Chapter 95

Tang Tian: Yoho!

Did it really get blown out?

Is that thing a rare orchid?

After Shijian had nothing to show for her efforts, she muttered to herself, and some of the audience couldn't help but smile affectionately. The big star is so cute.

Some others thought it was just a waste of effort.

Now: ??? This is possible?!

The fingerless female streamer had been comforted multiple times, but that lingering sense of guilt still remained, like someone stuck in a dilemma, struggling to find a way out.

Although they didn’t form a team on purpose and it was all just fate, they still got along well during their time together.

To the fingerless female streamer, Shijian’s contribution to the team was unquestionable—

The main source of combat power, quick-witted, and often surprising them; Tang Tian’s invisibility skills were also incredibly useful; the chef may not be able to contribute much in terms of clearing the game, but she had certainly put in a lot of effort in everyday tasks.

The fingerless female streamer hoped she could contribute as well. At first, when her skill was activated, she was happy to finally make a contribution, but it didn’t work out as expected.

Now, Shijian’s words brought her back to life.

It turned out she hadn’t sensed the mentor, but the orchid!

She made a contribution! That’s all that mattered!

The fingerless female streamer was eager to get started.

Operation: All-out pursuit of the rare orchid, starting now.

...

Just as Shijian had said—

Nowhere to run.

Although the rare orchid was quick, it couldn’t escape the encirclement of four people.

Shijian, quickly assessing the surroundings and their positions, made a decision as she chased the orchid, simultaneously giving instructions.

“You wait by the door.” She said this to the chef.

The orchid instinctively tried to run toward the cell door, where the chef was standing not far away. The chef nodded and, grinning, crouched down, extending her ten fingers.

Orchid: "..." I don't want to be caught.

The orchid quickly hit the brakes and tried to rush in another direction. Between the cells, there were still gaps—it had a chance.

Shijian had already called out to Tang Tian.

Tang Tian nodded, "I’ve got it covered!"

With her there, not even a mosquito would escape, let alone an orchid.

Orchid: "..."

And one side was blocked by the fingerless female streamer.Of course, it didn't have time to rush toward the others before a plastic basin suddenly dropped from the sky and covered it entirely.

It was Shijian’s doing. She raised her eyebrows, smiling like a flower. "Where are you running?"

Tang Tian looked puzzled, "…Where did the basin come from?"

Shijian pointed around with the free hand, signaling.

The basin was something Shijian had casually picked up, probably left behind by Dr. Kong.

Rare orchid, got it!

The rare orchid, trapped under the plastic basin, felt utterly humiliated.

It would’ve been better to be grabbed by hand.

However, Shijian was too busy enjoying herself to care about the orchid’s feelings.

After obtaining one of their objectives, the rare orchid, everyone showed joy and high spirits, the mood lightening significantly among them.

This prison visit wasn’t in vain!

...

"This orchid is not what I imagined, why does it look like this?"

No matter what, they had made progress. After a brief celebration, everyone had some time to chat. Shijian stared at the malnourished orchid with a hint of disdain.

The fingerless female streamer said, "Lucky we saw a plant with legs running before, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been prepared when it started running."

Tang Tian joked, "As soon as this orchid was tricked, it was outed! There must be some rumors circulating in the Misty Forest’s plant community, right?"

Tang Tian was just casually saying it, but she actually guessed correctly.

The rare orchid wasn’t as weak-willed as it seemed, but the bloodsucking plants, suffering from severe mental and physical trauma, had spread panic throughout the whole instance.

[Urgent notice: There are four people here, who eat plants and even bloodsucking plants won't be spared!]

[That long-haired, beautiful woman leading them is the most terrifying! She's the one leading the plant-eating charge!]

[Brothers and sisters, plants, listen to me, run as soon as you see her! If you’re late, you’re done for!]

As a plant, the rare orchid received this information too. It immediately recognized the beautiful woman leading the charge—Shijian. So when Shijian asked it a question, to it, it felt like the devil’s whisper.

