Global Collapse-Chapter 392 - 375: Finally, a Ghost is Out_1

"It’s not me!" Yuan Qinghua almost roared through her tears the next second. "Why is everyone voting for me!"

As she roared, she swiftly ran to Chu Changge, grabbed Chu Changge’s wrist, and urgently asked, "Why did you vote for me?"

Gu Mian watched Yuan Qinghua firmly holding Chu Changge’s wrist and stepped back a few paces.

Lin Qi and Yuan Qinghua now both had two votes. The game hadn’t specified what would happen in the event of a tie, but Gu Mian suspected the game would likely choose one of the two tied players to kill.

Pan Yue’s emotions were now almost as volatile as Yuan Qinghua’s.

But she no longer had time to question Chu Changge. Instead, she immediately turned her gaze to Li Yibai, who had been keeping his head down. "Now, you’re the only one who hasn’t voted! Lin Qi definitely won’t vote for herself! What if... what if she just randomly votes for someone and happens to pick Yuan Qinghua? Then Yuan Qinghua will be the one to die! She’s so innocent. Can you bear to watch her die?"

The crucial vote now lay in Li Yibai’s hands. He determined the fate of the other two.

"Moreover, look! Yue Nu was killed by Lin Qi!" she said, raising her hand as if she wanted to show Li Yibai the footage of Yue Nu’s death again.

However, Guo Jimei, who was beside Pan Yue, suddenly snatched the phone. "You can’t force Li Yibai to make a choice! Besides, Yuan Qinghua is a ghost to begin with. It’s perfect if she dies."

"Give it back to me!" Pan Yue reached out, trying to grab it.

But Guo Jimei immediately threw the phone out the nearby window. "Li Yibai, don’t listen to Pan Yue! Yuan Qinghua is the ghost! If she isn’t, I’ll twist my own head off!"

Pan Yue was on the verge of erupting with curses.

There was absolutely no time to retrieve the phone now.

Pan Yue immediately turned, grabbed Li Yibai’s arm, pulled him into the classroom, and pointed to the corpse on the floor. "Look! Look how Lin Qi stabbed Yue Nu! Her back is completely mangled! Are you still going to protect the ghost? How can you face the deceased Yue Nu?!"

Gu Mian watched them from the periphery.

Guo Jimei looked like she wanted to step forward and interfere, but Keke grabbed her arm. "Forget it..."

At this moment, Yuan Qinghua, who had been clinging to Chu Changge, turned and rushed toward Li Yibai, grabbing his sleeve. "I’m not the ghost! I’m really not! Please, don’t let me die... I don’t want to end up like the person from last night..."

"Exactly!" Pan Yue shouted at Li Yibai. "If you don’t vote today and Yuan Qinghua is eliminated as a result, her death will be entirely your fault! Why don’t you think about Wang Pan, killed by the ghost yesterday? Do you want another innocent person to die?!

"Lin Qi is the ghost! If there were no ghost, this game wouldn’t exist, and these people wouldn’t be dead! Why are you unwilling to vote out a ghost who will kill us all? Why protect her instead?

"If Yuan Qinghua dies today, and if she turns out not to be a ghost, how could you live with yourself? How could you face any of us? Your ’protection’ got one person killed! And it will lead to a second death, and a third!

"Think about Li Wentao from yesterday! When you think of him now, don’t you feel utterly ashamed?"

Although Keke restrained Guo Jimei, Guo Jimei still shouted from where she stood, "Don’t believe her!"

Gu Mian stroked his chin from the sidelines, observing the almost incendiary atmosphere. What a drama.

There was no denying Pan Yue was a rare talent. Her verbal barrage left people reeling. She was clearly the key figure who led everyone to vote for Li Wentao yesterday, yet now she had completely absolved herself of any responsibility. She projected such an air of righteousness, like a crusading heroine willing to cast aside her own image and rail against injustice for the sake of the downtrodden.

It’s a shame someone like her isn’t in sales.

Meanwhile, Li Yibai kept his head down the entire time, only faltering for a moment when he heard the name "Li Wentao."

At this moment, Yuan Qinghua was still begging desperately, "I don’t want to end up like Li Wentao... Please, vote! Just don’t vote for me..."

Li Yibai’s expression was dazed. In that instant, countless images flashed through his mind, the last one settling on the look on Li Wentao’s face just before his death the previous night.

Li Wentao had been staring intently at him then.

Sadness, unwillingness, pleading.

Endless pleas had streamed from his eyes with his tears, until he finally collapsed, helpless.

And now, Yuan Qinghua’s face before him began to subtly superimpose itself onto the image of Li Wentao in his mind.

"Enough!" Li Yibai shook his head violently, finally shouting in a shattered voice, "I vote for Lin Qi!"

Hearing this, Pan Yue’s expression froze in momentary disbelief.

From the other side, Guo Jimei stared at him in shock. "Are you fucking insane?! You’re actually voting for Lin Qi? Have you lost your mind?"

I recognized that look, Gu Mian thought. It was like the expression of someone witnessing their own mother murder their father. I’d had the misfortune of seeing such a look before—the kind one wore upon seeing two people they believed to be the closest of companions suddenly try to kill each other. It seemed Guo Jimei absolutely couldn’t believe Li Yibai would vote for Lin Qi.

Gu Mian was an outsider who had joined midway; he wasn’t aware of the bond between them.

But Pan Yue and Guo Jimei, who had been there all along, knew.

Presumably, even though Pan Yue had been trying to manipulate Li Yibai just now, she hadn’t held out much hope that he would actually vote for Lin Qi.

A mere moment after Guo Jimei’s voice faded, the icy voice from above abruptly resumed.

"The second round of voting has ended. In this round, 6 players voted, and 3 players abstained. The player with the most votes in the second round is—"

"Lin Qi, 4 votes."

Following this, a prolonged silence filled the area.

Everyone fell silent, looking at one another as they quietly awaited the game’s verdict.

Only an unsuppressible whimpering escaped Li Yibai, soft and choked, like a kicked puppy.

I remember yesterday at this time, Gu Mian recalled, the voice announcing the rules also paused for a while. Because at that moment... Li Wentao was being executed. I still remember the sound of bones shattering and the tears Li Wentao couldn’t hold back before he died. And now, somewhere unknown, Lin Qi must be undergoing the same fate. The only small mercy was that this time, we didn’t have to witness such a gruesome scene, especially Li Yibai.

After many long seconds, the voice finally returned to announce the results.

Everyone’s eyes were wide, as if praying this sacrifice had been worth it.

"The second round of the game is over. One player has been killed, and one player has been voted out. The third round of the game now begins. There are 8 players remaining in this round: 6 civilians and 2 ghosts."