Chapter 2: The Liar
The woman's scream stopped, and everyone's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
The men who had been shouting and cursing just moments before also fell silent.
Now it was no longer a matter of "illegality"—the strange man in front of them would really kill.
After a full minute of silence, the Goat Head nodded slightly. "Good, nine of you. It seems you've all quieted down."
Their faces changed color, but no one dared to speak. As he said, there were truly "nine" now.
Qi Xia extended trembling hands and removed a pinkish-yellow object from his face.
The shattered piece of brain, still warm, twitched faintly, but after a few seconds, it deflated like a leaky balloon, losing all signs of life.
"Now allow me to introduce myself..." The Goat Head raised a bloody finger and pointed to his mask. "I am the 'Human Sheep,' and you are the 'Participants.'"
Everyone was stunned, then puzzled. "Human Sheep"? "Participants"?
"I have gathered you here today to take part in a game, ultimately creating a 'God,'" the Goat Head said in a calm tone.
These two consecutive sentences made everyone frown.
After these few minutes of interaction, most had come to understand that the man in front of them was insane, but this madman claimed he wanted to create a "God"?
"Create... what god?" the burly young man asked nervously.
"A god like 'Nuwa'!" The Goat Head gestured wildly, his voice carrying a hint of ferocity, reeking of mutton. "How wonderful! You will witness history alongside us. Nuwa once created humanity, but turned into a rainbow when mending the sky... We cannot lose Nuwa, so we must create a new Nuwa! There is a great mission waiting for a 'God' to fulfill!"
His voice grew louder, and he seemed as if injected with adrenaline.
"Nuwa..." The burly young man frowned deeply, finding the whole thing hard to accept. He paused and asked, "Are you some kind of religion?"
"Religion?" The Goat Head paused, turning to the young man. "We are far more magnificent than 'religion.' We have a 'world'!"
After hearing this, everyone fell silent again.
The burly man's question was pointed. This Goat Head's actions were no different from a cult, but most cults tend to fabricate a new god, not use a heroic figure like Nuwa.
"In that case..." the burly man continued, "What do you want us to 'participate' in here?"
"As I said, just a game." The Goat Head answered without hesitation. "If you win, one of you will become a 'God.'"
"Damn it all..." The Tattooed Arm Guy seemed to have calmed down, cursing under his breath. "So it's 'The Investiture of the Gods,' huh? What if we can't win?"
"Can't win..." The Goat Head looked at the blood on his hands, somewhat disappointed. "If you can't win, it's a real pity..."
Although he didn't say it directly, everyone understood his meaning.
If you can't win, you die.
There was no option for "leaving alive" among his choices.
Either become his so-called "God," or die here like the young man whose head had exploded.
"If everyone understands... then this 'game' officially begins. The game is called 'The Liar.'" The Goat Head slowly pulled a stack of paper from his coat and casually walked to each person, placing one sheet in front of them.
Then he took out several pens and distributed them.
There was a lot of blood on the table. Each white paper turned red from the blood when placed down. When flipped over and wiped with a hand, the red spread like paint, making the paper even redder.
"Next, I want each of you to tell a story about the last thing that happened before you came here." The Goat Head continued. "But note: among all the storytellers, one person is lying. After all nine have told their stories, you will vote. If all eight choose the 'Liar,' the Liar is eliminated, and the rest survive. If anyone votes incorrectly, the Liar survives, and everyone else is eliminated."
"The Liar...?"
Everyone was somewhat confused. Would anyone really lie at a life-or-death moment?
"Wait, can we discuss 'tactics'?" the burly man suddenly asked.
"As you wish." The Goat Head nodded. "Before the game starts, you have one minute to discuss tactics. Do you want to use it now... or later?"
"I want to use it now," the burly man said without hesitation.
"Go ahead."
The Goat Head stepped back, moving away from the table.
The burly man pursed his lips, looked around at everyone, doing his best to avoid the headless corpse lying on the table, and said, "I don't know who among you will lie later, but this 'rule' sounds too arbitrary. As long as one person votes wrong, we all die. And even if we vote correctly, the Liar will die. Either way, someone dies. Now, I've thought of a way for everyone to survive..."
Hearing this, everyone looked at the burly man.
Let everyone survive? Was that possible?
"That is, none of us lie." The burly man didn't wait for anyone to figure it out and immediately revealed the answer. "All nine of us tell the truth, and at the end, write on the paper 'No one lied.' That way, we don't break the rules, and we can all live."
The man in the white coat tapped the table with his fingers, then said after a moment, "Your plan is good, but it has one prerequisite: that you yourself are not the Liar. How can we trust you? If you are the Liar, and we all write 'No one lied,' only you will survive."
"What kind of talk is that?" The burly man's face showed a hint of anger. "If I were the Liar, why would I propose such an idea? I'd only need to save myself."
The Goat Head waved his hand slightly. "One minute is up. Stop communicating."
Both men snorted coldly and fell silent.
"Now, please draw cards." The Goat Head pulled out another small stack of cards from his pants pocket. The cards looked to be the size of playing cards, with the words "Nuwa Game" printed on the back.
The burly man was taken aback. "What is this?"
"These are 'Identity Cards,'" the Goat Head said with a loud laugh. "If you draw the 'Liar,' you must lie."
The burly man gritted his teeth. "Are you messing with us?! Why didn't you mention this rule earlier?!"
"This is to teach you a lesson," the Goat Head sneered. "Before I finished explaining the rules, you asked if we could discuss tactics. You wasted that precious minute, not me."
The burly man's expression turned grim, but recalling the Goat Head's murderous methods, he swallowed his anger.
In that one minute, all nine drew a card from the Goat Head's hand, but no one dared to look at it.
If the card read "Liar," it became a question of saving themselves or saving the others.
The four girls' hands trembled slightly, and the men's faces were also grim.
This was not about drawing an "identity," but about "life and death."
Qi Xia took a deep breath, casually covered his card with his hand, and moved it in front of his eyes.
He gently flipped it open.
There, clearly written, were the words "The Liar."