"That might not be possible." Wei Yao scratched his head. Usually, when he takes photos, he just applies a filter to make the face look smoother.

The photo, damp to this extent, he couldn’t restore.

And the facial features were almost invisible. Not only did the photo editor need to have good skills, but Granny Li would also have to recall the appearances of the two people for it to be possible to restore their looks, but he didn’t have this skill.

Granny Li sensed that the group seemed a bit troubled, and her friendly demeanor lessened somewhat. She said regretfully, "If you can’t help before it gets dark, I’ll have to invite others over, and the family won’t be able to host you all."

The implication was clear; if they couldn’t complete the task, they would have to leave.

Everyone twitched at the corners of their eyes, having just sympathized with this poor granny who lost her son and daughter-in-law.

But considering she was an NPC, they quickly felt at ease.

What to do?

"I just checked the shop, and there’s a tool there that can help restore the photo," Qin Lin spoke up. "But it costs quite a bit, 600 currency."

She, Jingchen, and Wei Yao had a total of 300 currency.

According to her guess, Li Chen’s group had definitely received more rewards prior. Since this task could be issued, and there was a photo restoration tool in the shop, it proved that all of their currency combined was enough for 600.

Upon hearing this, Ah Chen also glanced at the shop and saw the tool for restoring photos.

She didn’t lack the 100 currency, nor did Wei Wenlan, evidently.

Wei Wenlan and Bai Xingwen indeed didn’t mind, as they had more than 100 currency and other tools.

But Ah Chen thought it would be better to keep more currency on her, even if she was there, ensuring Wei Wenlan would be fine. Having more life-saving items in hand would always be reassuring.

The photo restoration was relatively simple for her and not worth spending the currency on.

As for Huo Jingchen and the other two, it didn’t matter; it wouldn’t have much of an impact, as they couldn’t possibly stay together forever. Consider them lucky.

Another reason was that by personally helping Granny Li and her grandchild, she could leave a deep impression on them, leading to different results later, something she was curious about and looking forward to.

For Huo Jingchen and the others, spending their only currency was a bit painful.

But the 100 currency really had to be spent, or else they would be kicked out when it got dark.

"Isn’t there any other way?" Wei Yao asked, very annoyed, looking at Ah Chen, since Li Chen had performed exceptionally at the first stage, and he actually wanted to bet, waiting until dark to see if Li Chen had a solution, "Li Chen, do you really have no other way?"

How could he not believe it?

Although 100 currency wasn’t much, it could buy a tool, which might be life-saving at a critical moment.

If Li Chen had the ability to solve this issue, yet insisted on having everyone spend currency to buy a restoration tool, that would be too unfair. Wei Yao was quite dissatisfied with this in his heart. Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but recall previously, in the first stage, Li Chen and the others went out with Tan Sui, solved Tan Sui’s concerns, and definitely received a lot of rewards. However, these three didn’t share anything with them, even though they were all part of the same team, like grasshoppers on the same rope, yet they acted secretively, which was a bit too much.

They were a team, and if their hearts weren’t aligned, they could easily meet a quick demise. Wasn’t the most important thing now to pass the stage and get out of here?

There, it was okay to speak freely, and Huo Jingchen didn’t stop Wei Yao from speaking.

Actually, he also wanted to know if Li Chen had any other methods; saving 100 currency would naturally be good, as they didn’t know what crises they might face later.

"If you have any method, why not restore the photo first? This way, we can save some currency. We don’t know what else we might experience, and having more currency on hand would be better for handling it," Huo Jingchen said, "We weren’t on good terms before, but this is a crucial time, I hope you can put it aside for now. Once we’re out, we’ll slowly deal with it, alright? If I had another way, I’d do it directly, and I believe the others would too."

"About the previous issue, I’m sorry to you. Without my deception, you wouldn’t have come here, but now we need to focus on getting out alive, right?"

There’s no denying that Huo Jingchen made a lot of sense.

As ordinary people, unless it’s a last resort, cooperation is obviously better.

She had no good feelings towards them, but them having these wild, random thoughts was not good either.

"I haven’t even spoken yet, and you’re maliciously assuming I’m unwilling to make a move, intending to keep my skills hidden. Don’t you think there’s something wrong with that?" Ah Chen’s cold, indifferent voice sounded, "You’ve all spoken like this, if I didn’t hide my skills, wouldn’t it make me seem too easy-going? As for the 100 currency, for me, spending it is spending it, there’s still quite a bit left, I don’t lack this amount."

Wei Yao clenched his fist, hearing those words was infuriating.

"And what if I did hide it? The skill is mine; what’s wrong with not wanting to use it? Isn’t there another solution? Each of you spends 100 currency and it gets solved, doesn’t it? You insist on saying these things just because a few of you want to save 100 currency—you ask for help without the attitude of asking, yet stand on a moral high ground to accuse me of being uncomprehending, not considering the bigger picture. Do you really think I’m mild-tempered?"

No, after more than a day of getting along, they absolutely did not think Li Chen was mild-tempered.

"Forget it if you’re unwilling, just directly spend 100 currency to buy the restoration tool," Wei Yao said angrily, with a rigid face.

Ah Chen found it funny. Did he really think that relying on just the three of them, they could afford the 600 currency photo restoration tool?

Seeing Ah Chen’s smile, Wei Yao realized they only had 300 currency combined. As long as Li Chen didn’t agree, there was no way to buy the restoration tool.

Wei Wenlan would undoubtedly follow Li Chen’s lead, Bai Xingwen and Jingchen were hostile rivals, happy to stir up trouble.

But if she refused to restore the photo and didn’t agree to buy the restoration tool, she would also be kicked out. Wei Yao wanted to say these things when Huo Jingchen pressed his hand down.

Wei Yao had oversimplified it; the one in the superior position now was Li Chen. As long as she told Granny Li she could restore the photos without involving them, they would truly be kicked out.

"I’m sorry," Huo Jingchen said, "What I said before was wrong, and I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again."

"Wei Yao, apologize to Chenchen. She was probably planning to help from the start; we should not have misunderstood her."

He could see that clearly now and was somewhat annoyed that he had previously been led astray by Wei Yao. If he really wanted to cause trouble, it wouldn’t be a good thing. At this point, he was in a passive position and couldn’t justify himself, so from now on, he needed to be careful with his words and not offend people. Either way, they must first clear this stage; only by surviving is there a possibility for more.

Stage after stage—to what end? Huo Jingchen lowered his eyes.

Could everyone here get out?

Even though Li Chen seemed impressive now, could she really reach the end?

But he had to strive to stay alive, taking Qin Lin with him, as living was more important than anything else.