"Stop trying to sow discord," Officer Li shot a stern glare at Qiao Jiajin. "You're a loan shark. I'm a police officer. Who do you think people are more likely to believe?"
Qi Xia glanced around at the argument unfolding. He had a strong sense that Officer Li wasn't lying—he really was a detective.
But he was going about things the wrong way.
Perhaps it was professional instinct, or maybe just a sense of justice, but he seemed determined to impose order on the group.
Half of the intermission had already passed, and slowly, the room had fallen silent.
During that time, Qi Xia had repeated the phrase "My name is Li Ming" in his mind so many times it was starting to annoy even himself.
Not that it was easy to focus. A corpse with a shattered skull was lying just beside him, making any kind of inner peace impossible.
Blood dripped steadily from the table onto the floor. They'd been stuck in the room with this body for nearly an hour, and a strange, sour stench was beginning to fill the air.
Qi Xia glanced at the corpse with mild indifference. His pants were already filthy. When a person dies, their muscles quickly lose all control, and incontinence follows. Even before the smell of death arrived, the odor was already unbearable.
He and another young woman were seated on either side of the body. She seemed much more disturbed by the smell, keeping her hand over her mouth and nose the entire time.
Another ten minutes passed before Goat Head finally spoke up.
"Twenty-minute intermission is over. The game resumes now."
The young man from before, Han Yimo, took a deep breath, collected himself, and said, "My name is Han Yimo. I'm an online fiction writer."
"Before I got here, I was working on the final chapter of my latest novel in my rented apartment. There are over a hundred characters in the book, and nearly all of them were going to appear in the ending, so I was completely immersed in my writing. I didn't hear anything going on outside."
"In fact… I don't even know when the earthquake happened—or when I lost consciousness…"
His story was unlike the others. So far, Han Yimo appeared completely "independent" from everyone else, and his tale ended in just a few brief sentences.
"That's it?" the burly man blinked. "You're just going to say 'I don't know' and be done?"
"I'm not allowed to lie," Han Yimo replied, his voice soft but oddly persuasive. "So I have no reason to make up something just to satisfy everyone."
"…Fine. Next, then." Officer Li still looked skeptical but pressed on. "The next one should be that lady over there."
"Hey, cop," Qiao Jiajin interrupted, clearly annoyed with Officer Li's authoritative tone. "We're all just 'participants' here. Stop acting like you're our team captain or something."
"Someone has to take the lead," Officer Li retorted. "Like I said before—there's only one enemy among us. The other eight need to stick together."
"And who says it should be you giving the orders?" Qiao Jiajin scoffed. "Outside, I might've been afraid of you. But in here? No one knows if you're the liar."
"Enough, both of you." The cool-toned woman finally spoke up, cutting off their argument.
From the very beginning, she had been the one to calmly accuse Goat Head of locking them up for twenty-four hours. She was composed, methodical, and sharp.
Once the two men quieted down, she continued, "In this so-called 'game,' no matter who wins, the rest of us could be considered accomplices to murder. After all, we're the ones voting, and that vote is what leads the goat to kill. That's what you should all be thinking about."
Qi Xia's expression shifted slightly.
If he really walked out of this room alive, it would mean the other eight had died—because of him.
But what choice did he have?
The card in front of him clearly said "Liar."
Who in their right mind would give up their life just so someone else could live?
"My name is Zhang Chenze. I'm a lawyer," the cool woman said, arms folded, expressionless. "It's unfortunate we had to meet in such a bizarre place. Otherwise, I'd offer you all my business card."
No one really understood Zhang Chenze's attempt at humor. She didn't seem to care.
"Before coming here, I was organizing evidence for an upcoming trial. My client had been swindled out of two million yuan—a serious case, both in scale and nature."
When she said "two million," most people remained indifferent, but Qiao Jiajin's reaction was obvious. "Two million?"
"That's right. Two million," she confirmed. "People say lawyers are impartial and objective, but we have emotions, too. That man took out a high-interest loan just to support his family. It was heartbreaking."
"But the illegal loan was a separate case. That part had nothing to do with me."
"When the earthquake hit, I was driving to meet my client on Qingyang Avenue. I had just passed the Du Fu Thatched Cottage and was approaching Wuhou Shrine. I remember I wasn't driving fast—maybe around 40 miles per hour—when the ground ahead suddenly cracked open."
"I hit the brakes immediately and stopped just short of the fissure. But the cars behind me couldn't react in time. There was a chain collision."
"I heard a series of crashes, and my car was shoved into the opening. Then everything went black. Next thing I knew, I was here."
Another story ended. Only three people remained who hadn't spoken.
"Wuhou Shrine…" Dr. Zhao murmured thoughtfully. "You mean the one in Chengdu?"
"Yes. I work in Chengdu," she confirmed.
So this earthquake had affected the whole country.
At this rate, it was almost impossible to tell who was lying. Each story was completely different, from completely different places and circumstances.
"It's my turn," Officer Li said, looking around the group. "I already introduced myself earlier. My name is Li Shangwu, I'm a criminal investigator from Inner Mongolia."
"Before coming here, I was on surveillance duty, tailing a known fraud suspect. Based on our intel, we had narrowed down the suspect's exact location."
"This guy had swindled a total of two million yuan—our city's biggest fraud case of the year."
"My partner and I had been staking him out from our car, waiting for the right moment to act."
"But the suspect was smarter than we thought. It's like he sensed something was off. He didn't show up for three days."
"We ate, slept, and did everything else in that car. We were on the brink of mental collapse."
"You know what's worse than having no food or water for a man?"
"Having no cigarettes."
"Neither of us had a single smoke left. Technically, we weren't supposed to leave our post, but the withdrawal was brutal."
"So I told my partner to jog to a nearby store and grab some cigarettes. I kept my eyes glued to the building's entrance."
"What I didn't expect was that, not long after my partner left, the ground started shaking violently. I was about to step out and check on the situation—when suddenly, I felt a thin wire wrap around my neck from behind."
"We're trained in close combat, but dealing with a garrote from the backseat of a car? That's another level. I couldn't reach the attacker. I couldn't loosen the wire from my neck."
The others turned to look at Officer Li—and noticed a visible red mark across his throat.
"So I immediately reclined the seat to relieve the pressure and catch my breath. But I couldn't turn around—my build is too large, and my legs were stuck under the steering wheel."
"The attacker must've taken that moment to strike. I don't know what they used, but they hit me hard on the head. I blacked out instantly."
When he finished, the others stared at him with growing suspicion.
His story was different—too different.
Everyone else had passed out due to accidents.
Only he claimed to have been attacked.
If they had to pick the most suspicious person in the room right now…
Wasn't it obvious?