The rare orchid's mental state broke, and it fled, though it was pointless. At least it struggled.

Tang Tian took control of the pace, asking Shijian, "We need to quickly figure out how to get out of here, we don’t want the big snake catching up."

"Also, should we just leave the cannibal tribe’s camp?"

They had bravely entered the cannibal tribe’s prison, but still hadn't found their mentor. Staying any longer in the cannibal tribe's camp was pointless, and it was dangerous.

Tang Tian was deeply frustrated, "I don’t know where the mentor is."

While speaking, Shijian heard her phone buzzing. She picked it up, glanced at it, and made a sound of surprise.

She called out to everyone, "Look, Dr. Kong sent another message in the group."

Everyone, hearing this, simultaneously took out their phones.Look at the group messages.

...

Dr. Kong, who was their nominal mentor, had only sent a distress message at the beginning of the instance, and then there had been no further communication.

After learning that the senior had kidnapped the mentor, Shijian and the others had naturally assumed that the message had come from the senior.

But they never expected that the missing mentor would suddenly reach out to them at this moment?

The senior was still lying in the coffin, and Shijian and the others knew this better than anyone. Clearly, the senior couldn’t cause trouble anymore, so it was very likely that Dr. Kong was still alive and now contacting them himself!

Shijian got excited: This is great!

At first, Shijian had no idea where to find the mentor. But seeing his response, she temporarily withdrew her criticism of him being irresponsible.

If Dr. Kong had managed to save himself, their mission would be much smoother.

Dr. Kong was urgently asking about their situation in the practice group. He had no signal and his phone was dead before, but he had managed to charge it and get a signal, so he sent the message as soon as possible.

Dr. Kong also told them, "Kids, you must be careful of the senior and the senior sister, they are from the cannibal tribe, and they eat people!"

He kept calling them "kids"—he really seemed like a good teacher, an elder who cared for his students.

As for the Schrödinger-like signal, Shijian couldn’t even be bothered to complain. They all knew the senior was from the cannibal tribe by now; what they wanted to know was where Dr. Kong was.

So, Shijian and the others all chimed in the group chat to confirm that they were safe.

The other group hadn’t been in contact yet, and Shijian’s signal flare had gone unanswered. Given the dangers of the instance, they felt that group might be in serious trouble.

Shijian went straight to the point, "Mentor, where are you right now?"

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the response.

The mission was just ahead!

Now that the orchid was in hand, all they needed was to find the mentor.

Dr. Kong responded quickly, but after Shijian read it, she felt overly optimistic.

In fact, the more she thought about it, the more it became terrifying.

Dr. Kong replied to Shijian, "I’m locked in the deepest part of the cannibal tribe’s prison. I also found the rare orchid here, but my leg is injured and I can’t move…"

"Kids, I need your rescue, but don’t worry, it’s not too dangerous. I’ve already gathered some information."

"The cannibal tribe guards change shifts every night at 12, and there will be a five-minute window when no one is around. You can use that time to come in. The prison is located in the southwest, in a separate building like a cave. The key is with the cannibal tribe's chief, and it’s a white stone. I’ve left you some tranquilizers; use them if necessary..."

Dr. Kong had sent a lengthy and detailed plan, but everyone didn’t really pay attention to it. They just stared at each other, confused.

Just like Shijian, everyone immediately noticed the key point: the mentor said he was in the tribe’s prison.

But there was no sign of Dr. Kong anywhere.

They had already reached the deepest part of the prison, and they had been very careful along the way. If there was a living person here, they would have noticed.

...

[What’s going on?][Is the mentor also capable of invisibility?]

[This suddenly turned into a mystery, what’s going on with Dr. Kong?]

The viewers in the live stream also started discussing.

"The mentor says he's in the prison?"

"Then where are we?"

The most confused was the host herself. The mentor’s message had thrown everyone into chaos.

Who are they? Where are they? What are they doing? Who is real, and who is fake?

Shijian was also confused at first, but she was certain about a few things.

She was definitely real!

She was the popular first-tier female celebrity, Shijian.

