501: 8.101 Abstaining Werewolves*

8.101 Abstaining Werewolves*

Only a handful of people paid attention when Lu Yizhou and Ellen entered, one of them was Olivia. At first, she only swept them a glance. However, it was unknown what she had seen as she whipped her head around once again and stared at Lu Yizhou's back for a second too long, her brows furrowing.  0

Ji Yan was still engaged in the passionate argument with the beer-bellied middle aged man who looked more and more purple by each second. 

He clutched his stomach with a desperate look, sweat running down his face in buckets. "I am telling the truth! My stomach is really hurting! It's not me alone. Look at them!" He pointed at a few people who were scattered around the hall. "They are also experiencing the same thing as I do!"

Lu Yizhou surreptitiously scanned the VVIP dining hall. The vast and elegant hall was filled with round tables draped in white cloth. This must be the largest room in the ship for Captain Rong to make it as a meeting point. However, there was no way it could accommodate everyone and hence, many spare chairs had been added haphazardly. 

In one day, people had formed groups with each other, making it easier for Lu Yizhou to differentiate between players and NPCs. Now that all of them were gathered in one place, it was not hard to point out the main trait of players. 

After all, there was one thing they had in common.

They were too cautious, alert and defensive. Their eyes often shifted around to inspect the people around them; it was definitely not the look of people who came to enjoy the cruise ship. Instead, they looked like a group of beasts crouching in the dark, waiting for the chance to pounce on others at the slightest provocation. 

Lu Yizhou naturally withdrew his gaze and took a seat beside Ellen. It took him half a second to realize that their table was occupied by those in the entertainment industry: Sister Chen, Xiao Qi, Photographer Song, the producer, director and a few familiar faces Lu Yizhou had seen around the set, and lastly Chu Lingshe. 

Lu Yizhou's cold eyes immediately clashed with Chu Lingshe's smiling ones. In this world, there were less than 10 people who could withstand the weight of Lu Yizhou's stare. He had intimidated quite a lot of people simply by staring at them alone and moreover, he knew what it took to break through someone's line of defense. He did not have any qualms to exude pressure on Chu Lingshe, the woman had been rubbing him off the wrong way ever since she started to provoke him back in the set.

For a while, both of them stared at each other, none showing intention of backing down. Sparks and gunpowder flew in the air — of course, only in Lu Yizhou's opinion. To others, he and Chu Lingshe were simply staring at each other, making the atmosphere grow awkward by each passing second.

To his utter surprise, let alone averting her gaze away, Chu Lingshe stood her ground and did not show any signs of being intimidated! Lu Yizhou's eyes narrowed sharply. Either she was a very good actress or… her psychological quality was too strong. For some inexplicable reason, Lu Yizhou was more inclined toward the latter. He silently moved Chu Lingshe from 'suspect' to 'red alert' inside his mind.

Lu Yizhou only drew his eyes away when a sharp pinch landed on his thigh. Ellen was glaring at him under the cover of his low brimmed hat. Even without looking, Lu Yizhou could already guess what he wanted to say. His previously frosty eyes immediately thawed into smiles.

Ever the possessive and territorial, his lover was. He had just been frightened silly by Lu Yizhou's confession to the point of not daring to make eye contact with him but now, he suddenly got jealous…

Under the table, Lu Yizhou grasped Ellen's misbehaving paw and filled the empty spaces between Ellen's fingers with his own. Ten fingers intertwined seamlessly like lock and key, allowing not even a breeze of air to pass through. Ellen was stunned for a split second before he hastily looked away, the tip of his ears slightly red. 

No one noticed their small interaction, except Sister Chen who had been watching them like a hawk and Chu Lingshe, whose smile deepened as if she had seen something very interesting.

Lu Yizhou promptly ignored her and chose to observe the overall situation instead.

The people who were pointed by the middle aged man showed angry looks. An elegant woman in a cashmere coat shrieked angrily. "What are you saying?! How can you accuse people so casually like that?! If you want to die, then don't drag me down with you!"

