Lie

The woman's scream stopped, and everyone's thoughts came to a halt.

The few men who were shouting and cursing earlier fell silent at this moment.

It was no longer a question of "breaking the law." The strange man in front of them was truly capable of killing.

After a full minute of silence, the man with the goat head nodded slightly. "Good, nine of you. It seems you've all quieted down."

The crowd's expressions changed, but no one dared to speak. As he said, there were indeed only "nine" left now.

Qi Xia extended a trembling hand and removed a piece of pinkish-yellow something from her face.

The shattered brain matter, still warm, was still twitching slightly, but within seconds, it deflated like a deflated balloon and lost its life.

"Now, let me introduce myself..." The man with the goat head extended his bloodstained finger and pointed at his mask, saying, "I am 'Human Goat,' and you are 'participants.'"

The crowd froze in confusion. "Human Goat," "participants"?

"I've gathered you all here to participate in a game, and the ultimate goal is to create a 'god,'" the man with the goat head said calmly.

These two statements caused the crowd to frown.

After spending some time with the man, they had a rough idea that he was a madman, but this madman was claiming he wanted to create a "god"?

"Create... what god?" The young, muscular man asked nervously.

"A god like 'Nüwa'!" The man with the goat head said excitedly, his voice carrying a strange, pungent odor. "How wonderful! You will witness history with us. Nüwa once created humanity, but when she patched the sky, she turned into a rainbow... We cannot lose Nüwa, so we must create another Nüwa! A great task awaits the 'god' to do!"

His voice grew louder, and he became more energetic, almost as if he were on some sort of adrenaline high.

"Nüwa..." The young man frowned, feeling that this was too difficult to accept. After a pause, he asked, "Are you a cult?"

"Cult?" The man with the goat head raised an eyebrow, turning toward the young man. "We are far grander than a 'cult.' We have a 'world'!"

After hearing this, everyone fell into silence again.

The young man's question was quite pointed. What the goat-headed man was doing resembled a cult, but most cults tend to invent a new god, not use a legendary hero like Nüwa.

"Since that's the case..." The young man continued, "What do you want us to 'participate' in?"

"As I said, it's just a game," the man with the goat head answered without hesitation. "If you win, one of you will become a 'god.'"

"Son of a b****..." The tattooed man seemed to calm down. He muttered angrily, "The 'Investiture of the Gods,' huh? What happens if we lose?"

"Lose..." The man with the goat head glanced at the blood on his hand, looking slightly disappointed. "Losing would be such a shame..."

Although he didn't say it directly, everyone understood his meaning.

If they lost, they would die.

There was no option to "live and leave" in his choices.

Either become the so-called "god," or die like the young man whose head had exploded.

"If everyone understands..." The man with the goat head continued, "Then let the game officially begin. This game is called 'Liar.'"

The man with the goat head slowly took out a stack of paper from his pocket and casually walked over to each person, placing a sheet in front of them.

Then he pulled out several pens and distributed them.

The table was stained with blood, and when each person placed their white sheet on the table, it got stained with red. When they flipped the paper over and wiped their hands, the blood spread out like paint, making the white sheets look more crimson.

"Next, each of you must tell a story of what happened right before you came here," the man with the goat head continued. "But keep in mind, one of you is lying. After all nine of you have finished telling your stories, you will begin voting. If all nine of you correctly identify the 'liar,' the liar will be out, and the others will survive. If one person votes wrongly, the liar survives, and the rest will be out."

"A liar...?"

The crowd was slightly confused. Would someone really lie at such a life-or-death moment?

"Wait, can we discuss 'strategies'?" The young, muscular man suddenly asked.

"Feel free," the man with the goat head nodded. "You have one minute to discuss your strategy before the game begins. Do you want to do it now, or later?"

"I'll use it now," the muscular man said without hesitation.

"Go ahead."

The man with the goat head stepped back, distancing himself from the table.

The muscular man pursed his lips, glanced around at everyone, trying his best to avoid looking at the headless corpse on the table, and spoke up. "I don't know who is going to lie, but this 'rule' seems too arbitrary. If one person votes wrongly, we'll all die. And even if we choose correctly, the liar will still die. It seems that someone will die no matter what. I've come up with a plan that will let everyone survive..."

The crowd looked at the muscular man in surprise.

Could everyone really survive?

"And that is, none of us should lie," the muscular man quickly proposed. "If all nine of us tell the truth, we can write 'No one is lying' on the paper. That way, we don't break the rules, and we all survive."

The man in the white lab coat tapped his fingers lightly on the table and spoke after a moment. "This plan sounds good, but there's one problem: the premise is that 'you are not the liar.' How can we trust you? If you are the liar, we all write 'No one is lying,' and only you survive."

"What kind of nonsense is that?" The muscular man's face darkened with slight anger. "If I were the liar, why would I propose such a suggestion? I could just focus on saving myself."

The man with the goat head waved his hand slightly. "One minute is up. Please stop talking."

The two men snorted and fell silent.

"Now, everyone, please draw a card," the man with the goat head said. He pulled out a small stack of cards from his pocket. They looked like playing cards, with the words "Nüwa Game" written on the back.

The muscular man was stunned. "What are these?"

"These are 'identity cards,'" the man with the goat head said with a laugh. "If you draw the 'liar,' you must lie."

The muscular man gritted his teeth. "Are you messing with us? Why didn't you tell us about this rule earlier?"

"This is to teach you a lesson," the man with the goat head sneered. "You wasted a valuable minute asking if you could discuss strategies, not me."

The muscular man's face darkened, but remembering the goat-headed man's deadly methods, he suppressed his anger.

In one minute, all nine participants had drawn a card, but no one dared to look at their card.

If the card said "liar," then it would become a matter of whether they or someone else survived.

The four women's hands were trembling slightly, and the men's faces were not any better.

The cards they drew were not about "identity" but about "life and death."

Qi Xia took a deep breath, casually held her card, and brought it to her face.

She flipped it over.

Written on it were the three words: "Liar."