Truth-Telling Session

The weather was too hot, so nobody sat at the round table. Instead, they carried their stools beneath the trees.

The Ferryman, who was serious by nature and had previously suspected Yimo, was thinking about something and did not step forward. Instead, the oldest among them, Old Du Liu, came forward and said, "Brother Siba Jungler, there are fourteen thatched huts here. Their layouts and contents are exactly the same. I can't see any difference."

"They're shabby, but I have no problem with that. I just don't know whether you youngsters can get used to living in them."

"Each thatched hut has a nameplate outside. It looks like everyone's rooms have already been assigned, so there's no need to fight or snatch one."

"I didn't find anything else."

After hearing this, Yimo thought for a moment and asked, "There are twelve of us in total. Do the two extra rooms have nameplates?"

"Are the items inside different from those in the other thatched huts?"

"Also, I just went into one of the wooden houses. There were dangerous items like matches inside. You didn't secretly take any, did you?"

Old Du Liu hurriedly waved his hands. "How could we? There are four people in each group. If anyone made a suspicious move, we'd definitely see it."

"They're the same as the other rooms. There's no difference."

"Oh, right. There are also four latrines in the four corners. They're fairly clean."

After confirming the information, Yimo looked toward the second group.

Conan adjusted his glasses and said, "There's a rice paddy and a vegetable patch north of the village. They're more than enough to provide us with food."

"There's a small hill to the south. True Martial Emperor and I went up there, but we didn't find anything." He pointed at Ordinary Girl Village Chief and Supreme One. "Those two didn't go. That has nothing to do with us."

"Oh, right. Beside the vegetable patch, if you follow the hill toward the back of the mountain, there's a somewhat larger building."

"It's an ancestral hall. It's filled with memorial tablets, and it looks gloomy."

"Heh, I wanted to look for some clues, but before I could search carefully, the people behind me persuaded me to leave."

"I don't know whether they had some ulterior motive."

"There's a fairly large lake behind the ancestral hall. There are trees all around the shore, but we didn't explore it."

"When we looked down from the hill, we saw that on the other side of the lake, beyond the forest, there was a cemetery."

"We hadn't had time to go there when we ran into the first group, so we came back together."

After Conan finished speaking, there was a hint of weariness on his face. He seemed extremely dissatisfied with this grouping.

Ordinary Girl Village Chief was gloomy and vicious with her words, while Supreme One, despite having embarrassed himself earlier, was simply a scoundrel who did not listen to him.

True Martial Emperor, on the other hand, was quite nice. Unfortunately, Conan always felt that the other man was deliberately taking care of him, making him seem like the other man's little brother instead!

What was this supposed to mean?

He was an experienced player of this game, as well as the president of the board game club!

Sigh... It was just terribly frustrating.

He also sized up Yimo, trying to find a flaw that would prove he was not a hunter.

Supreme One stepped forward and argued, "Hey, you little four-eyes, don't make things up!"

"Who knows what you and that big guy were doing on the hill?"

"Brother Siba Jungler, that little four-eyes obviously isn't a good person. He's always keeping his head lowered, and who knows what he's thinking about. For all we know, he's figuring out who to kill tonight!"

"And he's especially interested in that ancestral hall!"

Conan adjusted his glasses. "The more unusual a place is, the more likely it is to contain some hidden clues. Maybe it even has information about who the wolves are!"

"You're so afraid of it. Could it be that you're a wolf?"

Although Supreme One was afraid of Yimo, he was not afraid of Conan. He immediately shot back, "Nonsense! I'm a good person. Don't even think about framing me!"

Then he explained to Yimo, "Oh, right, Big Brother. The reason I didn't go up there was because I saw that this freckled girl wasn't going. I was worried she might do something, so I stayed behind to supervise her!"

Ordinary Girl glanced at Supreme One but ignored him.

Yimo knew perfectly well that Supreme One had only wanted to be lazy and could not be bothered to climb the hill. He did not intend to argue over it, so he waved his hand. "All right, all right. I know."

"Let's leave it at that. We're safe today anyway, and there's still plenty of time this afternoon. We can act freely according to our groups."

"Then..."

Yimo was just about to explain the next arrangement when the Ferryman interrupted him.

"Siba Jungler, you haven't said what your group found."

Yimo did not hide anything and answered honestly, "We can't leave the village. The system is blocking us. At the fence gate at the western entrance, there's food refreshed by the system. If you're hungry, you can go eat."

"It'll probably refresh again tomorrow, so there's no need to gather vegetables and cook specially."

Everyone nodded after hearing this, though they did not seem very interested in the food.

After all, not much time had passed since the game began. On top of that, their nerves were on edge in the Death Game, so they did not have much appetite.

Only True Martial Emperor was startled by this and ran toward the entrance.

"Hey, Big Guy, where are you going?" Before Yimo could say anything, Supreme One called out to him.

True Martial Emperor did not even turn his head. "This lousy game is one thing, but we still have to eat!"

"I'm starving!"

"Don't worry. I'll bring yours over too!"

Supreme One watched him with disdain. "Tch, what a simple-minded, muscle-bound guy. Is he a food bucket? He still has the appetite to eat at a time like this."

"In this scorching weather, too!"

Yimo poked him with a wooden stick. "You go too. Don't let him be alone."

"Oh, right. There are three bamboo baskets. Help him bring one bucket over!"

Supreme One was stunned and put on a mournful face. "Oh! My god!"

Just as he was about to leave, the Ferryman stopped him. "Don't make him go. I'll go."

The Ferryman's reasoning was simple: he disliked how dirty Supreme One was.

Yimo did not object and nodded.

Supreme One spread his hands innocently. "Ha... Big Brother, you saw that. It's not that I didn't want to go!"

"Hahaha..."

And so, after True Martial Emperor and the Ferryman placed the food beneath the banyan tree, the Ferryman rubbed his nose and said, "Siba Jungler, what were you about to say? Go on."

"I hope you can offer some genuinely meaningful suggestions, so I can know whether you're worthy of becoming village chief."

Yimo casually waved his hand. "What meaning is there? To find out who the wolf is?"

The Ferryman said, "That would be best."

Yimo shook his head. "I became village chief not because I'm smart, an experienced player, or good at logical thinking."

As he spoke, Yimo looked at Conan and the Ferryman in turn before stating matter-of-factly, "It's because I'm the hunter. I have a gun, and you don't."

"I'm a good person. You all know that. That's why I became the village chief."

"Who's the wolf?"

"Sorry, I don't know."

"I also don't think my judgment is that accurate."

"But it doesn't matter. Everyone's eyes are sharp."

"We've all interacted with one another for two hours now, right?"

"You must have noticed who has suspicious or strange aspects."

"So next, I'll find a room and talk to everyone one by one."

"Whoever seems most like a wolf, whoever seems most suspicious—you can say it freely!"

"Of course, if someone steps forward and says they're a wolf, that would be even better!"

"Hehe, everyone, let's have a truth-telling session!"

Yimo stood up and looked at the bewildered group. He covered his left eye with his left hand, looking somewhat chuunibyou-esque, like an almighty demon king who had everything under control.

He intimidated most of them.

Ordinary Girl Village Chief, however, rarely lifted her head and shot him a sideways glance before lowering it again. She muttered, "Idiot?"