”
“……”
Wu Sheng, not particularly skilled in communication, asked direct questions almost bluntly, and his responses lacked any softness or tact. However, Cornina seemed to find this procedural conversation helpful, answering what she could and remaining silent otherwise.
“The man with her under the tree—do you know him?”
“A man?”
“Under that tree, when you were being executed, they were together.”
“Amy never mentioned having a lover…”
“Do you want to go home now?”
“Yes, I have nowhere else to go.”
“Aren’t you afraid the villagers will come for you again?”
“I don’t know. I just want to sleep well. Maybe this is all just a nightmare…”
“Can we stay at your house for the night?”
“Of course, you are Cornina’s saviors.”
Cornina stood up, apparently ready to “lead the way”.
Wu Sheng nodded, turned to all his teammates, and confirmed. “Any more questions? If not, let’s continue with the plot.”
Han Buting shook his head, his eyes barely concealing a trace of “approval”.
Teacher Wei made a gesture to proceed. “Let’s go—”
Cornina led the way, with Xu Wang and Wu Sheng, the main leaders of the love line, closely following. The remaining thirteen companions lagged behind.
Since there was no concept of “unity” among them, the entire group was spread out, giving Xu Wang and Wu Sheng an opportunity to talk privately.
Of course, it was mainly Captain Xu Wang unilaterally “criticizing” Advisor Wu.
“Those questions you asked were too dry,” Captain Xu, who pursued the art of language, commented.
Wu Sheng didn’t accept the criticism. “That’s like pressing ‘Enter’ continuously in game dialogues for the fastest progression.”
Xu Wang said, “This is not a game.”
Wu Sheng: “I know.”
Xu Wang frowned. “If you don’t treat NPCs as people, how can you teach them to be human?”
Wu Sheng looked at Cornina’s figure and whispered, “I’ve never treated them as lifeless objects.”
The look in his advisor’s eyes didn’t seem like he was lying.
But what his advisor just did…
“You just mechanically followed the procedure just now,” Xu Wang said.
Wu Sheng shook his head. “This time, the situation is special.”
Xu Wang pondered for a moment. “Because it’s the world in the painting? A triple parallel space?”
Wu Sheng: “Because we’re still carrying two other teams, we can’t just act on our whims.”
Xu Wang was taken aback, not expecting Wu Sheng to be capable of such perspective-taking.
“Alright.” He admitted he hadn’t considered everything. “Indeed, we shouldn’t delay others because of our caprice.”
Wu Sheng looked at him inexplicably. “What I mean is, in front of the opponent, we must demonstrate our efficiency to the greatest extent to be cool enough.”
Xu Wang: “……”
What kind of demonic desire to win is this?!
Teacher Wei, who always walked in the rear, was at the end of his team. Kuang Jinxin, who was studying the flowers and plants along the way, and Qian Ai, who was worried about him falling behind, also fell to the back of the group.
Teacher Wei seized the opportunity to ask a question that puzzled him. “Can you reveal the criteria for choosing your team captain?”
Kuang Jinxin was still looking down, focused on searching for the “suspect savior”.
Qian Ai naturally took over the question. “Public voting, mainly looking at people’s hearts.”
Up to now, Wei Menghan still clearly remembers the unbelievable feeling when the save point was asked by the opponent’s advisor. “Isn’t your advisor’s wisdom and control enough to win your hearts?”
“He did, indeed,” Qian Ai answered without hesitation. “But he cast his vote for our team captain.”
Wei Menghan: “……”
Qian Ai thought for a moment and added, “Actually, he’s not omnipotent. You’ll know after more communication. Sometimes, we simply can’t understand what he says.”
Wei Menghan looked up at the intimate figures whispering shoulder to shoulder at the front of the team. “I see your team captain has no communication barriers with him.”
“They are, of course, fine.” Qian Ai didn’t even have to think. “They’ve shared a room for three years. It couldn’t be for nothing.”
Wei Menghan: “……”
The sudden silence made Qian Ai come back to his senses, immediately swallowing back the “back in high school…” that had reached his lips and regretting in his heart, almost revealing their team’s secrets, especially after just emphasizing in yesterday’s team meeting that for safety’s sake, they shouldn’t reveal their real identities inside the “Owl”.
