"What do you mean? Are you saying one of us killed them?"
Saul frowned deeply, his expression showing that he didn't believe what Xie Qi had said.
"Don't try to change the subject. We had no quarrel with them, so why would we kill them?"
Bailey stepped forward to challenge him too. Beside him, Song Nan said gravely, "More importantly, even if one of us did kill them, where did their bodies go? You can't seriously be saying that a few guests who only just arrived could hide bodies in the villa without anyone noticing?"
The three spoke one after another, nipping any suspicion that might have arisen among them in the bud and turning against Xie Qi once more.
"Hmm... no quarrel, you say. Who knows about that? You weren't familiar with one another before you were shipwrecked together, were you? How do you know the others didn't have a grudge against you?"
Xie Qi refused to be sidetracked and continued speaking to them with a smile.
"Enough! Just tell us what it will take for you to answer us."
Song Nan interrupted Xie Qi's attempt to divide their group, staring straight at him.
The female captain had always been the most rational among them, so no one doubted him when she said that.
Only Xie Qi tilted his head, as though thinking about something.
At last, he gave a mysterious smile, as if he had come up with another good idea.
"Come to think of it, we still don't know each other very well. Why don't we play a question-and-answer game? You can ask me anything you want to know~"
None of them had expected Xie Qi to agree to answer their questions, and they exchanged uncertain glances.
Phil was the first to break the silence. Leaning against the wall, he met Xie Qi's gaze. "You only said you'd answer our questions. You didn't say you'd tell the truth."
Only when Phil pointed it out did the others realize the problem.
That was right. Even if he answered their questions, they had no way to be sure the chef wasn't lying. Asking would be meaningless.
"Oh my, is that so? I never intended to lie, so I didn't think of that. In that case..."
His narrowed eyes opened a sliver, revealing a faint blue.
"Will you guests lie to me?"
Xie Qi smiled as he waited for the six of them to answer.
"Ha! Is that how it is? We're just trusting everyone to be honest?"
Phil gave a mocking laugh. "Fine, I'll play."
"But..."
He paused, then said each word deliberately, "If we win, shouldn't there be a reward?"
"A reward..."
Xie Qi thought for a moment.
"Yeah. Why would I play a game with you if there's no reward? I had no connection to those two. Why should I care if they're dead?"
Phil looked indifferent. The others knew he was bargaining for their side, so they all kept quiet.
"Hmm... sure. What reward do you want?"
Feeling that things were getting interesting, Xie Qi grinned at the white-haired young man.
"I want... all the keys on your belt."
"..."
"!!!"
The others hadn't expected Phil to ask for that as a reward, but on second thought, they realized it was a brilliant idea.
Weren't they trying to escape the villa? As long as they had the keys, they could go wherever they wanted.
With that in mind, the others watched Xie Qi nervously, afraid he wouldn't agree.
But the curve of his lips only grew wider, until it formed a strange smile.
His rosy lips parted in agreement. "Sure."
"What?" Bailey exclaimed.
He had thought the chef would never agree to such an unreasonable demand, and had been planning to suggest another useful prize if the chef refused.
But unexpectedly, the chef accepted without a word of objection.
Since he had agreed, the others had no objections. Thus, the scene from the previous two days played out once more, except that after going from a full group to one person missing, today there were two missing.
Looking at the two empty seats, everyone felt an inexplicable fear creep into their hearts.
Sofina had been silent ever since discovering that Brussels was missing. As if she had found someone to rely on again, she stayed close beside Song Nan.
Although Song Nan disliked her, she turned a blind eye to her behavior for the sake of their being women.
Ever since Annie found something that looked like a human large intestine in the kitchen last night, she hadn't spoken a word that morning, and she no longer looked as timid as she had before.
Once the six were seated, Xie Qi spun around in front of them and gave an elegant noble's bow.
"Today, thanks to your enthusiasm, guests, we'll play in turns. First, I'll ask one of you a question, then you can choose one person to ask me a question. Remember~ You can't discuss the questions beforehand, and each person can only ask once~"
"As for whether an answer is correct, how about letting the person who asked decide?"
"This is a game about trust~ Don't disappoint me~"
As soon as he finished, without waiting for the six to agree, Xie Qi suddenly raised his voice and passionately asked the first question:
"Ta-da~ The first question is—"
"What is my name?"
Hearing the first question, the six people at the table froze.
His name?
They had always called him "chef" or "cook," and they really couldn't remember his full name.
Only Annie and Song Nan had ever called the chef by name, so everyone's eyes fell on the two of them.
Song Nan and Annie exchanged a glance. In the end, Annie answered, "It's Kanibari."
Xie Qi's full name in this instance had only been mentioned on the first night, when they had just arrived. They had all been on edge at the time, and few had paid attention to it.
So when Xie Qi didn't react to Annie's answer, they all waited anxiously.
Fortunately, Xie Qi didn't keep them in suspense for long. He soon gave them a brilliant smile. "Correct~ You have a very good memory, miss~ Congratulations on answering the first question correctly~"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and began deciding who would ask the chef their first question.
They soon decided to have one person ask a question they were eager to know the answer to.
Sofina looked nervous as she was chosen to ask the first question.
It was her first time speaking to Xie Qi. When she met his gaze, she couldn't help lowering her head as she said quietly, "The, the first question is, are Stock and Brussels still alive?"
That was indeed what they wanted to know, so they immediately watched Xie Qi's expression.
"What a tricky question..." Xie Qi seemed somewhat troubled.
"What's so troubling about it? Don't you know whether they're alive or not?"
Bailey couldn't hold back and challenged him.
"You're not planning to give us a proper answer, are you? What's the point of playing this game, then?"
Hearing this string of challenges, Xie Qi waved his hands in surprise. "Of course not. I take games seriously."
"All right, I'll answer the question."
"Those two guests are no longer in this world."