"The Liar..."
Qi Xia repeated the three words in her mind, confirming her identity before casually covering the card again.
Just a minute ago, she had entertained the thought of "everyone surviving and leaving," but now, things were different.
Though she didn't know the eight people in front of her, this time, it would be them who died, not her.
"If there are no objections, please remember the rule: this game has 'only one liar,'" the goat-headed man pointed at the seductive girl to Qi Xia's left. "So, you'll start, and then we'll go clockwise."
"Ah? Me?" The girl froze, then pouted.
Qi Xia turned her head and glanced around. Starting from the girl to her left, the order of storytelling was not favorable for her.
She would be the last one to tell her story.
In extremely tense and oppressive situations, people usually remember the first and last storytellers the most.
But raising doubts now would seem too out of place. There was nothing to do but take it step by step.
The seductive girl furrowed her brows, her large eyes darting around as she sighed and said, "Alright... I'll go first, but I've never been good at telling stories, so if it's bad, don't blame me..."
At that moment, everyone didn't know what to say and could only listen quietly.
The seductive girl reached up with her slender fingers and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before continuing:
"My name is Tiantian, and I'm a... uh... 'technical worker.' We earn money with our skills, and I don't think it's shameful."
It was then that everyone noticed how scantily dressed the girl named Tiantian was. She was wearing a dirty, low-cut short skirt that barely covered the necessary areas. But it seemed she didn't mind this at all.
"Many parts of my story aren't really appropriate to share... Anyway, just call me 'Action,' because 'Description' is really hard for me to start with. After all, if I had a bit of education, who would do what I do..."
"Anyway, I was working before I came here. But the customer I met was really strange... Our store clearly provides a service area, but he insisted on going to his car, saying it would be more exciting that way... So, in order to make money, I had no choice but to go with him..."
"This was my first time working in a car, and I didn't expect that, even though the car looked pretty high-end, it was so cramped. Not long after, I was drenched in sweat. I really didn't understand what was so 'exciting' about such a terrible place. During all of this, the customer's phone kept ringing, and he refused to answer it. I was so irritated..."
Tiantian seemed like she wanted to continue cursing the customer, but her eyes accidentally glanced at the dead body on the table, and she immediately jolted, letting out a startled breath. She then sighed and said,
"Well, forget it. This is the industry I chose, I accept it. I just didn't expect there to suddenly be an 'earthquake.' At first, I thought our movements were too much, causing the car to shake, but who knew it was really an earthquake."
As soon as the word "earthquake" was mentioned, everyone's expression shifted slightly, as if something had come to mind.
"Our car was parked in a narrow alley... right under a big billboard. At that moment, my head was outside the car, and I happened to see it." Tiantian's finger traced an imaginary line above her head, her voice trembling as she continued, "The huge billboard, for some reason, suddenly... 'clang!'—it broke off and fell directly onto the car. Then, I lost consciousness..."
She took a long breath and said, "When I woke up, I was here. I was so scared..."
Tiantian put on a look of grievance, one that seemed deliberately practiced to make men feel moved.
The man with the tattoos sitting next to her froze for a moment before speaking up, "Everyone, do we still need to continue with this?"
The man in the white coat was taken aback, looking at the tattooed man. "What do you mean?"
"This 'miss' already lied. We can vote right now," the tattooed man said confidently.
"You...! What are you saying?!" Tiantian gasped. "Where did I lie?!"
The tattooed man gave Tiantian a cold look before speaking, "Your name... you said your name is 'Tiantian,' but all the escorts use aliases. Names like 'Tiantian,' 'Xiaofang,' or 'Lili' are common, so by hiding your real name, you've already lied."
As soon as these words were spoken, Tiantian's face turned red.
"You... you're talking nonsense! My name is Tiantian! I haven't used my real name in years!" She glanced around at the others and added, "At my workplace, the only way people know me is by 'Tiantian.' If I said my real name, no one would recognize me!"
Everyone began to ponder this, and Qi Xia's face became more serious.
From Tiantian's story earlier, Qi Xia couldn't detect any signs of lying. She had told the story in a calm, steady tone, almost as if speaking casually to a friend.
This kind of storytelling style could only lead to two conclusions: One, her story was either prepared a long time ago and she had told it to herself many times; or two, she was telling the truth.
But now, the tattooed man had provided Qi Xia with another line of thought.
That was "lying about a name."
Lying about a name doesn't require logic or rationality, and it's hard for most people to detect any flaws.
After all, everyone here was a stranger to each other, and their names could only be learned through the stories they told.
Qi Xia carefully recalled the goat-headed man's words: he had said, "Among all the storytellers, one of them is lying." This rule didn't specify that the liar must tell a "false story"—a "false name" could be just as applicable.
Tiantian, seeing herself being doubted, widened her eyes in shock, clearly very nervous. "Y-you still don't believe me? My real name is Zhang Lijuan... I'm from Shaanxi... You can try calling me by my real name, but I won't answer. I'll only respond to 'Tiantian'... I... I..."
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 pre-constructed this lie, and it was unlikely she had suddenly come up with the "lying about a name" strategy on the spot.
The goat-headed man had said, "There is exactly one liar," and that liar could only be Qi Xia himself.
If no one else had noticed the seriousness of the "Tiantian" issue, then Qi Xia had found a surefire way to win.
To fabricate a name, "Qi" wasn't a very good surname. Although it wasn't rare, it wasn't particularly common either, so it was best to avoid using an easily memorable surname.
In other words, everything he told in his story needed to be as unremarkable as possible.
So, he decided to use the name "Li Ming."
The rest of the story he could tell normally, and no matter how sharp the others were, they wouldn't be able to catch any flaws.
The game was nearing its end.