271: They panicked.

Xu Huan had a hunch and looked at the others; surprisingly, everyone had survived, and they had all gathered enough mushrooms.

The only one in a sorry state was Nan Wuji, who was currently glaring at The three women with spite.

The three women pretended not to see him and started cooking the mushrooms.

Xu Huan looked at Wang Xueting, who looked back blankly. Then, both women turned their heads and met a pair of bewildered yet clear eyes.

"Ahem."

The three women coughed, realizing that for them, the hardest part of this round wasn't gathering or eating the mushrooms, but cooking them.

Xu Huan racked her brain for a long time before waving her hand grandly. "It's just cooking mushrooms; I can do it! First step: wash the mushrooms clean."

Everyone pitched in. Since Russula mushrooms were among the easiest to clean, they were ready in no time.

"Second step: add water and boil!" Xu Huan said with a determined look.

"Uh..." The two women looked at each other.

"Don't you believe me?" Xu Huan said angrily.

"But... what about the oil? Don't you need oil to cook mushrooms?" Wang Xueting hit the nail on the head.

"Oil... add it after the water boils. I've seen the boys in class make instant noodles like that."

Xu Huan said it with such conviction that the other two women felt it made sense and started the fire.

"Young ladies, that's not how you cook mushrooms. To make them taste good, it's best to stir-fry them in oil first."

The old man who had identified the mushrooms earlier walked over, intending to offer guidance, but an Ultraman blocked his path. Standing 40 meters tall, the Ultraman made the old man look like an ant.

A dull voice rang out. "Please leave. We'll cook them ourselves!"

"I'm already in a team, just thought I'd offer some guidance. You're all pampered young girls; I can tell you don't know how to cook," the old man explained.

"Please leave!" the Ultraman insisted.

The old man sighed and turned away, his back looking full of desolation.

Liu Yilin felt a bit bad, but seeing her two friends react with indifference, she couldn't help but feel curious. "Don't you think that's a bit... a bit... you know?"

"Not at all! My brother must have his reasons for doing this," Xu Huan said with certainty.

Wang Xueting nodded along, looking equally certain.

"Your brother?" Liu Yilin looked at the 40-meter-tall Ultraman, then back at the 1.7-meter-tall Xu Huan, feeling that the siblings didn't look much alike.

"Bubble, bubble..."

The mushrooms were cooked.

People at the other pots had already started eating, and Xu Huan looked at the pot and felt theirs were about ready, too.

"Who's going to eat first?"

"I'll do it!" An unenhanced Ultraman opened his massive mouth, unafraid of the heat, and swallowed a bowl of mushrooms in one gulp.

"Not poisonous."

The three women smelled the fragrant aroma and drooled, then began to eat. Their expressions immediately stiffened.

"Did we add salt?" Wang Xueting asked, puzzled.

"We did, just not enough," Xu Huan insisted, trying to save face.

Everyone was together; how could they not know if salt had been added? However, no one exposed her; after all, they were all weaklings.

"Still no salt," Wang Xueting reminded her.

Xu Huan added more a few times. By the time they could taste the salt, the accumulated amount had boiled, and it was now far too salty.

The Ultraman who had eaten the mushrooms earlier stepped forward. "I'm not picky about taste. If you don't mind, I can eat it all."

"Thank you." The three women hurriedly expressed their gratitude and finished the salty mushrooms in their bowls.

Then, they watched as the Ultraman picked up the entire pot and poured everything into his mouth.

"Ah..." A sharp female voice rang out.

Becky began coughing up blood. She had already consumed the poisonous meat soup earlier, and with the poisonous mushrooms added, she was rolling on the ground in pain.

"Becky, hurry up and eat the rest of the mushrooms, otherwise you'll leave them for us later," Nan Wuji reminded her.

"That's right! Young lady, you're a professional; you can't harm us ordinary people!"

"Eat quickly! We don't want to eat your leftovers."

"..."

The crowd, initially tense, turned their remaining concern into urgency after hearing Nan Wuji's reminder. These were lethal poisonous mushrooms; if even a professional was coughing up blood, they would likely drop dead on the spot if they ate them.

The three women were furious watching this, but with the Ultramen and others blocking the way, they could only watch.

Xiong Jingxiang walked over, but the others didn't tone it down; instead, they clamored for her to hurry up and take care of it.

"You're the leader, you're responsible! You professionals can't help us, fine, but you can't harm us!"

"Exactly, exactly. It was one thing that we couldn't fight earlier, but making us eat leftovers? That's no way to treat people."

"Everyone, be quiet! I'll eat it!" After finding that her dry-mouthed explanations were useless, Xiong Jingxiang made a promise, and the crowd finally quieted down.

Becky cried as she gulped down the poisonous mushrooms in the bowl. After swallowing them, she flashed a tragic, beautiful smile and died.

"Silly child!" Xiong Jingxiang knew that Becky didn't want to implicate her, but if she had shared even a little bit, both of them could have survived.

The three women found the scene hard to stomach, and they faintly understood why Xu Le wouldn't let others get close to them.

The human heart can be great, great enough to rival the sun and moon; it can also be dark, dark enough not to give others a chance to breathe.

If they had given Becky a little more time and everyone had shared that poisonous mushroom, no one would have died.

The meal ended with one dead, two Spirit Tamer students poisoned, and one ordinary tourist poisoned to death.

The Beautiful Woman had reaped two lives and a good show; her complexion was so rosy it looked like it could drip water.

"The current numbers of the three factions are 14, 3, and 38. Everyone is top-tier at self-preservation, but there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of eliminating opponents. Keep it up, ducks!"

The second round of the game has ended; now it is time for everyone to state their views and enter the exile phase.

An Ultraman raised his hand immediately. "I don't think that old man is a good person. I'm casting my vote for him."

"Ah—" the crowd exclaimed.

The old man had helped everyone identify mushrooms earlier and guided them in cooking them later. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a man of virtue and prestige. To suffer such slander now was just too much!

"Scrape, scrape, scrape..."

Three tourists immediately stood up, and even two Beast Tamer students stepped forward.

"Impossible! Old Wu has a good personality, knows a lot, and is well-liked. I think you're just jealous of his popularity."

"How shameless! Starting to eliminate dissidents this early? You must be an alien."

"You big idiot, please grow a brain. You spend all day stepping on people without any valid reason, just spouting nonsense."

"..."

The Ultraman didn't get angry. He looked at the Beautiful Woman. "Can I take action directly?"

The woman shook her head. "No! The world is so beautiful; we must live in peace. You can only use underhanded tactics during the game phase; you cannot act openly and disrupt harmony. Otherwise, I'll have to lock him in the second-layer world."

Those people were startled, but upon hearing the woman's words, they immediately became arrogant again.

"You big idiot, look at how capable you think you are. If you want to do something, go ahead. Don't tell me you're scared?"

"Heh, an idiot who only grows in height but not in brainpower!"

"..."

The Ultraman didn't get angry and just sat back down.

Then, just like in the previous round, all the Ultramen, all the Little Sheep People, and all the Gourd Babies cast their votes for the old man.

The reason was the laughable "not a good person."

But no one could laugh. It was an obvious rigged vote. With their numerical advantage, they were bound to be the final winners.

This time, even Wang Xueting cast a vote for the old man.

"Huh?" Xu Huan and Liu Yilin looked at Wang Xueting in surprise.

Wang Xueting said, "They are getting anxious."