Chapter 257 The Veiled Deception
Both men's emotions had completely unraveled. Amid the chaos, it was unclear who pushed whom, but the knife was stained with red.
The burly man's blade had been driven deep into the middle-aged man's chest.
The crowd of onlookers recoiled in shock.
The middle-aged man, in disbelief, lowered his head to look at the knife now embedded in his chest, a soft cough escaping his lips.
"You..." The burly man with the knife was disoriented, his mind swirling. "Who told you to grab laozi’s knife?!"
The middle-aged man tried to argue, but before he could say anything more, he collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Everything had spiraled out of control.
Qi Xia watched the scene unfold coldly, sensing that the tide was beginning to shift.
It only went to show that the burly man wasn’t clever enough—sometimes, a knife doesn’t need to strike; it only needs to be held.
As the crowd hesitated, an unexpected figure slowly approached.
It was {Terrestrial Goat}, who had been standing at the center of the room all this time.
Terrestrial Goat looked grimly at the lifeless {poor soul}, then lifted his gaze to the knife-wielding man and said, “You’re far too bold. Who gave you the right to keep killing people?”
The man with the knife visibly froze, thinking that violence was tacitly permitted in this place, but it seemed Terrestrial Goat wouldn’t tolerate murder?
Terrestrial Goat crouched down to examine the middle-aged man who had been stabbed, his gaze fleeting and uncertain.
If Qi Xia’s guess was correct, Terrestrial Goat was about to start lying.
“He’s beyond saving,” Terrestrial Goat said, lifting his gaze to the burly man. “As punishment, I will impose sanctions on you.”
“San—Sanctions?!” The burly man staggered back, terrified. “What… are you joking?! That wasn’t in the rules you stated!”
Terrestrial Goat stood up without offering any explanation and swiftly slapped the burly man across the face.
The burly man’s body didn’t move, but his head spun completely around, his expression frozen in place.
Terrestrial Goat pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands. “I hope everyone understands. This is my game, and the rules are mine to enforce. If anyone dares to overstep again, I will not show restraint. This man’s fans are now mine. You may all disperse.”
With those words, Terrestrial Goat took five fans from the burly man’s pocket, pushed through the crowd of onlookers, and returned to the center of the room.
The crowd swiftly scattered, no one daring to entertain any further thoughts about the {rich individuals} present.
Qi Xia, observing Terrestrial Goat’s actions, slowly reached up to stroke his chin.
Why was Terrestrial Goat unmoved when a {rich individual} was killed, yet stepped in to punish the death of a {poor man}?
At that moment, Qin Dingdong’s partner helped her to her feet. Seeing that the situation was temporarily safe, the two exchanged a glance with Qi Xia before hurriedly making their way to the exit.
No one tried to stop them as they left.
After all, no one knew exactly what rules Terrestrial Goat had set.
Could the fans be taken by force? Was it permissible to kill?
Under such an ambiguous game, everyone's eyes were filled with confusion, and the sharp knife still stuck in the middle-aged man's body had yet to be touched by anyone.
Qi Xia seemed to realize what he had overlooked.
The reason these two killed individuals were treated differently wasn't due to their status as {poor} or {rich}—it was because of their status as {escapee} versus {non-escapee}.
After all, the number of participants was even, and to escape from this place, the participants needed to pair up.
Therefore, it didn't matter if a {escapee} died, as they were no longer part of the {remaining participants} count.
But if a {non-escapee} died... it would turn the remaining number into an odd one, ultimately leaving one person isolated.
That's why Terrestrial Goat would take action.
To bring the number of participants back to an even number, the best method for him would be to kill one more person.
While it seemed somewhat strange, Qi Xia found the logic behind it rather convincing.
Next, he needed to focus on his own plan.
Currently, he held four {Sorrow} fans. In order for everything to go smoothly, he needed to calculate the total number of {Sorrow} fans in this game.
Qi Xia walked to the center of the room and slowly closed his eyes.
In his mind, a large number of fans floated by, neatly arranging themselves into four groups.
However, just a few seconds later, he recognized that he had overlooked an important issue.
Terrestrial Goat had mentioned that the four types of fans were to be evenly distributed at the game's start. With fifty people on site, each receiving three fans, Terrestrial Goat had handed out a total of 150 fans.
How could 150 fans be equally distributed among four suits?
This would imply 37.5 fans per suit.
Isn’t this a contradiction?
Could it be that Terrestrial Goat lied about this?
‘That shouldn't be the case…’ Qi Xia furrowed his brows and silently muttered to himself. ‘Lying about such a crucial detail would be too damaging. It would ruin the reputation of this game... there wouldn't be any {return customers} here.’
Moreover... if the number of fans could be lied about, the optimal distribution ratio would probably be 147:1:1:1.
One suit would have 147 fans, and the remaining suits would each have one. This would result in a situation where only two people could escape from the entire game at most. In other words, the setup of fifty people, 150 fans, and the game of deception would lose all meaning.
It would be better for everyone to just draw lots to decide their fate. So, Terrestrial Goat likely didn’t lie about something this crucial.
Then, where is his lie?
Qi Xia lowered his gaze to the four {Sorrow} fans in his hand. He knew that unless he figured out the remaining number of {Sorrow} fans in the game, he wouldn't be able to win this game.
But the number 37.5 made it impossible for him to move forward.
That left only one other possibility...
At this moment, Qi Xia stood in the center of the room, with a clear view of everyone inside.
He slowly opened his eyes and quickly counted the number of participants still standing in the room, then displayed a strange expression.
There were still forty participants standing in the room.
At first glance, everything seemed fine, but after a second thought, something seemed off.
One person clearly died standing among them, and he can't be counted as part of the remaining number.
Qi Xia closed his eyes again and replayed everything that had happened in his mind.
At the start of the game, four people escaped immediately, so there should have been forty-six people left standing.
Half an hour later, the first pair of {rich individuals} escaped, leaving forty-four people standing.
Then, the person who bought all the {Sorrow} lost their partner and escaped alone, leaving forty-three people standing.
Finally, Qin Dingdong and the Sichuan-Chongqing man escaped, leaving forty-one people standing.
If the {rich individual} and the middle-aged man's corpses were removed, there would be thirty-nine people left standing.
Qi Xia opened his eyes again and carefully surveyed the remaining participants.
Why are there forty people left here?
When did an extra participant appear?
A strange feeling began to rise in Qi Xia’s heart.
Were there really fifty participants?
Qi Xia knew that everyone had received three fans, but how many people actually received fans?