“Just pretend I didn’t say anything,” Qian Ai hurriedly negotiated. “And you didn’t hear anything.”
Teacher Wei nodded solemnly. “Don’t worry, I understand.”
Qian Ai scratched his head, not understanding why Teacher Wei’s eyes held a “bearing a heavy responsibility” light.
Cornina’s house was in the farthest corner of the village, some distance from the small square for executions. The neighboring houses looked okay—only Cornina’s two-story wooden house was dilapidated.
“My parents only left me this house. It’s an old one, and I really don’t have the money to hire someone to repair it…” Cornina explained somewhat embarrassedly, leading the group inside.
The house was broken but spacious enough, with a small living room, a bedroom, and a kitchen on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor, but there was hardly any furniture. Everything looked empty and dilapidated, especially the second floor, which obviously hadn’t been lived in for many years. The only wooden bed was covered with thick dust, and naturally, there was no bedding or blankets.
“You must be hungry. I’ll make some mushroom soup…” Cornina said as she walked towards the kitchen.
The three team captains spoke at the same time—
Xu Wang: “No need to bother.”
Han Buting: “No need.”
Wei Menghan: “Cream of mushroom soup?”
Xu Wang, Han Buting: “…”
Wei Menghan: “I was just asking…”
Cornina had already disappeared into the kitchen, which seemed like a fixed process in the mission line.
Han Buting no longer dwelled on it and asked Xu Wang, “What do you plan to do next?”
Xu Wang: “Amy said she would become an evil spirit and come back from hell to find Cornina.”
Wu Sheng added, “So what we have to do is wait here for the evil spirit to come to us.”
Han Buting had no objections to this plan, as the current storyline also didn’t suggest any other direction.
But it was too awkward for a dozen people to sit around staring at each other.
“My team members and I will go upstairs to rest. Call us if anything happens.” He led his team to the staircase, then turned back. “Except for when the mushroom soup is ready.”
Han Buting’s five-person team went upstairs.
Wei Menghan also made a decision. “There are two bedrooms upstairs. We’ll take one to conserve energy for the tough fight against the evil spirit.”
Zou Jun, Feng Rang, Ji Yunlei: “Not having mushroom soup?”
Zhu Mo: “We’ll come down when it’s time for soup.”
Zou Jun, Feng Rang, Ji Yunlei: “Oh, okay.”
Xu Wang’s team split: “…”
……
Cabin, Bedroom One.
Han Buting closed the door tightly and turned around to face the serious eyes of his teammates.
“To defeat the evil spirit, they might just finish their task.” Li Xia leaned against the window, trying to stay away from the door while lowering his voice. “Should we really help?”
Li Zijin nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Li Xia’s sentiment.
“The question now is not whether we should help,” Han Buting said calmly yet firmly, “but that we can only leave the painting if we do help.”
Li Xia raised an eyebrow. “You mean to gamble?”
Han Buting nodded. “Yes, gamble that leaving the painting isn’t the end of their mission line.”
Li Xia asked, “What if it is?”
Han Buting shrugged. “Then we accept it and try again tomorrow.”
“Why not just defeat them and then the evil spirit will let us leave the painting?” Li Zijin was unaccustomed to such roundabout tactics. “Why gamble on a 50% chance?”
Han Buting rubbed his temples, signaling Li Xia to come over.
He was already tortured by this love line—mainly the team in the love line—to the point of a mental breakdown. He really didn’t have the energy to deal with his team’s simple-minded ‘baby’.
Li Xia pulled Li Zijin over. “Without them, our chances of leaving the painting drop to zero.”
Li Zijin: “Why?”
Li Xia: “Can you use your [Stationery Box]?”
Li Zijin: “No, it’s been useless since we entered here.”
Li Xia: “Exactly.”
“But theirs is also useless. Isn’t it because the important plot hasn’t been triggered yet?” Li Zijin always thought that once the evil spirit appeared, the [Stationery Box] would be unsealed.