"You're the one who is asking for death!" The middle aged man snarled, not losing in terms of ferociousness. "I saw you going back to your room hastily earlier. You were clearly having a stomachache—ah!" He suddenly gasped and clutched his stomach tighter. In the next second, the people around him showed a disgusted look on their faces and pinched their nose, cursing. "I… I am telling the truth! I can't bear it any longer! Please excuse me!" Standing up from his seat, he dashed to the nearest exit, carrying with him the foul stench of gas. 

The atmosphere cooled down as soon as the middle aged man disappeared. 

A young man took advantage of the stalemate to speak. He had his arm around the girl beside him who looked pale and sick. "My girlfriend has been feeling seasick since yesterday. I can vouch for it. It's a bit too much to isolate her just because she is sick, isn't it? What does being sick have to do with the series of deaths that happened last night?"

Lu Yizhou's eyes went to the one who had spoken. Almost in an instant, he recognized this young man. He was the one who had urged the girl to kill last night. Or in other words, both of them were werewolves.

Interesting… Lu Yizhou's lips ticked upward under the mask. One of them was healthy while the other suddenly fell sick. Adding on to the snippet of arguments he had heard just now, Lu Yizhou came to a conclusion. 

Werewolves who abstained from killing last night had received the consequence for the day: diarrhea. 

That meant… the middle aged man who just escaped to the bathroom was a werewolf too. So did the woman in cashmere coat he accused earlier. Now that Ji Yan had suspected him, he wanted to drag everyone down with him. This 'prey on the weak and fear the strong' mentality was not rare. The middle aged man could only inflict those who had been punished like him and deliberately left out the werewolves who didn't suffer from the consequences for fear that he would be the target.

After all, there was not a rule which prohibited killing between werewolves.

"Of course, it's suspicious!" Ji Yan sputtered. "Only a few people had suffered from diarrhea and their symptoms are identical. There must be something wrong with them!" He turned to Captain Rong who had been watching the proceeding in front and declared seriously. "Captain Rong, I suggest we confine the people who have diarrhea today and see what happens tomorrow. I swear, the number of deaths will decrease significantly!"

There was an uproar as soon as Ji Yan's sentence fell. 

Lu Yizhou had to admit that Ji Yan's method was quite brilliant. 

The abstaining werewolves had the symptoms of diarrhea as a consequence. Once the guests suspected them and locked them in one place, then they would most likely be counted as 'eliminated' and lose the game. This way, the number of werewolves in the ship would decline sharply. 

But there was a very big loophole in Ji Yan's sentence. It might be reasonable for those who were aware of the game but majority of the guests here were NPCs. They were actually wondering the same thing as the young man. What did being sick have to do with the suspects? Wouldn't that be unreasonable to convict them just based on that?!

If Lu Yizhou could think of it, then the other werewolves could too. The young man, under the guise of protecting his 'girlfriend', stood up and banged the table. He pointed at Ji Yan angrily. "Who will believe in your nonsense?! From the start, you have always been leading people's opinion, washing white into black and making us muddled. If we follow your words, won't we just falsely accuse the innocent?! I think you're the most suspicious one out of all people!" 

He narrowed his eyes, his words coming out as fast as a machine gun. "First, you applied reverse psychology and firmly planted yourself on the side of the victims, and then you started to confuse us in order to lead our opinions astray. It's lucky that I have seen through your scheme! What are you trying to achieve here? Am I wrong to suspect that you're the one who has killed those people instead?!"

"You—!" Ji Yan was so angry that his face flushed red and his brown curls stuck out of all places. However, to his indignation, the young man's argument was reasonable! Without evidence, it would be so hard to convict the werewolves. Everything he said would be easily rebuked as nonsense. How frustrating!

Ji Yan wished he could go to the front and shake Captain Rong until he came to his senses. 

That young man is a werewolf ah! You should trust me before you're butchered by them!!

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