Chapter 431: Scammer Leader

“Then, who will be the ‘zhǐhuì zhě’ next?”

Zhou Liu asked.

Qi Xia turned his body slightly, his gaze sweeping over the group before settling on Qiu Shiliu.

“Qiu Shiliu, how about you take it on?”

Qi Xia asked in a somewhat forceful tone.

Qiu Shiliu furrowed his brows and glanced at Qi Xia. “Me…?”

“Yes, please.”

“But I think…” Qiu Shiliu said, still frowning, “the person assigned as the ‘zhǐhuì guān’ must be the least useful one, right? Do you think I can’t steal the ‘shuǐguǒ’?”

“Oh?” Qi Xia’s mouth curved into a slight smile. “That’s my fault; I don’t know everyone’s abilities yet. So, who do you think could be the ‘zhǐhuì guān’ besides you?”

Qiu Shiliu felt that Qi Xia’s words had backed him into a strange corner, where naming anyone else didn’t seem appropriate.

But then he thought again, and realized there was indeed an annoying character in the room.

“Wang Ba…” Qiu Shiliu said, “Let Wang Ba do it; he’s definitely more suitable than me.”

“What?!” Wang Ba, who had already been upset by Qi Xia, felt even more furious upon hearing this. “Shiliu, are you saying I’m useless?!”

“I’m at least an athlete,” Qiu Shiliu said. “If the cat chooses ‘xúnluò’, I might have a chance to escape, but you wouldn’t.”

“I…” Wang Ba’s expression turned ugly. “I—I think you all should wait a minute…”

“What’s wrong?” The others looked at him.

“Do you really think this plan from Qi Xia is feasible?” Wang Ba asked. “Why are you all willing to act based on his idea? What if— what if something goes wrong?”

“Wu ge said Qi Xia is very smart,” Zhou Liu said. “I get it if you don’t believe him, but Wu ge has never lied to us.”

“But…” Wang Ba said, beads of sweat forming on his anxious forehead.

Zhou Liu sneered. “Besides, every strategy you suggest requires me to kiss you, and I really don’t want to do that.”

After thinking for a few seconds, he sighed. “Fine… I’ll trust Wu ge…”

“But I don’t trust you.” Qi Xia interrupted Wang Ba immediately and pointed at him while addressing the others. “Everyone… I know this might sound harsh, but while I need a ‘zhōng kòng tái’, this kind of person just won’t work.”

He sighed and continued, “Everyone, to survive this game, I need capable people, not dead weight. Dead weight really won’t cut it.”

Wang Ba’s face darkened visibly, and his stare at Qi Xia grew even angrier.

“Tsk, no need to argue,” Zhou Liu said. “Let’s have Shiliu do it for now. According to this tactic, we’ll take turns as the ‘zhǐhuì zhě’, so everyone will get a chance.”

Wang Ba pursed his lips, glanced at Zhou Liu, and then turned back to Qi Xia. “Since Liu jie believes in you… I’ll give you this face, but don’t think this settles things.”

Qi Xia acted as if he hadn’t heard and turned away, patting Qiu Shiliu on the shoulder. “It’s all yours then.”

“I…” Qiu Shiliu looked into Qi Xia’s serious eyes and finally nodded. “Okay.”

Once they had settled on the tactic, they heard the iron door beside them click open with a “bang.”

“Let’s go,” Qi Xia said.

With varying emotions, the group pushed open the wooden door and stepped out of the “shu wu.”

Outside, aside from the absence of the “mao,” everything looked exactly as it had when they entered. From the hallway, no changes were visible.

In addition to the “shu wu” and “mao wu,” five colored doors stood before them, their dim tones accompanied by a faint fruit scent, creating an eerily strange atmosphere.

“Pick a room,” Qi Xia said. “From here on, don’t say your choices out loud; try to communicate with eye signals.”

“Why…?” Luo Shiyi asked.

“I don’t know, but it feels off,” Qi Xia replied. “The ‘mao’ only said the two rooms are well-soundproofed and can’t hear each other’s conversations, but didn’t mention anything about the hallway, so let’s be careful.”

“You really think of everything,” Luo Shiyi nodded. His gaze toward Qi Xia had already changed.

“Enough chit-chat; let’s choose rooms.” Qi Xia signaled with his eyes, and the group understood, splitting up and standing in front of the first four doors.

Seeing their actions, Qi Xia frowned and shook his head, then signaled with his eyes to Zhou Liu, who was at the third door.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Liu asked.

“This won’t work,” Qi Xia said from in front of the fourth door. “Switch to another one.”

Though puzzled, Zhou Liu nodded and moved to the last door.

Now, everyone was in front of the doors except the third one.

Qi Xia nodded to the group again. Based on his reasoning, the middle third door was the most dangerous; with symmetrical doors on both sides, people tend to choose the neutral middle when hesitating, so theoretically, the third door should absolutely be avoided.

After confirming their positions, they all opened their doors and went inside.

Qi Xia turned back to partially close the door, walked a few steps forward, and arrived at the altar table.

On the table was a plate holding four peaches with pinkish-green skin, looking exceptionally fresh.

However, according to the rules, he couldn’t just pick up the peaches and leave; he had to wait in the room until night ended.

On the wall next to the altar was a button labeled “souxun.”

Qi Xia walked over and pressed the button. The moment he did, the room’s door clicked shut and locked.

“No red light…” Qi Xia nodded. “This means the ‘mao’ isn’t using the mousetrap this round and should choose ‘souxun’…”

Qi Xia stroked his chin, a slight smile creeping onto his lips.

“This is perfect…” he murmured to himself. “‘Souxun’ is just what we need…”

In the next room, number five, Zhou Liu paced back and forth anxiously. She wasn’t sure if Qi Xia’s strategy would work. Having someone stand directly in the hallway— was that something a typical participant would think of?

By the time, all the rooms should be locked now, and with the excellent soundproofing, no one could hear what was happening outside. Except for Qi Xia, everyone was in their own rooms, nervously waiting for the “mao” to arrive.

Ten minutes later, the locks on all the rooms clicked open. They waited cautiously for a few seconds, and seeing no one enter, they pushed their doors open.

The “mao” wasn’t there.

“Tsk, is the first round over…?” Zhou Liu frowned and scanned left and right, noticing the others peeking out as well.

“Don’t wait around,” Qi Xia said. “Grab the fruit.”

Zhou Liu was about to agree when she suddenly felt something was off.

The Qiu Shiliu who had been standing in the hallway was gone.