Chapter 43: The Third Day·Discordant

The third day, 6:00 a.m.

The Death information had been refreshed.

Only seven avatars remained, meaning that last night two players had been eliminated: No. 6 Yan Yuze and No. 8 Bai Lin.

No. 6 and No. 8…? Shen Mu immediately frowned, feeling an almost electric current spread throughout his body. Although his mind was still perhaps a little groggy, his instincts were screaming that something was wrong. No. 6 and No. 8… How could these two be eliminated?

… Then again, it was also semi-logical for No. 6 and No. 8 to be eliminated. If the Wolf had killed No. 6, the Hunter, and No. 6 had chosen to take No. 8 with him when he was eliminated… Shen Mu became lost in thought.

Although in real-world games, the host would generally announce the Hunter’s death the morning of the following day——the Hunter could choose whether or not to activate their skill right up until they left the scene. However, in this case, there obviously wasn’t a death postponement option. If No. 6 Yan Yuze, who was killed, chose to take someone with him, it was true that there should indeed be two deaths when the news was announced at 6:00 in the next morning.

It seemed reasonable to hypothesise that the Hunter, No. 6, had been eliminated, and had chosen to take No. 8, Bai Lin, down with him…

Shen Mu recalled when he had seen Yan Yuze and Bai Lin on the first day. At that time, Yan Yuze and Du Xiulin had been confronting each other, and they had simultaneously defended Bai Lin. But this could not prove anything!

The scene where he had come across Du Xiulin in Yan Yuze’s room today resurfaced in Shen Mu’s mind.

When he had first entered the room, Shen Mu had felt that Du Xiulin seemed a little off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what the problem was exactly. Shen Mu suddenly sighed——only now did Shen Mu realise. At that time, Du Xiulin had been filled with enmity towards him, like the instinctive response of a beast whose territory had been invaded.

Then following on from the issue just now… Yan Yuze had suspected Bai Lin. Hence, he had taken Bai Lin down. That was not incomprehensible. Although he had defended Bai Lin on the first day, it didn’t really mean anything. What Shen Mu was confused about was that Yan Yuze had expected that he, the Hunter, would be killed, rather than the Seer with the Sheriff badge. Why would he choose to take Bai Lin down with him instead of Shen Mu, the Seer* who had inexplicably escaped death?

*T/N: Shen Mu means that Yan Yuze should have already suspected that he was part of the third party and that the Lover on the Wolf’s side would have ensured that they wouldn’t kill him. So why wouldn’t Yan Yuze take things into his own hands and take Shen Mu down with him?

The Witch no longer had an antidote, and he was a Seer who had obtained the trust of the Civilians and Gods, while also having the Sheriff badge. He was the biggest threat to the Wolves, so there was absolutely no reason that he should not be killed. No matter what, the Wolves couldn’t let the Seer continue to check people’s identities. After all, there would be increasingly fewer and fewer players on the field as time went on, and hiding deeply* was the only way out for the Wolves.

*T/N: In traditional Werewolf games in China, there are 4 main types of Wolf ‘gameplay’. The first one is to claim to be Seer and obtain the trust of the good people. The second one is to support your wolf teammate who is pretending to be Seer by helping them gain votes and trust through your speech. The third way is to hide deeply and resist discovered. The fourth way is to put suspicion on your own wolf teammate to have other people trust you.

Moreover, if the Hunter was killed first, they could allow the good people to drag out for an extra round by taking away the right person. This would undoubtedly make the Wolves’ situation more dangerous. If they wanted to get rid of a specific party*, the Hunter would often be the last one the Wolves would choose to kill!

*T/N: getting rid of ‘a specific party’ refers to the Wolves’ conditions; they have to kill off one side, either the Civilians or the Gods

Since Yan Yuze had been killed instead of him, the Seer, then there had to be something wrong with him, the Seer. There definitely was something wrong with Yan Yuze not taking him (SM) down with him. Instead of taking down the “Seer” who definitely had problems and also had influence, he instead took down No. 8, who was unimportant. This definitely was not Yan Yuze’s style.

To outsiders, if Yan Yuze was killed, Shen Mu should have simultaneously been eliminated due to his identity as the Seer. Although it was not as indicative of Shen Mu’s innocence as if he had directly been killed, the death of the Seer and the Hunter would also confuse the good guys. Then, the Couple would still have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters*. As long as Du Xiulin was killed the next day, even with the Couple being such a large target, their chances of survival would greatly increase. So, although he had thought that his sister might not kill him and instead choose  to kill Yan Yuze, Shen Mu had not been particularly worried.

