Seven Days and Nights with the Werewolf

Day Two·02

At the four corners of the hall, sections of the wall panels split open with a sharp *c***k*. Four automated sniper rifles emerged, their barrels trained on the people in the hall. Ding Zihui hunched her shoulders, panic evident on her face. Yang Song’s chest was still heaving, her complexion pale. Fang Daichuan glanced back and immediately spread his arms, shielding the girls behind him and positioning himself on the periphery of the group.

"Players, please proceed to identify your identity cards in sequence," the machine by the wall intoned in its emotionless, mechanical voice.

Boss Du glanced around, unbuttoned his shirt cuffs, and stepped forward first. He took out his identity card, looked back at everyone, then swiped the card through the machine’s reader.

A *beep* sounded. The machine’s speaker continued its calm announcement. "Identity card recognized successfully. Current number of survivors: 1."

Boss Du retrieved his card and returned to his seat at the table, glancing up at the sniper rifles in the corners. "Don’t panic. It’s not time for those to be used yet."

With the first person taking the lead, the others gradually calmed down, sizing each other up. Yang Song pulled her card from her waist pouch. Her fingers trembled slightly. She swallowed, quickly closed and opened her eyes, then became the second person to identify her card.

Li Sinian kept his eyes fixed on the machine’s screen, which displayed the number of survivors. The stark red number changed with each successful swipe. By the time Fang Daichuan swiped his card, the blood-like digit flickered once more before settling on a glaring, crimson **11**.

All four sniper rifles in the corners were now aimed at Li Sinian in the center of the hall.

"What are you waiting for?!" Fang Daichuan turned and saw this, shouting urgently. "Come swipe your card! Do you have a death wish?!"

Li Sinian stepped forward and swiped his card. He tilted his head thoughtfully. "What do you think would happen if we moved the bodies over here and tried to swipe the fingerprints and cards of the deceased?"

Fang Daichuan felt a chill at those words.

"Impossible," Yang Song shook her head. "Look closely at the fingerprint scanner we used. It doesn’t emit light, which means it’s not an optical scanner. It uses capacitive sensing technology. This technology relies on forming an electric field between the silicon sensor and the conductive electrolytic fluid under the skin. The pressure differences caused by the ridges and valleys of the fingerprint, the electrostatic potential on the fingerprint’s convex and concave surfaces, are used for verification. Therefore, whether it’s a corpse or a severed finger from a living person, once detached from the living body, the epidermal cells are dead. There’s no charge flow. The machine can’t read the fingerprint."

Ding Zihui stared at her, mouth agape. "H-how do you know such details?"

Yang Song smirked coldly. "I took courses in engineering technology and mechanical instrumentation during my postgraduate studies."

Well then, she’s an academic overachiever. Fang Daichuan felt a pang of shame for his own educational background and IQ. As a former ethnic sports student who switched tracks to study acting—a half-baked athlete-turned-arts student—he had no idea what engineering technology even covered. It just sounded incredibly difficult.

"You’ve actually been outshone," Fang Daichuan found this somewhat incredible. He turned to look at Li Sinian.

Li Sinian raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips, and ruffled Fang Daichuan’s hair. "What’s so surprising about that? I’m not Superman. Being outshone isn’t strange."

"It just feels novel," Fang Daichuan reached up to smooth down the hair Li Sinian had mussed, shrugged, and muttered under his breath, "I thought you were omnipotent."

Today, he hadn’t used hair gel. His hair was clean, soft, and lying flat, making his naturally downturned eyes seem less like those of an arrogant 'total top' and more innocent and well-behaved. Li Sinian had resisted the urge all morning but finally seized the chance to touch it himself.

The texture was unexpectedly fine and soft.

So different from the deliberately styled, spiky, unruly look he’d sported yesterday, trying to appear brash and rebellious. Li Sinian secretly curved the corner of his mouth upward.

Once everyone had swiped their cards, they returned to their seats. The beef and stew on the table hadn’t gone cold yet, but no one was in the mood to pick up their forks again.

At eight-fifteen, the machine emitted another *beep*.

"Current number of survivors: 12," the machine announced flatly. "All players, please take your positions. Return to your initial positions from the start of the game."

Fang Daichuan reluctantly returned to the last seat on the right-hand side. He hadn’t chosen this spot for breakfast. Although the blood from Old Chen’s death across from him had been wiped clean, the memory of being sprayed in the face was too horrifying. Facing the empty chair opposite, he felt pins and needles all over. The bright sunlight streaming through the large windows couldn’t dispel the chill settling deep within him.

