Sun About to Feed

"Snake."

Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he raised the List in his hand, disbelief flashing through his eyes. He lifted one eyebrow as if reminding everyone not to forget that the first person's Zodiac Attribute would appear on the List.

They had only just reached that conclusion, yet these people really were...

Important people had terrible memories.

So the remaining short woman was the only Zodiac Rooster whose teammate had yet to be confirmed.

Zheng Wuyou had never expected to be paired with the dark blue pajama man, and that the Little Girl really was a whole twelve years younger than her!

She was only nine!

Even at such a young age, that damn Countdown Nightmare wouldn't spare her!

"Can't these assignments be changed? I... I don't really want to be paired with her." Bangs Woman looked at the short woman, who was still sprawled on the ground. Her voice grew quieter and quieter, worried that the woman would hold her back.

She knew she shouldn't discriminate against someone of the same gender, but...

The short woman did not look mentally stable right now.

She looked like she could snap at any moment.

"These assignments aren't something we get to decide, are they?" Toothless Pajama Man shrugged. Being paired with someone who was temporarily out of their mind really was bad luck.

He was glad that his own partner was mentally sound.

Though the burly young man in his group did not look easy to deal with.

"Our problem right now isn't who we want to be paired with. It's finding the countdown hidden in the sentences." Zheng Wuyou shoved aside the people blocking her way and stared intensely at the Lists still being held up together, sharply pointing out the issue once more.

The first countdown had triggered a random punishment because of a flawed line of thinking.

They could not make the same mistake a second time.

Especially when they were facing a puzzle.

At present, every List had only one thing in common: directions and Sun about to feed.

"I can more or less understand the second sentence, but what exactly is the first sentence? Is it some kind of metaphor or what?" Bangs Woman turned irritably toward the doorway. Outside, the sky was clear for miles, and she suddenly felt the scenery here seemed rather nice.

But pleasant scenery did not help her rack her brains over what Sun about to feed meant.

Was it a hint or a concise expression?

Her words were met with silence, because this involved everyone's blind spot in knowledge.

Seeing their troubled expressions, the burly man put on a show and stroked his chin.

Making the same gesture Conan did, he said, "Sun about to feed? What does that have to do with a countdown? Even if you split up every character, it has nothing to do with time."

"Sun about to feed..." Only Toothless Pajama Man fell into deep thought, unlike the others, whose faces were full of confusion.

Seeing that the weather had cleared outside, Zheng Wuyou might even have thought what had just happened was an illusion if not for the miserable scene of mud mixed with blood still outside the door.

"This stuff is too literary. At my age, I can only rely on you lot, heh heh." The uncle in capri pants gave an honest smile. After witnessing so many things, he had forced himself to accept reality. He really wanted to contribute here.

But he had not expected the first major hurdle to be a word puzzle.

The Little Girl cautiously tugged at Zheng Wuyou's sleeve from behind, signaling for her to crouch down.

It seemed she had something to say to her.

At that moment, Zheng Wuyou's attention was entirely on the List.

Especially after realizing this was not a joke.

She completely failed to notice the Little Girl's hand tightly clutching her sleeve.

"Big Sister!" Seeing that Zheng Wuyou was ignoring her entirely, the Little Girl stopped tugging at her sleeve and secretly reached out a finger to poke her waist.

"Hm?" Noticing the movement behind her, Zheng Wuyou finally shifted her attention from the List to the Little Girl.

"I never wear watches." The Little Girl raised her wrist with an embarrassed expression, showing it to Zheng Wuyou and everyone else.

Perhaps because she was shy, her voice unconsciously dropped.

Zheng Wuyou did not quite understand what she meant, a trace of confusion appearing in her eyes.

She never wore watches?

Then where had the watch on her wrist come from?

"The countdown has begun." As soon as the Little Girl spoke, the dark blue pajama man also raised his wrist in confusion. A watch engraved with ancient patterns had clearly appeared on it.

Only then did everyone realize that a watch that did not belong to them was gradually appearing on each of their wrists.

The hands moved as though they had been wound, ticking away second by second in a steady rhythm.

Several square grooves like digit slots were carved into the silver, rust-stained watch face. The display currently read 000.

"Hurry!" Zheng Wuyou sensed something was wrong. The appearance of this watch felt like a higher power secretly reminding them all.

There was not much time left.

"But what's the use of hurrying? Other than the sun, what else can this Sun about to feed make me think of?" The uncle in capri pants also sensed the urgency in the air and told everyone his guess as best he could.

But who did not know that already?

Sun meant the sun.

"Sun... the sun..." Toothless Pajama Man glanced at the sun outside, hanging above the mountain and casting shadows from every object on the mountainside.

Toothless Pajama Man suddenly slapped his hand. Looking at the shade beneath the trees outside on the mountainside and the wisps of cooking smoke gradually rising from the few houses one could count on their fingers, he said, "I know!"

Everyone turned to look at him. Even the still-shaken short woman raised her head and fixed her gaze on him.

"I once memorized a poem by Du Fu, called Leisurely Walk..."

"Don't start from the creation of the world!" Hearing that familiar opening, Zheng Wuyou knew a long explanation was coming. She promptly cut Toothless Pajama Man off and raised an eyebrow helplessly, telling him to get to the point.

This was Old Yuan's usual way of explaining things.

It was not suited to a situation where every second counted.

By the time he finished, the punishment would probably already be upon them.

"Fine, fine, fine. 'In the desolate courtyard, the sun is about to feed' is from the original poem. It means that in a desolate courtyard, the sun is about to set! People finish their work and go home to eat!" For the first time, Toothless Pajama Man felt that all the poems he had memorized out of personal interest had become truly useful here.

He added, "And in the old calendar, this time period generally referred to Shen Shi, between three and five in the afternoon."

Who would have thought there was actually a literature enthusiast among this group...

Three to five...

That meant they had to find the house each group needed to go to and complete their task before five!

Zheng Wuyou looked down at the watch on her wrist. Since getting a phone, she had never worn a watch again and still was not used to this abrupt addition.

The watch now clearly showed 3:45 in the afternoon.

In other words, the time left for them...

Was less than an hour and a half.

Now that they knew what Sun about to feed meant, they were only one step away from deciphering the first sentence.

But there was still the meaning of the second sentence. Did it mean they had to prepare the things mentioned in those sentences?

If that was really the case...

Before five o'clock, this was an impossible task.