Lossie put her hands behind her head, her curly black hair was pressed down and fluffed up, making her look a little cute.
Even though Cheng Qing said that, she was still inexplicably confident that she could swim to the finish line. Besides, whether she could or couldn't was not something she could choose!
She looked up at the sky and said, "There's nothing we can do about it! Director Kong just loves to see us make fools of ourselves. Those who signed the contract have to accept the penalty if they lose."
Cheng Qing felt both relieved and happy upon hearing this. The old Luo Xi would never have accepted such punishment.
“Well, if we really have to swim back, there’s nothing we can do.” Cheng Qing said, beckoning to Luo Xi, “Come on!”
Losi walked curiously to her side and saw a white wildflower, whose name she didn't know, growing in a messy patch of grass.
It has six white petals and a yellow stamen in the center. It's not a famous flower, but it looks exceptionally vibrant and lovely.
Cheng Qing frowned and smiled wryly, pointing to the flower stalk and saying, "What are you looking at? I meant for you to look at its branches."
Losi was taken aback. She looked away from the flower and took a closer look. Sure enough, there was a small gold card tied to the flower stem.
She was first shocked, then surprised, and finally overjoyed: "Ahhhhh, we really found it, we found it!"
Seeing how happy she was, Cheng Qing smiled with relief.
Losi excitedly circled the flower twice, then looked around and sure enough, she saw a surveillance camera facing that direction not far away.
Just as Cheng Qing had guessed, the card was hidden in a place with surveillance cameras. Losi, inexplicably proud, grinned foolishly at Cheng Qing: "This is the first time I've found a quest item in the competition!"
As she spoke, she happily squatted down and said with great ceremony, "Then I'll take it!"
Cheng Qing found it amusing and laughed too: "You take it! After all, it's useless for me to take the points."
Losi nodded happily. She reached out and untied the thread. The moment she took the card in her hand, the announcement came over the loudspeaker.
"A civilian has received a card! A civilian has received a card! A civilian has received a card!"
Everyone on the island who heard the announcement breathed a sigh of relief. With the first card, the rest should be coming soon.
Losi got the first card and excitedly jumped up and down twice.
She turned to show Cheng Qing, who raised his hand slightly but quickly put it back down.
"Put it away!"
Losi asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to take a look?"
Cheng Qing chuckled: "Who found it? Of course I've seen it."
Losy immediately and happily put the card into her pocket, then jumped to Cheng Qing's side and said, "Qingqing, you're really amazing!"
Cheng Qing was naturally pleased to be praised, so she casually replied, "Praise me after I've put you on the ship!"
Losi was stunned, her head instantly filled with rage, and her face turned bright red.
The red was so obvious that even Cheng Qing realized it.
She stammered, "No, no, I meant the boat in the cruise ship."
Lossie shouted back, "Of course I know!" She already knew!
But her face was still very red, which made Cheng Qing feel embarrassed. He put one hand on her shoulder and said, "Then don't be embarrassed! I'm embarrassed too."
Losi cupped her face in her hands and shook her head in denial: "I'm not embarrassed!"
Cheng Qing choked, not wanting to say that her face was as red as an apple, and finally smiled and said, "Okay, okay."
Then he led the way to the next place. Losi breathed a sigh of relief, patted her face, and quickly caught up.
***
The two arrived at a new spot on the shore, where the wind, carrying the moisture from the lake, was cooler. It was already past 3 p.m., and not as warm as when they first arrived.
If we don't hurry, the weather will only get colder.
Cheng Qing glanced around; she had noted down the locations of 10 cards from the beginning. This place, where she had brought Luo Xi, was naturally one of them.
To prevent Rossi from becoming suspicious, she took Rossi to explore many other places along the way.
But they all returned empty-handed, so when they arrived at the shore, Losi was a little disappointed.
Cheng Qing led her to squat by the lake to enjoy the scenery, and soon a blue carp swam over. The fish frolicked in the water, shaking its head and wagging its tail, looking strangely endearing. Seeing the two of them squatting there, it wasn't afraid at all, and even came closer to blow bubbles.
Cheng Qing chuckled: "It's been fed by others and it's not even afraid of people anymore."
Losi coldly threatened the carp: "I'm going to catch you and eat you."
Cheng Qing burst out laughing and looked at her, saying, "The carp here can't be eaten, can they? Besides, they can't understand you."
Luo Xi had only said it casually, and seeing Cheng Qing laugh at her joke made her happy. But she felt a little embarrassed because she thought her words were a bit childish, and she argued, "I was just saying it casually."
Then, her wild imagination ran wild again, and she asked Cheng Qing, "Do you think Director Kong might have put the card inside the carp's belly?"
Cheng Qing found it really cute and leaned on Luo Xi's shoulder with a smile: "My God! Do you really think so?"
Losi's breath hitched, then she said, "How could that be? I was just saying, but Kong Mingyan could actually do it."
Cheng Qing nodded: "He can indeed do things that are hard to understand, but there's more than just one carp here!"
She pointed to the huge lake and said, "There are millions of carp in this lake, and only a few have swum over yet! If he really puts it into the belly of a carp, it will truly be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Losi blushed, denying her wild imagination, and said, "I was just teasing you."
