The sound of knocking came from the black coffin, and the body seemed to have awakened. The coffin lid trembled under the impact, as if it was about to be lifted.

Xu Hong hurriedly pressed the coffin board with his body, while paying attention to the situation on the painter San's side.

It's too scary. Why would they want to kill without any reason?

To be honest, this is definitely the most hardcore and irreplicable request he has heard since becoming a deductionist!

In Yu Xing's blurred consciousness, he could still hear Zhou Yongsheng's questioning and roar: "Why did you destroy the candle! Don't you want to leave? Don't you want to break the curse?"

He completely ignored the angry voice and used all his strength to open his eyes that were bleeding tears, encouraging the confused Xiao Xuechen with a gaze that was almost bewitching: "Do it."

If he had the strength, Yu Xing might not even bother to ask for help.

"No, you..." Xiao Xuechen held the knife, at a loss.

Is she serious?

She looked at Yu Xing, who seemed like he could die at any moment, but her commanding tone still carried weight.

The impact of the beautiful eyes and the blood tears gave her inspiration. In this moment, she felt fortunate.

Combining what she saw in his eyes, Yu Xing's ghostly image and the scene, along with his absurd request, Xiao Xuechen had a bold guess.

Does Yu Xing have that kind of powerful sacrifice that can be resurrected with the help of a specter?

Although the probability of someone who would participate in the same deduction game as him and possess such an unreasonably powerful sacrifice is extremely low, San has brought him too many surprises.

Maybe the other party has something like that?

Should she take action?

The knocking inside the black coffin became more and more urgent, and Xu Hong and Xu Yuan firmly pressed the coffin board.

They knew that this must be the "boss" of this deduction.

Now that the village chief has been replaced and the funeral has been interrupted, the outcome of this deduction should not be too bad. They just need to find a way to deal with the specter inside the coffin to end the deduction!

Xiao Xuechen also thought so. She believed that San must already know the truth and the solution, triggering the conditions for the strange injuries, and wanting to use the power of the sacrifice to escape the predicament.

There's no time to delay.

She believed that the boss would have a backup plan!

Carlos watched the scene unfold, and a small knife appeared in his hand like magic. The knife had no special aura, just an ordinary object. "Do you dare to take action? If you hesitate, I can do it too."

Ordinary people, or most deductionists in the game, are usually searching for the truth, vitality, and fighting against specters. It is rare for someone to directly kill.

Especially for the three levels of deductionists: beginner, intermediate, and advanced, the concept of "rare" is even more uncommon if we exclude deduction games involving combat.

So judging from Xiao Xuechen's appearance, she must have never killed before. Many people leave a deep shadow after their first kill, and nightmares accompany them in the following days.

When such a person receives a request for killing, they will hesitate.

"You step aside, I can do it!" Unexpectedly, Xiao Xuechen whispered to Carlos, and the dagger in her hand gestured towards Yu Xing.

"Don't be stubborn..." Yu Xing seemed to regain some strength and made a final plea.

"Understood." Xiao Xuechen couldn't bring herself to harm this face. She lowered the dagger a bit and aimed the tip at Yu Xing's vulnerable throat.

"Boom!"

At this moment, an unexpected event occurred.

The force of the knocking inside the black coffin suddenly increased, causing Xu Hong and Xu Yuan, who were caught off guard, to fall to the ground. The heavy coffin lid slowly moved away, and a corpse sat up from inside.

"Feigning death!!!" Although Zhou Qinghai had many questions, it didn't stop him from screaming when he saw the corpse sit up. He wanted to escape, but Carlos grabbed him with one hand and pulled him back a few steps.

Wei Fan and Xiao Xuechen also retreated cautiously.

Zhou Yongsheng still had the same swollen and stiff appearance. After sitting up, he turned his head like a machine that hadn't been lubricated for years.

It didn't immediately attack them, but its gaze wandered for a while, first falling on the agonizing Yu Xing, then on Xiao Xuechen who was supporting him.

It showed a look of sorrow and, surprisingly, its vocal cords were still functional. It hoarsely asked, "Why? Why didn't you do as I said? Why did you make such a simple matter complicated? Why didn't you let me leave here? Why did my consciousness wake up from this corpse? I don't want to see myself become like this!"

As it spoke, it tried to support itself on the side of the coffin with its almost immovable arms, as if it wanted to climb out.

Xiao Xuechen was stunned.

Did San's act of cutting the candle increase the difficulty of the deduction that could have been resolved?

No, there must be a reason.

The image of Zhou Yongsheng standing obediently outside the window last night was still vivid in her mind. Although she didn't know why the aura emanating from the black coffin had become much more dangerous, she knew that she couldn't hesitate now. Her gaze became determined.

She believed in the boss, the specter, of course!"Quick..." Just then, Yu Xing murmured again.

She turned her face and looked at Yu Xing with a hint of pity. The dagger in her hand forcefully slashed towards his throat.

Blood splattered like a rapidly blooming flower in all directions.

A few drops of blood splashed onto Xiao Xuechen's face. She slightly dodged and avoided getting it in her eyes, then breathed a sigh of relief.

While her initial movements with the dagger seemed hesitant and nervous, her subsequent strikes were clean and precise, not like that of a novice.

