Chapter 42 Don't disappoint me!

This so-called "longevity village" is actually a place where people are bought and sold.

Yu Shuling was well aware of this.

Although people were divided into different classes in her time, taking a virgin girl away to marry without permission was considered abduction, and both local gentry and nobles would be punished.

Of course, there were also some remote areas where the emperor was far away and people acted with impunity because they were isolated from the outside world. The local gentry were domineering and acted like local tyrants. This village was just like those corrupt places before it.

Anger is temporary, and reason can still control it. Yu Shuling did not impulsively run out because of this. Although she could guarantee that she would take down all these NPCs, this was, after all, acting and following the plot, and she could still distinguish between them.

Most importantly, the show uses a "health bar" system. If she dares to fight back, the production team will definitely cut her health bar without any regard for ethics, leaving her speechless.

Taking advantage of the fact that those people inside didn't notice her, Yu Shuling quietly slipped out.

But she didn't go too far, instead carefully observing the situation from her surroundings. Since this family was getting married and had caused such a commotion, it was impossible that she was the only player to have noticed. Sure enough, after circling the area, Yu Shuling saw a familiar figure walking towards her, peering out as they went.

Oh wow.

The newcomer was tall and slender, with soft, slightly wavy black short hair and his bangs styled in an exquisite way. His handsome eyes and slightly aloof expression seemed to be in deep thought. Who else could he be but the male lead?

As soon as Jiang Wenxi stepped out, the system's favorability rating proactively informed Yu Shuling that her score was very low, almost negative. Yu Shuling had expected this and didn't care what he thought of her. She simply smiled mysteriously and beckoned to Jiang Wenxi.

Jiang Wenxi originally didn't want to come.

But this woman was too good at stealing the spotlight. She ran right up to him before he even had a chance to react. He couldn't just pretend he didn't see her under the camera's lens, or he would lose the favor of passersby. So, suppressing his annoyance, he went up to her and nodded as a response.

Jiang Wenxi was about to say that he had something to do and was about to leave when Yu Shuling grabbed his sleeve.

Jiang Wenxi frowned slightly without realizing it.

He disliked Yu Shuling's inappropriate behavior.

As a rising male idol, Jiang Wenxi's biggest fear is being embroiled in scandals, yet Yu Shuling keeps trying to get close to him. To avoid suspicion, when he saw Mu Yubing during his search today, he only gave her a friendly greeting and left in a hurry before she could speak, preventing the production team from capitalizing on his popularity for publicity.

Yu Shuling was the only exception.

She was quite strong, and Jiang Wenxi couldn't break free too much for fear of hurting her, so he could only subtly pull his hand back. But when Jiang Wenxi tried, he couldn't break free. Yu Shuling gripped his sleeve even tighter—Jiang Wenxi was wearing long sleeves because he didn't have any mosquito repellent in his supply pack, and his arms would be a mess if he wore short sleeves after being attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes at night.

Yu Shuling's behavior has indeed sparked discontent among some of her fans. These fans are no longer concerned with the plot of the variety show, but rather with whether their idol maintains appropriate distance from others. People like Yu Shuling are being criticized by overly aggressive fans as "clinging to someone else."

At the beginning of the show, Chenxi was able to control the barrage of comments, allowing the entire screen to be filled with fans. However, as more casual viewers joined, many naturally broke the meaningless barrage of support messages, and even some overly aggressive fans who wanted to attack Yu Shuling were quickly suppressed. Most people were now anxious about how the story would unfold.

Actually, it's quite easy to see what Yu Shuling was guessing about the plot.

Even if she doesn't mess with that NPC during the day, everyone will be drawn here by the loud gongs and drums at night, thus triggering the plot.

The woman locked in the room, desperately resisting, is a symbol of their forced marriage. No normal village would choose to get married at this strange time of night unless they had something to hide.

There's no way a beautiful young woman in her early twenties could marry a man who's unattractive, from a poor rural area, and old enough to be her father. After Yu Shuling's brief explanation, even though Jiang Wenxi hadn't witnessed the scene firsthand, his brows furrowed deeply, and after a moment, he uttered two words:

"human trafficking?"

Aside from female college students being trafficked to mountainous areas, Jiang Wenxi couldn't think of any other possibilities. Seeing that he wasn't entirely stupid, Yu Shuling nodded in response.

What do you want to do?

As the male lead, Jiang Wenxi couldn't possibly be a simple-minded fool. After a little thought, he understood that Yu Shuling had approached him to form an alliance. Moreover, they had made a pact during their time in the bandit's den. Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that his relationship with Yu Shuling was closer than with others, making their partnership more solid.

After all, Yu Shuling didn't go out with her teammate Kawana tonight either.

