Li Yibai didnât speak. Gu Mian felt he seemed to have something more to say, but the words died on his lips.
It seemed he too was now wavering.
There were seven people present, and adding Yue Nu on the floorâwho was long past being livelyâbrought the total to eight. The only ones not present were 007, who had fled earlier, and Zhang Pingfan, who had barely shown himself.
Chu Changge glanced at the clock on the back wall of the classroom. "Itâs almost time to vote. Have you all decided who youâre voting for?"
Gu Mian looked at the others. Pan Yueâs expression was resolute, just as determined as when she had decided to vote for Li Wentao the day before.
It looked like she was set on voting for 007.
Li Yibai, next to her, sat with his head bowed, his expression unreadable. Guo Jimei watched Yuan Qinghua warily,
as if Yuan Qinghua were a vicious hound ready to take her life at any moment.
Keke, held tightly by Guo Jimei, looked extremely awkward. Chu Changge still wore that deathly-pale expression,
like a face ruined by botched plastic surgery, incapable of showing much emotion.
As for the actual dead person, Yue Nu... both Yue Nu lay quietly on the ground, offering no opinions.
Of course, they couldnât offer any opinions anymore.
The situation remained deadlocked; no one else spoke.
Time seemed to pass with excruciating slowness.
It was as if by unspoken agreement; though their expressions varied, no one broke the precious silence.
Only the occasional rustle of wind-blown leaves scraping against the ground, or the flutter of birds passing overhead, punctuated the stillness of the campus.
After a long silence, the hands of the classroom clock ticked cheerfully on, finally pointing to three. They were once again facing the same event as the previous night.
A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in the darkness, right above their heads. Gu Mian looked up. Because the school corridors were equipped with loudspeakers, the announcement this time was broadcast directly through themâ
"The second night has ended. Voting will now commence. Players, please select your voting target within one minute."
The moment the voice faded, Pan Yue spoke first, "I vote for Lin Qi!"
She seemed to shout with all her might, as if sheâd been holding her breath.
Her voice echoed powerfully through the dark corridor. After shouting her vote, Pan Yue twisted her head to look at Li Yibai. Surprisingly, Li Yibai didnât retaliate this time, which seemed to greatly disappoint Pan Yue, who had been all fired up.
Voting time was only one minute. Yuan Qinghua spoke up shortly after Pan Yue, "Then Iâll vote for Lin Qi too..."
Her voice was somewhat shaky; she seemed unsure about voting for Lin Qi.
Keke looked around.
It seemed she felt that voting for Lin Qi would damage their camaraderie.
After struggling for a moment, she finally said, "I... I abstain!"
Gu Mian glanced at Keke, then said, "I also abstain."
After all, they were comrades; stabbing someone in the back like this wasnât right.
Just then, a spoiler suddenly emerged. An ill-timed voice cut in, "I vote for Yuan Qinghua!"
One didnât even need to look to know those words could only have come from Guo Jimei.
Gu Mian was speechless.
He knew Guo Jimei was a ticking time bomb that would detonate as long as Yuan Qinghua was around.
But he hadnât expected Guo Jimei to detonate quite so arbitrarily.
Keke also looked at Guo Jimei in shock.
It had to be said, Yuan Qinghua hadnât shown the slightest sign of being a ghost so far.
But Guo Jimei was stubbornly fixated on her.
If one were to go by evidence, the video in Pan Yueâs hand clearly pointed to 007 as the ghost.
Yet Guo Jimei clung tightly to her suspicion of Yuan Qinghua.
Pan Yue was also astonished. "Have you gone crazy? Why suddenly vote for Yuan Qinghua!"
Gu Mian looked at Pan Yueâs surprised face; it didnât seem fake. She obviously didnât know about the history between Guo Jimei and Yuan Qinghua from earlier that day. From her expression, it seemed she was even starting to suspect Guo Jimei of being the ghostâs accomplice.
Guo Jimei immediately retorted, "Believe me! Yuan Qinghua is definitely the ghost!"
"I donât believe a damn word you say!" Pan Yue looked furious. "Forget it. Lin Qi already has two votes anyway. Your one vote for Yuan Qinghua wonât make a difference." She looked at Li Yibai as she spoke,
seemingly thinking he might vote for Yuan Qinghua to protect Lin Qi.
"Youâd better not get innocent Yuan Qinghua killed just to save Lin Qi!"
Yuan Qinghua looked genuinely scared.
Chu Changge had yet to vote, so
Pan Yue seemed somewhat at ease.
"Of course, even if you, Li Yibai, vote for Yuan Qinghua, you canât save Lin Qi, because Meiren Chu hasnât voted yet..."
Just then, Gu Mian heard Chu Changge, who was beside him, suddenly say, "I vote for Yuan Qinghua."
Now, 007 and Yuan Qinghua each had two votes. As soon as he finished speaking, the others turned their heads to look at him in shock.
Pan Yue was the most agitated. "Have you all gone crazy? Why are you all voting for Yuan Qinghua? What did she even do today?!"
Gu Mian saw Yuan Qinghua staring at Chu Changge in utter disbelief. Within seconds, tears welled in her eyes. "No... It really wasnât me. I didnât do anything..."
"Believe me!" Guo Jimei reached out to grab Li Yibai. "Vote for Yuan Qinghua; she must be the ghost! If sheâs not the ghost, then vote me out next round! Besides, if Yuan Qinghua is voted out, Lin Qi wonât die either."
Excluding the absent 007 and Zhang Pingfan, Li Yibai was the only one present who hadnât voted. Everyone turned their gaze to him.
And only twenty seconds remained of the one-minute voting time.