Chapter Summaries

Ten people woke in a sealed room with Goat Head, who announced there were nine participants. Qi Xia suspected one person was not a participant, and Goat Head confirmed it by killing a smiling young man in front of the others.

• Goat Head greeted the ten people after they woke and said they had been asleep for twelve hours.
• Qi Xia noticed the room had no door and questioned why Goat Head referred to nine people when ten sat at the table.
• A cool woman argued they had been held captive for more than twenty-four hours, while the others discovered they could not use their legs.
• Qi Xia reasoned that one of the ten was not a participant and watched Goat Head approach a smiling young man.
• Goat Head smashed the young man's head against the table and said he had prepared ten people to make the other nine quiet down.

Human Sheep introduced the nine survivors to a deadly game called “Liar,” in which one participant had to lie and the others had to identify them. Qi Xia drew the Liar card, leaving him forced to deceive the others to survive.

• Human Sheep explained that the participants had to play a game to create a god, and that losing meant death.
• Human Sheep handed out papers and described the rules: one person would lie about what happened before arriving, and the group had to identify the Liar unanimously.
• The muscular man proposed that everyone tell the truth and vote that no one had lied, but the man in the white coat warned that the plan could benefit the Liar.
• After the discussion minute ended, Human Sheep revealed that the role cards determined who had to lie.
• Qi Xia turned over his card and saw that it said “Liar.”

Qi Xia recognized that his role made him the game’s sole liar and considered using a false name to conceal it. After Tiantian’s story drew suspicion over her alias, Qi Xia decided to introduce himself as Li Ming and tell the rest of his story truthfully.

• Goat Head began the storytelling round with Tiantian, leaving Qi Xia to speak last.
• Tiantian described working in a client’s car when an earthquake caused a billboard to crush it, after which she woke up in the game.
• The tattooed man accused Tiantian of lying because she used the alias Tiantian instead of her birth name.
• Tiantian claimed her birth name was Zhang Lijuan and said she only answered to Tiantian.
• Qi Xia concluded that Tiantian was not the liar and planned to call himself Li Ming while keeping the rest of his story true.

Qiao Jiajin and Xiao Ran recounted how an earthquake interrupted events in their lives, while Tiantian accused Qiao of copying her story. Qi Xia realized the earthquake had struck across several provinces and wondered how the accounts could all be true before the group turned to the middle-aged man in a white coat.

• Qiao Jiajin said he had been collecting a debt in Guangdong when an earthquake led to a confrontation and his fall onto a billboard.
• Tiantian accused Qiao of lying because his account echoed hers, but Qiao defended his story.
• Qi Xia noted that he had experienced an earthquake in Shandong and wondered whether it had affected several provinces.
• Xiao Ran described waiting with a child in Dali during the earthquake, then being struck by a car and losing consciousness.
• Qi Xia concluded that, since his card marked him as the liar and the rules allowed only one liar, the others had to be telling the truth.
• The group turned its attention to the middle-aged man in a white coat.

Doctor Zhao Haibo recounted how an earthquake interrupted his surgery, then refused to reveal where he came from until Li Shangwu identified himself as a criminal investigator. Qiao Jiajin warned that during the break, anyone could lie, casting doubt on Li Shangwu’s claim.

• Zhao Haibo described stopping an operation during an earthquake before the operating-room ceiling collapsed and knocked him unconscious.
• Goat Head announced a mandatory twenty-minute break at 12:30, and Qi Xia repeated the identity he planned to give when his turn came.
• Li Shangwu pressed Zhao Haibo to say where he was from, but Zhao argued that revealing more details could create mistakes and demanded Li identify himself first.
• Li Shangwu said he was a criminal investigator, prompting Zhao Haibo to apologize and reveal that he was from Jiangsu.
• Qiao Jiajin pointed out that it was not storytelling time, so everyone could lie.

As the game resumed, Han Yimo, Zhang Chenze, and Officer Li recounted how they had arrived in the room. Officer Li’s story differed from the others because he said someone had attacked him, making the group suspect he might be the liar.

