Chapter 6 The Corpse and the Weed

'This pair of underwear… is indeed suspicious…' Feng Bujue looked at the lower half of the corpse first. 'Is this the last piece of modesty the production team left for the deceased, or a container hiding some kind of clue…' He stroked his chin and said, 'If there really is a clue hidden, is the setup trying to test the contestants' moral bottom line… or their tolerance for disgusting things…'

While Jue-ge was thinking, he had already stepped forward and squatted down…

But when he was about to reach out and pull down the corpse's pants, he found… he couldn't reach.

'Eh?' Feng Bujue was stunned, and then tried again, but it still didn't work.

'Oh~' Two seconds later, his expression relaxed, and he muttered, 'The system is stopping me, right…'

He guessed correctly… The system defined his attempt as an objectively obscene act, making it impossible to carry it out.

'Very good.' Jue-ge smiled. 'This is the same as announcing that there are no clues inside.'

In a sense, Jue-ge should be grateful. If there was no system limitation, he would have to check it 'personally' to be sure.

'So… the clue is the handcuffs…' Feng Bujue then shifted his gaze to the corpse's wrist. 'Let me see…' He grabbed the decaying corpse's hand without hesitation and held it up for careful observation. After scrutinizing it for a few seconds, he muttered, 'There's nothing special about it…'

As he spoke, Jue-ge put down the arm and turned the corpse over.

He wanted to see if there was anything hidden under the corpse, but there were only some scattered pieces of rotten flesh and a large number of maggots.

'Aha!' When Feng Bujue saw the bugs, his eyes lit up, as if he was hungry.

The next second, Jue-ge turned around and ran excitedly towards a clump of grass not far away.

For some reason, the way he looked at the grass was as if he was looking at a menu in a restaurant…

Dozens of seconds later, Jue-ge bent down, grabbed a handful of grass, and returned to the corpse. 'Not bad… wood sorrel rolls with meat maggots, vitamins C and protein included.' While muttering, he grabbed a handful of maggots and placed them in the grass leaves.

Then, like eating a lettuce salad, he opened his mouth wide and took a bite, crunching and chewing.

'Hmm… not bad.' After swallowing a mouthful, Jue-ge mocked himself, 'At least it's better than some of the sandwiches I've had before.'

Just as he was savoring his masterpiece…

'Ah!' A scream came from behind.

This time, it was undoubtedly a human scream.

Feng Bujue's expression changed, and he instantly adjusted his posture, standing up and brandishing his military shovel, ready to fight.

But… it turned out that he didn't need to be so nervous at all. Because the person who screamed was about ten meters away from him.

'You… are you eating dead people's flesh?' It turned out that the person who screamed was another contestant – Justin. Bieber.

A few seconds ago, Bieber, who was passing by, happened to glimpse Jue-ge's back. So, he decided to quietly approach and see what was going on… and when he saw Mr. 'Stephen. Carbon' squatting next to a corpse, making incredibly clear chewing sounds, he was naturally shocked.

'Oh, it's you…' Feng Bujue recognized the person and hesitated for half a second. Then, he smiled and said, 'What did you say? Eating dead people? Ha! How is that possible…' He raised his left hand, showing off the wood sorrel roll with meat maggots, and replied, 'It's wild grass and bugs.'

'Phew… God…' Bieber breathed a sigh of relief, and the expression on his face relaxed a lot. 'You scared me, Mr. Carbon.'

After confirming that Jue-ge was not a cannibalistic maniac, Bieber walked over unhurriedly.

'But…' Bieber soon arrived in front of Jue-ge and continued, 'No matter what you're eating… there's no need to squat next to a corpse to eat, right?'

'The bugs are right next to the corpse. I don't think it's necessary to change places on purpose,' Feng Bujue replied casually, while stuffing a large mouthful of his 'homemade hand roll' into his mouth.

'This… ugh…' Just now, he was far away, and Bieber didn't see clearly. Only now did he notice that the thing Jue-ge was holding was wild grass wrapped in live maggots…

'Sigh… the youth of today.' Feng Bujue looked at Bieber, who was retching against a tree, with a look of disdain, and said earnestly, 'You'll vomit at the sight of a few bugs; you're so useless.'

After Bieber finished vomiting, he felt a little better. He immediately straightened up and replied, 'Of course I wouldn't vomit just from seeing bugs! But it's different when you see someone eating live maggots!'

'Justin, Justin~' Feng Bujue was still eating, and seemed to be enjoying it. 'Young man… you have to understand, if you want to survive in this wilderness, you have to get used to things like this…' He smacked his lips, intentionally or unintentionally spraying out some food scraps. 'When you let go of the prejudices of city dwellers, you'll find… that there is food everywhere.'

'Are you sure that counts as food…' Bieber covered his nose and replied with a look of disgust.

'Relatively speaking, maggots taste pretty good among insects, and they're high in protein,' Jue-ge said in an organized manner, like a teacher lecturing a student. 'The sweet and astringent taste, combined with the lemon-like sourness of wood sorrel, is undoubtedly a fresh and delicious dish.'

