Chapter 84: The Collision of Ideologies

Player 7, Li Peijun, gently stroked the jade ruyi police badge with one hand and lifted the other as he said, “Player 8, you speak first.”

Chen Fan smiled silently, thinking, At least this guy still has me in mind.

Player 8, Liu Jian, adjusted his sleeves and sat cross-legged, finally speaking some sense. “Last night, I swapped identities with Player 1, and during the vote for police chief, Player 1 immediately threw his vote to Player 9. That behavior is highly suspicious. I hope you’ll explain yourself clearly later. Also, in my eyes, Player 5 is a magician card who’s aggressively contending with me, and Player 4 might be a werewolf covering for them. This round, let’s vote out Player 1 first.”

“Hmm, decent speech,” Chen Fan noted, feeling a temporarily positive impression.

If Li Peijun really was the Seer, it was good for the police badge to fall into his hands. This order of speeches would also benefit the good guys—unless, of course, something went terribly wrong...

The key still lay with the other four players who voted. The alliances at the table were far too obvious; most likely, there were two wolves below the police line and two above. After excluding himself, Chen Fan thought the real problem lay with the other two factions huddling together.

Player 9, suspected Seer, immediately grew emotional, indignantly saying, “Player 8, what gives you the right to insist Player 7 is definitely the Seer? What if you, Player 8, have no role, and Player 7, this fake Seer, just uses that to slander you?”

He then turned and glared angrily at Chen Fan. “And you, Player 6, you’re my ‘golden water’—I cleared you, and yet you voted for Player 7. I can’t understand that. Player 1 is probably an insignificant card, but my badge order remains unchanged. Today, everyone vote out this fake Seer, Player 7. As I said, let the Witch deal with the Magician.”

Chen Fan returned a friendly smile but cursed inwardly. Isn’t it perfectly normal for ‘golden water’ to turn on you? How do I know you didn’t just clear me to secure my vote?

Player 10 watched the table nervously, stammering out, “I’m just a villager card. Good guys can’t afford to make mistakes on the first day. I think the focus should be on Players 1, 7, and 8. I’ll wait to hear from positions 5, 6, and 7 before choosing a side.”

“Player 10 is fairly objective—someone you could trust as a good guy,” Chen Fan mentally jotted down.

Player 11 spoke up. “Why did I vote for Player 9? Because I don’t think Player 7 could be the Seer. His speech was just too poor; I couldn’t believe him. Player 1 voted with me for Player 9, so from my view, Player 1 is a good guy. That means Player 8 is the true Magician. Players 4, 5, and 7 are the three wolves, and the last wolf is among the voters below the police line: Players 2, 3, or 6. Today, vote out Player 7. Tomorrow, we’ll listen to the results of the check.”

Chen Fan stifled a laugh and stuffed a pork knuckle in his mouth before he could burst out.

Player 11’s logic was purely one-sided—basically, “Why am I targeting you? Because you deserve it.” He didn’t even consider the possibility that Player 8 could be a wolf masquerading as the Magician. Chen Fan marked Player 11’s identity with a big question mark.

Still, there was some truth to it. Li Peijun’s game attitude was like a thug collecting protection money on the street—passive and reluctant at that.

Player 12, the only one not to pick a side, delivered an entirely sunlit speech, listing the mathematical expectations of every scenario—so many dense probabilities it made Chen Fan’s head hurt.

“Playing a game like it’s a calculus exam,” Chen Fan thought, looking at Player 12 sitting across from him, both admiring and annoyed.

“Player 1 speaking. I’m a villager card. Player 7, what right do you have to accuse me? I’m asking you: on what grounds? Of course I believe Player 9 is the true Seer. It’s that simple—no need to overthink it. This round, vote out Player 7. No problem.”

Player 1’s voice sounded like a butcher shouting in the marketplace, hollering as if afraid of being ignored.

“But Player 7 never accused you, Player 1—it was Player 8, claiming to be the Magician, who came at you. What does this have to do with Player 7? That’s some impressively quick bootlicking,” Chen Fan thought, so shocked he dropped his pork knuckle. Player 1 was like an ignorant little fan, cheering in the wrong direction and firing his Italian cannon at the wrong target.

Players 2 and 3 were much the same. The four who voted below the police line were all lackluster, making Chen Fan wonder if he’d blundered into the wolf camp himself.

Player 4, Xie Yuqi, held her jade chopsticks, her plate already clean. “I don’t care. My only mission this game is to protect my darling sweetheart. None of you better try to eliminate her. Player 5, name someone, and I’ll vote with you.”

Chen Fan felt so stifled he nearly burst. “Then why out your own idol? You’re not even the Guardian—who are you protecting? If you’re not on the same team, it’s all for nothing.”

Player 5, Xiao Yuhe, managed only an awkward smile, helpless before this newbie. “Let me say again, I’m a Magician who can prove my identity. Witch can test me tonight. If it’s up to me, I’d insist on voting out Player 8, who’s obviously faking it. But I’m worried about a split vote. If the police chief is confident, focus on Player 8; if you want to play it safe, choose from Players 1 or 11. Player 1’s speech was terrible and might be colluding with Player 8.”

This angle hadn’t occurred to Chen Fan. He’d instinctively seen Players 1 and 8 as adversaries. Xiao Yuhe’s suggestion suddenly clarified things for him.

Another difficult choice—he’d have to trust someone twice this round: once for the Seer, once for the Magician.

Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is who I should believe.

“Or should I let Xiao Yuhe fool me again?”

Chen Fan pondered deeply about whom to vote out. The anti-police badge faction was determined to oust Player 7, while the chief’s camp had to choose between Players 1 and 8. Splitting the vote would indeed be risky.

There were only three villagers at the start; Chen Fan couldn’t just leap out as a champion swordsman and lead the way—that would be too showy.

“Let’s hope the pretty girl tells the truth this time,” Chen Fan decided before he had to speak.

“Player 6, a villager card. I know Player 7 from previous games. He’s always lackadaisical, which matches his attitude when he’s the Seer, so I confidently gave him my vote.”

Chen Fan explained his voting reasons and continued, “Apart from myself, the other four who voted didn’t speak well. Players 1 and 11 are both pushing one-sided logic, and Players 2 and 3’s speeches are meaningless. I don’t suggest voting out either Seer or Magician this round. Player 1’s speech was particularly bad, so my recommendation is to vote out Player 1.”

Chen Fan considered the risks—if Player 1 really was just a fool, tomorrow the outcome would be clear. It was better to let the Seer take the blame; Chen Fan would just pick a side. Voting out Player 8 was riskier than going after Player 1.

Li Peijun, convinced by both arguments, summarized symbolically, changed his check order to Players 11 and 3, and finally settled on voting out Player 1.

Players 1, 2, 9, and 11 voted for Player 7; Players 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 voted for Player 1; Players 10 and 12 abstained.

“I’m just here trying to make an elixir of immortality—what did I ever do to you? You all just kicked me out. I refuse to accept this. You’re basically helping the wolves. Do you even know how to play?” Player 1 shouted, but before he could make much more noise, the King of Qi sent his men to drag him away.

“They didn’t even bother with quartering—how merciful,” Chen Fan thought, pounding his back. He couldn’t be bothered to figure out whether Player 1 was wolf or villager; once the night’s kill pattern was revealed, everything would be clear come dawn.