Once Xia Yue saw that the offering was a shriveled human head, she was naturally scared out of her wits.
Her face deathly pale, she leaned against the wall to stand. Clearly, she had no way to complete the task of arranging the offering and lighting the candles.
By comparison, although Lin Yu had also been startled, he remained far calmer than Xia Yue.
For one thing, Lin Yu had already been frightened in the kitchen, so he had gained a rough understanding of how this game worked.
For another, although Lin Yu was somewhat afraid as well, someone still had to do the task. So he deliberately put on an indifferent expression.
"Performing" could sometimes give himself some positive psychological suggestion.
By the end, Lin Yu actually no longer felt that frightened.
Soon, Lin Yu finished the task.
He only needed to move the head and place it directly in front of the shrine, then pick up the matches on either side of the shrine and light the two extinguished candles.
The fear and physical discomfort were probably the only difficult parts of the task.
After completing the task with ease, Lin Yu quickly led Xia Yue away from the unsettling room.
In the corridor, Xia Yue was filled with gratitude toward Lin Yu for completing a task on his own.
"Thank you, Detective Brother..."
"Don't mention it. It was nothing. Besides, we'd both be in danger if the task wasn't completed," Lin Yu said, pretending to be relaxed. "Just put in a little more effort on the next task."
"That's true. As they say, men and women working together never get tired."
Xia Yue leaned against the corridor window and spoke with a smile, while the crow perched on the withered tree outside kept cawing.
But compared to before, Xia Yue's smile now seemed somewhat forced.
That shriveled human head had undoubtedly reminded her once again...
This game was centered around "death."
It was definitely not some fake "item," but the remains left behind after a real life had vanished.
The two of them reached the end of the corridor and prepared to go to the third floor for their next task.
At that moment, footsteps suddenly came from the staircase below.
Xia Yue and Lin Yu grew alert once again.
However, before they had time to hide this time, they came face-to-face with the people coming up from downstairs.
It was Chen Zhuo and Xu Xiumei.
Little fatty Chen Zhuo immediately stopped when he saw Lin Yu and Xia Yue.
"Be careful, Teacher Xu. It looks like these two are lying in wait for us!"
Chen Zhuo bravely moved in front of Xu Xiumei to shield her.
Xu Xiumei also watched Lin Yu and Xia Yue warily.
Lin Yu was speechless.
"Who's lying in wait for you? We're going upstairs too, all right..."
"Then what about you two? If I remember correctly, neither of your assigned tasks is upstairs. Why are you going up there?"
He questioned the two of them in return.
After Lin Yu pointed out the problem, Chen Zhuo immediately retorted, "We're under no obligation to tell you what we're doing!"
As he spoke, Chen Zhuo pulled Xu Xiumei back down the stairs.
Observing their movements and combining that with his previous observations of the ancient castle's layout, Lin Yu guessed that they were probably planning to take another staircase to the second floor.
"Not only are the thief and burglar suspicious, but the otaku and teacher pairing is strange too..."
Lin Yu could not help complaining.
The two suspicious pairings he had encountered in succession made him wonder whether there was something wrong with the game itself.
Xia Yue was somewhat curious. "What was suspicious about the two people we just encountered? Was it also because they were going somewhere outside their assigned task areas?"
"Yes, and the strangest part is that they were going there together," Lin Yu said seriously. "Think of it this way. If I told you right now that I wanted to go somewhere outside your assigned task area, would you agree?"
Xia Yue froze for a moment, then thought it over seriously. "I'm not sure. That would probably depend on what reason you gave me. If the reason was good enough, I'd agree."
Lin Yu nodded, then asked in return, "Now look at it from another angle. Suppose you wanted to persuade me to go somewhere outside my assigned task area. Can you think of an excellent reason? One that would not only make me go, but also make me trust you completely."
Lin Yu's question left Xia Yue at a loss. After mulling it over for a long while, she gave a wry smile. "Now that you put it that way, it really is strange."
"Exactly. Especially that otaku. He clearly heard about my identity and abilities as a detective before, and he trusted me to some extent... But this is also a good thing. Only when there are 'abnormalities' can I better determine who the werewolf is."
Seeing that Xia Yue had begun to worry again, Lin Yu changed his tone and comforted her.
"That's true. With you here, Detective Brother, there's nothing to worry about!"
Xia Yue perked up again and said, "Let's continue with the tasks. We'll just wait until the evening meeting for you to show off your abilities!"
Lin Yu nodded and continued doing the remaining tasks with Xia Yue.
However, because the other two groups they had encountered earlier had both behaved suspiciously, Xia Yue and Lin Yu could not help becoming more cautious afterward.
On top of that, the tasks themselves were tedious. After staying busy all day, Xia Yue and Lin Yu were both utterly exhausted.
"I'm so tired I could die! This is even more exhausting than going to work!"
After completing the final task on that day's schedule, Xia Yue exhaled and spoke.
At that moment, the sky outside, which had already been dim, had darkened completely.
"Dong—"
The heavy toll of a bell rang out, signaling that nightfall was approaching and that they should return to the meeting room.
"Let's go."
Lin Yu was also utterly worn out. It felt like a hellish final week, where even after finishing his revision, he still had to rehearse at night.
The two of them dragged their heavy footsteps back to the meeting room where they had begun. When they pushed open the door, they found that aside from the two of them, the remaining five people were already seated inside.
When Yu Longguo saw Lin Yu and Xia Yue enter, he raised an eyebrow.
"What a surprise. There really wasn't a single death today."
As soon as he said this, Bao Liu looked at Yu Longguo and asked, "Hey, soldier, what do you mean by that?"
Xia Yue was also displeased. After sitting down beside Lin Yu, she looked at Yu Longguo and said, "Isn't it a good thing that no one died?"
"Of course it's a good thing," Yu Longguo said coldly. "But it also means the werewolves are more capable of restraining themselves than I imagined... If they had been unable to hold back and killed someone today, we would naturally have had a breakthrough by now. Isn't that the greatest meaning of splitting into pairs?"
"But the way you put it is too cruel!"
Xia Yue said angrily.
Yu Longguo sighed. "Don't be so naive, little girl. You still haven't realized that this is a 'death game'... Taking a step back, even if the werewolves truly don't kill anyone, the humans will still have to eliminate at least two werewolves to survive—and elimination means death!"
"This was a game where at least two people were going to die!"
As Yu Longguo spoke, Xia Yue was rendered speechless.
It was not just Xia Yue. Everyone else present also fell silent.
In the end, it was Chen Zhuo who broke the silence.
"All right, all right. I actually think our human side has a very good chance of winning now... Although the werewolves held back and didn't strike, perhaps because they couldn't find a good opportunity, no matter how you look at it, in a werewolf game, that amounts to wasting one werewolf's 'turn'!"
"Because we have a detective, the good side can determine one person's identity every day. So all the detective needs to do is activate his ability... The werewolves have actually already fallen into a disadvantageous position!"
After Chen Zhuo finished speaking, everyone's eyes naturally turned toward Lin Yu, who had remained silent the entire time.
Before you continue