As the radiant sunset hues faded from the sky, darkness swept through the air, living brilliant dots of stars shimmering in the air.
There was a mild breeze that evening, causing the trees to rustle as the colorful lights hanging from their branches swayed with the wind.
The party was all set up with grills and various barbecue tools ready to be used by the time the candidates arrived.
However, the food was nowhere to be seen.
The candidates soon realized what the issue was.
As Jiang Xuxu dragged Ke Lu over to Qi Wu and Tong Luo, she asked, "Didn't they say we'll have a barbecue party? I don't see any food."
"Search," Qi Wu answered.
There was no such thing as a free meal.
As expected, soon after Qi Wu spoke, Song Qi walked over to the contestants.
"I'm sure you have all realized by now that there is no food present."
The candidates who had been searching for the food instantly froze when they heard Song Qi speak.
"While the theme for tonight is a barbecue party, you will need to hunt for your food. There are cards with the names of the food you'll need scattered all around the area. Every food also comes with its own set of points. Find the cards to gain both food and points."
The candidates immediately started chattering.
"I just knew it wouldn't be a simple barbecue party!"
"All of this effort just to enjoy some barbecue during the show…"
"At least we're only looking for something. We can even gain points by doing so."
As the candidates were starting to get engrossed in their discussion, Song Qi cleared his throat to grab their attention. "You have thirty minutes to search. We'll tally up your scores once you're done."
He then walked back to the production team.
Soon, a thirty-minute timer was displayed on the LED board nearby.
When the candidates realized their time had started, they promptly abandoned all their complaining and charged for the grass field. No one wanted to be left behind.
Tong Luo glanced at the retreating backs of the other candidates and turned to look at Qi Wu. "Shall we go?"
Jiang Xuxu nodded as well and started dragging Ke Lu along. "If we're slow, we might not even get anything to eat later."
"Are you after the food or the points?"
Ke Lu stood there in silence, staring down at the arm Jiang Xuxu had grabbed.
"Of course, I want both!" Jiang Xuxu responded without hesitation.
"Why drag me along? We don't need to team up for this segment."
Ke Lu's reminder caused realization to dawn on Jiang Xuxu.
"I'm just not used to going at it alone," Jiang Xuxu explained, awkwardly letting go of Ke Lu.
Silence fell.
Ke Lu felt speechless.
Tong Luo frowned. "That means splitting up to search for the cards is for the best."
As soon as she said that, she turned to find Qi Wu had mysteriously vanished from behind her sometime during the conversation and had walked ahead of them.
"Qi Wu," Tong Luo exclaimed in shock.
Jiang Xuxu and Ke Lu turned around to find Qi Wu leisurely strolling by the lakeside. However, she would always head to certain locations and, with great accuracy, find a card either hiding between the leaves, behind a tree, or among the colorful strings of lights.
In the few minutes they had been talking, Qi Wu had found around four or five cards.
When she was done walking by the lake, she turned around and suddenly stared at the cameraman wrapped in a gray hooding who was filming her from behind.
"Little Gray."
Her voice was soft as she called out to him.
The cameraman was stunned.
Was "Little Gray" referring to him?
The cameraman assigned to Qi Wu was often called Gray by the other crew members, but Hu Mofei liked to call him Little Gray instead.
When Qi Wu called out to the cameraman, he nearly thought she had been possessed by Hu Mofei.
Qi Wu evidently could not read his mind as she soon walked over to him.
Seeing that, he hurriedly walked backward.
Qi Wu frowned and shot him a stern look. "Don't move."
While those words were meant to be threatening, her voice did not ring with any sense of overwhelming authority. Still, it was enough to make him stand still.
He remained frozen until Qi Wu pulled out a card from the hood of his hoodie.
"The props department hid a card in my hoodie?" he yelped.
He stared at the card in her hand in confusion while disbelief was painted all over his face.
He was not the only person who was stunned by the new development. The production team monitoring from afar was shocked as well.
There was no way to hide the astonishment in Song Qi's eyes as he muttered to himself, "Just how sharp are her eyes?"
Qu Man could not resist snickering. "The props department is full of evil pranksters. They even hid a card in Gray's hoodie."
"All of that is useless against my darling daughter. She still found it!"
Hu Mofei looked so proud.
A few seconds later, Qi Wu abandoned the stunned cameraman to return to her friends.
She returned to the three women with six cards in hand.
Qi Wu looked at Jiang Xuxu and slowly asked, "What would you like to eat, Xuxu?"
"Pork belly!"
Jiang Xuxu had not realized why Qi Wu asked her that question and had only answered out of instinct.
She watched as Qi Wu scanned her cards before pulling out a card with the words "pork belly" written on it and holding it out to her.
"For you," Qi Wu said in her tranquil, sweet voice.
It was only then that realization struck Jiang Xuxu. She hurriedly waved her hands in refusal. "There's no need. You found the cards yourself."
While Jiang Xuxu really wanted the points, she knew that Qi Wu found them all by herself. Jiang Xuxu could not allow herself to profit from doing nothing.
"It's fine."
Qi Wu did not hesitate at all as she continued with a blink of her eyes, "I would like to try some as well. Can you give me some?"
Jiang Xuxu was so moved that she felt the strong urge to wrap her arms around Qi Wu in a bear hug.
Did this angel fall from the sky?
Qi Wu then had Tong Luo and Ke Lu pick one of their favorite foods.
At first, Tong Luo felt bad about it, but she soon let go of her hesitation and accepted the offered card when she saw how serious Qi Wu was.
Ke Lu did not remain silent for long. After accepting the card Qi Wu handed to her, she calmly asked, "What would you like to eat? I'll find them for you."
Upon hearing that, Qi Wu tilted her head, deep in thought.
After a while, she sadly shook her head. "I've never tried barbecue before."
Food served in the temple followed a very strict diet. The fires and smoke of the mortal world seemed so distant from the temple, leaving behind a majestic yet rotting chill.
Everyone was shocked.
They all stared at her with wide eyes.
Jiang Xuxu felt her heart ache even more.
She instantly thumped her chest and declared, "Just wait here, sweetie. I'll cook for you later. I'm great at cooking meat!"
There was a conflicted look in Tong Luo's eyes as she looked away. Still, her voice rang with firm determination. "I'll look for more cards now."
Ke Luo emphatically nodded in agreement. "Same."
They had to offer Qi Wu the best food there was!
All three of them had the same thought in mind.
Qi Wu blinked in confusion at the three women who were suddenly filled with determination. "Good luck?"
The production team silently stared from nearby, similarly confused.