A gasp echoed sharply on the staircase.
Imdiately after, the sound of frantic scrambling followed.
Pan Yue was the first to flee, followed by Li Yibai, who, clutching 007, attempted to bolt upwards.
Just as Pan Yue had scrambled partway up, Keke, who had closely followed, grabbed her. "We don’t need to be scared! He can’t kill anymore. Don’t you rember? A ghost can only kill one person a night!"
Upon hearing this, Pan Yue hesitated and stopped. The panic on her face didn’t lessen, and she didn’t head back down. Instead, she watched Li Wentao below from a distance.
Although Keke spoke bravely, her body honestly followed Pan Yue up a few more steps; it was clear she also didn’t want to get too close to what was below.
007, being tugged along by Li Yibai, also symbolically climbed a few steps before stopping not far from Gu Mian, looking down.
Gu Mian was now the closest person to Li Wentao. He hadn’t moved.
The first victim had appeared. The ghost shouldn’t kill again unless it wanted to perish along with them.
At this mont, Li Wentao, who had been hiding beneath the dark staircase, erged.
His face was still deathly pale, but his expression was one of sheer terror, not at all like a ghost’s.
Even so, the few people on the staircase retreated several more steps, warily eyeing the man below.
"You..." Li Wentao’s face showed panic and bewildernt. "You’re all here too..."
Then, as if suddenly realizing sothing, he blurted out urgently, "N-No... It wasn’t ! He was already dead when I got here!"
Li Wentao said this agitatedly, taking a few steps forward, wanting to ascend the stairs.
Imdiately, Pan Yue’s raised voice cut in, "Don’t co any closer!"
Li Wentao’s steps faltered. He seed at a loss but still looked pleadingly towards those on the stairs. "It really wasn’t ! I couldn’t do sothing like this! You’ve misunderstood!"
His agitated voice reverberated through the dark staircase, making one’s hair stand on end. Li Wentao, standing at the foot of the stairs, sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
At this point, Keke spoke, her voice trembling, "You’re lying! We clearly saw you on the verge of death, but then you turned around and chased us like a madman! Weren’t you trying to kill us?"
Hearing this, a look of dawning comprehension appeared on Li Wentao’s face. "What ’on the verge of death’? What ’chasing you’? I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’ve been in another building the whole ti; I never ran into you at all! Oh, right... Gu Mian! I ran into Gu Mian..."
As he spoke, he started to turn to look at Gu Mian behind him. But as soon as he turned his head, he saw Fatty’s face, already a ghastly blue-purple, and his movent froze.
Li Wentao didn’t dare to turn his head any further. Maintaining this strange posture, he spoke urgently, "Gu Mian, weren’t you with the whole ti? You can testify that I didn’t chase them, right?"
Before Gu Mian could speak, Pan Yue’s sharp voice interjected, "You went to Gu Mian after chasing us! I distinctly saw you sneakily appear behind him, who knows what you were planning! And after you went over to the other side, no one chased us anymore! You’re clearly the ghost, the murdering ghost in this ga! And..."
"...And we followed the blood trail you left to find this place! It’s obvious you ca down from upstairs and killed Wang Pan! If you didn’t kill him, why were you hiding down here, too scared to co out?"
"I d—" Li Wentao’s expression grew frantic, his voice rising. "When I arrived, he was already dead! Then I heard you coming downstairs. I... I hid here because I was afraid you’d misunderstand!"
"Right," Pan Yue glared at Li Wentao, her eyes glinting in the darkness. "You didn’t have ti to escape, so you hid here. You just didn’t expect to accidentally make a noise and be discovered by us!"
Li Wentao’s eyes were turning red. He stared fixedly at Pan Yue. "I told you it wasn’t ! Why do you keep targeting ? Why do you say I killed him? I get it... It was you!"
"You’re the one who killed him, and now you’re desperately trying to fra !" Li Wentao’s eyes were bloodshot. The mont the words left his mouth, he lunged violently at Pan Yue.
Pan Yue, caught completely off guard, hastily retreated a step but bumped into Keke. Neither managed to stay upright, and they both fell heavily to the ground.
Pan Yue’s head struck the staircase handrail, and blood began to flow.
anwhile, Li Wentao, his face contorted with rage, was already rushing towards her.
In her panic, Pan Yue tried to get up, but it felt as if the hem of her clothes was caught on sothing, and she stumbled back down onto the stairs.
Li Wentao drew nearer and nearer, reaching her in the blink of an eye.
Then, Pan Yue felt Li Wentao grab her by the collar and slam her towards the nearby wall.
"Go to hell!" the man’s furious voice thundered from above her.
"Help!" Pan Yue shrieked in terror.
But just as her head was about to smash against the wall, Li Wentao, who was in front of her, suddenly staggered, failing in his attempt.
It was Chu Changge who had grabbed Li Wentao’s arm.
Just then, 007 also quickly caught up and grabbed Li Wentao, wrapping his arms around him.
Li Yibai was still lagging behind. Keke, on the side, remained seated on the floor, seemingly stunned with fright. Gu Mian was still making his way up the stairs.
But Li Wentao had descended into madness; two people couldn’t hold him back at all. He continued to struggle, switching to strangling Pan Yue’s neck with both hands.
Although the two restraining him prevented him from using much force, Pan Yue was already starting to suffocate.
And just then, a voice suddenly resounded throughout the entire building, like the announcents for school calisthenics—
"The first night has ended. Voting will now begin. All players, please select your voting target within one minute."
Three o’clock!
Keke, who had been stunned speechless, lifted her head. "What’s this? How do we vote?"
"I don’t know!" Li Yibai exclaid, frantic. "Even if we vote soone out, what then?!"
Pan Yue was still being choked by Li Wentao, already finding it hard to breathe. At this critical juncture, Pan Yue forced out, her voice hoarse, "I... I vote for Li Wentao!"
RING RING—
A telephone rang in the darkness.
Yue Nu, who was in her bedroom writing sothing, abruptly lifted her head and looked towards the telephone in the center of the living room.
She was a player in this instance, in the sa Senior Year Class 23 as 007.
However, it was only at dinnerti that she learned she was a day student. Her mother picked her up and took her ho, causing her to lose contact with 007.
Yue Nu already knew the ga rules, but she hadn’t known how she was supposed to vote at three in the morning. Now, however, she understood.
She had ntally prepared herself, so she wouldn’t be too surprised by anything happening at three in the morning. It was just a phone call at three in the morning. Only... such a loud telephone ring, yet her parents in the adjacent bedroom showed no reaction whatsoever. They were sleeping a bit too soundly.
Yue Nu didn’t delay. She quickly walked to the telephone and picked it up.
Imdiately, a chanical voice sounded from the receiver—
"The first night has ended. Voting will now begin. All players, please select your voting target within one minute."
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