Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The audience was dumbfounded. Having watched the livestream for so long, they were familiar with how the Great Weirds ate—always consuming as much as possible, greedily devouring everything in sight.

But they had never witnessed such a scene: someone clearly full, yet stubbornly forcing down more food. While the usual eating habits of the Great Weirds instilled fear and dread, this spectacle was simply comical.

Ying Yuanxing, too, found eating a struggle; the food was genuinely awful. Yet, seeing his stamina bar’s upper limit steadily increase, he persevered. Who knew when such an opportunity would arise again? There were no do-overs here. To avoid future regrets, Ying Yuanxing vowed to clear every last dish from the table.

Initially, Ying Yuanxing worried if his voracious eating was inappropriate—what if the village chief’s family didn’t have enough? But observing the eating pace of the village chief and his wife, Ying Yuanxing suddenly understood.

No wonder the village chief had invited him to dinner. It was likely because they knew they couldn’t eat much themselves and didn’t want to waste food, so they asked him to join.

Indeed, while the meal boosted his stamina, it was truly disgusting. To call it "like chewing wax" was an apt description. He couldn’t discern whether the problem lay with the cooking or the ingredients.

The village chief ate desperately, but seeing Ying Yuanxing devour his food much faster, he could no longer hold back.

"Little Ying, are you full?" The village chief’s hands trembled. He wished he could go back half an hour and punch himself for testing Ying Yuanxing with high-grade Weird Food. More importantly, why had he brought out so much? Even if they could eat it slowly, couldn’t he have taken out less?

"Chief, don’t worry, I’ll definitely finish it all." Thinking the village chief was concerned about him not finishing, Ying Yuanxing patted his chest reassuringly before shoveling another mouthful of food.

The village chief wanted to stop Ying Yuanxing but dared not. Although he wasn’t sure of Ying Yuanxing’s true strength, the fact that he could consume high-grade Weird Food so heartily without any Weird Qi fluctuations indicated Ying Yuanxing’s power was undoubtedly superior.

For all he knew, the other party was just waiting for him to show any sign of hostility before devouring him as well.

The village chief lowered his head and said nothing more, focusing on eating as much as he could. At least Ying Yuanxing wasn’t stopping him—every bite he took now was one less loss.

Some viewers found the situation amusing, but others, like Lu Ning, soon realized something was amiss. Two Great Weirds forcing themselves to eat despite being full suggested the food was extraordinary. Lu Ning investigated and eventually uncovered the reason.

Lu Ning didn’t post his findings in the chat, but others who discovered the truth couldn’t resist sharing.

"Seriously envious of Ying Yuanxing’s luck. This is insane."

"What do you mean? Did I miss something? The streamer is just eating with two Great Weirds—how is that good luck?" someone asked, confused. While the livestream was entertaining, they knew dining with Great Weirds was dangerous.

Just the way the village chief’s wife had questioned Ying Yuanxing earlier had them on edge, fearing Ying Yuanxing might not respond adequately and the situation would turn hostile. Many contestants had been injured or killed in similar circumstances. How could this be considered "good luck"?

"Have you ever wondered why these two Great Weirds are eating so slowly? Typically, Great Weirds eat with speed, precision, and ruthlessness."

"Maybe they don’t like it?" someone instinctively replied.

"But I recall the training manuals stating that Great Weirds’ desires are extremely strong and direct; they rarely force themselves to endure discomfort."

"Look up ‘high-grade Weird Food,’ and you’ll understand why they’re stuffing themselves despite being full."

"High-grade Weird Food?"

"Holy cow, I just looked it up. I don’t recognize the other dishes, but this rice looks like ‘bone rice’—apparently, it costs 5,000 Weird coins per serving."

Upon seeing this comment, other viewers did the math. An average contestant in the Weird world might earn around 2,000 Weird coins a month—that’s if they were lucky and didn’t get robbed by other Great Weirds. At that rate, it would take two and a half months to afford one serving of bone rice.

