Chapter 42: The Devouring Mouse

Everyone had already noticed that Jiang Tian and Senior Xia Li were very close, and they made a well-matched pair in terms of appearance. In a university setting, it would be perfectly normal for such an attractive couple to be together. However, as a major internet celebrity, this was a problem. A large portion of her livestream audience followed her specifically because of her persona as a single, pure, and innocent campus belle. And now, you’re telling me... she’s already been "broken in" by someone?

Xia Li was pale with fright. This topic terrified her even more than the "Senior in White" they had just seen. She tried to play dumb, hoping to salvage the situation: "Jiang Tian, what are you saying..." Her flustered expression made her intent clear—it wasn't anger, but the resentful look of a lover: *Why are you talking nonsense? Fix this, quick!*

Jiang Tian, having snapped back to reality, was equally bewildered and stumbled over his words: "I... I..." He didn't even know why he had blurted out the truth. When he had first drawn the prompt, that was indeed what he was thinking. The goddess whom countless "simps" in front of their screens could never reach had long since been conquered by him. That sense of secret triumph he felt while on camera was his greatest private joy. He never imagined it would just slip out.

Before they could figure out how to save the situation, an unexpected interruption occurred. A sneering voice cut through their performance. "I'll help him finish that."

Turning around, they saw that Liao Feifei had already drawn a "Truth" prompt. As the initiator of the game, she was the last to draw in this round. She looked at the slip of paper and said, "It just so happens that my prompt is: Give an honest evaluation of your opinion on one of the people in this group."

The prompt was as boring as ever, but this was the third one, and Ji Yun noticed that her expression hadn't changed. Clearly, she had no intention of lying. Liao Feifei shed her previous persona of a humble, sycophantic junior. With a mocking smile, she dropped a bombshell: "Senior Xia Li, stop acting. Senior Jiang Tian is clearly your boyfriend, yet you keep trying to maintain a 'single' persona to trick your livestream fans into gifting you. Hmph, I’ve long been sick of this 'pick-me' act!"

Silence fell upon the room. Everyone stared in disbelief, wondering if they had misheard. What had Liao Feifei just said? Ji Yun looked at the shocked expressions of the others and confirmed he hadn't misheard. The words were delivered quietly, yet they carried the sharp, biting edge of a blade—especially the "pick-me" label, which was the ultimate insult for a girl.

"???" Xia Li’s eyes widened, her face a mask of disbelief. She never imagined she would be backstabbed twice during a livestream. Hearing her peer openly call her a "green tea" (manipulative girl) made her heart explode with rage. But with the camera rolling, she struggled to maintain her act: "Feifei... what... what do you mean?"

In truth, Xia Li had always despised this junior who tried to copy her style and leach off her traffic. But Liao Feifei was good at sucking up, constantly asking for advice and tirelessly contributing content ideas. Xia Li had thought having a little follower wasn't a bad idea, so she brought her along to livestream. She never expected this scheming girl to stab her in the back.

Liao Feifei ignored the olive branch and continued, "Senior Xia Li, stop pretending you don't understand. You aren't some rich girl; you come from an ordinary working-class family in the north. Before you became an influencer in your freshman and sophomore years, you were spendthrift, buying designer clothes and bags, maxing out your credit cards, and not even having money for the cafeteria. Others might not know, but your roommates sure do."

Upon hearing this, Xia Li reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She could no longer hold it in and shouted, "Liao Feifei, I don't know what nonsense you're spouting!" Her anger stemmed from the fact that this was her true dark history.

"Nonsense? Hmph." Liao Feifei was clearly prepared. She continued her exposé with a smug face: "If you hadn't found a walking wallet in Senior Jiang Tian, you'd probably be posting online 'looking for a sugar daddy' by now. And then, I don't know how you managed to craft that 'medium family' persona, but you blew up overnight. You wanted more followers, so you faked being single... wanting the benefits of both worlds. Did you really think no one would know?"

With her cover blown, the onlookers were stunned. They thought this was just a private spat or slander, but then Cheng Yu, standing to the side, chimed in to help: "That's right, Senior Xia Li. Senior Jiang Tian has never lacked girlfriends. If we're talking about it, I have a close friend who knew him way before you. Coincidentally, right when you were busy seducing him, my friend got dumped. Quite the coincidence, isn't it?"

The room fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked at each other, not understanding how a simple game had devolved into this. The sheer volume of information was explosive, and no one knew how to wrap it up. But in the livestream, things were getting rowdy.

"Hahaha, I knew it! Where would a 'medium campus belle influencer' just suddenly appear from? It was all just a manufactured persona."
"Same here. If she were a real medium, would she be so vain, wearing luxury goods all over her body during a broadcast?"
"Heh, you call those luxury goods? I always thought her 'rich girl' persona was off. What rich girl treats mass-market brands with big logos like precious treasures?"
"Lizi, tell us it's not true! You don't have a boyfriend, they're just jealous and slandering you! Say something..."

The livestream chat was in complete chaos. Supporters, opportunists, and those who just wanted to watch the world burn were engaged in a war of words. It turned out that human nature loves a spectacle. The ghost-hunting stream had instantly morphed into a catfight between three women, which was far more entertaining than watching someone fake a ghost script—especially when the parties involved included a pure campus-belle influencer!

The news that her "rich girl" identity was fake, her "single" status was a lie, and that she was a vain gold-digger was explosive. No one thought this fight was scripted, because influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers were usually very protective of their image; they wouldn't dare ruin their own personas just for the sake of the stream.

Jealousy makes people unrecognizable. The facade was shattered, and the ugliness of human nature was on full display. Most fans, seeing the campus belle exposed, turned from fans into haters, finding the drama exhilarating. Even the mysterious benefactor, "Brother Huahua," kept sending gifts, practically screaming "I love watching this drama" across the screen.