She was here to show her beauty and talent to the audience while also finding the mentor to complete the mission and leave the instance.

Shijian tapped the screen with her fingertips and came to a conclusion. "The mentor is lying."

They had searched the prison and didn’t see Dr. Kong, which could only mean one thing—he was lying.

And no danger? That huge snake in the prison and it's supposed to be safe?

Although Shijian didn’t know what the other party was planning, it was clear Dr. Kong was intentionally trying to lure the students into the cannibal tribe’s prison. But he had miscalculated—Shijian and the others were already inside.

After all, who could have guessed that real people would end up in the cannibal tribe’s village?

Shijian couldn’t help but complain, "I thought it was like the Calabash Brothers saving Grandpa, but who knew Grandpa wasn’t at all honest? He’s a bad guy?"

The mentor’s message, telling the students to go to the prison, felt like something out of a villain’s script.

Tang Tian breathed a sigh of relief. If they hadn’t entered the prison, they would have likely taken the mentor’s words seriously, and the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Tang Tian followed the conversation with the mentor, "Should we get the mentor to reveal where he is?"

Shijian thought it could be simpler. She discussed with the others, "Let’s have the mentor come find us directly."

Shijian was tired of running. Without the carriage driver zombies around, it would make more sense for the mentor to come find them.

Audience: ??? Big beautiful tribe leader, are you going to stir things up again?

Tang Tian and the other two hosts decisively chose the latter. No need to discuss further—just get started!

...

How to make the mentor come find them?

Shijian first expressed her doubts in the group chat.

She couldn’t be sure if the person on the other end was really the mentor. Even though she wanted to rescue him, what if the other side was the bad guy?

Dr. Kong sent a voice message as proof.

"I am Dr. Kong."His voice matched his ID photo, a steady, elderly man.

Shijian, however, said, “Voices can be altered now.” In her pursuit of truth and practicality, she needed stronger proof.

She firmly added that this was what the school and teachers had taught them.

Shijian: The graduate student persona won’t break.

Dr. Kong seemed irritated by Shijian’s questioning. He sent a message, “Are you listening to the school and the teachers now?”

“When you failed eight courses at the end of the semester, why didn’t you listen then?”

Shijian: ???

Tang Tian: ???

Everyone had been nervously watching the exchange between Shijian and Dr. Kong online, and suddenly, this unexpected interruption happened.

Shijian was speechless. What was going on with this instance? She raised her head and seriously clarified, “Pure rumors.”

She didn’t fail any courses, and failing eight was too exaggerated.

Audience: What’s going on with this instance?! But, hey, another piece of material for the silly beauty character.

Failing eight courses at the end of the semester.

Everyone had anticipated the worst-case scenario—Dr. Kong would ignore them, and that line would be cut off.

But it seemed Dr. Kong was indeed very eager to get the students into the prison. Despite his reluctance, he finally agreed to Shijian’s request to call out to him from outside the wall to confirm his identity.

Shijian set a date with him.

After Shijian finished contacting Dr. Kong, distant shouting could be heard from outside.

“The hostage escaped!”

“The hostage also drew the clan leader’s blood.”

“Catch the hostage!”

The outside was chaotic, in complete disarray, and Shijian and the others hurried to slip out of the prison.

This time, the main gate was open.

...

The cannibal tribe’s village was in an uproar, no less than a feast where they ate human flesh, though with a slightly different nature.

Before, it had been a celebration for the cannibal tribe; now, everything had descended into chaos.

Shijian quickly learned that the hostage was Dr. Kong. He had tried to escape but was discovered by the cannibal tribe because Dr. Kong hadn’t snuck away quietly—he had also drawn a vial of the clan leader’s blood.

There was another piece of news: The giant snake was dead.

The cannibal tribe was wailing and grieving, their guardian deity was gone.

After hearing this, Shijian’s first reaction was, “Which big cutie did this good deed?”

When they had first entered the prison, they had been fiercely chased by the giant snake. To say they weren’t scared back then would be a lie. Later, Shijian had wondered where the giant snake had gone.So it’s really dead.

