"Liar..."
Qi Xia repeated these three words silently in his mind, confirming his identity, then calmly covered the card.
Just a minute ago, he had entertained the thought that "everyone might leave alive."
But now, things were different.
Although he didn't know the eight people in front of him, this time, it would only be them who would die.
"If there are no objections, please remember the rules: there is 'only one liar' in this game…" The Goat Head pointed at the seductive girl on Qi Xia's left. "You start, and then we will proceed clockwise."
"Me?" The girl was momentarily stunned, then pouted.
Qi Xia turned his head and glanced. Starting with the girl on his left, the order of narration worked against him. He would be the last to tell his story.
In moments of extreme tension and suppression, people typically only remember the first and last speakers.
But raising doubts now would seem too abrupt. He could only take it one step at a time.
The seductive girl furrowed her brows, her big eyes darting around. After a moment, she sighed and said, "Alright, I'll go first, but I've never been good at telling stories, so don't blame me if it's bad..."
The others, at a loss for words, could only listen quietly.
The seductive girl raised her delicate finger and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then said:
"My name is Sweetie. I'm... uh... a 'technical worker.' We earn money with our skills, and I don't feel ashamed of it."
It was then that everyone noticed Sweetie was wearing very little, just a dirty, low-cut short skirt, leaving much of her body exposed. However, she didn't seem to mind at all.
"A lot of my stories aren't really suitable to share... Anyway, you can call me 'Action,' but 'Description,' I really don't know how to start, because if you had any culture, you wouldn't do what I do..."
"Anyway, I was working before coming here. But the customer I met was really strange... Our shop provides service rooms, but he insisted on going to his car, saying it would be more exciting... So, for the money, I went with him."
"This was my first time working in a car. I didn't expect a high-end car to be so cramped. In no time, I was covered in sweat. I really didn't get what was so 'exciting' about this place. Meanwhile, that customer's phone kept ringing, but he refused to answer it. It was really annoying..."
Sweetie seemed ready to continue venting about the customer but caught sight of the corpse on the table, suddenly shivering and taking a deep breath.
"Forget it, I accepted this industry. But I didn't expect there to be a 'earthquake.' At first, I thought we were shaking too much, but it turned out to really be an earthquake."
When she mentioned the "earthquake," everyone's expression subtly shifted, as if they were reminded of something.
"Our car was parked in a narrow alley... right underneath a big billboard. At that moment, I had my head sticking out of the car window and saw it."
Sweetie pointed to her head, trembling as she spoke, "The huge billboard suddenly... with a loud crash, broke off and fell directly onto the car. I lost consciousness..."
She sighed deeply and added, "When I woke up, I found myself here. I was really scared..."
Sweetie displayed a pitiful expression, one that seemed practiced, meant to make men feel a certain way.
The tattooed man beside her was slightly stunned, then said, "Do we really need to continue the storytelling?"
The man in the white lab coat was taken aback, looking at the tattooed man. "What do you mean?"
"This 'lady' has already lied. We can just vote now," the tattooed man said confidently.
"What...! What are you saying?!" Sweetie was shocked. "Where did I lie?"
The tattooed man gave her a cold, sharp look and said, "Your name. You said your name is 'Sweetie,' but all escort women use fake names. Names like 'Sweetie,' 'Xiaofang,' 'Lili'—those are common aliases. So, by hiding your real name, you've already lied."
After hearing this, Sweetie's face turned red.
"You... you're talking nonsense! My name really is Sweetie! I haven't used my real name for years!" She quickly glanced around the room and added, "At my workplace, only calling me 'Sweetie' can get attention. No one would recognize me by my real name!"
At this point, everyone began to ponder, and Qi Xia's face turned serious.
From Sweetie's earlier words, Qi Xia couldn't detect any signs of lying. Her storytelling was steady, her tone calm.
This style of storytelling, like chatting with friends, suggested two possibilities: either she had told this story many times before and was just repeating it, or she was telling the truth.
But now, the tattooed man had given Qi Xia another perspective.
That was "lying about the name."
Lying about a name doesn't require any logical or rational inconsistency, and it's hard for most people to catch. After all, no one knows anyone else's real name here; they only know what others say.
Qi Xia reflected on the words of the Goat Head. He said, "Among all the storytellers, one person is lying," but the rule didn't state that the liar must tell a "false story." Lying about a name is also a valid form of deception.
Sweetie, seeing that she was being suspected, widened her eyes in panic. "If you don't believe me, my real name is Zhang Lijuan... I'm from Shaanxi... You can try calling me by my real name. I won't respond to that. I'll only answer to 'Sweetie'... I... I..."
Upon hearing this, Qi Xia silently shook his head.
This woman wasn't as clever as he had imagined.
In other words, she couldn't have come up with this lie ahead of time, nor could she have suddenly thought of the "name lie" strategy.
Since the Goat Head said there was "only one liar," that liar could only be Qi Xia himself.
If no one else noticed the seriousness of the "Sweetie" issue, then he had found a surefire way to win.
If he needed to fabricate a name, "Qi" wasn't a great surname. While not rare, it wasn't particularly common, so he would avoid using a name that could be easily remembered.
In other words, everything he said would need to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Thus, he decided to use the name "Li Ming" for himself.
The rest of the story could be told normally, and no one would be able to detect any flaw.
The game was almost over.