She also noticed a small detail: as soon as she complained about the butler's unfairness, a strong man was immediately assigned to her.
Did this implicitly suggest that the butler was also under some sort of rule, forced to satisfy guests' various demands within reasonable limits?
This question was a small test.
Wu Qing had long anticipated that nothing good would come from Ning Wei speaking.
However, after hearing her question, Wu Qing silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, this question was not difficult for her; in fact, she had been waiting for guests to ask it.
Still, it had been a long time since she had encountered a guest as bold as Ning Wei.
The previous group of guests had been terrified at first sight of Wu Qing. They huddled together for warmth every day, completely unwilling to engage their minds and participate in such a fun game.
Naturally, their survival until the end resulted in total annihilation.
There were also some guests who were aggressive, constantly suspecting others and guessing wildly. They did nothing productive and ended up offending everyone around them.
Guests like Ning Wei, who were sharp and intelligent, were rare.
Wu Qing's gaze towards Ning Wei held a hint of admiration, and her attitude subtly shifted.
Wu Qing replied, "If you are certain of the ghost's true identity, you can identify them now. However, you only get one chance per day. If you guess wrong, the ghost will continue to hide among you, and by tonight, there will be at least three more."
Wu Qing had explained it very clearly: according to the game rules, there was one opportunity each day to point out who the ghost was. If they guessed correctly, the ghost would disappear; if they guessed wrong, the ghost would remain hidden.
After hearing Wu Qing's explanation, everyone looked at Ning Wei. Only one person tightly gripped his steak knife: Qin An, who everyone had identified as the ghost.
He lowered his head slightly, his eyes filled with hatred.
The others were so focused on anticipating Ning Wei's pronouncement that they had overlooked Qin An.
At the critical moment, Qin An suddenly lunged towards Sheng Kaiwei with the steak knife.
Gasps erupted from everyone, and Ning Wei simultaneously shouted, "Qin An is the ghost! I'm sure of it!"
Receiving the satisfactory answer, Wu Qing snapped her fingers, and Qin An instantly vanished on the spot.
The steak knife clattered onto the table with a clang, and Sheng Kaiwei, clutching his chest in fright.
"Congratulations, you guessed correctly."
"What would happen if I had guessed wrong? Besides the ghost not disappearing, what would be the fate of the person I wrongly accused?" Ning Wei's mind raced, intending to clarify everything.
If there were no consequences for guessing wrong, then in the absence of evidence, one could simply name anyone, at least having a chance of being correct.
Since the guest had asked, Wu Qing had to answer, "If you guess wrong, there will be no punishment. The real ghost hasn't been caught anyway, and tonight is the main event."
Ning Wei was somewhat satisfied with this answer. If she had known this was how the game worked, she should have just randomly guessed a name yesterday.
If an unlucky person failed to choose a safe house tonight, it would be much more troublesome.
Since they already knew that one reason for becoming a ghost was choosing the same room, Sheng Kaiwei had questioned the rooms for two nights already. Tonight, everyone would be wary of those around them.
The difficulty increased, making the game more exciting.
Perhaps in such a situation, someone wouldn't even scream, making it impossible for other guests to distinguish between male and female.
"Alright, it was just a small interlude. Please don't let it affect your dining pleasure, everyone. Please help yourselves."
Wu Qing's work for lunch was done. She disappeared from their sight, leaving the dining space for all the guests.
Everyone looked towards where Qin An had been, but there wasn't the slightest trace left.
"Did it end that easily?" Zhu Yilian murmured.
"That was easy? Didn't you see, he almost killed me!" Sheng Kaiwei, displeased at being ignored, shouted loudly.
Zhu Yilian didn't bother to reply, rolling her eyes and burying her head in her food.
The lunch was normal, at least not bloody.
Everyone ate their fill, fearing that dinner might hold some surprises.
The maids cleared the table and walked into the room that had opened. The door automatically closed after the last one entered.
Ning Wei had observed that there were eight doors around the entire hall, but the door that opened for each meal was different.
They had eaten five meals so far, and she hadn't found any logic.
Ning Wei stared at the doors, lost in thought. This was the first time she had encountered such a mentally taxing game, and she dared not miss any detail.
After the meal, no one left. They held a brief meeting.
"The ghost from last night has been found. What should we do tonight?" Sheng Kaiwei spoke first.
"Don't forget there are two ghosts," Tang Tang reminded him, not wanting him to seem too pleased.
After all, they weren't truly safe, and their attention shouldn't be too far ahead. There was still a problem to be solved.
"I'm really not good at catching ghosts. I'll leave it to you smart people," Sheng Kaiwei declared his surrender. He would only contribute physically, not mentally.
However, as he spoke, his gaze was fixed on Qing Qing, making his intentions quite obvious.
Qing Qing was also restless. She had sensed something was wrong yesterday, and after seeing Qin An's treatment today, she immediately realized she was under suspicion.
Unfortunately, she couldn't prove her innocence at the moment, nor could she find the real ghost. Her current state was akin to eating bitter herbs and having to swallow her suffering.
Ning Wei valued evidence. Therefore, she disagreed with Sheng Kaiwei's method of identifying the ghost based solely on hearing a door open.
Take Qin An today, for example. The rooms on either side of his were occupied last night, so why did no one hear the door open?
Even the screams were transmitted to everyone's ears from the hall. There was reason to suspect this was a deliberate deception by the wolf in order to protect the ghost's identity.
Regardless of the reason, Ning Wei spoke up to extricate Qing Qing, "If you have conclusive evidence to prove who the ghost is, please tell the other living people. Do not make wild guesses privately and disrupt morale. What do you think, Sheng Kaiwei?"
Ning Wei deliberately addressed him. As the leader of the group, his every word and action was important, and others would instinctively follow his lead.
Ning Wei did not want to wrongly accuse any innocent person, nor did she want the ghost to watch them slaughter each other from the shadows!
Sheng Kaiwei, unashamed, did not blush even after understanding Ning Wei's implied meaning. Instead, he said to her, "Calling names is too formal. We're teammates who have gone through hardship together. How about calling me 'Brother Wei'?"
Upon hearing these two words, Tang Tang stifled another laugh.