Others had no objections; they could eat whenever the main group decided.
Ning Wei replied to Bai Xue, "Eggs go bad if left out too long. Secondly, if something unexpected happens and we lack the strength to deal with it, it would be a death sentence."
Bai Xue nodded, agreeing with the statement.
So, everyone could now eat the eggshells. They gathered around, sitting in a circle.
Ning Wei peeled away the eggshell, revealing the white, smooth albumen.
The sound of swallowing could be heard one after another. Ning Wei was affected and couldn't help but swallow too.
The act of swallowing felt inconsistent with her persona, so Ning Wei felt particularly shy, afraid of being heard by those around her.
Fortunately, everyone's attention was on the eggs, and the sounds of swallowing were increasing. No one noticed her.
Ning Wei breathed a sigh of relief and looked up, only to see Li Ye standing at the side.
From his playful gaze, she could tell he had definitely heard!
Ning Wei’s heart screamed internally, but she maintained a calm facade. Her eyes darted around, avoiding Li Ye’s gaze and even the area around him.
The two eggs were quickly peeled, and Ning Wei was at a loss for how to distribute them. She was truly not good at such things.
Bai Xue took the eggs willingly, "Why don't I distribute them?"
Bai Xue always played the role of an older sister in the group, so she was the best choice for distribution.
Ning Wei couldn't have asked for more and immediately handed over the two "bombs" in her hands to her.
Bai Xue separated the egg whites and yolks, then said, "I know some people don't want to eat the yolks, but we need to distribute them fairly. Please raise your hand if you're willing to eat the yolks."
In today's comfortable life, many young people disliked eating yolks, but elders always said yolks were more nutritious.
There were eight people in Ning Wei's group and ten in Bai Xue's, totaling eighteen people.
Nine people would eat the whites, and nine would eat the yolks.
Mei Nan was the first to raise his hand. He didn't overthink it; he simply felt that young people didn't like yolks, so he would eat them.
Then, a few more people raised their hands. They exchanged glances, silently counted the numbers, and automatically joined the group. Once nine people had raised their hands, no one else did.
Bai Xue looked and saw that this saved her the trouble of calling out names.
With only two eggs, these people managed to make it feel like a royal banquet.
She separated the eggs with her hands and divided them into nine small portions, all roughly the same size. It was indeed challenging for her.
Everyone received their portion and put it into their mouths. They could barely chew twice before swallowing.
Although it was a drop in the bucket, it was better than nothing.
Moreover, after eating this bite of egg, everyone lost their appetite.
However, everyone seemed to have forgotten one thing: Bai Xue's hands had been washed in the pool, which contained not only mermaids but also a dead person. The skull had also been retrieved from the water.
Bai Xue only realized this later. She hesitated and looked around, finding that no one was saying anything. She certainly wouldn't bring it up herself.
It wasn't that everyone hadn't thought of it. But since Bai Xue had already started, bringing it up would seem pointless. So, they kept it to themselves.
Having something to eat was good enough; why be picky?
After eating the eggs, everyone became bored again.
They had searched this place three times but still hadn't found the key.
"Could it be that he didn't leave a key at all, and just wants to trap us to death?"
"But didn't he say he admired one of us very much and wanted to transform us into marine creatures? If that's the case, he would surely leave a sliver of hope."
"Actually, there's still one place we haven't searched."
Everyone's gaze simultaneously turned to the pool. Indeed, there was one place they hadn't searched.
They exchanged glances and then tacitly walked towards the pool.
A group of people stood at different spots, looking in. The water from the pool, when splashed out, was relatively clean. However, looking down, they could only see about a meter deep.
It was dark at the bottom, suggesting it was very deep.
Only very deep water would prevent one from seeing the bottom.
The dark water below silently warned those at the edge: do not approach, I am dangerous.
"Will the key be in here?"
No one could answer this question.
Most importantly, no one dared to enter the water.
This issue was temporarily set aside, and everyone retreated to their original positions.
Lying on the floor with nothing to do, Ning Wei suddenly asked the group holding the map what they had experienced outside and why only half of them had entered.
The remaining three people fell silent. Finally, Bai Yang spoke, explaining.
It turned out that after Ning Wei led her group away, the remaining ten gathered to look at the map.
The map was drawn too simply and served no guiding purpose.
As time ticked by, everyone became anxious, fearing that missing the designated time would trigger hidden rules and cost them their lives.
Since the map was incomprehensible, they stopped looking at it.
Anyway, Ning Wei and the others had already reached this point, so they believed they were not far from their destination.
In truth, by this point, some people in the group already regretted staying behind.
However, it was impossible to catch up now, so they could only grit their teeth and move forward with the group.
They proceeded forward and, following the lines on the map, found a path.
Along the way, they saw many doors. Driven by curiosity and the need to find their way, they opened them one by one.
As a result, one of the doors they opened revealed a pool of water and a platform, with walruses of various sizes above and below.
Their long tusks instilled fear. This door was certainly not the right one, so the young man intended to close it.
At that moment, several walruses suddenly charged forward. They were incredibly fast.
The young man's hand slipped, and the door remained open.
Seeing the walruses charging with aggression, the young man ran first, and the others followed.
The slowest runner, or rather, the one who didn't believe walruses would attack humans, as they hadn't done anything, paid the ultimate price.
A walrus lunged onto him, its sharp tusk piercing his chest. Blood spurted out.
The smell of blood attracted more walruses, who surrounded the man.
When a gap appeared, Bai Yang looked back and saw that the man's flesh was being torn into strips, and one walrus was chewing on his bloody arm.
Even now, Bai Yang could still remember the man's face.
His eyes bulged, protruding beyond normal human limits, and his face was covered in murky blood and shredded flesh.