The little girl appeared to be about six or seven years old, her hair styled into twin ponytails, donned in a dress, and holding a small bag adorned with cartoon characters.
Liu Xing had a premonition that this little girl would be key to triggering the main quest of this module.
Of course, while Liu Xing had not forgotten the psychological shadow that Isabella had cast upon him, he was not one to shirk away from confronting his issues.
So, he approached and squatted down in front of the little girl, revealing a kindly smile, "Little sister, why are you sitting here crying all by yourself? Have you lost your way from your family?"
The girl glanced at Liu Xing, nodded her head, and said softly, "Yes, I got separated from my mom."
No sooner had the little girl finished speaking than KP Cao couldn't wait to interject: "Alright, congratulations to the player Old Chinese Doctor for initiating the first phase of this promotion game. All players must help the little girl find her mother within half an hour. Failing to complete the task within the time limit will lead to an elimination outcome. And as for what that outcome is, well, I might as well tell you now—it involves the little girl crying because she can't find her mom, and then the bystanders around will start to see you as the bad guys, ultimately forcing you to leave the Harvest Festival venue."
Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that this promotion game imposed a time limit on the task, which was also multi-staged.
With time of the essence, Tina immediately came over and, with a smile, said to the little girl, "Young lady, what's your name, and how did you get separated from your mother?"
The little girl looked at Liu Xing, then at Tina, and replied to Tina, "My name is Nan Xiaoniao (the harbinger of doom in the readers' group is now online). I got separated from my mom while we were here to watch a performance, and now I don't know where she is..."
Liu Xing suddenly felt as if he had just lost to Tina in a battle of appearances.
It really was a superficial world.
At this moment, Akira Akashi and the others also approached and, upon learning about the little girl's situation, Li Ming offered a suggestion, "For an event of this scale, the organizers would likely have set up a lost children center. Perhaps we should take Nan Xiaoniao there first. With so many people attending the Harvest Festival today, it's impossible to find her mother quickly with just the few of us. We will have to rely on the organizers' help to find Nan Xiaoniao's mother."
Liu Xing nodded in agreement and said, "Li Ming is right. I remember when Alger was injured, a medical team immediately came to take him to the hospital. So there must be a lost children center set up at the Harvest Festival venue. Maybe Nan Xiaoniao's mother is also on her way there."
No sooner had Liu Xing finished speaking than KP Cao, with a smile, said, "Indeed, worthy of being players who can participate in the promotion game, your logic is clear and you've found the optimal solution quickly. So I won't make it difficult for you. I'll assume you know that the lost children center for this Harvest Festival is set up next to the main hall."
With this hint from KP Cao, everyone knew they had to act fast. Tina took charge of leading Nan Xiaoniao, and they all started heading toward the main hall.
However, there was still the issue of Li Ming, who, unsurprisingly, was slowing down the group due to his injured leg. With a hint of resignation, Li Ming sighed and said, "How about you all go ahead without me and take Nan Xiaoniao to find her mother? I'll catch up with you as soon as I can."
Akira Akashi nodded, but with a hint of concern, he said, "Li Ming, given your current condition, climbing up to the Xianhe Observatory alone to meet us could be troublesome. If by any chance you were to lose your footing halfway up the mountain and tumble down, it could be life-threatening. After all, we've already seen what happened to Alger."
Upon hearing Akira Akashi's words, everyone nodded in agreement, as if on cue. After all, it wouldn't be out of character for KP Cao to pull off something like that...
"Hey, hey, hey, don't you start slandering me with such malicious thoughts," KP Cao retorted indignantly. "Am I that sort of KP with a nasty disposition?"
It was at this moment that Tian Dao spoke up, "Let's do this then, I'll take responsibility for escorting Li Ming. That way, there shouldn't be any issues."
Liu Xing nodded. That seemed like a good plan.
So, Tian Dao stayed behind to accompany Li Ming at a slower pace, while Liu Xing and the others, with the little bird in tow, continued towards the great hall.
Before long, Liu Xing and his companions arrived outside the grand hall of the Xianhe Observatory, where they noticed a small, shaded pavilion erected to one side, bearing a sign that read "Children's Lost and Found Center."
However, Liu Xing couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The first phase of the mission seemed too smooth, with hardly any checks passed, and they were about to complete this initial task.
Moreover, KP Cao's behavior was strange. Logically, he wasn't supposed to provide information directly. At the very least, an inspiration check or questioning a passerby would be expected. Instead, KP Cao had directly disclosed the location of the Children's Lost and Found Center to the party, which seemed as if... KP Cao was deliberately leading them here!
Liu Xing furrowed his brow, realizing they had been duped by KP Cao. Considering the Harvest Festival venue was not extensive, one could walk its entirety in fifteen minutes, so a half-hour timeframe seemed pressing but was, in fact, ample.
Thus, Liu Xing thought the party could easily, within half an hour, first head to the commercial district on the left under the pretext of looking for Nan Xiaoniao's mother, seize the opportunity to acquire the grapes, then send someone to dig up a bamboo shoot in the bamboo grove while ascending the mountain, and finally, upon reaching the Children's Lost and Found Center next to the great hall, figure out a way to pick peaches from behind the hall. Wouldn't that gather all the items needed to clear the stage?
Overall, Liu Xing felt they had been led astray by KP Cao's pace. Although KP Cao provided correct information, it constrained their thinking and guided them down the path of least resistance, yielding no gains. They might have missed many clues.
But it was all hindsight now, as they had already reached the Children's Lost and Found Center. It wasn't as if they could just go back down to look for Nan Xiaoniao's mother and then climb back up if they failed to find her, right?
With this realization, Liu Xing finally understood the wisdom in Wu Lei's words — never fully trust what the KP says!