Chapter 8

This speech almost woke everyone up, including Qi Xia.

Indeed, the "Liar" has a very high chance of winning.

Qi Xia's brows furrowed. Why would his chances of winning be so high?

Lying to a group of strangers, who don't know him or understand him, makes it very hard for anyone to see through a lie.

Could using a fake name really cost eight lives?

Or...

Is the person who draws the "Liar" card the chosen one, and this game is inherently unfair?

"That's not right..." Qi Xia thought to himself, "If drawing the card means you can survive, it would be easier to just write 'Life' and 'Death' on the cards. Otherwise, what's the point of this nearly hour-long game?"

A deep sense of unease spread through him.

Qi Xia kept replaying every word the goat-headed figure had said.

Could it be...

"Hey, it's your turn." Qiao Jiajin patted Qi Xia on the shoulder.

He snapped back to reality and noticed everyone was looking at him with strange expressions.

It was too late to think too much, or he would seem even more suspicious.

He steadied himself and reorganized his thoughts.

The words "My name is Li Ming, from Shandong" kept echoing in his mind...

But he absolutely couldn't use that answer now. To find the "solution" to this game, he had to take a gamble.

Qi Xia opened his eyes and said to everyone, "Everyone, my name is Qi Xia, from Shandong, and I am a professional liar."

"Liar?"

Everyone in the room gasped at Qi Xia's first words, as the role of "liar" appeared in many of their stories.

This liar also subtly connected everyone's stories.

Ironically, they had to judge whether a "liar" was telling the truth.

"Before I came here, I was trying to launder the two million yuan in my hands."

"It took a lot of effort, but I ended up with 1.4 million. This was the most cost-effective way I could think of."

"But on my way back with the money, an earthquake suddenly hit. When I reached the door, I saw my house shaking."

"Logically, I shouldn't have entered the house, as it could collapse at any moment. But I was worried about the people inside, so I rushed in."

"Sure enough, as I entered the room, the porch collapsed, trapping me and causing me to lose consciousness."

Qi Xia told the story calmly and succinctly, and everyone watched him warily.

He knew he was taking a big risk, but only this way could he verify if his guess was correct.

If the goat-headed figure spoke up now, it would mean his guess was mostly right.

As Qi Xia had expected, the goat-headed figure slowly approached and said to everyone, "Very good, everyone has finished their stories. Now, you have twenty minutes for a free discussion. After twenty minutes, each of you must write a name on the white paper in front of you."

"Of course!" Qi Xia's eyebrows raised. "There are twenty minutes!"

This explained everything!

Everyone was now in a panic, as they only had twenty minutes left to decide their fate.

Qiao Jiajin and Li Shangwu wanted to vote for each other, perhaps due to their professions, they were filled with hostility.

Doctor Zhao began questioning the writer Han Yimo, as Han Yimo's story had no connection to anyone else's.

Lawyer Zhang and Xiao Ran seemed suspicious of Qi Xia, while Lin Ping, Han Yimo, and Tian Tian were still hesitant.

According to the surface rules, the "Liar" was about to win.

Because the votes were not unified.

The rules were clear: only if everyone chose the liar would all eight people survive.

Qi Xia did not participate in any discussion and closed his eyes silently.

Countless clues swirled in his mind.

The goat-headed figure said, "Among the storytellers, there is and only one liar."

The goat-headed figure said, "The rules are absolute."

The goat-headed figure said, "You have been asleep for twelve hours."

Qi Xia opened his eyes. Now, he only needed one more piece of information to solve this "puzzle."

But where was that information?

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him.

The lines on the walls and floor, intersecting horizontally and vertically, instantly cleared his mind. He looked at the clock on the table; it was almost 1 o'clock.

"So that's how it is..." Qi Xia's eyes widened. "How close... I'm a liar, but I almost got fooled by you."

Everyone seemed to notice Qi Xia's unusual state, but the liar had spoken little from the beginning, so no one knew what he was thinking.

"Hey, can I have another piece of paper?" Qi Xia asked the goat-headed figure.

Hearing this, the goat-headed figure was clearly taken aback and asked tentatively, "You... need another piece of paper?"

"Yes." Qi Xia nodded. "I need a piece of scratch paper."

The goat-headed figure was silent for a long time, then pulled out another piece of paper from his suit pocket and handed it to Qi Xia.

Qi Xia didn't hesitate, took the paper, and started calculating.

He counted the large squares on the wall, totaling nine, and the squares on the floor and ceiling, totaling sixteen.

"If I'm not mistaken..." Qi Xia wrote quickly, "There is one square per square meter, which means we are in a room that is three meters high and four meters long and wide..."

"Four times four times three... forty-eight cubic meters."

Qi Xia's hands trembled slightly: "Not enough... completely not enough..."

Everyone stared at Qi Xia in confusion. This was clearly about figuring out who was lying, but he was doing math.

He wrote out many equations and finally got the numbers "54.6" and "49.14."

Seeing these numbers, Qi Xia's face turned ashen, as if he was trying to accept something.

If his guess was entirely correct, the current situation was truly terrifying.

His eyes flickered, and his thoughts were far away.

The arguments among everyone gradually quieted down.

This man was not participating in any discussion, only calculating. Could he have really found the "answer" to this puzzle?

After a long time, he finally looked up at everyone.

His eyes were filled with fear, hesitation, doubt, and confusion.

"Everyone." Qi Xia cleared his throat and spoke softly, "I didn't want to save you, but if you choose wrong, I will die too. I absolutely cannot die here. Someone is waiting for me outside, so I have to find a way out. I can only reveal the answer now, and I hope you listen carefully."

"Handsome guy, what do you mean by 'answer'?" Qiao Jiajin, who was closest to Qi Xia, was slightly taken aback. "Do you know who is lying?"

Qi Xia didn't answer. He reached for his "identity card" and slowly revealed it to everyone.

"This is the identity I drew."

Everyone focused on the card, and the words "Liar" stood out prominently.