One contestant had once bought bone rice to boost their strength. Though no images survived, descriptions suggested they hadn’t even eaten as much as Ying Yuanxing had in one bowl. How many bowls had he eaten now? He had consumed nearly half a year’s wages for most contestants.

And that was just for the bone rice. The other dishes were harder to identify, but judging by the Great Weirds’ desperate, forced eating, their prices were certainly no lower, if not higher.

"What kind of incredible luck does this streamer have? This morning he was starving and digging through trash, and by afternoon he’s gorging on high-grade Weird Food. I’m so jealous—when will I ever get a chance like this?"

"Wake up, man. Even if you could afford high-grade Weird Food, you wouldn’t be able to eat much. Look at those two Great Weirds—they can barely handle it."

"Then how is the streamer—oh right, I remember, the streamer’s ability allows him to eat more. Damn, now I’m even more jealous. Even if I got this chance, I couldn’t eat much, but the streamer looks like he could finish it all."

"Are Great Weirds really this benevolent? Just letting him eat like that?"

"They’re probably intimidated. In the Weird game, the more you can eat, the stronger you are."

"Suddenly, the streamer quitting Hongxing Company doesn’t seem so bad. Even if he’d stayed, with his salary, it would take a year of savings to afford a meal like this."

After finishing the meal, Ying Yuanxing followed the village chief to inspect the blacksmith shop and the tackle shop. Both were deserted and dilapidated. The blacksmith shop, in particular, had been gutted by fire, its walls blackened and its roof riddled with large holes. The tackle shop was slightly better, though the lack of inhabitants and exposure to the elements had accelerated its decay.

Before leaving, Ying Yuanxing unexpectedly spotted a bamboo fishing rod under the eaves of the tackle shop, covered in dust. He picked it up and examined it—though it appeared worn, the rod itself felt durable yet supple.

"That… that’s Li An’s old fishing rod," the village chief said, surprised to see it in Ying Yuanxing’s hand.

That tracks, Ying Yuanxing thought to himself.

According to the game’s setup, the fisherman was supposed to gift him this rod. Now that the man was gone, the rod remained.

"Chief, can I take this?" Ying Yuanxing asked, waving the rod.

"You like fishing?" the village chief countered, instead of answering directly.

"I do," Ying Yuanxing nodded.

"But this rod…" the village chief stammered. "Li An was using it when a big fish dragged him underwater and drowned him. When we pulled him out, he was still clutching it. We just left it here afterward. You…"

Ying Yuanxing understood the implication, but he ran his fingers over the rod’s marks and said nonchalantly, "Chief, I’m not one for superstitions."

The village chief truly didn’t want to object further, but he feared Ying Yuanxing would discover the rod’s peculiar nature later and blame him. He continued, "Once, a visitor used this rod by the river, and it attached itself to him. If he wasn’t fishing, the rod would tremble—even while he slept, it compelled him to fish. They say if you don’t catch anything, Li An’s vengeful spirit will come claim you."

"In the end, that man also died in the river!" The village chief’s voice unconsciously took on a chilling tone.

But to Ying Yuanxing, this sounded like… the rod trembling to remind him to fish… fishing even while asleep…

He stared at the rod in awe. What a magical item!

"Chief, does it really make you fish while sleeping?" Ying Yuanxing asked eagerly.

"Of course! Once, someone saw a person standing by the river at midnight and thought a creature had invaded the village. But when they got closer, they realized it was that man, eyes closed, fishing. When they woke him, he had no idea what was happening—he thought he’d been asleep."

"Chief, don’t worry. I love fishing—I’d never let this rod sit idle," Ying Yuanxing promised excitedly. "And if Li An loved fishing too, he wouldn’t want his rod unused. Maybe the trembling is his way of reminding people to fish! Once I catch something, I’ll bring some fish to make offerings to him."

Hearing this, the village chief fell silent. He had said his piece—if anything happened, it wasn’t his fault. Even the Great Weird had to be bound by certain rules.