The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!

Chapter 268: Conditions for Activating the Return Stone

"It’s truly an honor to have you all as guests here. I hope Stonewell can leave you with a beautiful experience and memories..."

Justin opened his mouth as if wanting to refute, but then thought better of it and firmly closed his mouth.

"You’ve helped the village a lot during this time. I have a gift for you. Though it’s not valuable, it truly represents the sentiment of our village. I hope you won’t despise it..."

The village chief put down his old pipe, sat up slightly straighter, and gestured with his eyes for Elaine to fetch the item.

Jessica could hardly contain her excitement and asked impulsively, "I wonder whom the village chief plans to give this gift to?"

Kiki also smiled and said, "The village chief’s gift must be something priceless. I just wonder who among us will have the honor to receive it..."

The village chief glanced at them and said slowly, "You’ll know soon enough."

Kiki couldn’t help but frown, surprised at how well the village chief was keeping them in suspense.

Elaine walked over with small steps and placed the tray wrapped in silk fabric on the table. The fabric covering left everyone unable to glimpse the long-desired "return stone."

Kiki stared intently at the red fabric, as if trying to pierce a hole through it. The other guests wore similar expressions, their eyes glued to the tightly wrapped tray.

They were eager to see what the legendary "return stone" looked like...

Maya’s gaze followed suit; it was impossible for her not to be curious—she needed to verify her suspicions.

The village chief surveyed the room, then slowly unveiled the silk fabric on the tray: "This is the gift I want to give you."

Once the items on the tray were fully exposed, everyone was dumbfounded.

"Is this a joke?"

"Why are there so many stones? What does this mean?"

"Is this the return stone? It can’t be, they look like ordinary stones!"

...

The village chief ignored their doubts and just pushed the tray to the center: "There are six stones in total, each of you can take one."

No one reacted for a moment, so Jessica asked, "Village chief, is this the return stone?"

The village chief slowly shook his head: "I don’t know what you’re talking about, nor do I know of any return stone."

Jessica’s face turned ugly: "So you’re saying this is not the return stone at all? And the so-called gift is just these regular stones?"

The expressions of the village chief’s family suddenly turned sharp. Jessica, realizing her mistake belatedly, hurriedly corrected herself: "I didn’t mean it that way!" She waved her hands anxiously, "I meant that it’s different from what I imagined..."

But it was too late; the village chief’s gaze towards her had already grown colder. Probably, no one could tolerate having their cherished beliefs insulted.

Jamie spoke up slowly, "Let’s not rush to conclusions. Based on the setup of the previous episodes, might it be possible that the real return stone is mixed among these stones? If so, the guest who obtains the real return stone would be this episode’s final winner?"

Hearing this analysis, the other guests thought it made sense and quickly endorsed this hypothesis.

Now, they weren’t daring to blindly grab the stones. Kiki hesitated, "So how should we distribute these stones?"

Rena raised her little hand and volunteered: "Let Rena help you divide them!"

Kiki, of course, didn’t believe her, since everyone could see how well this little girl played with Maya. She politely declined: "Thank you, Rena, but we’d still like to divide them ourselves."

Rena lowered her hand in disappointment but did not insist further.

"There’s nothing to draw lots with here. Let’s do this, we’ll play rock-paper-scissors, and the winner picks first," Jamie suggested.

No one disagreed with his idea.

The group gathered around, though Maya remained still. She continued leisurely cracking sunflower seeds, her demeanor so relaxed it seemed like she was detached from the show.

Jamie called out, "Maya, come over and play rock-paper-scissors."

Maya showed little interest: "You all go ahead, I’ll go last."

Miles’ lips moved, as if wanting to persuade her, but ultimately, he said nothing.

Jamie wanted to say something but was interrupted by Justin: "Let her go last if she wants to. Maya never cares about winning or losing; let’s not bother with her."

Luck is unpredictable, and without knowing which stone is the return stone, taking a stone first doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get it either. With that in mind, Jamie no longer insisted.

Elaine brought Maya a plate of small snacks: "Aren’t you going to join in?"

Maya shook her head: "No interest."

From the moment the village chief brought out that plate of stones, she had already confirmed her suspicion. There was no need to fight over them; the stones were all the same. In other words, they were all return stones.

From the beginning, the guide’s cue was to "get along well with the villagers," rather than going all out to excavate and search. It wasn’t hard to guess that, over time, whenever one got along well with the villagers, they would be gifted a stone, the so-called "return stone."

The "return stone" isn’t just a specific "one." Perhaps, only when the return stones reach a certain amount can they be successfully activated.

The production team’s goal this time was for the guests to understand the method of obtaining the return stones. Yet unexpectedly, the others were still thinking about picking the most appealing one from a pile of return stones.

Maya leisurely withdrew her gaze, no longer looking at the other guests.

The result of the rock-paper-scissors was out; Kiki was the first to pick. She fumbled for a while but eventually chose the most inconspicuous one.

Jessica gritted her teeth: "Do you want to pick another one?"

The production team excelled in reverse thinking, so it followed that the more ordinary-looking stones were more likely to be "return stones."

Kiki smiled and tightened her grip on the stone in her hand: "No, I’ll keep this one."

Jessica sighed in frustration.

The one left was a beautifully smooth round stone with lovely patterns. Maya picked it up, playing with it in her hand, feeling its cold and smooth texture.

Kiki couldn’t wait to show the stone she picked to the photographer, speaking excitedly: "Is this the return stone?"

The response she got was a shake of the head.

Kiki’s enthusiasm deflated instantly, in disbelief.

Jessica couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as she handed over her stone, only to receive the same answer as before.

The guests went to verify one after another, only to get negative answers.

The photographer wore a complicated expression and straightforwardly said, "No need to show me anymore; none of the stones you hold meet the conditions for return."

What he said was cryptic, hinting at some information, but all the guests were enraged by the negative response.