• Goat Head ended the break, and Han Yimo said he had been writing a novel before losing consciousness but did not know how he got there.
• Qiao Jiajin challenged Officer Li’s attempts to organize the group, and Zhang Chenze interrupted to warn that their votes could make them responsible for killing someone.
• Zhang Chenze described a chain collision after an earthquake split the road while she was driving in Chengdu.
• Officer Li said he had been staking out a fraud suspect when someone strangled and struck him from behind in his car.
• The group noticed the mark on Officer Li’s neck and grew suspicious because his account described an attack rather than an accident.

As the group compared their stories, Qiao Jiajin accused Officer Li of lying over a contradiction about a suspect, while Officer Li argued that similar events could have happened in different cities. Lin Qin then recounted her earthquake experience, and Zhang Chenze challenged her story as potentially fabricated, leaving the group debating whether their connections were clues to finding the Liar.

• Qiao Jiajin pointed out that Officer Li's account of a swindler contradicted Zhang Chenze's account because one suspect was still at large while the other had been caught.
• Officer Li argued that the stories described separate incidents in different cities, while Qi Xia hoped the dispute would prompt a mistaken vote.
• Lin Qin said she had been waiting in Ningxia for a kindergarten teacher client when an earthquake trapped her on the twenty-sixth floor.
• Qiao Jiajin questioned Lin Qin about the client's surveillance-camera story and whether the client was Xiao Ran, and Xiao Ran said her own reason for seeking help was different.
• Zhang Chenze suggested Lin Qin might have invented the kindergarten teacher's experiences, then argued that the nine participants had been chosen because their connected stories could reveal the Liar.

Qi Xia told the group he was a professional con artist, then used the room’s measurements and his calculations to uncover a possible answer to the game. He revealed that he had drawn the Liar card, but had not yet explained what he had discovered.

• Qi Xia introduced himself as a con artist from Shandong and described how an earthquake trapped him beneath his collapsing porch.
• Goat Head opened twenty minutes of discussion before the group had to vote, and the players began suspecting one another.
• Qi Xia reconsidered Goat Head’s statements and examined the room’s grid, then calculated its volume and wrote down two further numbers.
• Qi Xia told the group he needed them to hear his answer and revealed his identity card, which read “Liar.”

Qi Xia revealed that everyone at the table had lied in their stories and warned that voting for a person at random would kill them all. He identified Human Sheep as the only provable Liar and concluded that all nine players, including himself, were already dead.

• Qi Xia said everyone had drawn a Liar card, and Officer Li proposed concentrating their votes on one person.
• Qi Xia warned that voting arbitrarily would break the absolute rules and get everyone killed.
• Qi Xia argued that Human Sheep’s claim about gathering them to create a god was the only story that clearly contradicted their situation.
• Qi Xia challenged Tiantian, Qiao Jiajin, Xiao Ran, Doctor Zhao, Han Yimo, Lawyer Zhang, Officer Li, and Lin Qin about inconsistencies in their stories.
• Qi Xia declared that everyone at the table, including himself, was already dead.

Qi Xia revealed that everyone in the room was dead and led the group to choose “Human Sheep” in the Liar game. After the Goat-Headed Man shot himself as the loser’s punishment, the others were left searching for a way out.

• Qi Xia used the room’s size and air-consumption calculations, along with the Goat-Headed Man’s inhuman strength, to conclude that everyone was dead and the Goat-Headed Man was a monster.
• Qi Xia warned the others that they all had to choose “Human Sheep,” and Qiao Jiajin and the rest followed his answer.
• When the clock struck one, the Goat-Headed Man announced the punishment and shot himself in the chest.
• Doctor Zhao confirmed that Goat Head had died, and the nine survivors discovered they could move again despite still feeling pain and breathing normally.
• Officer Li checked Goat Head’s gun and found it empty, while Qiao Jiajin removed the mask and revealed the man’s rotted face.

After the Goat-Headed Man died, Qi Xia found clues inside his mask warning that the game was not over and harpoons were about to fire from the walls and ceiling. Lin Qin interpreted the clue about turning toward one’s hometown as a possible way to survive, and Tiantian began spinning as the others searched for its meaning.

