"Police officer, you're lying," Qiao Jiajin said coldly."Hmph, I knew you would say that, but what evidence do you have to prove that I'm lying? Just because someone attacked me?""Of course not," Qiao Jiajin smirked slightly. "Although we don't know the reason, all the stories told earlier are more or less connected. Many of these stories share common characters. If we set aside geographical locations, everyone's stories are reasonable.""And what's your point?""The problem lies here," Qiao Jiajin pointed to the lawyer, Zhang Chenze. "Both you and the lawyer's stories involve a common character, the 'fraudster who swindled two million yuan.' But your stories contradict each other, indicating that one of you is lying."Officer Li also paused, asking, "Where is the contradiction?"Qiao Jiajin shook his head, looking at Officer Li. "Lawyer Zhang is already preparing for a trial, which means in her story, she 'caught the suspect.' But you are still staking out, indicating that in your story, the 'suspect is still at large.' Isn't that a contradiction?"Officer Li pondered for a moment before speaking, "I have to admit, your words make some sense, but I think you've been influenced by this 'game.' First, you need to understand a major premise: all the storytellers before us are not from the same city as the others. In other words, even if our experiences seem similar, what we're talking about couldn't possibly be the same thing. Since they're different, naturally, there will be different outcomes."Qi Xia watched the two of them debating silently, without intervening.Yes, let them argue, the more heated, the better.As long as one of them gives a vote of confidence to the other, the liar wins.After all, the rules are absolute. Except for the liar, if anyone casts a wrong vote, it will bury everyone else.Although Officer Li had provided an explanation, Qiao Jiajin's words still lingered in everyone's minds.After all, this was the first time everyone discovered contradictory plots in two people's stories.Qi Xia couldn't help but look at this rascal named Qiao Jiajin with a hint of admiration.Although he looked unruly, he was smarter than imagined."Um... it's my turn..." a girl spoke up.Everyone then refocused their attention on her.This girl had let out a piercing scream when the dead body appeared initially.Now, she seemed calmer, but her gaze avoided looking around."Hello, everyone, my name is Ringo, and I'm a psychological counselor."Qi Xia paused slightly because "Ringo" was an interesting name.Before the Tang Dynasty, "Ringo" meant "apple."These two characters were poetic and memorable.Perhaps this Miss Ringo's parents wanted their daughter to have a unique name, but this name was clearly going to get her killed here.Among the people present, there were writers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, and police officers. They all might know the meaning of "Ringo."Just by repeating this name a few times in their minds, Ringo's story would leave a deep impression.Noticing the lack of reaction from the others, Ringo continued, covering her mouth and nose with her hand. "I'm from Ningxia. Before coming here, I was waiting for a client; she's a kindergarten teacher."The crowd gave a nonchalant glance at the kindergarten teacher named Xiao Ran, and once again, the stories were connected."As she said, it's tough being a kindergarten teacher nowadays. You can't scold or hit the kids. Parents treat teachers like nannies, and children treat them like servants. Every classroom is equipped with surveillance cameras, with parents monitoring in real-time. If your tone is even slightly strict, parents will call the principal with just one phone call.""But isn't sending kids to kindergarten meant to help them develop moral values?""If teachers can't discipline them firmly, how will the children recognize their mistakes?""She felt lost and suppressed for a long time.""So, I prepared a treatment plan for her for about a month.""But for some reason, the client never showed up for the appointment, so I was waiting in the studio.""When the earthquake struck, I didn't have a chance to escape. After all, my studio is on the twenty-sixth floor.""The higher the floor, the stronger the shaking. I felt the whole building swaying.""I never knew Ningxia could have earthquakes before. This time made me realize it.""Later, I vaguely remember the ceiling collapsing, and then everything went black."After listening to Ringo's story, everyone seemed to recall something.Qiao Jiajin spoke first, "I have two questions.""Go ahead," Ringo said, covering her mouth and nose."You mentioned that every classroom is equipped with 'surveillance.' What does that mean?"The crowd didn't expect Qiao Jiajin to focus on this point, but Ringo, being a psychological counselor, patiently answered, "I think the 'surveillance' is installed so parents can see the classroom footage from anywhere.""Oh, it's CCTV... Is it a prestigious kindergarten?" Qiao Jiajin muttered to himself, then asked, "So, the kindergarten teacher you were supposed to meet, is it this Xiao Ran next to you?""I don't know," Ringo shook her head. "I only added her on WeChat. We planned to discuss the details when we met.""WeChat?" Qiao Jiajin seemed puzzled.Officer Li interrupted the two, saying, "Rascal, here you go again. Xiao Ran is in Yunnan, and this Ringo is in Ningxia. Who would cross such a vast geographical distance to find a psychological counselor?"Qiao Jiajin didn't back down. "I just feel there's something fishy. It's the first time someone's story mentioned other participants."This time, Dr. Zhao felt Qiao Jiajin's words made sense and nodded, asking Xiao Ran, "Is your reason for seeing a psychological counselor the same as what this Ringo described?""Um..." Xiao Ran hesitated nervously. "It's not quite the same... I was feeling depressed because a parent had been accusing me for a long time...""That just proves it's a coincidence," Dr. Zhao nodded. "After all, it's about two different incidents in different regions. We don't need to force a connection."At this point, everyone fell silent for a moment, but Lawyer Zhang suddenly spoke up, "Miss Ringo, half of the story you told is about that 'kindergarten teacher.' Isn't that a violation of the rules?""Huh?" Ringo was slightly taken aback. "I mentioned the kindergarten teacher to help you better understand my work...""Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying anything else," Lawyer Zhang smiled. "I mean, if the story of that kindergarten teacher is fabricated by you, it would naturally deviate from Xiao Ran's story, proving that you're lying.""You...!" Ringo didn't expect the woman in front of her to be so aggressive. She could only defend herself, "Just now, Dr. Zhao and Officer Li both said our provinces are different. It's just a coincidence!""A coincidence, is it?" Lawyer Zhang crossed her arms and continued, "Think about it carefully. Why did they choose just the nine of us to gather here? Don't forget, we're nine strangers. If we were to find inconsistencies in each other's stories, we'd need some clues. And that 'clue' is that everyone's stories are connected. After hearing everyone's stories, I feel like we were intentionally selected individuals. This way, we can easily find inconsistencies in each other's stories and identify the liar. Otherwise, this game would be too absurd because the 'liar' has too much of an advantage."
YOU ARE READING
十天的毁灭
Paranormal"When I thought it was just an ordinary day, I found myself trapped in the land of doom. When I thought all I needed was to keep participating in the death games to escape, I realized that people began to help me."
