Qiao Jiajin's words snapped everyone to attention—and woke Qi Xia himself in that instant. Of course the liar held overwhelming odds. Why else would lying to a roomful of strangers be so easy? No one knew him, so any lie would pass. Could a mere alias really condemn eight people to death? Or was this twisted game rigged from the start?
No… Qi Xia's mind raced. If drawing the liar card guarantees survival, why not just label the cards "Live" and "Die"? What purpose does an hour-long storytelling contest serve?
He recalled every phrase Goat Head had uttered:
"Among those who tell stories, exactly one is the liar."
"The rules are absolute."
"You have slept for twelve hours."
All he needed was one more clue to unlock the puzzle.
"Hey—you're up." Qiao Jiajin slapped Qi Xia's shoulder. The group's stares brought him back to the moment. There was no time for hesitation. He had to gamble.
Qi Xia steadied himself and spoke clearly: "Everyone, my name is Qi Xia. I'm from Shandong—and I'm a professional con artist."
A collective gasp. "A con artist?" Faces turned incredulous. So this "liar" had just confessed to a lifetime of deceit. Yet they now had to decide if his admission was the truth.
Qi Xia pressed on in an even tone: "Before I arrived, I was trying to launder two million yuan. After some effort, I managed to get one point four million in cash—the cheapest way I could think of."
"On my way home, the quake hit. I saw my house shaking from the doorway. Normally you'd never rush back inside during an earthquake—structures can collapse at any moment. But I panicked and ran in to check on my family."
"Sure enough, as I stepped into the hallway, the ceiling caved in. I was crushed and blacked out."
He finished in a few sentences. All eyes were fixed on him, wary.
If Goat Head speaks next, Qi Xia thought, then I'm right.
As if on cue, Goat Head glided forward. "Very good. All stories have been told. You now have twenty minutes of free discussion. Afterwards, each of you must write a name on the paper in front of you."
"Just as I thought!" Qi Xia's heart pounded. The twenty-minute intermission was no accident—it was part of the design.
Panic rippled through the group. With only twenty minutes left to decide their fate, alliances and suspicions flared. Qiao Jiajin and Officer Li turned on each other. Dr. Zhao drilled into novelist Han Yimo. Lawyer Zhang Chenze and Xiao Ran eyed Qi Xia with doubt. Lin Qin, Han Yimo, and Sweet Sweet wavered uncertainly. By all appearances, the liar would win—they would divide their votes and no single target would receive unanimous condemnation.
Qi Xia closed his eyes. Clues spun in his mind:
Goat Head: "Exactly one liar among you."
Goat Head: "The rules are absolute."
Goat Head: "You've slept for twelve hours."
He opened his eyes, dizzy with realization. He'd found the final piece of the puzzle. It lay all around him—in the grid lines on the walls and floor, in the clock's hands approaching 1:00.
Of course… he whispered. I almost got deceived by my own lie.
"Hey," he called. "Can I have another sheet of paper?" The room fell silent. Goat Head's brow lifted in mild surprise before he produced a fresh page from his suit pocket and handed it over.
Qi Xia didn't hesitate. He counted the large square tiles on the walls—nine in total—and sixteen on the floor and ceiling.
If I'm right… he muttered, sketching calculations. "One tile per square meter… we're in a room three meters high, four by four meters in length and width."
He scribbled furiously:
4 × 4 × 3 = 48 cubic meters.
His hand trembled. "Not enough… not nearly enough…"
The others stared in confusion. This was supposed to be about spotting the liar, not geometry. But Qi Xia kept working, setting up long division and ending with the figures 54.6 and 49.14.
At those numbers, his face went ashen, as if confronting some terrible truth. His eyes flickered with fear, doubt, and panic.
"Everyone," he whispered, voice cracking, "I didn't want to save you at first. But if you vote wrong, I die too. I cannot die here—someone is waiting for me outside. So I must get out. I have to tell you the answer. Please listen carefully."
"What answer?" Qiao Jiajin leaned forward. "You know who the liar is?"
Qi Xia didn't answer with words. He flipped over his identity card for all to see.
On it, in stark, unmistakable characters, were the three words:
LIAR.