Xu Xi waited for a while, but seeing that no one was moving their chopsticks yet, the village chief and his wife both began to show expressions of wanting to speak but hesitating.
He didn't want to wait any longer.
Poisoned or not, he would try it first.
Under the gazes of the five other players—some shocked, some curious, some thoughtful—Xu Xi picked up a bite of food with his chopsticks and ate it.
After seeing the hoodie-clad young man finish the bite and then take a mouthful of rice, seemingly fine, the others waited briefly before finally starting to eat one after another.
With a player having tested for poison, they felt reassured. Besides, the instance lasted three days; they couldn't possibly go without eating for all three days.
Once the food entered their mouths, the few of them couldn't help but pause for a moment.
It was actually quite delicious, with the unique flavor of simple farmhouse cooking.
Seeing the masters approve of her cooking skills, the village chief's wife's smile became a bit more genuine again.
Village Chief Zhu told his wife to take their grandson to the kitchen to eat first, while he himself stayed behind.
"I've already had people repair the houses in the village that were burned down before. Why don't you masters stay in those houses?"
"Aren't there any other empty houses in the village?" the Suited Man asked.
"There are, but... they're not very auspicious."
Even though both involved deaths, one side was merely affected by the spreading fire, while the other had a malicious ghost causing trouble.
How could the two be the same?
The village chief suddenly realized belatedly that his considerations might actually be underestimating these masters.
"Masters, please forgive me. I don't mean to distrust you, I just..."
Seeing the village chief's tone become awkward, the Suited Man smiled and reassured him, "We understand Village Chief Zhu's good intentions. For us, staying anywhere is fine."
The village chief's expression relaxed. "Haha, it was me underestimating you masters. With you masters taking action, that malicious ghost will surely be eliminated."
Listening to Village Chief Zhu's obviously unskilled flattery, Xu Xi, who was pricking up his ears and listening carefully to their conversation, even felt a sense of empathetic awkwardness.
"The accommodations I've arranged for you masters are all close together, exactly three households in a row. They've already been cleaned. You masters can stay two to a household."
At this moment, the baseball cap man suddenly looked up. "Can't we all stay together? I see your houses are quite spacious."
Village Chief Zhu hesitated, thought for a moment, and still explained in a low voice, "I don't really recommend all the masters staying in one household. After those villagers died inexplicably, except for those working away who haven't returned, their family members also died one after another. Not a single one survived."
The baseball cap man shut his mouth.
Then it's better to stay separately.
Otherwise, if something happened, wouldn't it wipe out all the players at once?
"No problem," the Suited Man agreed readily. "I wonder if Village Chief Zhu has anything else to tell us? After we finish eating, we'll go check out the village."
Seeing the masters being so proactive, Village Chief Zhu believed in them a bit more and said happily, "Nothing else. For the next three days, you masters can come to my house for all three meals. If you need any help, you can also come find me. I can't say I have great capabilities, but at least the villagers still give me, their chief, some face."
"Good," the Suited Man nodded. "If there's a place where we need your help, we won't stand on ceremony."
After Village Chief Zhu also went to the kitchen, the Suited Man scanned the group and said with a smile, "What does everyone think about this instance?"
The baseball cap youth was the first to reply, "You don't need to think to know the truth definitely isn't that simple. This village chief must still be hiding some information."
With someone starting, the remaining people also expressed their thoughts one after another.
The Long Dress Girl pondered for a moment. "But I feel he genuinely and sincerely believes it's the ghost of Ah Wang's mother causing trouble."
The Curly-Haired Woman gently smoothed her hair. "It's also possible he's acting, with acting skills good enough to fool us all."
To avoid being overheard by the village chief's family in the kitchen, their conversation was very quiet.
"And don't you all think... the villagers in this village seem to be in pretty good spirits?" the baseball cap youth stroked his chin. "Where does it look like there's a malicious ghost causing harm?"
This was also something everyone found very strange.
"The village chief also told us not to reveal our identities... Could it be that the villagers don't know there are evil spirits in the village?" But the baseball cap youth immediately shook his head, refuting his own guess. "But that's not right either. Wasn't the rumor that Ah Wang's mother turned into a malicious ghost seeking revenge on the village spread by the villagers themselves?"
The Long Dress Girl chimed in, "That should be related to the information the village chief is hiding."
The players discussed back and forth for a while but didn't come up with anything useful.
"Currently, there are almost no clues. We can't judge what the instance's clear condition is. But since the village chief asked us to complete the 'exorcism' within three days, it's very likely something will happen after three days, which is why the village chief feels a sense of urgency."
The Suited Man first shared a few of his views. Seeing everyone quiet down, he then continued with his proposal.
"The way to clear an instance is basically inseparable from the instance's background, the so-called truth. What we need to do is find clues to uncover that truth."
"There's still some time before dark. We can first go into the village separately to gather information. Meet up again in half an hour at the entrance of Ah Wang's house. After all, since Ah Wang's mother is the key figure in the village chief's account, we definitely need to contact her son. Finally, try to return to our temporary lodgings before dark."
Upon hearing this, no one had any objections. The proposal was very reasonable.
Seeing that his own thoughts had already been said by them, Xu Xi didn't speak up.
The players weren't really in the mood to savor the food anymore. They hurriedly ate a few bites to fill their stomachs, asked the village chief for Ah Wang's home address, and after discussing, the six of them each chose a direction to investigate.
——
The 'Glittering Play' program team.
Song Yan looked at the scattered figures of the players in the live stream and spoke up at the right moment, "It seems the players already have a preliminary plan. I wonder what the two expert gentlemen think about this instance and the players' current performance?"
Cao Hongbo and Ge Ying glanced at each other.
Ge Ying smiled and said, "Teacher Cao, you go first."
Cao Hongbo nodded politely to him, then commented, "There's too little information about this instance at the moment. I can't see much yet. However, the players each have their own distinct personalities, especially the man in the suit. His social skills are good, and his leadership is also decent."
"And as for our live stream's featured player today—Xu Xi—there's even less need to mention. Before coming to this program, I specifically watched his first three instances. Judging from the third instance, he must be proficient in certain aspects of psychology."
"When no other player dared to move their chopsticks, Xu Xi was the first to test for poison. He wasn't being reckless; he knew this table of food was most likely normal."