• Qi Xia questioned why the Goat-Headed Man had shot himself in the heart and concluded that he had been protecting his mask.
• Qiao Jiajin turned the goatskin mask inside out and read its message, which identified the writer as “Human Dog” and warned the group to turn toward their hometown one hundred times.
• Holes appeared across the walls and ceiling as chains rattled, and Qiao Jiajin discovered harpoons being cocked inside them.
• Qi Xia warned that the harpoons could fire at any moment and said he would not save the others this time.
• Lin Qin pointed out that the mask’s clue might explain how to survive, and Tiantian chose a direction and began spinning.

Qi Xia interpreted the mask’s clues as instructions to turn the heavy table a hundred times before the harpoons fired, but he needed to determine which direction to turn it. After mapping everyone’s hometowns, he ordered the group to turn right, though he had not yet explained why.

• Qi Xia realized the polygonal tabletop could turn and gathered the others to help rotate it a hundred times before the harpoons fired.
• Qiao Jiajin began turning the table left, and the others joined him while Qi Xia studied the meaning of “hometown.”
• Qi Xia sketched a map and asked everyone to name their hometowns, marking nine provinces including Han Yimo’s Guangxi.
• Qi Xia told the group to stop turning left and start turning right, and Doctor Zhao asked him why.

Qi Xia and the others turned the table until it broke apart into shield-like pieces, then faced another harpoon attack. Qi Xia realized the shields had to be fitted together point-up into a cone, and the group survived the first barrage with Xiao Ran nearly struck in the eye.

• Qi Xia explained how the province names formed the character for “right,” and the group finished turning the table despite its growing resistance.
• The clock fired eight lasers that cut the tabletop into pieces, and Officer Li recognized the pieces as shields.
• Qi Xia rejected the others’ plans to stagger the shields and instead told everyone to discard the large piece and assemble the small ones into a cone.
• The harpoons struck the cone from every direction, and the interlocked shields held while one harpoon stopped just short of Xiao Ran’s eye.

Qi Xia realized that the harpoons would be reeled back in and urgently tried to free Han Yimo from the one through his shoulder. The ropes began retracting, dragging Han Yimo toward the wall, and he begged Qi Xia to pull the harpoon out.

• Tiantian’s palm was pierced, and Han Yimo was struck in the shoulder as the group held their tabletops in formation against the harpoons.
• After the barrage stopped, Doctor Zhao treated Han Yimo but could not remove the barbed harpoon, while Qiao Jiajin bandaged Tiantian’s hand.
• Qi Xia urged the others to remove Han Yimo’s harpoon at once, but Officer Li and Doctor Zhao stopped him.
• The ropes began retracting the harpoons, dragging Han Yimo and the tabletops toward the wall.
• Han Yimo struggled to his feet, grabbed Qi Xia, and demanded that he pull out the harpoon.

Qi Xia and the others struggled to save Han Yimo after a harpoon pierced his chest and began dragging him toward the wall. They cut the rope in time, but Doctor Zhao said the harpoon had to remain in Han Yimo’s body to keep him from bleeding to death.

• Qi Xia and Lin Qin tied retracting harpoon ropes together in an attempt to keep a harpoon from disappearing into the wall.
• Lin Qin’s knot came apart when a rope snapped, and Officer Li took the remaining harpoon to cut Han Yimo’s rope.
• Qiao Jiajin wedged himself between Han Yimo and the wall while Officer Li steadily cut through the tough rope.
• Officer Li severed the rope, and Han Yimo and Qiao Jiajin fell to the floor as the others rushed to help them.
• Doctor Zhao treated Han Yimo’s wounds and explained that removing the harpoon would cause him to bleed to death.

After surviving the harpoon attack, the group learned that another deadly round would begin in fifteen minutes, with danger falling from the ceiling. As everyone prepared to take cover, Qi Xia stayed behind to puzzle over the clues about Human Sheep and Human Dog.