*T/N: to fish in troubled waters – to take advantage of a messy situation

But Yan Yuze had not taken him down, and this was illogical… So, perhaps this double death had not been caused by the Hunter and instead had been caused by the Witch?

But that was even less logical!

If it was a double death caused by a Witch, the Witch must have poisoned the Hunter, otherwise, three deaths should have occurred within a single night——the Hunter could not activate their skill when poisoned by the Witch, but when they were killed by the Wolf or voted out, they could activate it. If the Witch had poisoned the Hunter, they could have done only for a single reason; they must have been selected by the Cupid to form their Couple and had become a member of the third party.

Therefore, if last night’s double death had been caused by the Witch, then the witch had to be his junior sister. She had poisoned Yan Yuze, and his sister, who was a Wolf, had chosen to kill No. 8, Bai Lin.

Shen Mu remembered seeing Shen Xin with Bai Lin on the way to the villa during the day. Maybe there was a reason that he wasn’t aware of which had made his sister become wary of Bai Lin to the extent that she would choose to kill her over Yan Yuze. Although this theory did not contain any contradictions, the only issue was that, if Xie You was the Witch, why would she choose to poison the Hunter? Didn’t that simply reveal to everyone that the Witch was one of the Couple and had become a member of the third party? If the rule that dictated the third party’s victory was to ‘slaughter a side (Wolves, Civilians or Gods)’, it would be a reasonable option to poison the Hunter, but the third party’s requirement for victory was to ‘slaughter all’! Except for the members of the third party, all other players needed to be removed from the field in order for them to win——at the moment, choosing to poison the Hunter provided no benefit except for exposing the fact that the Witch was a part of the Couple in the third party. There were still 7 players left on the field, and neither Du Xiulin nor Su Yingxing were idle. At the moment, they would not be able to influence the votes in a way that would force them to result in a tie and would instead precipitate the complete exposure of the third party! After all, the “Seer” had survived in a situation that he shouldn’t have, so his identity would also be worthy of scrutiny.

The whole scene could have been orchestrated by the Witch. With so few people left, and his junior sister having declared that she was a God during the initial election, she would be found out easily. Therefore, it would have been better if she had poisoned a Civilian who had seemed suspicious and said they were someone whom she had suspected of being a Wolf. Then, he could have died at night and left the Sheriff badge to his sister to imply that she had a good identity. Even if the Couple was eventually exposed, it would only be as one consisting of a Witch and a Civilian and they were a good Couple. Typically, the Couple would be killed once they were exposed. Otherwise, they would not be able to justify surviving the next day. However, in the later period of the game, if the couple could drag on for just another day, the situation would be very different.

But with Xie You’s skill, how could she not think of this?

No, it was not logical at all——if the Hunter had died, why had he not brought him, the Seer down with him? If the Hunter had been poisoned, then it was of no benefit to the third party. If his junior sister really wasn’t able to think of this… No. There must be something wrong.

Shen Mu thought of a jigsaw puzzle truth solving theory.

The so-called truth was that each puzzle piece should be in the right place. Sometimes, the lack of a jigsaw piece made you feel that the picture was missing something, but adding the rest of the jigsaw would complete the picture. When a puzzle piece was missing, people would feel as though the picture was incomplete. But they never questioned whether the position of the other puzzle pieces was correct or not. People often assumed that there was only a single piece missing, and the rest of the picture itself was already correct.

Instead, if it was incorrect, then it would not be because a puzzle piece was missing, but there could be a misplaced puzzle piece. Shen Mu narrowed his eyes slightly.

The truth was the feeling of moving clouds and flowing water* that came with having every piece of the puzzle put in the right place. If there was any discord, even if it was only the size of one piece of the puzzle, the truth could not be the truth!

*T/N: moving clouds and flowing water – a natural and unforced feeling

This sense of dissonance was completely different from the previous feeling from the past two days. Although many speculations had been made, every speculation merely contained a feeling of lacking some information and did not make him feel that a piece of the puzzle had been misplaced. But now… something was obviously wrong.

Shen Mu began taking deep breaths. “If the Hunter was the one who was knifed, it must be Yan Yuze who had taken Bai Lin down with him. No matter what identity Bai Lin had, the threat could not be greater than the “Seer” being in a position of influence… Or, had Yan Yuze felt that other people would find me suspicious for surviving, and believed that they would vote me out during the day? If that was the case, then he has really underestimated me too much. Just give me a chance to speak, even if I can’t hold out for two rounds, it’s OK for me to support myself through one more round of the game!”

