*

Bai Youyuan shuffled the cards again and looked at the few people who hadn't drawn their cards yet. Just as she was about to call out names, Gu Beiyan, who had been hiding beside Nan Qing like a shadow, suddenly leaned down and pulled a card from the pile with his slender fingers.

That was the Hermit card, upright.

In the picture, an old man holds a lantern and stands alone on the top of a snow-capped mountain. The light is dim, but it appears particularly firm against the snow.

Gu Beiyan didn't speak, but simply placed the cards on the coffee table with a blank expression, and quietly stared at Bai Youyuan with his dark and deep eyes.

But the aura emanating from him made Bai Youyuan dare not ask any questions. She opened her mouth, and finally, steeling herself, she explained:

"This is the upright card of The Hermit... symbolizing introspection, wisdom, and... the determination to walk alone."

She glanced up briefly, met Gu Beiyan's gaze, then quickly looked away and continued:

"The appearance of this card may mean that... someone has seen their path clearly, but has chosen to remain silent for the time being."

She paused, then added, seemingly with a hidden meaning, "However, the light of a hermit will eventually be seen..."

Gu Beiyan still did not respond, maintaining his cold and indifferent demeanor. However, the eyes behind his glasses were unfathomable, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Seeing that he was no longer looking at her, Bai Youyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly put the cards away, and smiled as if nothing had happened:

"Who's next?"

Nan Qing, on the other hand, glanced thoughtfully at Gu Beiyan's expressionless face.

(How about we dig into this kid's background?)

(Sigh, never mind. He's probably just some minor immortal undergoing reincarnation and tribulation. Why bother letting him know who I am?)

Even after hearing such shocking news, Gu Beiyan remained calm. However, when Nan Qing turned her attention back to the card game, he took out his phone and quickly tapped the screen with his fingertips.

[Find the most famous Buddhist masters in the country]

[One must understand the cycle of reincarnation and tribulations]

[A meeting will be arranged within three days]

After sending the message, he locked the screen and glanced at Nan Qing's profile, where the man was laughing carefree.

Gu Beiyan picked up the glass of red wine beside him, took a sip, and swallowed all his doubts as his Adam's apple bobbed.

After the tarot card game ended, the production crew left one after another, and the guests returned to their rooms.

Nan Qing lay on the soft bed, her feet gently swinging in the air, her fingertips swiping across the phone screen.

"You can only vote for one."

She wrinkled her nose, looking at the voting link sent by the program team with a troubled expression. The dishes—steamed fish head with chopped chili, braised beef brisket with potatoes, baked yellow croaker casserole, and garlic mushroom chicken—all looked delicious.

She turned her head and looked at the furry little creature on the table not far away.

"Xiao Ba, which one do you think we should vote for?"

Hachiko, transformed into a hamster, is happily munching on a mushroom that's not much smaller than itself, wearing a light blue lace bib.

Upon hearing the question, Hachiko raised its little face, which was covered in food crumbs and sauce, and blinked its beady eyes.

[Host, this mushroom is the best!]

Nanqing approved of the choice and directly opted for the garlic mushroom chicken that she loved.

As for the steamed fish head with chopped chili... while it was indeed quite good, there was still a slight difference compared to other dishes.

[Host, according to the plot, you need to make a loving breakfast for the Chosen One tomorrow morning to complete the plot task of your crush on him.]

Hearing Xiao Ba's words, Nan Qing rolled around on the bed in frustration for a couple of minutes, finally sprawling out like a salted fish, and complained with utter despair:

"Xiao Ba, having a crush doesn't necessarily mean you have to make breakfast, right?"

"Are you sure I can really go into the kitchen? What if I start a fire again?"

"Even if it doesn't catch fire or explode, are you sure what I make can really be a breakfast made with love?"

In the other little worlds, whenever she got interested in tinkering with some gadgets, the endings were never very pleasant.

Little Baboon's fluffy body bounced up and landed steadily on the soft blanket in front of Nan Qing. Its beady eyes blinked, and its short tail wiggled as it spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice:

【Host, just imagine~ a warm, soft-boiled egg, gently poked, the orange-yellow yolk slowly flowing out~ and the sizzling bacon curling slightly in the pan.】

And then there's that soft, fluffy soufflé, trembling slightly, drizzled with maple syrup, the syrup slowly flowing and seeping into every delicate pore. Just imagine taking a gentle bite...

Nanqing's stomach rumbled loudly, but she still covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly, muttering:

"Don't try to tempt me. Last time you said scrambled eggs with tomatoes was easy, but what was that lump of stuff...?"

"And the time before that, if I hadn't run so fast, the fire would have definitely burned my hair!!"

Seeing this, Xiao Ba shook its round body, grabbed a tablet from the side with its little paws, and started operating it for a while.

Suddenly, a deep, magnetic voice, carrying the enticing narration unique to food documentaries, slowly flowed from the speaker.

"In the early morning, a bowl of sour soup noodles can awaken the entire soul..."

As the voiceover appears, the bright red sour soup in the casserole is bubbling away, and the rich broth made from tomatoes and peppers is glistening with tempting oil. In a next shot, snow-white rice noodles slide into the boiling broth with a "whoosh".

Attracted by the sound, Nan Qing unconsciously opened one eye and stared intently at the screen on the tablet. The screen showed a close-up of someone adding side dishes to a bowl.

Crisp bean sprouts, crunchy peanuts, vibrant green cilantro, and plenty of delicious-looking meatballs, ham sausages, quail eggs, and pork liver, all topped with a generous spoonful of bright red chili oil!

"Swoosh—"

In the video, the diner took a big slurp of noodles, his eyes squinting in satisfaction. Nan Qing's throat moved in sync with the video, and he licked his lips. Seeing his host about to lose control, Xiao Ba pressed on:

【Host, the reason we couldn't do it well in other small worlds was due to our bodies, not yours. Maybe your body in this world has a talent for cooking? Look, even the Chosen One can learn it after watching it once, which means it's actually very simple~~】

[And Xiao Ba checked, the production crew's refrigerator has these kinds of vermicelli, as well as tomatoes and chili sauce, meatballs, beef, ham sausages, shiitake mushrooms...]

Before Xiao Ba could finish counting, Nan Qing broke down!

She grabbed the tablet, her face full of ambition, and said:

"It's decided! I'll do this tomorrow!!"

Little Ba was secretly delighted. It wriggled its way up to Nan Qing's head and nestled on Nan Qing's fluffy fur, watching a delicious documentary on the screen together. It really had been craving those sour soup noodles for ages!