"Players, please proceed with your statements. Begin with the player to the left of the deceased," the machine continued its duty-bound announcement.

The unfortunate first victim had originally been sitting second from the inner side, to the left of Yang Song. Therefore, statements would begin with Yang Song.

Yang Song took a deep breath. "I didn’t know the deceased. I don’t know anything. Last night, Ding Zihui was attacked first. Fang Daichuan was the first to rush over. I was the second. After I went over, I supported her the whole time. Then I didn’t return to my room; I helped her straight down to the first floor. The two of us were together from that moment until that person died. We can alibi for each other."

Sitting opposite Yang Song was Old Lady Song. The old woman used her napkin to wipe the water from her face, took a couple of sips of tea to calm herself, and then spoke. "I went back to my room last night and fell asleep. I heard some commotion outside my door in my sleep. An old woman like me, I didn’t dare open the door. When the noise got louder, that young man knocked, and I opened it. After hearing what happened, I closed the door, changed my clothes, and came down. I had no contact with that person. It wasn’t me. I don’t know who it was."

To Old Lady Song’s right was Zhao Chu, the man who had been noisy and table-pounding last night. "What Sister Xinran said is what I want to say too! I still stand by my words!" he said loudly. "It wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was any of us who were sleeping in our rooms! It must have been one of you who were on the first floor at the time!"

"Wait," Li Sinian suddenly looked up, his pupils catching the sunlight with a faint flash. "Xinran? Who’s Xinran?"

Old Lady Song’s face changed color.

Zhao Chu froze, then pointed to his left. "It’s… Sister Song, Song Xinran."

Fang Daichuan eyed him suspiciously. "That’s not right, is it? How do you know her name?"

"I…" Zhao Chu looked at Old Lady Song, then at Fang Daichuan. "Just now… she introduced herself!"

"Did she?" Fang Daichuan stared intently at his face. "She only mentioned her surname. She didn’t reveal her given name. None of us know the old lady’s name. Do you, kid?" He turned to ask Li Sinian.

Li Sinian glanced at him, a trace of amusement hidden in his eyes, and cooperatively shook his head. "No idea."

Everyone else shook their heads, claiming ignorance, their collective gaze fixed on Zhao Chu. Exposed to so many scrutinizing eyes, Zhao Chu’s hand holding the cup trembled. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead; he couldn’t utter a word.

The old lady sighed and set down her teacup. "Let me explain. It’s something from over a decade ago. It has nothing to do with the deceased."

*Over a decade ago.* Fang Daichuan instinctively glanced at Li Sinian. He had mentioned his father’s disappearance and a difficult childhood exploited by a fraud ring using kids for petty theft. He must have been quite young then, probably under ten. Li Sinian looked to be in his twenties now, so his father’s disappearance likely happened over a decade ago.

"I worked at a geological exploration institute. Before retirement, I was the director. So don’t think studying some engineering makes you superior. In my day, I was a Ph.D. in geology too," Old Lady Song said, shooting a glance at Yang Song. She continued, "Over a decade ago, I was just a team leader. Xiao Zhao was a member of my team. Later, some incidents happened at the institute. The old director left, I took over, and Xiao Zhao resigned. A few years ago, I had some health issues and resigned too. Running into Xiao Zhao here was a surprise for me too."

This explanation seemed reasonable, so everyone stopped pressing. Li Sinian frowned and gave Zhao Chu another look.

To Zhao Chu’s right was Niu Xinyan. She lowered her head, poking at the cold oyster meat with her fork. "I have nothing to say. I was busy comforting my child all last night. I didn’t have the energy to pay attention to others. Nan Nan was frightened yesterday and kept crying."

The little boy played with the tassels under the tablecloth, silent. To his right was an empty seat—the beer-bellied man’s place.

"Let’s not make the child speak," Ding Zihui sighed. "He’s so young. What could he know?"

Hearing this, the boy didn’t look relieved. Instead, he shot Ding Zihui a hateful glare. Ding Zihui flinched, her body jerking slightly upward on her seat. "W-what? Did I say something wrong?"

"I know everything!" the little boy said, head still bowed, but his eyes were wide open. "I can see him."

A child’s face should be the epitome of innocence. Yet, at that moment, Fang Daichuan felt a creeping chill. He leaned over slightly and asked softly, "What did you see?"

Silence enveloped the room.

Basking in everyone’s focused attention, the little boy lifted his chin with a hint of pride. He pointed at the empty seat beside him and giggled. "That dead man is sitting right here… I can see him!"