Ning Wei stood up and approached Wu Qing. "It's not too much to ask for a cup of plain water after everyone has exercised, is it?"
Wu Qing's figure became clearer. Her lips didn't move, yet her voice could be heard, "Of course."
With another clap of hands, a group of maids walked out, carrying water. They retreated only after everyone had rested.
Howls of wolves could be heard intermittently, and the red eyes were drawing closer.
Ning Wei stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and counted the red eyes. There were eighteen in total.
This meant there were only eighteen living people here, but there were currently nineteen people in the hall.
She wondered if the opportunity to eliminate a ghost was limited to the daily report, and if so, wouldn't there always be one ghost remaining?
Was night not only a time for werewolves to feast, but also a time for the living to fight back?
At half-past eleven, Wu Qing began urging the guests to go upstairs.
Everyone stood in the hall, discussing the matter of safe houses.
Sheng Kaiwei's team of eleven living people had already revealed the rooms they had stayed in for the past two nights. Therefore, the discussion tonight was whether to disclose their own rooms for the night.
From everyone's perspective, it would naturally be best to disclose everyone's rooms.
However, each person had their own selfish motives. If they were unlucky enough to choose the same room, wouldn't they be destined to become a ghost?
Being a ghost had only one outcome: their identity would be exposed, and they would vanish completely.
Who would be so generous as to sacrifice themselves willingly?
Therefore, on this matter, no one could convince anyone else.
After all, no one knew what kind of blind box they would open later, and no one was willing to gamble.
Ning Wei observed everyone's expressions with a cold eye, guessing their hidden thoughts.
Yet, Sheng Kaiwei was insistent on forcing everyone to disclose their room information. When it came to matters of life and death, no one would back down.
"Alright, don't waste any more time here. The werewolves will be here in ten minutes. If you continue to bicker, you will all die outside," Ning Wei reminded them, then led her teammates upstairs.
At this moment, Sheng Kaiwei suddenly called out to her, "You stayed on the fifth floor last night and nothing happened. By rights, shouldn't we have the first choice tonight?"
"Don't forget, you chose the second floor first yesterday," Yuan Yuan reminded him indignantly.
This Sheng Kaiwei was truly shameless, using people when it suited him and discarding them when it didn't. Now, at this critical juncture of choosing rooms, his true nature was exposed.
Ning Wei also wanted to know why no werewolves had passed by the fifth floor. Therefore, she generously replied, "No problem, so you plan to choose the fifth floor?"
Sheng Kaiwei nodded.
Ning Wei glanced at the clock. "Then you'd better hurry, as it still takes some time to climb to the fifth floor."
Everyone looked up. There were only seven minutes left, and the werewolves were getting closer to the castle.
Sheng Kaiwei beckoned to his teammates and began to climb up first.
"Where do you plan to stay tonight?" Ning Wei, being a very democratic person, asked for everyone's opinion.
"Let's go to the third floor again. That way, we have opportunities to escape both upstairs and downstairs," Mei Nan offered his suggestion.
"But we've stayed on the third floor before. Wouldn't staying there again increase the possibility of encountering the same room?" Wang Jing raised a question.
"The probability is that rooms are randomly assigned out of forty rooms, not between floors. So, no matter where you stay, there's a chance of encountering the same room," Mei Nan told them the result of his calculations. He didn't have time to explain the specifics and directly stated the conclusion.
"Then let's hurry to the third floor. We don't have much time," Zhu Yilian said, looking out the window. The werewolves were pressing in, and she was a little scared.
No one had any objections, and they went straight to the third floor.
While Sheng Kaiwei's team had their own agendas, Ning Wei's group was entirely different.
As soon as they reached the third floor, Mei Nan opened the first room and told them, "This is a new room. It seems the goddess of luck is still favoring me tonight. The rest is up to you."
Next was Wang Jing. She also opened her room and immediately said, "A new room! If any unlucky soul is found, remember to shout. I'll come out to help!"
Then came Zhu Yilian, Tang Tang, and Yuan Yuan. They were all lucky tonight, without exception.
Only Song Zhi and Ning Wei were left. Ning Wei always entered rooms last, so she had the clearest understanding of everyone else's room situation.
The first five people were lucky. Song Zhi, full of anticipation, placed his hand on the doorknob.
Under his hopeful gaze, the door to the room slowly opened.
His face instantly turned grim. Ning Wei immediately guessed the reason.
Song Zhi said to Ning Wei with a wry smile, "I didn't expect to leave everyone so soon. I'm truly reluctant."
Ning Wei was speechless at his demeanor, as if he were making his last will and testament. But it wasn't the time for sarcasm. She immediately pointed to the next room and said, "Try again, see if you can open it."
"So, you're using me as a guinea pig." Song Zhi understood Ning Wei's intention. She wanted to test if, when the first room opened wasn't a safe house, there was a chance to try another room, or a third, until they found a safe one.
If such an operation were possible, it would be the best outcome.
Not only that, but they also had to test what consequences such an action would entail, to see if there were any hidden rules at play.
Song Zhi had made up his mind. Since death was inevitable anyway, he might as well contribute to his teammates.
He reached out to try opening the second room. Upon making the second choice, the first room would automatically close, and the second room would then open.
Song Zhi took a look and then, with great helplessness, began to bid farewell again.
It turned out that no matter how many rooms he opened, they all had the same furnishings as the first room.
This meant that if the chosen room was not a safe house, the outcome for that night was already decided, with no room for choice.
Song Zhi saw that there was still time and chose to ramble on, instructing Ning Wei to treat Teacher Mei well, as he was the only man left on their "vehicle."
Ning Wei rolled her eyes. "Instead of wasting time like this, why don't you quickly notify everyone to prepare? Do you really want to fight the werewolves alone and die heroically?"
As Ning Wei spoke, she walked towards the first room, which was Mei Nan's room.
She didn't know if they could hear her inside. Ning Wei knocked on the door and whispered, "Song Zhi has become the unlucky ghost. Be prepared."
She went from the first room backwards, informing everyone. Although there was no response from inside, Song Zhi was moved to tears by her actions.