'Ugh…' Bieber threw up again after hearing this description.

And Feng Bujue was still talking eloquently. 'As for the texture, maggots that grow up eating carrion are fatter than those that grow up eating feces, and the meat is also…'

'Okay! That's enough!' Bieber interrupted Jue-ge with a look of horror. 'Mr. Carbon, I understand what you mean… please stop talking.'

'Alright…' Feng Bujue shrugged nonchalantly, finished the last bite, and then tilted his head to point at the corpse behind him, changing the subject. 'What do you think?'

'What do I think…' Bieber was stunned for a moment. 'It's a corpse, what else is there to think?'

'Heh…' Feng Bujue responded to Bieber's reaction with a cold smile, lowered his head, and played with the military shovel in his hand. Then, he asked, 'By the way, what was the clue you got?'

'Uh…' Bieber's expression changed instantly. He hesitated for a long time before replying, 'I don't think I can give that to you, Mr. Carbon.'

'Well, I can understand.' Jue-ge nodded in response. 'After all, this is a competitive program, and it's not a good idea to give your exclusive information to your opponent.'

Bieber was obviously stunned when he heard this. 'Hmm… you're right,' he replied woodenly.

'In short…' Feng Bujue looked back at the corpse. 'I want to study this corpse a bit more…' He squatted back down next to the corpse. 'Why don't you… wait for me there for a while?'

'Uh… Mr. Carbon.' Bieber looked at Jue-ge's back and hesitated slightly for a few seconds. 'Actually, I was just passing by… and came over to say hello. I think I should go.'

'Oh, goodbye.' Feng Bujue waved his hand without turning his head. 'Good luck.'

'Goodbye, Mr. Carbon.' Bieber gave Jue-ge one last strange look, then silently turned around and left the place.

After his footsteps faded away, the corners of Feng Bujue's mouth… curled into a cold smile.

'This kid… is pretty alert…' Jue-ge stood up and glanced in the direction the other had left. 'Too bad… he's no match for me after all.'

At first glance, nothing much seemed to happen in the past few minutes, but in reality… there were undercurrents surging.

First of all, the moment he saw Justin. Bieber, Jue-ge had discerned that… the other party had just smoked marijuana.

Even though Bieber had only smoked a small dose, his slightly trembling hands and somewhat dazed eyes could not be concealed.

Based on this situation, Feng Bujue deduced that… Bieber had at least found a marijuana stash, and had most likely not smoked all of it. In other words… the other party was still carrying some marijuana.

So, Jue-ge had the idea of 'attacking'.

When Jue-ge said, 'Oh, it's you…', he had already constructed every step of the plan in his mind: how to trick the other party into coming over, how to make the other party lower their guard, how to knock the other party unconscious, how to break the other party's legs, and so on…

However, when Bieber came to Jue-ge's face, Jue-ge abandoned the attack plan. Because he realized… the other party also wanted to attack him.

As long as you observe calmly, you can find that… Bieber, who appears to be slightly relaxed on the surface, is actually extremely alert. From beginning to end, he maintained a certain distance from Jue-ge, and his right hand was always vaguely placed on the outside of his lower back. Obviously, he had a weapon hidden in his lower back, most likely a small knife or something… ready to strike at any time.

Next, the two had a chat. Both sides' acting skills were good. One was eating maggots and chewing grass, rambling on and on, making him unpredictable; the other pretended to be at a loss, and used two dry heaves to cover up his true intention of maintaining his distance from the other party.

Soon after, Feng Bujue took the lead in launching an attack. He used the sentence 'What do you think?' to start probing.

And Bieber continued to play dumb.

Feng Bujue then sneered, and raised the military shovel… He used this expression and action to give the other party a subtext: 'I've already seen through you. If you want to attack, I'm also prepared.'

Immediately afterwards, Jue-ge asked the question 'What was the clue you got?', using this to clarify another matter: 'I also know that you have found the marijuana.'

…………

Here, it is necessary to explain why this question can express the meaning of the latter subtext.

The thing is… while talking to Bieber about the taste of maggots, Feng Bujue was also thinking about the corpse behind him with divided attention.

It was in those few dozen seconds that he figured out the meaning of his clue…

In fact, the clue on the male corpse was the 'handcuffs'. Of course, the handcuffs themselves were nothing special, which Feng Bujue had already confirmed. The real purpose of the handcuffs was symbolic… it symbolized the 'arrested person'.

This clue, combined with the first clue Jue-ge got, 'You have the right to remain silent', pointed to the marijuana stash – in the corpse's mouth.

After reasoning to this point, Feng Bujue's deduction did not end. He boldly made assumptions, and then thought of several other possible conclusions.

1. Every contestant's starting point has a marijuana stash nearby.
2. The stash is about one kilometer away from the contestant's starting position.
3. Although this location is relatively easy to find, the marijuana hidden there is very well hidden.
4. The first 'clue' points to the marijuana in the stash closest to each contestant.

Although he couldn't be 100% sure, Feng Bujue believed that the chances of these four settings being true were very high.

Objectively speaking, the production team can use this arrangement to allow the contestants to quickly get started with the competition and each get some marijuana to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms for a long time to come.