The cannibal tribe beside them, wailing and grieving:?

Did she hear something?

Shijian showed a sad expression, “Which big bad guy did this bad deed?”

No, you didn’t hear wrong, that’s actually correct.

The cannibal tribe leader was furious, roaring, “We must catch that hostage! This time, I’ll tear him apart and eat him!”

Some of the tribe members gathered around the leader, “Leader, they’ve been in the tribe all along. Could it be that they were involved in the hostage escaping...”

The eyes of the others turned to Shijian and her group.

Tang Tian: ! Even lying down, they’re getting shot at.

Though they were indeed not innocent, the hostage escaping had nothing to do with them.

Before the leader could finish speaking, Shijian took the initiative and stepped forward.

With genuine sincerity, she said, “We at the Biyou Ti Fo Tribe also feel deeply sorry for what happened to you. We strongly condemn such evil people who draw the clan leader’s blood and even kill the giant snake... But it’s okay, I have a way to bring him back.”

“I used a new type of poison.”

The cannibal tribe leader’s expression softened a lot, “Oh?”

The suspicion that had just flared up was now dispelled.

Shijian’s words and actions made it clear that she was standing with the cannibal tribe.

First, to get rid of the suspicion—they had indeed taken the rare orchid, which wasn’t exactly innocent. If the angry cannibal tribe saw them as dinner, it wouldn’t be ideal.

Second, to wait for the mentor to come to them, they needed to continue being here. They hadn’t given the cannibal tribe their promised human meat, which made them prone to suspicion.

Now was the perfect time.

Also, Shijian wasn’t sure how strong Dr. Kong was in a fight. If Dr. Kong had killed the giant snake, and the cannibal tribe tried to retaliate, they would be somewhat safer.

The crisis was averted again.

The chef hadn’t forgotten the giant snake. Confirming that they were now safe and just waiting for the mentor to come and leave the instance, the chef moved a little closer to Shijian, who was still engaged in friendly socializing with the tribe.

“The giant snake.”

“Can we eat the giant snake?”

Maybe her family’s traditional recipes could come in handy.

Shijian translated, “Snake god, do you need our help with the exorcism and burial?”

The cannibal tribe leader felt that the Biyou Ti Fo Tribe was really both foolish and warm-hearted. He was truly so saddened that he didn’t know what to do with the giant snake’s corpse.

So sad.

Thus, the cannibal tribe leader entrusted the burial of the giant snake to Shijian and her group.

The giant snake was buried in the hosts’ stomachs, and the smell was absolutely delicious.Dr. Kong arrived ten minutes earlier than the agreed time.

After arriving near the prison, he first checked the surroundings, looked around, and then skillfully climbed the wall, opened a large stone, and was about to crawl inside.

The prison’s outer wall was very sturdy, but Dr. Kong used some highly corrosive solvent to dissolve a hole, creating an entry and exit.

He crawled in and out from there.

Dr. Kong originally didn’t want to come back, but he needed to use the students to obtain the orchid. The cannibal tribe was blessed by the Snake God, and the orchid was actually the main reason the giant snake hadn’t left the place.

If the orchid was removed, the giant snake would get angry.

But by using a few students to tie up the giant snake, they could steal the rare orchid amid the chaos.

Dr. Kong comforted himself, thinking that he’d temporarily let those foolish students get their validation, and soon they would die in the giant snake’s coils!

However, Dr. Kong never expected that as soon as he had half his body inside the prison, he would see a row of students standing there.

Shijian tilted her head, greeted the shocked Dr. Kong politely, “Hi, mentor.”

“Mentor, your leg is better now? You can climb this high already?” Shijian teased.

They had entered the prison early, and after hearing the noise, they ran over just in time to witness Dr. Kong trying to crawl into the prison.

In contrast to the polite greeting, Shijian’s actions were quite different.

She grabbed a branch and pushed Dr. Kong, who was trying to escape after realizing something was wrong, further inside.

