This speech almost awakened everyone, and it also awakened Qi Xia.
Indeed, the odds for the "Liar" were too great.
Qi Xia furrowed his brows, wondering why his chances of winning were so high.
When lying to a group of strangers who didn't know him or understand him, it would be difficult for anyone to see through a random lie.
Could it really be that a fake name could cost eight lives?
Or was it that…
the person who drew the "Liar" card was the chosen one, and this was inherently an unfair game?
"No, wait..." Qi Xia thought to himself, "If drawing that card means survival, then why not just write 'Life' and 'Death' on the cards? That would make it easier to achieve the goal. Otherwise, what's the point of this nearly hour-long game?"
A deep sense of incongruity spread within him.
Qi Xia kept recalling every word that the goat-headed figure had said.
Could it be…
"Hey, it's your turn," Qiao Jiajin said, patting Qi Xia on the shoulder.
He then came back to his senses, realizing that everyone was looking at him with unusual expressions.
At this point, there was no time to think too much; otherwise, he would seem even more suspicious.
He took a deep breath and reorganized his thoughts.
The phrase "My name is Li Ming, I am from Shandong" kept replaying in his mind…
But at this moment, he absolutely could not use that answer. To find the "solution" to this game, he had to take a gamble.
Qi Xia opened his eyes and said to the crowd, "Everyone, my name is Qi Xia, I am from Shandong, and I am a professional con artist."
"A con artist?"
Upon hearing Qi Xia's first sentence, everyone present gasped in surprise. After all, the role of a "con artist" had appeared in many people's stories.
This con artist also subtly connected everyone's stories together.
Ironically, they had to judge whether a "con artist" was telling the truth.
"Before coming here, I was trying to figure out how to clean the two million I had in my hands."
"Anyway, it took quite a bit of effort, and in the end, I managed to get my hands on 1.4 million. This was the most cost-effective method I could think of."
"But on the way back with the money, I suddenly encountered an earthquake, and when I reached the door, I saw my house shaking uncontrollably."
"Logically speaking, at such a time, one should never enter the house, as it was at risk of collapsing at any moment. But I was very worried about the people inside, so I had no choice but to rush in."
"Sure enough, just as I entered the room, the porch collapsed, and I was trapped and lost consciousness."
Qi Xia recounted this story in a calm tone, with just a few sentences, while everyone watched him warily.
He knew he was doing something very risky, but it was the only way to verify whether his thoughts were correct.
As long as the goat-headed figure spoke up at that moment, it would mean that his guess was pretty much spot on.
Just as Qi Xia expected, the goat-headed figure slowly stepped forward and said to everyone, "Very well, everyone has finished telling their stories. Now, you will have twenty minutes of free discussion time. After twenty minutes, each person needs to write down a name on the blank paper in front of them."
"Just as I thought!" Qi Xia raised his eyebrows, "There really is a twenty-minute period!"
With this, everything made sense!
At this moment, the crowd began to panic, as there were only twenty minutes left to decide their fates.
Qiao Jiajin and Li Shangwu both wanted to vote for each other, perhaps due to their professional backgrounds, and both were filled with hostility.
Dr. Zhao began to question the writer Han Yimo, as Han Yimo's story had no connection to anyone else's.
Lawyer Zhang and Xiao Ran seemed to be skeptical of Qi Xia, while Lin Qing, Han Yimo, and Tian Tian were still hesitating.
According to the surface rules, the game "Liar" was about to be won.
Because the votes were not unified.
The rules were very clear: only if everyone selected the liar could all eight people survive together.
Qi Xia did not participate in any discussions and quietly closed his eyes.
Countless clues swirled in his mind.
The goat-headed figure said, "Among the storytellers, there is exactly one liar."
The goat-headed figure said, "The rules are absolute."
The goat-headed figure said, "Everyone has been asleep for twelve hours."
Qi Xia opened his eyes; now he was just one piece of information away from solving this "puzzle."
But where was that information?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
The lines crisscrossing on the walls and floor instantly brought him back to clarity. 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. "That was close... I'm clearly a liar, yet I almost got tricked by you all."
The crowd seemed to notice something unusual about Qi Xia, but this liar had said very little from the beginning, and they had no idea what he was thinking.
"Hey, can I have another piece of paper?" Qi Xia asked the goat-headed figure.
Upon hearing this, the goat-headed figure was clearly taken aback and cautiously asked, "You... want another piece of paper?"
"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "I need a draft paper."
The goat-headed figure fell silent for a moment, then took out another piece of paper from his suit pocket and handed it to Qi Xia.
Qi Xia accepted the paper without hesitation and began to calculate.
He counted the large squares on the walls; there were a total of nine, while the squares on the floor and ceiling added up to sixteen.
"If I'm not mistaken..." Qi Xia quickly wrote something down. "The squares are one per square meter, which means we are currently in a room that is three meters high, with a length and width of four meters..."
"Four times four times three... forty-eight cubic meters."
Qi Xia's hand trembled slightly. "Not enough... completely insufficient..."
The crowd looked at Qi Xia in confusion. This was clearly a question of deducing who was lying, yet he was doing math.
He wrote down many vertical calculations and finally arrived at the numbers "54.6" and "49.14."
Upon seeing these two numbers, Qi Xia's face turned ashen, as if he were trying to accept something.
If his guesses were completely correct, then the current situation was truly terrifying.
His eyes kept flickering, and his thoughts had already soared far beyond the clouds.
The arguments among the crowd gradually quieted down.
This man in front of them was not participating in any discussions; he was merely calculating something. Could it be that he had really found the "answer" to this puzzle?
After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at the crowd.
His gaze was filled with fear, hesitation, doubt, and confusion.
"Everyone," Qi Xia cleared his throat and said softly, "I didn't want to save you, but if you choose wrong, I will also die. I absolutely cannot die here; someone is waiting for me outside. So no matter what, I have to find a way to get out. I can only announce the answer here, and I hope you will listen to me carefully."
"Handsome, what does 'the answer' mean?" Qiao Jiajin, who was closest to Qi Xia, was slightly taken aback. "Do you know who is lying?"
Qi Xia did not answer; he simply reached for his "identity card" and slowly revealed it in front of everyone.
"This is the identity I drew."
The crowd focused their attention, and the words "Liar" on the card stood out prominently.