Before Xia Qingtian could speak, Ji Meina hurried to say, "How could it be Qingtian? She's with us every day, and she's the one who found the Holy Sword last time."
"And if it were Qingtian, she would probably have some special privileges, right?" Lin Yirou thought for a moment and said, "Like being able to eliminate someone. I haven't seen anyone eliminated these past few days."
"Maybe it's because they didn't know Nini was among us before," Lü Songtao said. "The production team did keep Xia Qingtian behind before."
"Qingtian was kept behind just to remind her not to cause trouble," Ling Fenghan said. "If she were truly Nini, the production team wouldn't let her speak so openly and let us know."
"That's true, but it's strange to suspect me like this..." Qiu Xinxue pouted, "I feel like I'm being ostracized."
"No one is suspecting you," Ji Meina shook her head. "We're just categorizing, and it was you who suddenly started suspecting Qingtian."
"Exactly," Lin Yirou said. "No one suspected you, you're overacting."
"I, I'm just telling everyone what I know," Qiu Xinxue recalled, and it seemed no one had suspected her.
But she wasn't wrong, was she? Why didn't they put her in the safe zone when they were categorizing, only Xia Qingtian? That was cheating.
"Alright, alright," Xia Qingtian finally spoke. "This is still a discussion phase, and voting is tomorrow. If we start arguing now, we'll lose tomorrow."
Everyone quieted down.
Qiu Xinxue then put on a forlorn expression and began to apologize, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I..."
"No one blames you," Xia Qingtian quickly stopped Qiu Xinxue's crying. "The priority now is to find more evidence. By the way, does everyone mind if we search each other's rooms?"
"Should we search the rooms?" Ji Meina asked.
"If Nini is one of us, searching rooms should be the fastest way to find evidence," Xia Qingtian said. "Let's split into two groups and start searching in ten minutes."
"Why should we search rooms just because you say so?" Qiu Xinxue, annoyed at being interrupted mid-act, was even more upset to hear Xia Qingtian arbitrarily suggest searching rooms.
"Then we'll skip your room, alright?" Xia Qingtian asked.
Qiu Xinxue was about to retort when she noticed everyone's eyes on her. She pursed her lips and appeared hesitant, saying, "It's not that we should skip my room, but personal privacy should still be respected, shouldn't it?"
"My room doesn't have much privacy, feel free to come in if you want," Lin Yirou said after thinking.
"Mine too, feel free," Ling Fenghan's room, converted from a flower room, had no issues.
Everyone else also said it was fine, even Lü Songtao seemed indifferent. Only Qiu Xinxue was left feeling awkward, and finally, she curled her lips and said, "Then search."
"Two people per group, that's fairer. I'll be with Meina," Xia Qingtian directly stated, "Each group will have two votes, let's have an internal vote first."
Hearing Xia Qingtian say this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Qiu Xinxue couldn't say anything more and could only nod along.
Soon, everyone dispersed.
"Let's search my room first," Ji Meina said to Xia Qingtian.
"No need to search," Xia Qingtian put her arm around Ji Meina's shoulder and whispered, "I'm Nini, shhh..."
Ji Meina was immediately startled and turned to look at Xia Qingtian in disbelief.
Xia Qingtian made a shushing gesture, then winked playfully, pulling the stunned Ji Meina along. They searched casually for a bit, then jointly abandoned the internal vote, stating they didn't know who Nini was either, but still harbored suspicions about Qiu Xinxue and intended to investigate further.
Qiu Xinxue also directly stated she suspected Xia Qingtian, and together with Lü Songtao, cast their two votes for Xia Qingtian.
With voting day tomorrow, everyone still had no clue, but the seeds of suspicion had been sown.
That night, Xia Qingtian secretly contacted the production team: "I want to use Nini's special privilege."
"Who do you want to eliminate?" the production team asked.
"I want to eliminate Ji Meina," Xia Qingtian replied.
The production team's mouths twitched upon hearing this. If there was anyone truly ruthless, it was Xia Qingtian. A strategic sacrifice to save herself, wasn't it?
But who was to blame? The rules were set by the production team.
The next morning, the production team announced publicly that Ji Meina had been eliminated.
At that moment, before Ji Meina could even recover from the shock, everyone turned their scrutinizing gazes towards Qiu Xinxue.
"Why are you all looking at me? It's not me!" Qiu Xinxue immediately widened her eyes and exclaimed, "It's not me!"
"Now Qingtian's group has one less vote," Lin Yirou mused thoughtfully.
"Mhm," Ji Jun nodded in agreement.
Soon, voting was about to begin, and each guest had the right to a statement defending themselves or explaining their suspicions.
As the only eliminated guest, Ji Meina had the right to speak first.
"I, I don't know what happened either. I'm still a bit dazed," Ji Meina blinked and gave up defending or speculating.
Everyone knew Ji Meina's naturally absent-minded personality, so they didn't pressure her.
"I think it's Qiu Xinxue," Lin Yirou looked at Qiu Xinxue.
"I also think it might be Qiu Xinxue," Ji Jun naturally supported Lin Yirou.
"I think so too," Tong Nianze nodded.
"It's not me! It's really not me!" Qiu Xinxue was clearly flustered. She cast a pleading look towards Lü Songtao.
Lü Songtao avoided Qiu Xinxue's gaze and remained silent.
"I don't think we can be too sure yet. Yesterday Meina wanted to suspect Xinxue. If Meina was eliminated in this situation, it seems too deliberate..." Xia Qingtian then shifted her gaze to Ji Jun, "I think 'Golden Miner' might be it. I vote for Ji Jun."
"I also think, judging by their body types, Ji Jun is a possibility, and both the Holy Sword and Batman's Emblem are metallic."
"I'll vote for Ji Jun too," Lü Songtao's decision not to vote for Qiu Xinxue was already the limit of his obligation.
"So, it's a 3:3 tie now, right?" Xia Qingtian looked at Qiu Xinxue. "Xinxue, you have one more vote."
"Vote for Ji Jun!" Qiu Xinxue immediately said.
Although she really wanted to vote for Xia Qingtian, in a 3:3 situation like this, only a fool would vote for Xia Qingtian. She had to save herself!
[If there are no changes, we will lock the votes!] the production team's voice announced. Everyone pursed their lips, especially Qiu Xinxue, who looked tense.
[We regret to inform everyone that Ji Jun is not the target you are looking for: Nini.]
Upon hearing this, Ji Jun merely shrugged. Of course, he knew he was innocent.
At this moment, all eyes turned to Qiu Xinxue.
[Please step forward, Nini, and receive your reward!]
As the voice fell, Xia Qingtian stepped forward and gave a magnificent bow.
"!" Everyone was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. They had truly been outsmarted!
"Xia Qingtian?" Qiu Xinxue was surprised, then immediately understood and forced a dry laugh, "I never imagined you'd do anything for victory~ It's truly unfair to Meina! Right, Meina..."
Before Qiu Xinxue could finish speaking, Ji Meina had already thrown herself into Xia Qingtian's arms, "It's finally over, I was so suffocated, I didn't know what to do."
"I won't bully you next time," Xia Qingtian pinched Ji Meina's cheek and said, "It's just you. If it were someone else, I might not have dared to do this."
"It's because we have a good relationship~" Ji Meina chuckled, seemingly unbothered by her elimination.
The others also chuckled along, while Qiu Xinxue's expression grew increasingly grim.
[I suddenly understand why Qiu Xinxue was ostracized.]
[Yeah... I get it now too. If it were me, I wouldn't want to play with her either...]
[Scheming, overly concerned with gains and losses, unable to accept defeat, and trying to sow discord...]