On the Red Clay Mud Pond, the travelers sat or crouched on the circular Earth Platform, completely absorbed in sculpting clay figures.
Aside from the scraping of Iron Carving Knives cutting into the prepared Mud Embryos, there were also a few travelers breathing heavily from fear. Their breaths only made the silence on the platform feel even more terrifying.
Song Li raised an arm and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Before she knew it, her underwear was soaked and clinging to her body. It felt awful.
She was panicking. The clay figure she was carving looked like it had been chewed by a dog. Forget meeting the Clay Figure Monster's requirements; she couldn't even stand looking at it herself.
If I keep going like this, I'm definitely going to fail!
Song Li glanced at 18D, then at Ma Yuan.
Thankfully,
those two had no artistic talent either. They were just as clumsy as she was.
When she looked at Xia Hongyao,
she felt jealous.
The girl with the High Ponytail was sculpting a clay figure that looked incredibly lifelike.
Too bad she couldn't make Xia Hongyao do hers for her.
Song Li looked at Lin Baici again.
Huh?
His sculpture wasn't very good either. The hands and feet were rough, but anyone with eyes could easily tell that he was sculpting himself.
Why?
After watching him for a few minutes, Song Li understood.
Lin Baici was putting most of his effort into the clay figure's clothes.
Exactly! Clothes make the man, and the horse's saddle. Aren't clothes and accessories what make the strongest impression?
Song Li grew excited, as if she'd discovered the secret to getting a perfect score.
The sneakers on Lin Baici's feet were Anta. He'd even carved the logo.
My beige Studded High Heels are supposedly so distinctive that they're either worn on a woman's feet or slung over a man's shoulder.
Song Li squeezed the clay figure in her hands into a lump, kneaded it, and started sculpting again.
The Clay Figure Monster patrolled the platform.
It walked around the Earth Platform, occasionally stopping beside a traveler to study their work. It didn't comment, but it would nod or shake its head.
The Clay Figure Monster came to 18D and looked at the figure in his hands. It shook its head.
18D kept a straight face, not daring to glance sideways.
The Clay Figure Monster looked at Song Li next. A few seconds later, it nodded, then moved on.
"How was it? How was it? Did it nod or shake its head?"
Song Li asked in a low voice.
"It nodded!"
Ma Yuan was frustrated. The Clay Figure Monster hadn't even looked at him, so he had no idea whether his work passed.
"Ha!"
Song Li's heart finally settled.
I'm safe!
Song Li glanced at Lin Baici, feeling a little regretful.
If only he were my boyfriend.
"What about mine?"
18D was so nervous that his hands were trembling.
"It shook its head!"
Ma Yuan curled his lip. "Do it again!"
"What?"
18D's face fell. "I put so much effort into it!"
"You need to carve your own distinctive features!"
Song Li had learned the lesson on the spot and quietly told 18D what she'd figured out.
She could do him a favor and earn his goodwill!
Maybe she'd get it all back, with interest, someday.
"So that's how it works!"
18D suddenly understood, then hurriedly thanked her. "Thanks, Sis Song!"
Ah!
Sis Song was such a nice person. Fair skin, long legs, and a tiny waist. If she'd agree to be my girlfriend, I'd sell my blood and steal electric bikes before I let her suffer even a little.
Listening to them talk, Lin Baici furrowed his brow slightly.
Would his clay figure pass?
The God of Gluttony hadn't offered any criticism or warning, so it should be fine!
The Clay Figure Monster patrolled like an invigilator, making the travelers nervous and the atmosphere oppressive. Suddenly, a middle-aged woman screamed in terror as if she'd seen a ghost.
"What's going on? What's going on? Why is my clay figure melting?"
Everyone turned at the sound.
The prepared Mud Embryo in the middle-aged woman's hands was melting rapidly, like ice cream left out in the blazing midday summer sun.
Plop! Plop!
Bits of Red Clay fell to the ground, forming little puddles.
Everyone shuddered and hurriedly checked their own clay figures.
"Mine looks like it's starting to melt too!"
"What the hell is going on? Is it too hot? Or did we sculpt them wrong?"
"How come yours is fine?"
The travelers broke into a commotion. Quite a few of them had Mud Embryos that were showing signs of melting.
They were far too sticky to shape anymore.
"What... what happened?"
The Fat Man's clay figure had also melted into an unrecognizable mess. Furious and alarmed, he demanded an answer from the Clay Figure Monster.
The Clay Figure Monster glanced at him,
but said nothing!
"Damn it, are you mute?"
The Fat Man had every reason to panic. Once the Mud Embryo melted, it meant automatic failure. There was no point even taking the test.
The middle-aged woman was flustered. She looked around and saw that some people's clay figures hadn't melted, leaving her utterly confused.
"Why hasn't yours melted?"
She asked several people, but none of them had an answer. It wasn't that they wouldn't tell her; they simply didn't know why.
The middle-aged woman spotted Lin Baici. She remembered the medical student who had examined her at the station, and when she saw that the clay figure in his hands hadn't melted, she immediately ran over.
"Son, why hasn't your Mud Embryo melted?"
Lin Baici looked at the anxious Diabetic Aunt. "Did you fail to follow the Clay Figure Monster's instructions?"
"I did!"
The Diabetic Aunt insisted. "I slammed it down 120 times. Didn't miss a single one!"
