139: poisonous plot

“What a pity, brothers, the Little Boss isn't at this food exhibition! We'll go look elsewhere now!”

Neighbor sighed regretfully into the camera.

But he couldn't have been happier inside.

The longer it took to find the Little Boss, the more traffic he could milk from this gimmick.

With his various sophisticated fan-attracting methods, he would sooner or later snatch all of Baba Le's followers.

So, Little Boss, Little Boss, you'd best not show up!

Hehehe... After leaving the food exhibition, Neighbor headed straight for the northern area of the square.

His scout told him that Baba Le had already explored the other three areas and was now heading to the northern area.

So he had to act fast!

Preferably, he should finish exploring the northern area before Baba Le arrived!

This would be a brilliant checkmate!

According to Neighbor's plan, no matter whether Baba Le explored the northern area next or not, he would fall into his trap, causing a further loss of followers!

The first scenario was that Baba Le, knowing the northern area had already been explored by him, would turn around and leave the square directly to search for the Little Boss elsewhere.

Then his people would frantically set the pace in Baba Le's live stream, saying that Baba Le was peeking and plagiarizing the hard work of other streamers, only resorting to opportunism, fooling followers, and was a dishonest and immoral streamer.

With conclusive evidence, Baba Le would be unable to defend himself, and his reputation and public image would be tarnished!

The second scenario was that Baba Le would feign ignorance and still stubbornly explore the northern area.

Then the pace-setters would change their tune, heavily promoting in Baba Le's live stream phrases like, “Neighbor has already explored the northern area; this streamer is just following in others' footsteps.”

If such words were said too often, some wavering viewers would believe them to be true and turn to his live stream to check for “first-hand news”!

Hehehe, under my meticulously crafted venomous scheme, Baba Le, aren't you dead yet?

Neighbor moved the camera away, a sinister smile involuntarily appearing on his face.

Ten seconds later, he finally ran to the exit of the food exhibition on the northern side, then shouted into the camera.

“Brothers, we've arrived at the northern area of the square! I have a premonition that the Little Boss should be here, everyone, just wait and see!”

After speaking, he rudely rushed into the crowd, pushing and bumping his way through.

During this, he knocked over a little girl but ignored her cries, heading straight for the first snack stall.

Upon seeing that the stall owner was not Lu Chuan, he cursed in front of the owner, then turned and left, rushing to the second snack stall.

Neighbor's behavior once again stirred up conflict in the live stream.

Viewers on both sides argued, shouting insults at each other.

Neighbor watched the live stream's popularity steadily rise, the smile on his face becoming increasingly pathological.

Three minutes later, after maliciously bumping into pedestrians without yielding, the entire vast northern area had been thoroughly explored by him.

And at this moment, the latest news he received showed that Baba Le was on his way to the northern area!

Neighbor felt triumphant, then put on a regretful expression, leaned into the camera, and said:

“It seems the streamer guessed wrong again; the Little Boss isn't setting up a stall here in the square! Brothers, don't be discouraged, the streamer will take you to stroll through the bustling night market in the city center! Let's go!”

...Meanwhile, the trolls, who had already received instructions, immediately began setting the pace as soon as Baba Le entered the northern area.

[Indifferent: Neighbor has already finished exploring the northern area, and this streamer is only just arriving, it's hilarious!]

[Classmate Xiao Ming: Really, really? Does that mean the Little Boss isn't in the northern area?]

[Passing By: No way, no way?! Other streamers have already confirmed the Little Boss isn't in the northern area, so why are you still coming here, streamer? Aren't you just purely wasting everyone's time?]

[Bad Company: Streamer, you wouldn't be not wanting to find the Little Boss at all, would you? I'm so disappointed in you!]

[Hidden Blade: Everyone, don't waste time here, go to Neighbor's live stream! He's truly helping us find the Little Boss!]

...In just a moment, the trolls sent out hundreds of malicious comments they had already prepared.

With just a few people, they occupied most of the chat area.

Under the relentless pace-setting by these few, some viewers were indeed tricked into going to Neighbor's live stream.

However, Baba Le at this moment had changed his previous anxious demeanor; even watching the dwindling number of viewers in the live stream, he simply chuckled and ignored it.

And the old fans in the live stream also turned a blind eye to these jumping trolls.

Thus, Baba Le leisurely strolled through the northern area.

Occasionally, when he saw an interesting stall, he would stop to play for a while and interact with his old fans from time to time.

“Hahaha, everyone, the master at the fortune-telling stall just said that I would find the Little Boss in the northern area!”

“In my excitement, I immediately tipped him a ten-yuan bill!”

“Hey, don't worry about whether the master is real or not, what I want is emotional value! Who cares if he's real or not!”

“Everyone, this beautiful busker, her legs are great, and her singing is beautiful!”

“What? You say the streamer is a pervert? That's slander, pure slander! You owe the streamer compensation for emotional distress; how about this, one small gift each and I'll forgive you!”

Amidst Baba Le and his old fans' cheerful interactions, the trolls, who were desperately setting the pace, felt like they had become mere background noise, growing bored and slowly falling silent.

Seeing the live stream return to peace, Baba Le shook his head and chuckled bitterly.

One is helpless in the jianghu.

He sighed inwardly, then continued to chat idly with his old fans.

As he walked and browsed, Baba Le unknowingly reached the northeast corner area.

A large flower bed stood in this place, with only a small path leading inside.

A “Rest Area” sign was erected at the entrance and exit.

Baba Le saw that there were no stalls in this area, which seemed “incredibly desolate,” and was about to turn back.

Just then, he suddenly heard some sounds coming from the flower bed.

At first, he thought someone was resting in the flower bed.

But then he heard muffled thuds, as if someone was throwing things.

Occasionally, surprised screams would also be heard.

Baba Le's curiosity was immediately piqued, and he promptly signaled Xiao Hu to follow.

Then he stepped onto the flower bed path and walked inside.

As he proceeded, the sounds from the flower bed gradually became clearer.

“...throw...ring toss...success...smash again...”

Baba Le's ears twitched, catching some keywords.

“Ring toss? Is someone playing ring toss in there?”