The Only Way to Victory!

Lin Yu had never trusted Xia Yue from the moment they formed a team, not even for a second.

As he had just said, Xia Yue's "acting" was truly terrible.

The "innocence," "timidity," and "liveliness" she displayed when alone with him were clearly performances.

Lin Yu could see through such clumsy acting by an amateur at a glance.

Therefore, Xia Yue was suspicious—her "performance" was obviously meant to conceal something.

But Xia Yue wasn't the only suspicious one!

From the very first day when they were grouped, there were too many suspicious people in this game.

Yu Longguo, who was eager for everyone to pair up, and the other six people who didn't object to his proposal at all.

Next were Bao Liu and Yao Zhengye, who inexplicably deviated from their "assigned areas" during tasks, and Xu Xiumei and Chen Zhuo, who suddenly changed their attitudes towards him and stuck together tightly...

Most importantly, last night, after he proposed not to report "verification results," everyone instantly and matter-of-factly accepted it...

Although Lin Yu had presented it as "reasonable" at the time, he knew very well that it was a statement full of "fallacies" and couldn't withstand scrutiny.

Weren't they afraid that he, the detective, wouldn't be able to report his verification results and would be killed today?!

Most importantly, when Lin Yu subsequently proposed not to vote, everyone readily agreed...

In fact, no one even discussed their individual plans for the day—it was as if they tacitly agreed not to mention it.

At that moment, a crazy idea suddenly popped into Lin Yu's mind.

"Could they all be werewolves?"

If he considered everyone as a werewolf, their actions could all be explained.

Everyone was looking forward to acting separately and intending to muddle through the meeting without reporting any information.

But Lin Yu's first reaction at the time was, "How is that possible? The game rules wouldn't be wrong."

And the instant this thought surfaced, Lin Yu suddenly had a chilling realization.

From beginning to end, there was no game rule that stated "the werewolf faction only has two members."

The so-called "game rules" were all things they had summarized and deduced during the game.

He immediately recalled various details throughout the ancient castle—Lin Yu's elective course, "Stage Setting," had also ranked first professionally, making him extremely sensitive to these "environmental details."

The "wolf" elements visible everywhere on the candle holders and paintings in this castle.

The clearly human-like severed limbs in the kitchen, and the "offering" clearly a human head on the altar.

And also—the human "supplies," all piled up in a way that clashed with the ancient castle, as if placed there temporarily by later arrivals.

Coupled with the human warnings in the "letter" from the beginning, Lin Yu suddenly discovered a "misconception."

The seven people participating in this game all assumed, as a matter of course, that the "werewolves" were the outsiders.

But...

Was the owner of this ancient castle truly human?

Lin Yu put himself in the perspective of "Stage Setting"—if he had created such an ancient castle as a set, then the people living inside...

Would never be human.

So, if he continued to think based on this—the bloodstain they saw on the wall at the beginning, "There are two outsiders among you," was referring to the werewolves...

Or was it referring to the humans?!

And even earlier than that bloodstain, there was the title of this game that they saw before entering it.

"Who is the Outsider?"

This was just like...

A hint.

And at this moment, Lin Yu finally confirmed his conjecture through "Xia Yue's" reaction.

"In this game, humans are the outsiders!"

"Therefore, there are five werewolves and two humans—the fact that the werewolves don't know each other's identities isn't just a random game setting, but a necessary condition for the game to proceed!"

"Whether human or werewolf, whoever realizes who the 'outsider' truly refers to will gain a significant advantage!"

Lin Yu exhaled, a smile appearing on his face.

Now, he possessed a great "advantage" in this game!

"Hey... Detective Brother, how can you still smile?"

However, Xia Yue's words pulled Lin Yu back to reality.

The girl in front of him stood at the bottom of the three steps, holding a dagger and looking at Lin Yu with a smile.

Even after knowing the most important "truth" of this game, the danger before him still existed!

However, although Xia Yue revealed her dagger, she still hadn't made a move.

This was within Lin Yu's expectations.

So, he looked at Xia Yue and said confidently, "This is of course because I already know exactly who the two werewolves are—and this morning I activated my ability again and already know who your other werewolf teammate is."

"Even if you kill me, I already know the 'truth.' In a sense, I've already won."

Lin Yu knew very well why Xia Yue hesitated to make a move.

She genuinely didn't know who her other werewolf teammate was.

Since everyone seemed suspicious enough to be a werewolf, Xia Yue must have been confused too!

She probably wanted to use Lin Yu's "ability" to find out who the other werewolf was—at least to eliminate one possibility!

Therefore, Lin Yu's words were exactly what Xia Yue wanted to hear.

The "arrogant detective" persona he had been cultivating finally paid off.

As expected, upon hearing this, Xia Yue's lips curved into a smile.

"Is that so, Detective Brother... But how did you figure out my other teammate? I have absolutely no clue."

She was trying to trick Lin Yu, the "arrogant detective," into revealing more!

But unfortunately, Lin Yu's persona was entirely an act.

Moreover, his acting skills were far superior to Xia Yue's.

Looking at the curious and excited Xia Yue, Lin Yu lowered his voice and said, "It's simple, your teammate might have disguised himself well, but he..."

Mid-sentence, Lin Yu turned and bolted upstairs!

Xia Yue reacted quickly, and after less than a second of surprise, she chased after Lin Yu.

Xia Yue had been wary of Lin Yu trying to escape from the start!

"I absolutely cannot let him get away!"

She thought to herself.

After all, in Xia Yue's eyes, if her identity were exposed by Lin Yu... it would be over!

Even if she killed Lin Yu, the remaining "four humans" would vote her out!

With Lin Yu's "corpse," the humans wouldn't need to wait until 7 PM to call an emergency meeting!

However, Xia Yue didn't know.

Lin Yu had no intention of running away at all!

After only two steps up the stairs, Lin Yu suddenly turned, leaped, and kicked Xia Yue in the abdomen!

THUMP!

Xia Yue, running at full speed, instantly lost her balance and was kicked down the stairs!

"Oof!"

Xia Yue cried out in pain. Although she had consciously adjusted her landing posture...

The drop of seven or eight steps still caused Xia Yue's back and buttocks to ache intensely, and her vision went black.

She struggled to get up, but her right hand suddenly felt a sharp pain.

CRACK!

"Ah—"

The crisp sound of bone shattering rang out, and Xia Yue screamed as her dagger fell to the ground.

Then, her scream abruptly stopped—the dagger was plunged into her chest.

She looked down at herself. Blood gushed from the wound, staining her white coat red.

Her body instantly lost all strength.

With her uninjured left hand, Xia Yue used her last bit of strength to tightly grip the wrist of Lin Yu's left hand holding the knife, her eyes filled with unwillingness.

Lin Yu watched Xia Yue's life slowly fade before him, his body trembling, and he spoke in a low voice.

"I'm sorry."

"This was the only way I could think of to win..."