"Throw these rice balls in there."
Duan Chen made up his mind and didn't hesitate.
Yuan Qingqing obediently threw all the rice balls in her hands into the feeding trough.
It was strange, really.
When these rice balls were thrown into the trough, not only did the lions pounce on them, scrambling to swallow them, but the rice balls were also frantically snatched up by the rabbits staying inside.
And the lions didn't harm the rabbits.
Instead, they carefully avoided them.
"A strange sight."
Duan Chen always felt he was on the verge of an answer but found it hard to believe.
"How do we get out of here?" Jun Ci asked anxiously, constantly looking at his wrist.
A crimson hue had appeared on his wrist.
He didn't know when this crimson hue had spread.
Jun Ci felt a sharp pain in his flesh.
And of course, he knew what this crimson hue represented.
It meant that the other person with whom he had a contract was in mortal danger.
When this crimson hue completely covered his entire wrist and the back of his hand, the person with whom he had made the contract would die.
He had only made a contract with one person.
That was Qin Nanyuan.
"If we want to get out, we probably need to decipher the rules here."
The Eye of Truth and the Eye of God had provided Duan Chen with immense help.
"But there should be another way."
"It's probably on the badges."
"Perhaps collecting enough badges can buy us a ticket out."
He gently rubbed his cheek, preventing his facial expression from becoming stiff.
Duan Chen had long noticed that for some reason, his facial expressions here always broke down, becoming increasingly apathetic. It was possible that he was being influenced by the rules of this place, gradually transforming into the appearance of the staff here.
Thinking of how perverse these staff members were, he rubbed his face even harder.
"If your face feels stiff, you can eat some of this."
Xi Er, with her expressionless face, stood beside him, holding something out.
In her hand was a writhing tentacle.
It looked as if it had been violently severed from an octopus's limb.
Duan Chen took a step back.
Such things always evoked unpleasant feelings.
Xi Er, however, saw nothing wrong with it and stubbornly held out the piece in her hand.
She said seriously, "It's useful."
Even if it was useful, Duan Chen politely declined.
He shook his head with extreme reluctance.
"Forget it, forget it, I probably don't have the fortune for this."
After saying that, he turned back to face the lion enclosure, watching the lions devour their food greedily.
But even though these lions were squeezed on both sides of the narrow rectangular trough, eating the meager rice balls within, they still carefully avoided their teeth from scratching the rabbits.
However, it was too narrow here, and despite their utmost caution, one lion's tooth pierced a rabbit's fur.
Immediately, the rabbit, as if severely injured, flopped into the trough.
And the lion, having tasted blood, did not become frenzied. Instead, it tumbled down beside the trough with a thud. Duan Chen could even see tears welling up in the lion's eyes.
Its long, pink tongue stuck out, and it retched continuously.
Retching?
This feeling, as if touching something deeply repulsive, gave Duan Chen another flicker of inspiration, but it came and went as quickly as it appeared.
He looked at the scene without further thought, stroked his chin, and turned to his teammates.
"Perhaps we should visit the rabbit enclosure."
They had encountered no unusual situations on their way and proceeded smoothly to the rabbit enclosure.
However, there were not many rabbits in the enclosure.
Only a dozen or so.
The dozen rabbits lay listlessly on the grass, looking even more apathetic than the lions.
A particularly plump rabbit was pressed tightly against the cage, its small eyes gazing longingly at the people walking outside.
There were tourists here.
Yes.
The difference between the rabbit enclosure and the lion enclosure was that this place had tourists.
The tourists were watching the little rabbits with great interest.
When Duan Chen and his companions walked in, all the tourists had their backs to them.
And the tourists here seemed to be participating in some sort of special festival costume.
Each tourist wore a hat.
As they stepped into the rabbit enclosure, it was as if they had triggered some sort of restriction. All the tourists froze, then turned their heads to look at them who had intruded.
As these tourists turned, Yuan Qingqing's pupils constricted, and she tightly suppressed herself, managing not to cry out.
They were animals.
All the tourists here had human bodies and animal heads.
There were roosters and oxen.
Human bodies, animal heads.
Extremely bizarre.
But here, it felt strangely fitting.
The plump rabbit squeezed by the cage had been the focus of these animal tourists' fervent attention.
Its small eyes were filled with tears.
When this plump rabbit saw Duan Chen and his group enter, it suddenly became agitated.
It leaped up, its fat body pressing against the cage.
Its small eyes held ardent longing.
As if pleading to be rescued.
It mumbled something, seeming to want to express something that Duan Chen and the others couldn't understand.
Xi Er's gaze was even more fervent than that of the tourists.
"Rooster..."
"Ox..."
"And dog, cat!"
Xi Er swallowed softly.
Duan Chen raised his hand and pulled the fervent female scientist.
He whispered admonition.
"Now is not the time for scientific research."
Hearing this, Xi Er's mind cleared somewhat. She frowned regretfully, forcing down the surges of desire welling up within her.
She nodded obediently.
"It's okay, you're our captain, I'll listen to you."
Seeing that the most difficult member of his team had also been managed, Duan Chen's face showed a subtle hint of relief.
He felt a sense of helplessness and trouble.
Was this what Wu Suowei had hoped for?
Whether leading teammates or trainees, to him, up to this point, they had all felt like burdens, with no one offering any significant help.