"There are a lot of people over there, and they're making a huge fuss. There's absolutely no way the two of us can bring them out safely."

The bride is a living, breathing person, and they should be able to persuade her to go with them. But the people on the other side aren't stupid either. They've brought home such a beautiful bride, and they haven't even had a chance to get married yet. How could they let her run away so easily? This must be a difficult problem set up by the production team.

Yu Shuling looked up at him and said, "I have an idea."

At this moment, Jiang Wenxi calmed down and said, "Go ahead."

Yu Shuling then told him.

Jiang Wenxi's expression was indescribable.

"How could you..."

He wanted to say, "Why are you always thinking about such terrible ideas?" but it didn't seem right to say it, since Yu Shuling was also thinking about the girl inside.

Although it was part of the plot, just listening to Yu Shuling's vivid description, Jiang Wenxi felt quite sorry for the girl. Besides, he couldn't think of a better solution for the time being. And he was a man; if Yu Shuling came to him, he couldn't very well let her go back to face danger again—that would be too cowardly and would be ridiculed by the audience.

“Oh right,” Yu Shuling handed the task to him, then turned back after taking only two steps, giving Jiang Wenxi a serious once-over, and asked the question that had been bothering her, “Are you sure you can do it?”

Yu Shuling was genuinely worried about him.

She had originally planned to go by herself, but then she thought that as a woman, she would be restricted here. If those people grabbed her without any regard for the consequences and sent her to another family to be a "wife," then her activities tonight would be restricted.

Jiang Wenxi didn't understand her deeper meaning. She only felt that the frequency with which she said "no" in front of her was too high. She felt both ashamed and angry, and finally couldn't help but grit her teeth and call out her name:

"Yu Shuling!"

He has eight-pack abs, okay?!

Sensing the male lead's displeasure, Yu Shuling didn't bother arguing with him anymore. She gave a light "hmm," as if to soothe him, her eyes revealing a hint of a smile.

Just kidding, don't disappoint me.

After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.

Yu Shuling's idea was to find help herself, while Jiang Wenxi could look for an opportunity at the entrance. If she encountered someone attending the wedding banquet alone, as long as they were of similar build and age, she could strip them of their clothes. Anyway, there were so many people today, she didn't believe that the NPCs could remember what everyone else looked like. As long as she could sneak in, she could find the girl and let the girl inside know first.

"But didn't we come here to find the secret of the water source? Why did it veer off to a wedding?"

Meanwhile, the fitness coach encountered MC Zhou Ya midway and asked her a question. He had never participated in this kind of variety show before and was still a bit confused. The two heard the sound of gongs and drums and rushed over, only to find that the village was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations all along the way.

The large red lanterns hanging high in the leaves illuminated the surroundings, casting a crimson glow on the ground. Instead of creating a sense of warmth, it evoked a feeling of unease. The fitness instructor, though physically strong and adept at haunted houses, was a different story when immersed in a complete map's narrative.

"The water source might just be a smokescreen; the production team often sets it up like that."

Zhou Ya's expression also became wary as she surveyed her surroundings. On her way here, she had seen a small treasure chest tied to a tree and was about to take it when she saw an animal that looked like a monkey sitting cross-legged on the treetop throwing things at her. Upon closer inspection, the creature resembled a human, but it was covered in fur, with only half its face visible. The pale complexion hidden beneath the fur was particularly terrifying.

Even with extensive recording experience, Zhou Ya was completely unprepared and was terrified, running away as fast as she could.

She hadn't run far when she bumped into the fitness instructor, who stopped her. Upon seeing a familiar "living person," Zhou Ya described her experience that day, but the fitness instructor was unimpressed and insisted that she take him to see the so-called monster.

Today they basically encountered wild men. The fitness coach felt that this was nothing more frightening than the wild men in the village. He wasn't afraid of those people and even exchanged a few blows with the wild men.

It only cost me a little bit of health.

Zhou Ya has a good memory; even though she was terrified, she remembered the general direction and headed there with her fitness instructor. But when they reached the tree, there was nothing there.

Seeing this, the fitness instructor mocked Zhou Ya, jumped up to reach the box, but couldn't. After climbing the tree, he finally managed to grab the rope holding the box, only to find that the box couldn't be taken down; he could only pull the rope to open it from the spot.

Zhou Ya waited below, not constantly looking up. She was well aware of the production team's tactics and kept an eye on her surroundings, lest something suddenly appear and ruin their efforts. When she heard a noise, she instinctively looked up and saw a dark ball of yarn falling towards her without warning.

After the ball of yarn rolled around a few times, Zhou Ya realized that it was actually a "human head" covered in long, thick hair.

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-01-02 22:12:01 and 2024-01-04 21:54:55!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Moyu (5 bottles);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!