Everyone immediately stood up from their seats, warily scanning their surroundings. Only Bo Jingmo remained unfazed. After secretly squeezing Yu Li's fingertips, he straightened his tie, put his mask back on, and checked his wristwatch.
"Fifteen minutes left before dinner concludes," his cool voice announced as the speakers suddenly returned to normal, making the earlier noise seem like a collective illusion.
Jiang Xi frowned. "What was that just now?"
"Speaker malfunction," Bo Jingmo replied calmly, leaving no room for doubt.
When Jiang Xi tried to speak again, the man gave her an indifferent glance. "This doesn't concern you. Please enjoy your dinner quietly."
Jiang Xi: "..." Why does he use formal pronouns only with Yu Li?
Yu Li recalled her shadow creature before leisurely standing up. After pausing thoughtfully for a few seconds, she suddenly reached out and gently embraced the man, resting her chin on his shoulder with curved eyes. "See you tonight, my... partner."
Yet in an unnoticed corner, she tilted her head to lightly bite Bo Jingmo's neck, whispering: "Husband, I'll settle accounts with you later."
The man stiffened slightly, his hand twitching at his side but ultimately not lifting. He simply lowered his head imperceptibly, brushing his nose against her cheek in silent response.
Ascending the stairs slowly, she paused upon opening her door before letting out a humorless laugh. "Playing , huh..."
Her once-tidy room now lay in complete disarray—luggage obviously rummaged through, cosmetics shattered across the floor, nightstand overturned. Stepping on something, she bent to pick up a leaf, twirling it between her fingers with a faint smile. Couldn't even handle this much pressure? The real game hasn't even begun.
Meanwhile downstairs, the others still struggled with their meals. Thanks to Yu Li's earlier initiative, the atmosphere had eased considerably.
Jiang Xi exhaled and nodded at Hou Liang. Simultaneously, they placed food from their plates into their mouths. After swallowing, no abnormalities occurred as a cold mechanical voice announced: "Congratulations on meeting requirements. You may now move freely, but remember—no leaving rooms after 10 PM."
Jiang Xi looked toward Bo Jingmo but ultimately remained silent.
Tian Jianmu and Yu Jiao used items to vanish their meals—eating such dead things was truly impossible. The remaining two faced worse fates: lacking Jiang Xi's luck or spare points, their options were eat or die.
Rotten fruit and putrid seafood emitting greenish vapors filled their plates, the stench alone inducing dizziness. Faced with life-or-death, Huang Ya and Hao Lan exchanged glances before shutting their eyes and shoveling the food in.
The rancid flavors exploded like gulping sewer water, turning their faces green instantly. When Bo Jingmo finally declared them successful, they bolted for the bathroom retching violently.
[Sorry, I vomited too. Absolute warriors, eating that!]
[Seriously! That takes insane courage.]
[Even the others look sympathetic, their faces full of pity haha.]
[Only Jiang Xi and Hou Liang got normal food—insane luck.]
[Heaven's Favor ain't joking around—basically cheating.]
[Sigh, comparisons are cruel. That corpse Yu Li got? I can't—Bo Jingmo what cursed luck, totally screwing your wife over.]
[Actually... notice Yu Li's vine? Doesn't it look familiar?]
[The giant tree's vines from before! Knew I'd seen them!]
[Tree spirit or ghost, it clearly likes Bo Jingmo—tried touching him earlier but he dodged.]
[Wait, so Bo Jingmo's supposed to kill players, meaning he's teamed with the tree spirit? Enemies with his wife now?]
[Newbie alert! These two often play opposing sides—we're used to it.]
[But before Yu Li was an unkillable NPC. Now as a player...]
[Unless someone's rich enough to treat lives as playthings.]
[New player Yu Li can't have many points. Better let Bo Jingmo die—he can't truly perish anyway.]
[Glory in sacrificing for wifey—that's a real man (nods).]
[Anyone else hyped for their nighttime rendezvous?]
[Been waiting with popcorn ready hehehe!]
Yu Li never emerged after returning to her room. Yu Jiao attempted conversation several times to no avail.
At 9:30 PM, descending for water, she suddenly spotted Bo Jingmo in the kitchen. "You... what are you doing?"
The man glanced up. "Making noodles."
Yu Jiao blinked. "...What?"
Realization struck. "For Yu Li?"
"No." He turned off the stove. "For everyone."
Including her? This shocked Yu Jiao. She watched as he genuinely served bowls for each person. Hesitantly accepting one, she tested: "...Not poisoned, right?"
His movements froze. Slowly raising eyes that briefly flashed something unreadable, he finally smiled. "Of course not."
Yu Jiao's grip tightened on the bowl. Lies. That was a lie.
Bo Jingmo picked up a separate bowl. "I'll deliver this to Yu Li. Call the others down."
Stunned, Yu Jiao watched him ascend. What madness—was he poisoning even Yu Li?