Seven Days and Nights with the Werewolf

Day Two·03

"I know everything," the little boy said, his eyes wide as he grinned. He began to sing a nursery rhyme.

"Who killed the robin redbreast? The robin died on the island.

The wolf killed the robin redbreast, the sparrow sings with flapping wings.

The wolf killed it with poison, its eyes wouldn't close when it died."

Sunlight tinged with the salty dampness of the island poured through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a faint, illusory shadow on the empty seat. Tiny dust motes danced in the light falling through that empty space. The child's voice was clear and crisp, the melody gentle and meticulous, yet the lyrics were more terrifying than the original Mother Goose rhyme. In the eerie cadence of the song, everyone seemed spellbound, frozen in place. Fang Daichuan stared at that void, clenched his right hand, and swallowed hard. Li Sinian remained motionless, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces. He reached under the table, giving Fang Daichuan's right hand a light pat, a silent warning not to act rashly.

The room fell into an uncanny silence, broken only by the sound of breathing.

Then, a sudden gust of wind blew in through the open windows. The curtains billowed violently. The tassels, damp with moisture, brushed against Fang Daichuan's back like a woman's wet, long hair. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and he shuddered.

The eerie nursery rhyme continued. The little boy stared unblinkingly at the empty chair, a trace of innocent smile on his lips:

"Who saw the robin die? The little boy opens his eyes to see.

I saw the sparrow kill it, its eyes wouldn't close when it died."

"Enough! Stop singing! Who are you trying to scare with this spooky act?!" Yang Song slammed her teacup down hard on the table.

The boy turned his head, looking up at Yang Song from under lowered brows, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on her. A smirk tugged at one corner of his mouth as he stared at her and continued singing:

"Where did the robin's blood go? The killer still looks around.

The little boy drank twelve drops of blood, one drop remains on the table."

Furious, Yang Song swept the cups and plates in front of her onto the floor with one arm, pointing at Niu Xinyan and demanding, "Make your son stop singing! Do you hear me?!"

"What to do now the robin's dead, the birds stand by the graveside.

The sparrow spreads its tiny wings to sing, the next to die will be me."

Niu Xinyan smiled bitterly, pulling the boy into her arms. She pressed a piece of candy into his palm, coaxing, "Nan Nan, please, stop singing. Good Nan Nan, please stop."

The boy played with the candy in his hand but kept singing. There was a contrived innocence in his eyes, like an adult trapped in a child's body.

He sang:

"After the sparrow, who's next? Let's all line up in a row…"

*Slap!*

The little boy's voice finally stopped.

Everyone snapped back to reality instantly. Fang Daichuan shivered and focused his gaze. Ding Zihui's hand was still raised in mid-air, her chest heaving. The empty seat was between her and the child. She had lunged across that shadowy void and slapped the child across the face. Everyone was stunned, looking at each other, unable to react for a long moment. Fang Daichuan turned his head in shock, completely thrown by this sudden outburst from the usually soft and cute girl.

Even Yang Song's face flashed with disbelief.

Niu Xinyan was dumbfounded. She looked down at the bright red handprint on her child's cheek, then up at Ding Zihui, her lips trembling, unable to speak.

Fang Daichuan stood up. In this situation, he feared things would escalate into an uncontrollable fight.

The boy's lips quivered, and he burst into loud, wailing sobs. "How dare you hit my son?!" Niu Xinyan indeed erupted, shoving the boy behind her protectively.

Fang Daichuan quickly pulled Ding Zihui behind him as well. Unexpectedly, Ding Zihui didn't launch into a loud, sharp-tongued argument. She didn't even raise her voice in retort. Her body trembled a couple of times, and then she buried her face against Fang Daichuan's back, sobbing loudly. Seeing this, Niu Xinyan was at a complete loss for words. Fang Daichuan was also stupefied on the spot.

For a moment, the only sounds in the hall were Ding Zihui's and the boy's crying.

"I… I was really, truly scared by him," Ding Zihui cried in hiccupping sobs, her words punctuated by gulps. Tears streamed down, instantly soaking the back of Fang Daichuan's T-shirt. "I was almost attacked last night, I saw a dead person with my own eyes, I was so scared I barely slept. And he's still scaring us like this! If you can't discipline your son, I'll do it for you!"

Fang Daichuan hurriedly pulled her back to sit down. "Alright, alright, why get so angry with a child? Sit down, have some tea." As he spoke, Li Sinian, who had remained silent, had already poured a cup of tea and handed it over. Ding Zihui used the silk napkin to wipe her face, thanked him, and held the teacup, weeping quietly.

