Chapter 8: Showdown
These words were like a wake-up call for everyone, and they also woke up Qi Xia.
Yeah, the "Liar" really did have too big an advantage.
Qi Xia frowned slightly. Why did his own winning chance feel so huge?
Lying to a group of strangers—they didn't know him, didn't understand him. He could make up any lie, and it would be hard for anyone to see through it.
Was using a fake name really enough to bury eight lives?
Or was it that...
The person who drew the "Liar" was a chosen one, and this game was inherently unfair from the start?
"No..." Qi Xia thought to himself. "If drawing it meant survival, they might as well have just written 'Life' and 'Death' on the cards. That would have been much easier to achieve the goal. Otherwise, what's the point of this nearly hour-long game?"
A deep sense of dissonance spread through his heart.
Qi Xia kept replaying every word the Goat Head had said.
Could it be...
"Hey, it's your turn." Qiao Jiajin reached out and patted Qi Xia.
Only then did Qi Xia snap back to reality, realizing that everyone was staring at him with strange looks.
At this point, there was no time to think too much; otherwise, he would only appear more suspicious.
He steadied himself, reorganizing his thoughts.
The phrase "My name is Li Ming, from Shandong" kept echoing in his mind...
But right now, he absolutely couldn't use that answer. 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. I'm from Shandong. I'm a professional con artist."
"A con artist?"
The moment they heard Qi Xia's first sentence, everyone present exclaimed in surprise. After all, the role of a "con artist" had appeared in many people's stories.
This con artist also seemed to vaguely connect everyone's stories together.
What was even more ironic was that they now had to judge whether a "con artist" was telling the truth.
"Before coming here, I was trying to figure out a way to clean the two million I had in my hands."
"Anyway, it took some effort. In the end, I got one point four million. That was the cheapest way I could think of."
"But on my way back with the money, I suddenly encountered an earthquake. When I reached the doorway, I saw my house shaking constantly."
"Logically, at a time like this, you absolutely shouldn't go inside—the house could collapse at any moment. But I was really worried about the people inside, so I had no choice but to rush in."
"Sure enough, the moment I entered the room, the porch collapsed. I got pinned and lost consciousness."
Qi Xia's tone was calm, telling the story in just a few brief sentences. Everyone watched him warily.
He knew he was doing something very risky, but only this way could he verify whether his thoughts were correct.
As long as that Goat Head spoke up at this moment, it would mean his guess was pretty much on the mark.
Just as Qi Xia thought, the Goat Head slowly stepped forward and said to everyone, "Very good. Everyone has finished telling their stories. You now have twenty minutes for free discussion. After twenty minutes, each of you must write a name on the piece of white paper in front of you."
"Exactly!" Qi Xia's eyebrows shot up. "There really is a twenty-minute period!"
That explained everything!
Everyone started to panic now, after all, only twenty minutes remained until their fates were decided.
Qiao Jiajin and Li Shangwu both wanted to vote for each other. Perhaps because of their professions, they were full of hostility toward each other.
Meanwhile, Dr. Zhao began interrogating the writer Han Yimo, since Han Yimo's story had nothing to do with anyone else's.
Lawyer Zhang and Xiao Ran seemed suspicious of Qi Xia, while Lin Qin, Han Yimo, and Tiantian were still hesitating.
According to the surface rules, the "Liar" in this game was already on the verge of winning.
Because the votes wouldn't be unanimous.
The rules were very clear: only if everyone chose the same person as the Liar would all eight survive together.
Qi Xia didn't join any discussions. He silently closed his eyes.
Countless clues swirled in his mind.
The Goat Head said, "Among the storytellers, there is one and only one Liar."
The Goat Head said, "The rules are absolute."
The Goat Head said, "All of you have been asleep for twelve hours."
Qi Xia opened his eyes. Now he was only missing one last piece of information to solve this "puzzle."
But where was that information?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
The crisscrossing lines on the walls and floor suddenly cleared his mind. He glanced at the clock on the table—it was almost 1 o'clock.
"So that's how it is..." Qi Xia's eyes widened. "So close... I'm a con artist, but you almost fooled me."
Everyone seemed to notice Qi Xia's strangeness, but this con artist had barely spoken from the start, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Hey, can I have another piece of paper?" Qi Xia asked the Goat Head.
Hearing this, the Goat Head was obviously taken aback. Then he asked tentatively, "You... want another piece of paper?"
"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "I need a piece of scratch paper."
The Goat Head was silent for a long time. Then he took another piece of paper from his suit pocket and handed it to Qi Xia.
Qi Xia didn't stand on ceremony. He took the paper and started calculating.
He counted the large squares on the walls—there were nine in total. The squares on the floor and ceiling were sixteen each.
"If I'm not mistaken..." Qi Xia wrote quickly. "Each square measures one square meter. That means we are in a room that is three meters high, four meters long, and four meters wide..."
"Four times four times three... forty-eight cubic meters."
Qi Xia's hand trembled slightly. "Not enough... not nearly enough..."
Everyone stared at Qi Xia in confusion. This was supposed to be about figuring out who was lying, but he was doing math problems.
He listed several more vertical calculations and finally came up with the numbers "54.6" and "49.14."
When he saw these two numbers, Qi Xia's face went pale, as if he was trying to come to terms with something.
If his guess was completely correct, then the current situation was truly terrifying.
His pupils flickered constantly, his thoughts already far away.
The arguing voices of the others gradually died down.
This man wasn't joining any discussion; he was just calculating something. Had he really found the "answer" to this problem?
After a long time, he finally raised his head and looked at everyone.
In his eyes were fear, hesitation, doubt, and confusion.
"Everyone," Qi Xia cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice. "Originally, I didn't want to save you. But if you choose wrong, I'll die too. I absolutely cannot die here. There's someone waiting for me outside. No matter what, I have to find a way out. So I'm only revealing the answer now. I hope you'll listen carefully to what I have to say."
"Handsome guy, what do you mean by 'answer'?" Qiao Jiajin, who was closest to Qi Xia, was startled. "You know who's lying?"
Qi Xia didn't reply. Instead, he reached out and picked up his "identity card," then slowly flipped it open in front of everyone.
"This is the identity I drew."
Everyone looked closely. On the card, the word "Liar" stood out prominently.