The Only Way to Win!

Lin Yu had never trusted Xia Yue from the moment they formed teams.

Just as he had said, Xia Yue's "acting" was truly terrible.

When she was alone with him, the "innocence," "timidity," and "liveliness" she displayed all bore heavy traces of performance.

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

So Xia Yue was highly suspicious—after all, her "performance" was clearly hiding something.

But Xia Yue was not the only suspicious one!

From the very first day, far too many people in this game had been suspect.

Yu Longguo, who had hurriedly asked everyone to form pairs, as well as the other six, who had not opposed the proposal at all.

Then there were Bao Liu and Yao Zhengye, who had inexplicably strayed from their own "assigned areas" while completing the mission, and Xu Xiumei and Chen Zhuo, who had suddenly changed their attitudes toward him and clung tightly together...

Most importantly, there was everyone's reaction last night, after he suggested not reporting the "investigation results." They had all accepted it without question...

Although what Lin Yu had said at the time sounded very "reasonable," he knew perfectly well that it was riddled with "fallacies" and could not withstand scrutiny.

Weren't they afraid that if he, the detective, failed to report the investigation results, he would simply be killed today?!

Most importantly, when Lin Yu then proposed not voting, everyone had happily agreed as well...

They had not even compared their schedules for the day. It was as if they had all tacitly decided not to mention it.

At the time, a crazy thought had suddenly emerged in Lin Yu's mind.

Could they all be werewolves?

If he treated all of them as werewolves, their behavior actually made sense.

Everyone had been looking forward to splitting up, and during the meeting, they had planned to muddle through without reporting any information.

But Lin Yu's first reaction at the time had been, How could that be? The game rules couldn't be wrong.

And the instant that thought surfaced, Lin Yu suddenly realized something horrifying.

From beginning to end, the game rules had never said that "there are only two people on the werewolf side."

The so-called "game rules" were all conclusions and deductions they had made during the game.

He immediately recalled all sorts of details throughout the Ancient castle. Lin Yu's elective, "Stage Setting," had ranked first in his department, so he was also exceptionally sensitive to these "environmental details."

The ubiquitous wolf motifs on the candlesticks and paintings throughout the Ancient castle.

The obviously human limbs in the kitchen, and the "sacrifice" on the altar that was clearly a human head.

And then there were the human "supplies," all piled in a place that clashed completely with the Ancient castle, as if someone had temporarily brought them there later.

Combined with the warnings from the humans in the "letter" at the beginning, Lin Yu suddenly realized that they had fallen into a "blind spot."

The seven people participating in the game had all naturally assumed that the "werewolves" were the outsiders.

But...

Was the master of this Ancient castle really human?

Lin Yu viewed it from the perspective of "Stage Setting." If he had built such an Ancient castle as a set, then the people living inside it...

would absolutely not be human.

Then, if he continued thinking from that point—when they had first seen the bloody words on the wall saying, "There are two outsiders among you," were they referring to the werewolves...

Or to the humans?!

And even earlier than those bloody words, before entering the game, they had seen the title of this game.

"Who is the Outsider?"

It was practically...

a hint.

At that moment, Lin Yu finally confirmed that his conjecture was correct through Xia Yue's reaction.

"In this game, the humans are the outsiders!"

"So there are five werewolves and two humans—the fact that the werewolves don't know one another's identities wasn't an arbitrary setting. It was a necessary condition for the game to continue!"

"Whether human or werewolf, whoever realizes what 'outsider' truly refers to will gain an enormous advantage!"

Lin Yu exhaled, a smile appearing on his face.

Now, he possessed an enormous "advantage" in this game!

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

But Xia Yue's next words pulled Lin Yu back to reality.

The girl stood at the foot of the three-step staircase, dagger in hand, gazing at Lin Yu with a beaming smile.

Even after learning the most important "truth" of the game, the danger before him still remained!

However, although Xia Yue had drawn her dagger, she still did not attack.

That was within Lin Yu's expectations.

So he looked at Xia Yue and spoke confidently: "Of course it's because I already know exactly who the two werewolves are—and I used my ability again this morning, so I 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 understood perfectly well why Xia Yue had not attacked for so long.

She really did not know who her other werewolf teammate was.

Because everyone looked so suspicious that they could all have been werewolves, Xia Yue must have been just as confused!

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

So Lin Yu's words had struck exactly what Xia Yue wanted.

The "arrogant detective" persona he had cultivated all this time had finally paid off.

Sure enough, after hearing that, Xia Yue's lips curled into a smile.

"Is that so, Detective Brother... But how did you figure out who my other teammate is? I haven't the slightest clue myself."

She was trying to bait the words out of Lin Yu, the "arrogant detective"!

Unfortunately, Lin Yu's persona was entirely an act.

And his acting was far more sophisticated than Xia Yue's.

Looking at Xia Yue, who was both curious and excited, Lin Yu lowered his voice. "It's very simple. Although your teammate disguised himself well, he..."

Before he could finish, Lin Yu turned and sprinted upstairs!

Xia Yue reacted quickly. She was stunned for less than a second before immediately chasing after Lin Yu.

Xia Yue had already been on guard against Lin Yu trying to run!

I absolutely can't let him get away!

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

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

With Lin Yu's "body," the humans would not even need to wait until seven in the evening. They could immediately call an emergency meeting!

But Xia Yue did not know.

Lin Yu had never intended to run!

After climbing only two steps, Lin Yu suddenly turned around and kicked Xia Yue in the lower abdomen!

"Thud!"

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

"Ow!"

Xia Yue cried out in pain. Although she consciously adjusted her posture as she fell...

the drop of seven or eight steps still sent intense pain through her back and buttocks, and her vision went black for a moment.

She struggled to get up, but sudden agony shot through her right hand.

"Crack!"

"Ah—"

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

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

She looked down at herself as blood gushed from the wound, staining the white coat she wore red.

Her body instantly lost all strength.

With her unharmed left hand, Xia Yue used the last of her strength to grip the wrist of Lin Yu's left hand, the one holding the dagger. Her eyes were filled with unwillingness.

Lin Yu watched the life slowly fade from Xia Yue's eyes. His entire body trembled as he spoke in a low voice.

"Sorry."

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