Niu Xinyan also scolded her son perfunctorily. "Don't start conflicts with others, Nan Nan, my good Nan Nan, Mommy is scared." For some reason, Fang Daichuan felt there was something odd about Niu Xinyan's tone. He couldn't pinpoint it, but he tried to recall and realized he had never heard a mother speak to her son in quite that way. He glanced back at the strange mother-son pair and saw the boy pouting as he followed his mother back to their seats. Just as Fang Daichuan thought he might be overthinking it, he clearly saw the boy, as he sat down, turn his head and flash a strange, sinister smile at Ding Zihui.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fang Daichuan saw Ding Zihui's arm, resting on the table, give a violent jerk.

The machine in the corner urged, "Players, please proceed with your statements in order! Players, please proceed with your statements in order!"

"It's… it's my turn," Ding Zihui said softly after calming down a bit. "My timeline is as Yang Song described. I was almost attacked last night too, and I completely didn't have time to touch that person."

Next after Ding Zihui was Fang Daichuan.

Fang Daichuan glanced at Li Sinian and spoke cautiously. "I'm completely baffled. Last night, Li Sinian and I went to the fourth floor to check things out. We found a crate of food. We made some noise, and Ding Zihui, Yang Song, Du Wei, Chen Hui, Boss Du, and the deceased all came up to see. We brought the stuff back to the first floor and talked for a while. At that time, we were all standing far apart. The murderer couldn't have acted then. I still think the most likely time for the murderer to strike was during the half hour from when Sister Ding was attacked to when we all gathered back on the first floor. I vouch for Li Sinian; it couldn't have been him. We were together the whole time after that. That's all."

Li Sinian sat at the head of the table, technically to Fang Daichuan's left. He looked around and analyzed, "From the moment Ding Zihui was attacked until the time we gathered back on the first floor—during this period, Ding Zihui was attacked. Yang Song was the first to rush over. Chen Hui also went upstairs before the deceased. Then the three girls returned to the first-floor hall together. So they can be 100% eliminated as suspects.

"Fang Daichuan also went upstairs before the deceased. So did Du Wei. But the problem with these two is that after the three girls went downstairs, their individual timelines become messy. They had the opportunity to act against the deceased during that time. However, because Fang Daichuan was with me afterwards, from my perspective, he is 100% innocent.

"The suspicion against me and Boss Du lies in the fact that we went upstairs *with* the deceased. We had the opportunity. The suspicion against everyone else is that they could have acted while the deceased was in his own room on the second floor. So no one can be entirely ruled out. For this first round, I suggest a blind vote. Also, I beg everyone to protect someone like Fang Daichuan, whose IQ is 50 but stamina is 150. If something really happens, he can still help everyone hold the line. That's it."

Next after Li Sinian was Du Wei. "I don't have much to say. It wasn't me. After going upstairs, I went door-to-door on the second floor knocking to wake everyone up. After finishing the round, I came down to the first floor. You can ask the three girls; I came down very early. So it couldn't have been me."

Chen Hui nodded hurriedly. "Du Wei came down to stay with us very quickly. It wasn't him, believe him. As for me, just as Brother Li Sinian said, it definitely wasn't me either. We don't know anything. If anyone has information, please lead the vote."

Hearing this, Fang Daichuan suddenly remembered something. He turned to stare at Li Sinian, leaning close to whisper in his ear, "You didn't check anyone last night?"

Without moving his head, Li Sinian only glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, replying in a low laugh, "I did check. When I called you out the first time, I stopped by the small cabin on the way back to check."

"Holy crap! That fast?" Fang Daichuan thought back, utterly stunned. He remembered that when Li Sinian called him out, he hadn't opened his box yet. By the time Fang Daichuan finished his cigarette and returned, Li Sinian had already bound his identity card. He hadn't expected that in the time it took to smoke one cigarette, Li Sinian had not only seen his identity, bound his card, but also managed to *find time to check someone* on the way?! How swift and decisive did one have to be to pull that off? Fang Daichuan's lips moved with minimal motion. "Who did you check? Why aren't you leading the vote? Why didn't you tell me either?!"

Li Sinian looked at him with an amused glint. "You really want to know? You must promise not to get angry."

Fang Daichuan's mind was filled with question marks. "Why would I get angry? Who the hell did you check?"

Li Sinian gave a slight smile, his eyes darting briefly towards Fang Daichuan's chest. He coughed lightly into his fist.

"?" Fang Daichuan didn't get it at all. "Who?"

"Tsk," Li Sinian frowned, wearing an expression that screamed *you're hopeless*, and whispered a single word: "You."

"Me?!" Fang Daichuan's eyes widened. Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, his right hand shot under the table, pinching Li Sinian's thigh hard. He muttered through barely moving lips, full of indignation. "You checked *me*?! Then what right did you have to laugh at me for not guessing your identity card?! I thought you were some genius who figured me out! Turns out you just checked! What right did you have to mock me last night?!"

Li Sinian struggled to suppress both the pain and the laughter threatening to escape, resulting in an extremely strange expression on his face. He patted Fang Daichuan's right hand and whispered with a low chuckle, "Stop messing around."