Wen Zheng glanced at the screen a few times, and finally spoke up when the others weren't paying attention: "He is my friend. Don't make accusations about his character without evidence. Follow the rules of the live stream and watch the show properly."
Chengmei was talking to Deng Puyue when she suddenly glanced behind her, a complicated look in her eyes, before turning back around.
"It's so hot!" Deng Puyue exaggeratedly lifted her clothes: "Looking at the map, we still have to go halfway?! Isn't this sun buff a bit too strong? I'm afraid if it keeps stacking up, we'll be burning up when we reach the oasis!"
This is a Western fantasy dungeon with a setting of gods and demons. What Deng Puyue said is quite possible. After all, the current burning sensation is beyond the normal limit and is already making people uncomfortable. Unless there is a special setting, such uncomfortable details are generally not made.
"There's a big rock over there," Chengmei pointed ahead. "It's shady down there, and it should be able to remove the buff."
"Let's go, let's go!" Deng Puyue knew the atmosphere was awkward, so she tried to liven things up. She dashed over, plopped down on the ground, and shouted, "Awesome!"
Chengmei smiled and quickly walked over, then sat down against the rock and fanned herself with her hand.
Little Nightingale walked slowly, whether she was genuinely not hot or too lazy to run, it was hard to tell. Wen Zheng led her by the hand and they slowly walked into the shade, where they did feel a refreshing coolness.
"Why aren't you sitting?" Wen Zheng asked, looking down.
"The ground... is dirty." Little Nightingale said with resistance, looking up directly at Wen Zheng: "My dress will get dirty."
Even if it's not physically tiring, having to stand during hard-won rest time is really not in line with most people's psychological needs. Moreover, making an eight-year-old child stand while three adults sit looks like abuse.
For the sake of team harmony, Wen Zheng silently took off his black coat, which he always wore, and threw it on the ground: "It's not dirty anymore, sit down."
The little lark lifted her skirt and sat down happily, like a princess.
Deng Puyue joked, "May, do you need to put on some padding? Aren't you wearing a brand new dress too?"
Chengmei smiled, then lowered her eyes again: "It's okay, it's already dirty."
"..." Deng Puyue was stunned for a moment. He really wanted to pull his clothes off, but he and Wen Zheng were only wearing a single layer of clothing. It wouldn't be good to take them off, so he gave up.
He looked at Wen Zheng for help, but Wen Zheng shook his head very slightly.
After a three-minute break, the sweltering heat dissipated, and the four of them persevered and completed the second half of the journey. They encountered a boss chase along the way and, following clues, found a desert oasis.
The oasis resembled a bustling town, with people dressed in exotic styles strolling through the streets, huge banana trees providing shade, and the sounds of bargaining and vendors hawking their wares filling the air.
"Found [Luhua's treasure]." Deng Puyue shook the slip of paper, making a rustling sound: "Besides the fact that Luhua is a woman... Ugh, what kind of name is that!... We don't know anything else!? How are we supposed to find it with so many people!"
Wen Zheng: "Anyway, we're in the oasis. Why don't we ask the lord? He should be here now."
The lord was the only NPC they had seen before. They bought four bottles of water from him for two gold coins, which seemed outrageous. They suspected that he was the ultimate villain.
Deng Puyue: "...The four of us, down-on-our-luck travelers, what right do we have to meet the high and mighty lord—" He pointed to the highest domed building and gestured, "From here to there, there are eight hundred guards. Do you think you can just walk in like you're a boss?!"
Chengmei suddenly said, "The road is slippery, isn't it?"
He finally mustered his strength, unsure if he had thought things through during that time and prepared himself for the bloodshed that awaited him when he logged off: "It should be over there, see it? The slippery clothing store..."
It is indeed Luhua Clothing Store, and the sign is written in proper Chinese. The store is located not far from the entrance of the oasis.
If the banana trees hadn't been so lush, and if the group hadn't chosen such a shady spot, they would have seen it much earlier.
Wen Zheng and Deng Puyue inexplicably lost their senses and silently followed Cheng Mei into the small shop that was clearly a plot trigger point.
"Blue Moon and Scimitar—Elves and Cattails—Oh oh~—Rusty Red Lake of Life—Winter Memories of the Holy Spirit—"
As I entered the small shop, the voice of a young man singing drifted into my ears from behind the counter.
He held a lute in his arms, strumming and singing, his voice melancholic.
Out of habit, Wen Zheng and Deng Puyue focused on memorizing the lyrics from the very first line, in case he refused to sing it again—songs with such clear lyrics usually contain some important clues that are worth remembering.
After he finished singing, Wen Zheng silently recited it once, memorized it, and then asked, "Is the road slippery?"
"Want to see Lu Hua?" The young NPC smiled slyly. "You'll have to match my song."
Wen Zheng and Deng Puyue: "???"
You need to be able to sing just to play a game?!
Before they could even show their astonished expressions, the NPC strummed a string, sang a line from "Blue Moon and Curved Blade," and then looked at them expectantly.
"Luckily I memorized the lyrics!" Deng Puyue breathed a sigh of relief. There were twenty lines in total, and he remembered the first few very clearly. He answered loudly and confidently, "Elves and cattails!"
The NPC said regretfully, "You sang it wrong."
After saying that, he held the zither and remained motionless.
"???" Deng Puyue asked Wen Zheng in shock, "I have Alzheimer's!? Isn't that the sentence?"
Wen Zheng: "The words are correct." He thought for a moment and then said: "Let me try."
This time, Wen Zheng sang several lines as if chanting a sutra, but the NPC interrupted him and continued regretfully, "You sing terribly."
