Chapter 55: The Victims

"Officer, are we the fifth group?" Yan Jing asked, leaning close to the youth An Ze.

"Shh, shh, shh—"

An Ze pulled his megaphone aside and pressed a finger to his lips, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"It's a good thing you showed up. Otherwise, the VIPs up there would probably explode with anger."

He pointed toward the temporary judging panel set up in the distance.

Four people of vastly different appearances sat upon it.

From left to right sat the Iceberg Woman, a pot-bellied man wearing a wide-brimmed patrol hat, a woman with five or six tongues, and an Inner World Resident with an extreme degree of mutation.

Yan Jing focused most of his attention on that final Inner World Resident.

The resident's body was incredibly obese, making his limbs look short and stubby. His massive mouth, however, took up two-thirds of his face, squashing his eyes and nose into a tiny area. Drool continuously dribbled from his lips.

Aside from the pot-bellied man in the patrol hat, the rest of the judges on the stage looked far from pleased.

"Too few people came to compete!" An Ze whispered.

"Looking at this setup, the top vendors at the front of the market definitely pulled some tricks to scare the others away. Boss has always hated this kind of behavior, but she doesn't have time to manage these petty matters."

"As for those two from the Sun-Swallowing Tower, they're total gluttons. With so few dishes today, it'll be a miracle if they're happy."

"But the weirdest thing is, why haven't those top four from the front of the market shown up today either?"

"Do you guys know what happened?"

At his question, Yan Jing and the rest of his team collectively shook their heads.

"No idea." "It is pretty weird, the sun sure is round today..." "Don't know."

"D-d-don't... know..."

At least they weren't all lying. It seemed a genuine 'don't know' had slipped into the mix.

Yan Jing patted An Ze's shoulder.

"Relax, Officer. Even if the sky falls, it won't crush you. Maybe they're just running a little late."

"I hope you're right."

An Ze felt that this Cameraman in front of him was speaking more and more to his liking. He shook Yan Jing's hand in gratitude.

He then looked down at his watch and sighed.

"There isn't much hope left, though. We only have two minutes to go."

"Anyway, let me interview you guys first."

He brought the megaphone back to his lips, waved toward the judging panel, and announced, "Welcome to our fifth group of contestants! Our... Old, Weak, Sick, and Disabled Team! Welcome!!"

As his voice echoed out, the vendors gathered around the market's outskirts to act as the audience generously provided a round of applause.

"May I ask our contestants, what dish have you brought for us today?"

"Super Invincible Delicious Fried Rice!"

Before Yan Jing could answer, Old Liu snatched the "microphone" and waved vigorously at the surrounding crowd.

"Our team's dish today is an absolute innovation! It has perfect color, aroma, and taste, and I believe the judges will definitely love it!"

Once he finished, An Ze took the megaphone back and smiled.

"It seems our Old, Weak, Sick, and Disabled Team is very confident in their creation, and their naming skills remain consistently on point. Good luck! I believe you will definitely bring us a surprising dish!"

"Alright, so those are our five competing teams today. From among them, we will choose—"

"Waid a minuh!"

A booming voice rang out from the entrance of the market.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a fat figure in a chef's uniform dragging a giant object, several meters tall and draped in black cloth, toward them.

"It's him..."

Seeing those two sausage-thick hands, Yan Jing immediately recognized the newcomer. It was the owner of the closed-down Elephant BBQ stall.

But if one only looked at his face, he would be completely unrecognizable.

Right now, his face was swollen with several fist-sized lumps. Bruises and cuts severely warped his once-distinct facial features. While he spoke with plenty of bluster, he clearly couldn't articulate his words properly.

"This guy can take a beating..." Old Liu whispered to Yan Jing and the others. "I stopped just short of beating him to death."

Yan Jing blinked. He remembered that Old Liu had headed in the direction of the iron pot stew vendor's home last night.

So... this old man took on a one-versus-two?

Seeing their astonished gazes, Old Liu assumed they thought he had botched the job and hastily explained himself.

"You can't completely blame me for this. This guy showed up out of nowhere, and I wasn't fully prepared. But I guarantee that the other guy with the iron pot stew definitely won't be waking up today."

Old Liu was a badass.

Yan Jing gave him a mental thumbs-up.

An Ze didn't have time to care about any of that. Seeing another participant arrive, he quickly rushed over to greet him.

"Welcome, welcome! Welcome to our sixth group of contestants!!!"

But the fat vendor ignored him, dragging his cargo straight toward his own stall.

As he passed by Yan Jing's stall, he seemed to recognize the person who had beaten him up yesterday and shot Old Liu a fierce glare.

Old Liu immediately glared right back.

