Chapter 8: Showdown

This declaration nearly startled everyone awake, and it jolted Qi Xia as well.

Indeed, the "Shuo Huang Zhe" held a significant advantage.

Qi Xia furrowed his brow. Why did his own advantage feel so overwhelming?

Lying to a group of strangers who didn't know him or understand him made it difficult for anyone to see through even a casual fabrication.

Could using a fake name truly lead to the loss of eight lives?

Or perhaps...

Was the person who drew "Shuo Huang Zhe" some kind of chosen one, making this an inherently unfair game?

"No..." Qi Xia thought to himself, "If drawing it meant survival, they might as well 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 unease spread through his heart.

Qi Xia kept replaying every word that Shan Yang Tou had said.

Could it be...

"Hey, it's your turn." Qiao Jia Jin reached out and patted Qi Xia on the shoulder.

He snapped back to reality and noticed everyone looking at him strangely.

By now, it was too late to overthink, or he would seem even more suspicious.

He steadied himself and reorganized his thoughts.

In his mind, he kept repeating the phrase "I am called Li Ming, from Shandong"...

But at this moment, he absolutely couldn't use that answer. To find the "solution" to this game, he had to take a gamble.

Qi Xia opened his eyes and said to everyone, "Everyone, I am called Qi Xia, from Shandong, and I am a professional con artist."

"A con artist?"

As soon as they heard Qi Xia's first sentence, everyone exclaimed in surprise, as the role of "con artist" appeared in many people's stories.

This con artist subtly connected everyone's stories.

What was even more ironic was that they had to judge whether a "con artist" was telling the truth.

"Before coming here, I was figuring out how to launder the two million in my hands."

"It took some effort, and in the end, I ended up with one million four hundred thousand. That was the cheapest method I could think of."

"But on my way back with the money, I suddenly encountered an earthquake. When I reached the door, I saw my house shaking violently."

"Normally, you shouldn't enter a building at a time like that, since it could collapse at any moment. But I was worried about the people inside, so I rushed in anyway."

"Sure enough, as soon as I entered the room, the doorway collapsed, and I was trapped and lost consciousness."

Qi Xia recounted his story in a calm tone, with just a few sentences, while everyone watched him warily.

He knew he was taking a big risk, but only by doing this could he verify if his idea was correct.

As long as Shan Yang Tou spoke up now, it would confirm that his guess was spot on.

Just as Qi Xia thought, Shan Yang Tou slowly stepped forward and said to everyone, "Very good, everyone has finished their stories. Next is twenty minutes of free discussion. After twenty minutes, each of you needs to write a name on the white paper in front of you."

"Exactly!" Qi Xia raised his eyebrows. "There really is twenty minutes!"

With that, everything made sense!

Everyone started to panic, as they only had the final twenty minutes to decide their fates.

Qiao Jia Jin and Li Shang Wu both wanted to vote for each other, perhaps due to their professions, as the two were full of hostility.

Zhao Yi Sheng began questioning the writer Han Yi Mo, since Han Yi Mo's story had no connection to anyone's.

Zhang Lü Shi and Xiao Ran seemed suspicious of Qi Xia, while Lin Geng, Han Yi Mo, and Tian Tian were still hesitating.

According to the surface rules, the game was already won by the "Shuo Huang Zhe."

Because the votes weren't unified.

The rules were clear: only if everyone voted for the "Shuo Huang Zhe" could all eight survive.

Qi Xia didn't join any of the discussions and quietly closed his eyes.

Countless clues swirled in his mind.

Shan Yang Tou said, "Among the storytellers, there is exactly one 'Shuo Huang Zhe'."

Shan Yang Tou said, "The rules are absolute."

Shan Yang Tou said, "You have all been asleep for twelve hours."

Qi Xia opened his eyes. He was just missing one last piece of information to solve this "puzzle."

But where was that information?

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him.

The crisscrossing lines on the walls and floor made him snap to attention. He glanced at the clock on the table—it was almost 1 p.m.

"So that's it..." Qi Xia widened his eyes. "That was close... I'm clearly the con artist, but I almost got tricked by you all."

Everyone seemed to notice Qi Xia's strangeness. This con artist had barely spoken from the start, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Hey, can I have another piece of paper?" Qi Xia asked Shan Yang Tou.

Hearing this, Shan Yang Tou clearly paused, then tentatively asked, "You... want another piece of paper?"

"Yes." Qi Xia nodded. "I need a scratch sheet."

Shan Yang Tou was silent for a long time before pulling another sheet from his suit pocket and handing it to Qi Xia.

Qi Xia took it without hesitation and began calculating.

He counted the large squares on the wall—there were nine in total—and the squares on the floor and ceiling added up to sixteen.

"If I'm not wrong..." Qi Xia quickly jotted down notes, "Each square is one per square meter, so we're in a room that's three meters high and four meters long and wide..."

"Four times four times three... Forty-eight cubic meters."

Qi Xia's hand trembled slightly. "Not enough... Completely not enough..."

Everyone stared at Qi Xia in confusion. This was supposed to be about figuring out who was lying, but he was doing math problems.

He wrote out several vertical equations and finally arrived at the numbers "54.6" and "49.14."

Seeing these numbers, Qi Xia's face turned ashen, as if he was trying to accept something.

If his guess was completely correct, the situation was truly terrifying.

His eyes flickered rapidly, and his thoughts had already wandered far away.

The arguing voices around him gradually quieted down.

This man wasn't participating in any discussions; he was just calculating something. Had he really found the "answer" to this puzzle?

After a long time, he finally looked up at everyone.

His eyes showed fear, hesitation, doubt, and confusion.

"Everyone." Qi Xia cleared his throat and spoke softly, "I didn't want to save you all at first, but if you vote wrong, I'll die too. I absolutely cannot die here—someone is waiting for me outside. So, no matter what, I have to find a way out. I'll share the answer now, and I hope you'll listen carefully to what I have to say."

"Handsome guy, what do you mean by 'answer'?" Qiao Jia Jin, who was closest to Qi Xia, was slightly stunned. "You know who's lying?"

Qi Xia didn't answer. Instead, he reached for his "identity card" and slowly revealed it to everyone.

"This is the identity I drew."

Everyone focused and saw the words "Shuo Huang Zhe" prominently written on the card.