Everyone has awakened, but I am the only mortal!

Luo Zheng did not answer Huang Xiang. He put down his cup, turned back to turn off the gas, and said to Su Bai, "Jiang Fan said to drink water before he died. Maybe he was telling us to drink more water, otherwise we won't have any water to drink for the next few days."

Su Bai nodded, turned around and left the kitchen.

The group went out, while Xu Chen, still shaken, followed at the back. He glanced at the meat in the pot and swallowed hard.

His gaze shifted from the meat back to the broth, and his expression hardened.

Back in the hall, Zheng Ge also returned from outside. He shook his head at Luo Zheng and Su Bai: "He's gone."

Luo Zheng's guess was confirmed, and everyone's expressions became increasingly solemn and grim.

He looked intently at Su Bai, waiting for him to make a decision.

Su Bai said calmly, "Since we can't drink water now, there will definitely be other changes coming. Just wait and see."

Luo Zheng nodded and immediately signaled to everyone to rest where they were and not to move around unnecessarily.

Everyone returned to their seats. Old Zhou was much more subdued than before. He leaned close to Su Bai and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Did you catch any hints?"

Su Bai turned to look out the window, her lips barely moving, her voice as soft as a breeze: "Chen Hua went out."

Old Zhou, quick-witted as ever, understood instantly. He glanced at Chen Hua out of the corner of his eye and was startled to see that the soles of Chen Hua's shoes were covered in damp mud.

His heart skipped a beat, and he, too, pursed his lips and whispered, "There's mud! He really went out!"

Su Bai gave a soft "hmm".

When everyone rushed into the kitchen earlier, no one noticed where Chen Hua went. When he came out, he was sitting steadily in his original position, but the mud on the soles of his shoes did not lie.

Clearly, he had secretly gone out while everyone was searching for clues in the kitchen.

Therefore, the blood in the pool earlier must not have been Jiang Fan's body.

Jiang Fan's body could only be hidden by Chen Hua.

But why would he do that?

Old Zhou had a question mark in his mind, and his gaze towards Chen Hua became more wary.

Time flew by, and the sky outside the window gradually darkened. The black hole and tentacles by the east window appeared as expected.

Perhaps having figured out that these things wouldn't hurt anyone, the crowd was no longer as fearful as before, and just watched silently with varying expressions.

But that night, the lights that were on suddenly went out without warning.

Fortunately, the bright moonlight streamed in through the window, so the room wasn't too dark, and one could vaguely see the figures of everyone sitting and resting.

The rain outside turned into fine drizzle, and the pattering sound added an eerie tranquility, making it easy to feel drowsy.

When Su Bai was awakened by a series of soft noises, he glimpsed the moon in the moonlight and saw that it was already high in the sky, around dawn.

With the sound of light footsteps, someone got up from the west wall.

The moonlight was bright, and the person sat down next to Huang Xiang. Su Bai guessed his identity at a glance.

It's Xu Chen.

Xu Chen tiptoed past the table in the hall and quietly headed towards the kitchen.

After his figure disappeared through the kitchen doorway, a series of suppressed chewing sounds followed, interspersed with a few rapid swallowing sounds and the sound of drinking water.

Even without seeing it with his own eyes, Su Bai could guess that Xu Chen had probably drunk the undercooked meat soup from earlier that day and eaten that strange piece of fresh meat.

The chewing sounds were intermittent. At one point, Su Bai heard a muffled "thump" as if Xu Chen had slipped, indicating that he had fallen. The chewing sounds stopped abruptly, but resumed after only two or three seconds, sounding even more urgent than before.

The night was already quiet, but Xu Chen's deliberately muffled chewing sounds were amplified infinitely in the empty room.

The people in the hall were gradually awakened by the noise. No one made a sound; they simply lay awake in the darkness, silently watching the direction of the kitchen.

This continued for about half an hour before Xu Chen finally came out of the kitchen.

He walked very slowly and quietly, as if afraid of being discovered, unaware that in the darkness, everyone's eyes were on him, watching him tiptoe back to his seat.

Just then, Su Bai felt a gentle tug on his sleeve, and heard Old Zhou's very low voice ask, "Is it convenient to go outside?"

Su Bai didn't respond, but Hei Zi on Lao Zhou's other side chimed in, "I want to go too, let's go together."

Old Zhou didn't respond, clearly not wanting Hei Zi to accompany him.

Only after seeing Su Bai slowly get up did he hurriedly stand up as well.

Everyone had drunk a lot of water during the day, so they were bound to feel the urge to urinate. Besides, Xu Chen hadn't triggered any rules while walking in the dark, so someone had at least tried it, which put everyone at ease.

As soon as the three of them reached the door, Chen Hua, who was sitting by the south window, also stood up.

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft: "Are you going to the restroom? I'll come with you."

The four of them quickly left the house.

The light rain was still falling, the moon hung in the night sky, its clear light bathing the earth, and the sound of flowing water in the distance grew clearer.

Old Zhou and Hei Zi didn't dare go far, so they took care of themselves right there near the entrance.

Chen Hua was the last to come out and walked towards Hei Zi. As he passed by Hei Zi, his elbow lightly brushed against the hem of Hei Zi's clothes. The movement was so light that it was almost imperceptible. Hei Zi did not react at all and continued to unbutton his pants.

But Su Bai saw this whole scene.

Logically speaking, even if the movement was very subtle, Kuroko should have noticed it, but he seemed completely oblivious, which was a bit strange.

Ever since discovering mud on Chen Hua's shoes during the day and suspecting that he had hidden Jiang Fan's body, Su Bai had been keeping a close eye on him. Naturally, he wouldn't let this subtle anomaly slip by.

While relieving himself, Old Zhou couldn't help but complain about Xu Chen: "What a spineless coward. He's terrified of blood during the day, but he dares to sneak off and eat it at night. He's not afraid of triggering the rules; he's risking his life."

Su Bai didn't respond, her attention was entirely on Chen Hua, but she couldn't make it too obvious.

Just then, Lao Zhou came over to talk to him, and he took the opportunity to turn his head, pretending to respond to Lao Zhou, but his eyes were openly looking at Chen Hua as he turned around.

Old Zhou, oblivious to his thoughts, continued rambling on, "The last other realm had ancient ferocious beasts like the Taotie. Do you think this other realm might also have some powerful monsters?"

Su Bai casually replied, "We can connect the existing clues and see which monster they correspond to."

Old Zhou scratched his head: "There are only so many clues. We can't step into puddles, or we'll sink in. Talking near bubbles is also out of the question. What kind of monster could this possibly correspond to?"

Su Bai chuckled lightly: "These are key clues in themselves."

"Huh?" Old Zhou's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "What clue? Tell me quickly!"

"The monster in the last otherworld was the Taotie, an ancient ferocious beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas," Su Bai said slowly. "And in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there is a river called the Weak Water, which records that 'even a feather cannot float on the Weak Water, and it cannot be crossed.'"