Carlos's eyes flashed with a hint of admiration. He had underestimated this woman; she could be quite useful when she turned ruthless.

Zhou Yongsheng, the corpse, found it difficult to comprehend this action. It stared at the living people before it, witnessing this act of "self-mutilation." At first, it was stunned, then it reacted and became furious.

"Who allowed you to... take away my things!"

This incomprehensible roar was the last sound Yu Xing heard.

After his throat was cut, he felt his life force rapidly fading away.

Unlike the torment of negative states, which punished his soul, this fatal attack from the outside world severed his lifeline in his physical body.

It hurt.

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It hurt a lot.

Accompanied by the feeling of air escaping from his throat, he could no longer breathe. Warm liquid gushed out from the wound, staining his white fluffy coat crimson.

However, at the same time, the cold aura within his body receded like a tide, as if it was leaving along with his life force.

His pupils dilated, his breath stopped. No matter how you looked at it, Yu Xing was dead.

Xiao Xuechen and Wei Fan continued to support Yu Xing, looking worried.

While Carlos focused on Yu Xing's body, he questioned Zhou Yongsheng's words, "Your things? San is your thing?"

Naturally, he also noticed the state of the candle being split in half in the plate, and the explanation of "Lu" came to mind.

It's not a surname, it's a number!

The capital letter "six"!

And the number of deductionists they had was exactly six.

"I see." Carlos's quick thinking determined his excellent reaction, "It's not just San, you consider all six of us as your things. Allow me to guess—if Zhou Qinghai lights the candle, the six of us will be sacrificed, right?"

"What?"

"Sacrifice?"

The Xu brothers, who had gotten up, expressed their surprise in unison.

"Hahaha... If this candle really ignites, it will be our lives that burn." Carlos even laughed at this moment.

Zhou Yongsheng's movements paused again. He shouted in grief and anger, "What are you talking about! The candle has a clear origin. As long as it is lit, everything will end! Why are you all so clever..."

Just then, the wind blew Yu Xing's stray hair in front of his forehead.

In that moment, his dilated pupils regained their liveliness, flashing a terrifying gleam.

Reflected in his pupils were the candlelights on both sides of the ancestral hall. Yu Xing moved, breaking free from Xiao Xuechen and Wei Fan's support.

He stood firm.

The hideous wound on his neck visibly disappeared, and in an instant, Yu Xing's neck returned to its original state without a trace.

"You!?" Xiao Xuechen looked at Yu Xing, shocked to see his wound healing rapidly. Her astonishment broke free from her inner restraints and showed on her face.

Yu Xing wiped the bloodstains off his face with his sleeve, sighed lightly, and smiled at Xiao Xuechen, saying, "Well done."

Then, he stretched lazily, feeling very comfortable.

Since the environment here hadn't changed and the source of the supernatural phenomenon was still present, that chilling feeling once again enveloped Yu Xing, devouring his vitality like maggots on bones.

However, if we were to compare negative states to a clock, then the rebirth after death would be like rewinding the clock's hands back to the starting point.

The weakness he had just experienced rendered Yu Xing unable to move and almost halted his thinking. But now, he had a few minutes to a dozen minutes before he would enter this state of helplessness again.

He exchanged one real death for a chance to reset his state.

And now, he had enough time.

Although everyone was curious about which sacrificial ability allowed him to die and come back to life, it was clearly a secret that couldn't be asked.

Xiao Xuechen, who was praised, rubbed her face, returned the dagger to Yu Xing, and asked the real crucial question, "What should we do now?"

"Carlos is right. If that candle is lit, the six of us will become the 'funeral' offerings." Yu Xing spoke quickly, looking at the corpse of Zhou Yongsheng, who was slowly approaching them. "Didn't it say that it didn't want to see its current state?"

He smiled gently, causing those nearby to shiver inexplicably. "What it wants... is to see itself looking alive."

"Right? Our lives can bring you the characteristics of being alive. Now that the specially prepared candle is gone, you can only personally take action, kill us, and snatch away our vitality one by one... In order to make this step easier, you have been disguising yourself as an innocent person until now."The dagger in his hand pointed at Zhou Yongsheng from a distance: "Your hatred for Zhou Focai for choking you to death is real, so you invited Zhou Qinghai to the town. If he was brought by any of us, it would be a pleasant surprise for you, and there would be no loss if he didn't come."

Zhou Qinghai was dumbfounded, weak, pitiful, and helpless, he poked his head out from behind Carlos: "Does this...this...this have anything to do with me?"

"Yes, it does, little guy. Take a good look at this corpse..." Yu Xing turned his head and smiled at Zhou Qinghai, "Doesn't he look like the classmate Zhou Yongsheng, who invited you to play in the town, but said he would be late for a day or two?"

"Zhou Yongsheng!? He is Zhou Yongsheng?" Zhou Focai's eyes widened in shock, staring breathlessly at the reanimated corpse.

He had never known the identity of this corpse, and only now heard Yu Xing mention it.

Upon closer inspection... indeed, he looked quite...

Zhou Qinghai didn't know what words to use to describe his feelings: what on earth had he done wrong?