When the two returned to the dining hall with Wu Nianfang, the clock pointed to exactly eight.
Some people breathed a sigh of relief, while others tensed up again at the sight of the woman in her wedding gown.
"We... don't have to wear that, do we...?"
Yuan Sisi glanced at the everyday clothes she had changed into, then looked at the others-everyone had tacitly agreed to change out of those uncomfortable, eerie wedding gowns.
Wu Nianfang tugged awkwardly at her hem. "Sorry, I, I was too nervous..."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Yuan Sisi took the initiative to pull her over to sit beside her, then asked, "Where's your partner?"
Wu Nianfang shook her head. "I don't know where he is either... he's disappeared."
The mood grew heavy.
All the players present knew that the person playing the groom was probably doomed.
Someone had already died before all the players had even officially gathered, and they still didn't know how he had died.
Wan Yingjun said kindly, "It's all right. I'll take care of you."
Wu Nianfang looked at Wan Yingjun, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. "Really? Thank you..."
Gong Yao: "?"
At that moment, a flood of comments swept across Gong Yao's livestream:
[Hahahaha! First time I've seen Lord Gong Yao get snubbed!]
[You know, that Wan Yingjun is pretty handsome too, though he's still a little behind our Lord Gong Yao.]
There were also people who disdained Gong Yao's looks but kept watching while trashing him: [Who just got put in his place? People have put Gong Yao on such a pedestal that he doesn't even know his own worth anymore!]
[I enjoy this kind of scene too, but why does the comment above smell so sour?]
Just then, Li Qing lightly nudged Gong Yao, signaling with his eyes toward Wu Nianfang and Wan Yingjun as he said softly, "Your criteria need some adjustment."
Naturally, his voice carried into Gong Yao's livestream too, triggering another wild wave of comments:
[Nice finishing blow! Well done!]
[Who is he? Is he that close to Gong Yao?]
[Not yet, but your precious Gong Yao is working hard to get closer to him~]
Gong Yao smiled helplessly without saying anything else, and the two sat side by side on the bench opposite Wu Nianfang.
Once everyone was seated, the older woman had already brought over breakfast with a beaming smile.
Perfectly ordinary white steamed buns and pickled vegetables, exactly eleven portions, as though she had known beforehand that only eleven people would show up.
A few people looked hesitant and didn't reach for the buns, so the woman urged them, "Wasting food is wrong. The Fortune Lady will punish you!"
Only then did everyone steel themselves and pick up their buns.
Some, however, had no intention of wasting food-Li Qing, for example.
He picked up a bun and began eating it with the pickled vegetables in small bites. His movements were perfectly refined, yet half the bun vanished in the blink of an eye.
Several of the others stared at him, dumbfounded.
Noticing their gazes, Li Qing looked at his bun in bewilderment... There's nothing wrong with it. The system scan said it was edible.
His puzzled gaze finally settled back on Gong Yao.
"Pfft..." Gong Yao couldn't help laughing, then immediately pressed a fist beneath his nose, coughed lightly, and turned to ask, "Auntie, are there any extra buns?"
The woman-Aunt Liu-glanced at him and said, "I only made eleven buns."
Li Qing's chewing paused briefly.
Aunt Liu had only made eleven buns, not merely "served" eleven, which meant she had known even earlier that there would only be eleven people here.
Judging by how long buns took to make and their current condition, she had started making them at daybreak.
In other words, did the daily deaths in this instance take place before dawn?
Some others looked as thoughtful as Li Qing, but Yuan Sisi, sitting opposite him, clearly hadn't considered that much. She broke off half her bun. "Li Qing, do you want more? I, I don't really have much of an appetite."
Li Qing eyed her half-bun with some regret, but didn't take it. "Half a bun probably won't provide enough calories to get us through the morning. You should eat all of it."
He looked up at Aunt Liu and asked, "What are our plans for the morning? Surely we won't just sit here the whole time."
Aunt Liu chuckled. "Of course not. Next comes the Fortune Lady's trial for all you newlyweds..."
After breakfast, the eleven of them left the Fortune Lady Temple where they were staying, passed through the village, and arrived at a lakeshore.
