At that moment, the Tattooed Man raised his hand and looked to Goat Head. "Hey, Referee—how do we treat an alias like this? Does it count as lying?"
Goat Head neither nodded nor shook his head. He simply said, "I will no longer intervene in any proceedings. You may each write down whatever name you believe to be true. Remember: the rule is absolute. In the end, I myself will administer the 'punishment' to the loser."
The word punishment rang through the room like a hammer blow, sending chills down everyone's spine.
"Then this proves I haven't lied!" TianTian cried out anxiously. "If I had lied, I'd be dead already, right? Even if it's an alias, my alias really is 'TianTian'!"
No one replied. They were now deep in a life-or-death game—no detail could be overlooked.
"Next, it's my turn." The Tattooed Man curled his lip in reluctance. "If this lady's story doesn't count as a lie, then mine surely doesn't either."
"My name is Qiao Jiajin. I live in Guangdong and have no official profession. Before coming here, I was collecting debts."
Qiao Jiajin's Mandarin was poor, so everyone leaned in to listen carefully.
"People these days are something else: eager to borrow money, promising anything, and then crying wolf when it's time to repay."
"Damn them, they call us debt collectors demons, cold-blooded monsters."
"But that client—I should get some credit. When no institution would lend him a dime, I did. To him, I wasn't a demon but a savior."
"Yet how did he treat me, his savior?"
"He went around sobbing about how hard his life was, that he'd been swindled out of two million. He slammed us debt collectors as heartless, trying to win sympathy from neighbors."
"We had a contract, with every interest rate laid out clearly. Now he can't pay—how is that our fault?"
"Last night, I decided to teach him a lesson. I took him up to the rooftop of a high-rise—didn't mean to kill him. But then the earthquake hit, and that bastard pulled a knife on me!"
"In the chaos, he shoved me off the roof. I crashed into an advertising billboard. What happened after… I can't remember."
The crowd frowned at Qiao Jiajin's tale.
TianTian's eyes gleamed with sudden insight. She laughed coldly. "See? I knew you were throwing dirt on me—you're the liar!"
"What? On what grounds do you call me a liar?" Qiao Jiajin snapped.
"I'm from Shaanxi; you're from Guangdong!" TianTian pointed at him. "Your story is just a copy of mine! There was an earthquake for me—and for you. I got hit by a billboard—and so did you! If that's not lying, what is?"
"I don't care where you're from! I experienced an earthquake!" the Tattooed Man shot back. "And hiding it would be the real lie. As for billboards—there's more than one in the world, right?"
"You're just lying!" TianTian jabbed her finger at Qiao Jiajin. "Your job is for scoundrels—why are you surprised if you lie?"
"Hah. Your line of work isn't any more respectable than mine."
Qi Xia watched the heated exchange, sensing something truly odd. It wasn't that either of them must be lying—but that he, too, had felt the quake. He was neither in Shaanxi nor Guangdong, but in Shandong. Could a single earthquake really span half the country across three provinces? If they were both telling the truth, this was an unprecedented disaster.
"Quiet," the muscular man opposite called out, shushing them both. He then turned to the next woman. "It's your turn. If we want to judge who's lying, let's hear everyone's story first."
The two adversaries snorted and fell silent.
The woman beside Qiao Jiajin swallowed hard, her voice trembling. "Um… My name is Xiao Ran. I'm a kindergarten teacher."
Xiao Ran looked thoroughly frightened; her words were barely above a whisper.
"Before coming here, I was waiting with a child for his parent. Usually it was his mother who picked him up, but she's gravely ill—something in her brain; she needs surgery. So his father has been coming instead… although he often forgets."
"Last night it was past six. I'd long finished my shift, but for some reason, the father never answered his phone…"