“Alright! Now that there are just 3 left, let’s change the rules up a bit.” Guo Jia clapped as she said so after Meng De finished eating the tofu, and then turned to Meng De. “My lord, that should be okay right.”

“Maa, you’re the one who decides what goes on in the game.” Though Meng De agreed to it, she looks exasperated at Guo Jia’s words.

And for some reason, a very ominous feeling surged in my heart. I had the feeling that Guo Jia’s next words were definitely not going to make things easy for us.

“Un,” Guo Jia nodded as an utterly horrific smile floated on her face. “Well then, will you 3 please pick something out?”

Un? Isn’t this the same as before?

I looked over at Yun Chang and Meng De as I thought so, and as expected, those 2 were unable to understand what had changed either.

“Maa maa, don’t think too much about it.” Guo Jia said as she saw that we were worried about what was to come . “Just like what we’ve done so far, you still have to eat it.”

We 3 looked at each other, and then picked up our chopsticks at the same time.

I don’t know what Meng De and Yun Chang were thinking as they reached in with their chopsticks, but as for me, I just relied on my instincts and scoured the broth for (fake) food.

As long as it’s not a chilli, anything is good… You’re it!

—- Meat stew!

I slapped my forehead in anguish. Was it all over now?

“D, d.a.m.n it.” Yun Chang, who was sitting to my right, picked out the chilli that all of us least wanted to pick our. Looking at the shape, it’s probably the Jing state variant.

And while I and Yun Chang were drowning in the abyss of despair, Meng De picked out another tofu of mine.

“Alright, what now?” Meng De excitedly asked Guo Jia. She’s probably on cloud nine now, seeing as we are sure to lose.

Hai, forget it, I admit defeat. I better prepare myself to eat this.

However, Guo Jia said calmly, “Now then, you 3 shall pa.s.s your item to the next person in counterclockwise order who will eat it.”

“Hah?!”

“What!?”

“… It’s over.”

Meng De accepted the reality before her while I and Yun Chang did not understand immediately what happened.

So to explain what will happen, Yun Chang will eat the meat stew, Meng De will eat the chilli, and I will eat the tofu. — Looks like we’re eating the stuff that each of us brought.

What a coincidence.

“Alright, don’t hesitate any longer. Pa.s.s your item to the next person in counterclockwise order now.” Guo Jia urged.

Guo Jia’s smile did not extend to her eyes, and gave me a chill that ran down my spine.

Yun Chang POV

I took a close look at the plate that contained the meat stew which I received, and found that this was something I made, and not Gan Qing’s.

Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’m eating something I made myself.

But since Xuan De said it’s okay, the taste can’t be too bad.

–Ahen

Ue~~~~~~~~

From the moment I inserted it into my mouth, a disgusting taste exploded on my tongue, inducing a strong wave of nausea.

Wh, what is this taste? Why is it so sweet when it’s meat? Did I add in too much honey? But all I added was one pail. And it’s so hard, I can’t chew it at all~~~~

But still, I kept on chewing, to give myself confidence to swallow. But no matter how much I chewed, my tongue rejected the meat in my mouth and the nausea only acc.u.mulated.

I had no choice but to use my martial bravery, and concentrated my bravery from my whole body as sweat streamed down my body, and force myself to swallow.

— Uhn.

Un? What happened? Why is the world spinning, and why does it seem like I’m lying on the ground?

No good, I must get up.

My thoughts were not going through to my limbs as my brain was addled by the shock from what I had swallowed.

Finally, I gave up and lay motionlessly on the ground.

Ah, is this the meat stew I made? … L, looks like I still have a long way to go in my cooking skills huh~~~

In the next instant, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up again, I would find myself in the inner room.

Meng De POV

What a farce this is.

After all my hard work I out in to avoid all the risks, mow I have to eat the very Jing state chilli that I put in myself.

I sized the chilli as I picked it up. It’s not bid, and basically can be eaten in one bite.

‘*It’s okay, it will be okay.’ I told myself. ‘If Yun Chang can withstand eating one then why not me?’

I steeled myself and ate the chilli in one mouth.

I held it in my mouth as I was frozen by fear and did not dare to chew down.

Perhaps I can just swallow it… No, it’s too pointy, my throat will be scratched.

Do I really have to chew it?

Alright, I’ll start at the center and then quickly swallow.

It’s okay, it will be okay. I rea.s.sure myself once more.

— *Chew*

Wu!!!!!

Though I only chewed it softly, I could feel an intense flame run down my tongue to my stomach and ignite the acid instantly. A strong impulse to spit the chilli out hit me then and there, but my will would not allow me to do so.

In just the blink of an eye, I could feel that even the tips of my ears were burning, and it was so painful that I couldn’t even open my eyes which were overflowing with tears by now.

I don’t know how I overcame the flames in my mouth, but I do know that I did not hold on at the bronze cauldron. On this, I have to admit Guan Yu is better than me.

Half a minute ago, Meng De and Yun Chang were carried into the inner room.

At this time, only I and Guo Jia, who was the judge, stood at the table before the bronze cauldron.

Though I don’t know what happened, it seems like I’ve won.

Though I don’t know how I’m going to use the reward later, in any case, what matter is that I’ve won.

“Lord Liu Bei, don’t think you’ve won just yet.” Guo Jia said as she smiled, as though she read what I was thinking. “Until you’re proven to be alright after eating that tofu, everything is up in the air.”

After hearing that, I nearly laughed.

“Maa, isn’t this just an ordinary piece of tofu?” I said as I picked up the piece of tofu with no hesitation and put it in my mouth.

— Ahen

— *Chew*

— Uhn

“…” I sat there quietly with Guo Jia for a few minutes before I said. “See, I’m alright.”

“Un, indeed.” Guo Jia nodded. “Well then, I’ll head inside to take a look, and in a while I’ll announce the results.”

Gan Qing isn’t back yet though~~~~~~ Before I could say that, Guo Jia had parted the curtains and made for the inner room, while I stayed and waited in the main hall.

… Speaking of which, does everyone know? If you eat honey and tofu together, you will get diarrhoea.

(TL: Unable to confirm. It appears to be an Asian myth, never heard of it before though.)

In any case, back then, I wasn’t aware, that the meat stew I ate, was Yun Chang’s.

In just a few minutes, just as Guo Jia was about to bring me to the inner room and announce the results, I had to forfeit and back out to deal with my diarrhoea.

And because of that diarrhoea, I was unable to make it to the inner room that night, and could not enjoy an actual good hotpot meal.

Just like that, as I was clutching my stomach in pain, the night came to a close.

Ah, there’s still more to this story.

After Gan Qing had put Mi Zhen to bed, she was very surprised when she came back as she was the only one left.

And by the rules, she had to eat 2 servings of food,

“I only picked 2 things at random and both times happened to be the tofu that Xuan De put in! Hehe, as I thought, we have good affinity huh~~~” Gan Qing said to me after it all ended, with a face of sheer unadulterated bliss.

Up till now, I still don’t know how Meng De and Gan Qing were able to repeatedly pick my tofu.

Of course, Gan Qing, as the last survivor, was crowned the winner of the game. According to the rules, she can order one of us to do something.

I don’t know if it was fate, or something else, but Gan Qing chose me.

But that, is a story for another time.