"You know," Yuan Sisi whispered to Li Qing, "the scenery here is beautiful. If this weren't an instance, I'd actually want to settle down here."
Rather than stay with the inexplicable "groom" assigned as her partner, she preferred the company of Li Qing, a fellow "bride" who seemed easy to talk to.
Li Qing considered it seriously, then shook his head. "The residents here are either data or dead people turned into data. Better not."
Yuan Sisi: "..."
Aunt Liu's voice interrupted their conversation.
"From now on, you must complete one of the Fortune Lady's trials every day. Only then can she choose the most compatible partner for each of you."
Yuan Sisi raised her hand. "What happens if we can't complete it?"
Aunt Liu gave her a chilly look. "If you fail, you'll have to spend that night beneath the Fortune Lady's statue. She'll give you a private lesson in love."
Everyone: "..."
That definitely didn't sound like any proper sort of lesson!
"Today's trial is very simple. There are six boats over there. In pairs, you'll blindfold yourselves and row together. Reach the finish line, and you'll have successfully completed the trial."
"That... doesn't sound too hard," someone ventured.
Aunt Liu said, "The last to reach the finish line will have to spend the night with the Fortune Lady."
Several people immediately grew tense.
Aunt Liu added, "If you feel something climb aboard, don't speak or move. Wait until its weight disappears from the boat before you start rowing again."
At those words, everyone panicked, both the players and the NPCs who hadn't feared the Fortune Lady-
"What else is going to be out there!?"
Aunt Liu tugged at the corner of her mouth and said nothing more, merely handing out strips of black cloth.
"Don't remove the blindfolds before you get ashore. This is for your own good, too." With those parting words, Aunt Liu turned and left for the finish line.
Those left behind exchanged looks, all showing distrust toward their own partners.
In the end, however, they turned their attention to Wu Nianfang, the only one left alone.
Dressed in her restrictive wedding gown, Wu Nianfang barely managed to grip the rough oar, a bewildered look on her face.
Yuan Sisi looked hesitantly at Zhao Yu, her partner opposite her, and asked, "Can we take her with us?"
Li Qing said evenly, "Only two people can board each boat, and we can't change partners during the day."
If they could switch, he would already have made the first move and joined Wu Nianfang's boat.
Wu Nianfang looked helplessly at them, her gaze finally settling on Wan Yingjun.
Despite having been so attentive to her at first, Wan Yingjun now gave her a look that said there was nothing he could do.
The woman beside him, Xu Yuan, held Wan Yingjun's arm and said "regretfully," "Sorry, but I'm his partner~"
Wu Nianfang lowered her eyes dejectedly.
Gong Yao, however, stood up.
With one long-legged stride, he stepped out of the little boat and walked over to Wu Nianfang's. He took the black strip of cloth from her hand and carefully tied it over her eyes.
"Don't be afraid," he said. "Keep rowing in the direction I point you in, and you'll reach the finish line soon."
Wu Nianfang gave a small nod.
Gong Yao looked back at the others and smiled. "No objections to letting her go first, right?"
No one objected.
Yuan Sisi and several others watched Wu Nianfang's frail figure with pity. Wan Yingjun felt disdain, but he wasn't about to invite trouble by speaking up now.
In everyone's eyes, Wu Nianfang, who had lost her partner, was already as good as dead.
By the time Gong Yao returned to their boat, the others had begun rowing away one after another.
He sat back down opposite Li Qing, his eyes curving into a smile. "If I blindfold myself, will you be gone by the time we reach the finish line?"
"No."
Li Qing answered evenly, already raising his hands to cover his pale, glass-marble eyes with the black cloth.
Gong Yao's lips curved, and he blindfolded himself too.
"I'm counting on you, partner."
The man's deep, gentle voice came through the darkness.
Li Qing gave a noncommittal hum, then immediately activated his system administrator privileges.
[GM System loading: 100%] [Terrain detection: 100%] [Life-form detection: 100%]
An invisible net spread outward in every direction, with Li Qing at its center.
The instant the data came back, Li Qing felt a chill shoot up his back.
Beneath the beautiful, tranquil green waters of the lake, countless unknown shadows crowded together, writhing their humanlike bodies as they cast malicious gazes at the little boats on the surface.
Before you continue