Showdown

Those words had all but jolted everyone awake, Qi Xia included.

Yes, the "Liar" really did have an overwhelming chance of winning.

Qi Xia frowned. Why were his chances of winning so high?

He was lying to a group of strangers. They neither knew him nor understood him. He could make up any lie, and it would be hard for anyone to see through it.

Could a false name really cost eight people their lives?

Or...

Was whoever drew the "Liar" the chosen one? Was this an unfair game from the start?

No... Qi Xia thought. If drawing the right card guarantees survival, they might as well write "life" and "death" on the cards. That would achieve their goal more easily. Otherwise, what's the point of a game that lasts nearly an hour?

A deep sense that something was wrong spread through him.

Qi Xia kept replaying every word Goat Head had said.

Could it be...

"Hey, your turn." Qiao Jiajin reached out and patted Qi Xia.

Only then did he snap out of his thoughts and realize everyone was looking at him strangely.

At this point, he had no time to think further, or he would only seem more suspicious.

He steadied himself and gathered his thoughts again.

The words "My name is Li Ming. I'm from Shandong" kept running through his mind...

But he absolutely could not use that answer now. If he wanted to find the "solution" to this game, he would have to take a gamble.

Qi Xia opened his eyes and said to the others, "Everyone, my name is Qi Xia. I'm from Shandong, and I'm a professional con artist."

"A con artist?"

Everyone exclaimed at Qi Xia's very first sentence. After all, a "con artist" had appeared in many of their stories.

This con artist also seemed to form a tenuous link between their stories.

More ironically, they had to judge whether a "con artist" was telling the truth.

"Before coming here, I was trying to launder the two million I had."

"It took some work, but I ended up with one million four hundred thousand. That was already the cheapest method I could think of."

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

"Normally, you should never go indoors at a time like that. The building could collapse at any moment. But I was worried about the person inside, so I had no choice but to rush in."

"Sure enough, just as I entered, the porch collapsed. I was pinned beneath it and lost consciousness."

Qi Xia finished his story in a few brief sentences, his voice level. Everyone stared at him warily.

He knew he was taking a great risk, but this was the only way to test whether his theory was correct.

As long as Goat Head spoke up now, it would mean his guess was more or less right.

Just as Qi Xia had expected, Goat Head slowly stepped forward and told everyone, "Very good. Everyone has finished their story. You now have twenty minutes for open discussion. After twenty minutes, each of you must write a name on the blank sheet in front of you."

Just as I thought! Qi Xia's eyebrows rose. There really are twenty minutes!

Now everything made sense!

The others began to panic. After all, only twenty minutes remained before their lives or deaths would be decided.

Qiao Jiajin and Li Shangwu both wanted to vote for each other. Perhaps because of their occupations, they were full of hostility.

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

Lawyer Zhang and Xiao Ran seemed suspicious of Qi Xia, while Lin Qin, Han Yimo, and Tiantian were still undecided.

According to the rules as they appeared, the "Liar" was already on the verge of winning this game.

Because the votes were divided.

The rules had been clear: only if everyone chose the Liar could all eight survive together.

Qi Xia took no part in the discussion and quietly closed his eyes.

Countless clues swirled through his mind.

Goat Head had said, "Among those telling stories, there is one and only one Liar."

Goat Head had said, "The rules are absolute."

Goat Head had said, "You have all been asleep for twelve hours."

Qi Xia opened his eyes. Now he needed only one final piece of information to solve this "problem."

But where was that information?

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

The intersecting horizontal and vertical lines on the walls and floor snapped everything into focus. He glanced at the clock on the table again. It was almost one o'clock.

So that's it... Qi Xia's eyes widened. That was close... I'm a con artist, yet you almost fooled me.

The others seemed to notice something strange about Qi Xia, but this con artist had barely spoken from the beginning. None of them knew what he was thinking.

"Hey, can you give me another sheet of paper?" Qi Xia asked Goat Head.

At those words, Goat Head visibly froze, then asked tentatively, "You... want another sheet?"

"Yes." Qi Xia nodded. "I need some scratch paper."

Goat Head remained silent for a long while, then took another sheet from his suit pocket and handed it to Qi Xia.

Qi Xia took it without ceremony and began calculating.

He counted the large squares on the wall: nine in total. The floor and ceiling each had sixteen squares.

"If I'm right..." Qi Xia rapidly scribbled something down. "Each square is one square meter. In other words, we're in a room three meters high, four meters long, and four meters wide..."

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

Qi Xia's hands trembled slightly. "Not enough... nowhere near enough..."

The others stared at Qi Xia in confusion. This was clearly a question of figuring out who was lying, yet he was doing math.

He set down several more calculations and finally arrived at the numbers "54.6" and "49.14."

At the sight of those two numbers, Qi Xia's face turned ashen, as though he were trying to accept something.

If his theory was entirely correct, their current situation was truly terrifying.

His eyes flickered, his thoughts already far away.

The others' arguing gradually quieted.

The man before them had taken no part in their discussion and had only kept calculating something. Had he really found the "answer" to this problem?

After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at everyone.

His eyes held fear, hesitation, doubt, and bewilderment.

"Everyone." Qi Xia cleared his throat and spoke quietly. "I didn't want to save you at first. But if you choose wrong, I'll die too. I absolutely cannot die here. Someone is waiting for me outside, so I have to find a way out, no matter what. All I can do is reveal the answer here. Please listen carefully until I'm finished."

"Handsome, what do you mean by 'the answer'?" Qiao Jiajin, who sat closest to Qi Xia, froze for a moment. "You know who's lying?"

Qi Xia did not answer. He simply reached out, picked up his "identity card," and slowly turned it over in front of everyone.

"This is the identity I drew."

Everyone looked closely. The word "Liar" stood out starkly on the card.