And if these four settings are not true, it is very likely that 'ten contestants will have a major drug addiction shortly after the start of the competition, collapsing and struggling'. For a reality show, this kind of opening would be too ugly…

The above is the correlation between 'clues' and marijuana stashes.

…………

So, let's continue with the previous content and look at Bieber's reaction…

After being continuously intimidated by Feng Bujue, Bieber's expression changed. He hesitated for a moment and gave a refusal response.

Please note that Bieber said, 'I don't think I can give that to you,' instead of 'I don't think I can tell you that.'

So… what he said on the surface was about 'clues', but in reality, he was referring to 'marijuana'.

Without a doubt, at this point, the two were already in a state of unspoken hostility.

And in this volatile situation, Jue-ge came up with a meaningful response: 'After all, this is a competitive program, and it's really not a good idea to 'give' your 'exclusive' information to your 'opponent'.'

This sentence basically declared the final bottom line – 'If you don't come to steal from me, I won't steal from you either.'

Bieber naturally understood the meaning of those words, and he could only reply with 'You're right', expressing his compromise.

In this way, their conversation came to an end. Feng Bujue took the opportunity to say a few nonsense words, returned to the corpse (his marijuana stash) and squatted down, and asked: 'Why don't you… wait for me there for a while?'

His implied meaning was… 'How long are you going to stay here before you leave?'

When Bieber heard him say this, he also knew when he was no longer welcome, and made a few perfunctory replies before leaving the place.

In summary, this… is the truth about the few minutes of conversation between Feng Bujue and Justin. Bieber…

'Ah… the NPCs in this script… are really amazing…' Feng Bujue muttered, and used his hand to pry open the corpse's mouth. 'The previous Bell had already demonstrated amazing physical abilities, and now this Justin. Bieber actually has such a scheming mind… he found the marijuana faster than me; after finding it, he didn't use a lot of it because of his addiction, but only used the minimum dose that could relieve the symptoms; then he deduced the 'four points' that I had thought of, and then stopped marching into the island and switched to a circular route, wanting to snatch other people's initial marijuana stashes… Such intelligence, even players may… whoa!'

His thoughts were interrupted once again by the stench, this time from the gas spewing out of the corpse's mouth.

'Damn it…' Feng Bujue couldn't help but curse, because the stench actually deducted 4% of his Survival Value.

What was even more outrageous was that after he finally pried open the corpse's mouth, he found that… the guy's upper and lower jaws were sewn together with a lot of iron wire, and there was only a gap one finger wide between his two rows of teeth.

It seemed… that the production team was afraid that the corpse's mouth would open on its own, or be bitten open by wild animals, so they had the foresight to think of this method.

'Tch… so unprofessional. If you're going to sew it, just sew it perfectly! Why specifically leave a gap for the stench to come out!' Feng Bujue complained unhappily, then picked up the military shovel, adjusted its structure (the WJq-308 military shovel can be deformed to a certain extent to exert different effects), and tried to use the 'pliers' function of the military shovel to cut off those iron wires.

However… progress was not smooth, because the iron wire stuck in the gap between the teeth was indeed not easy to clamp…

As a result, Jue-ge, who had inhaled too much stench, changed to the 'hammer' function of the military shovel in displeasure, smashed the corpse's two rows of teeth, and used a relatively rough method to obtain the marijuana from his mouth.

【Name: Marijuana *2】

【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Normal】

【Function: When used individually, it can suppress 'withdrawal symptoms' for a certain period of time. Multiple uses can grant corresponding random buffs.】

【Can it be brought out of this scenario: No】

【Note: If you don't want to become a twit like rAndy, you'd better not touch it.】

The two marijuana cigarettes were packed in a small plastic bag, and the outer layer was wrapped in a layer of wax, so they were well preserved.

In addition, Feng Bujue found another thing in the layer of wax…

【Name: Handcuff Key】

【Type: Tool】

【Quality: Normal】

【Function: Open handcuffs】

【Can it be brought out of this scenario: No】

【Note: What? You ask which handcuffs it can open? Which ones else? Buddy, are you a Virgo?】

'Great.' Feng Bujue immediately used this key to open the handcuffs on the corpse's hands. 'This might come in handy…'

【Name: Handcuffs】

【Type: Tool】

【Quality: Normal】

【Function: Do whatever you want with it.】

【Can it be brought out of this scenario: No】

【Note: Since you saw this item description, it means you already got the key.】

'Okay… so the problem now is…' Jue-ge stuffed those things into his pants pockets, stood up and muttered, 'Who should I borrow a light from…'

He also knew that if there was really no other way, he could just eat the marijuana cigarette directly, but right now his 'withdrawal symptoms' were in a relatively weak period, so he didn't rush to use it.

'Let's walk for a while first…' Feng Bujue took a deep breath and decided to leave this place first, so as not to have any contestants with the same mindset as Bieber appear.

But what he didn't know was that at this moment, a pair of eyes… had already locked onto him from the shadows.

The actions he and Bieber took earlier had all fallen into 'that person's' eyes.