"Goat and Dog..."
Qi Xia narrowed his eyes, carefully pondering everything. The one who called himself the Goat-Head Man at the beginning wanted them to kill each other, but now this Goat-Head Man says he's very worried about them, and that he can't just watch them die.
"Isn't this a lie..."
Suddenly, a flash of insight sparked in Qi Xia's mind.
That's it!
This is it!
Lying!
Everything was going exactly as Qi Xia had predicted.
'Goat' and 'Dog' were not names at all, but 'game types'!
Could 'Goat' represent the story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'? The shepherd boy wasn't saved because he had lied too many times. So, the 'Goat' game involves 'lies'; it's a game of 'lying'.
Could 'Dog' represent loyalty? Just like in the harpoon game earlier, if they hadn't worked together, none of them would have survived. So, could it be 'cooperation'?
Qi Xia picked up a harpoon and looked at it again. He knew that the 'Goat' had the potential to lie when explaining the rules. But in these few short sentences, which one was the lie?
"I can't just watch you die."
If this sentence is a lie...
"Wait..."
Qi Xia's eyes widened slowly.
"This statement isn't the 'answer', it's a trap to get us all killed."
"What are you talking about?"
Qiao Jiajin asked, confused.
"The entire statement is a lie!"
Qi Xia said decisively.
"Standing by the wall is 'death', and standing under the holes is 'life'!"
Doctor Zhao and Officer Li looked at each other, not understanding what Qi Xia was trying to say.
"Everyone, do you remember? The 'Goat' lies!"
Qi Xia stood in the center of the room, trying to get everyone to come closer to him.
"If we follow the rules he stated, we will end up killing ourselves. This is the difference between 'Goat' and 'Dog'!"
"But is that really logical?"
Xiao Ran asked timidly.
"The only holes in the entire room are above your head. No matter how you think about it, that should be the most dangerous spot..."
Qi Xia hadn't figured this point out either. What exactly could fall from these holes in the ceiling to kill the people by the walls?
"Hmm..."
Qi Xia thought for another moment, then changed his tune.
"It's fine. After this round ends, there's a high probability we can get out. So just choose based on your own thoughts."
"How do you know we can get out?"
Officer Li asked warily.
"Because in this hint, there was no 'preview' for the next game," Qi Xia replied.
"Thinking about it this way, there are two possibilities. Either this is the last game, or the organizer is very confident they can kill us all in this game."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression grew heavy, but they had no words to refute it.
"In any case, I'm standing here."
Qi Xia pointed at his own feet.
"As for how you choose, that's up to you."
Qi Xia knew that everything right now was just speculation. To be safe, he still picked up a square tabletop from the floor and held it in his hands. After hearing Qi Xia's words, Qiao Jiajin slowly came to his side and said, "I've said it before, I believe you."
"But I'm a con man," Qi Xia replied coldly.
"Doesn't matter."
Lin Qin thought it over carefully, then also covered her mouth and nose and walked towards the center of the room.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Xiao Ran shouted from her spot against the wall.
"Do you really believe him?"
Lin Qin nodded slightly and said, "Yes. Think about it carefully, who is the reason we've survived until now?" Xiao Ran was taken aback.
She suddenly felt that what Lin Qin said made a lot of sense. After a moment of internal struggle, she also followed. Han Yimo, pressing a hand to the wound on his shoulder, also walked over.
"You're... Qi Xia, right? I believe you too."
Tian Tian and Zhang Chenze followed him over. In that moment, only Doctor Zhao and Officer Li were left pressed tightly against the wall.
"Hey, aren't you guys coming over?"
Tian Tian called out.
"I..."
Doctor Zhao looked hesitant, as if he hadn't decided what to choose.
"No need to force others," Qi Xia said, holding out a hand and waving it dismissively.
"This round doesn't involve cooperation. All that matters is surviving on your own."
The clock on the floor gradually reached one twenty-eight. Officer Li narrowed his eyes, staring at Qi Xia. He didn't think this con man would choose to seek death right now, but why was he leading everyone to stand under the holes?
At this moment, Lin Qin saw through their thoughts and said to them, "Qi Xia doesn't seem to be lying. Are you going to come over?"
"You can tell?"
Officer Li asked in a low voice.
"That's right."
Lin Qin nodded.
"Because of my work, I can usually tell if someone is lying."
"Since that's the case..."
Officer Li and Doctor Zhao glanced at each other, then silently walked forward. They said to Lin Qin, "Since a professional has spoken, we'll believe you." Everyone picked up the nearest tabletop, raising it with their hands to shield their heads.
This way, no matter what fell from the holes, they would have some initial protection.
"You guys are quite resourceful."
Qiao Jiajin shook his head helplessly and also picked up a tabletop from the floor. He examined it closely. The current tabletops were more like shields than the previous ones.
Not only were they neat squares with sides of forty to fifty centimeters, but they also had an unusually sturdy handle. Qi Xia glanced at the time, grabbed Qiao Jiajin, and said, "Get ready.
It's coming."
As soon as he finished speaking, the clock struck one-thirty. A loud sound of chains came from the ceiling, as if something unseen was being wound up. But unfortunately, there was no reaction from the holes.
The imagined 'death' and 'life' did not appear. After a few seconds of waiting, the floor beneath everyone's feet suddenly began to rise.
"This is bad..."
Qi Xia's expression changed.
"It's even worse than I imagined."
The clamor of the crowd rose and fell. No one had expected that the 'organizer' actually intended to crush them into meat paste in this low-ceilinged room.
"What's going on?"
Before anyone could ask to understand the situation, Qi Xia immediately shouted, "Get down, quick!" Three or four of the quicker ones immediately crouched down, but the despair in their eyes could no longer be suppressed. Everyone knew that given the current situation, the floor and ceiling would very likely meet, and no one would be able to escape.
Qi Xia squatted on the floor, his mind racing. He knew his guess should be correct; the holes above their heads were definitely the 'path to life'. But how were they supposed to survive?
The floor rose slowly with a tremendous sound. The room's height was halved in a short time, forcing everyone to squat completely just to move around. Qi Xia raised his head and looked.
The rectangular holes that had been above their heads were now at a position where he could reach out and touch them. While everyone was in a panic, Qi Xia made a swift decision. He reached his hand into one of the holes to feel around.
It was just an ordinary hole, but the space inside was huge. The ceiling's structure also seemed unusual, as if it were made of some kind of hard metal.
"Could it be..."
Qi Xia, still squatting on the floor, quickly lowered his head. As if moved by a ghost, he picked up his square wooden board from the floor. Since the holes were the 'path to life', and the board was the only tool in his hands, what was the connection between the two?
Qi Xia held the board vertically and inserted it into a hole in the ceiling. Then, he turned it horizontally inside and pulled down. The board was now firmly wedged in the hole, with only a handle pointing downwards.
"This is... the path to life?"
Qi Xia's eyes slowly widened as he instantly realized what was about to happen. Seeing Qi Xia's actions, the people around him quickly followed his example, each jamming their own square tabletop into the holes in the ceiling.
"Be careful, in a moment..."
Just as Qi Xia was about to say something, the floor beneath everyone's feet shattered into dust with a roar.
"Ah!"
"What the hell!"
Cries of alarm erupted at the same moment. Everyone's bodies plunged downwards. Instinctively, they grabbed the handles above their heads, which was the only thing that kept them from falling.
Han Yimo gritted his teeth, gripping the handle above him tightly with his left hand. But he had lost too much blood, and his strength was fading. Right now, Qi Xia could only watch as Han Yimo's left hand began to loosen, little by little.