Everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
"I'll say it again. If any of you is the Seer, please come forward as soon as possible."
Everyone looked at one another, but none of them seemed inclined to step forward.
"This is your last chance. If the Seer exists but doesn't claim the role, you'll let a fake like me establish my claim!"
Lin Jie spoke steadily, giving everyone plenty of time to think.
A long time passed, yet no one spoke.
Lin Jie smiled and raised his hand. "Through my 'four questions,' I've proven perfectly that I'm the only Seer."
"There is one, and only one, Seer. Neither of the two dead players was the Seer, and none of the other living players is the Seer."
Lin Jie turned to Zheng Yi.
"Did the Seer just vanish into thin air?"
"So there's only one possibility left: I am that Seer."
At last, Zheng Yi was convinced.
"It looks like you really are the Seer."
Liu Yunyun suddenly cried out in horror.
"Ah! Doesn't... doesn't that mean... two good guys are dead, while all the werewolves are still alive?"
"And not a single one has even been exposed?"
The man in the suit realized it too. "That's right! There are only four good guys left, but three werewolves!"
Everyone realized that the good guys were already on the brink of defeat.
Chen Li sounded dismissive. "What's there to be afraid of? Sure, it's four against three right now..."
"But doesn't the Witch still have poison? Can't the Guard still protect someone?"
"And can't we execute a werewolf today?"
"If you work it out that way, tomorrow it'll be four against one!"
But Zheng Yi shook his head. "That'll be difficult. The werewolves haven't been exposed, and we don't know whom they'll target at night."
"It'll be hard for the Guard to protect the right person, and the Witch might not poison a werewolf either."
He sighed.
"All we can do now is try to execute one werewolf during the day today."
Chen Li suddenly fell silent.
His eyes widened as he realized something. "There are three wolves among the seven of us."
"Number Nine, Lin Jie, is the Seer, and Number Two, Li Xin, is a confirmed good guy. I'm a good guy too..."
His expression turned horrified, and he shifted his chair back, keeping his distance from everyone.
"Don't tell me you're all werewolves, ganging up to trick me alone?"
Everyone now understood what Chen Li meant.
Seven players were alive. Two good guys had died.
Lin Jie and Li Xin were two confirmed good guys.
For each player, excluding themselves, three of the remaining four people were werewolves.
Everyone warily shut their mouths and eyed one another with hostility.
"Say, Zheng Yi, don't you talk a little too much every day? Are you a werewolf trying to muddy the waters?" Chen Li began probing Director Zheng Yi.
Director Zheng refused to back down. "Why don't you clear yourself of suspicion first? Every time a fake Seer appears, you're the first to take the bait."
"I thought you were stupid at the time, but now that I think about it, could you be a werewolf?"
Chen Li was visibly angry at that. "Who are you calling stupid? I'm..."
He suddenly realized something and shut his mouth.
Zheng Yi pressed him relentlessly. "You're what? Nothing left to say?"
Xia Qu spoke up to break up the argument. "Everyone, calm down! Arguing won't solve anything!"
But Zheng Yi turned on her instead, his tone thoroughly hostile. "And what's your role? You've barely spoken since the beginning. Are you a werewolf who's afraid to say too much?"
Under attack, Xia Qu was at a loss. "I... I..."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Liu Yunyun quietly asked Zhou Lan beside her, "Boss... are you a wolf?"
But Zhou Lan hurriedly moved away. "Don't talk to me. I suspect you're a wolf myself!"
With werewolves making up the majority of the unknown roles, no one could stay calm. Everyone was on edge, beginning to suspect and distrust one another.
The situation was nearly out of control.
By now, Zheng Yi and Chen Li were arguing more and more fiercely.
"I don't care anymore. I'm voting you out today!" Zheng Yi raised his hand as he spoke, holding up the number four.
"Bring it on! You think I'm scared of you?" Chen Li refused to back down either, holding up the number one.
Caught in the middle, Li Xin had originally been accused of being a werewolf by the entire table, only to be completely ignored once she was confirmed as a good guy.
"Everyone, please stop arguing. There's something I want to say..." Li Xin spoke timidly, but everyone still ignored her.
Her faint voice was drowned out by their arguing.
"Shut up!" An authoritative voice rang out.
Startled, everyone stopped arguing.
Lin Jie shouted sternly, "Didn't you hear that my 'gold water' has something to say?"
Gold water meant a confirmed good guy checked by the Seer.
Lin Jie glared at everyone, sweeping his gaze around the table.
Overwhelmed by his presence, they quietly shut their mouths.
They all looked toward Li Xin, waiting for her to speak.
Li Xin, whom the entire table had previously turned against, was suddenly receiving attention and felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.
She said quietly, "What I wanted to say is that arguing like this doesn't help the good guys at all."
"Instead, we risk giving the werewolves a chance to hijack the vote."
Hijack the vote?
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
Li Xin continued, "If the good guys don't have a single voting target, their votes will be scattered. They won't be able to vote effectively."
"But the werewolves have met each other at night and know their teammates. They might take this opportunity to all vote together."
"The good guys' votes are scattered, while the werewolves' votes are concentrated. That's vote hijacking."
"So if we keep arguing chaotically like this, whoever gets eliminated won't be a werewolf."
Zheng Yi asked irritably, "Then tell us, what exactly should we do?"
Li Xin, whom Zheng Yi had firmly believed was a "werewolf," had suddenly become a confirmed good guy;
Meanwhile, some people suspected Zheng Yi, and that reversal in their standing left him very displeased.
Li Xin paid no mind to his hostile tone. "It's simple. We choose a good-guy leader whom everyone trusts and let that leader decide whom to execute today."
Driver Chen picked up the thread. "The person you mean is..."
Everyone looked toward Lin Jie.
Lin Jie had stood out from the very first day, catching out two fake Seers at once, and everyone already acknowledged him as a good guy.
On the second day, he had gone further, using ironclad logic to prove that he was the only real Seer.
Everyone had witnessed Lin Jie's eloquence and judgment.
No one but him could fill the role of the good guys' leader.
Xia Qu was the first to speak. "I have no objections. I trust Brother Lin's abilities."
Driver Chen was second. "Me too. This kid really is clever. I'd feel at ease with him leading us."
Zhou Lan and Liu Yunyun nodded along as well.
In the end, Zheng Yi sighed and chose to compromise. "All right. It looks like this is the only way."
"Kid, I'll listen to you. Tell us, who exactly are we executing today?"
Lin Jie lowered his head in thought. No one could see his expression or knew what he was thinking.
After a long while, Lin Jie slowly raised his head.
"Today, we won't execute anyone."