Phil was still deep in thought when Song Nan also noticed something odd about the pile of books.
"Look, these books are all about medieval witchcraft. Judging by the marks on them, whoever read them was studying the subject seriously, not just flipping through them to pass the time."
Annie and Phil leaned in to look. The books recorded many strange forms of witchcraft, some of which used ingredients that were nauseating just to look at.
There were animal innards such as lizard stomach fluid and snake gallbladders, and the occasional drawing of something resembling a magic circle.
Unlike Song Nan and Phil, who had only glanced through the books, Annie examined them closely. She even read from beginning to end the section that seemed to have been consulted most often by their owner.
Finally, her gaze fell on the ingredients listed on the page about resurrection.
Before she could tell the others what she suspected, Bailey suddenly called out.
He had found a key in the bookcase, but he didn't know what lock it opened.
Song Nan stepped forward and snatched the key from him. After examining it, she turned to survey the entire study, looking for a secret passage.
Phil and Annie joined the search, rummaging through every place where something could be hidden, but they found nothing unusual.
Bailey was furious but didn't dare speak up. He could only follow behind them, glaring venomously at Song Nan and thinking that once he got out, he would use every means at his disposal to squash this woman to death and see if she still dared to act so arrogantly in front of him.
Before they could finish searching the study, Saul's voice suddenly rang out from outside.
He was speaking loudly, and everyone could tell he was warning them to retreat.
"Ah, I just thought you could see what the whole villa looked like from here, and I was curious, that's all. I'll come down to eat in a moment. The others? You don't need to call them; I'll go get them..."
Saul was blocking the third-floor staircase, while Xie Qi stood a few steps below him.
Smiling, Xie Qi watched Saul, whose head was covered in sweat, try to stop him from going upstairs. He said understandingly, "I see. Then please come down as soon as you've finished admiring the view. The master doesn't much like noise and hopes the guests can be a little quieter."
"Mm, mm, I understand."
Saul's attention was elsewhere, and he missed the meaning behind Xie Qi's words.
With that, Xie Qi turned and headed downstairs, his hand on the banister. When he reached the second floor, he suddenly looked back and smiled at Saul.
Saul, who had been about to turn around and see whether the others had come out, got a huge fright. He forced a stiff smile and waved at him.
Thinking that this police officer really wasn't cut out to be an actor, Xie Qi shrugged and returned to the kitchen on the first floor to make preparations.
Only when the chef was out of sight did Saul let out a long breath.
The others also heard that it had gone quiet outside and slipped out of the study.
Annie spoke first. "It looks like Phil's earlier guess was right. The chef gave us the key on purpose."
Her words startled Saul. He didn't know how she had reached that conclusion.
"Didn't you hear? The chef said 'guests' just now. He knows we're all on the third floor; he just didn't say it."
Phil picked up the conversation, giving Saul a somewhat disdainful look.
"Let's go downstairs first. The chef did say we needed to be quiet." With that, Song Nan was the first to head downstairs.
As they made their way down, Annie, who was bringing up the rear, suddenly turned to look at the enormous portrait.
Over the past few days, they had habitually ignored the painting whenever they went up or down the stairs, but perhaps because she had just read Miss Caster's diary, Annie suddenly took an interest in it.
Though only the lower halves of their faces were visible, she could still tell that the Caster family were all good-looking. Their golden hair in particular shone even in the dim light.
Annie's doubts deepened. They had searched many rooms, yet they hadn't seen a single photograph of Mrs. Caster. Had she never had a photograph taken after marrying into the family?
Seeing the painting again, she found the half-visible faces familiar and thought the family members' face shapes were quite similar.
And they were also very similar to Mrs. Caster's.
The mysteries kept piling up, and Annie's eyes grew deep with thought. Phil was right in front of her; noticing that she had fallen behind, Phil turned to look at her.
Annie looked up and met Phil's gaze, then shook her head slightly. Phil immediately turned back around.
Seated at the long table again, all six were feeling particularly conflicted this time.
After the morning's game, they were deeply suspicious of the food they were given. But they had no evidence, and this was their only meal of the day. Apart from Annie, who was still eating vegetarian food, none of the others had much appetite, and they could only force themselves to swallow.
Xie Qi tilted his head as he watched the five of them eat as though they were taking poison. A troubled look appeared on his face. "Is the food not to your liking? Why do you all look so uncomfortable?"
Seeing that he truly seemed not to understand, Bailey, Saul and the others all looked sickly. They could tell that this chef really was a lunatic who enjoyed toying with them.
"Chef, can we switch to vegetarian food too? Eating too much meat gets a little tiresome."
Bailey raised a trembling hand, hoping to get himself switched to less suspicious food.
The others hurriedly nodded as well. None of them wanted to eat this meal.
Seeing his cooking rejected, Xie Qi slowly let his smile fade.
As if someone had hit rewind, his beaming face instantly became expressionless, making everyone who saw it gasp.
"Guests, are you dissatisfied with the food I made?"
His voice was calm, yet it seemed to hold a storm ready to sweep away anyone who defied him.
They hadn't expected that merely asking to change their food would anger this deranged chef.
Bailey hurriedly picked up his knife and fork. As if to prove he wasn't rejecting the food, he speared the meat on his plate and began eating, praising its flavor as he did so. Bits of meat occasionally sprayed from his mouth.
Phil, sitting beside him, recoiled in disgust. After a moment's hesitation, Phil also began to eat.
Seeing this, the others didn't dare resist either. The silent atmosphere seemed to please Xie Qi, and he smiled again.
Watching Bailey eat in a sorry state, Xie Qi asked with malicious amusement how it tasted.
"Of course it's good, very good! I've never eaten such a delicious meal!"
"I'm glad you like it. This is black pork I selected myself. Not only is the meat firm, it's also exceptionally fresh. You probably couldn't get it anywhere else."
Bailey nodded repeatedly as he listened to Xie Qi, but none of it went into his head. All he could think about was getting Xie Qi to stop paying attention to him.
After the meal, Xie Qi disappeared from their sight, just as he had over the previous few days.
With something in their stomachs, the six of them had the strength to continue exploring.
They still had a key they didn't know where to use. Before nightfall, they had to find the place it belonged, then leave the villa and make a trip to the breeding farm.