“Or,” Shen Mu suddenly had a flash of insight, “had Yan Yuze suspected that Bai Lin was a member of the third party? Maybe even a God? If that was the case, Yan Yuze’s choice to take away Bai Lin was not incomprehensible.”

Thinking about it from another perspective, if yesterday’s double death had been caused by the Witch, his junior sister must have a reason for this. For example, Yan Yuze may have found that she was linked to the third party, and so the Hunter had to die… But in terms of the progress during the day, his junior sister had not been exposed, so this line of logic did not work.

Therefore, it was probably because although Yan Yuze had suspected him, he had felt that Shen Mu would be voted out during the day, so he had taken Bai Lin down with him. Either Yan Yuze had suspected that Bai Lin was a member of the third-party Couple, or maybe even a Witch who had been linked to the third party.

Excluding the other impossibilities, the truth was probably one of the two. Shen Mu temporarily withdrew his thoughts. After a brief wash, he was ready to take a look at the bodies of No. 6 and No. 8 who had died last night. Although it seemed as though the system would not give hints in this regard, the body of a person who had been shot or poisoned might be different.

……

When he came to the corridor, he saw Xie You standing at the window, gazing outwards. Seeing that Shen Mu had come out, Xie You turned her head. Her hair shone softly under the sun, with a slightly golden shine.

Although there weren’t any other people around, Shen Mu’s gaze swept past Du Xiulin’s closed room door and he did not lower his guard. In a somewhat astonished tone, he asked, “No. 3? Why are you standing here alone in a daze?”

Xie You turned around and looked at Shen Mu. A light flashed in her eyes, and Shen Mu suddenly realized that she had been waiting for him. Shen Mu looked towards the end of the corridor and signalled that it was fine: “It’s fine, just whisper softly.”

But Xie You shook her head. Her eyes were solemn, but she said to Shen Mu softly, “Senior, things aren’t… you have to be careful.”

Her words had no clear beginning nor end, only snippets in between; Shen Mu immediately understood that she was referring to the game. It was game information, and could not be spoken aloud.

Things aren’t… things aren’t the same as what I thought they were?

When people didn’t know the truth, they would assume a variety of possibilities, but Xie You could directly say the words “aren’t”, things aren’t the same as what he thought… His junior sister must know something that he didn’t. In other words, she had access to important parts of the jigsaw puzzle, important information that could make the whole picture clearer.

Shen Mu’s mind was spinning. Since his junior sister knew more information, then she had to be a card that could operate at night. She was the Witch!

Shen Mu felt his heart beating at an extraordinary speed. If the Witch had not poisoned anyone, then the double death must have been caused by the Hunter. If that really was the case, his junior sister’s perspective would be the same as his own, and she would not know why Yan Yuze would take Bai Lin away, hence she wouldn’t be able to say such a definite thing to himself in a hurry. Therefore, yesterday’s double death had to have been done by his junior sister. If Bai Lin had been poisoned by his junior sister and Yan Yuze was killed by the Wolves, he could not have failed to take someone down with him, so the natural conclusion was that Yan Yuze must have been poisoned by his junior sister.

But this was not the case.

Shen Mu fiercely opened his eyes and they suddenly sharpened: that was to say, the person poisoned by his junior sister was Bai Lin, and Yan Yuze had been knifed! But he hadn’t taken anyone down with him. If Yan Yuze was the Hunter, it would be impossible not to take someone down with him. He should have taken down the “Seer” who should have died but wasn’t dead, should have taken down the suspected Wolf, or taken down the suspected Couple. He would definitely have used his ability, so him not taking anyone with him meant only one thing: He wasn’t the Hunter!

Although this seemed outlandish, this was indeed the truth.

Then the Hunter, who had either been Lin Huiru, who was drunk and did not know how to play; or Bai Lin, who had been poisoned by Xie You; had either died on the first day without any information; or was someone still hiding in the crowd, someone with a plan in mind. A timed bomb that could explode at any time.

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Translator’s Corner:

• Salted Fish: … I did not see that coming at all. A big round of applause for Yan Yuze’s tactics! But here comes the question, who is the real hunter? 
• Mango Guy: I have a neuroscience exam this Saturday, but I feel some bigger brain time is happening in this chapter.
• Kitty: Head … hurts … QAQ

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