Yan Jing watched as the fat vendor noticeably shivered and quickened his pace to get away.

An Ze looked a bit dejected after being ignored, but he quickly pulled himself together and smiled.

"It seems our sixth contestant isn't in the mood for an interview. He must want to let his skills do the talking. Alright, then I hereby announce that this year's Rotten Vegetable Festival has officially be—"

"Wait!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, a beautiful woman wearing a headscarf and a black rubber apron appeared at the venue entrance.

She wore black cleaning gloves on her hands and tall rubber boots on her legs. Logically, such an outfit shouldn't have had anything to do with beauty, yet her eyes and brows carried a mature, alluring charm.

"It's Fishmonger Xishi, one of the top four..."

Someone in the watching crowd murmured, "She actually came after all."

Yan Jing and Old Liu turned their heads to look at Chen Nian.

This was the person Chen Nian was responsible for handling.

Looking at the woman, there wasn't a single visible scratch on her.

"You went too easy on her, kid. You can't hold back just because she's a woman," Old Liu muttered, passing on his life experience.

Chen Nian sighed helplessly.

"I already went very hard."

"This woman was just relatively difficult to handle."

In front of the entire crowd, Fishmonger Xishi walked over briskly. She shoved aside An Ze, who was in the middle of his welcoming speech, and marched up to their group with a murderous aura, staring dead at Chen Nian.

"What, you want to hit someone in public?"

Old Liu smoothed out his divination robe and stepped forward.

But Fishmonger Xishi didn't even look at him. Her gaze remained fixed on Chen Nian, and her opening words shocked everyone present.

"You need to take responsibility."

Chen Nian sighed. "I made a huge sacrifice too."

"Besides, didn't we agree yesterday? I'd accompany you for two days at most."

"A week!"

Fishmonger Xishi bit her lower lip.

"And after you go in, you have to bring me what I want. You're also not allowed to back out of the terms we agreed on last night."

"If you agree, I'll leave right now."

Listening to the rising murmurs of gossip around them, Chen Nian let out a long sigh and helplessly agreed.

"Fine, a week it is."

Hearing Chen Nian agree, Fishmonger Xishi finally shot a sharp glare at the surrounding crowd and stomped away in her rubber boots.

After that scene, the way Yan Jing and Old Liu looked at Chen Nian instantly changed.

"Not bad, kid. No wonder you look so drained today. In all these years, I've never seen her give a single man the time of day," Old Liu whispered.

"It's complicated. It's not what you think." Chen Nian's eyes above his face mask revealed a deep sense of exhaustion. "At first, I just wanted to use some things I recorded to blackmail her, but then it completely spiraled out of control..."

Old Chen was a badass.

Yan Jing once again gave a mental thumbs-up.

Not far away, An Ze watched the woman leave and felt rather disappointed.

However, his ability to adjust his mindset was clearly extraordinary.

"Hehe, we just had a little intermission there, but it's no big deal. I now announce that this year's Rotten Vegetable Festival has officially be—"

He dragged out the last syllable, deliberately turning his head to check the market entrance. Seeing that no one else was coming, he finally spoke with relief.

"Officially be—"

"Wait a minute!!"

Right at that moment, the Golden Sand Tangyuan vendor appeared at the entrance of the market.

"Are you guys serious—"

Even the usually good-tempered An Ze was getting a little agitated now.

But before he could say another word, the Slicked-Back Hair Man charged straight toward their side of the market.

Seeing the thick killing intent radiating from his body, Chen Nian and Old Master Liu subconsciously stepped forward, shielding Yan Jing and Mantou behind them.

Surprisingly, the man didn't even glance their way and sprinted straight past them toward the other end of the market.

He was as fast as a gust of wind. Before anyone could react, he had already rushed right up to the fat vendor, who had just arrived at his stall and started unpacking.

The fat vendor looked bewildered.

"What are you do—"

"Was it you?!"

The Slicked-Back Hair Man roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"Was what me?"

The fat vendor failed to process the situation.

Bang!

The man didn't waste another breath. He leaped high into the air and delivered a savage punch!

"Damn it, my ingredients! I'll kill you!!"

The man's voice was filled with grief and fury. It no longer mattered who actually did it. His ingredients were ruined, dooming his chances of participating in the competition, and he desperately needed someone to vent his rage on.

In an instant, the two were locked in a violent brawl.

Chen Nian and Old Liu turned their heads, casting astonished looks at Yan Jing.

Yan Jing coughed lightly.

"When doing this kind of thing, the most important part is accumulating experience."

'Let me ask you this: if you wear a mask and people can still figure out who did it, what's the point of the mask?'

Yan Jing felt that although his two good friends each had their own strengths, they were still somewhat lacking in the experience department.