"Could it be from the abused girl?" the innocent-looking girl analyzed: "The girl died from abuse, and her unresolved grudge turned her into a vengeful ghost. She's the one who killed the middle-aged man at dawn."
Given the current evidence, her analysis seemed reasonable.
"That's possible, but we need more evidence," after coming out of the bathroom, the muscular man's demeanor had weakened considerably, with visible beads of cold sweat on his forehead.
Jiangcheng knew he wasn't as calm as he appeared.
"Let's eat first," someone suggested.
The cooking task was left to the fat man, with the innocent-looking girl helping to wash vegetables.
Soon, a fragrant meal was ready. Even in such circumstances, everyone finished their food completely, testament to the fat man's culinary skills.
"Are you a chef?" the muscular man took a sip of hot soup, his view of the fat man's large face becoming more favorable.
"No," the fat man scratched his head, embarrassed: "I've just been around, done all sorts of work, picked up a bit of everything."
"What do you all do? It's fate that brought us here," the muscular man put down his bowl, his gaze softening, "I'm Fan Li, a bodyguard."
"I... I'm Xie Yu, I work at an insurance company," the male clerk said quietly.
"I'm Chen Xiaomeng, studying law at university," the innocent-looking girl introduced herself.
When it came to the woman with the mole near her lips, they thought she would dismiss the question, but she spoke slowly, "You can call me Sister Nuan, I'm older than all of you, as for my profession..." she smiled ambiguously, "I'm a seller."
Everyone looked at her with indecipherable gazes. This woman's aura was far from that of an ordinary merchant, and what she meant by "goods" likely had deeper implications.
But no one dwelled on this question, they all turned to look at Jiangcheng, their curiosity about him even exceeding that about the self-proclaimed Sister Nuan.
Jiangcheng sat up straight and said seriously: "I'm Hao Shuai, a male model."
"You're a model?" the innocent-looking girl seemed somewhat disbelieving, "At a film company?"
Jiangcheng slowly turned his head, giving her a meaningful glance, "I work night shifts at a KTV."
Everyone stared at him with surprised looks, but no one commented. Everyone had the right to choose their profession, and they felt Jiangcheng did have the physical qualities for such work.
The daylight in their world seemed particularly brief. After chatting for a while longer, darkness began to fall again.
Fan Li walked to the window, looked outside, then returned saying: "It's not rain, it's actually getting dark."
As he said, half an hour later, night fell again.
The group sat around the living room fireplace, warming themselves while analyzing the various clues they had gathered.
For safety, during the day they had moved some firewood from the storage room to the living room, so they wouldn't need to fetch more if they ran out at night.
The fat man sat closest to the firewood, occasionally tossing in another log.
The fire burned brightly, casting red glows on everyone's faces.
Chen Xiaomeng was still holding onto her previous theory, believing that other family members had abused the girl, ultimately leading to her tragic death, and that the ghost in this villa was the daughter from the family of four.
She seemed obsessed with this perspective, becoming visibly agitated whenever discussing it, a stark contrast to her previously gentle demeanor.
Considering her law studies, Jiangcheng suspected there might be a deeper story behind her reactions.
After several rounds of discussion yielded no new insights, someone started yawning. Clearly, Jiangcheng wasn't the only one who had a poor night's sleep.
Fan Li stood up, stretching his slightly numb legs, and suggested: "Let's get some sleep."
His proposal quickly received agreement.
Since the middle-aged man had died mysteriously on the first floor, everyone decided to sleep on the second floor tonight.
Xie Yu quietly suggested they all stay together for safety, but Sister Nuan immediately rejected the idea, saying they might miss something that way.
Xie Yu's eyes widened in fear, but no one dared ask Sister Nuan what she meant by "something."
Nevertheless, everyone tacitly avoided the girl's bedroom.
They planned to split into two groups, one sleeping in the boy's bedroom, the other in the master bedroom.
Sister Nuan and Chen Xiaomeng, being women, naturally stayed together, choosing the second-floor master bedroom where the parents had slept. They had spent the previous night there as well.
The fat man insisted on staying with Jiangcheng, so they took the boy's bedroom.
That left Fan Li and Xie Yu. It was obvious they both wanted to stay with Sister Nuan's group, believing their experience would increase their chances of survival.
After discussion, Sister Nuan and Chen Xiaomeng chose Fan Li. The three entered the room and closed the door.
Leaving Xie Yu alone in the corridor.
A cold wind blew past, making him instinctively hug himself as goosebumps rose on his arms.
He ran to Jiangcheng's bedroom door, knocking rapidly.
Bang bang bang!
"It's me, please open up!"
While leisurely inspecting the room, Jiangcheng replied indifferently: "Weren't you the one who wanted to throw me alone into the bathroom earlier? Go stay next door by yourself."
Xie Yu stared at the adjacent door with its slight crack, trembling in the breeze as if something might burst out at any moment.
That was the girl's bedroom.
Xie Yu shuddered in fear, turning back with a tearful plea: "I'm sorry, I was wrong! I shouldn't have said that, please forgive me!"
After thoroughly checking the room, Jiangcheng finally sat down comfortably, casually opening a new bottle of mineral water and taking a small sip. He asked mockingly through the door: "What did you call me?"
"Hao Shuai! Hao Shuai!"
Jiangcheng contentedly narrowed his eyes.
"Hao Shuai! Hao Shuai!"
The fat man: "..."
"Hmph—" Jiangcheng exhaled satisfactorily, then waved his hand, signaling the fat man behind the door to open it.
As soon as the door opened, Xie Yu darted in like a gust of wind, then slammed it shut with a "bang."
After that earlier episode, Xie Yu didn't dare make a sound, meekly huddling in the corner of the bedroom, afraid of angering Jiangcheng and getting thrown out.
"You," Jiangcheng lifted his chin toward Xie Yu, "take the bed."
"Me, sleep on the bed?" Xie Yu wore an expression of disbelief.
This was a single bedroom with an ordinary single bed, meaning only one of the three could sleep on it.
The other two would have to either sleep on the floor or squeeze onto the sofa.