"There's still some time before midnight. Do you want to get some sleep?" Xu Deyi looked at Gao Ming, who had just returned from outside, with some surprise. "You gave the first aid kit to someone else? Was someone hurt outside the Manor?"
"Someone will bring it back tonight." Smiling, Gao Ming pulled Xu Deyi into a corner. "The House Owner might pay particular attention to you tonight. To keep our plan from being exposed, you'd better avoid unnecessary conversations with the other Testers, and don't get too close to him. Don't do anything he tells you to, either. Pretend to cooperate, cut corners, and stall whenever you can."
"Do I look that unreliable?" Xu Deyi muttered. He had seen what Gao Ming could do in the previous nightmare and respected him from the bottom of his heart, so even though he was a little unhappy, he would still do as Gao Ming said.
"This is to protect you." Gao Ming had asked Xu Deyi to fetch a needle, thread, and the first aid kit. The House Owner had probably already begun to suspect that he knew the truth, and might even be planning to get rid of him tonight.
"I think you're just manipulating me." Spreading his hands, Xu Deyi said helplessly, "Don't worry. I'll do whatever you say."
Dinnertime arrived. Perhaps because everyone had been frightened the previous night, the House Owner cooked a tableful of dishes for the Testers himself.
The wooden dining table was covered with all kinds of meat, and ceramic jugs held hot sheep's milk. It smelled slightly rank, and no one dared drink it. After all, they had not heard a single sheep bleating anywhere in the Manor. Nobody knew where the milk had come from.
"Something unclean has slipped into the Manor.