"'Liar...'"
Qi Xia repeated the word silently in his mind. After confirming his identity, he nonchalantly placed the card face down again.
Just a minute ago, he had also fantasized about the idea of "everyone leaving alive." But now, things were different. Although he didn't know the eight people around him, this time, they had to be the ones to die.
"If there are no objections, remember the rules: there is one and only one liar in this game..." The goat-headed man pointed to the sexy girl on Qi Xia's left. "Start with you, clockwise."
"Me?" The girl was taken aback, then pouted.
Qi Xia turned to look. If they started from the girl on his left and took turns clockwise, it wasn't very advantageous for him—he would be the last storyteller. In highly tense and oppressive situations, people usually only remember the first and last storytellers. But raising an objection now would seem too abrupt, so he could only play it by ear.
The sexy girl furrowed her brows, her big eyes darting around. Finally, she sighed and said, "Fine... I'll go first, but I've never been good at telling stories. Don't blame me if it's bad..." Everyone was silent, waiting to listen.
The girl, named Tiantian, stuck a strand of hair behind her ear with her slender fingers and began: "I'm Tiantian, a... uh... a 'technical worker.' We earn money honestly, and I'm not ashamed of it."
Only then did everyone notice Tiantian was barely dressed, wearing a dirty low-cut miniskirt that exposed more than it covered. But she didn't seem to care.
"Most of my stories aren't suitable to share... Anyway, call me 'Action' if you want, but 'Description' is too embarrassing. Who with any education would do this job?"
"Before coming here, I was at work. The client was so weird—our place provides a service area, but he insisted on going to his car, saying it was more exciting. So I went along for the money..."
"It was my first time working in a car. The car looked upscale, but it was so narrow inside. I was sweating within minutes. I really didn't see the 'excitement' in that cramped space. His phone kept ringing, and he refused to answer, which pissed me off."
Tiantian seemed about to curse the client more, but her eyes accidentally fell on the corpse, making her jump. She took a deep breath and continued: "Well, I chose this career. But I never expected an earthquake! At first, I thought our movements were too vigorous, but then the shaking got real."
At the word "earthquake," everyone's expressions shifted, as if recalling something.
"Our car was parked in an alley, right under a huge billboard... I had my head out the window and saw it. The billboard suddenly 'clanged' and broke, crashing onto the car. I blacked out..."
She exhaled deeply. "When I woke up, I was here. I was terrified!" Tiantian pouted, wearing an expression clearly practiced to make men pity her.
The tattooed man beside her frowned. "Guys, do we need to keep going?"
The man in the white coat looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"This 'miss' is already lying. Let's vote now," the tattooed man declared confidently.
"You...! What are you talking about? Where did I lie?" Tiantian gasped.
The tattooed man glared at her. "Your name. You said you're 'Tiantian,' but all escorts use aliases like Tiantian, Xiaofang, Lili. You hid your real name, so you lied."
Tiantian's face turned red. "You... you're talking nonsense! I am Tiantian! My real name hasn't been used in years!" She scanned the group and added, "At work, only 'Tiantian' gets me clients. No one knows my real name!"
Everyone fell into thought, and Qi Xia's expression grew serious. From Tiantian's story, he couldn't detect any lie—her rhythm was steady, her tone relaxed, like chatting with friends. This storytelling style suggested two possibilities: either the story was prefabricated and rehearsed, or it was true.
But the tattooed man offered another angle: lying about her name. Name-lies required no logic or plausibility, making them hard to detect. After all, no one here knew each other, so names could only be taken at face value.
Qi Xia recalled the goat-headed man's words: "one person among the storytellers is lying." The rule didn't specify the lie had to be about the story—lying about a name counted too.
Tiantian, flustered by the accusation, exclaimed, "If you don't believe me, my real name is Zhang Lijuan, from Shaanxi... Try calling my real name! I won't respond; only 'Tiantian' works for me. I..."
Qi Xia shook his head inwardly. This woman wasn't as clever as he thought. She couldn't have preplanned this lie, nor would she have improvised a name-lie strategy. Since the goat-headed man said "one and only one liar," that person had to be Qi Xia.
If others didn't realize the gravity of Tiantian's name issue, he had found a winning strategy. When编造 (fabricating) his name, "Qi" wasn't ideal—it wasn't rare, but not common either. He should avoid memorable surnames. In other words, his entire story needed to be as unremarkable as possible.
So he decided to call himself "Li Ming." He could tell a normal story, making it impossible for anyone to spot a flaw. The game was as good as over.