Xufang He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Yu Chaohui: “If she isn’t—then who among us do you think would be?”

Yu Chaohui furrowed his brow and said nothing.

He was a person of careful and cautious temperament—he wouldn’t make quick judgments about anyone or anything. No matter what was placed in front of him, he needed to see the evidence first.

Doctor Xufang smiled and asked Yu Chaohui: “Have you ever suspected me?”

Yu Chaohui replied stiffly: “I think everyone is suspicious.”

Fang Yu tugged at him, giving him a sharp look that warned him not to say anything reckless.

“That’s all right.” Doctor Xufang was completely unbothered, his smile remaining as easygoing and warm as ever.

No one believed for a second that he was actually easygoing and warm. Even though they had reached a cooperative understanding, the wariness and vigilance between them hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

“As you say—yes, everyone is suspicious. But I believe she is the most suspicious one of all. Do you know why?” Doctor Xufang asked.

Yu Chaohui thought it over, then still shook his head.

Xufang He answered: “Because the X-guest’s purpose manifests most clearly in her.”

“The X-guest’s… purpose?” Yu Chaohui frowned. “What do you mean?”

Xufang He smiled. “If I were the X-guest, what do you think I would be doing right now? Would I need to go around canvassing for votes?

…No. I wouldn’t need to at all. Because all I’d have to do is let red and yellow eliminate one more person each, and I’d have my victory.

Yet what am I actually doing right now?

I’ve exhausted every possible means, all to ensure that 5 yellow-eye players survive through to the final round. Because I am not the X-guest. For me, the moment even one yellow eye is eliminated, I lose! So no matter what, I absolutely cannot let the yellow eyes be taken out!”

He tapped his pen lightly on Number 11 on the paper, then continued: “Conversely, for the X-guest, having all three colors eliminated in balanced numbers is the ideal situation—because as long as in the fourth round, none of the three eye-color groups has 5 people remaining, the X-guest wins without even needing to wait for the fifth round.”

Xufang He set down his pen and looked at everyone gathered in the room, repeating once more: “Next round—vote for Number 11, and we win. If any of you are unwilling, I don’t mind taking certain measures… because I am genuinely doing what’s best for everyone.”

……

Evening. Six o’clock. Voting time had come around again.

Bai Youwei arrived earlier than anyone else.

She sat in her wheelchair, quietly waiting outside the door, prepared to be the first one inside the moment the time came.

As the time drew closer, players reassembled in the square—five yellow eyes, five red eyes, four blue eyes.

They all looked at Bai Youwei as though they were looking at a dead person.

Because they knew: in this round of voting, Bai Youwei would surely be eliminated.

The sphere, with its characteristic sense of ritual, spun a few circles and then called out cheerfully: “Come, come~ Come inside and vote!”

Before going in, Bai Youwei turned her head and swept a gaze across everyone present. A smile of indeterminate meaning curved at the corner of her lips—strange and inscrutable.

Before anyone could make sense of it, she had rolled her wheelchair inside…

……

Inside the voting booth, the screen now showed only 14 numbers.

It should have been 15—but after the Black man died, his number had also gone gray and become unusable.

Bai Youwei didn’t vote immediately.

She opened the doll’s house and called out the plush rabbit that had been charging for the past several hours. She grabbed it up in one hand and then placed it on the slightly angled display screen—over the position of Number 11.

The rabbit blocked Number 11 completely.

“Stay right here—don’t move,” Bai Youwei instructed it. “Not even a millimeter. If someone tries to grab you, push you, or touch you, I don’t need to tell you what to do, do I?”

The plush rabbit: “……”