Pei Yubai stood where he was, staring in that direction for several seconds.
Shen Yuzhou came over and followed his gaze, but saw nothing.
The fog had already swallowed the red figure completely.
"Brother Pei, come on."
Pei Yubai said nothing. He turned and headed toward town.
They had not gone far downstream along the creek before the houses of Cloud-Hidden Town came into view.
The first thing they saw was the old pagoda tree at the village entrance, then the flagstone road, then Meng Xu pacing back and forth at the intersection.
Meng Xu visibly relaxed when he saw them, but his words were unforgiving. "You lot managed to get lost just going into the mountains?"
Shen Yuzhou ran over, looking aggrieved. "Director Meng, you have no idea. The fog was so thick that we lost our bearings as we walked. And..."
"And what?"
Shen Yuzhou opened his mouth, wanting to tell him about the residence and Qiguan Yuan, but when the words reached his lips, he did not know how to begin.
He glanced back at Cheng Yanqiu, who gave him a look that said, "Shut up."
Shen Yuzhou shut his mouth.
Meng Xu looked them over, his gaze lingering briefly on each face before finally settling on Pei Yubai. Pei Yubai's face was as expressionless as usual.
Meng Xu asked no more questions and waved a hand. "All right, head back first. How many mushrooms did you pick?"
Only then did they remember the baskets still hanging from their hands.
Shen Yuzhou looked down. There were a dozen or so in his basket-not many, but not too few either.
Cheng Yanqiu had more than he did, and Ji Shiyu had about as many as she did.
Lin Yanru had not picked many, but every mushroom was perfectly clean.
Jiang Wantang's basket held only a dozen or so, but she had picked a very particular variety. They were all the same kind, neatly arranged.
And in Pei Yubai's basket... three.
Shen Yuzhou leaned over for a look and could not hold back a laugh. "Brother Pei, you only picked three?"
Pei Yubai glanced at him without speaking.
Shen Yuzhou shrank back and stopped laughing.
On-screen were the three pretty, brightly colored mushrooms Pei Yubai had picked, and the bullet comments erupted with laughter.
[Three hahahahaha]
[Pei Yubai: I came for a walk, not to pick mushrooms]
[As everyone knows, the prettier the mushroom, the more poisonous it is. [Doge face for protection]]
[Does Pei Yubai not know those three pretty mushrooms he picked are poisonous? Hahaha. All he cares about is looks.]
They returned to the guesthouse, where Meng Xu told them to put their mushrooms on the courtyard table so he could record their totals one by one.
[Cheng Yanqiu, thirty-one mushrooms.]
Cheng Yanqiu nodded, her face expressionless.
[Ji Shiyu, twenty-two mushrooms.]
Ji Shiyu softly said, "Okay," and stepped aside.
[Shen Yuzhou, fifteen mushrooms.]
Shen Yuzhou was unhappy. "Only fifteen? I felt like I picked loads."
He had expected to come in first. How had Cheng Yanqiu picked so many?
Cheng Yanqiu glanced at him. "You felt like it?"
That greeting from the first-place finisher stung a little. Shen Yuzhou fell silent.
"Lin Yanru, twelve mushrooms."
Lin Yanru smiled and shook her head. "Looks like I have the fewest."
"Jiang Wantang, seven mushrooms."
Jiang Wantang did not care. She simply gazed at the few mushrooms in her basket as though admiring works of art.
"Pei Yubai! Three mushrooms!"
The corner of Meng Xu's mouth twitched as he read it out.
He glanced at Pei Yubai, who was leaning against a courtyard pillar with both hands in his pockets, his expression entirely unchanged.
Meng Xu cleared his throat. "All right, the mushroom task is over. Now, let me explain the points."
He gestured at a whiteboard behind him with several lines written on it.
"Points are at the core of this season. After you finish the tasks at each stop, you'll receive points based on your performance. The things you can redeem them for fall into three categories."
"First, accommodation. The guesthouse you're staying in now is basic accommodation and costs no points. But in some places, the basic accommodation is in rather poor condition, so you can use points to upgrade to better rooms."
"For example, rooms with private bathrooms, air conditioning, or hot water. All of those require points."
Shen Yuzhou immediately raised his hand. "Basic accommodation doesn't have hot water?"
Meng Xu glanced at him. "It does, but there's a time limit. Fifteen minutes of hot water per person per day. If you want a longer shower, redeem your points."
Shen Yuzhou's face fell.
"Second, food. The production team provides basic meals, but you can also use points for extras. For tonight's dinner, for example, you can redeem points for ingredients and cook for yourselves."
Shen Yuzhou perked up again. "Can we get meat?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Depends on your points."
"Third, special privileges. For example, you can use props during certain tasks or skip certain punishments. We'll discuss the details when we get to them."
After finishing, Meng Xu looked at everyone. "The points for today's mushroom task have already been recorded. Everyone did well, except for the person in last place."
He glanced at Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai still wore the same expression as he leaned against the pillar, as though Meng Xu were not talking about him.
He could not have been more unruffled.
Cheng Yanqiu asked, "Can we give points to each other?"
Meng Xu shook his head. "No. Everyone's points are separate."
Shen Yuzhou sighed. "Then what’s Brother Pei supposed to do? He only has three points."
Pei Yubai finally spoke, his voice quiet. "Three is enough."
Shen Yuzhou wanted to say something, but swallowed it back.
Meng Xu clapped his hands. "All right, you're free to do whatever you like for the rest of today. Dinner is at six thirty. We'll let everyone know when it's time."
They dispersed. Shen Yuzhou dragged Cheng Yanqiu and Ji Shiyu off to explore town, Lin Yanru returned to her room to rest, and Jiang Wantang sat on a stone stool in the courtyard, staring blankly at the old pagoda tree.
Pei Yubai did not leave. He stood in the courtyard, watching Meng Xu.
Meng Xu was putting away the bamboo baskets on the table. Feeling the gaze at his back, he glanced around.
"What is it?"
Pei Yubai walked over and leaned against the edge of the table, his voice dropping.
"What's the story with the person in that residence?"
Meng Xu's hands paused as he recalled the face he had seen on the livestream.
He shook his head. "I don't know. As you know, I started this show on a whim. Although I did look into this place a little, I really don't know much about any of this. Let's ask the townspeople tomorrow."
Pei Yubai nodded.
As for Qiguan Yuan, whom he had unexpectedly encountered today, one thing was that the residence he lived in could be said to lie deep in the woods.
Otherwise, it would not have taken two hours for Qiguan Yuan to lead them out.
When he first entered the residence, he had noticed that there were no electrical appliances of any kind inside. It could be said that no normal person could possibly live there.
While Qiguan Yuan was leading them out, he had consciously observed the route. But after they emerged, when he tried to recall the route to that residence, he found that he could remember nothing.
It was very strange.
Everything about Qiguan Yuan seemed off.
Yet the others seemed to have their attention easily diverted by him, failing to notice anything strange about him.
For once, Pei Yubai felt a curiosity about something other than acting-a desire to explore the mystery of Qiguan Yuan.