Li Xia: “…Next time you’re confused, just ask. Don’t make assumptions.”
Li Zijin pouted, thinking to himself that both Li Xia and the team captain were cold and unapproachable.
Li Xia saw his grumbling but didn’t bother to respond, getting straight to the point. “We catch ghosts with the yellow talismans we got from the castle. Similarly, to deal with the evil spirits here, we can only use the props obtained from the love line.”
Finally recalling, Li Zijin remembered that during the 1310 melee, the other two teams’ stationery had no effect on the ghosts. Even their own team’s stationery only played a minor role, and in the end, they had to rely on the yellow talismans from the previous room.
Thinking of this, he frowned deeply. “What weapon did they actually get? They haven’t revealed it yet?”
Li Xia calmly said, “We’ll know when the evil spirit comes.”
……
Cabin, Bedroom Two.
Zou Jun: “So that’s it?”
Feng Rang: “We’ve already entered their mission line. What else can we do?”
Zou Jun: “It’s frustrating to work for others’ benefit.”
Zhu Mo: “We also gained a save point from them.”
Zou Jun: “They also tricked us into a meal!”
Feng Rang: “That’s not entirely fair. They offered to treat us, you refused; suggested splitting the bill, you refused and insisted on paying yourself.”
Zou Jun: “Paying the bill is a matter of cultivation.”
Ji Yunlei: “Translated, that means ‘having money to burn’.”
Wei Menghan: “Do you smell something?”
Zou Jun, Feng Rang, Ji Yunlei: “Yes!”
Zhu Mo: “The mushroom soup is ready.”
……
First Floor.
Cornina brought out a big pot of mushroom soup. Its delicious aroma made everyone hungry.
Xu Wang was about to go upstairs to call the others when Teacher Wei’s team came down with a rapid “thump, thump, thump”. Their speed and timing were so fast, it made one suspect there was an intercom directly from the kitchen to upstairs.
Cornina served a bowl to everyone, and at the end, she looked around in confusion. “It seems like a few people are missing?”
“They’re missing out.” Ji Yunlei drank his soup in one gulp and handed back the empty bowl. “May I have another bowl, please?”
Cornina quickly refilled his bowl and then looked upstairs. “I’ll serve them upstairs.”
After saying this, she went back to the kitchen and soon came out with a tray and several empty bowls and started serving it herself.
Xu Wang initially wanted to stop her but thinking that “warm hospitality” was probably an important part of Cornina’s character, he let her be.
As Cornina went upstairs, Qi Shan, who had been “focused on creating”, finally completed his task.
Cornina’s house had no paper or pen, so he had to use the touch pen on his own phone, drawing on the small screen.
“It looks very much like him.” Kuang Jinxin, who had been watching the whole process quietly, even while drinking his soup, sincerely praised only after Qi Shan finished.
Qi Shan smiled. “It’s passable.”
Kuang Jinxin shook his head. “It’s professional.”
Qi Shan said, “It’s a self-taught skill, just enough to make a living.”
“Are you an artist?” Xu Wang had never asked Qi Shan about his profession, only knowing about his unfulfilled dream in esports. So, when Qi Shan said he could draw the young man under the tree, Xu Wang didn’t have much confidence.
Unexpectedly, the new teammate displayed not just “talent”, but “skill”.
The portrait sketch on the phone screen was almost identical to the young man under the tree.
“Being a true artist is out of the question.” Qi Shan laughed. “In this life, I’m just a minor artist.”
As they spoke, Cornina, who had finished serving the soup upstairs, came down.
Qi Shan quickly handed her the phone, asking, “Do you recognize this person?”
They had previously asked Cornina if she recognized the young man under the tree, but Cornina hadn’t even seen who was under the tree. So, Qi Shan thought of drawing him.
Upon seeing the portrait, Cornina was visibly stunned, clearly recognizing the person depicted.
Xu Wang’s team immediately gathered around, and even Teacher Wei’s team, who were slurping soup at the table, temporarily put down their bowls and paid quiet attention.
“This is York. He’s also from this village,” Cornina said, her cheeks flushing with a hint of red.