Wen Zheng was stunned: ...? ? ? I'm not even as good as Deng Puyue?
- Haha, this is the first time I've heard Z University sing! ...By the way, is he actually singing?
-You bunch of idiots! It's obviously supposed to be rap! Not rap...or is Z not rapping?
- That's so awful, hahaha!
Xiaoyu, stop reciting and sing one for your brother Zheng!
Shouldn't this be a special performance by the Little Nightingale?
-Yeah, let Little Nightingale sing. Otherwise, taking her out for an episode is like a vacation, which isn't very interesting... But Z should have thought of that.
Wen Zheng quickly realized that this part required singing the correct pitch and not just memorizing the lyrics. However, the game's difficulty was clearly not too challenging for most people with poor pitch—the complete lyrics, which tested memory, only appeared once, but the simple melody was repeated five times, which most people should have been able to remember.
However, this does not include Wen Zheng.
Wen Zheng hurriedly called out to Xiao Bailing and asked Deng Puyue, "Why don't you try singing it again?"
Deng Puyue's mind was filled with lyrics, and after laughing for a while, she had mentally emptied the recycle bin and said dumbfoundedly, "...I forgot."
"...Then Chengmei, why don't you give it a try?" Wen Zheng asked.
Chengmei, carrying a greatsword, looked up in surprise upon hearing this.
Generally, when you get to this point, if there's a specific member in the team who is good at something, the team leader should assign the task to that member.
Xiao Bailing is the core of today's event; the other three are just there to play along. It's rare for them to have a lucky opportunity to showcase their talents. Chengmei thinks that if he were the team leader, he would have pushed Xiao Bailing to the front of the stage to perform long ago.
Ke Wen eagerly asked him.
He hadn't slept well for many days. His head was filled with a bunch of marbles, bouncing and rattling, making his head throb with pain. He wished he could just bang his head against the wall.
Upon hearing this, his eyes darted around, and he froze on the spot, his scalp tingling.
Wen Zheng asked him if he wanted to sing.
This person...
But he really wanted to sing.
"Do you still remember the lyrics?" Wen Zheng asked, repeating the lyrics to Cheng Mei who remained silent. Cheng Mei suddenly smiled with relief and was about to sing the first line when a clear, childlike voice rang out from the shop.
"Blue Moon and Scimitar... Elves and Cattails..."
"Oh, the rust-red Lake of Life... where the memories of the Holy Spirit slumber..."
…………
As soon as Little Nightingale opened her mouth, the four people present and the live stream chat on both sides were all shocked.
This is the song of a nightingale, which has lost fifty percent of its detail after being processed with various electrical and compression effects.
I can't imagine how beautiful the little lark's voice would be if it were singing in front of you.
The little lark sang slowly, and the shop owner, maintaining a smile, didn't interrupt her, even offering prompts for the first line of each verse. Only after she finished singing did he clap and say, "Fantastic! Your singing is perfect! Just a moment, Luhua will be here shortly..."
Wen Zheng subconsciously glanced at the live stream assistant's barrage of comments and found that the comments had exploded, completely obscuring his image, making it almost impossible to see the remaining pixels.
"That's amazing!" Deng Puyue exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands loudly. Wen Zheng nodded in agreement, "Great!"
As he spoke, Lu Hua, the NPC the shopkeeper had summoned, lifted the curtain and entered, bringing with him a gentle breeze. Wen Zheng quickly turned around, his gaze sweeping over Cheng Mei, who remained silent, only to see him swiftly lower his hand.
However, he still saw the image that had only remained on his retina for a single frame.
He was in a strange position, pressing his thumb against his throat.
A few seconds later, Wen Zheng moved his Adam's apple, feeling a burning, dry pain in his throat, a genuine physical reaction.
He stared intently at Chengmei. She didn't smile or show any expression, but even in the game, he could clearly sense the extreme tension she was experiencing during a stress response.
Wen Zheng thought he was right.
It is a special reaction when under pressure.
How many people in everyday life would do something so unusual?
My heart is filled with turmoil, but speculation remains speculation until it is confirmed.
Wen Zheng gritted his teeth and endured for a long time before he didn't immediately throw away his glasses and log off. Instead, he cooperated with Deng Puyue to continue following the clues and advancing the plot.
He didn't perform well; he was clearly out of sorts in the second half. The chat kept asking him what was wrong, but Wen Zheng didn't answer.
He stumbled and fell to the end, and only when watching the ending did he apologize to the viewers in the live stream. As soon as the stream ended, he turned it off.
The lounge, with its roaring fireplace, remained unchanged. The four of them logged back in together, and Wen Zheng said to Xiao Bailing, "Can you log off first?"
Little Nightingale paused for a moment, tilted her head and thought for a while, then came up and hugged Wen Zheng's leg, saying softly, "Okay, I like you, brother."
After saying that, he obediently logged off.
He then made a gesture to Deng Puyue, who quickly suppressed her curiosity and logged off.
The remaining two people stared at each other in silence.
“Yu Jin,” Wen Zheng said.
This was the second time in a short period of time that he had said this with such certainty.
Last time, Yu Jin was somewhat panicked about being exposed, but this time, whether he was resigned to his fate or what, he actually smiled.
Wen Zheng's heart sank, and he finally asked him, "Why?"
Yu Jin's smile widened: "What do you mean, 'why'? Why am I going to such lengths to pester you?"
The pretty girl model lowered her head, her pink hair obscuring her expression, and casually fidgeted with her fingers.
"Of course I like you and I'm seducing you. I even fought with my sister for a man before."
After saying that, he didn't look up again, but simply said "I'm getting off now," and disappeared in a flash of white light.
***