"No, I mean, did you raise it over your head every time?"
Lin Baici explained.
"Well..."
The Diabetic Aunt was stunned.
After slamming it down more than forty times, her arms had started to ache, so she'd cut corners and stopped raising it over her head. "D-does it only count if I raised it over my head?"
"That's probably it!"
Lin Baici nodded.
The others had heard him too and thought his explanation was very plausible.
"Why not ask the people whose Mud Embryos melted?"
Xia Hongyao suggested.
The Diabetic Aunt immediately called out, "When you were slamming your Mud Embryos, did you all fail to raise them over your heads?"
Everyone looked at one another.
It didn't take long for them to figure it out. That was exactly the reason.
"Damn it, if I'd known, I wouldn't have slacked off!"
"Are we sure that's the reason?"
"Has to be!"
The travelers whose Mud Embryos had melted were kicking themselves. They shouldn't have cut corners. The others were secretly relieved they hadn't tried to cheat or slack off.
Gulp!
Song Li swallowed, still shaken.
Thank goodness that Big Male Student had stopped her earlier. Otherwise, she'd have slacked off too, and she'd be in a terrible situation now.
"What do we do now?"
The Diabetic Aunt looked at Lin Baici pleadingly, waiting for him to suggest something.
"What do you think? Hurry up, get some Red Clay and do it again!"
Ma Yuan raised his wrist and checked his watch. "Come on, there's only fifteen minutes left!"
"Right! Right! Do it again!"
The Diabetic Aunt rushed toward the Red Clay Mud Pond.
The travelers whose Mud Embryos had melted came to their senses too. One by one, they ran to the pond, grabbed Red Clay nearby, then hurried back and slammed it against the stone slabs as fast as they could.
This time, nobody dared to slack off. They all raised their Mud Embryos high over their heads.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The impacts rang out without pause.
Time passed, minute by minute, neither rushing nor slowing, but the travelers grew increasingly tense and anxious. Those who hadn't finished the 'Body Sculpting' step were especially flustered, sweating profusely.
"Done!"
Xia Hongyao set her clay figure on the stone slab and folded her arms, looking it over from every angle.
Beautiful!
As expected of my work.
"Do you think mine will pass?"
18D had finished too, but he had no idea whether his work was good enough, so he looked apprehensive.
"It should!"
Song Li gave him a perfunctory answer. Mine's fine anyway.
"Seven minutes left!"
Ma Yuan stood up and looked around. He saw that almost all the travelers who had followed the Clay Figure Monster's instructions to the letter had finished the 'Body Sculpting' step.
Even those still carving were just making small adjustments to their figures. They might as well keep busy.
"This step should be safe!"
Song Li picked up the Studded High Heels beside her and put them on.
She had to look her best,
so she could tempt Lin Baici into looking after her.
"Handsome Guy, you..."
Song Li had just started to strike up a conversation when she suddenly heard a shrill scream.
"Honey, why is your clay figure melting?"
Whoosh!
Everyone turned to look.
"It's that pregnant woman!"
18D blurted out.
The pregnant woman had been in the same train car as him. Her husband had even argued with a woman who was playing Douyin videos out loud to make things more comfortable for her.
He'd lost badly, and only Lin Baici's intervention had dealt with that difficult Douyin woman.
Now the pregnant woman's loose dress was smeared with mud, and both her legs were covered in it. She sat on the ground, one hand cradling her belly, the other pointing at her husband's clay figure. Her face was full of terror.
"What's going on?"
The pregnant woman started crying. Her tears and sweat mingled with the mud, turning her face into a mess.
Her husband, a Man with Glasses, looked flustered.
"I... I don't know either!"
He tried to repair the clay figure, but the Red Clay kept melting like wax dripping from a burning candle. There was no way to stick it back together.
The Clay Figure Monster, still patrolling, happened to be nearby. It watched him expressionlessly.
"Why is it melting?"
The Man with Glasses couldn't understand. "I raised the Mud Embryo over my head every single time!"
The Clay Figure Monster didn't answer.
"You must have remembered wrong!"
Ma Yuan shouted.
"I didn't!"
The Man with Glasses shook his head vigorously. He'd always been an honest man. Whether it was a task given to him by his parents or teachers, or an assignment from his boss after he started working, he always carried it out to the letter.
"You saying that won't help. Your Clay Figure melted, which means you were slacking off. Hurry up and get some more Red Clay!"
A traveler interjected.
"I wasn't slacking off!"
Man with Glasses flushed red.
"Honey, don't worry about that. Hurry and get some Red Clay!"
The pregnant woman urged him on, struggling to get up so she could help her husband.
"Don't move around! You might have a miscarriage!"
Man with Glasses was worried.
"Our lives are on the line, and you're still worried about a miscarriage?"
Fat Man muttered irritably. His arms were aching, and he was in unbearable discomfort, but he had to endure it and hurry to shape the Clay Figure.
But when the carving knife came down on the unfinished Mud Embryo once more, it began to melt. Fat Man could clearly feel the Mud Embryo growing soft.
"What's going on?"
Fat Man was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
Even though he knew nothing about this, he could tell that in this state, the Mud Embryo couldn't be shaped into anything.
Fat Man panicked and abruptly looked up, wanting to check on everyone else's Mud Embryos. Then he heard Diabetic Aunt cry out in horror.
"Why has my Clay Figure melted again?"
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