Watching this unfold, the rare orchid, which had already been controlled, thought, "..."

It suddenly felt a bit more balanced now. At least the tool they used to catch it was a pot.

Dr. Kong couldn’t escape, and now the orchid and the mentor were both secured.

However, Shijian and the others hadn’t heard the sound signaling the completion of the mission yet. Shijian guessed it was probably because they were waiting for Dr. Kong’s confession.

Tang Tian and the others were also curious, “Mentor, why did you do this? Why lead us into the cannibal tribe’s prison?!”

They were still technically in a student-teacher relationship.

Dr. Kong quickly revealed the truth, “Because I need to complete my great plan and experiment!”

According to Dr. Kong’s explanation, he had known from the start that the senior was involved with the cannibal tribe. When he came to the Misty Forest, he was setting up a trap.

He had long wanted to obtain the rare orchid and study the differences between the cannibal tribe and normal humans. For this, Dr. Kong had made extensive preparations.

However, relying on just himself, he couldn’t take the orchid without alerting the giant snake.

“But every time the giant snake strangles someone, it takes time. As long as three of you survive, that’ll be enough for me to take the rare orchid.”

Although they weren’t actually students, the idea of a mentor sending students to their deaths still gave everyone a chill.

The one-handed female broadcaster spoke with genuine emotion, questioning Dr. Kong, “Do you still have any humanity left? This is so cruel!”The chef corrected the others, "Don't get worked up. What's human nature got to do with a horror game dungeon?"

Dr. Kong laughed wildly when he heard this. His expression turned maniacal, completely losing the gentle elder demeanor, "For science, for research, giving up lives is your honor!"

"A bunch of cowardly, scaredy-cats."

He snorted coldly.

Shijian snorted twice, "If you weren't scared of death, why make students die?" She went straight for the heart of the matter.

"Sanctimonious old bastard."

Dr. Kong, "...".

Audience: Thank you, Shijian. She’s the internet’s best mouthpiece!

Dr. Kong kept repeating how perfect his plan was and how important the experiment was, but as he went on, he eventually stopped.

He impatiently glanced at Shijian, "Can you stop with the interference?"

During this, Shijian didn’t speak, but her expressions were very lively—sometimes surprised, sometimes indignant... all vividly portrayed.

Shijian: Since we can’t leave the dungeon for now, let’s not be idle. Villains usually have dedicated moments to reveal their monologues.

Time to steal the spotlight.

She quickly stole the show.

The effect was indeed very good. The audience started paying attention to Shijian’s expressions as they listened.

Facing the dissatisfied Dr. Kong, Shijian remained calm, "That’s your problem, you need to overcome it yourself."

“Ding ding ding~”

As Tang Tian began to wonder if something went wrong, the familiar sound of completing the mission finally rang.

The orchid and the mentor were both found, and the mission was complete.

Everyone’s faces lit up with joy. They had completed the mission!

Shijian notified Dr. Kong, who still looked clueless, "Now you can use your life to study the cannibal tribe."

She had already heard the sound of the cannibal tribe’s large forces approaching.

Shijian elegantly waved at Dr. Kong, "Bye bye."

And left.

But Tang Tian made a new discovery. She felt as if something was watching them, and Shijian had a similar feeling.

It was a blood-sucking plant.

The blood-sucking plants were peeking from around a corner, secretly observing.

Shijian suddenly turned around, and just in time, their eyes met.

Shijian:?

At the last moment, what were they doing, trying to strike back?Shijian immediately pulled out her chainsaw.

No, the blood-sucking plants understood what Shijian meant.

This group of people was leaving?

The woman who needed to eat a lot of plant leaves every day was leaving?

They hopped further away from Shijian, while jumping and embracing each other. Some of the plant leaves even oozed out transparent liquid continuously.

Tang Tian hesitated before speaking, "… They seem to be really happy."

The blood-sucking plants were indeed very happy. After realizing that Shijian was about to leave, they felt that the gloomy sky had finally brightened, even unable to hold back tears of joy.