As my deduction came to an end, the atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. In that heavy silence, Yashu unexpectedly spoke up, targeting the most suspicious person right away:
-"Mo Feng Yan, I mean no offense. But could you tell me why you woke up later than everyone else this morning?"
Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the entire group, Mo Feng Yan ( Seat No. 3 ) remained completely unfazed. Lazily resting his hands behind his head, he nonchalantly replied in a carefree tone:
-"This is a personal matter, and it has absolutely nothing to do with this game. Therefore, I naturally cannot say."
His vague attitude made everyone even more anxious. However, after a period of careful discussion and consideration, we still decided to play it safe and vote for a tie. Since that freakish Game Master refused to reveal the identities of the deceased, we couldn't know what cards those two corpses had held to use the method of elimination. Despite our agreement, Mo Feng Yan still glaringly received two votes on the results board from a few highly cautious individuals.
When the voting officially came to a close, the Game Master's lazy yet authoritative voice rang out from above:
-"Since six people voted for 'Peace', no one will have to face judgment today! Oh, how incredibly boring."
With that, he snapped his fingers. The pumpkins dangling from the tree branches suddenly lowered right in front of us. When I clearly saw what was inside, goosebumps immediately broke out all over my skin. The hollow interior of the pumpkins was filled with fat, oversized insects crawling and wriggling over one another; some had even been dead for a long time, emitting a foul, pungent stench of decay.
The Game Master flashed a bizarre smile and pointed down:
-"This is your food for today."
Seeing this horrifying "feast," Yun Xiao Yao ( Seat No. 6 ) - the edgy, red-haired girl - was so deeply shocked that her face turned completely pale, and she screamed:
-"Ah! Oh my god... This is disgusting!" Not just her, everyone present grimaced and gagged at the horrific odor assaulting their nostrils.
Yashu stood close beside me, gently nudged my elbow, and whispered helplessly:
-"Back in mission 3, I got used to eating delicacies. Now looking at this stuff... there's just no way I can put it in my mouth."
Ignoring the endless cursing, swearing, and lamentations from below, the Game Master up in the tree couldn't care less. He rolled over, lounging sideways on a thick branch, and closed his eyes to sleep in a thoroughly defiant manner.
While everyone else stood frozen in terror, Mo Feng Yan ( Seat No. 3 ) suddenly stepped forward. Before the stunned eyes of the entire group, he nonchalantly thrust his hand deep inside the pumpkin, scooping up a large handful of the squirming, crawling insects. Without a single moment of hesitation, he threw them straight into his mouth, casually chewing ravenously before gulping them down.
On that handsome face of his, a look of pure satisfaction and enjoyment even emerged, as if he had just tasted some worldly delicacy:
-"Hm! The taste isn't bad at all, guys."
Watching him eat with such relish, little Guo Xie Ruo standing nearby suddenly swallowed hard. The loud rumbling of her stomach from hunger completely overrode her reason. Biting her lip tightly, she tried to suppress her sheer terror of the swarming maggots, trembling as she picked one up and popped it into her mouth to try. However, Guo Xie Ruo's expression instantly changed from deathly pale to a sickly green. She doubled over, clutching her throat, and violently retched right then and there:
-"Cough cough... ugh! So repulsive..."
The spark of hope that had just ignited in everyone's hearts was instantly doused with a bucket of freezing water. As it turned out, it wasn't that this stuff was edible - it was just that Mo Feng Yan was too much of a freak.
To test it out, I also took a gamble and stepped forward, closing my eyes as I picked up a single insect and put it in my mouth. The squishy, wriggling sensation on the tip of my tongue made me shudder. The moment I bit down, a burst of brackish, salty fluid erupted, accompanied by the pungent, foul stench of rotting bugs rushing straight to my brain. Its taste was an absolute form of pure torture. This disgusting filth was fundamentally not something a human being could swallow. Yet, look at that monstrous freak Mo Feng Yan - he had just eaten a whole handful of them!
Yashu quickly rushed to my side. Seeing my face completely drained of color and deathly pale, she knew right away that things were bad:
-"Are you okay?"
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, my throat still spasming uncontrollably with nausea, and replied bitterly:
-"Not even a single bit!"
Yashu looked at me and grimaced tightly as well. She stared intently at the plump, juicy maggot wriggling and crawling on her finger, letting out a weary sigh:
-"After hearing you say that, I suddenly don't want to put this thing in my mouth at all anymore."
Having said that, for the sake of survival, she still closed her eyes and took a bite. Instantly, the muscles in Yashu's face contorted completely, her features twisting together as the sickening flavor spread through her mouth:
-"This stuff... tastes absolutely atrocious! Ugh..."
She quickly spat the bitten piece of insect onto the ground, wiping her mouth while staring at Mo Feng Yan with an expression of sheer disbelief:
-"How on earth did that freak swallow a whole handful of this?"
Amidst the chaos of people throwing up and lamenting, Chu Hao Cheng suddenly walked over to the two of us with a grim expression. Without saying a word, he decisively plunged his hand into the pumpkin, boldly scooped up a massive handful of insects, and stuffed them straight into his mouth, chewing furiously.
On the surface, Chu Hao Cheng's face appeared quite calm, and he even tried to act as if nothing was wrong. However, looking down, I immediately noticed that both of his hands were clenched tightly into fists, green veins bulging dramatically as he exerted every ounce of his strength to stop himself from throwing it all back up. He was using sheer willpower to force his body to accept this garbage food.