The woman's scream stopped, and everyone's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
The men who had been shouting and cursing fell silent.
This was no longer about "breaking the law"—the strange man before them was actually capable of killing.
After more than a minute of dead silence, the goat-headed man nodded slightly. "Good, nine of you. It seems you've all quieted down."
Everyone's faces changed, but no one dared to speak. As he said, there were indeed "nine" of them now.
Qi Xia stretched out a trembling hand and removed a pinkish-yellow thing from his face.
The smashed brain was still warm and twitching slightly, but within seconds, it lost its vitality like a deflated balloon.
"Now, allow me to introduce myself..." The goat-headed man extended his bloodstained fingers, pointed to his mask, and said, "I am 'Man-goat,' and you are the 'participants.'"
Everyone was taken aback, then confused. "Man-goat"? "Participants"?
"I've gathered you here to play a game, ultimately to create a 'god,'" the goat-headed man said flatly.
These two consecutive sentences furrowed everyone's brows.
After these few minutes, they had roughly realized the man was a lunatic, yet this lunatic claimed he wanted to create a "god"?
"Create... what kind of god?" the burly young man asked nervously.
"A god like 'Nuwa'!" The goat-headed man gesticulated wildly, reeking of mutton, his voice狰狞 (ferocious). "How wonderful! You will witness history with us. Nuwa created humanity but turned into a rainbow while mending the sky... We can't lose Nuwa, so we must create a Nuwa! A great task awaits the 'god'!"
His voice rose, and he seemed almost hysterical.
"Nuwa..." The burly young man frowned. This whole thing felt too hard to accept. After a pause, he asked, "Are you a religious group?"
"Religious?" The goat-headed man paused, turned to the young man, and said, "We are grander than any 'religion.' We have a 'world'!"
At this, everyone fell silent again.
The burly man's question was pointed. The goat-headed man's actions resembled a cult, but most cults preferred to fabricate new gods rather than use heroic figures like Nuwa.
"Then..." the burly man continued, "what do you want us to 'participate' in here?"
"As I said, just a game," the goat-headed man replied without hesitation. "If you win, one of you will become a 'god'."
"Son of a bitch..." The tattooed man seemed to calm down, cursing. "Like the 'Investiture of the Gods'? What if we lose?"
"Lose..." The goat-headed man looked at the blood on his hands, sounding disappointed. "It would be a pity..."
Though he didn't say it directly, everyone understood.
Lose, and die.
There was no option to "leave alive."
Either become his so-called "god," or die here like the young man with a shattered head.
"If everyone gets it... then this 'game' begins. The game is called 'The Liar'." The goat-headed man slowly took out a stack of papers from his bosom, then casually placed one in front of each person.
He then took out several pens and distributed them.
The table was covered in blood, and each white paper turned red upon landing. Wiping the paper with a hand spread the blood like paint, making the white paper even redder.
"Next, each of you will tell a story about the last thing that happened before you came here," the goat-headed man continued. "Note that among all storytellers, one is lying. After all nine have spoken, you will vote. If all eight correctly identify the 'liar,' the liar is eliminated, and the rest survive. If even one person votes wrong, the liar survives, and the rest are eliminated."
"A liar...?"
Everyone was slightly confused. Would anyone really lie at a time like this?
"Wait, can we discuss 'tactics'?" the burly man suddenly asked.
"Feel free," the goat-headed man nodded. "You have one minute to discuss tactics before the game starts. Do you want to use it now... or later?"
"Now," the burly man said without hesitation.
"Go ahead."
The goat-headed man took a step back from the table.
The burly man pursed his lips,环视 (scanned) everyone, trying to avoid looking at the headless corpse on the table. "I don't know who among you will lie, but this 'rule' is too arbitrary. If even one person votes wrong, we all die. And even if we choose correctly, the liar dies. So no matter what, someone dies. But I have a way for all of us to survive..."
Everyone looked at the burly man.
Could they really all survive?
"Simple: none of us lie," the burly man announced before anyone could think. "All nine of us tell the truth, then write 'no one is lying' on the paper. That way, we don't break the rules and we all live."
The man in the white coat tapped the table with his fingers. "Good plan, but only if 'you aren't the liar.' How can we trust you? If you are the liar, we'd all write 'no one is lying,' and only you'd survive."
"What are you saying?" The burly man flushed with anger. "If I were the liar, why suggest this? I could just save myself."
The goat-headed man waved his hand. "Your minute is up. Stop talking."
The two men snorted and fell silent.
"Now, draw cards." The goat-headed man took out a small stack of cards from his pants pocket, about the size of playing cards, with "Nuwa Game" written on the back.
The burly man was stunned. "What's this?"
"Identity cards," the goat-headed man laughed. "If you draw 'Liar,' you must lie."
The burly man gritted his teeth. "You're playing us?! Why didn't you say this earlier?!"
"Consider it a lesson," the goat-headed man sneered. "You asked about tactics before I finished the rules. You wasted the precious minute, not me."
The burly man looked furious but swallowed his anger, recalling the goat-headed man's murderous methods.
In a minute, all nine drew a card from the goat-headed man, but no one dared to flip theirs over.
If the card said "Liar," it became a choice between their own life and others'.
The four women's hands trembled, and the men looked grim.
They weren't drawing "identities"—they were drawing "life or death."
Qi Xia took a deep breath, casually covered his card, and moved it closer.
He gently flipped it over.
It赫然 (clearly) read "LIAR."