• Doctor Zhao said Han Yimo was out of immediate danger but needed proper treatment, while the group wondered how to escape.
• Officer Li found a harpoon bearing a message from Human Sheep warning that death would descend from above again in fifteen minutes.
• Doctor Zhao broke down over the repeated games, and Officer Li urged him to keep hope and examined the matching messages on the harpoons.
• The room changed, closing its wall holes and revealing nine openings in the ceiling; Officer Li told everyone to shelter along the walls with pieces of the tabletop.
• Qi Xia questioned why the organizer had given them an obvious warning and pondered what Human Sheep and Human Dog meant, while Qiao Jiajin called him to safety.

Qi Xia realized that the sheep’s instructions were lies and led the group to use their tabletops to survive the rising floor. As the floor collapsed, everyone grabbed the handles wedged in the ceiling, but Han Yimo began losing his grip.

• Qi Xia concluded that the sheep’s directions were deceptive and told everyone to stand beneath the ceiling openings rather than against the walls.
• Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, Xiao Ran, Han Yimo, Tiantian, Zhang Chenze, Doctor Zhao, and Officer Li joined Qi Xia beneath the openings and prepared by raising tabletops over their heads.
• When the clock reached 1:30, the floor began rising, and Qi Xia realized the group would be crushed if they did not act.
• Qi Xia wedged his tabletop through a ceiling opening, and the others copied him, securing their boards by their handles.
• The floor shattered beneath them, and everyone grabbed the exposed handles to avoid falling, while Han Yimo’s weakening grip began to slip.

While the group hung above a ten-meter drop, Man-Snake revealed that their survival depended on a three-question yes-or-no game. After Xiao Ran used one question and received a no, Qi Xia claimed he had found a way to survive and asked Man-Snake a question about whether his answer to a future question would match his answer now.

• Qiao Jiajin and Officer Li helped Han Yimo regain his grip, while Qi Xia caught Tiantian when her injured hand gave way.
• Qi Xia and Lin Qin spotted a door below, and Man-Snake emerged and explained that a lever could lower the ceiling if he agreed to save them.
• Man-Snake announced that the group could ask three yes-or-no questions, and Xiao Ran immediately asked whether he would let them down; he answered no.
• Qi Xia reconsidered the game's logic, said he had a plan, and asked whether Man-Snake's answer to the question "Will you pull the lever?" would match his answer to the question he had just asked.

Qi Xia solved Human Snake’s lever question and led his companions out of the deadly interview, only to find a vast corridor full of survivors from countless other rooms. As they followed the route onward, Qi Xia recognized the animal-masked figures as members of the Chinese Zodiac.

• Qi Xia’s question forced Human Snake to pull the lever, lowering the ceiling and saving the group.
• Human Snake opened the door and spoke of a new world where an omnipotent god would rise.
• Qi Xia and the others entered a seemingly endless corridor and saw people emerging from thousands of doors, most of them masked and bloodied.
• The group followed Human Snake’s directions past animal-masked figures and rooms filled with bodies.
• Qi Xia realized the animal masks represented the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

After surviving four trials, Qi Xia and the others reached an exit guarded by Human Dragon, who revealed that they had ten days to collect 3,600 Dao or their world would be destroyed. He called them chosen ones who could become gods, leaving the group with more questions than answers.

• Qi Xia questioned Lin Qin about why she kept covering her mouth and nose as the group walked through the corridor.
• The group spotted an exit glowing like sunset, and Qi Xia and Officer Li disagreed about whether the light meant it was evening.
• Human Dragon appeared beside the exit wearing a mask stitched from assorted animal parts and told them their trials were over for now.
• Human Dragon warned that the world would be annihilated in ten days unless they obtained 3,600 Dao, then showed them the golden balls and gave Qi Xia the four rewards from their trials.
• Officer Li asked why Human Dragon could not gather the Dao himself, and Human Dragon said sinners could not obtain Dao while chosen ones like them could become gods.
• Zhang Chenze challenged Human Dragon, angrily asking whether he even knew what he was saying.