Chapter 3: The Skilled One
"Liar..."
Qi Xia repeated these three words in his mind. After confirming his identity, he quietly pressed the card face down.
Just a minute ago, he had also fantasized about the idea of "everyone leaving alive."
But now it was different.
Although he didn't know the eight people in front of him, this time, only they would die.
"If there are no objections, please remember the rules. In this game, 'there is one and only one liar'..." The Goat Head extended a hand and pointed at the sexy girl to Qi Xia's left. "Then starting from you, clockwise in turn."
"Huh? Me?" The girl was startled, then pouted.
Qi Xia turned his head to look. Starting from the girl on his left and going clockwise meant it wasn't very favorable for him.
He would be the last to speak.
Under extreme tension and pressure, people usually only remember the first and last speakers.
But raising an objection now would seem too abrupt; he would have to play it by ear.
The sexy girl furrowed her brows, her big eyes darting around, and finally sighed. "Alright... I'll go first. But I've never been good at telling stories since I was little. If it's not good, don't blame me..."
Everyone present didn't know what to say, so they just listened quietly.
The sexy girl extended her slender fingers and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then began:
"My name is Tiantian. I'm... uh... a 'skilled worker.' I earn money through my skills, and I'm not ashamed of it."
Only then did everyone notice that this girl named Tiantian was wearing very little—just a dirty, low-cut short skirt. The areas that should have been covered weren't. But she didn't seem to care about it.
"Many of my stories aren't suitable to share with everyone... Anyway, I can 'act,' but when it comes to 'describing,' I really don't know how to start. After all, if I had any education, why would I be in this line of work..."
"Anyway, before I came here, I was working. But the client I encountered was really strange... Our establishment provides a service venue, but he insisted on going to his car, saying it would be more exciting... So to make money, I had to go with him..."
"This was my first time working in a car. The car looked pretty high-end, but the inside was so cramped. Before long, I was drenched in sweat. I really don't know what's so 'exciting' about that cramped place. During the whole time, the client's phone kept ringing, and he refused to answer it. I was getting really annoyed..."
Tiantian seemed about to scold the client a bit more, but her gaze accidentally fell on the corpse on the table. She jolted in fright, took a deep breath, and said:
"Ah, forget it. This is the industry I chose, and I accept it. I just didn't expect a sudden 'earthquake.' At first, I thought we were just moving too vigorously, causing the shaking. Who knew it was really an earthquake?"
When the word "earthquake" was mentioned, everyone's expressions shifted slightly, as if recalling something.
"Our car was parked in a small alley... right above it was a huge billboard... At that time, my head was sticking out of the car, and I saw it." Tiantian gestured above her head with her hand, her voice trembling. "That huge billboard, for some reason, came crashing down with a 'bang.' It fell right onto the car, and then I lost consciousness..."
She let out a long sigh. "When I woke up, I was here. I'm really scared..."
Tiantian put on a pitiful expression, one that looked practiced, enough to stir the hearts of men.
The Tattooed Arm Guy sitting next to her was slightly taken aback and said, "Everyone, do we need to continue?"
The White Coat was startled and looked at the Tattooed Arm Guy. "What do you mean?"
"This 'lady' has already lied. We can just vote now," the Tattooed Arm Guy said confidently.
"You...! What did you say?!" Tiantian was shocked. "Where did I lie?"
The Tattooed Arm Guy glanced coldly at Tiantian and said, "Your name. You said your name is Tiantian. But all bar girls use pseudonyms. Names like Tiantian, Xiaofang, or Lili are very common. So you hid your real name, which is already a lie."
After hearing this, Tiantian's face flushed red.
"You... you're talking nonsense! My name is Tiantian! I haven't used my real name in years!" After saying that, she looked around at everyone and added, "At my workplace, only calling me 'Tiantian' can find me. If you use my real name, no one would recognize me!"
Everyone began to ponder. Qi Xia's expression was also serious.
From Tiantian's words just now, Qi Xia couldn't detect any sense of lying. When she described the story, her rhythm was steady and her tone was calm.
This storytelling style, like chatting with a friend, could only prove two things. Either she had made up the story long ago and repeated it to herself many times, or she was telling the truth.
But now the Tattooed Arm Guy had given Qi Xia another angle.
That was "lying about the name."
Lying about the name doesn't involve logic or plausibility, making it hard for ordinary people to see through.
After all, none of them had ever met before, and names could only be learned from each other's stories.
Qi Xia carefully recalled the Goat Head's words. He said, "Among all those telling stories, there is one liar." This rule didn't specify that the liar had to use a "false story" to lie; a "false name" could also apply.
Seeing herself suspected, Tiantian's eyes widened, looking very nervous: "If you still don't believe me, my real name is Zhang Lijuan. I'm from Shaanxi... You can try calling me by my real name, but I won't answer to it. I only respond to 'Tiantian'... I... I..."
Hearing this, Qi Xia silently shook his head.
This woman wasn't as clever as he had imagined.
That is, it was impossible for her to have fabricated this lie in advance, nor could she have come up with the scheme of "lying about the name" on the spot.
The Goat Head said, "There is one and only one liar," so that person could only be Qi Xia himself.
If no one else noticed the seriousness of the "Tiantian" issue, then he had found a surefire way to win.
If he were to fabricate a name, "Qi" wasn't a very good surname. Although not rare, it wasn't common either. He needed to avoid easily memorable surnames like that.
In other words, everything he said had to be as inconspicuous as possible.
So he decided to call himself "Li Ming."
He would tell the rest of the story normally, and no one, no matter how sharp, would be able to see through it.
The game was about to end.