The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 317: End of the Game

White Rabbit shot to her feet. “I’m the witch! I saved you the first night and poisoned Joker the third night! I didn’t expose Vermilion Bird at first because I thought she was a villager covering for me. That was why I pretended to be one while she played the witch, acting as each other’s cover. You should know that it’s a common tactic in a game of experienced players.”

“But I didn’t foresee that the game would still continue after Scarlet Fox’s death!”

White Rabbit stared at Gao Yang. “Think about it, Seven Shadow. If Vermilion Bird were the witch, she should still have a death potion. Why didn’t she kill me in that case? That’s because she isn’t the witch! She’s the wolf! I’m the witch!”

“She knew that White Tiger would definitely protect you last night since you’re the only villager, so she killed White Tiger last night! As long as she convinced you to vote me out during the day, she would win!”

“I was protected by White Tiger and confirmed to be a member of the good team, Seven Shadow! But Vermilion Bird? Where’s her gold water? X, the false seer, was the only one who said he checked her role! What about Ronnie? He didn’t check her. The first night, he confirmed your role, and the second night, X’s. No one has ever checked Vermilion Bird’s role throughout the game!”

“I thought X was trying to win over the good team, and that was why he lied that he had checked Vermilion Bird as a seer, but now I knew that X was giving his fellow wolf, Vermilion Bird, a fake gold water to confuse us. I’ve believed her to be the villager covering for me, the witch, throughout. I never thought to expose her!”

“Vermilion Bird’s the wolf! Don’t let her fool you!”

White Rabbit’s chest heaved. She had made her case with cutting words, emotional tone, and well-thought-out logic.

“Please make your case, number 1,” said Chen Ying.

Head lowered dourly, Gao Yang muttered in a hoarse voice, his lips barely parted, “Pass.”

Chen Ying said, “Sheriff.”

“Seven Shadow!” Vermilion Bird stood up urgently as well. “I made a great mistake. I did have a death potion, but I didn’t use it, not even last night. I should’ve poisoned White Rabbit, and the game would’ve ended.”

“I didn’t use it because there’s something I can't figure out, a great inconsistency: why did White Tiger give White Rabbit a silver water? He must be the guard. There was no reason for him to lie to us.”

“Could White Rabbit have chosen to kill herself, betting on the chance that White Tiger would protect her? That’s too unlikely! At the time, there were many other White Tiger could’ve chosen to protect. Were White Rabbit the wolf, she was unlikely to have killed herself on the chance that he chose her.”

“While I hesitated, the time was up. I didn’t know there was a time limit! I should’ve poisoned White Rabbit!”

“Now that White Tiger was killed, and you’ve been confirmed a good one since I saved you the first night, and the true seer checked you before, White Rabbit must be the wolf since I am the witch!”

“Think about it, Seven Shadow! I saved you the first night. I’ve always trusted you. Although I might have made some mistakes throughout the game, I’ve been doing the right thing most of the time. Were I the wolf, I could’ve won a lot more easily as the sheriff. Things wouldn’t have turned out like this!”

“I’m sorry for Green Snake, but Scarlet Fox was like a little brother to me. When I could only make a blind choice, I would choose to protect Scarlet Fox no matter how many times time rewinds, just like you would choose to save Green Snake every time. You may hate me all you want, but you must understand me.”

“White Rabbit is the wolf, Seven Shadow! You have to trust me this time! If you vote me out, you’ll get killed by White Rabbit tonight!”

Gao Yang’s head was still lowered.

Chen Ying, the only one knowing the truth as the moderator, averted her gaze. She couldn’t bear to listen further.

After a moment of silence, she said, “It’s time.”

“Three, two, one. Please vote.”

Gao Yang raised a fist, not making any number.

White Rabbit and Vermilion Bird voted for each other.

They turned to Gao Yang, waiting for him to cast the crucial vote.

At this moment, where their fate would be decided, Gao Yang realized that he was given the right to speak.

Staring at Vermilion Bird coldly, he said in a hoarse voice, “I don’t hate you, Vermilion Bird, but I’ll never forgive you. Green Snake didn’t have to die.”