Even Advisor Wu could see the obvious pink bubble around her.
“Do you like him?” Xu Wang, inheriting his advisor’s style, asked very directly.
Cornina replied in a very low voice.
Xu Wang continued, “Does he like you?”
Cornina dared not look up. “I don’t know… I haven’t told him my feelings yet…”
Xu Wang frowned. Another unrequited love?
Wait, why did he think “another”…
“So you two are just ordinary friends?” Wu Sheng tried to get back to the main point.
Cornina nodded.
Wu Sheng: “What about Amy? What’s her relationship with York?”
Cornina blinked in confusion. “Them?”
Wu Sheng nodded. “When you were being executed, the two of them were having a date under the tree.”
Cornina’s eyes widened, quickly misting over with tears, looking pitiful. “No… that can’t be… Amy doesn’t like York… She even said she would help me confess…”
Xu Wang glanced at everyone in the room—I told you, it’s a love triangle!
Everyone in the room: “……”
“Clang—”
“Clang—”
Wei Menghan and Ji Yunlei collapsed unexpectedly. They were just standing there when they suddenly swayed and fell.
Zou Jun, Feng Rang, and Zhu Mo were startled and rushed over to help, only to fall themselves.
Five people were lying in disarray on the ground. Their consciousness was blurry, and their arms were flailing as if possessed.
Xu Wang was alarmed and tried to speak but suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous, his legs giving way as he collapsed.
Wu Sheng quickly caught him, his heart skipping a beat. “What’s happening?”
“Dizzy…” Xu Wang managed to say before his head turned to mush. Everything in front of him became distorted and deformed. His brain seemed to be out of control and began to move and beat on its own.
At the same time, Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin exhibited the same symptoms.
“Someone upstairs, come down and help—” Wu Sheng shouted with all his might, almost changing his tone in urgency.
Han Buting’s team quickly appeared at the stairwell, baffled by the scene but still coming down to render humanitarian aid.
Eight people lay side by side on the ground, all exhibiting remarkably similar symptoms: confusion, drifting consciousness, and flailing arms, as if something in front of them was disturbing them and needed to be driven away.
This eerie scene even gave Han Buting a chill. “What the hell happened?”
“The mushrooms are poisoned!” Wu Sheng said while trying to induce vomiting in Xu Wang by pressing on his throat.
Cornina turned pale and burst into tears. “I-I didn’t do anything. I picked the mushrooms from the outskirts…”
Wu Sheng didn’t care whether it was intentional or accidental, shouting loudly, “Qi Shan, get some salt water, as much as you can!”
“I’ll go—” Cornina, as if to prove her innocence, volunteered and ran into the kitchen.
“Don’t worry, I’ll watch her!” Before Wu Sheng could speak, Qi Shan had already defined his task and rushed to the kitchen.
Xu Wang finally vomited.
Wu Sheng patted his back while shouting at Han Buting. “What are you waiting for? Help out!”
Han Buting: “……”
Captain Han had never been so naturally commanded, whether in the “Owl” or in reality.
But could he not help? If the others went home, they wouldn’t be able to leave the painting either.
This was definitely karma to have met this team.
“What do we do?” Han Buting asked, grinding his teeth.
Wu Sheng: “Induce vomiting!”
Han Buting: “……”
Wu Sheng: “Use your fingers to induce their gag reflex…”
Han Buting: “No need to explain in such detail!”
The six companions struggled to help the eight poisoned members, finally improving efficiency.
Soon, all eight had vomited heavily. Their consciousness was still blurry, but the flailing and twitching of their fingers had lessened.
Han Buting’s team helped move the people to a clean area. “We didn’t eat the mushroom soup, but how can you be sure it’s mushroom poisoning?”
Wu Sheng gently laid Xu Wang down. “This is a classic case of Lilliputian hallucinations*, a typical hallucination from a certain type of mushroom poisoning.”
*Hallucinations that consist of vision of small people, occasionally accompanied by animals or by other objects of minute size.
Li Zijin: “Lilliputian?”
