"Tap—"
Chopsticks were gently placed on the table, producing a faint, crisp sound.
This unusual noise immediately drew everyone's attention.
Feeling his pockets to confirm the two wedding candies were safely back inside, Xu Xi then looked at his teammates with a sense of relief.
The others saw the hoodie-wearing young man silently stare at the food for a moment, then suddenly lift his gaze and announce, word by word:
"The food is poisoned."
These four simple words were like a drop of oil falling into boiling water, causing the five others' expressions to change drastically.
The Curly-Haired Woman and the Baseball Cap Young Man, who had already picked up their chopsticks, immediately threw them onto the table.
No one questioned whether Xu Xi's words were true or false.
After all, he was always the first to test the food for poison during every meal.
The Suited Man cast a deep, searching look at this mysterious and consistently silent hoodie-wearing young man before him, then called out loudly toward the kitchen, "Village Chief Zhu!"
Soon, Village Chief Zhu emerged.
"Is there something the Masters need?"
Village Chief Zhu seemed to sense the change in atmosphere; his originally ordinary expression couldn't help but become uneasy.
"Is the food not to the Masters' liking?"
Seeing the Masters remain silent, just coldly watching him, Village Chief Zhu panicked outright.
He didn't know how he had suddenly offended these Masters and could only ask cautiously, "Should I have my wife prepare a new set of dishes for the Masters?"
The Suited Man narrowed his eyes slightly. He couldn't detect the slightest flaw in Village Chief Zhu's demeanor.
Either the man was genuinely unaware, or his acting skills were exceptionally refined.
"That won't be necessary. We have no fortune to enjoy this poisoned food."
"What?!"
The players watched Village Chief Zhu's every move warily, ready to restrain him the moment he showed any sign of abnormality.
However, to everyone's surprise, Village Chief Zhu suddenly ran toward the kitchen in a panic, shouting as he went, "Wife! Xiao Yu! Stop eating—"
The remaining few exchanged surprised glances, then followed.
In the kitchen, a small table was set up beside the stove. Wu Cuifen was serving rice, and Zhu Yu was pouring himself soup. Clearly, neither had started eating yet.
Hearing the frightened shouts of their husband/grandfather, they both stopped their actions in confusion.
"What's going on?" Wu Cuifen looked at the panting Village Chief Zhu in bewilderment, unable to understand what was happening.
"Don't eat! The Masters say this food has been poisoned!" Seeing that his wife and grandson hadn't yet started their meal, Village Chief Zhu's expression relaxed abruptly.
"What?!" Wu Cuifen and Zhu Yu were startled.
The players who had followed in were also confused by this scene.
Wasn't it Village Chief Zhu and his family who poisoned the food?
"That's impossible!" Wu Cuifen said incredulously. "I made all this food myself. I watched it the entire time. How could it be poisoned?"
Village Chief Zhu's brows were tightly furrowed. He turned to the six Masters he had invited and asked hesitantly, "Are the Masters certain the food is poisoned?"
Everyone's gaze shifted back to the hoodie-wearing young man standing to the side.
Xu Xi nodded calmly.
No one could be more certain than someone who had already died once from it.
Village Chief Zhu wiped his face roughly, as if making a decision. He said to the players, "Please wait here for a moment, Masters," and then went out.
Soon, they saw Village Chief Zhu return, holding a chicken.
Village Chief Zhu fed the chicken some of the cooked rice. Not long after, the previously lively chicken suddenly collapsed to the ground, convulsed violently a few times, and then fell silent.
Except for Xu Xi, everyone's faces turned rather unpleasant.
Forget the dishes; at the very least, the rice was genuinely poisoned!
Wu Cuifen's legs went weak. "Who... who wants to harm us?" she asked in a trembling voice.
Zhu Yu was scared stiff, clinging tightly to Wu Cuifen, not daring to speak.
This family's reactions really didn't seem like an act.
The players temporarily dismissed their suspicions of them.
"If both the rice and the dishes are poisoned, the most likely culprit is the water source." The Long Dress Girl had, at some point, walked over to the stove. After carefully observing it, she delivered her conclusion.
"Water?" Village Chief Zhu and Wu Cuifen were taken aback.
"...This afternoon, the impeller in the water pump for the well in our courtyard broke. I went to fetch water from another family's well."
Village Chief Zhu's tone was taut like a drawn bowstring, laced with thick, lingering fear.
The Baseball Cap Young Man pressed further, "Which household?"
—
At the 'Glittering Play' program set.
Song Yan looked at the large screen, her expression a mix of worry and relief. "There was actually poison in the food. That's truly unexpected. Thankfully, Xu Xi detected it in advance."
"I just don't know how he figured it out. It seemed like he was even about to start eating."
From the moment Old Man Liu knocked on the door in the middle of the night, they had stopped providing commentary.
First, there was Old Man Liu's targeted knocking, then the Spirit Medium's so-called Mountain God's favor. Not to mention the live stream comments, even she felt something was off.
To avoid being criticized by netizens, she and the two experts wisely chose to act as background figures.
But they were still on the program and couldn't remain silent forever. This was a good opportunity for commentary.
Cao Hongbo pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Xu Xi has always been a highly observant person. The players encountered Village Chief Zhu inspecting the pump impeller by the well right after returning from the Mountain God Temple. He probably noticed something then."
Ge Ying followed with a smile, "I think so too. A damaged impeller needs replacement or welding repair. Village Chief Zhu doesn't seem like someone skilled in that, otherwise he wouldn't have just been inspecting it by the well without taking action."
"Hiring someone takes time, and so does replacement or repair. No outsiders came to Village Chief Zhu's house this afternoon, which proves the well was temporarily unusable for drawing water."
Song Yan asked them curiously, "Then how did Xu Xi determine that the food made with the changed water source was poisoned?"
Cao Hongbo shook his head helplessly. "Regarding that aspect, I can't provide an accurate analysis. Perhaps his sense of smell is exceptional, allowing him to keenly detect the abnormality in the food."
Ge Ying said thoughtfully, "It's also possible... he was actually testing something."
Cao Hongbo was taken aback. "How so?"
Ge Ying: "We can't look at Master Xu Xi the same way we look at ordinary players. For example, right now, the other players are focused on the water quality issue, but Master Xu Xi might be thinking on a deeper level."
"Don't forget the over sixty people who died in Ninghe Village over the past three years. We still don't know the exact manner of their deaths."
Cao Hongbo's eyes suddenly lit up. "Teacher Ge, are you saying Xu Xi suspects those villagers' deaths are related to the water quality?"
"Yes, Master Xu Xi likely had this suspicion very early on. After all, for something to silently cause the deaths of many villagers, poisoning via water quality is one possible method."