Vermilion Bird couldn’t speak. She looked at him with red, teary eyes, her expression remorseful.

“White Rabbit.” Gao Yang glanced sideways at her with a bitter smile. “I don’t hate you. I know you don’t have a choice. Goodbye. I’ll avenge you.”

Gao Yang raised his other hand too. His right hand’s forefinger and middle finger were crossed, while his left hand had extended the index finger. Number 11.

“I vote 11.”

White Rabbit stared at Gao Yang in disbelief, her widened eyes seemingly asking him why.

Gao Yang coolly explained, “You almost got me, White Rabbit, but then I remembered a rule the moderator had neglected to explain: werewolves are allowed to not kill anyone.”

“Sir Zuo hasn’t given us the reminder. Perhaps he considers the moderator part of the table, and it’d make the game even more exciting if the moderator was allowed to make a mistake too.”

“You didn’t kill yourself the last second night, White Rabbit. You didn’t go after anyone. No matter who White Tiger protected, no one would die. White Tiger thought that he had protected the right person and given you silver water, which confused Vermilion Bird.”

“She must have forgotten that werewolves were allowed to not kill anyone since it’s a rare occurrence, which led to a conflict in her logic. Her hesitation made her miss the chance to poison you.”

“You lay low first before acting like you were playing for the good team, White Rabbit. You’ve offered logical theories and you’ve been lucky, but your play isn’t completely flawless.”

White Rabbit turned to Gao Yang, having recovered her calm.

“During the second last night, between Scarlet Fox and Green Snake, you didn’t say you would protect Green Snake even though you’d paid some lip service.”

“You only supported Green Snake with me after making sure that Vermilion Bird and White Tiger would take Scarlet Fox’s side. You knew that with 1.5 votes as the sheriff, Vermilion Bird would ensure Green Snake’s elimination even though we had two votes. You siding with Qing Ling was meant to win me over so that I would go after Vermilion Bird with you.”

Suddenly, White Rabbit was allowed to move and speak as well.

She stood up and smiled faintly at Gao Yang. “Good for you, Elder Seven Shadow.”

Then she turned to Vermilion Bird. “You’ve hit the jackpot by recruiting Seven Shadow into the Qilin Guild.”

Vermilion Bird still couldn’t speak. When she held White Rabbit’s gaze, her eyes were no longer hateful, but filled with a complicated sort of ruefulness.

White Rabbit hadn’t done anything wrong. She simply suffered the bad luck of drawing the wolf role, and she tried her best to survive.

She turned to return to her cell.

Before entering, she paused and looked over her shoulder at Gao Yang. “Seven Shadow, for the sake of the time we spent as colleagues, please bring my message to Captain.”

Now silenced, Gao Yang quietly met her eyes.

“Good luck, Captain. White Rabbit has been and will always be your number one fan.” White Rabbit had a smile on her face, but it was clear in her eyes that she was reluctant to leave her captain. “That’s it.”

She walked into the cell without turning around.

Bam!

The metal door closed, the gray fog emerged. White Rabbit collapsed before vanishing.

The last remaining three were freed at the same time.

Chen Ying fell back onto her chair like the long-coveted release was finally here. “The game comes to an end. The good team...wins.”

The word ‘wins’ was as heavy as a behemoth mountain.

Sir Zuo spoke up, “The game’s finished. Now, I’ll go over the rounds.”

The last thing Chen Ying, Vermilion Bird, and Gao Yang wanted was a review of the game. It was effectively another ten thousand stabs in the wounds that were already left on their chests, but they had no choice but to listen, enduring the humiliation.

Perhaps that was Sir Zuo’s idea of a fun time.

“The four good roles are Seer Ronnie, Witch Vermilion Bird, Hunter Green Snake, and Guard White Tiger.”

“The four villagers are Seven Shadow, Can, Electric Mouse, and Joker.”

“The four wolves are White Rabbit, Scarlet Fox, Green Tea, and the alpha, X.”

Gao Yang felt a pang in his numb heart.

So Can was a villager. Just like Qing Ling, she didn’t have to die.

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