Li Sulan was furious. She was panting like an old ox as she ran, only to find Sang Ning deliberately slowing down the pace.
With Sang Ning’s skills, running this slow was completely unnatural. Could it be that she didn’t want to help her win?
Sang Ning’s lips curled into a small arc, and the tone in which she called "Mom" carried not a shred of sincerity.
But that light and airy "Mom" instantly made Li Sulan lose all sense, her breathing even slowing down for a few beats.
"I’m protecting you here. If I run too fast, you won’t be able to keep up, and you might trip and get hurt. And did you see how badly everyone in the front has bumped into each other? Winning first place doesn’t matter—what’s important is making sure you don’t get hurt." Sang Ning explained leisurely.
Although her words were expressions of concern, not a trace of warmth could be seen in her demeanor—only a sense of distance and indifference.
"Fine! You know how to care for your mom now."
Li Sulan was coaxed into euphoria, her mouth grinning so wide it nearly reached her ears.
[Is Sang Ning really thinking this way? Why do I feel like that’s not the case?]
[I noticed something was off about Sang Ning earlier. Now I finally know—whenever she talks, it feels like she’s a total player. Her sweet-talking skills are unmatched, but underneath it all, there’s zero sincerity. Take her seriously, and you’re doomed.]
[Now that you mention it, Li Sulan does seem like she’s developed "relationship-brain"! She’s already blinded by Sang Ning’s sweet words. Trust me, there’s plenty of heartbreak waiting for her later.]
Director Sun announced that the game was officially over, and the guests could now enter Anazhen.
Aside from Shen Yi’s team and Sang Chuan’s team, the other teams headed toward the stone gateway engraved with the words "Anazhen," ready to enter the town.
Just as Hu Zhi and Shen Yi were about to follow the other guests, Sang Chuan suddenly called out to Shen Yi.
Shen Yi stopped, and Sang Chuan ran over, leaning close to his ear and whispering mysteriously, "Yiyi, what do you think about forming an alliance? We could split the rewards from the big meal."
[Looks like Sang Chuan’s watched plenty of variety shows! He’s so familiar with the game tactics that he even knows about forming alliances.]
[Personally, I think Sang Chuan is a natural for entertainment shows. Can someone please invite him to do more variety shows in the future?]
[Let’s not. He’s still in high school. His main focus should be studying. Maybe after his college entrance exams he can consider it.]
Shen Yi didn’t immediately agree. Instead, he turned to Hu Zhi to ask her opinion: "Aunt Hu, I don’t mind. What do you think?"
Hu Zhi looked at Chuyun and Chu Wei behind Sang Chuan and asked hesitantly, "Have you all agreed to this?"
Chuyun nodded. "Why not? More clues mean more chances."
Hu Zhi also nodded. "Alright, since the elder sister here agrees, I’d be outnumbered if I said no."
[Chuyun: Uh, excuse me? Who are you calling elder sister?]
[As soon as Hu Zhi said that, Chuyun instantly got village-aunt vibes instead of national-goddess aura.]
Chuyun protested, "That’s not a suitable way to address me. What if I’m younger than you?"
Hu Zhi tilted her head slightly back, raised an eyebrow, and smirked like she saw through everything. "Impossible. I already looked into it—you’re one day older than me."
Chuyun twitched the corner of her mouth and let out a few dry chuckles in response to Hu Zhi.
After that, the air sunk into endless awkward silence.
[What brand of eccentricity is Hu Zhi rocking? Chuyun is just one day older, yet she’s acting like it’s a generational gap!]
[Chuyun: Do I look like someone who wants to be your "elder sister"?]
[Now that everyone’s quiet, it’s confirmed—we stan Hu "The Topic Destroyer" Zhi.]
Sang Chuan broke the silence first, worried about getting conned. He proposed to Shen Yi, "To show sincerity, let’s exchange clues right now."
Shen Yi didn’t hesitate and immediately handed over his envelope to Sang Chuan.
[There’s still love in this world! We’ve got honest people like Shen Yi in this program—though how rare they are.]
[Shen Yi really has guts. Handing over the clues first? Isn’t he worried Sang Chuan might take them and never reciprocate?]
[No need to worry so much. Look who’s in Shen Yi’s group! That’s Sang Chuan’s own mom, Hu Zhi. He wouldn’t dare pull a fast one—Hu Zhi would roast him first!]
Under Hu Zhi’s oppressive gaze, Sang Chuan didn’t play any tricks and obediently handed his team’s envelope to Shen Yi.
Shen Yi opened the envelope first, pulled out a card, and read the clue aloud: "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you."
[What kind of clue is this? Weren’t we supposed to search for the mystery guest? How is anyone supposed to find them with such a vague hint?]
[What’s next? Is the mystery guest hiding in a giant pit, and we’re supposed to climb in and fish them out?]
After reading it, Shen Yi was utterly baffled. He scanned the group but didn’t get any answers: "Does anyone know what this means?"
Everyone shook their heads in confusion.
"What the heck is this? If even you educated folks don’t know, how could I possibly understand?" Hu Zhi scowled deeply and urged Sang Chuan, "What’s on yours? Hurry up and read it out loud."
Sang Chuan also wore an expression of pure bewilderment as he opened his envelope and pulled out a card. He read each word slowly: "The moon rises above East Mountain and wanders between Altair and Vega."
After reading it, he was even more confused.
"What kind of clue is this? Why is there an ancient poem now—this is even more cryptic than the last one!"
Seeing everyone frozen in confusion and nobody speaking up, Sang Chuan handed the card to Chu Wei: "Aren’t you a soon-to-be college student? You must know more than I do. Help explain this."
Chu Wei stepped back frantically, waving her hands in refusal: "No, no, no. The moment my exams ended, I returned everything the teacher taught me back to them!"
[Chu Wei is my spirit animal. I did the exact same thing—handed back all my knowledge to the teacher the second exams were over.]
The two teams formed an alliance and managed to gather two clues, thinking they had increased their chances of winning. Little did they know, even with the extra hints, they were still clueless.
Chu Wei muttered in frustration, "If I’d known the show’s clues would be so useless, I would’ve slacked off from the start. Now we’ve worked hard to earn clues, only to be stuck at the same starting line as everyone else without them. What a waste!"
Hu Zhi rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a while, as if finally discovering the solution to the puzzle.
Just as everyone was feeling defeated, she spoke up and suggested, "We might not understand these clues, but somebody definitely can!"
All the eyes turned toward her with newfound curiosity. Hu Zhi grinned even more mischievously, raised her eyebrows at the group, and declared excitedly, "Xiao Ning is so brilliant—she’s bound to understand what these clues mean. Why don’t we go team up with her?"
[Sang Ning: ??? I can’t believe this. I’ve been slacking like crazy, yet two clues are about to be handed over to me. Are you all for real?]
[Hindsight’s 20/20, huh? You might as well have just handed the clues to Sang Ning from the start.]