“Stop trying to sow discord, kid.” Officer Li glared at Qiao Jiayin, his tone stern. “You’re a loan shark, and I’m a cop. Who do you think people will believe?”
Qi Xia glanced at the quarreling group and realized Officer Li probably wasn’t lying—he really was a detective.
But his approach was wrong.
Maybe it was professional instinct, or perhaps a sense of justice, but he kept trying to organize everyone in an orderly manner.
The halftime break was already halfway over, and the group gradually fell silent.
During this time, Qi Xia had repeated “My name is Li Ming” in his mind countless times, to the point of frustration.
After all, lying beside him was a corpse with a shattered skull, making it impossible to focus.
Blood dripped from the table onto the floor with a steady rhythm. The group had been sharing the room with the body for nearly an hour, and a strange stench had begun to permeate the air.
Qi Xia absentmindedly glanced at the corpse next to him—its pants were already filthy.
Shortly after death, the body loses muscular control over its organs, leading to incontinence.
Before the full force of the corpse’s decay hit them, a foul odor had already assaulted their senses.
Qi Xia and a young woman sat on either side of the body. She seemed particularly disturbed by the smell, covering her nose and mouth with her hand.
Another ten minutes passed before Goat Head finally spoke. “The twenty-minute halftime is over. The game resumes.”
The young man named Han Yimo steadied himself, took a deep breath, and said, “My name is Han Yimo. I’m a web novelist.”
“Before coming here, I was writing the finale of my novel in my rented apartment. Since the story had over a hundred characters, nearly all of them had to appear in the ending. I was so absorbed in my work that I didn’t hear anything outside.”
“In fact… I don’t even know when the earthquake happened or when I lost consciousness…”
Han Yimo’s story stood out from the others. So far, his account was entirely “independent,” and it ended abruptly in just a few sentences.
“That’s it?” The burly man frowned. “You just say ‘I don’t know’ and call it a day?”
“Since I can’t lie, there’s no reason for me to fabricate an answer just to please everyone.” Though Han Yimo’s voice was soft, it carried an inexplicable conviction.
“Fine… Next, then.” Officer Li still looked skeptical as he spoke. “It’s the lady’s turn now.”
“Hey, cop.” Qiao Jiayin’s tone was laced with irritation toward Officer Li. “We’re all ‘participants’ here. Stop acting like you’re the leader.”
“Someone has to organize things, right?” Officer Li argued. “I told you, there’s only one enemy among us. The other eight need to work together.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to boss everyone around.” Qiao Jiayin dismissed Officer Li’s words entirely. “Outside, I might’ve been afraid of you, but in here? Who knows if you’re the ‘liar’?”
“Enough arguing.” A cold, composed woman cut in.
From the start, this woman had accused Goat Head of imprisoning them for twenty-four hours. She seemed logical and unshakably calm.
Once the two men quieted down, she continued, “In this so-called ‘game,’ no matter who wins in the end, the rest of us could be seen as ‘indirect killers.’ After all, we’re collectively voting to have Goat Head execute someone. That’s the real issue you should be considering.”
Hearing this, Qi Xia’s expression shifted slightly.
If he did manage to leave this room alive, he would indeed have “killed” the other eight people.
But what else could he do?
The card in front of him was undeniably the “liar.” Who would willingly give up their own life to let others live?
“My name is Zhang Chenze. I’m a lawyer.” The woman crossed her arms, her face expressionless. “It’s unfortunate to meet under such bizarre circumstances—otherwise, I’d have handed out my business cards.”
No one found Zhang Chenze’s humor amusing, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Before coming here, I was preparing court documents. My client was scammed out of two million yuan—a substantial sum with severe implications.”
When she mentioned “two million,” the group remained unfazed, but Qiao Jiayin visibly reacted. “Two million?”
“That’s right. Two million. People say lawyers are impartial, but we have our own emotions. The man borrowed from loan sharks to support his family, which is deeply concerning. But illegal lending is a separate case—nothing to do with me.”
“When the earthquake hit, I was driving to meet my client. I was on Qingyang Avenue, just past Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage, near Wuhou Shrine. I remember… I wasn’t speeding, maybe around forty kilometers per hour, when I suddenly saw the road ahead crack open.”
“I hit the brakes and came to a stop right before the fissure, but the car behind me couldn’t react in time. There was a chain collision.”
“All I heard were a few loud bangs before my car was shoved into the crack. Then I blacked out and woke up here.”
With her story concluded, only three people remained.
“Wuhou Shrine…” Dr. Zhao mused. “The one in Chengdu?”
“Yes. I work in Chengdu.”
It seemed the earthquake had struck nationwide.
With so many unfamiliar stories, figuring out who was lying was proving nearly impossible.
“My turn now.” Officer Li scanned the group. “I’ve already introduced myself. I’m Li Shangwu, a detective from Inner Mongolia.”
“Before coming here, I was staking out a fraudster. According to reliable intel, we had pinpointed the suspect’s exact whereabouts.”
“The fraud involved a massive sum—two million yuan. It was the largest scam case our city had seen this year.”
“My partner and I were watching from our car, waiting for the suspect to show.”
“But the guy was sharper than we expected. He must’ve sensed danger because he didn’t emerge for three straight days.”
“We spent those three days eating, sleeping, and relieving ourselves in the car. Our nerves were frayed.”
“And you know what’s worse for a grown man than running out of food or water?”
“Running out of cigarettes.”
“Neither of us had a single smoke left. Protocol said we couldn’t leave our post, but the withdrawal was unbearable.”
“So I sent my partner to jog to the store for cigarettes while I kept watch on the suspect’s residence.”
“But before my partner could return, the entire ground began shaking violently. I tried to get out to see what was happening, but someone looped a thin wire around my neck from behind.”
“Even though we’re trained in hand-to-hand combat, a wire attack from the backseat is hard to counter. I couldn’t reach the person behind me, nor could I remove the wire from my throat.”
The group studied Officer Li and noticed a faint red mark around his neck.
“So I reclined the seat to breathe, but I couldn’t turn around—my legs were pinned under the steering wheel.”
“While I was down, the attacker smashed something hard against my head. That’s the last thing I remember.”
After hearing Officer Li’s account, suspicion rippled through the group.
His story was entirely different. Before him, every participant had arrived here due to accidental injuries.
He was the only one who claimed to have been attacked.
If they had to pick the most suspicious person among them, wasn’t it him?
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