Cheng Qing patted her head, her eyes smiling, and said, "I'm really happy, thank you."
Luo Xi was amused by Cheng Qing's words and touched her hair, a happy smile spreading across her face.
Seeing that it was almost time, Cheng Qing got up and led Luo Xi to search around. Sure enough, they found the golden card in the grass by the lake. The card was hanging from the shore with a rope, and it was almost impossible to find without careful observation.
Losi excitedly took the card, and the announcement was broadcast everywhere. Cheng Qing even heard cheers from not far away, which she found amusing. It was just a game, but everyone was taking it quite seriously.
After her initial excitement subsided, Losi frowned and berated Kong Mingyan: "This is outrageous! Such a huge island, hidden in such a secluded place."
Cheng Qing nodded in strong agreement: "Exactly!" If it were easier to find, he wouldn't have needed to lead Losi all the way there. As long as he searched slowly, the civilian team could win.
After searching the area, Cheng Qing suggested going to the other side. Luo Xi naturally had no objections and simply followed Cheng Qing, muttering a lot of things under her breath.
Cheng Qing wouldn't let her talk to herself alone, and would reply to her every now and then.
Soon, the two arrived at the small wooden house they had seen when they disembarked.
Losi hadn't initially headed this way, so she took a second look when she passed by this time.
As a result, they noticed something strange about the rock next to the cabin.
"Huh? Qingqing." Luo Xi was taken aback and called out to Cheng Qing, who had already walked ahead.
Cheng Qing turned to look at her, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Losi's eyes lit up: "What's that?"
Cheng Qing walked up to her and said, "What? A stone!"
Losi turned and looked at her excitedly, as if she had discovered a new continent. She ran to the rock.
Once she was sure she was right, she happily called out, "Qingqing, come quick!"
Cheng Qing breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly ran over.
When Luo Xi and Cheng Qing arrived, Luo Xi pointed to the freshly turned soil on the ground, her eyes shining like jewels as she stared intently at Cheng Qing.
Cheng Qing asked, feigning seriousness, "What's wrong?"
Lossie said, "The soil around this stone is fresh. That means someone moved the stone!"
Cheng Qing thought for a moment, then nodded: "Very likely."
Lossie immediately tried her best to push the stone. The stone wasn't very heavy, but Lossie used all her strength to flip it over.
"There's a card!!!" Losi's voice was full of surprise.
Cheng Qing then explained, "The werewolf must have been afraid of being searched, so he hid here."
Rossi asked in confusion, "But no one searched me just now!"
Cheng Qing chuckled and patted her head, saying, "Well, it's because the werewolf only got 5 cards. If she had gotten 6 or 7, everyone would have searched her. That would have put her in a lot of trouble, so she tried to hide the cards first!"
"Is that so? But we found them." Losi responded, but immediately asked in confusion, "Seven cards...we found them all?"
Cheng Qing's heart skipped a beat; she knew her plan had flaws.
However, she didn't have much time to fix the vulnerability.
The biggest loophole is that only Losi found all the cards.
This... doesn't make sense. Statistically speaking, there are only two of them, her and Losi. There are nine people on the other side, so it's impossible for Losi to have found all the cards by herself.
Although she knew it was illogical, Losi would find out she was a werewolf after the competition ended. Cheng Qing had never intended to hide it forever, so naturally she hadn't prepared such a comprehensive plan.
To prevent Luo Xi from realizing what was happening, Cheng Qing smiled and asked her, "What would you like to eat tonight?"
"Huh?" Losi's attention was indeed diverted, and then she smiled broadly: "Director Kong will probably treat us to dinner tonight, right?"
As she spoke, she reached out and picked up the five cards one by one.
At the same time, a familiar voice blared over the loudspeaker: "Civilians have received 7 cards! Civilians have received 7 cards! Civilians have received 7 cards!"
After a pause, the broadcast continued: "The civilians have completed their mission and can proceed to the shore to board the boat to return home. Please gather on the shore; the boat will depart soon."
Cheers erupted from all directions across the island.
The two were already at the cabin, less than a hundred meters from where the boat was moored. Cheng Qing smiled and said to Luo Xi, "Let's go over there first!"
She breathed a sigh of relief; although the plan wasn't perfect, the result was good.
For Cheng Qing, her task was simply to get the card for Luo Xi. Once the task was completed, she felt relieved.
She turned and led Losi toward the shore; the others were probably still elsewhere on the island and hadn't arrived yet.
Cheng Qing was about to tell Luo Xi to put on her life jacket first, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luo Xi secretly stuffing something into her pocket.
Cheng Qing swiftly grabbed her wrist, both of their hands in mid-air. Cheng Qing easily saw that what Luo Xi was holding in her hand was—7 mission cards.
Startled, I looked at Losi more closely and saw that her expression was one of intense grief and indignation.
Cheng Qing frowned: "What are you doing?"
Losi looked up at her, clearly having calmed down, and said definitively, "You said you'd take me to the ship, not that you'd come with me. You took me with you, and I'm the only one who found seven cards. You're the werewolf, aren't you?"
"It can't be hidden," Cheng Qing sighed and admitted, "It is me."
Author's Note: