Jing Minghe looked at the scene before him, guessing wildly.
"Perhaps, but what did he eat? How would we know?" a boy who looked only seventeen or eighteen, dressed like a student, poked his head out of the crowd. "Look, there's only one portion of food on each plate. If we want to know what was on those three empty plates, we'd probably have to cut him open."
"We can see one," said the older of the two sisters, holding her younger sister with one arm and pointing at the ground with the other. "Red wine, does that count?"
She paused, then added in a small voice, "Ten plates, plus a bottle of red wine, a total of eleven items, exactly corresponding to us who entered the villa."
Jing Minghe glanced at the meticulous young girl and nodded in confirmation. "That's right, when we first came in, there were indeed eleven of us."
"What is this?!" a man in a gray work uniform, pulling at his collar in frustration, shouted indignantly. "What about seven in the morning to seven at night? We've been here for less than two hours since we entered, and it's already almost seven in the evening. What happens if we don't find the poisonous food? Do we all die?"
"Twenty-five minutes left," Youmi walked to the dining table, glanced at the man in the work uniform, and recalled that since they were suddenly chosen to enter the City of Death, to escaping into this villa, many people had already died before her. She tried to suppress the unease in her heart, wanting to survive, and the most important thing was to adapt. "Everything here is unknown. If you don't want to die, talk less and do more."
After speaking, Youmi mustered her courage and stepped forward, picked up an empty plate, and sniffed it. "This plate, it should have held cake before."
She then picked up another plate but couldn't discern what it was after sniffing for a long time, her brow furrowing.
Jing Minghe also stepped forward, attempting to judge the food previously on the plates by smell, just like Youmi.
The man in the suit leisurely walked over to Jing Minghe but didn't touch any of the plates. Instead, he pulled the nearest chair to him, sat down, and looked up at the ceiling.
For some reason, seeing him like this, Jing Minghe subconsciously looked up. The blood writing on the ceiling was still there, nothing unusual. Jing Minghe rubbed his neck and averted his gaze.
The two sisters walked in, supporting each other. It was evident they hadn't recovered from their previous shock, but they had clearly taken Youmi's words to heart and hoped to survive. "We, we'll go see if there are any leftover ingredients in the kitchen."
The male student who had spoken earlier also proactively searched for clues in other parts of the dining room.
Finally, aside from the man in the suit sitting calmly at the dining table, lost in thought, there were only the man in the gray work uniform and the man in the security guard uniform, along with the middle-aged woman who was still in shock from seeing the burnt corpse at the beginning. None of them made any move.
When Youmi moved to the third plate, she exclaimed excitedly, "Minghe, this plate used to hold sweet potatoes."
"Cake, sweet potato," Jing Minghe picked up the empty plate he couldn't identify. "What about the remaining one? I can't smell anything at all."
Youmi shook her head and said, "Me neither. Why don't we look elsewhere? Maybe there are clues about the food."
"Look for what? The time is almost up! Even if we know what was on them, what good does it do? Do you know which one is poisonous?" The man in the work uniform grumbled, pulled over a chair, and sat down. "I'd like to see how it intends to kill me!"
Youmi shot a disgusted look at the man in the gray uniform and pulled Jing Minghe away to search for clues near the dining room.
Before leaving the dining room, Jing Minghe glanced at the man in the suit. He saw him still sitting at the dining table, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought.
The twenty-five minutes passed quickly. No one found any useful clues and instinctively returned to the dining room. As the hour of seven approached, everyone uncontrollably began to vent their fear.
The two sisters clung to each other, weeping uncontrollably. The male student, suppressing his fear, stood beside them with a pale face, wanting to comfort them but not knowing what to say.
The man in the work uniform and the security guard cursed and swore, as if trying to vent all their grievances before death descended. The middle-aged woman sat on the ground, sobbing and beating the ground with her fists.
Although less than a minute remained, Jing Minghe believed the game wouldn't kill everyone right at the start. However, he had no idea what the death mechanism was.
It seemed that the first day's survival would be a matter of luck.
As Jing Minghe thought this, his peripheral vision swept over the calmest person present.
He walked over to the man in the suit and, looking at his indifferent and calm expression, casually asked, "Hey, do you know what the answer is?"
The man in the suit cast a glance at him with a detached expression, then shifted his gaze back to the ceiling, staring at the blood writing as if appreciating a world-famous painting.
Jing Minghe couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking this person was a bit crazy!
Dong!
The clock struck seven precisely. Everyone, except for the divine being staring at the ceiling, took a deep breath.
After ten chimes, the bell stopped. Silence descended upon the surroundings. The crying and cursing all ceased abruptly. Nothing happened. The anticipated death did not arrive.
"What's going on?" Youmi asked, her voice trembling.
Jing Minghe's first glance was at the man in the suit. Following his gaze to the ceiling, he saw that several words had appeared: The correct answer is red wine.
"So," Jing Minghe blinked and guessed, "Does it mean finding the poisonous food refers to someone eating poisonous food, rather than what we thought, which was to find it?"
"It should be," Youmi added, "After all, even if we knew which item was poisonous, we couldn't have written it on such a high ceiling."
Jing Minghe's gaze swept over everyone. "This means that until we find an exit to leave here, one person will die every day."
"What if we don't eat anything?" the male student asked nervously. "If we don't eat anything, no one will die, right? Will the answer appear on its own, like it did now?"
"Who knows," Youmi shrugged and, after some thought, suggested, "Perhaps we should try it tomorrow?"
Jing Minghe didn't think it was a good idea, otherwise, the question would be meaningless. However, seeing everyone nod in agreement after Youmi's suggestion, he knew that at this point, anything he said would be rejected, unless his proposal could guarantee everyone's survival.
So, he said no more, only inadvertently hearing the man in the suit let out a faint, almost imperceptible cold laugh.