Qi Shan hurried back, carrying a nearly full bucket of salt water. “Salt water is here—”
Wu Sheng instructed everyone to help the poisoned drink the water while explaining, “It means the poisoned person feels like many tiny people are around them, making noise and provoking, so they keep waving their hands and snapping their fingers to drive them away.”
Li Zijin: “What kind of tiny people?”
Wu Sheng: “It varies from person to person. How would I know!”
Li Xia pulled the noisy Li Zijin away, forcing him to focus on helping with the salt water.
Han Buting couldn’t understand. “If you knew so clearly, why didn’t you stop them from drinking the soup?”
Wu Sheng: “The images of fresh mushrooms in my brain have significant differences in shape and color due to the angle of the photos, and it’s even harder to compare with mushrooms made into soup. It was my negligence.”
Han Buting: “……”
There was a deep sense of self-blame in the other’s eyes, but why couldn’t he understand a word he was saying!
After more than an hour of turmoil, the eight poisoned teammates finally settled down.
Two more hours passed, and they gradually regained consciousness.
Wu Sheng checked the time. It was almost six o’clock, yet they hadn’t been ejected back to reality.
Xu Wang also started to stir.
Without further thought, Wu Sheng immediately helped him up. “How do you feel?”
Xu Wang tilted his head to assess himself and swallowed twice. “Nothing much, just a sore throat.”
Wu Sheng slightly regretted being too harsh but was relieved that Xu Wang was otherwise okay. “You were poisoned by the mushrooms.”
Xu Wang was stunned. “How come you’re fine?”
Wu Sheng was somewhat exasperated. “I didn’t eat it.”
“What about them?” Xu Wang looked towards Han Buting’s team. Though they seemed worn out, their “gloomy faces” stood out among the dazed teammates.
“They probably didn’t eat it either,” Wu Sheng said.
Xu Wang was puzzled. “Didn’t Cornina specifically take it to them?”
Wu Sheng sighed. “Do you think they’re the type to be swayed by enthusiasm?”
Xu Wang nodded. “Right.”
Han Buting silently stared at the ceiling, reminding himself that murder is illegal.
The night in the village deepened, and the wind creeping through the door cracks grew colder.
Wei Menghan’s team, since waking up, were quietly sitting in the corner, not speaking or joking, immersed in the “sorrow of a foodie”.
No one noticed the faint shadow appearing on the wall behind them.
The shadow moved silently, sneaking into the kitchen along hidden corners.
Cornina was cleaning up there, having made a mess while preparing the salt water earlier.
“Ahh—”
As the fire lit up, Cornina’s scream echoed from the kitchen.
The teammates, weary from the long night and mushroom poisoning, took a couple of seconds after the scream to look at each other in shock before springing up and rushing to the kitchen!
Cornina’s skirt had caught fire, but she quickly doused herself with the remaining half bucket of water, extinguishing the flames.
When Xu Wang and the others arrived, they saw Cornina with her drenched skirt and a burning ghostly shadow on the wall.
“The witch… must… be burned to death…”
A chilling, inhuman voice reached the ears of the fifteen companions, making their skin crawl.
The ghostly shadow lunged at Cornina again!
“What are you waiting for? Use your props—” Li Zijin urged Xu Wang’s team.
Wu Sheng quickly pulled Cornina aside as the ghostly shadow hit the ground, leaving a charred mark.
“We would’ve used them if we could,” Qian Ai shouted back. “The [Stationery Box] isn’t working!”
Li Zijin: “Who said to use the [Stationery Box]. Use the props—the ones from the love line!”
Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, Qian Ai, Kong Jinxin, and Qi Shan all looked at him and said innocently, “Huh?”
Five seconds of eye contact.
Realizing that they genuinely had nothing, Li Zijin looked blankly at his own team captain.
Han Buting was surprisingly calm, as if he had eaten the poisonous mushrooms—tranquil and serene.
The ghostly shadow spread out, burning into a hellish net that ensnared the entire kitchen and everyone in it.
No amount of water helped, and the magical petals no longer appeared.
In the lethal burning, the fifteen companions heard the call of heaven—
[Owl: Dear~ I’m giving you an early holiday. Sending you home.]
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