Seeing that the situation was spiraling out of control, a panicked Xia Li couldn't care about anything else and forcibly cut the stream. But she hadn't realized she wasn't the only one broadcasting. Liao Feifei was still live. The resourceful fans quickly found Liao Feifei’s room. Driven by hate after love, the former fans turned anti-fans rushed to her channel, bombarding it with gifts to boost the heat and attract more viewers. "Brother Huahua" followed suit, and a streak of gifts flashed across the screen. The only demand in the chat was: *Don't stop the stream!* Everyone wanted to see how this drama would end.

Liao Feifei watched the explosive growth in her popularity and gifts, her joy barely containable. At this moment, she felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. This was a level of traffic she had never reached before, and it was her most profitable day since she started. *Why should only Xia Li get to be famous? I, Liao Feifei, can be a big influencer too! I can do it too!*

Watching the three of them fight, Ji Yun immediately understood the cause and effect. No wonder Cheng Yu had acted so cleverly by pretending to be the "Senior in White" to set the mood, only to later claim it was intentional during the "Truth" round. It really *was* intentional—all to sabotage the stream and shatter Xia Li’s persona. The "jealousy" of human nature was fully exposed.

Looking at Liao Feifei, who was now openly showing her scheming side, Ji Yun had a very bad feeling. It seemed she was taking the route of "no publicity is bad publicity." This willingness to destroy others to climb to the top was so dark that one instinctively wanted to avoid her. Ji Yun finally confirmed that the evaluation in the detective file was correct: this woman was extremely jealous! Seeing this farce, Ji Yun had a strong intuition that Liao Feifei was definitely connected to the "Lin Kexin Falling Case."

Xia Li saw that Liao Feifei was still streaming and, unable to let others continue watching her make a fool of herself, she roared without regard for her image: "Turn off the stream right now!"

"Why should I? This is my stream, it’s none of your business!" Liao Feifei certainly wouldn't comply. She wouldn't let such an opportunity to make money and gain followers slip away. Cheng Yu, nearby, was also protecting her phone, preventing Xia Li from grabbing it, clearly wanting the farce to continue. The scene was chaotic.

Ji Yun, feeling it had nothing to do with him, remained unmoved. However, there was another casualty in this drama: Zhao Kai. Ji Yun glanced at the chubby man beside him. Although he looked expressionless, his trembling eyes showed that he was anything but calm. He had come here happily as a guest for his goddess's stream, never expecting it to turn out like this. His goddess’s image was shattered, and his crush, the "pure" senior, had a boyfriend. It couldn't be easy for him. But perhaps it was for the best that it shattered early while he wasn't too deep in.

As Xia Li and the others were about to come to blows, the other guests finally snapped out of it and began to pull them apart.

But unexpectedly, another twist occurred. Just then, the Maneki-neko (fortune cat) emitted a mechanical sound: "The next round of the game begins. Number 1, please draw."

At first, no one took it seriously. Who would still play a game at a time like this? But then, a bizarre scene unfolded. Cheng Yu was Number 1. While she was still struggling with Xia Li, her body suddenly seemed to lose control. She stopped fighting, reached out to pull a red cat whisker, and read the penalty: "Please swallow a mouse alive."

She had drawn "Truth" in the previous round, so this round had to be a "Dare." When the penalty was announced, everyone stared in disbelief. Eat a mouse? Why such a bizarre penalty? Ji Yun felt puzzled as well. What normal person would complete such a dare?

Cheng Yu looked at the slip and was naturally disdainful. At a time like this, she wasn't going to play some boring game. She tossed the paper aside. But the next moment, an inconceivable scene took place. Cheng Yu’s body stiffened strangely, as if she were performing a robotic dance, or as if some mysterious force was seizing control of her body.

It lasted only for a moment before she recovered. She walked over to the dark corner where a pile of old desks was stacked and fiddled with something. Immediately, a "squeak-squeak" sound echoed from the darkness. Everyone turned to look and realized that Cheng Yu had somehow caught a mouse the size of a fist! She held it by its tail, raised her head, and made a gesture as if she were about to put it into her mouth.

"Cheng Yu! What are you doing!" someone shouted. She remained indifferent.

Ji Yun’s gaze sharpened, realizing something was wrong: "Here it comes again!" He stared intently at every micro-expression on her face. Was this another attention-seeking performance? No! Absolutely not! Cheng Yu’s eyes were wide with terror; she was clearly just as frightened as everyone else. Her body was completely beyond her control. In full view of everyone, she slowly put the wriggling mouse into her mouth.

Before anyone could process the absurdity of the scene, Cheng Yu bit down without hesitation. There was a squeak of agony from the mouse, and it was instantly crushed, blood and guts exploding in her mouth. Blood spilled from the corners of her lips, soaking her collar and dripping onto the floor. The scene was incredibly gruesome.

But it wasn't over! Cheng Yu seemed aware of what she was doing, but she couldn't control her body at all. With a helpless expression of horror, tears streamed down her face like broken pearls. She tried to cry out, but couldn't make a sound, because her mouth was busy chewing the mouse rapidly. Blood continued to overflow. Only when her throat moved and she swallowed the entire mangled mouse—fur, skin, and entrails included—did she seem to regain control of her body.

The game penalty was over. With the warmth and the bloody, raw taste of the mouse corpse still in her mouth, Cheng Yu’s pupils dilated in shock, her mind completely shattered. She collapsed to the floor and vomited. The vomit was filled with scarlet, shredded meat. It was clear to everyone that the mouse wasn't a prop or a magic trick; she had truly swallowed a live mouse.

The air was filled with the foul odor of stomach acid and raw blood, and the onlookers were left in a state of utter, paralyzed shock.